NAGUAL - LES AILES DE LA PERCEPTION

After satiating his wild streak by delivering some of the craziest and strangest electronic meets classical albums ever recorded with his first three releases and then a one in a million collaborative effort with the whacky surrealist Salvador Dalí, IGOR WAKHÉVITCH began to mellow out a bit as he increasingly journeyed off to India to study the mystical practices of yoga and Vedic texts and teachings. WAKHÉVITCH was also increasingly writing scores that would accompany the visual choreography of Carolyn Carlson along with the National Opera of Paris Group of Theatrical Researches. He continued writing massive works for plays, ballets and operas that would accompany. Only a small bit of these scores were ever recorded and released however WAKHÉVITCH started releasing samples on "Les Fous D'Or" and followed suit on his fifth album NAGUAL (LES AILES DE LA PERCEPTION), in English translated as "Nagual (The Wings Of Perseption).

Once again NAGUAL featured small snippets of much longer pieces extracted from two hours of music and was performed under the title "Human Called Being" which would be presented to the Empress of Iran, Farah Palhavi at the International Festival of Shiraz-Persepolis. The term NAGUAL means "master of the consciousness" in the Toltec language and once again WAKHÉVITCH delivered deep philosophical meanings through sound that according to him delivered the occult side of nature and conscious energy from the form of dreams that found physical form in our 3D construct. Heavy, man! Can't say i get that listening to this but whatever! The NAGUAL basically tells a similar tale to "The Lord Of The Rings" mythology and the entire concept was inspired by the writings of Carlos Castaneda. This album was a lot different from WAKHÉVITCH's previous works as it's more cosmic and closer to to the word of Tangerine Dream or Klaus Schulze at times than what came before but still varied enough and wild enough to fit into his idiosyncratic avant-garde musical style.

This album of 13 tracks features primarily shorter tracks that sample longer passages of a larger score with the exception of the closing 8-minute plus "Chirakan-Ixmucane." The majority of the sounds come from keyboards, synthesizers and computers but several other instruments are heard or at least simulated. Sounding something like a dark new age album, the sounds are eerie, ominous and enigmatic with Berlin School techniques such as cycling patterns and trippy cosmic tones and timbres. The album is very meditative actually and most surely reflects WAKHÉVITCH's mindset after chilling out in India many times (he would eventually quit music and move there permanently). While almost exclusively an electronic album this time around, NAGUAL features a diverse roster of strange squeaking sounds, swirlies, reverb, echo effects and processed fragments of speech. Even percussive sounds are processed and the sound of harps and other instruments are included.

The album is fairly diverse with spastic piano movements, reverb soaked motifs, crazy dynamics shifts and even an Irish jig. The tracks are either monotonously consistent or can throw extreme curveballs by changing gears completely. The creativity is quite clever on this one and it really makes me want to hear the entire two hours accompanied by the visual treat that surely must have matched the intensity. Tracks like the crazy reverberating "Sppenta Armati (Ritual Of The Zelator)" remind me of some of the techniques psycho-electronic act COIL would adopt in the 1980s and 90s whereas "Hunahpuguch" almost sounds like an aboriginal didgeridoo and drum circle session. "Beginning Of Peter's Journey" totally shifts gears and evokes a Chopin étude of some sort whereas "The Smile Of The Wolf On The Beach" just sounds like a silly happy love ballad that comes from left field. "Never Poem For The Other" continues the piano playing only with a cyclical bass line. "Cinderella" evokes a music box while the closer "Chirakan-Ixmucane" sounds more like traditional 1970s progressive electronic.

This album is a wild ride for sure and all the better for it. Whereas the previous "Les Fous D'Or" could be a bit monotonous at times, no such problem on NAGUAL as this is a roller coaster ride of sounds but a fairly chilled one more like the coaster in a kiddie park. It's new age music but fused with the darker recesses of classical music and the modernities of synthesized tones, timbres and textures of sound. The music is nothing less than hypnotizing as the mix of melody, droning, cosmic swirling and strange avant-garde weirdness coalesce into what supposedly represents specific concepts and ideas. While the connections to the overall theme may prove elusive nevertheless the musical procession is well designed as each vignette and cadence cleverly connects and contrasts in the most pleasing of ways. A nice later offering from one of the true geniuses of 1970s electronic music. For anyone seeking a progressive electronic album that packs a real punch filled with surprises then you can't go wrong with this one.