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jasonblack · 4 years

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Robert “ÆOLUS” Meyers and The Forgotten Beginnings of Hawaiian New Age

Since 2010, Aloha Got Soul has made waves by mining Hawaii’s undiscovered musical past. With its first two LP releases, the Honolulu-based rare soul label run by Roger Bong has reissued forgotten gems like Mike Lundy’s 1980 funk-soul album, The Rhythm of Life and Aura’s self-titled disco debut.

For its third full-length release, Bong, 29, has decided to broaden his original vision for Aloha Got Soul beyond 1970s and 1980s funk, soul and disco jams from the Islands to include electronic music. One night back in 2014, Bong was browsing on the ambient blog and record label Sounds of the Dawn when he came across ÆOLUS’ ethereal second album, Rays. Digging into it further, he realized that Global Pacific, the New Age label that originally released the record, had at one time been based in Hawaii.

“I jumped around the room for a few minutes, freaked out about finding ÆOLUS’ music and the notion of a New Age or experimental scene in Hawaii,” he recalls. “Until then, I’d only been familiar with ‘70s and ‘80s jazz and soul.”

With his new find in mind, Bong got Robert Myers’ phone number straight from Sounds of the Dawn and reached out to ÆOLUS himself. Together, over the next two years, they collaborated on a comprehensive retrospective of Myers’ four solo works including 1982’s Aeolian Melodies, 1985’s Rays, 1989’s The Magician and 1993’s High Priestess. The result is a 13-track magnum-opus: ÆOLUS: A Retrospective.

The idea of experimental electronic music in Hawaii, specifically New Age, sounds like an exotic curiosity. In truth, there was no local scene to speak of at the time, as Bong himself points out in the release’s liner notes: “One might assume that ÆOLUS carved a new path for electronic music in Hawaii, but the islands never quite fully embraced the burgeoning New Age scene that ÆOLUS found himself a part of during the 1980s and early 1990s.”

Yet, even though ÆOLUS was charting his own creative course, Hawaii always been known as a diverse cultural and musical mecca: an open-minded and accepting safe haven where East meets West in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Musically speaking, jazz, funk, soul, rock, reggae, and traditional Hawaiian music all mix and mingle together to inspire all kinds of artists, create a laid-back island vibe and most of all, reinforce a strong sense of welcoming togetherness or “ohana” (Hawaiian for “family”).

“On the surface, you could say it's the natural beauty and the warm people,” Bong agrees. “Dig a little deeper and I’d say it’s ‘Aloha spirit’ that inspires so many artists here in Hawaii.”

In 1975, when he was 22, Myers transferred from San Diego State University to the University of Hawaii to study ethnomusicology and to surf. Over the next two years, he immersed himself in world music including specific study in sitar, shamisen, hula, South Indian singing, Javanese gamelan, and even Middle Eastern ensemble. He notes that, “Most important, at the time, was my introduction to shamanism and how [shamans] were the holders of not only the music of a culture, but the spiritual and cultural epicenter of any given people.”

In his spare time, he surfed all over Oʻahu, hiked through the mountains and down into the lush, green valleys, and ultimately, “was exposed to the culture and the unflinching beauty that is Hawaii.”

In addition to his ongoing academic studies in world music, he discovered and was inspired by visionary electronic and New Age artists of that era including Vangelis (Specifically China), Jean Michel Jarre, Brian Eno, Philip Glass and Giorgio Moroder, among others.

In the years following graduation, he became an accomplished working musician playing bassoon for the Honolulu Symphony as well as flute and percussion for other groups around town. He was a leading member of the local avant-garde performance arts scene as well as presenting his own solo work and collaborative concerts throughout the Islands.

“I was not a part of the greater island music scene at least not the clichéd island scene,” he says. “I was a member of isolated music scenes on O’ahu and the outer islands.” Ultimately, you can hear ÆOLUS — and all of his early musical influences — on A Retrospective. Standout selections like the contemplative constellation, “Orion” leads you on a deep journey inward with echoing flute and reverberating synth. Then, the meditative “Mystery of Music Park” wafts like a love song to reassure your senses. Next, “Archangel Michael” heralds the breaking dawn with resounding trumpet-like synth stabs. It’s heady, late-night headphone listening — and totally transportative.

Now, Myers, 63, lives in Portland, Maine and works as a counselor and psychotherapist, as well as continuing his passion for music on various side projects. But it’s been exciting to connect with Bong and bond over Hawaii and his early electronic compositions—and collaborate on this exclusive Aloha Got Soul reissue. “Roger has been a joy to work with,” Myers says. “He’s very musically informed and impeccable in his business acumen. His mission to bring forward undiscovered and underexposed Hawaiian music to a wider audience is inspired and genuine. I’m honored that Roger found me and I’ve been enlivened by his energy and diligence for our collaboration.

