Tristan Magnetique by Tristan Magnetique

Here is a box set of extremely high caliber meditative music by Tristan Magnetique. If you are interested in finding physical copies, apologies to be made at this instant. The forty copies created sold out speedily. These were gone before Lost in a Sea of Sound received a copy, so this description ratcheted down one notch in the sense of urgency. But this composition should not fall into obscurity, an important collection of works reflected in the exquisiteness of the sounds within. A lengthy set, roughly an hour and a half of recorded music, matched in magnitude by sheer creativeness in diverse tranquility.

When thinking of the name of this set, Tristan Magnetique, the first question asked is, who is this. Seems like a person, not a project or band. This box set on the label Otomatik Muziek is the first recorded works of Tristan. Maybe the label found original cassettes in a thrift store or a music collection lost over time. There is the story of the unknown artist Blind Joe Death. One hundred copies on 78 RPM were made, some sent to friends, music aficionados, others placed in record stores and thrift shops. The man behind this was legendary guitarist John Fahey. He created the fictional character Blind Joe Death and caused a stir around interested circles. Tristan Magnetique could be a similar story, just based in the world of ambient music, not primitive guitar. Listen first and try not to read too much. See if you can make a connection to modern artists with sublime capabilities.

Three cassettes in total, all side long tracks, sounds flowing with cohesion, maintaining allure with skilled variegation. You can blast this descriptive oxymoron before it is even written, "vintage new age throw back quality" of a Casio CZ101 interwoven with field recordings. Tristan Magnetique channels past ambient pioneers with a push towards spiritualism. Almost expect to hear Sri Swami Sivananda recite "You are the architect of your own fate. You are the master of your own destiny. You can do and undo things. You sow an action and reap a tendency. You sow a tendency and reap a habit. You sow a habit and reap your character. You sow your character and reap your destiny. Therefore, destiny is your own creation. You can undo it if you like-destiny is a bundle of habits." Just thoughts from the canvas Tristan Magnetique paints. There are moments when the nostalgic ambient float is interrupted by field recordings. Sometimes these are determinable, but other times these interludes are other worldly. Woven with the Casio's melodic timbre and with the length of the total composition, realities exposure or some form of reality is like chapters in a book. They do not correspond with consistent points in the three tape set, they happen almost sporadically. These sounds are beautifully simple yet exceptionally skilled. One of 2018's ambient gems.

Released on the labels Otomatik Muziek together with Cosmic Winnetou, both from Germany. Forty copies total, all sold out quickly. There is still the digital and it is absolutely worth a full listen. Also Be sure to keep an ear turned towards future releases form Otomatik Muziek. Their ninth releases is the only one still available in the physical, Nils Quak's heavy experimental ambient tape titled Form Phallus Function. Also soon to arrive Hardtack Oak's Cold War Nostalgia, but can not locate a sound sample for this release yet.







Links
Otomatik Muziek - bandcamp - facebook
Cosmic Winnetou site - bandcamp - soundcloud