Jordan Saks - In-Lightening

Artist: Jordan Saks

Album: In-Lightening

Genre(s) / Style(s): free jazz, psychedelic rock, experimental, noise

Tracklisting:

1. Drone Aura Method Frenzy - 6:29

2. aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa - Split 12 - 0:40

3. aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa ( All Music Is Live Music ) - 2:20

4. aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa - Split 5 - 1:37

5. aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa ( Audio font ) - 1:22

6. aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa ( Adjectives vs. Actual Experience ) - 1:20

7. aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa ( A Tidal Introfusion ) - 1:13

8. aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa - Split 1 - 1:18

9. This - 0:56

10. I Am Alien - 3:38

11. Venus Fly Trap ( Pirahna ) Flash Back - 2:43

12. a - 2:57

13. The Castles Angels - 3:24

14. Forgotten Dreams with ESP - 2:15

15. The Contorted Creation - 3:21

16. Between Nothing and Infinity - 3:51

17. Butterfly Sleeping Pills - 2:31

18. Five - 8:33

Jordan Saks is a magical wizard hailing from a far-off land called Columbia, Maryland. In this distant, alien realm, he rules not with a scepter, but with a guitar and drum set, commanding the magic of classic hallucinogen abuse and modern, coke-addled tech-wank. Yes, he is a ruling wizard of both extraterrestrial aural tyranny and unique charm and wonder. In-Lightening is a head-scratching journey through a void of confusion, collapse, and, eventually, madness.

The guitar-work on this album is delicate and sounds as if the guitars are floating, nay, wriggling, their way through a clusterfucked ether sea. Sometimes, they get heavy and noisy, almost metal-sounding -- "Forgotten Dreams with ESP" -- while other times they become mellow and jazzy -- all the "aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa" tracks. Still yet, at their most delicate, the guitars chill in ambient drift. The notes drip like water off of Saks' drenched axe. But other times, the guitars shred, and not in the Yngwie Malmsteen way. These parts literally sound like the guitar is being shredded, as with the come-and-go bursts of harsh drone static of "Drone Aura Method Frenzy" -- one of the most frightening album openers I've heard -- or the Merzbow-remixing-some-jazz-tunes of "The Contorted Creation". The guitar is literally all over the place on this album, and Saks will often times go from one style to the other in one song. Above all though, it is extremely unique and well-done; looks like those 15 years of playing guitar really paid off.

Saks has also been playing drums for as long as he's been playing guitar. The result is these spastic, jazzy, improvised patterns that sound as if at any moment the rhythms themselves (were they a concrete thing) would simply fly apart at break-neck speed. Occasionally, they hold a consistent beat, usually as some some top-notch metal drumming or, as a couple times in "Forgotten Dreams" shows, some tremendous hip-hop beats. For the most part, though, it's very hyper and jazz-inspired, and heavily free of form.

The vocal work, when present, consists of Saks babbling out incoherent streams of thoughts that'll have you scratching your head bald. Not to mention all the other weird electronic beats and samples that crawl in and out of some of the songs, or the complete messy mesh of heavily manipulated guitar, voice, and other sounds that pop up as these unexpected walls of layered noise that will also have you balding before your time. There's even a badass sitar briefly in "Castles Angels" and some programmed or sampled (I can't tell which) hip-hop and electronic beats that show up randomly in a few songs just to stop by, smoke your weed, then leave as quickly as they arrived; there are also few bits that straight up remind me of Daft Punk.

The production is surprisingly solid considering it was all recorded in the man's basement. The drums sound really nice and crispy, but manage to be really fragile during the mellow moments and fluttering during the jazz assaults. The guitars are rich and delicate, full and serene, alien and ornate, and neither instrument ever overpowers the other or is washed out by the other hectic whirlwinds of noise that blow through. Overall, In-Lightening has some really nice, clean production that gets lo-fi as fuck when it needs to, although, a substantial amount of this album is curiously mixed in just the left channel.

Jordan Saks conjures up one ridiculous musical voyage of free jazz and old-school psych and prog while bringing some modern math metal and noise influences. The whole thing is scattered and insanely varied, but really fucking hard to follow, not to mention all the "what-the-fuck" moments have led me to completely scratch off my scalp like there was a Mega-Millions jackpot printed on my skull. If you're looking for a total mindfuck of a musical voyage, then this album is right up your alley.

Verdict: 75% - Mind = Fucked.

Try it. (mediafire, 92 MB)