Bitchin Bajas / Faceplant - Split

Aaaaah, this is lovely. A pretty limited (edn of 600) split between Bitchin Bajas (CAVE's Cooper Crain) and Faceplant (Peaking Lights' Aaron Coyes). The sleeve has a big picture of a massive bud of skunk on each side, and there's a really crap photocopied poster instead of sleeve notes so you don't really get any information besides the names of the songs and artists. Not that you need to know a lot really, besides the fact that this is a record best enjoyed when accompanied by a massive bud of skunk. We've got two long tracks from each artist here. The Bitchin Bajas side is a totally soothing affair, with layers of synth drones and arpeggios creating a shimmering voyage into the cosmic ether. The pacing of his work is beautifully gauged and his side is mega therapeutic stuff. As far as the current rash of pure synth types go, Mr Bajas is levitating pretty at the head of the pack with a big greasy spliff drooping from his lips. Flip it and things get a little darker. I've always thought 'Faceplant' sounds like the name of a totally lame beatdown metalcore band or something but what Monsieur Coyes is providing us with here is in fact much more on the glacial trance/techno side of things. In the first one, 'Ride the Ether', there's a repetitive bass hook and a really minimal drum line over which some squelchy, echoey synths carve out swathes of tone alongside a crisper top end synth melody. The second one, Dickie Domecon, has a total monged out electro vibe like Herbie Hancock on downers, with dubby swooshes and a repetitive melody. Rhythmically this is the more interesting of the two Faceplant offerings but its thermostat is still set firmly in 'chill' territory. No fucking around here, both sides of this split are fantastic. Put your feet up, get your chong on and indulge.