Porto’s dreamweapon take their name from the 1990 Spacemen 3 live album ‘Dreamweapon: An Evening of Contemporary Sitar Music’, who themselves took inspiration from the work of minimalist drone – or ‘Dream Music’ – visionary La Monte Young and a 1965 multimedia piece titled ‘Rites of The Dreamweapon’ by original The Velvet Underground drummer Angus MacLise. Following on from their 2018 LP Sol, released on Fuzz Club, a change of personnel has allowed a string of self releases, the latest culmination is Maelstrom X.
Today sees the release of a new video, ‘Schemes’ and so we thought it was due time to check it out.
Created between March 2019 and April 2020, Maelstrom X is a collection of electronic improvisations. Following the work motto introduced by the Post-Psych Monologues, it was performed live at the studio into a two track recorder, using theremins, synthesisers, pedals and vocals going through a loopstation and see dreamweapon set sail on industrial and experimental uncharted waters.
Opening with ‘Bruillard’, an intense noise awakening which builds through repetition in ever quickening layers which could be likened to a quickening heartbeat. ‘Linha do Corgo’ is an intricate exploration of electronica, it encapsulates what one would imagine outer space sounds like, with waves bouncing back and forth, reverberating delicately. ‘Schemes’ sees a sophisticated combination of both preceding tracks, and the addition of spoken vocals add something a little different. The beat and rhythm are pure and undulating noise over plays the lot to create a hypnotic sway. ‘Sangue do Porco’ is a little different from the offset, with slightly manic repetition marking the core which is built on, manipulated and stopped mid track, only to start again with an increased intensity. ‘Truth’ was recorded as part of the Fuzz Club Isolation Festival, a collection of artists who have been involved with the festival usually hosted each autumn in Eindhoven contributing music from their respective isolations. It is a complex collection of beats and synth drone, with fuzzed out reverberating vocals adding to the intrigue. At the festival it stole the show, on record, it’s just as good, if not better.
This is an album for those who love to explore sound and the mediums which create it. It’s not something that everyone will instantly love, but maybe that’s the point…
Buy here
