Hi, High Sorcery.

Wings Beneath Krynn's Moonlight | artist: Mythráen — I imagine there will be plenty of listeners who speak to the fantastical lyricism and moody rhythms of Mythráen's latest release. While, on the surface, the compositions fall into the general occupations of Dark Dungeon and Fantasy Synth music writ large, there is something subtle happening here which plays to a nice effect. While we've been told that the music is characterized by crisp production, it's actually a recurring surface noise and occasional sonic artifacts — and the contrast between these features and the carefully constructed recordings — that make this set the most compelling. There seems to be a recognition of the recorded and composed event itself. In other words, what is there in the recording — in the mix — is "allowed" to be there. That's what we're hearing in the abrupt and clipped "tape ends" and occasional hum marking the ingress and egress from track to track. It is not just about "what is there", it is about "how it is there" — there is license given to the recording itself and whatever palimpsest nuances may have been left as residual traces. Yes, this may be read as a nod to genre and bygone techniques, but for these old ears it is referentially useful. And yes, surface noise is hardly uncommon in the space (especially in the sense of adding a retro sensibility) — think certain well known post-tape recordings that dwell on the tape warble sound. But here, maybe because the compositions themselves feel so relatively polished and the start-stop times feel so scrapbooked, it comes across as germanely human as opposed to cognizantly detached. It feels more about the process than about the style. You can veritably feel the push of a button ending the cycle of a mix. Alas, your wizarding mileage may vary. And there are plenty of fantastical flourishes (and mystical head-nodding rhythms) in this one to make it worth the adventure no matter your expectations, sonic or otherwise. Out on WereGnome Records | 3.5 out of 5 stars.