Album: Tea Sessions
Artist: DR
Label: Kalamine Records
Catalogue no: N/A
Tracklist:
1. Kukicha
Session
2. Pu
Erh Session
3. Bai
Mu Dan Session
4. Tie
Guan Yin Session
Each of the track titles
is a variety of tea, and I am going to hypothesise that each piece encapsulates
the qualities of these varieties possesses. On the face of it, that may seem an
absurd proposition, but judging solely from the music on here I would say that
the idea is pretty damn close. And, on another note, so far I’ve been mightily
impressed by netlabel Kalamine Records’ catalogue of releases, thoughtful music
that tends to lean to the experimental, ambient, and dark ambient side of
things, and may this streak of quality continue for many years.
So what liquid delicacies
does DR serve up for our listening pleasure on this four-track mini-album? Session
1, Kukicha (also known as Twig Tea, being made from stems, stalks, and twigs),
wafts into view on a pulsing organ chord, hovers idly but serenely just out of
reach. There’s no doubting that this possesses marvellous meditative and
uplifting qualities, in addition to being able to calm and soothe. This is
perhaps reminiscent of a lazy day, with the sky purpling towards evening, wispy
clouds beginning to blush pinkly, and a slightly chill breeze, and in the
distance birds flying slowly and majestically towards home. Allow your thoughts
to fly along with those birds, and see the world through their eyes.
Session 2, named Pu Erh
(a tea made from the stems and leaves of the Camellia sinensis plant, the same from which green, oolong, and
black teas are also made), roars in on a wave of sweetly distorted harmonic
noise, which picks us up and sends us flying amongst the clouds and stars,
propelling us upwards with spiralling, tumbling, swooping, and soaring turns.
Immediately following on is Session 3, Bai Mu Dan (a white tea made from plucks
of Camellia sinensis), is the dawn
breaking and bringing colour flooding back into the world. A plucked acoustic
guitar figure, accompanied by meandering high-flying string-like drones,
welcomes the light as the sun peeks its head above the horizon, and the birds
we saw flying home at sunset now make the journey to their feeding grounds, an
equally grand sight as the night before.
Session 4, Tie Guan Yin
(a premium type of Oolong tea, originating in the 19th century, also
known as Iron Goddess), is the longest and richest track on here, reflecting
perhaps the complexities of the palette of the tea itself. It introduces itself
through a fluting drone, borne on the rays of the daytime sun, which beam down
on us from the heavenly realms, suffusing and infusing all with its beneficent
blessings. It shimmers and glistens, appearing both ephemeral and substantive,
gauzy and solid, and it drifts placidly but purposefully through the sky. The
harmonics here are gorgeous, as fine as silk, fluttering upon a breeze made of
light and beauty.
They say that tea calms
the mind and soul, and this album has exactly the same effect. Cares are
strained away, leaving the body relaxed and the mind cleansed. There’s nothing
much more I can say – at the end of a long day, this is all the refreshment one
needs to soothe one into a state of blissful nirvana.
Available as a digital
download only via Kalamine Records’ Bandcamp page:
Psymon Marshall 2019.
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