t e l e p a t h テレパシー能力者 has been releasing material through their own Bandcamp label since September of 2013. In August of 2014, 肉体からの離脱 was released through Dream Catalogue on Bandcamp. The aesthetic and concept behind this album are etched and hidden behind Japanese characters; the album’s title, track titles, and album art are riddled with hidden meanings. The album’s title roughly refers to the idea of having an out-of-body-experience. In this album, t e l e p a t h テレパシー能力者 approaches this idea through a collection of neo-transcendentalist compositions.

The majority of the tracks on this album run more than twelve minutes each. The sheer length of each compositions allows for plenty of time for the listener to space out and transcend, as t e l e p a t h テレパシー能力者 intended. The first track, “わたしはあなたと共に時は時間がありません” does this exceptionally well. It starts off with a dreamy, muffled loop that becomes more and more clear as time goes on. The beginning syllable of a vocal part is separated and used as a recurring low-end accompaniment to the existing track. Soon after, a more complete segment of the vocal track is presented. Halfway through the thirteen-minute intro track, the chiming lo-fi idea is slowly expanded on. Does Philip Glass dream of minimalist sheep?

Following in the same compositional style of the intro track, “私の夢の女性との時空間連続体の外側の内部の心の肉体ビジョン” relentlessly alters the listener’s perception of time over the course of seventeen minutes. Despite there being no clear beat or time division, this composition seems to have some sense of order. Ideas that repeat themselves or loop for extended periods of time are done so in a very systematic and predictable fashion. You can’t exactly tap your foot to it, but that’s not exactly the point in this case. The motifs that begin to expand around 7:00 are really nice. Strings are introduced, time is warped and toyed with, and yet everything continues to progress forward and stay put all at once. Later in the track, a heavy beat in 5/4 provides some framework for the remainder of the track to rest on.

Conceptually, the idea of out-of-body-experiences isn’t far off from Ramona Andra Xavier’s approach to vaporwave through her various multi-monikered releases and consistent use of anonymity and self-separation as themes in her music. More on that idea here.

肉体からの離脱 rekindled my love for ambient and drone music. The way that t e l e p a t h テレパシー能力者 has approached vaporwave as an art movement is truly fascinating. Instead of adhering to a pre-existing structure or formula, they have created a unique and dreamy niche for themselves on Dream Catalogue. I really loved listening to this album and I highly recommend it.

Favorite Track: 私の夢の女性との時空間連続体の外側の内部の心の肉体ビジョン (Track 2)