#M Eugene Lemcio

[thesunlounge]

Reviews 283: The Lemko Unlimited Orchestra

Balearic is perhaps best known for their epic compilations…these expertly selected, masterfully sequenced, and gorgeously presented collections that follow on in the spirit of the José Padilla-curated Café del Mar volumes and React’s Real Ibiza series. As well, the label has put out a string of digital singles, some of which rank among my favorite releases from the past few years (see Bartosz Kruczyński’s remix of Sacha Puttnam’s “Abraham’s Theme,” all three The Madrigal releases, and Miskotom’s Midnight Baddie, which for me is something of a chill-out masterpiece). Now in 2019, Balearic has dropped their first vinyl single, which comes in the form of Pathways / K.G.E.T. by The Lemko Unlimited Orchestra. Followers of the label are no doubt familiar with The Lemko Unlimited Orchestra, as the producer’s beachside interpretation of Inner City’s “The Good Life” featured on Balearic 2 (under the name Eugene Tambourine). For Pathways / K.G.E.T., he returns again to the well of certified classics, presenting inspired mash-ups and transformative re-imaginings of Fingers Inc.’s “A Path” and Ralph Macdonald’s “The Path” (as “Pathways”) and The Nite Liters all-time funk stunner “K-Jee” (as “K.G.E.T.”). The resulting tracks are expansive journeys in ethnological hand percussion, old skool house, and steamy jazz fusion, with kaleidoscopic rhythms bouncing through thick jungle growth, basslines working the body, electronic keys riffing, synth leads melting, pianos falling like rain, woodwinds blowing dreamspells, and soulful vocals scatting twilight magic. Best of all, the tracks are backed by a DJ dubs that have been fine tuned for maximum dancefloor ecstasy and the entire package is unified by a dynamic mixing job from Darshan Jesrani.

The Lemko Unlimited Orchestra - Pathways / K.G.E.T. (Balearic, 2019) Crickets chirp amidst layered world percussion at the beginning of “Pathways,” with tightly wound hand drums rolling over deep conga vocalisms. Hi-hats hiss and sticks keep time as piano arpeggios drift down from the sky, with their shimmering melodies eventually backed by sprightly xylophones. Four-four kick drums, cow bells, and skittering shakers move alongside a marauding synth bassline, resulting in an evocative combination of vintage deep house and mystical rainforest sorcery. Spectral atmospheres and phaser hazes swirl across the stereo field and pianos bang ecstatically while new age pan-pipes flutter amidst chiming starlight. Elsewhere, during a moment when the anxious layers peel back, idiophones walk through a jazzy nightscape, piano chord clusters converse with ivory-sourced ocean hazes, and minimal rhythms evoke beachside jungle romance, with woodwinds dancing through cinematic motions. We then burst into a passage of urgent rhythmic energy and morphing synthesizer leads, wherein the bass thuds deeply as it abandons the jacking house energies in favor of primal body magic. Returning to the jungle house prowl, futuristic keyboards drop minimal riffs as fusion solos blur into a psychedelic swirl…all while hi-hats work between urgent pulses and laid back glides. And though it’s already so infectious and transportive, the best is yet to come, as near the end of the track, Yevhem Bubon enters, first scatting alone amidst a vibrant world of rhythm, then cooing soulfully above exotica flute leads, mallet instruments, and melting electronics.

In “K.G.E.T.,” reversing loops background bells and windchimes until the kick drum enters, thudding powerfully as keyboards drop further fusion riffs. A low slung tribal groove develops, with deep earthen bass energies underlying balafons that seem to skip across rippling light waves. Filtering riffs fire wildly as hand drums fall into polyrhythmic madness and once the jacked out bassline emerges, everything seems to swing along hypnotically, with cymbals increasing in strength and idiophones dancing on clouds. There’s a delirious moment where it all devolves into freaky jazz percussion weirdness, only to quickly slam back into all out groove hypnosis, where squelching future funk electronics suck backwards while mind-piercing bell tones flit above mid-bass chord play. Aquatic solos flow deep in the ether as ethnological percussion locks into a forest ceremonial and in something of an early climax, dream house keyboards mutate then climb towards the stars in flamboyant disco perfection. Later, acid lines gurgle across the spectrum and pianos run joyously up and down the scale before an eruption into bluesy synth solo histrionics, all hypnotic sunbeam spirals and 70s fusion runs sparkling through the night. Behind the subdued solo pyrotechnics, rhythms pulse and transform…as if overcome by manic groove euphoria. And at the end of the track, every instrument locks together for blazing ascents that overflow with prog rock flamboyance.

As for the DJ dubs, “Pathways (Version)” strips back the rhythmic layers, leaving just sparse congas, hi-hats, and stick clicks. That massive house bassline enters and we spend the rest of our time vibing out in world of snake charmer rattles, Latin jazz percussion, interstellar electronics, and deep beat grooves, while bells jingle softly in the distance. Elements of the mix sometimes flow through gaseous reverb and delay fx, which creates dubwise tracers amidst the sacred rhythmic minimalism, and occasionally, the skeletal dancefloor energies are broken up by soulful vocalisms, with Bubon’s doo wop scats drifting dreamily above a zoner club workout. Imagine a mythical danceloor sitting within a jungle of eternal night…a dark and sensual place of sweat and euphoria, with sinister animals observing the ecstatic body motions from the edge of the forest while the stars glow strangely overhead. For “K.G.E.T. (Version)” cymbals and bells are moved by haunted winds amidst reversing electronics. Kick drums pulse and shakers sit loudly in the mix…their rattling tones panning ear-to-ear as e-pianos drop spaceage riff patterns. Wild rhythmic energies flow around, with congas holding it down while various other percussive devices mimic the sounds of insects and amphibians. And as the song progresses, pianos flow in and out of the polyrhythmic panorama and gonzo acid lines work the mind into a psychosonic trance…as if Afro-cosmic music has been reduced to its essential rhythmic soul.

(images from my personal copy)