Childhood by Strange Mountain

A few years back I recorded 'Childhood', one of my most satisfying moments as Strange Mountain and as a musician. Then in my early 30s, I was on the beginning of a journey of trying to reconcile the emotional fulfillment of my childhood with the excitement and challenges of oncoming adulthood. Having experienced a, what I've always realized, was an emotionally-privileged life of having to live different sets of culture and values, I wanted to keep the special-quality of those moments away from the increasingly-barren empty/ borrowed nostalgia that had become the norm. I had to make each song a specific experience - Learning to ride a bike at the late age of 9 in the suburbs of Canberra, Australia; waiting for the bus drenched in cold weather and thundering rain very early under the cloudy skies of Wassenar, Netherlands; sweating like maniacs as we played street children games in the now-dying neighborhoods of middle-class Jakarta suburbs. Rockman 2, football fields during dusks behind our house, neighborhood crushes, the smell of the convenience store on a dry Perth day. It was all those moments.

I was lucky to find some great partners in Metaphysical Ciruits (who released it on tape) and Majemuk (who re-released on CD along with outtakes on floppy disk) and yet-still-other labels here who found a connection to it and plan to re-release it in the near future. I hope it means as much as to you to listen as it did to me writing it.

METAPHYSICAL CIRCUITS - "The welcome reemergence of Jakartan renaissance man Marcel Thee's Strange Mountain continues here, just barely a month after a wondrous one on Lillerne Tapes. From miniature to monumental, "Childhood"'s ten tracks embody characteristic soft-focus harmonic meditation, shifting sands, dream-filled seasons, and hymnal hit potential. Minimalist-impressionist soothing vibes – reflective and nostalgic, without necessarily being melancholy. All-analogue ambient rapture."

BANDCAMP HUNTER/ FORMLESS FIELDS - "All-analogue ambient rapture" is how Metaphysical Circuits describes this release from Jakarta's Strange Mountain, a description I must wholeheartedly agree with. Wavering soundscapes that cast an atmosphere that is both serene and eerie.

Strange Mountain is Marcel Thee (Sajama Cut, Roman Catholic Skulls, The House of Faith and Mirrors, The Knife Club, Nakatomi Plaza, and solo) from Jakarta, Indonesia

open.spotify.com
Marcel Thee
The House of Faith and Mirrors
Sajama Cut
The Knife Club