Expo 70 — Solar Drifting
Opening track Soft Wave Continuum is over nine minutes of epic space drone. Building slowly and patiently from a single synth drone it layers more and more drones with space-age bleeps and bloops. The result is a long rambling slice of electronic weirdness that takes us through Hawkwind territory, both ambient and beautiful it is a great opener.
Transcending Energy from Light (Excerpt) is up next, again the drones take centre stage, but this is a darker trip than the previous one. Midway through its relatively short 5 minutes (this is an edit of a longer piece recorded for the Night Flights album), the addition of some krautrock-esque guitar takes the track down a different direction, winding its way through a hypnotic, almost transcendental path. I guess the song title tells us what we need to know here.
Solar Drifting opens with some delicious Hawkwind-esque electronic squeals, before a cyclical guitar riff is introduced around the minute mark. This is more of the great space rock we’ve already experienced, however there appears to be a lot more going on. The guitar riff reminds me of that used by Paul Kantner and Grace Slick on the track Earth Mother and there is a definite feel of that musical era throughout. Crawling Through Crystal Skies builds very slowly, the click, pop and hiss of worn vinyl plays out over the guitar drones, giving it again the feel of being much older than it is. Once again there is a Hawkwind vibe to it, which is certainly not a bad thing when you’re making space rock music. The key difference here is that Expo 70 never adopt the full on heavy riffy approach of the Hawks, always being a little more restrained in their approach. The music remains ambient and understated, which works beautifully.
Tarot Reading is up next and seats itself firmly in the drone side of things. Gone are the space rock riffs of the previous tracks, we are heading in a much darker direction here as heavy drones hint at a much darker, more oppressive, soundscape. A1V follows suit, this time the sound of bells tinkling throughout gives a slightly different vibe, although still dark and oppressive. These drone based tracks are what really sets Expo 70 apart from the crowd. Sunglasses would make an excellent theme to a sci-fi horror movie, it’s all sinister sounding drones and dripping atmospherics. Electric Waves inhabits similar territory, although not quite as menacing as Sunglasses. Final track Heterotopia takes us back into the ominous electronic darkness of Sunglasses, but with added guitar soloing.
Overall the album is a stimulating snapshot of the period, 2008-2011. It is fascinating to see that it almost divides itself into two separate albums, one jammy, space rock album and one bleak electronic drone album. Whilst both aspects of the band are adequately represented here, it is the darker drone material that takes precedence. Its pitch-black atmosphere works beautifully to create a bleak, oppressive aether. One could easily see these tracks used most effectively on the soundtrack to some avant garde dystopian nightmare. If we go back to Zoharum’s claims that it operates as a good entry point at which to get to grips with Expo 70, I’m not too sure I agree with this. On one hand, it does work to introduce the band and their sound, however it only really hints at the various dimensions that can be heard in the longer tracks that one can hear on their full length releases. I was already a fan of Expo 70 so perhaps this has tainted my thoughts on this matter, either way this is a fine way to spend an hour of your time, and if it leads you deeper down the rabbit hole then there is much to be enjoyed.