Spaghetti Eastern Music’s new album Two Bass Hit, released on August 28th, is an entrancing journey through ambient, psychedelic soundscapes, steered by soaring, exploring guitar leads, and grounded by not one, but two–count ’em–two basses. SEM is the solo project of guitarist Sal Cataldi, and the band features a rotating lineup of skilled musicians–on this record he’s joined by drummer Michael Drazen, electric bassist Tomaso Semioli, and upright bassist Jeff Keithline. The quartet recorded the album live at Green Kill in Kingston.
The record features seven songs, with an additional radio edit version of track one, “Foster’s Phunk,” and has a runtime of just over 52 minutes. Song durations vary widely, from the 10:19 “Augustus Einstein” to the 1:07 “Sad Carnival,” but the song divisions seem rather arbitrary as all the tracks seamlessly segue into one another–in a way, the album as a whole can be seen as one longform song. The dual bassists work in tandem with the drummer’s jazzy, in-the-pocket delivery, as well as with one another–the upright bassist holds down the grooves as the electric bassist spruces up the basslines by slapping in some funky accents. Semioli composed several of the riffs that the band expands and expounds upon through their layered improvisations. Gear junkies will be in awe of Cataldi’s pedal usage–throughout the album he employs a DL-4 looper/delay, various fuzz tones, a ring modulator, a harmonizer, reverb units, an E-bow sustainer, an arpeggiator, and, on one notable track, an electric sitar.
The record begins vigorously in a style reminiscent of Miles Davis’s early ’70s electric era (think On The Corner [1972]). I say this in the best way, but the music is evocative of an ’80s detective show soundtrack. The momentum is energetic and grooving yet there’s something foreboding and unsettling about the soundscape that draws you in like a good murder mystery. Personally, I love instrumental music like this whenever I’m reading and don’t want to be distracted by lyrics, or when I’m running and trying to zone out–it’s easy to get lost in the sauce. On track 2, “The Star that Forgot to Shine,” the tempo slows down and the mood becomes blue and somber. Then we get deeply steeped in a stew of ambient psychedelia on track 3, “(Don’t Fear) The Weeper,” as Cataldi’s generous usage of the E-bow guides us on our acid trip. Track 3 segues smoothly into track 4, “Dance of the Vampire Cheerleaders,” and we enter a surreal sphere where the two basses are especially evident, maintaining the groove with crossing basslines, as Cataldi heightens the eeriness with a reverse delay effect. Drazen’s tasteful embellishments and drum fills are particularly prominent on this song. Next we have the longest track on the album, “Augustus Einstein,” spanning 10 minutes and 19 seconds, mixing elements of reggae/dub with trancey/ambient guitar experimentation, creating a mood that is simultaneously chill yet ominous. The penultimate track, “Going to Goa,” escalates the group’s foray into some strange underworld all their own. There is something deeply disquieting about the soundscape here, which is reminiscent of the haunting chanting in Eyes Wide Shut and decorated with guitar flutterings that sound like rogue alien signals. The album ends with its shortest song, having a duration of 1:07, which serves as a succinct epilogue to the otherworldly voyage.
With Spaghetti Eastern Music, it’s more so about the journey than the end. You have to let go and let the jam take you where it will. The songs don’t meander but wander with intention and purpose. As J.R.R. Tolkien put it, “Not all those who wander are lost.” SEM builds worlds and breaks ground with their exploratory new album–delve into the vibrant realms SEM conjures through their eccentric, experimental jams.
Spaghetti Eastern Music’s social and streaming links:
Buy the album on Bandcamp
-Review written by James Kwapisz
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