Named after a pair of enigmatic low-frequency sounds that originated in the depths of the Pacific Ocean, the mysterious Julia Bloop project is itself located in Brooklyn, New York. Roland Throop is the sophomore release for the outfit, yet it's their first to arrive courtesy of the West Virginia-based Crash Symbols imprint.
A fever dream of disparate yet well-placed samples, the music finds Julia Bloop peering over their shoulders, nodding back to the sonic collagists of decades past. As a matter of fact, the hazy, blissed-out tone of the cassette is eerily reminiscent of some of the finer moments from the Little Darla Has a Treat for You compilations, which were issued quarterly by the Darla Records label in the late '90s and featured somnambulant electronic music by the likes of Technicolor, Aarktica, Flowchart and Sweet Trip.
On the lengthy "May These 2 Spirits Meet," fuzzy harp and piano samples are tethered to loops of jazzy percussion, while the proceedings are peppered with spoken word snippets that feel lifted from long-forgotten film classics. "Diver on the Rocks" is a melancholy aquatic piece set against a lonely flute and guitar melody that fades into the funky "That Dracula," which drifts along like Scooby Doo hooked on the vapours emanating from a tasty sandwich.
As groovy as it is ethereal, Roland Throop offers a startlingly cohesive smorgasbord of Julia Bloop's skilful stitching; it's a coat of many colours that's a pleasure to behold.
(Crash Symbols)A fever dream of disparate yet well-placed samples, the music finds Julia Bloop peering over their shoulders, nodding back to the sonic collagists of decades past. As a matter of fact, the hazy, blissed-out tone of the cassette is eerily reminiscent of some of the finer moments from the Little Darla Has a Treat for You compilations, which were issued quarterly by the Darla Records label in the late '90s and featured somnambulant electronic music by the likes of Technicolor, Aarktica, Flowchart and Sweet Trip.
On the lengthy "May These 2 Spirits Meet," fuzzy harp and piano samples are tethered to loops of jazzy percussion, while the proceedings are peppered with spoken word snippets that feel lifted from long-forgotten film classics. "Diver on the Rocks" is a melancholy aquatic piece set against a lonely flute and guitar melody that fades into the funky "That Dracula," which drifts along like Scooby Doo hooked on the vapours emanating from a tasty sandwich.
As groovy as it is ethereal, Roland Throop offers a startlingly cohesive smorgasbord of Julia Bloop's skilful stitching; it's a coat of many colours that's a pleasure to behold.