Moons! : Epics are Afoot

The summer of '08. It's been nothing but stasis. It's the perfect word, I'm sorry. Stasis. No diminish, no gain. Just a comfortable home to call my own. The only time I've crossed state lines from April to now was spent with a mysterion. Stuck in Louisville at the Terrastock with the Dark Side of the Mural (Dustin White), a bottle of Bulleit, my brother, and dude from the future. Nice that L'ville supported such a combination of off-ness (worth a visit).

We were certainly obliged to hear the latest from the Moon and Badtimes, then and now shortened to Moons! (good reduction). White is basically Moons! Who knows how many others played here, 1-2 maybe, so you've got to imagine multiple versions of the lanky, skywalker, playing drums, guitar, basslines, and keys, to fully ingest this limited release EP (mines 11 of 50). There's a new touring band every week.....(???)...

You could compare it to the act of boiling water. Mundane analogy, sure. But I'm thinking of it as heat energy, cosmic awareness. Moons! and the man (I'm referring to Mr. White) can't be pressured, if you stare into the aqua nothing will happen, if you're expecting a full-length tomorrow don't bother. You must step away from the pot and just let thangs happen as they will. Naturally. Eventually you'll get what you want. Maybe that's why this review took so long. Things this grand take time.

White swims liberally in Topographic Oceans on this first recorded introduction. Though I know the guy is always down for a discussion on direct-to-vein psychedelic immersion (we go on for hours about indulgent kraut), he's more likely to let his flavors stew for minutes before getting under the skin. White is somewhat fanatical, meticulous, and introverted (to his studio lair) -- then again, "Carousel to Rebirth" gets the tape going on overdrive right from the first note with a thick haze of reverb and smoke before entering those Wakeman arpeggios he's so fond of. Anyone with the slightest interest in the Yes keyboardist's fluid excursions will find plenty to chew on here. The synths are pristine and cosmic, exploring space from a Columbus' backyard yearning to travel if only to get closer to closest dwarf star.

Moons! is of the mind-set that everything has it's place, every little melodic strain of mellotron must be put back where it belongs, there is a constant order and White is simply orbiting it all, sucking it up with magnetic force. "Pyramids are Forever" is that universal perfection -- Pink Floyd and Tangerine Dream and Ash Ra -- for now belying the ultimate heaviness that is sure to (soon?) follow in the fourth part of some nine-part suite for the "album" already mapped out in his infinite wisdom. Still, let's not call this an EP, it's epic in its four songs, it's epic in just this song. If you see the guy on the street you might want to coax him back into the lab -- there's a classic afoot.

Moons! - "Pyramids are Forever"