Biography
Ulaan Markhor is a new solo vision from Californian Steven R. Smith; as with his former veils (Hala Strana and Ulaan Khol most recently), this new epithet brings about a wholly new origin for creation: rhythmic throb. Smith's heavy percussive clout has rarely surfaced on his records, and has heretofore never served as the focal point. Confined within canyons of mammoth ostinatos, the songs have nowhere to go but up. Smith's singular guitar playing is present throughout, rendering fuzzed and buzzing melodies & subtly interlocking lines that swirl amongst the percussive nexus.
Though drawing on many familiar influences, Ulaan Markhor manages a new perspective for Smith's work. Herein, much like Ulaan Khol, Smith explores all corners of kosmische (Gottsching is a touchstone here) with an Eno-like attention to sound. An admiration of Dog Faced Hermans and Long Fin Killie, evident in the wood-block and shaker rhythms, further sets this project apart. Correlations to Roy Montgomery appear as well (as before), but this time its Montgomery's Dadamah era that bears the fruit. Despite its psychedelic and experimental flourishes, Ulaan Markhor possesses a coy accessibility & populist groove that simply doesn't relent.
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