Christopher Alvarado & Ari Porki
Menagerie of Clouds
Aural Films
Street: 08.05.13
Christopher Alvarado & Ari Porki = Arcana + Peter DiPhillips + Jack Hertz
Like-minded New Age/dark ambient artists Christopher Alvarado and Finland’s Ari Porki have combined their crystal-gazing, third eyes to create a record marinating in New Age clichés and sweat from a thousand soccer moms during hot yoga. While Menagerie of Clouds is a bit more on the drone-y side of Alvarado’s work and benefits from scattered moments of truly sublime electronic arrangements, it still staggers under the weight of elements of New Age wankery that fail to appeal to anyone outside of acolytes of this easily maligned genre. With that said, there is consistently less reliance on tribal beats, tinkling bells, Eastern instruments, chanting vocal samples and synth washes of Alvarado’s solo releases. Much of the album floats unhindered in a soothing sea of drones and manipulated synthesizers that are landless and non-citizens of any country, including New Age Lifescapes land. –Ryan Hall