October 9, 2020

The Smiling Buddhas "Atacama" - CDR/Digital

"Atacama" - the second aural travelogue by The Smiling Buddhas!

The Smiling Buddhas "Atacama"
code: 1201-16
release date Feb. 2012
format: CD/Digital
style: ambient, soundtrack, IDM

"Atacama" - the second aural travelogue by The Smiling Buddhas!

A musical journey through the beautiful Atacama desert in Chile & Peru.
"Atacama" starts with "Walking Through The Desert Near Palpa (Hitched a ride in a battered collectivo in the end)". The piece starts with very high frequencies (out of a Roland JD-800) to finish with a rolling beat. First heat, too much sun, aching legs, thirst but at the end I've got a nice ride in a collectivo (taxi) watching the landscape passing by. "On The Moon On Earth (Valle de La Luna)“ points out the cosmological spirit of the ancient dwellers. "Ghost Towns On The Coast Of Guanera" is a hymn to the ocean, the wind, the albatros but brings us also in mind that the richness of a region through guano is history. "Flying On A Bus (Night Bus from Tacna to Nasca)" is the final tune of the travelogue. We never felt as close to death as on this crazy bus ride from Tacna to Nasca.

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While it is frequently hard to associate the colder electronic sounds explored on "Atacama" with the deserts of South America, this darkly atmospheric second album from The Smiling Buddhas contains more than a few interesting moments. (Chris Downton / Cyclic Defrost), Fast meditative Klangflächen, imposante elektronische Wellen, einige harmonische Melodie-Passagen, dazwischen aufheulende Dissonanzen und Beats, denen naturgemäß eher selten ein ungebrochener Verlauf gegönnt ist, veranschaulichen im Weiteren diese faszinierende Reise. (Bruno Jaschke / Wiener Zeitung), ....

THE SMILING BUDDHAS are: Hun-Fa-Di: electronics
John Fitzpatrick: electronics