7FAZ – FAZA A (PHASE A) EP (Nasiono Records CD, D/L).

Recently landing in our inbox is an EP of serious out-thereness from 7faz, a new project from Polish musician Karol Schwarz, the founder member of Pure Phase Ensemble. Featuring many of the musicians associated with Nasiono Records, the 7faz project explores the cosmic significance of the number seven that resonates in our universe in a series of seven EPs released during 2016. Seven is a mystical number. It is a symbol of wholeness, fulfilment and perfection in many mythologies and religions of the world; it symbolises the bond between time and space. It was an attribute of gods, its figure featured in architecture, holy scripts, commandments and cosmology. There were seven virtues, seven sacraments, seven liberal arts and seven bodily "glories" of the blessed in Heaven. And there is more…… there are seven days of the week, seven planets ruling the zodiac, seven rainbow colours, seven crystal systems and seven notes in music. The seven EPs/seven phases create seven musical spaces recorded on seven separate discs. Each phase usually consists of two parts: tuning (a tranquil, contemplative part) and a trip (a louder part).

The first EP, Faza A (Phase A), contains two tracks……….Part 1 is a meditative drone on four guitars, an analogue synthesizer, a sitar and a saxophone which is not unlike the more experimental/drugged out sonic adventures of Spacemen 3. It’s a musical mantra cleared of attack and more swirling than flowing, which is a total contrast to the second part of the EP. Part 2 (Basketball) is cacophonous Space Jazz that represents the flight of a ball thrown high up and falling to bounce again with the instruments playing extremely loud in unison to an escalating tempo before breaking down into chaotic noise……..think the Sun Ra Arkestra and  Spiritualized fighting over the lost chord. Both parts constitute separate entities but interconnect in an unusual way, complementing each other and they work on more than just one level, they can be just listened to, but they can also provide building blocks for musicians or DJs to manipulate or sample. As the whole seven phases are slowly revealed, then the cosmic interconnections will become clearer……..strange things are happening. This mix of Drone Rock and squalling Free Jazz is not going to be to everybody’s taste, but for those of you with a penchant for the more avant-garde you can stream the tracks on Soundcloud here.

Faza A is released on 20^th May on Nasiono Records and is available to pre-order now. The EP comes in two formats……there is a limited edition run of 100 CDs available from the Nasiono website and a digital download can be found on the Nasiono Bandcamp page https://7faz.bandcamp.com/album/faza-a. Faza B is scheduled for release on June 24^th.

THEE PSYCHEDELICATESSEN