Title: Denis Johnson EP
Cat #: THEMA 8.8
Format: WAV, 320MP3
Track Samples:
1. Prologue (Jesus Son)
2. Already Dead (A California Gothic)
3. Tree of Smoke
4. Resurerction of a Hanged Man
5. The Lurps (Pillar of Fire)
6. Epilogue Fiskadoro
7. Already Dead [Ernesto Ferrerya Reinterpretation]
SoundCloud:
http://soundcloud.com/thema/sets/thema- ... ohnson-ep/
t’s a beautiful thing when you follow your passion: things once thought unattainable come into view, life’s peripheral wisdom inserts itself into your everyday existence. More lovely still is when said passion leads you to all sorts of wonderful people who share in the same. Pablo Roman Alcalá aka Beaner, not only shares this, but he also appears to have taken our very name to heart. Functioning as a truly thematic mini album, Denis Johnson draws both it’s name and inspiration from the legendary author who penned Jesus’ Son, Angels and many other works of brilliant, hallucinogenic fiction. With a bevy of great tracks and EPs on District of Corruption and the notorious Bar25, Alcalá has already developed a dissonant and melodic sound that stretches old dance music tropes out until they collapse into other dimensions. We’re very excited to have him on Thema [Digital] to channel his more oblique transmissions into our shared reality.
Nuclear holocaust, military vision quests, small town Catholicism, a revelatory heroin overdose… this, collectively, is the literary tackle Beaner is taking his cues from. So it should be of no surprise to find a strain of blissful desperation running through these meticulously modeled vignettes. Each piece builds upon a theme of alienation, and the clarity that it—and ingesting massive amounts of controlled substances—can bring. The hazy “Prologue: Jesus Son” opens with actual snippets of Johnson’s prose before doing what Alcala does best: weaving simplicity into calm disorientation. “Already Dead (A California Gothic)” presents a reality fractured and nervously reassembled around deep tubular bass frequencies. A modular growl slithers along, holding together “Tree of Smoke” on it’s slow trip to the dance floor. “Resuscitation of a Hanged Man” features vocals that actually float like vapor over the woozy low end among the wind. As we stumble towards the end, the soft croon of “The Lurps (Pillar of Fire)” provides the perfect soundtrack to your next after-after-after-afterhours party (the one where everyone is on the horizontal). Closing things out, “Epilogue: Fiskadoro” is best enjoyed alone, eyes closed as the broken rhythm washes away with a recessive melody. As a helpful appendix to this body of work, Ernesto Ferreyra returns to Thema to add a generous, spacious remix of “Already Dead-reinterpretation” that injects the original with some more heat and a gorgeous eerie organ line—this one is huge.
Text by: Chris Malec
Cheers,
Thema Crew
Mastered by Dietrich Schoenemann at Complete Mastering
Available on Beatport, Whatpeopleplay, Junodownload, Halcyondigi.com
Official website: www.themarecordings.com
nice ernesto's remix!