Treeboga’s latest album ‘Gnawazonas’ slipped out in December last year and so initially it passed me by. This crossover world electronica album is an absolute treat though and those looking for dark rhythmic tribal electronica will have found their album here.
Treeboga takes traditional aboriginal instruments and fuses them into dance beats. The digeridoo, tribal chants, serpentine flutes, birdsong and synths combine for lengthy trances. Each of the eight tracks on the album goes at the approach differently but they each go for a hypnotic jugular vein. In ‘Meditative Forest People’ for example, its tuned percussion melodies and heavy tabla drums spiralling around you. In the title track, its chopped-up vocal samples, fuzzy organs and a tribal rock drum kit spinning into a psychedelic maze of spacey synths and frog samples. ‘Sambujera’ for example compresses the vocals into a hiss and lets glass percussion run a riot in a similar way to South American music. It’s an assault on the senses and utterly euphoric.
What is clear is that the music is designed to transport you into that frantic trance experienced in a tribal ceremony. Treeboga spends the entire album building up your senses before the closing duo of tracks ‘Moon Ceremony Part 1 and 2’ turn down the lights and focuses on singular drones. It is like an out of body experience. The drums never stop. The synths refuse to sit still. The melody is there but it is always percussive and aggressive. Put simply, Treeboga is a mood. A state of being. Closing out with wild song chants, echoing drone synths and increasing forest noises feels like you’ve landed back on Earth again and ready to return to life.
When I put the album on the first time from start to finish, I simply had to get up and jam around my living room. Then I got out my Djembe drum and had to play along with the infectious rhythms. My neighbours probably hate me but I simply fell in love with Treeboga’s hedonistic style and meditative zone. It’s quite unlike anything else out there and easily one of my favourite albums of this genre.
Recommended track: Meditative Forest People
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Treeboga - Gnawazonas
