Retro Porter by A Journey of Giraffes

"The sound of John Lane’s most prolific and artistically successful alias, A Journey Of Giraffes, is given more time (almost unlimited time) and space than ever to unfurl on the ambitious opus-spanning Retro Porter album of ambient empirical suites.

An expansion upon Lane’s previous work – especially last year’s choice album entry, Empress Nouveau – each evolving sensory piece allows all the Baltimore composer’s signatures, motifs and serialism-like enquires to recollect memories of places and scenes, of the abstract, over the course of what sounds like a whole day.

Once more akin to Hiroshi Yoshimura, Susumu Yokoto or Harold Budd absorbing the holiday reminisces of Iberia, Retro Porter picks up on the arts and crafts decorative tracery sketches of Empress Nouveau, taking inspiration this time around from the artistry of Gaudí with references to the cemented-together broken tile shards mosaic method of “Trencadis” and his most ambitious, unfinished cathedral of beatific indulgences, the proposed eighteen spires of The Basílica i Temple Expiatori de la Sagrada Família in Barcelona – the largest unfinished Catholic church in the world. Gaudí originally envisioned crowning this behemoth of a church with his monumental depictions of the Apostles, the four Evangelists, the Virgin Mary and Jesus, but only eight of the eighteen statues were completed – the near century-running project was brought a halt during the Spanish Civil War for obvious reasons, but much later, suffered setbacks due to Covid and remains at this present time a building site still.

And so, the influential Spanish architect’s legacy is picked up, his use of folk art and idiosyncratic framing of the Catalan jewel used as a methodology and inspiration for Lane’s own soundscaping craft and mosaic building ambient compositions. The album title however, I believe, is a reference to Lane’s second inspiration, Walter Benjamin’s The Arcade Project preoccupation; the work, a montage-style critique on the “commodification of things” in the age of La Belle Époque. Reflecting the growth of the “bourgeois” class, framed against the glass-roofed arcades of consumerism in late 19th century France, Benjamin writes of change as the new century beckons: and modernism with it. Originally conceived in 1927, it would take thirteen years to finish; completed just as Nazi Germany occupied Benjamin’s homeland, forcing the thinker-writer to flee. Much like Retro Porter, there’s a recurring semblance of the passing of time, of feelings that can’t easily be expressed and said, formed or quantified but an essence of which conjures up emotional pulls and a sense of environment.

Stained-glass passages, bulb-like notes of inspiration, resonated and tubular metallic rings, linger and drift and float in the vapours and obscured fogs of Lane’s creation. In a constant ebb and flow of iterations, reversals, each track is like the chapter of an extensive soundtrack; a balance between a removed channeling of real tangible geography, architecture and masked. And although all these sounds and inspirations draw upon Europe, and both composition wise and sonically hint at Andrew Heath and Matthew David’s corridors of voices, environment and movement, it all still somehow sounds vaguely Japanese: with just the merest hint of Java too.

Like a dialogue with the past, history and the detritus of previous generations that inhabited Lane’s spaces seem to be constantly present: visitations from unidentified vessels like layers of geology. At times we’re subtly pulled towards the shadows, the alien and otherworldliness. But then some passages are edging more towards Laraaji, to cathedral anointed Popol Vuh and the cloudy bellowed Orb. I’d suggest shades too of Andrew Wasylyk, a trumpet-less Jon Hassell, a Mogadon Panda Bear (especially on the extended opening suite, ‘Happy Every Holiday’), Phew and His Name Is Alive.

Mirages, imaging’s, the sound of birds in the iron lattice gardens of an ostentatious arcade percent as described in late 19th century novella’s, sonorous pitches, the softened sound of a taiko drum at the Kabuki theatre, various hinges, dulcimer-like strokes all evaporate then solidify to create an ambient opus; a lifetimes work coalesced into one expansive, layered work of soundscape art and abstraction. Lane has allowed his mind to wander and explore organic and cerebral long form ideas like never before to produce, perhaps, his most accomplished unrestricted work yet."
Dominic Valvona
https://monolithcocktail.com/2024/06/04/the-perusal-56-staple-jr-singers-a-journey-of-giraffes-l-etrangleuse-head-shoppe-pretense/

"Almost a year since the release of Empress Nouveau, Baltimore-based John Lane is back again with Retro Porter, his seventh effort to date under the banner of A Journey of Giraffes, as well as the spiritual continuation of musical travelogue concepts established on said previous outing. Having been recorded almost exclusively while Mr. Lane spent time in Barcelona, much of the creative inspiration for this release comes from the art and architecture of the city, particularly the renowned Sagrada Familia Cathedral and its creator Antonio Gaudi. Musically, the entire album is a rich tapestry of sounds and melodies that have been carefully tailored and constructed to give off the feeling of traveling and absorbing all the sights and sounds that this beautiful city has to offer. Whether it’s the use of frog croaks and distant church bells on the opening “Every Happy Holiday,” or the bird calls alongside muffled voices speaking Spanish and Latin in the background of “Glass Moon,” not to mention the combination of playful children among hauntingly atmospheric echoes of chantlike sounds on “18 Spires,” it’s nearly impossible to listen to this release and not feel oneself magically transported, almost as if you were right there beside the artist experiencing the beauty and the wonder of this incredible place and time.

Also interspersed are unique elements of the artist’s other influences, specifically the music of Japan. The use of both the Koto and the Taiko drum on key tracks and at specific times only helps to further impart an exotic flair that seeks to deeply emphasize the feeling of journeying to somewhere far off and new. This is perhaps Mr. Lane’s greatest gift – his ability to take unusual bits and pieces at random and use them to virtually recreate a particular experience, as well as to evoke an incredibly specific memory from his own life in shockingly vivid detail. Probably the best example of this phenomenon is found on the final track, “Statues Inside,” where simply by the use of water effects and droning loops alongside French horn, xylophone, and ethereal whispers creates a feeling of wandering around inside the ancient halls of the cathedral itself, carefully taking in the most minute details of Gaudi’s incredible craftsmanship and the complete depth of love and care that went into building the monumental structure. Don’t be surprised if you find yourself suffering from an immense sense of wanderlust throughout this almost two hour long opus, along with a nostalgic sense of longing and a complex range of emotions long after you’ve finished with it."
~ Chris Letourneau
https://regenmag.com/reviews/review-a-journey-of-giraffes-retro-porter/


“Retro Porter” is the lucky 7th album by A Journey of Giraffes for Somewherecold Records. Recorded in Barcelona and Baltimore, among other places, the album derives its inspiration from the architectural feats of Antoni Gaudi. Using Gaudi’s technique of trencadis- where cracked tile is rearranged and placed in a surreal yet somehow organized pattern- AJOG takes the fragments of sound and applies them in recursive formations. Motifs appear, dissolve, and reappear amidst other motifs undergoing the same process— familiarity escalates in tandem with unfamiliarity at a growing pace.

“Retro Porter” also draws its breath from the idea of the flaneur (see The Arcades Project by Walter Benjamin). As described elsewhere, the flaneur “sees the world through a kaleidoscope, finds solitude in a crowd, and delights in anonymity.”

In short, everything connects neatly in “Retro Porter” though the pieces might appear disparate and diffuse. The sounds of this album disorient and orient simultaneously. The sum of all your daydreams writ large."