Horse Rose Demand to Be Taken to Heaven Alive! [ARTPL-257] Japan Music CD

Product Description
A new pinnacle of contemporary minimalism where precision and physicality intersect, D2BT2HA!, though not a suite in itself, features music that influences and interacts with one another in a complex web of interconnectedness. Horse Lords states, "We like the idea of ??viewing art as a tool for changing perspectives. As something that rotates ideas, allowing us to see, hear, and feel from a different viewpoint." Or, to borrow the words of Swami Satchidananda Saraswati, "To understand is to stand beneath where you already stand." The opening track, "Eureka 378-B," is an arrangement of 19th-century sacred harp music led by the vocals of Guo and Saylor, its melody blossoming outward and building a tonal launching pad for many of the subsequent tracks. The short "Rotations" are fragments of other songs, and furthermore, "transformation algorithms were used to construct parts of the title track 'Brain of the Firm' and 'Second Galactic Utopia.' This allows for a recursive approach... making the compositional scale more ambiguous." The words used in the song titles clearly carry great weight, and D2BTA2H! is no exception. Transcendence and exaltation are inherently built into the workings of this music, and if all art is political, then Horse Lords' orientation is optimistic and communal. Transformation and re-examination are not merely compositional strategies, but also a philosophical attitude, as seen in "A City Yet To Come," the title track, and the references to utopia. In their own words, "We are trying to create music that challenges the status quo and shows listeners the way to liberation. There is a spiritual and ecstatic dimension to the study and exploration of sound and music, and we have deep respect for its impact on individuals and the world." Furthermore, the tension between striving for something beyond reality and the things that make up the reality we live in is not overlooked. "After the Last Sky" is inspired by the poet Mahmoud Darwish's "The Earth Is Closing in on Us," which "uses the example of Palestine to problematize our utopian quest and acknowledge that this quest is built upon a sense of security that is out of reach for many." D2BTA2H! has many layers, both sonicly and conceptually, but because of the undeniable power and humanity of this music, the process of unraveling them is full of enthusiasm and yields great rewards. It is truly rare to find a record that hits the listener right in the heart, yet lands a completely new place each time you listen to it.