Ashtray Navigations - Ink Clouds And Axe Revealer

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4...according to our Phil on Thu 27 Jan, 2011.

The Toddster is back with a new opus made publicly available to you via the modern medium known as CDR especially for you and it's limited to just 100 copies. I missed the first track due to the discussion re album of the week but I'm back on board at track 2 (Secretaries of The Future) which is a synthy proggy affair. Fans of Emeralds, Oneohtrix etc will like this as it's well 70's sounding... Tangerine Dream and whatnots... The album as a whole is a mixed bag of electronic exploration and adventure with a hefty hypnagogic feel about it. There's a nice mix of playful experimentation and cheeky synthy business going on. It's very good actually and one of the better things I've heard from the man. Both fans of electronic music and massive stoners should check this out.

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Synth-a-delic recordings from mid-2010 originally only available at live shows - six new tunes ranging from a bizarre "tribute" to early 80s Paul McCartney to a heavy mellotron and birdsong mash-up. All in all, this CDR is quite in keeping with the analogue/early-digital-fixated "climes" of 2010, when all the Hypnagogos dreamed of a return to the terrors of the 1980s, which has now become a sordid reality as reflected in Cameron and Cleggs' fetid faces.

"I gave Ink Clouds And Axe Revealer about six straight spins ... I was transported back to the mid 70’s and kept uttering names like Froese and Fripp and maybe even Tomita to myself. Somehow they’ve managed to squeeze in Chris Carter along the way too. The psychedelic drone is still in full effect of course with Todd’s guitar soaring away like a high voltage out of control lava lamp but for now it comes wrapped in a 70’s prog keyboard homage. At least on the second track ‘Secretaries of the Future’ it does, which is pure mid 70’s solo Froese and somehow feeds in to the current craze for all things Emeralds keyboard prog. Theres even a hint of some breathy Florian Schneider flute sounds. ‘Horn Progress Affectation’ even goes and outdoes Emeralds stringer McGuire in the melody stakes - its a dual guitar duel with high end electric guitar dabs producing notes of short star like blink quality over a bed of keyboard note melody - theres a bit of Pussyfooting Fripp in there too. Erased by Ornithology, Incorporation Pop and Faxing sit in more familiar Ash Navs territory whilst last track Sponge isn’t a million miles away from Throbbing Gristles AB/7A. A bit like AB/7A meets Walter Wanderely in fact.
These six tracks and thirty minutes worth are what keep bringing me back to Ashtray Navigations. Not a bad track, not a bad second of work, endlessly listenable, totally rewarding. An impressive achievement. I’m a fan. I’ll always be a fan. No doubt some label is queueing up the vinyl reissue already. Bring it on. " - Idwal Fisher

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