Cosmic

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I came across the German band The Sun or the Moon by accident (as it often happens) a few months ago. Looking for Pink Floyd covers for the Radio F.L.O.Y.D. programme I came across the composition Julia Dream performed by the above-mentioned new band. This cover combined with a great cover of the then unreleased debut album of the formation made me write down this name to come back to it in the right moment. I am coming back.
When I presented Julia Dream in my broadcast, the album was not yet available. On the band's profile on Bandcamp you could only listen to this very cover and probably one more composition. However, the atmosphere of their version of the Floyd's number captivated me to such an extent that I sensed a similarly positive reception of the whole, so I absolutely did not want to miss this premiere later in the crowd of others. I will, however, start with the aforementioned reworking. Julia Dream is, in my opinion, one of the most underrated Floyd tracks, one of the classic early Floyd, melancholic pieces with a "river and meadow" vibe. In recent years it seems to have finally been noticed, as quite a few new versions have appeared, especially by bands from the psych-stoner-doom scene. Perhaps the one from The Sun or the Moon is the most impressive. The band doesn't seem to stray far from the original in terms of melody, but sifts it through a cosmic-psychedelic filter, and the effect imposed on the vocal gives it a slightly robotic character, which has an interesting effect. And of course it should be mentioned that this two-and-a-half-minute piece in the original takes eight minutes here and not a single second is unnecessary here. This version has instantly become one of my favourite Pink Floyd reworkings.
Fortunately, this is not an album with a fantastic cover and the rest, which does not rise to this level at all. The whole album has a great, as the title suggests, spacey-psychedelic atmosphere, with occasional touches of tribal, Middle Eastern or even electronic music. The album lasts 70 minutes, which under normal circumstances would probably bother me, but this music flows so brilliantly that I don't feel it at all. Suffice it to say that the aforementioned Julia Dream cover - I remind you, eight minutes long - is almost the shortest track on Cosmic. Only the title track opening the album is shorter. It opens in a brilliant, atmospheric and hypnotic way. Here we have a constant, addictive beat, on which the band builds a fantastic atmosphere, balancing on the borderline of electronica, psychedelia, and at times even jazz. Before, in the middle of the album, we get to Julia Dream, another great, bloody atmospheric number, Twisted Kamasutra, led by an insanely sounding bass line. Such psychedelic funk in slow motion. Eldorado is a poem by Edgar Allan Poe. His work in music is usually presented in the form of dark, heavy, gothic rock or metal. And here also this heaviness and darkness can be undoubtedly heard, more than in the earlier compositions. But for contrast there is also a lot of space in some fragments, so the density, heaviness and gothic are present here, but mixed, surprisingly very efficiently, with outer space (or cosmic space - if you prefer).
Then, in the central point of the album, we have the aforementioned Julia Dream cover, followed by Trippin' on Mars, which - in accordance with the title - takes us into space again, although it is impossible not to feel the Middle Eastern climate cleverly combined with these cosmic sounds. And this is where the album could easily end, and if it did, we would be dealing with an excellent, 41-minute record, delighting every second. But there are two more numbers, lasting a total of 29 minutes. And you know what? It's great! It's one of those rare instances where it really doesn't bother me. Although Space Travel Agent, at least by the title, promised to be another hypnotic number based on a steady rhythm and cosmic departures surrounding it, the composition goes into other areas. It is quite calm, melancholic, although at times heavy and dense number, in which on the one hand we have a strongly marked piano theme, on the other hand appearing from time to time heavy guitars. In addition, as always, the expressive bass line, which on this album plays a leading role and is pushed forward in the mix, which undoubtedly benefits the sound. Finally, a composition that is probably not on some of the album releases, but is definitely on the band's Bandcamp. Quicksand is a developed idea from a digital single released some time ago. There it lasted a little over seven minutes, here as much as 19. For obvious reasons, it is not a composition for fans of concrete in music, but you can nicely immerse yourself in this trip-hop-psychedelic atmosphere. What's more, there are also very nice keyboard and saxophone interludes, and the whole thing towards the end gets a nice intensity.
The Sun or the Moon is their debut album, but this is a group of experienced musicians and you can definitely hear it. The music they present here is intriguing, sophisticated, cleverly drawing on proven patterns and mixing them sometimes in ways that are not entirely obvious. In materials concerning the band one can find such names as Pink Floyd, Can, Kraftwerk or Radiohead, in the opinions of listeners I have also seen mention of The Tea Party or Morphine. All in all, the mention of each of these bands in the context of The Sun or the Moon's music definitely stands up for itself, while at the same time it is not a direct carbon copy of any of them. This is probably the biggest asset of this group. They seem to sound familiar, but in their own way. And above all, very well. This will definitely be my top album of this year.

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