Mycorrizhal Music attempts to be »kinetic ambient music«. At first glance, this might appear to be an oxymoron, a self-contradictory expression. Moving background music – isn’t that like beggarly riches or plastic silverware? Nonsense? Perhaps. Yet Ess Whiteley can sustain divergences. At the University of California, San Diego, they are currently a PhD candidate and compose theory-laden music. But stop! Just because Deleuze references are shooting up like mushrooms in promo blurbs and liner notes does not mean that the music is likewise overly intellectual. On the contrary, Mycorrizhal Music is merry, easygoing and mellow like a breeze.
Structurally, the album follows, in parts, the footsteps of Steve Reich’s contrapuntal compositions. Sonically, however, Whiteley leans more towards IDM, New Age and experimental electronic music. The result is an unobtrusive yet playful album, at times reminiscent of Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith. Above all, it reminds us that dancing is only one form of movement – a culturally shaped, ritualised one. The kinetics of Mycorrizhal Music are far more childlike. It is music for those who wish to rediscover a deeply human joy of exploration in basic acts – feeling, tasting, walking.
Mycorrhizal Music
