Review: Expo 70 - America Here And Now Sessions

Justin Wright is one prolific dude; under the Expo 70 (a reference to the 1970 World's Fair in Osaka) banner he has amassed a back catalogue of gargantuan proportions, but what is more impressive than the number is the quality..as the old cliche goes "all killer, no filler". Since 2003 Wright and Expo 70 have produced some of the best drone based psychedelia around - slow burning and evocative. Other band members have come and gone but Wright remains an ever present - he is joined on this outing by Aaron Osborne (bass, axillary percussion & cymbals), Mike Vera (percussion) and David Williams (percussion). 'America Here And Now Sessions' is an album that was only just made; initially part of an 'art experience' that saw, amongst other things, local artists in Kansas City get together to record some music, unfortunately the project lost its funding, but not before this gem of an album was realised. It has been given a home via the wonderful Essence Music.

Ostensibly made up of two long tracks (there is an extra track on the CD version), the album is a lesson in hypnagogic ecstasy in which the 40 minutes slips by in a reverie of existential bliss. 'First Movement' gets off to a sedate start; a tremulous guitar weaving hazy, almost nervous, pictures. The two percussionists add a modicum of tension with their skillful interplay and the scene is set for the birth of a soundscape cinematic in scope and depth. As the track progresses the bass subtly slips in almost unnoticed and the guitar gets stronger and more distorted. The grandeur of the track comes as no surprise who have heard Expo 70 before, but for a new listener I would imagine it will come as an epiphany of sorts. 'Second Movement' is more analog synth based and is, if anything, even more hypnotic than the first - layers of pulsating synth drones and shimmering cymbal open up the listeners third eye ready for the entrance of the twin percussion and distorted bass. It sounds a bit redundant to say that this is a sublime album because every Expo 70 (well, the ones I've heard...and that is by no means all of them) is sublime. The gift that Wright has is the ability and nous to mix drone and psychedelia in equal parts and to always produce something of exquisite beauty. This is real head music.

'America Here And Now Sessions' is available from the Expo 70 Bandcamp page in several formats: Limited edition LP (160 copies on black vinyl with a red cover and 140 copies on gold vinyl with a brown cover). These are sold out on the Bandcamp page but Essence Music may have some left in stock; there is a CD version, again limited, with sturdy tip-on mini-LP gatefold packaging with OBI strip and of course a download version.