Emeralds: Does It Look Like I'm Here? (ectoplasm coloured) LP

In the late 2000s a sprawling catalog of what is now genre-defining music was emanating from an unlikely place. Cleveland has a broad reputation for many things, but in the aughts, psyche-expanding Kosmische wasn't necessarily Cleveland's calling card - until Emeralds. The trio of John Elliott, Steve Hauschildt, and Mark McGuire had released a profusion of limited-run cassettes, CD-Rs, and vinyl titles that had been passed around basement shows and then migrated to niche music communities online, creating a unique kind of murmur at the height of the DIY blog era. After several releases garnered a die-hard fandom in niche circles of internet/music culture, and then catching the attention of the late Peter Rehberg, the renowned artist and curator of the Editions Mego label, an expectation was set that the next Emeralds record was going to be a big one. And in 2010, "Does It Look Like I'm Here was it". Artistically, the album is a definitive statement; this is to say it was crafted by heads for heads, a genuine article and a profoundly deep listen, but the mainstream dove in too. Listening to it now, 13 years after its original release on Editions Mego, the album sounds however timeless, still immediate.