BALTHVS: MACROCOSM
It's hard to make out from the photo I took this morning in Venice, but the boat on the horizon was billowing smoke, hence the jogger's head turn. This has a certain Pink Floyd cover vibe to it. Unsettling and oddly peaceful, which could also be L.A.'s tagline.
There have been many riots and dustups here over the past few months, not to mention the destruction that came from the result of both the Lakers and the Dodgers winning their respective championships. It reminds me a lot of when I lived in Montreal. The city would set fire to cars whether the Habs won or lost the Stanley Cup. Now it seems any excuse to break windows and loot will do, even if it's a time for celebration.
Perhaps the slow boil has had me on edge for a few months now, but a streak of paranoia ran through me today. As a result, I went to the grocery store and bought in for a few weeks, just in case things get ugly on Election Day Tuesday. Or Wednesday. Or Thursday. Or Friday. Or Saturday.
Once I got back home everything was okay when I found a band called BALTHVS (pronounced Ball-Thus) had slid into my DMs with a new album called MACROCOSM. From my research, it seems they are from Colombia, a country I've yet to visit, although I am currently working with a company there on a product launch. So I took their message as a good sign.
BALTHVS occupy the same hazy incense and smoke vibe room as other chill kings like Khruangbin and Tommy Gurerro. They incorporate the South Asian psychedelic echoes, quasi-Middle-Eastern mystic scales, wispy vocals, palm tree percussion, muted-wah wah pedal guitars-in-the-desert and unhurried drums.
Standout cuts are "Siente," which has a more Latin feel, the appropriately named "I just want to go out," "Free yourself (you know where you belong)" because of the surprising rap, and closer "The Midnight Song."
With one album out, they're still pretty new. I dig their style, and I'm hoping they'll look within their own borders for inspiration as they expand their sound. I can picture a narcotic Cumbia beat pairing well with this. Or mine some other areas, too. Space rock. Stretch those jams, guys.
I find it interesting that this genre has popped up and is gaining steam in contrast to the world outside that seems to becoming more aggressive, intense and fragmented. While populism is having its moment, this particular sound continues to stir the melting pot, except it seems like everyone is digging through the global psychedelic record bin. Although some bands like Dengue Fever and White Shoes And The Couples Company concentrate their sound on one country or region.
It's hard not to separate the world outside from the insurlar world of creation. Not to read too much into BLATHVS, but I wonder if tensions within their own border like the peace deal with FARC being threatened, their border neighbor's ongoing struggles and everyone's favorite subject, the pandemic, have anything to do with their desire to create some mellowed out bliss.