As a reservoir for musical utopias, Afro-Futurism has kept a kind of freshness that its European counterpart often lacks. Maybe that’s due to its many different forms and manifestations. For instance, Jamal Moss a.k.a. Hieroglyphic Being, deserves credit for not only having pushed one of the futuristic versions of house-music almost single handedly, but also for creating his very own sound, mixing many different styles and influences in his music. Besides house, you’ll find elements of industrial, EBM, Detroit techno and all kinds of free forms of jazz and noise. »The Seer of Cosmic Visions« combines many of his earlier productions. They’re to achieve an incredible density, especially when speaking of the more energetic tracks – take everything from the title track to the distorted and tribalesque rhythms of »A Genre Sonique«, attacking its listeners’ bodies with oscillating effects. Furthermore, there are more introspective moments, like the Sun Ra homage »Space Is the Place«, in which bell-like sounds are being mixed with an unobtrusive yet insisting beat. Above all, Moss never forgets his foundation called funk, which he uses to take his psychedelic space-excursion back to earth. If he was supported by planet µ, he would probably find a bigger audience. He’d deserve it, really.
Various Artists
John Gómez & Nick the Record present »Tangent«
Mr Bongo