Traffik Island : Ghost Notes

Australia-based musician and raconteur Zak Olsen is a man of many musical proclivities. He works out his psych rock muscles in ORB, new wave fun in Hierophants, and whatever moods strikes him in his solo project Traffik Island. And on his latest as Traffik Island the vibe is Italian Giallo, library music, and sun-fried psychedelia.

Released via UK-based Library of the Occult, Ghost Notes feels like a haunted record. Ghostly tracks that groove as hard as they can get weird. It’s the kind of music you’d hear playing on some lost horror/suspense movie playing on some fuzzy channel at 2 am.

Imagine finding one of those Halloween sound effects CDs, then making a groovy 60s style soundtrack out of it. Fuzzy guitars intertwine with jazz-heavy drums and oddball electronics. And maybe even throw in some weird, witchy laughing. Welcome to the world of Ghost Notes.

“Title Scream” opens with synth notes and some wild howl out right out of Creature Feature. Ominous organ and strings come in like some baroque Hammer Films opening. “Fried Fifer” is all groovy 60s noir, like something Lalo Schifrin would have come up with. Killer jazz drum groove comes in, accompanied by some piano and jazz flute(“Hey, Aqualung!”) It’s the perfect primer for the rest of the album.

Elsewhere “Psychedelic Freakout” sounds like its title, wonky electronics sounding like a fax machine on it’s last leg. Of course there’s the killer drum and bass making this song funkier than it has a right to be. “Cathedral Ruins” has a ‘Kill Bill’ feel to it, while “Le Mort” is both menacing and groovy. Touches of early Pink Floyd and Os Mutantes come through here. “Ghost Town” sounds part funeral service, part Brill Building pop. “XXX Ray” closes things out with a sound that feels like The Black Angels scoring Texas Chainsaw Massacre.

Traffik Island’s Ghost Notes may not be for everyone, but those that love library music, late night horror, and 60s Italian psych music are in for a treat.