‘Flesh World 1’ by Niku No Sekai is in a metaphoric sense value for money (I’ll explain this further down).
Doom Trip Records from California, US, is a young label and this is their first tape. Although containing just 5 relatively short tracks it’s convincing because these tracks are intense, dense and deep. It is, by any means, a pace-setting debut release and wakes hopes for more of this quality to come.
I’d describe the music as organic ambient. The use of guitar and kalimba besides dreamy and evolving synthesizer sounds is creating an atmospheric melange. My attention was also caught by what sounds like old dictaphone recordings found in the attic.
In short: it’s highly dynamic, rich and varied in sound with a charming lo-fi touch.
But let’s get back to ‘value for money’.
Value for money, because I felt that one actually gets two albums for the price of one.
Two albums because the music is dark and also shining bright, calming and intimate but at the same time creating a certain restlessness.
I can only assume that the ambiguous moods here are a side effect of Niku no Sekai being a musician duo – what I can for sure say though is that it has a lot of refreshing tension in it.
Depending on the listeners mood it offers different levels and layers to listen to, at times it created pictures in my mind of being in a forest but also of a distant thunderstorm or waves rolling onto rocky shores.
You can obtain the tape via Doom Trip Records for a reasonable price and thereby encourage and support a starting up label which will hopefully deliver more fine releases in the future.
All good wishes from my side!