Saturnia is the solo project of a one Luis Simões, a multi-instrumentalist from Portugal. His primary interest is psychedelic space rock, somewhat similar to Sweden's ST Mikael, but more varied and less aggressive. I can remember reading about his albums at the beginning of the millennium. However the idea of a one man show - playing in a style that I prefer the synchronicity of a band - wasn't enough for me to separate some money from the wallet. Fast forward some 20 years, and I have trade credit to use, and there is Saturnia. It was mixed with a pile of other new heavy metal titles, which makes sense when you realize the album was released on Elektrohasch, the house label of stoner extraordinaire Colour Haze. Why not give it a chance? And I was rewarded with a very thoughtful psychedelic journey. The variety of instruments and the decidedly warm tone definitely transcends the genre norms. It sounds very much like something that could have been released in the early 70s. A double album set is almost certain to induce boredom and yet it never feels that way. I didn't pick up any highlights, but I'm certain more focused listens would yield such. Not sure I need a lot more of Saturnia, but as one representative for the collection, α Ω α is a good one.
Ownership: LP: 2012 Elektrohasch. 2 LP set. Gatefold. Wonderful overall presentation. As noted above, recently picked this up in trade with our local friends at What's Left Records.
Nice to find your site here Ashratom! (Fwiw I'm "Redfish365" o'er on RyM). I was pleased to see this Saturnia review...I got into him around 2006 and got Muzak when it came out. A 5-star release in my estimation. Based on my euphoria from the Muzak album I quickly acquired both The Glitter Odd and Hydroponic Gardening which I also think highly of...but not quite as highly as Muzak. I gave them both 4-stars. I agree with you that there's a bit of the ST Mikael thing herein...but also enough separating them. I also feel that with the 3 Saturnia albums I own I'm quite well set as far as he goes. Nothing whatsoever against him but my wishlist is a mile long as it is and I must be judicious when adding to it! But thank you for the review and for the years of excellent reviews! Its nice to know there are others out there who largely share my exquisite taste in tunes!
ReplyDeleteHey Redfish! :-) Thanks for the kind words. Your comments are always welcome.
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