Bong, who’s busy right now working on an upcoming Aloha Got Soul documentary (set for a release in late summer or early fall), agrees: “Robert has been positive, insightful and very responsive all the way through. I only wish we lived closer so we could hang out more often.

He adds: “I think fans of Aloha Got Soul are curious because this is a real departure from our previous releases. My hope is to expand the Aloha Got Soul imprint, as well as expand the perspectives that people might have of AGS and of Hawaii.”

“So far, the response to the record has been spectacular,” Myers affirms. “It’s been a dream come true to breathe new life into this music.”

#hawaiʻi #aloha #ambient #music #electronic #hawaiian #records #vinyl

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thesunlounge · 5 years

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Reviews 259: Robert ÆOLUS Myers

In 2017, Hawaiian archivists Aloha Got Soul released A Retrospective, introducing me and many others to ambient starmaster and spiritual healer Robert ÆOLUS Myers. Existing within the broader new age tradition though also standing apart from it, ÆOLUS’ music is borne of deep communion with nature and the exploratory possibilities of electronic synthesis, with fluttering arpeggiations, dreamwave sequences, and ethnological rhythms supporting cloudform symphonies and mystical flute improvisations. And though those descriptors could apply to any number of indistinct massage parlor soundtracks, ÆOLUS has always maintained that he makes “new age music to wake up to,” with an intense focus on helping the listener realize their inner sense of truth. Going beyond this, his music exudes a sense of magical adventure, and the sonic universes that unfold across A Retrospective work as well for soundtracking fantasy kingdom explorations, starscape space journeys, twilight jungle dances, underwater forest treks, and psychedelic vision quests as they do for therapeutic purposes. So even though new age is a fair description for the work of ÆOLUS, I sense a closer sonic kinship with the Hearts of Space sound centered around artists such Michael Stearns, Kevin Braheny, and Steve Roach as well as Klaus Schulze’s Innovative Communication, especially Software’s work with flautist Toni Schneider.

To better understand ÆOLUS’ sonic world, it helps to trace his artistic path, which began with playing clarinet as a teenager in Ohio and bassoon during his studies at San Diego State. Like many California-based surf rats of the time, Myers was lured to the sparkling waves and paradise beaches of Hawaii, where he also played drums and completed a degree in ethnomusicology. Following this, he abandoned the world of percussion to join the Honolulu Symphony as a bassoonist, a setting which proved important to a developing experimental, new age, and space music scene in Hawaii driven by Jai Ma Music and Global Pacific Records. Indeed, the Honolulu Symphony also provided work for violinist Steve Kindler and his brother Bob, a cellist and audio engineer who would go on to produce and collaborate on many of Jai Ma’s and Global Pacific’s early records, including ÆOLUS’ Aeolian Melodies and Rays. And for while, it must have seemed like Hawaii was on the verge of establishing a fertile creative community, one that also included avant-garde sound artist Nelson Hiu and guitarist Paul Greaver. But it was not to be, for when Global Pacific uprooted and moved to California, many of the musicians followed, and once Hiu departed for Hong Kong in 1985, ÆOLUS was left on the islands to chart his own artistic path through the cosmos.

The years since that dizzying period of collaborative creativity have seen Myers furthering his studies of devotional music and indigenous cultures while also continuing to release albums and perform live through a variety of contexts, including dance pieces and theater performances. And his talents in sonic healing have never stopped developing and now find broader expression through the practice of depth psychotherapy in the “alchemical tradition of Jung.” Which brings us to Talisman, a new and lovingly curated retrospective and re-interpretation project released by Origin Peoples. In keeping with the label’s tendency towards the left-hand path, this 2xLP set is unlike most archival compilations and augments its collection of previously released tracks from The Magician and High Priestess with an unreleased dreamscape, a breathtaking live performances from New York City in 1987, and most striking of all, contemporary interpretations of ÆOLUS’ music by K. Leimer, Pharaohs, Dreems, and Lieven Martens Moana. Thus Talisman both compliments A Retrospective and shows the ways in which Myers’ art has reverberated out through time, providing seeds for everything from fractal foam kosmische to jazz folk balearica to mutating deep house to fourth-world sonic collage.

