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Titan Stride Beyond the Wander on Sweet Dreams

Posted in Reviews on December 21st, 2010 by JJ Koczan

When Tee Pee Records released Titan’s 2007 full-length debut, A Raining Sun of Light and Love for You and You and You, I recall being swept up in its far-ranging psychedelia, more structured than the likes of labelmates Earthless or The Assemble Head in Sunburst Sound, but still of a similar blown-out, lysergic ilk. I liked it. I thought it was a good album. I listened to it for a while and put it away. Some albums you go back to, some you don’t. A Raining Sun of Light and Love for You and You and You managed to leave an impression, but it’s not something I put on regularly once I was done reviewing it. It’s still on my shelf, and I know it’s a cool album, but staying power wasn’t one of its great assets.

In a way, I feel the same about Titan’s more economically-titled sophomore outing, Sweet Dreams. Now signed to Relapse, the Brooklyn outfit emit five mostly-extended, mostly-instrumental cuts, upping the level of prog and losing some of the acoustic/jam feel of the first album. They do well at it, and the addition of bassist Steve Moore, also known for his work as half the synthy Relapse prog duo Zombi, has definitely affected Titan’s sound, twisting the embellishments on Sweet Dreams toward the more technically intricate and the seemingly cerebral. When all is said and done, though, I’m not honestly convinced I’m going to come back to Sweet Dreams any more than I went back to A Raining Sun of Light and Love for You and You and You. And that’s not even necessarily a statement about the quality of the album or of the four-piece’s performances therein, it’s just a fact that seemed worth mentioning.

Titan’s growth is palpable immediately from the opening of its kickoff title-track, which starts with a surprisingly heavy riff from guitarist Josh Anzano, offering a little adrenaline in the beginning that Sweet Dreams returns to later in its progression. The track evolves and twists through its 7:47 runtime, always keeping a mind of where it’s been and where it’s going. Drummer Dave Liebowitz contributes a few clever fills and has a good sense of where it’s appropriate to dial it back and let Anzano take the lead, backed by washes from Kris D’Agostino’s synths. That’s more or less the course the rest of Sweet Dreams takes, though as a whole Titan shift the direction of their flourishes enough on each track so as to let them maintain an individual edge while also acting as part of the whole, shorter second piece “Synthasaurs” having charm in more than just its title, which one imagines to be a reference to the analog and/or vintage equipment used to compose the song itself. I like this side of Titan; a kind of space-minded sub-prog, not unlike the cinematic feel Zombi brought to their last album, Spirit Animal. It’s shorter by more than half of the surrounding four tracks, but it nonetheless establishes a firm ground for Titan build on in the future. The future, incidentally, also being where the song sounds like it comes from.

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audiObelisk EXCLUSIVE: Titan Stream Track from Their Relapse Debut, Sweet Dreams

Posted in audiObelisk on September 17th, 2010 by JJ Koczan

Today I couldn’t be more thrilled to have the honor of premiering a new track from Brooklyn cosmonauts Titan‘s Relapse Records debut, Sweet Dreams. The song is called “Wooded Altar Beyond the Wander,” and you can listen with the player below:

Titan, “Wooded Altar Beyond the Wander” from Sweet Dreams:
Titan track

Special thanks to Relapse for letting me host this psychedelic monster of a track. Sweet Dreams was recorded at Translator Audio in Brooklyn by Brendan Tobin (Made Out of Babies) and streets Oct. 12. You can preorder the CD here and the gatefold vinyl here. Vinyl is pressed in an edition of 631 180 gram black and 337 coffee cream.

Titan play Kung Fu Necktie in Philly Oct. 22 with Serpent Throne, Snake Sustain and Royal Thunder, and their record release show is at Union Pool in Brooklyn Oct. 24 with Royal Thunder and Dark Vibes. More info at their MySpace.

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