SMOKING SOUNDS…Music to Smoke to
Because music is the perfect pair with cigars!
Artist: Glass Beams
Album(s): Mirage & Mahal (2 EPs)
Cigar: Blackbird El Caballo 500 Lonsdale
In this edition of Smoking Sounds I am listening to Glass Beams, a trio of artists hailing from Melbourne, Australia draped in secrecy behind their beaded masks. Their sound is influenced by their Indian roots, best described as serpentine psychedelic that fuses Western and Eastern sounds. Their music is dual serving, you can drift off by yourself or converse with a friend as it serves as a calm background sound or you can submerge yourself deeply into it, picking up all the sharp and nuanced sounds. If I had to describe their sound, I would say it’s like a DJ mashed up a blend of trip-hop beats and Bollywood sounds, but performed by a live band…Perhaps my love for Dan the Automator and his masterpiece of “Bombay the Hard Way” heavily influenced my draw to Glass Beams and mindstate for this review… Maybe I will get into that in another Smoking Sounds.
I chose both of their EPs for this Smoking Sounds session as they are both short enough (hence the EP) to be listened to within an hour and both mesh into a seamlessly continued vibe that gives you the feel of a full length album. Despite being 3 years apart, with Mahal being released this year, I would describe the listening experience to that of a cinematic score for a secret agent movie that sets place around an Arabian hashish den.
Starting off with the Mirage EP, the opening track (Mirage) instantly haunts you with a vocal chant that sounds like a Native American summoning ancestral spirits, followed by an enchanting snake charming guitar riff and a funky, slow rolling bass line like you’d hear on a 70’s Blaxploitation score. The percussions are a blend of light rattlesnake cymbal hits and well timed dream sequence chimes, the drum beat has a Funky Drummer, hip hop sample sound (shoutout to Clyde Stubblefield – James Brown’s drummer) that completes the East/West sound mesh. The track transports you into a smokey hashish den and induces you into a psychedelic trance. After that track you are pulled from the deep trance to a bit more of an awakened, mind- expanding sound that slowly continues to lift you up to a more high-flying out of body sound.
Into their new EP Mahal, the title track keeps the same vibe but takes on a more aforementioned cinematic vibe…Like your cruising through the dusty, desert country-side in a vintage Mercedes Gazelle. You again hear those haunting vocal chants that chase you through your journey. The following tracks continue with this vibe of an exciting, fast paced, dramatic chase but staying within the funky, laid back Arabian sounds and not getting too wild or out of element. There is a slower track in Snake Oil that breaks up the pace to bring your heart rate back down with the feel of visiting a sweltering hot desert oasis for a refreshing drink, only to find yourself engulfed in a mind-altering mirage. Which I am just now, in writing this, see how fitting the EPs names Mirage and Mahal are to their sound.
You can listen to Glass Beams here on Spotify:
