Electric Vibrations

EOS: Fleeting Peripheries

Album Review

Written by: Maxwell Dohman

Through Fleeting Peripheries, EOS has channeled a current of creativity that carries a unified voice like the branching of a river that reconnects downstream. Overflowing with blissful auditory ambiance and captivating arrangements, Fleeting Peripheries will ignite your imagination and summon fond but ever-fading memories. This superpower of the album not only aligns with its title, but also propels Fleeting Peripheries to stand out from the crowd, as such psychological effects are a sign of genuine artistry and heartfelt intention. The other half of the EOS equation sees an immaculate crystallization of style that emerges from persistently pristine sound design. The acoustics protruding from this release are united under an overarching vision that resides in a realm beyond that of genre and music theory. Fleeting Peripheries sculpts emotion by means of texture, timbre, and shifting rhythmic ideas. This focus on the finer aspects of electronic music allows the album's melodies to find balance within the bigger picture and thus contributes to the world-enveloping nature of EOS's music. As Fleeting Peripheries spins, it encapsulates a fondness for this very moment in time and space and culture--a moment we can join in reveling in because it embodies a sort of music-mingling-with-memory experience familiar to us all.

"Vellichor Hourglass" kicks off the album with an omnipotent ode to the flow of time. Serene as the scintillating sands of an hourglass, this opening track acts like sonar for your subconscious, rippling towards long lost memories and reflecting back from the abyss in an apt reminder of the fleeting qualities of life. EOS builds on this nostalgic theme with the SubOcybin collaboration, "Cerulean Souffle." Oozing with tantalizing timbres, this second course delicacy brings to mind the triumphant recall of a scrumptious memory. Subsequently, "Chronic Latency" rips a fissure in the phenomenally smooth waves of time that EOS has been surfing up until now. A shifting, evolving groove serves as the song's backbone, which unleashes surprises around every twist and turn, including one particularly stunning offbeat drop.

"Langued and Flummoxed" harkens back to the blissful atmosphere of the album's introduction, but inoculates the sonic terrain with a scattering rhythm and menacing lead synths which culminate in a dark and confounding, yet exhilarating emotional palette. This treachery bleeds brilliantly into the crunchy and crisp sound design of "Chasm," a crossover with Hoopla. Brimming with sounds that burrow deep into the nooks and crannies within your mind, "Chasm" is a cathartic release for all the temporal stimuli crafted thus far.

Having crossed the midway point, EOS refuses to leave the pocket with "The Tertiary Conundrum," a liquidy slick excursion of ghostly immersion and mellow melodies that blends together swimmingly. For the energetic peak of Fleeting Peripheries, EOS teams up with pheel. on the boisterous "Chrome Oliphaunt." Chalk full of chunky wubs and utterly vibrant hooks, the composition of "Chrome Oliphaunt" basks in its simplicity while the underlying textures allow complexity to bubble up from the depths. The result is a crescendo of the album's meticulous vision and focused vibes swelling into a sonic tsunami that's sure to be fun for the whole family.

Next on deck, "Liberosis" takes the explosive aesthetic freshly untethered by EOS and funnels it into a whirlpool that deconstructs and distills its more delicate ingredients. This daring artistic decision imbues "Liberosis" with a surreal, celestial sense of wonder and childlike awe. The way all the sounds wistfully journey from the center of your awareness into  the peripheries of your perception—now this is truly some magnificent and elegantly-executed handiwork. This gorgeous mood extends into "Apricity," a tranquilly uplifting track alongside Wicker's Portal. Named after the sun's warmth on a wintry day, "Apricity" delivers a marvelous mixture of longing and charm that gains momentum as the song slowly winds down. "That's That," a collaboration with Nyquist, emphatically ends the album with a hefty oofta-la-la that releases all of the residual energy EOS has been masterfully orchestrating since the very get-go of Fleeting Peripheries.

