Scientific Dreamz Of U/Junior Loves – The Dreamcode
Those with a penchant for pagan psychedelia, musical mysticism and kaleidoscopic electronics may already have come across Scientific Dreamz of U and Junior Loves, a mysterious twosome whose Kestrel Explorations show on NTS Radio delivers this kind of intoxicating sound on a regular basis. The London-based duo’s music seems to come from a bygone age, when acid-fried rave casualties wildly debated the higher significance of the number 23, at all-night Megadog parties and skuzzy basements, lit only by the purple fuzz of ultraviolet lights.
Scientific Dreamz Of U/Junior Loves
The Dreamcode
1080p
Cassette, Digital
Outside of the radio show, they’ve had few chances to promote what they call their ‘kestrel sound’. Scientific Dreamz of U debuted on Tabernacle last year with an EP that sounded like the bastard, pitched-down offspring of Psychik Warriors, and later that summer they released a fine 12” of ambient house influenced, or ‘intelligent techno’ that was accompanied by bizarre sleeve notes that made reference to “reciprocal space” and “crystallized temporal quanta”. Most notable, perhaps, was the duo’s collaborative release for the R-Zone series, which sauntered between acid-flecked techno, woozy ambience and sparkling, new age electronica.
Here, they get a chance to expand on these themes for the first time, delivering a split cassette for 1080p – nominally based around a “personal interpretation of the majestic flight of the kestrel”, according to the accompanying press release – that finally allows them to showcase their individual styles across a longer format. The supposed concept may or may not be nonsense, but the resultant music is anything but. It’s actually impressive, offering contrasting variations on a loose, hard-to-define theme.
This is when listening to The Dreamcode on cassette, rather than the digital edition, is useful. The Junior Loves side has stretched-out, ear-catching electronic explorations – most notably the undulating ambience of the ten-minute “KiKiKi”, and spacious Drexciyan electro of “Conclusion (Ignacio’s Solution)” – but it seems more concerned with the trippy potential of drowsy guitars, smacked-out spoken vocals, shoegaze moodiness, and occasional drum machine hypnotisms. If it were a dream, it would be one of those feverish, sweaty ones, brought on by ingesting too much of a good thing on a wayward night out. It has wondrous, rush-inducing parts, but also nightmarish sections that leave you feeling more than a little uneasy.
Flip to Scientific Dreamz of U’s side, and things get a little clearer. There’s a definite clarity about the producer’s use of bustling drum machine rhythms, ice-bright melodies and yearning pads. Sure, it concludes with some glistening, half-asleep Balearic rock – the pleasingly baked “Levitation – Holography” – but otherwise the musical references are as expected; mid ‘90s British techno, Atari ST-produced ambient, early Goa trance (the impeccable “Empathy Field Generation (7am Affirmation)” and stargazing, Detroit-influenced goodness (“Sacred Fractal Geometry”). It’s arguably this side that sparkles, though that’s more a product of Scientific Dreamz of U’s use of glistening synthesizer refrains and zany electronics than any issues with Junior Loves’s muddled but enthralling explorations.
Matt Anniss
Tracklisting:
1. Junior Loves – Ignacio’s Daydream
2. Junior Loves – Husk Discarnate
3. Junior Loves – Sylvio
4. Junior Loves – Conclusion {Ignacio’s Solution}
5. Junior Loves – KiKiKi
6. Junior Loves – Wrapsong
7. Scientific Dreamz of U – Precision Monolithics
8. Scientific Dreamz of U – Sacred Fractal Geometry
9. Scientific Dreamz of U – Ascension Protocol {Emancipation in the Grid}
10. Scientific Dreamz of U – Empathy Field Generation {7AM Affirmation}
11. Scientific Dreamz of U – Levitation ~ Holography