When you safari for an artist with a vocab word highlighted in your mind, serendipity ensues. In this case, the vocab word was ubiquitous. And I found the letters that spelled it one by one when I encountered the new album from The Octopus Project. More specifically, I was dumbfounded and enraptured, railing against my timing when I saw a live performance from it at the most-recent SXSW. It includes everything except the “U” (for urban). Under a tent, outside a Whole Foods, in their native Austin Texas, they slayed the crowd with a marathon performance of the swirling track “Circling” from their new album Hexadecagon. Here, watch the video (please), see what I mean, and I can use less of these wErrrrdz.
When you have the audience gazing up, and letting the music lead the mood instead of BEING an event, it’s something vastly different from what most of the scene offers today. THIS is what Octopus Project exceeds at; taking your expectations and turning them up to the sky, where things are much much bigger. Every time you sit down to listen to one of their songs, you gain perspective. How they do this, I have no idea. “Perspective on what,” you ask? “Well, on everything,” I reply. Perhaps it’s the theremin solos, perhaps it’s because they have Roy G. Biv as an uncle, or maybe it’s just a mission that they swore to each other in blood; to change the world by sharing a feeling, one crowd at a time.
Hexadecagon (released this past October) continues this with authority. As full-length number 4, it has NO need to puff up its chest with hot breath and stride into the coliseum of hipster judgment. The confidence in their senior effort is overwhelming and they instead use their breath to sail their notes upwards on paper wings. The sounds are still swirling around your head from the above video you (should have) watched.
The Octopus Project – Fuguefat by FBi Radio
The Octopus Project – Circling by The Wounded Jukebox
Stream/Download more various Octopus Project tracks HERE.
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-Matt
The Wounded Jukebox 