Gamera - "Terrarium"

For what is is worth, Gamera is not a flying turtle...full-time. Judgement notwithstanding, the now questionable amphibian status of this Bay-Area producer is largely irrelevant. Gamera could very well be a burrowing salamander looking to conquer Alcatraz. At worst that is absolutely the case, and at best it does not matter at all. I am inclined to declare the latter. But perhaps a third way exits. After listening to the Astral Kush releases, recorded in tandem with Khalil Nova, the last option seems viable. The question is not "Is this possible?" so much as "What more is possible?"

Comparisons for Gamera are in excess. The Afro-futurism of Ras G can be summoned just as well as the Basedworld marketing campaign. For the sake of succinctness, and plausibility, though, Spiritwave's aesthetic follow in the vein of Green Ova and cloud-rap. Yet his product does more than perpetuate a style. When a Gamera song comes on the intention is not to create ambient sounds Gamera's sound feels at home among the new wave of hip-hop but his ambition is surveying other grounds. This is a musician that does not wear many hats just for the sake of fashion, but to do his best at making a statement.

Rather than relying on his instrumentals, the man behind this sound has stepped in front of the mic. Listeners are invited to step into Gamera's office. What follows is not disciplinary. This office does not even have four walls because the performer and his audience are conversing in open-air. Appropriately, the song in serene and sparse. What is essentially showcased are combinations of bass & drums, along with harp and ambient textures. Anything else would be excessive. The production lacks a significant "pop" - especially at 0:29 where ground-shifting change is anticipated for naught - just as the writing seems prosodically clumsy. Much like the use of reverb, though, the song is all the better for it. "Terrarium" has an A-B-A-B symmetry; the only thing typical about it. A clear intro, verse, and outro can be heard as individual parts or the whole it was created to form. This results in more of a meditation than a typical song. The words, not unlike a Spiritwave manifesto, are stream of consciousness and seem to come transcendentally. Decidedly not the definitely soundtrack to our collective surroundings, but an intriguing nonetheless.

- John Noggle