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The expansive unknowns that stretch across the depths of our widely unexplored universe have been an abundant topic of late. With meteor showers, pictures of Pluto and talks of civilizations being planned for Mars, the search continues for human understanding and meaning to existence. Logically, then, we artistic humans must try to wrap around this topic by representing it visually and sonically. If you are one who is in search of musical personification of existential space exploration, look no further than Pipe-eye.
By far on of the most mystifying releases of the year, Pipe-eye journey through intergalactic realms, sonic chasms and hypercolour dreams on Cosmic Blip.
The Aussie band is birthed from a great tradition of tripped-out, mysterious bands creating otherworldly sounds and dreaming of outer space. In the past, bands ranging from Pink Floyd to Parliament have entered that star-spangled realm of mystery and chaos. Pipe-eye’s newest release, Cosmic Blip is one such exploration; a sonic flight through time, space and noise that is as trippy as it is fleeting.
Cosmic Blip contains a mixture of luscious, effected-guitar driven jams, interconnected spacey interludes that seep seamlessly into one another making the record one to be experienced from front to back, if shuffled haphazardly, one is at the risk of misunderstanding the point and heart of it.
The cosmic journey begins with Pipe Space, a minute of warped sound swishing around your head like being caught in a benevolent whirlpool in the middle of a crystal clear lake. The sounds of the opening track set the space-age mood for the following standout track, People Move Along. As one of the few tracks on Cosmic Blip that follows a more traditional song form and band arrangement, People Move Along is a masterfully crafted, trippy tune that drones along and swirls around in the gentle, twisting, flickering style that one might hear from one of Mac Demarco’s more psyched-out cuts.
Separated by more intergalactic interludes entitled Cosmic Blips I, II and III, come three more tracks that are equal parts unique and catchy. One of the record’s strongest defining features are the wavering, oscillating effects that make the guitars sound beautifully broken, creating the perfect accompaniment for the other-worldly vocals that also feature, sounding as if they are leaking the secrets of another civilization in subliminal mumblings.
The latest single and closing track The Way She Walks (On The Moon) is a prime example of Pipe-Eye at peak weirdness, and it’s glorious. Jittering guitars hobble gently to and fro beside a warbling double-tracked vocal, weaving comfortably in and out of sync with each other to the beat of understated, yet entrancing rhythm arrangements. Some Paul McCartney-esque bass lines make their way into the track adding beautiful colours into the galactic stew. Be sure to check out the accompanying video that features a majestic ancient Emperor God soaring above a hyper-coloured dystopian China.
Pipe-eye continuously supplies divine phantasms of sound on Cosmic Blip and is fast becoming an artist to watch under the guise of a mysterious persona. Who is Pipe-eye? What is Pipe-eye? Perhaps we’ll never know, but we humbly thank them for their weirdness; long may it continue to confuse and astound us.
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