Dragonfrynd — Smoke Ring Mandala
Dragonfrynd are a duo from Brooklyn consisting of Adam Kriney, also of La Otracina and Owl Xounds, on keyboards and effects and Clinton Wilkins on electric guitar. Though the band have a self described passion for "all things Kosmische", there's little evidence here of the level of quality associated with any of their Krautrock forebears. They may dig early Tangerine Dream and Ash Ra Tempel, but Dragonfrynd fall well short of the mark in emulating their heroes.
The album starts off with the sound of amp buzz, the first indicator of the shoddy production values which are to follow. Bargain basement production is certainly not a bad thing, in and of itself, but in this case, it just underscores the overall vibe that little thought or effort were put into these jams. There's no energy level, no level of tension present. This music just sits there. It sounds very much like a couple of guys who are just whiling away the time jamming out in their apartment. Which is great, nothing wrong with that. If it's aimless or boring to the listener, it doesn't matter, it's fun for the two guys who are jamming. But when you record it, that means it needs to be fun for someone else to hear.
These tunes offer an identical modus operandi throughout; there are keyboards, often a one or two note drone, which are the backing for some guitar noodling. Clinton Wilkins plays relatively distorted guitar with delay effects, and the tone rarely deviates from that blueprint. The real problem is that his solos don't take the listener anywhere, there's no sense of journey, as the best improv offers.
If this review seems needlessly harsh, I apologise. Recordings have gotten so easy to make and distribute to the public that we are deluged with more music than ever these days. And that's a double-edged sword. There's an incredible amount of worthwhile music out there to discover, yet there's an incredible array of mediocrity to sift through in order to find it. Unfortunately, this album falls into the former category.