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cassette / digital release by nonlocal research
nonlocalresearch.bandcamp.com/album/myths-of-the-crystal-plateau

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also check out the companion EP : In the Valley of Dream Prisms
oddperson.bandcamp.com/album/in-the-valley-of-dream-prisms

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this music was transferred from an old reel to reel tape recorder found in a forgotten corner of the anthropology department's basement archives. along with the audio recording was a hand-bound notebook of related field notes. the author and source of these documents is unknown.

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PRESS:

"I love this album more each time I listen to it (the companion EP is also fantastic). This is music at the intersection of aural fantasy and sonic archaeology. Unearthed cadences propel the mystic melodies skyward, connecting forgotten worlds with the soil below. There’s a clarity to this music that pulls in our focus, putting us in an almost trance-like state. Interdimensional soundscapes saturate every arrangement, fusing an ageless spectrality with tactile rhythms. Field recordings add another layer of texture across the bounce, but the entirety of Myths is supernatural. "
-- Foxy Digitalis

"A mesmerizing album of rich percussion and synthetic sound floors from Odd Person, aka August Treager (Bicephalic, Somnaphon), in seven trance-like compositions based around grooves that slowly evolve in character while accompanied by haunting asides of ghostly melodic figures, casting a decidedly world music flavor to original music that transcends location. "
- Squidco


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journal entries associated with the audio selections:


The K’holori Tal’a’ and Her Snakes
The myth of the K’holori Tal’a’ (rough translation: Master Shaman Queen) is commonly told throughout this region. She is said to descend from the sky on nights of the new moon carrying a crooked wooden staff in her left hand and a bundle of thirteen serpents in her right. The stories say that these serpents are released into the night where they enter the dreams of the sleeping villagers. If a serpent enters one’s dream it causes a series of vivid erotic dreams.

However on rare occasions a serpent may enter the dreams of a young girl who will have intense visions of a great white owl. If this occurs the dreamer is said to have been chosen as a K’holori, the highest order of shamans. Upon having such a dream the girl will immediately begin initiation rites into the shamanic order.

As this is a highly desirable position, villagers will often hold musical ceremonies on these moonless nights with hopes of enticing the serpents of the K’holori Tal’a’ into their children’s dreams. This is a recording of one such ceremony.

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The Erat Sphere
The Erat Sphere is a peculiar artifact found buried below the windblown sands near the village of Erat. Its composition is one of a very dense, durable, mirror-like silver metal. The sphere is inscribed on all areas of its surface with owl-like figures among other fantastical creatures and various other symbols and undeciphered scripts.

The people here believe that this object is a star map accidentally left behind by a spare faring race at some point in the distant past.

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Dance of the Owl People:
In the late summer months when the N’lan Ti constellation approaches the zenith at dusk, a very important celebration is held. People arrive from throughout the region to make offerings to the red owls of the desert. It is said that these red owls eat the adolescent n’halzg’la (rough translation : night liches - believed to be demonic entities which stalk the desert at night and prey upon humans).

On the night of the ceremony’s apex, an elaborate feast is followed by a night-long dance full of resplendent costumed dancers and warriors. The dance not only pays reverence to the red owl but also serves as a chance for lovers to renew their devotion to one another through provocative sexual displays. Naked writhing dancers and lovers alike undulate in unison in a display that can only be described as a madness of ecstasy and erotic convulsion.

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Earthquake Dreams and the Owl Q’ej
Certain dreams are regarded as omens of forthcoming events. This is particularly true of dreams involving earthquakes or tsunamis; two natural phenomena which plague this region.

Elaborate myths detail the origin of earthquakes as the angry and violent outbursts of the Owl Q’ej (rough translation of Q’ej is monarch or omnipotent ruler), who was trapped entombed within the earth. It is said that premonitions of earthquakes in dreams are sent to the dreamer by the Owl Q’ej’s ancestors to warn of the upcoming outburst.
As with many customs here, a ritual song ceremony is held following an earthquake dream by any member of the community. The intent of the dance is to placate the Owl Q’ej; and thereby preventing the earthquake.

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A Secret Equinox Ceremony
At the time of the equinox in late September, I made frequent inquiries into equinox celebrations. All of my questioning was met with silence and dismissal. If the equinox holds any special significance to the culture, that significance was not to be revealed to me.

However, on the night of the equinox, I was awoken from sleep in the early morning hours to the sound of distant music. I rushed to the source of the sounds which was the main temple at the center of the community; the ritual music emanating from within the stone walls. I was barred from entering by a group of warrior women, dressed in full ceremonial garb. The women would not answer any of my questions about the event and they repeatedly told me to ignore it and return home. They did however, after much pleading, allow me to make an audio recording from outside the temple walls.

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The Pentagram Language
Some elders describe a time before humans began to domesticate crops when the “Great Owl People” spoke to humans via a telepathic language. This language is described as hearing five simultaneous voices speaking with clarity directly into the mind. They describe this sensation as hearing the “Pentagram Language” of the owls.

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Pre-dawn Jam Drunk on Alteberra Nectar
On the occasions of nighttime summer celebrations, the pre-dawn hours often find musicians and performers casually improvising music. The informal jam sessions, fueled by inebriation and revelry, are often loose in structure and not bound by overtones of religion or custom. They are an emanation of pure creative spirit and artistry for those involved.