Zac Nelson - The Same Hypnotic Point (Debacle, 2011)

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Zac Nelson is a name that may not sound familiar at first glance. When looking into his musical background, however, he has diffused his creativity in places you'd least expect. Known as the man operating behind the Hexlove enigma, the provider of lead vocals on Zach Hill's "Toll Road", and a member of Chll Pll and Prints, Nelson has kept his prolificacy subtle in releasing work under various projects. 2011 however marks the unveiling of output under his own name. Thus far is a debut LP Wicked Work It Out, a forthcoming cassette on Portland label Field Hymns, and Debacle Records has recently put forth The Same Hypnotic Point, a behemoth whose specious title reads like a stagnant 46 minutes.

Following an opening incantation is the demanding 17-minute percussive jigsaw "Love Me With a Body You Respect": messily scattered debris slips and tumbles as wordless mantras quiver aloft. As discombobulated as this din appears, it grasps an ebb and flow to guide through its multiple phases. Proceeding that is another feat, "Blue Jack", a clutter of dissonant electronics maladroitly twitching about the recurring line "nevertheless my heart is beating." It's a bustling skronk-pop gem with a tremulous gait bound to leave its audience wide-eyed. Slipping in and out of tempo, Nelson sits on the fringe between melody and discord.

For its closing trio, Point explores Nelson's less-frantic and meditative craft. "ECAEPEKAF"'s simple yet shimmering melody glides above overlapping, monolithic waves of echo. "Holidaze" is an uplifting chorus of acoustics, harmonizing plucks cascade and accumulating expanse. Bringing the album to a weighty and spiritual close is "Lumps of Leaves" whose chiming sequences graze across enveloping wafts. Exhibiting all angles of his eccentricity and serenity, Zac Nelson leaves no stone unturned. All compositional indulges that Point embraces equate to an adventurous and breathtaking effort keen to render the mind malleable.


[Zac Nelson Website]
[Buy/Download The Same Hypnotic Point from Debacle Records]