De Paepe, Bart: Pagus Wasiae LP

For over 10 years, Bart De Paepe has sated the appetites of psychedelic searchers with his label Sloow Tapes. A peerless curator, De Paepe has unleashed crucial underground transmissions ranging from paint-peeling Japanese rock to bedroom American Primitivism in microscopic editions. Those fortunate enough to have heard five or six of Sloow Tapes' releases may be prepared for what "Pagus Wasiae"- De Paepe's latest solo offering - has in store. The Stekene, Belgium-based artist's Beyond Beyond Is Beyond debut, "Pagus Wasiae" trades in lysergic texture. Like Tangerine Dream's early work, "Pagus Wasiae" casts off a ragged rock shore into a bubbling sea of electronics and navigates by dark starlight, leaving in its wake shadows and smoke. De Paepe charges waves of synth ambience, swirls clouds of electric guitar and summons subtle beats of the earth to make "Pagus Wasiae" a fully enveloping and dynamic listening experience-astral traveling without moving. Cluster, Taj Mahal Travellers, and Pink Floyd's deepest space excursions may be waypoints to "Pagus Wasiae", but ultimately the destination is the journey and Bart De Paepe has drawn a new map and laid it to tape for us to discover. - Jeff Conklin (WFMU)