Intersystems

Alga Marghen presents a reissue of Intersystems' Free Psychedelic Poster Inside (1968). Intersystems occupied a difficult-to-reach critical nook between the many tropes that had established to frame the various artistic trends of 1960s. Announcing itself with a quivering beam of fluorescent sound, the beginning of Intersystems' Free Psychedelic Poster Inside feels as though it's slowly piercing right through your frontal lobe. Blake Parker's poetry is a dark glimpse into mundane domesticity and the suburbs. One can't help but sense that they're being brainwashed: the slow metamorphosis of sound is juxtaposed against Parker's even-tempered yet electronically-tampered-with speech. There are occasional hints at the twitchy energy of Peachy (NMN 093-2LP), but everything is braced by a spine of lean, cool tones, making Free Psychedelic Poster Inside a far more stark outing than either of its predecessors. Yet the sense of impending danger and general volatility found in the rest of the catalogue is still present - if not amplified. In contrast to Peachy, the shapes the music cuts are smooth rather than jagged, but one is never sure just when Parker's strangely uninflected voice will emerge from the blinding aggregates of pure color. While these clusters of glowing sustain assert an aggressive mesmerism, they serve as a primer for the ears, ominously readying them for virtually anything to happen. When something does, there's often a sense mild alarm on the listener's part even when said change comes in the form of a reprieve from the relentless swarms of high frequency - cascades of synthetic giggles, sliding slow elastic melodies, vigorous strobing modulations and bubbling passages of electronic fizz. Musician and insatiable collector Julian Cope, on his exhaustive online chronicle of all things rare and psychedelic, "Head Heritage" calls Intersystems third LP "one of the densest, most oblique collections of sound ever". Re-mastered by John Mills-Cockell. Mastered for cutting by Giuseppe Ielasi. Comes with original LP graphics as well as a new insert. Edition of 300.