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Memory Pearl – Cosmic-Astral (2025)
Review:
In 2025, it might be easy to forget that the idea of taking mind-expanding substances while listening atmospheric music was once considered to be radical and illicit. Over the course of the last few years, both supervised psychedelic exploration and ambient music have gradually inched their way towards the mainstream, but tripping out to wonky albums wasn’t always such a societally accepted activity. In the 1970s, a group of psychotherapists developed a listening routine called the Cosmic-Astral program specifically designed to be played while their patients took LSD. Consisting of classical compositions from Richard Strauss, Alexander Scriabin, and Gustav Holst, the aural curriculum was quickly pulled from shelves due to its questionable legal implications. On Cosmic-Astral Toronto-based multi-instrumentalist Moshe Fisher-Rozenberg—under his alias Memory Pearl—pays homage to the LP, reinterpreting the ‘70s pieces on contemporary electronic gear. The result exudes a kind of self-realized warmth. Fisher-Rozenberg keeps a relatively low profile, but he came up as a studio partner of Alvvays and drummer for the spiky rock band Absolutely Free. He also has a master’s degree in Music-Centered Psychotherapy from Wilfrid Laurier University. Cosmic-Astral reveals various facets of Fisher-Rozenberg’s background, aided by guests including Sam Prekop, Joseph Shabason, and Mas Aya. The collaborators color around the lines of Fisher-Rozenberg’s MIDI sketches, and the end result casts the Cosmic-Astral program in soothing, daylit hues. Cosmic-Astral opens with whooshing synthesizer tendrils on “Prelude,” setting the tone for a glassy voyage through kaleidoscopic peaks and technicolor valleys. The five-segment “Music Travel” is the centerpiece of the album, incorporating arpeggiations that titter above lithe rhythms, buttery pads, and dynamic live improvisation. “Astral Travel” borders on jazz fusion, thanks to vocoded squelches and lush electric piano chords. On “Relaxation Induction,” floaty digitized plonks support misty woodwinds and gold-flecked string swells. The whole record recalls some whimsical, poignant children’s animation, with a slightly discombobulated undercurrent. Though academic in his approach, Fisher-Rozenberg is careful to avoid teetering into purity. “The cliché, corny relaxation music is not gonna work for everybody. It may be relaxing for one person, but for another, it can be extremely aggravating,” he once told New Feeling, when asked about his views as a music therapist. Like the most engaging perspective-warping experiences, the ripples on Cosmic-Astral alternate between comfort and queasiness. — daily.bandcamp.com
Track List:
01 - Prelude
02 - Relaxation Induction
03 - Music Travel I
04 - Astral Travel
05 - Music Travel II
06 - Music Travel III
07 - Music Travel IV
08 - Music Travel V
09 - Postlude
Media Report:
Genre: ambient, electronic
Origin: Toronto, Ontario, Canada 
Format: FLAC
Format/Info: Free Lossless Audio Codec
Bit rate mode: Variable
Channel(s): 2 channels
Sampling rate: 44.1 KHz
Bit depth: 16 bits
Compression mode: Lossless
Writing library: libFLAC 1.2.1 (UTC 2007-09-17)
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