Robert ÆOLUS Myers - Talisman (Origin Peoples, 2019) “Oracle,” coming from 1993’s High Priestess, sees universal bass currents pulsating with ominous intent while being swirled around by cosmic breaths. Kalimbas and bell-chimes decay across spacious expanses before blooming into mermaid choirs and a fourth world rhythm ritual fades into being, built around rimshot cascades, tom tom ceremonials, white noise shakers, and ethnological hand drums transformed into exo-planetary fluids. Overheard, alien pan-pipes slide in ways that defy logic and feedback vapors arc across the sky...all while synthesized orchestrations glow with ethereal shadow energy. “High Priestess” follows with wisps of spectral feedback swimming through the void as string synthesizers fade in, with Schulze-ian viol reveries flowing above swelling cellos and contrabass drones. As threads of cosmic melancholia wrap around the body, a simple and obscured drum rhythm emerges, generated by tribal tom tom pulsations and danced over by synthesized idiophones and exotic music box lullabies. Atmospheres of psychotropic minimalism and exotica are repurposes for space age exploration, with flashes of cold blue light moving within the miasma of galactic sound. At some point the mood changes drastically and the air grows humid and tropical as propulsive hand drums pan across the mix. Afro idiophonics are joined by pinging Berlin school arpeggiations and knocking percussive tones while electro-claps crack through reverb caverns and all throughout the mix, bending woodwinds weave rainforest incantations and majestic string hazes obscure the dances of mysterious jungle fauna.

As far as I can tell, Talisman is the first place “Dreamscape from the Night Kitchen” has appeared and the piece starts with crystalline strands of new age liquid floating within a haze of angel synthesis. Arpeggiations dance through exotic lullaby patterns and hand drums are heard through soft liquid layers while ominous currents of bass energy swell in and out of the mix. Hypnagogic hallucinations and moonlight forest rituals are evoked by ÆOLU’S flute performance as longform breaths of melodic mysticism evolve into sprightly elven dances. Colorful prism formations refract unseen light sources throughout the background, generating chiming decays that flutter through reverb oceans. And there’s a distinct sense of sitting within some spiritual sci-fi cavern where liquids made of glass drop into glowing pools of ether. As the track progresses, it sometimes floats in a relaxing state of hypnosis, while at other times, things move with a mysterious sense of purpose as subsonic pulsations hint at a dark ambient ceremony. Then in “Sunset,” taken from 1989’s The Magician, wisps of white light swim through cricket chirps while a zheng weaves dreamy rainbow incantations encompassing bending plucks and harp-like waterfalls. Spectral vapors move across the stereo field and sometimes blend seamlessly into the continuous insect orchestrations while up above, flutey synths lock into a sequential fantasy bounce. The vibe is transportive, otherworldly, and aligns with the recent work of Meitei in the sense that futuristic atmospheres are transformed into ancient sonic environments.

Another track exclusive to Talisman is “Embrace,” presented as live version from 1987 in New York City that perfectly exemplifies what a powerful performer ÆOLUS was. Aqueous synth waves splash across the spectrum while a universal hum of drone modulation flows through the stereo field. Bleary piano chords decay over the watery ambiance and their freeform fantasias, atonal note clusters, and gentle jazz adventures drift eternally throughout the track. Heavenly atmosphere flow in, though distorted and threatening to spill over into white light feedback and bass textures grow increasingly present and unsettled…their fast motion vibrato wobbles disturbing the hallucinatory float. Feedback melodies scream across the sky as everything momentarily swells together while elsewhere, mermaid pan-pipes dance through future ocean kingdoms and childlike sea-spirits join the new age sound bath with wordless choral ecstasies that float upwards on unseen sea currents. Eventually, intimately blown flutes journey across the mix with overlapping dream enchantments and fragile melodies that hover in place before dispersing like a mirage. And for the rest of the track’s length, ÆOLUS executes a breathtaking trade off between mystical woodwind magic and shrieking blasts of feedback euphoria…all proceeding through an underwater paradise of pianos, choral arias, and subsuming synth fogs.

The first reinterpretation of ÆOLUS’ work comes from K. Leimer, who presents his “Temporary & Indefinite” edit of “Environment.” Sequential synth bubbles float through space foam fuzz and Cluster-leaning lullabies are smothered in a fourth world heatwave haze. Controlled clicks, static pops, and unidentifiable scrapes float through that air while industrial hums, factory drones, and machine breaths set the stage for blissed out tapestries of smeared brass and vocals…these wisps of symphonic magic emerging from nothingness and growing into shimmering baths of sonic transcendence, with melodic movements paying tribute to the sunrise. Everything is blurry and indistinct…as if seen through a polychrome fog...while bell tones decay and trace behind them harmonious trails of light. Scraping strings are beamed in from a faraway galaxy and layered cellos sweep the heart to lands of fantasy romance before pulling away into silence, leaving the body afloat in a void of burning ambiance and vibrating metal. Spare shaker rattles hit and percussive detritus floats while orchestral swells grow increasingly distorted, eventually giving over completely to bowed string tonalities. Deep in the ether, tamburas are manipulated into droning insect psychedelia and FM crystals melt into liquid lightforms before everything morphs into a methodical fade out of Indian drone mysticism…like Pandit Pran Nath playing from within a black hole.

