Epic Majestic 7″
Priapus, 1997
There were only 300 of these babies pressed on Lawrence, Kansas’ Priapus label and it’s about time you heard it. During the mid-1990s, the idea of ‘post-rock’ was quite the hot item with bands like Tortoise, Sea and Cake, Gastr del Sol and others mixing electronic and scholarly elements to sprawling rock compositions. That’s the category Hypershperian seemed to get lumped into, which doesn’t quite fit their freewheeling sound since they weren’t quite as fussy about their songs as some of the headier bands of the era. In fact, they had more of an “out there” vibe you’d find in bands like TFUL 282 or the more grandiose moments of The Flaming Lips and Brian Eno‘s early work, mixing and piling up sounds into a churning sonic stew that pulls you in instead of foisting itself upon you like some of the post-rock groups. The A-side features their best song, “Epic Majestic,” a vintage synth-soaked gem that stumbles along like a lazy stroll on a summer night, loose around the edges and just gnarled and weird enough to make things really interesting. The B-side kicks off with “Activation,” which stacks up nicely to the Stereolab catalog with minimal Moog giving way to waves of warm electronics and an increased density. “Hubris,” the final track, is a sparse indie rock-style duet featuring rolling basslines and electronic piano, which brilliantly culminates into a locked groove. Hyperspherian managed to put out a CD (only “Epic Majestic” from this 7″ appears on it) that doesn’t quite have the magic of this record, but it’s worth a listen if you happen to come across it.
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