Ashan – Air & Ether
8.18.17 7y Ryan Masteller

Speaking of Sean Conrad, it’s never unhard to not be in the mood for one of his releases (I’ll let you sift through those negatives – it comes out positive, trust me), and that’s equally true for “Air & Ether,” his latest release as Ashan on Elestial Sound (Gainesville, represent!). First impression – whoa, beats! Sean usually traffics in the totally ethereal (see his and others’ work on his inimitable Inner Islands label), and while he’s no stranger to more propulsive work, “Calling” opens up the tape with hypnotic beats straight off my 1996 MTV AMP compilation. (Well, like half of it anyway.) That’s a bright, welcome direction for the Ashan identity, and the mood carries throughout the entirety of the tape. It’s so easy to listen to, in fact, that electronica heads and ambient fiends alike will find some common ground here, and I know that’s a difficult thing to do in the wake of severe genre compartmentalizing (thanks a lot, mainstream media!).

While he’s wiggling his keister with reckless abandon, Sean’s still never very far from the outer regions of the galaxy (that’s the “elestial” talking here, but with a “c”). The trance is the key, and the repetitive structures and glistening effects are totally otherworldly – or INNERworldly, depending on your perspective. “Calling,” “Wind,” “Temple,” and “Fragrance” are track titles certainly befitting a terrestrial attitude, but why start there if you can’t shoot off into the stratosphere and beyond? Sean does, cutting through Air, cutting through Ether, frictionless in his composition, effortless in his execution, operating as if he were in the vacuum of space and quasars were his only source of metronomic precision and sonic inspiration. But it all comes back to the Self – “Air & Ether” just FEELS good, doesn’t it? It’s like your blood pumping through veins unimpeded by psychic junk – and maybe even better because you can hear it.

That’s “Air & Ether” in a nutshell. Love ya, Sean – don’t not never change.

But, uh, feel free to change when it suits you. We can handle it.

Guys – I don’t know how many of these tapes were made. It’s a “Limited Edition,” but your guess is as good as mine as to the run. Still available though, still worth dropping hard cash on.