DAVE AJU & THE INVISIBLE ART TRIO – “AQUAMARINE DREAM (FEAT. THE RENNIX SISTERS)”
A SPILL EXCLUSIVE MUSIC PREMIERE
Never one to pull inventive punches, Left Coast electronic music producer Dave Aju reassembled this notorious cast of characters for a remarkably fitting album package made during one of the most strange times our world has ever faced in the throes of the COVID-19 pandemic. While things were essentially shutdown, reopened, cycle-repeat worldwide, and every other species in mother nature’s kingdom temporarily rejoiced while humans remained still in their caves, Aju and The Invisible Art Trio, his formidable if not-seen-in-a-minute musical team behind such underground anthems as “Be Like the Sun”, went to work in the final days of the glorious G-Son studios in Atwater Village LA to record this LP.
Indeed, the same four/five walls and vocal booth that saw the Beastie’s iconic Check Your Head and Hello Nasty come to life, became the birthplace of Glossolalia, Aju’s fifth studio album and appropriately impressive seven-song set. As always, a myriad of musical styles and influences are strung together and boldly combined here, to the degree that drawing comparisons or attempting genre references feels truly futile. There are, however, clear visceral expressions of political provocation, hope and anger, fear and joy laid over twisted yet dedicated grooves in a lockdown era where Aju’s imaginary collective dance floor feels in the temporary absence thereof and bizarro sixth-world unification strategy of recording every song’s lyrics in complete non-languages aka total gibberish, feels right at home. Even the vocal guests join in the literal chant here, granting us diverse spell-casting and sensual nonsensical lyrical lines over tech-funk mother lodes, before closing the otherworldly proceedings with a powerful grand finale tribute to the US of A’s proud boys-in-blue in the wake of George Floyd’s very public assassination. Equal parts timely anti-establishment and uplifting call-to-action, Glossolalia serves as a decidedly coarse yet crucial reminder of the possibilities in collaborative and devoted noise-making, booty-shaking, and alternative world-building during greater global disarray – beyond stylistic, nationalistic, and linguistic dividing lines. An overtly universal and unifying message liberating us from any fixed cultural identities and thus differences, to instead just focus on how the music delivers and we physically respond, together, as the foundation. Perhaps also an inspired response to the talking heads in every corner of the world’s media, spewing useless and politically-tainted mouth data at us amidst these turbulent times. As the apt album title implies, the ritualistic if not religious and ceremonial speaking in tongues leaves us with as many questions as answers, while we are enraptured in a complex yet nuanced sonic balancing act of unknown while strangely-familiar rhythmic bliss, which Dave Aju & The IAT wouldn’t have any other way.
Bay Area-born Marc David Barrite aka Dave Aju is a reliable name for fresh and inimitable electronic music, a balancing act of deep knowledge and passion for dance music history of the past, with a fearless, forward-thinking approach to production and performance. A diverse range of influences can be heard in Aju’s unique sound – from an immersive jazz upbringing via his father, a peer of Pharaoh Sanders early on, his dedicated underground hip-hop MC years, dance floor origins at South Bay latino house clubs, techno leanings of the SF rave scene in the 90s, to even contemporary R&B/neo-soul and the outer realms of experimental post-rock and musique concrète, always imbued with a warm, handmade sonic twist and solid sense of rhythm owed to his roots as a dancer. Dave Aju original works,
remixes, DJ sets, and live performances have blessed selective labels, clubs, and festivals across the globe and championed by many like-minded peers, including Matthew Herbert who has personally commissioned two EP releases, to cutting-edge festivals like MUTEK who have demanded multiple return performances, adopted Parisian family and home label Circus Company who have released most of his material including three highly acclaimed full-length concept albums, and even jazz and soul patron don Giles Peterson who prompted remix collaborations for his own Brownswood label and guest appearances for his infamous Worldwide show, have recognized the inherently soulful roots of Aju’s understated and otherworldly transmissions.
Dave Aju & The Invisible Art Trio
Glossolalia
(Broken Clover Records)
Release Date: February 14, 2023
Pre-Order Glossolalia HERE
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