Unsolicited Record Review

Past is a Present for the Future

the Kingdom of Leisure, 2015

By Mike Coll

Reminiscent of early experimental noise bands (EBN, The Download) but often with less ear-chaffing beats and abstractions more like The Orb or Cloud Cult. PIAPFTF is a heavily layered production with a variety of mostly indecipherable samples serving as the only lyrics.

The feel is never-the-less unmistakably political and cultural at heart. The segments seem to shout back into the chasm of America’s political, commercial machine and show listeners the dissidence between our internal states and the mass of ideologies that we are constantly and unwillfully immersed in.

It offers an alternative form of immersion, one of dark, groovy sounds and dialog that doesn’t try to persuade us to buy into it because it is heard without context or even comprehension. It is the deep space remnants of sounds from earth, radio waves of conversation and recorded snippets as the planet passes through time.

Plugging into this album unplugs your brain from social media and popup ads, political anxiety and all that stuff that happened that you’re always thinking about. This world is meaningless and in that it is comforting, like a haze of Xanax and beer as you drift through a night you may not remember.

I recommend tuning your TV to some daytime talk show on mute (almost any channel will do) and blasting these tracks on a system with plenty of bass while eating french toast and syrup for breakfast. (Source: I tried it and it was great.)