Last time we heard from California musician Justin Pinkerton it was to discuss his Glass Parallels album Aisle of Light. The psych pop record was a blast of cozy DIY rock and roll that locked into serious late 60s psych pop while paying homage to the Cali psych scene as well. Besides the California psych scene, Pinkerton also jumps into the Italian cinematic music world in his project Futuropaco. His debut as Futuropaco on El Paraiso Records in 2018 was a highlight for me that year, and if you haven’t delved into that I highly recommend that you do.
When I spoke to Justin a couple months ago he’d stated that he had a synthesizer album in the can and that it would be released very soon. Well it seems that time is now, and it’s once again being put out by the mighty El Paraiso Records. Aak’Ab is a gorgeous and serene shot of early 70s German Komische music while also tapping into the magic of Terry Riley, Suzanne Ciani, and contemporary Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith. The results are a buzzing and beeping sonic bath; a therapy session for the mind and spirit I think we could all use.
Lead track “lx Chel” sort of feels like falling into a warm abyss. Pulsating notes cascase from the ether, and as they slow its as if we’re in a free float thru the universe. Morton Subotnick, Terry Riley’s A Rainbow In Curved Air, and watching old astronomy programs on PBS as a kid in the 70s comes to mind while listening to this blissful track.
It’s all there, the tools needed to find some kind of inner peace amongst the chaos of our current days. Warm, analog waves caressing the frontal lobe, enticing you to lock into something greater. That universal hum; the infinite buzz that lies within the circuital noise of raw, unfiltered electronic music. That’s the inner peace I’m after. I may have just found the portal in Justin Pinkerton’s “lx Chel”.
Listen to “lx Chel” below, and then preorder Aak’Ab over at El Paraiso Records. The album arrives September 25th.
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