It’s mostly been silence from the Pharaohs camp since the release of 2017’s In Oeland, but they make a welcome return here with their “Sadhana Environment (Mana Mix)”. Crashing cymbals introduce sun-soaked folk guitar energetics while tropical bass synths wiggle through water waves and acidic bubbles blow in a warm breeze. Electric guitars loop hypnotically high in the sky before giving way to solar synthesis and layers of hand percussion dance through sea-spray…all while sampled waves crash to shore. Synthetic tones of plucked crystal weave equatorial dream melodies, jazzy acoustic guitar solos move in counterpoint to the jaunty riffs, and heatwave swells cycle all around as feedback tracers drop globs of rainbow glass. At some point, otherworldly vocalisms enter…that characteristic and wholly unique way that Pharaohs uses the human voice…mystical, tribal, joyous…with wordless scats and LSD babbles floating within a cloud of balearic exotica. Electric guitar mantras slide towards the sky over prog fusion basslines and kick drums and crashing static cymbals enter at some point, giving the groove a more defined shape. It’s a swaying jam through aquamarine tide pools, wherein smoldering six-string blues solos are repurposed into island paradise magic while vibrant cymbal splashes and pulsating drum fills join together for a narcotizing ocean jazz groove out.

Dreems’ “Natürliche Liebe” remix of “Sadhana Environment” sees a four-four beat underlying glowing glass windchimes and robotic house basslines, all thick tubular tones jacking upwards. Strange sonic vapors and bodies of incandescent gas flow alongside jungle frog squelches, hand drums bounce off of neon palm fronds, marbles made of electricity oscillate out of control, and glowing hypo-sequences join together with skittering noise textures to generate a double-time pulse while a feverish theme plays out on drunken pad modulations. New age mermaid choirs are transmuted into deep house hypnosis as martial snare rolls portend some dark club explosion, but Dreems subverts this expectation by cutting away all rhythms, instead leaving the body to float amongst silvery chime strands, aqueous bass euphorias, galactic lasers, and deep space spirit communications. Eventually, we flash into a minimal expanse of drug dance magic, wherein kick drums and flubby basslines are accented by rolling hand percussion, pinging echo fx, and fractal smears. Claps and snares give the militant stomp a swinging sense of groove while post-modernist dub panoramas rattle around the mix…a sort of Chain Reaction-style weirdness abstracted even further into extra-terrestrial sorcery. Heatwave pads introduce another rhythmic drop, wherein cave liquids, disjointed snaps, universal bass pulsations, and industrial chants waver through dream mutations. And as a crazed starlight sequence fades in from nothingness, the kicks resume their march beneath post-house cymbal fire and mutant acid stabs.

The final version of “Sadhana Environment” comes in the form of Lieven Martens Moana’s “Oahu Suite,” which proceeds like a hallucinatory collage tied together by birdsong and insect chatter. Contrabass drones fade in from the center of existence and generate waves of La Monte Young-style minimalism, which fade into arcs of bowed metal and space sirens evoking the piercing communications of 2001’s monolith. Scraping textures and feedback noises swim through bodies of water while radiophonic explorations devolve into burning waves of laser light. Sickly waverings and mosquito buzzes flow through tremolo transformations as bulbous bass clouds waver into the void. Shadow visions of hand percussion develop into rainforest drum rituals and Shepard-Risset glissando fx scream across the sky, with everything fading out as soon as it begin. Back in the world of primitive electro-experimentation, caterwauling static blends into dark liquids lapping against an alien shore and vibratory metal abstractions are smothered in ringing reverb as they swell into a towering noise assault, which then gives way to a dreamwaltz through deep sea forests. Machine spirits laugh and sing, pianos are mimicked by ring modulators, and “High Priestess” is evoked through a cloud of smoke while elsewhere, timpani drums, horror string cascades, and marimba exotics are destroyed by blasts of searing noise. Towards the end, we return to the bowed string fantasias…the deep and methodical double bass energies now joined by melodious cellos weaving glorious dawn incantations. And as it all comes to a close, waves crash to shore and birds sing in the sky.

(images from my personal copy)

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