The mesmerizing cover art of Fleeting Peripheries, created by ILL.DES, does justice to the quenching feast of flowing flavors which EOS delivers from the instant you turn on this sonic piece of art, until its last fleeting moments. Depicting a tasty, tangled-in-three-dimensions turntable, ILL.DES nails down the sound of Fleeting Peripheries better than my words ever could, as EOS plays like a magic spiraling synth from the future and yet, somehow, maintains a cohesive, idiosyncratic style across multiple collaborations and a dynamic 38-minute runtime.

To celebrate this powerful addition to the EOS repertoire, Unit1 Events held a release party at a privately-held warehouse in the undisputed Bass Capital of the world—Denver. Many friends joined to celebrate the occasion, which featured performances by Slomato, Mr. Lang, The Glitch Wizard, Yellgnatz, and an electrifying headline set by EOS on the new Fidelity Works sound system. From what I’ve heard, they’ve been importing some rare High Fidelity sound system technology. To add the metaphorical cherry atop the EOS: Fleeting Peripheries album release party, Seity was in the building and threw down a surprise projection-mapping visualizer set. It goes without saying, this Unit1 event was pretty cool.

Fleeting Peripheries represents an exciting time and a place in electronic culture, a milestone in the musical timeline of a generation fueled by rapidly-advancing technology and the ever-developing collective knowledge pool which fuels the great creative symbiosis of our zeitgeist. With Fleeting Peripheries, EOS proves why his blossoming career will be anything but fleeting; and if this artist only exists in the peripheries of your aural airwaves, then you better focus your antennas on the future sound of EOS! 

Review:

Of The Trees Presents: Codex Natura

Saturday March 11, 2023

Boulder Theater

Boulder, CO

By: Christopher J. Nolan

After flying into Denver Saturday afternoon, I drove to Boulder for Of The Trees Presents: Codex Natura Tour. Chmura was playing when I arrived. This was the perfect way to land back in my home in Colorado. Potions was originally slated to play the set time between Chmura and Of The Trees but he fell ill and so Catching Flies (DJ Set) was substituted in lieu thereof. We got to listen to some of the best music out there on Boulder Theater's new L Acoustics sound system. It's earned it's place as one of my favorite venues in Colorado.

I had seen Yheti, Ternion Sound, and Toadface at Boulder Theater a couple weeks before the Codex Natura event. I was blown away by the upgrade to the experience. Boulder Theater is an elegant theater space which typically features GA standing room on the lower floor for electronic events and first come, first served seating in the mezzanine upstairs. I saw Yheti from the floor and took a seat upstairs center left for Of The Trees. Sometimes I just like to listen and watch the show.

Chmura's sub bass was heavy and clean. The L Acoustics subwoofers deliver clear, tight bass which hits you right in the center of your chest. It was euphoric. From upstairs I had a bird's eye view of the visual show which brought the room to life throughout the night, guiding us on a journey. Catching Flies was a different type of set than Potions would have played. Chmura into Potions then Of The Trees would have been a natural progression of music all in the same realm, building energy consecutively throughout the night. Catching Flies took us on something of a musical excursion into a different but related realm. It wasn't what I was expecting but it was still enjoyable for me. I love music.

Where Chmura's tracks are driven by deep, heavy sub notes, dubby synths, and hip hop style grooves, Catching Flies uses higher bass notes in a rhythmic way - more like the way a live bass player keeps the groove in a band. On top of that were uplifting beats and harmonic synthesizer tones contrasted by emotionally woven melodies and chords. It was jazzy. Sometimes we are pleasantly surprised to find something unexpected.

Of The Trees closed out the night with his Codex Natura set. It was heavy and fluid, inspiring perhaps a spiritual experience for some of the attendees. The visuals guided us through an uplifting journey while adding texture and dimension to the experience of the music. It was synesthetic. The shape of the Boulder Theater combined with their new sound system enabled me to hear Of The Trees' music like I've never heard it before. It was very dimensional, the sound design layers constructed a warm geometric energy in the room. I was blown away.

Of The Trees and Yheti are playing Red Rocks 11/12/2023. It may be hard to top the experience of seeing them each headline the newly upgraded Boulder Theater but if anyone can do it, it's them.

-Omn1