Olkin Donder - Oben Glex

Each of us at some point have had a garden, an oasis, an escape from the pressures of daily life. Olkin Donder's version of this is a portal to a different region of the Earth all together, while we root through weeds and curse the rain, this guy beholds hidden facets of primordial creation. You can almost feel the layers of dirt, rock and clay pass through your hands as you listen to this; there's no other way to explain what is going on. This bold, exploratory feel coupled with the urgently complex rhythms is enough to make me look for my own pick ax and shovel. Time to do a bit of digging, there's something buried down there which faintly glows up through the detritus life becomes overgrown by and perhaps just perhaps those errant question marks of electronic accentuation can help clear it away. I've always been more prone to exploring the strange edge we glide upon never daring to look down for fear of becoming enraptured by the darkness, Olkin Donder have no qualms moving within such a place.

Illuminating those caverns, questioning the breaks between the plates, the never ending search for what lies beyond or in between spaces of words. The general tone of this record is that of wonder and quiet awe, as though we are spectators but not revealed to those we observe; we keep silent watch and relay back what we can without being discovered. If you've ever played hide and seek after dark, even the most placid and inviting suburban backyard can become somewhat menacing once the sun goes down. The trees become mere outlines and for some reason the wind rises giving them the illusion of movement, of course later in life you realize that you weren't being studied but back then those towering specters terrified and much of what Oben Glex create takes me to those quiet nights again. The drifting, subterranean style on some of these tracks put me in mind of the memories we all have of breathing liquid in the womb, clearly this album is an exposition on origins and orientation.

Feel that guide rope go taut, the first beads of apprehension break out on your forehead and before you know it the chorus of an unseen race surrounds you, those flickering lights you saw in the distance turned out to be a thousand eyes that belong to what can only be described as phantasmic manifestations of absolute intellect. They proceed upon a course we can only glimpse as we scramble over the slippery rocks and try not to lose our footing; it's hard to pick out precisely when this release crept out of the shadows with it's beckoning gesture of seduction. I sense a great threshold being brought into view when I put this one on... there's a feeling of euphoria the further it goes along that perhaps if I play it enough I, too will behold what Olkin Donder did during their journey. An obscure, occult study of what can be felt and is real in every sense of the word except the physical. Perhaps this is what the music is for, it serves as a marker for what my limited human vision cannot perceive.

Whatever the case, this could be the most subversive entry in Xtraplex's catalog yet. This small label doesn't attract much attention but they have now put out eight releases which by now have taken me to places I have to concentrate intently to even attempt literary conveyance. My own ability to compose and create has continually expanded due to what they do and I thank them for it! Again they have somehow managed to set the scene and give it a grandiose sheen of incalculable sonic reflection, how else is it possible that I now look out my now urban window and see those trees once again only this time they appear to be waving; now that I have tuned into their wavelength they can go. Is it all happenstance or are my surroundings more aware of me than I am of them, questions questions questions... May 05 2012