Nick Wilson’s second release under the NCW moniker marks a departure very much removed from his intense techno speedballs of the mid-00s. The first one, also on Apartment Records, presented a new direction probing acid and deep house fairly confidently, but with Pharoah And The Goose, Wilson goes even further with two epic tracks; divergent by genre yet consistent in their blinding hypnotism.
The two tracks are untitled but the content of the A side clearly signals it as the “Pharoah” half. Taking in samples from Pharoah Sanders’ monumental 1969 spiritual jazz masterpiece “The Creator Has a Master Plan,” it unfurls a loping groove composed of various melodic progressions cycling in a spellbinding fashion. What begins as a double bass line, discordant string stabs and a 707 rhythm morphs into a 12-plus minute journey taking in the mantra-like vocals and bizarrely catchy yodeling from Leon Thomas paired with free jazz melodies bordering on exotica. The online samples I originally heard definitely didn’t do the track justice, but hearing it in full completely convinced me of its brilliance. On the flip “The Goose” presents a dark and trance-y slab of techno that couldn’t be more different in sound. Its FM-synth minor chords set the stage for the over 11-minute build up of throbbing bass lines, flanging arpeggios, and brooding pad sweeps. The minimal techno pulse and a heavy reliance on spacey synth work coax an image of a possible Sleep Archive and Klaus Schulze pairing.With Pharoah And The Goose, Wilson has effectively turned the edit and trance genres on their head.
This is amazing!
This is one of the beautifulest records these day, great great release of Kenny H’s Apartment Records.