Brooklyn-based noise experimentalist solo outfit Megalophobe has issued its self-titled debut EP via Bandcamp in the form of four tracks of fleshed-out atmospherics and titles that may or may not be sci-fi references. Given the blue whales, the ship docking, the support cables to be installed, I’m thinking maybe Star Trek IV, but hell, I’m always thinking Star Trek IV, so if I’m wrong about that, double-dumbass on me. I don’t know if there were wind turbines in any foreground shots in that movie, but if you told me there were, I’d believe it. Maybe in one of those futuristic shots of Starfleet HQ at the start?

“Hello, computer.”

Man, I love Star Trek IV. Okay, seriously though. Whatever the basis for the titles, the EP is an immersive and at times curious bit of exploration that sets a grim ambient mood via some righteously efficient and minimalist means. Headphones? Yeah, headphones. Get that going.

You can stream it at the bottom of this post:

MEGALOPHOBE: Brooklyn Experimentalist Releases Self-Titled Debut EP

New York City-based experimental soloist MEGALOPHOBE has self-released its proper debut EP, megalophobe, which is now streaming via Bandcamp.

On the self-titled debut, MEGALOPHOBE’s Benjamin Levitt weaves a minimalist-yet-expansive spectrum of ambient soundscapes. Otherworldly tranquility is intermittently met with curious instability, with layers of transformational effects swirling through the mix of accordion, effects, bass, percussion, and more, and more. Levitt delivers nearly twenty-five minutes of intriguing, ambient bliss through four extensive tracks ranging from just over four minutes to nearly nine-and-a-half minutes in length, some of which was captured live on the porch of a remote Catskills cabin, while the rest was created at Levitt’s home base of Forked Audio in Brooklyn. The EP’s lead track, “A Field Of Wind Turbines In The Foreground,” sees Levitt joined by Gridfailuire’s David Brenner who supplies effects-laden synth, percussion, and theremin to the song.

Tracklisting:
1. A Field of Wind Turbines in the Foreground 05:21
2. Half of the Support Cables are Yet to Be Installed 04:12
3. Not While the Ship is Docked 05:42
4. Some Positive Aspects of the Eradication of Balaenoptera 09:28

Benjamin Levitt officially created MEGALOPHOBE in 2016 while constructing the Dendritic collaborative album with Gridfailure, which was released on Arbor Day 2017 as the artists planted trees across the New York City region. While several new fully collaborative recordings together are already heavily under construction, Levitt spent the latter half of 2017 focusing on the megalophobe EP, which was just self-released digitally on the cusp of the New Year.

https://megalophobe.bandcamp.com/
https://twitter.com/megalophobe

Megalophobe, Megalophobe (2017)