“The Happening” by Tomorrow Comes The Harvest is the least case, a provocative confrontation. It’s a challenge or dare to the idea that music can be useful if we are able to experience it. I would imagine that to many, music having an objective beyond the listener doesn’t make sense because the general thought is that Music is made for us to consume, to make us remember, to influence us and to make us feel something. The Happening does all those things but much more. What it does is expand the scope from us to “it”. Creating and constructing music for the subject of existence is a tall order.
The concept of The Happening is about the beginning and the end of Time and Space; the initial point of when reality starts and its conclusional apex. In the beginning, there is a great light. And from this light, comes life. Life is lived until it isn’t.
This is what The Happening implies. It speaks about a 9-minute frame in reality, used to emphasize something that happened a very long time ago, something that happened in its creation and what will eventually happen far in the future.
The Happening was of an accidental birth. The love child of three musicians (Jeff Mills, Prabhu Edouard and Jean-Phillippe Dary) who was just asked to play “something” so that the camera crew could have extra b-roll for all the previous footages of the band while they were working in the recording studio in the North of Paris for their album Forbidden Planet. There was no discussion of what they’ll do, no plan, no direction other than to use music to reach a level of consciousness.
Somehow within these transformative 9 minutes, something was felt by each of them, explored to its furthest point, which lead to this extraordinary creation. The Happening refers to the life and death of everything living thing. Infinity.” _ Jeff Mills
Performed by Jeff Mills (percussion /synthesizer), Jean-Phi Dary (keyboard), Prabhu Edouard (tabla/voice) and on „Natural High“ Rasheeda Ali (flute)
Verdict: Two beautifully organic pieces of improvised wonder. Here we have musicians who are not only in tune with each other but who are as one through the process of creating their music.
“Natural High” Like a leaf atop the water and its journey down the river towards the sea Over calm waters and through turbulent tides, till finally being lost in the vast expanse of shimmering blue.
“The Happening” Imagine a dormant seed broght to life by all the right conditions, slowly breaking through the earth to the light, growing day by day till it finally blooms, its bud bursting open in all its natural beauty.
Techno Jazz bliss.
Out now @ https://www.axisrecords.com/product/tomorrow-comes-the-harvest-the-happening-12-vinyl/
From the upcoming album by Tomorrow Comes The Harvest: “Forbidden Planet“
