koasasa
Drawing Down The Moon cs
Housecraft
The first time that I heard this cassette was on the porch of sometimes koasasa (née koas) collaborator Brian Ratigan, played on a tape deck after a rainstorm, where the delicate washes of analog synth atmospherics interacted gorgeously with the drizzle of rain and the happy croaking of frogs in the parking lot across the street. After chaos comes peace.
Keaton Orsborn, who is koasasa for all intents and purposes, was once an integral part of Jacksonville’s so-called “noise” community, but now he concentrates his considerable creative energies on exploring more peaceful and lush vistas, both inner and outer. Now last year was a busy year for Orsborn, producing several tapes on his own Rainbow Pyramid imprint – including the stellar And The Earth Will Speak In Sun Cycles – but this tape for discerning Florida imprint Housecraft is as good a primer to the work of koasasa as any. It’s impossible to overstate how deeply calming of a listen this is. All the more surprising when one takes into account Orsborn’s past and the varied sources he uses to create his music. Analog synths and keyboards intertwine warmly around one another, field recordings of natural idylls surface and then fade in the amber wash, there is even a sample of African drumming coming in like a morse code signal from another time, tap-tap-tapping out the words “Be healed.” That what koasasa is all about.
Housecraft: http://www.housecraft.org/
