It is certainly no new thing to liken the vastness of Earth’s oceans to the boundless void of outer space, but it is a relevant comparison to observe at a time like this. While many modern synthesizer musicians are star-gazing and emitting cosmic visions and extraterrestrial landscapes, Panabrite looks down the depths of our own ocean, a place where weightlessness and darkness can be just as alien and frightening as what’s beyond our atmosphere. The similarities that can be drawn between the sea and space also includes their potential soundtracks. Distant bleeping synths may be a passing spaceship, or possibly a submarine. Delicate arpeggios may be bubbles of air hurriedly racing to the surface, or it may be distant stars and planets shining through the pitch-blackness. Just change the cover art from a supernova to a sea anemone and include words like “deep, barnacles, dive, and abyss” to the track titles and suddenly we’re underwater.
Panabrite is Seattle-based Norman Chambers, and whether he’s zipping around space or sinking into the briny deep, he is creating magically transportive music. Mesmerizing ambience and drifting analog synthesizer arpeggiations make up Sub-Aquatic Meditation, his newest release out now on Aguirre Records. This is Panabrite’s first LP, but only after a whole bunch of cassettes released over the past few years. The video is for the track “Octopus In Your Dreams” and is just that. You can also stream the whole album on the label’s site.
• Panabrite: http://panabritesounds.blogspot.com
• Aguirre: http://www.aguirrecords.com
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