Brown — Bathing a Leper

I guess it’s just pure coincidence, but the disc I randomly pick to review after having worked my way through September Collective’s Always Breathing Monster, a religious album in every sense but the traditional one – maybe we should settle for spiritual, then – is Brown’s Bathing a Leper, a record dedicated to Meher Baba. I’m not sure what the extent of his fame was, but for anyone whose knowledge of Hinduism and claims to manifestations of its deities is just a bit rusty, Meher Baba was an Indian guru whose claim to fame was his 1954 declaration of Avatarhood – that he was indeed a manifestation of a deity on earth. Among other things, he also remained completely silent for the largest part of his life, starting out in 1925 and not uttering a word until his death in 1969 – though the communicating via alphabet boards and hand gestures seems like cheating things a bit, but hey, what do I know?

What I do know is that Bathing a Leper is the joint effort of Ian Haystacks and J. Brown, and that it was recorded live in Portland, OR way back in 2005. As a tribute to Meher Baba, I guess it seems fitting; the atmosphere here is, in one word, meditative (and so it is also described in the label write-up; spot on, fellers), and suitably, entirely instrumental. Pardon the banal observations, but of course it would have seemed particularly unsuitable if a tribute to this man was a completely fucking ruckus and had a guy screaming “Hey Meher Baba / You were a pretty awesome guy / You were the age’s Avatar / India’s mute divine star”  all over, though I’m not saying I wouldn’t have enjoyed it (I would’ve). In fact, the whole sternness, with the grave looks and the deeper meanings and the dedications, it can get on my nerves a bit, but of course I shouldn’t let that get in the way of my enjoyment of the musical side of things.
 
And enjoy this disc, I do. Bathing a Leper consists of a single track that comes in at almost half an hour in length, and stands primarily as a lush drone work that rolls on in quite beautiful harmony and grace (like I said, meditative is spot on indeed), while intriguingly shifting between different tones and atmospheres, from the slightly chilling first half to its cathartically beautiful conclusion. The textures here are mainly of the humming, free-flowing kind, difficult to get a hold of but equally difficult not to let you suck in – they’re just shapeless enough not to hum along, and just detailed enough to take your fancy. Additionally, there’s some more recognizable traditional instruments peaking through here and there, especially in the first half of the disc, and you pick up on some treated guitar, treated steel drum, recorder; now and then it seems to transport you to someplace exotic, but maybe that’s just my imagination running wild, kick-started by the disc’s theme and artwork.
 
Overall, Bathing a Leper is an excellent little disc that drone and ambient enthusiasts especially should not overlook; however, its elegant beauty is universal enough to also speak to anyone else. From what I understand, this is only the first disc in a huge series that the Brown label will be putting out over the next few years. I, for one, can’t wait to hear what’s next.