4 out of 5

Label: VHF Records

Produced by:

When I first noticed and started following the VHF label – their art direction sticking out to me from amidst the CD bins – Vibracathedral Orchestra’s Versatile Arab Chord Chart was one of the first a few bundle of things I bought. Neil Campbell’s / Michael Flowers’ folky psych was thus not only part of what shaped my understanding of VHF’s “sound” (alongside Sunroof!), but also VO itself, and likely was key in expanding my tastes further outward. So perhaps there’s some bias in revisiting the disc, with its ebb and flow more ingrained in memory than other releases, but I also recognize how lucky I was that this was one of those ‘firsts:’ VACC is an extremely balanced record of noise and beauty and rhythm and drone, and is sequenced such that it starts with form and then lets it smokily drift away, that I cannot figure a better and more guiding introduction to this style of music. Which isn’t to say it’s directly accessible, really – it’s still pure VO bliss – and my ears were already getting primed, but maybe if some less impressive release had been my initial VHF purchase, I wouldn’t have developed into such a fan.

…Hazing between Pelt-like long-form drone, guitar-centric “rock,” and songs that are a middleground of the two, VACC cycles these structures fairly consistently across the album, probably offering one of their tightest and most direct openings (which does add to the accessibility, for sure) with the intro-esque noise of Wearing Quid Frock giving way to the beaty jam of The Least Painful Earrings. Aeolian Cistern follows with swirling drone, while the middle of the disc switches up between shorter (3-minute) variants of these structures, forming a graspsable structure to the songs and album. This does kind of get lost with the final third, as two long, 15-minute jams make the pacing more oblique; Japan Banjo is gorgeous and immersive, it just loses a bit of momentum after a fashion, and closer Sound of Sleat is an excellent pairing to Aeolian Cistern – washes of psychedelic noise – but also feels a bit tired set so close to Banjo. On the one hand, these longform songs are another integral component, and I think each track definitely has its place on the album, but the exact sequencing makes the songs less impactful, especially with Banjo petering out rather than mirroring Earrings (another guitar-centric song) strong conclusion.

This is something that’s healed by the expectation-leveling of multiple listens, and the album’s cyclical structure, ending and beginning with complementary sounds, works for that, as does the opening two-thirds perfect blend of moods.

There are probably more accessible VO releases, especially later in their catalogue, but Versatile Arab Chord Chart is still the one I’d probably hand to a new listener, as an example of how broad but identifiable – and equally skronky and beautiful – these works can be.