EMERALDS - "Does it look like I'm here?" (Editions Mego)

  Another fantastic release from the Editions Mego label.They are proving to be unstoppable in 2010,and this record is a HUGE addition to their catalog,like most of Emeralds' works.Not unlike their contemporaries OPN,they show a deep love for avant-krautronics of yesteryear - Tangerine Dream,Cluster,Harmonia,Popol Vuh,and some of Brian Eno's ambient works.This Cleveland,OH guitar/synth trio is comprised  of Mark McGuire, John Elliott and Steve Hauschildt.They formed in early 2006,releasing a countless number of CD-Rs and cassette tapes, before settling down into a more conventional pattern of releases under the Emeralds moniker,with all three individual members being involved in a variety of disparate and parallel solo projects.The more recent Emeralds releases, from the 30 minutes of uber-kosmische drone-bliss that is Solar Bridge (Hanson label),to the longer and more fractured,broken sonic experimentation of What Happened (on No Fun),have led to the band being spoken of as figureheads of the somewhat newly dubbed “hypnagogic pop” scene,though the connection is,to be quite honest,rather tenuous,indeed.

Their newest,Does It Look Like I’m Here for the Editions Mego label,sees the trio pushing the Emeralds sound into previously unexplored directions,using an arsenal of new equipment and taking a more structured approach to individual tracks,rather than one single epic composition.Thus resulting in what is quite possibly their most accomplished full-length recording to date.The songs are moving and catchy as ever,with their analog synth-arpeggios climbing atop one another,as if they are racing to the end of the song.Their music is very calculated and precise,but they've got a vicious knack for melody as well,and within these endless layers of electronic pulses and whirling guitars,they will tell a story without ever speaking a single word,but for looping hums and breathy echoing voices.Their blissful drones are deep and heady,uplifting and inspiring,and every second of this record brings you closer to their very BIG finish.Dream inducing.This will put your mind in a totally different place with each listen.Drugs are for pussies.Get into Emeralds.
  Listen to a few tracks:

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