Review: Heroin In Tahiti - Casilina Tapes 2010|2017

Heroin In Tahiti are, without doubt, one of my favourite bands working today - they have this ability to give me that 'butterflies in the stomach' flutter with their records (the only other band that does that on a regular basis is Dead Sea Apes); the atmospheres created and soundscapes conjured can lift me from the mundane, humdrum drudgery of the work/home/sleep cycle....they are my medication and my escape. I do have a tendency to become a tad evangelical about the band and indeed the whole Italian Occult Psychedelia scene as a whole but I offer no apologies for this..the music of Heroin In Tahiti deserves to be lauded.....loudly, often and from the highest rooftops. Anyway, enough of this panegyrical guff...to the album. 'Casilina Tapes 2010|2017' is a "collection of unreleased tracks recorded in their basement studio in Rome in the last seven years while building up their thematic albums." At first I thought it was an 'outtakes' album, a kind of 'catch all' release...but it's not that simple. As those who are familiar with the band's output know, their previous albums have all been held together by a central theme, a motif that draws the tracks from each album together into one cohesive unit. This thematic approach will inevitably have casualties - those tracks that, although musically A+, do not fit in with an album's central tenet...and this is where 'Casilina Tapes...' comes in - it collates all those tracks into one awe inspiring collection which has a cohesion all of its own. The album is brought to us via the amazing Boring Machines, a label that is synonymous with the Italian Occult Psychedelia scene and one that is yet to release a record that is less than superb.

'Aco Ione' opens the album with a single, strong, almost primitive beat over which grows a drone paving the way for the signature HiT twangy guitar. The guitar melody is reminiscent of some of that upbeat late sixties UK psychedelia but the twang and reverb takes it somewhere completely different. As the track grows more and more elements are added and it becomes a mutated soundtrack piece - wavering between upbeat and dread. 'Bad Auspicia' opens with a spoken word sample before opening up into a delightful melange of eastern motifs and tribal beats...in some ways it reminded me of Futuro Antico, the same emphasis on the primal and the atavistic. The track is classic Heroin In Tahiti and one that dispels all lingering thoughts of the album being a 'catch all'. 'Veltha In C23' is a sublime track - an oscillating drone is built upon, layers of gorgeous synth washes and exotic melodies create something that seemingly takes in kosmische, drone and the B side to Bowie's 'Heroes' album...beautiful and transcendental. This segues seamlessly into 'Larentalia' with its shimmering cymbals and eerie drones lulling us until it becomes something incredibly funky in that seventies jazzy, lounge way. Flute and horns give it the jazzy feel while the rhythm and 'wah wah' sounds give it that mutated 'Shaft' funkiness - surprising and incredibly cool. 'A Tergo Lupi' brings the tempo down with some delicately picked acoustic guitar over which an eastern melody brings us a taste of the exotic .... at a minute and a half it's a 'blink and you'll miss it' track. 'Holy GRA Reversed' sees the band come on like an Italian Tangerine Dream - the same lush synth washes and enveloping spacey vibes....less kosmische, more cosmico.

The album's 'B' side opens with 'Zziggurat Tempesta' [sic], a prime example of what the band call 'Spaghetti Wasteland'; the twangy guitars reminiscent of a Morricone western and a tribalistic rhythm. These two disparate elements come together to create a track that would not be out of place on a (non-western) soundtrack, it has a real cinematic vibe about it that lifts the listener and takes them to the western savannahs of the US or to chasing around Rome in an old Fiat 500....glorious! 'Lago Finto' brings the atmosphere right back down - melancholic piano and mournful flute combine to make a simple but deeply evocative piece. 'Steve Tamburo Is Not Dead' is another synth based track that, although taking in all the elements of the Berlin school, remains deeply Italian...that nameless element that brings together all of the outstanding artists producing 'leftfield' music in Italy at the moment...it's hard to describe and is less a tangible process or sound and more of a vibe. 'Illamorip' opens with another eastern melody before some warped electronica takes things in a completely different direction. The rapid movement between the exotic and the experimental creates a momentum all of its own but disarms the listener, never quite knowing what is going to happen next. Hauntological electronica bleeds into tribal drums before a strident spoken voice sample intones over a lush drone...a prime example of something being more than the sum of its parts. This breathtaking album is closed with 'Ad Duas Lauros' and a return to what the band do so very well - a playful mix of retro Giallo soundtracks, primitive drums and hauntology - of all the tracks on the album this is the one that neatly encapsulates what the band are all about.

'Casilina Tapes 2010|2017' maybe nominally a collection of unreleased tracks that didn't make it onto an album, but this is indicative of the way that Heroin In Tahiti work rather than a reflection on the quality of the tracks....indeed, there are tracks on the album that may well be amongst the best the band has made. Yet again HIT show that they are masters of drawing in disparate elements and, via some arcane alchemical process, melding them into music that is bordering on perfection. Each and every track has a life of its own, its own identity and all done with seeming insouciance that belies the skill and creativity that lays behind. Heroin In Tahiti are a very special band and 'Casilina Tapes 2010|2017' is a damn good showcase for those as yet uninitiated and an essential purchase for those already au fait with their majesty and art. It is not released until June but is already up for pre-order at Norman Records here and will no doubt be appearing very soon on the Boring Machine's bandcamp page here.