Neon Indian - Psychic Chasms

There's little doubt that this year's big revolution in sound has come via the growing Stateside based chillwave movement. Indeed, when the curtain finally closes on 2010, it's hard to envisage any other new musical craze bar maybe dubstep having grabbed the imagination so vociferously. Having already enjoyed delightful offerings from the likes of Memory Tapes, Washed Out and Toro Y Moi, it's the turn of Texas inhabitant Neon Indian to provide the latest soundtrack to the now familiar British summer of rain and freezing temperatures.

Oddly enough, as with the aforementioned likes of 'Life Of Leisure' and 'Causers Of This', 'Psychic Chasms' was actually created well over a year ago and first saw the light of day in its native US back in the autumn of 2009. Despite having received a considerable amount of attention via cyberworld and the whole blogosphere, a severe lack of funding - Neon Indian is to all intents and purposes the guise of one man, Alan Palomo - meant its release in Europe had to be delayed somewhat until a licensee was found, yet oddly enough, that has since arrived in the shape of its creator himself, having formed his own Static Tongues imprint during the interim period.

While its unlikely that anyone wishing to here 'Psychic Chasms' won't have done so already via the medium of file sharing or otherwise, Palomo has provided an incentive to purchase for all comers here by adding an extra eight songs - one original composition and seven remixes - to the twelve included on the album's initial format. What this means is additional reworkings by such luminaries as Yacht, Javelin and Toro Y Moi that in some cases, take Neon Indian's sketches into altogether unfamiliar surroundings.

As with his fellow incumbents of the genre, Palomo's propensity to mix and match beats over floaty, psychedelic keyboard sounds make 'Psychic Chasms' a worthwhile addition to chillwave's extensive roster. However, what sets it apart from the rest of his co-conspirators is the experimental urge prevalent throughout. What ensues is the occasional paradigm shift when least expected. Take 'Deadbeat Summer' for example, a four-minute exercise in drifting nostalgia that has one foot firmly entrenched in the past, exercising Tom Tom Club's funk-driven demons via the whimsical world occupied by The Flaming Lips, while the other foot steers the whole shebang into an eclectically bright future.

In many cases moulded together by minute-long interludes such as 'Laughing Gas' and 'If I Knew I'd Tell You', the futuristic disco of 'Should Have Taken Acid With You' - Palomo's riposte to the ex-girlfriend responsible for Neon Indian, fact fans - theramin heavy robo-funk of 'Local Joke' and introspective musical ketamin of 'Mind Drips' all straddle several different genres between the dancefloor and drill hall. The Bibio remix of the latter meanwhile proves eerily reminiscent of Loop's epic 'Black Sun', and inadvertently paves the way for Neon Indian's next venture, allegedly heavily inspired by the ethereal might of My Bloody Valentine and Slowdive respectively.

Overall, 'Psychic Chasms' may not win any prizes for originality, but in an increasingly saturated minefield of comparative wares, Neon Indian's bold diversions from the expected norm stands out like a delectably sore thumb.

8/10

Dom Gourlay