Yume Bitsu - Auspicious Winds
(K)
Yume Bitsu is a four piece band out of Portland, Oregon. Their first two albums,
Giant Surface Music Falling to the Earth Like Jewels From the Sky and Yume Bitsu
(both released on Ben Goldberg's wonderful BaDaBing! record label), were both
stunning mixes of pop melodies, psychedelic rock, and fuzzed out drone.
Auspicious Winds, their third album, is another great journey through Yume Bitsu's
hazy, tripped-out world.
When I heard that Auspicious Winds was going to be on K Records, I was really
surprised. The label, best known for its straightforward twee-ish pop, was going
to release a totally trippy drone record?! But, I think it's great! It brings
even more variety to a label that is always trying to spread out more musically.
"The Wedding Procession" starts the album off with ebowed guitars layered with
echo and delay, synth washes, and other background noise, creating a thick layer
of sound. After a few minutes, the guitars start playing more discernible parts
with heavy use of delay. The parts intertwine and play off each
other, resulting in a solid pattern. After the pattern is established, the bass
guitar follows suit and lays down a thick low-end rhythm building the song more
and more with each repeat of the guitar's established blueprint. Adam Forkner's
soothing vocals come in followed by light drumming. "The Wedding Procession"
builds intensity as the drumming gets thicker, the vocals drop out, and the guitars
go crazy with dense layers of delay and wah.
"Doctor Trips" is the second song on the album, and is a five minute abstract ambient
improvisation with rain sounds, floating guitars, percussion, and
one clear guitar part being picked. It is the epitome of dreamy bedroom music,
and it fades out as beautifully as it faded in, always leaving me in a blissful
dreamlike state.
After the last to tracks, "Sharp, Twisted" is the perfect song to follow. The
song starts out with warm, fuzzed out, chugging guitars all playing the same solid
chords as Forkner sings "Sharp, twisted. I found you sharp, twisted. I
found you disguised by pain." After the progression repeats for about a minute
and a half, the drums come in and add an even more driving force behind the guitars.
Yume Bitsu are a band I can never get sick of. Much like their first two albums,
I have listened to Auspicious Winds over and over for days at a time, and each listen
has been just as enjoyable and effecting as the first.
The CD version of this great album is available now, and the vinyl version with hand silk-screened covers is due out in December (limited to 500).
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