10.1.19 by Ryan Masteller

This is only a guess, but was our universe hummed into existence? Hear me out: only by some initiating force could all the pieces have fallen into place to kickstart a process that has resulted in sentient life on a planet billions of years later. Right? And we can be glad that everything turned out as it did – who knows what kind of hideous lizard people we would have become otherwise. (Yes, I am talking about us, humans.)

On another hunch: Natalie Rose LeBrecht has channeled that galactic hum on “Mandarava Rose.” How else can you explain the deep mysticism and cosmic connection on her new tape? LeBrecht, like a pagan medium, inhales the mysteries of life, the universe, and everything and exhales her interpretation of it (and no, it’s not “42”). Proving that we’re meant to evolve through introspection and self-betterment, LeBrecht weaves om-like trance-inducing passages, generating unwavering sonic fields that grow in power the more they’re allowed to sound. Not only that, but they’re beautifully intricately crafted – you gotta do a deep dive on this one to tease out all the nuance.

Like Nico and Clannad jamming in slow motion at Liz Harris’s place but with Inner Islands’ New Age tchotchkes available to totally mess around with, Natalie Rose LeBrecht, along with collaborator (and Galtta dude) David Lackner, go as far as they can to continue moving us away from a future lizard existence. Now THAT’S the kind of numinous spellcasting I can get behind! Where’s my twenty-sided die?

Delight your mind and heart and set adrift on a universal path with “Mandarava Rose,” available from Galtta Media in an edition of 110 “Hi-Fi cassette tapes”!