The title of this EP is meant to be read literally. Planetary Spirit explores the concept of the Earth as “a living being,” the “physical vessel of a planetary-level spiritual entity.”

Forget about what kind of music you think would go with that kind of concept. Put it completely out of your mind, along with what the liner notes dubs the “silly representations and distortions” of New Age sects — and, I’ll add, their often intolerable music. Planetary Spirit is raw techno that oozes with life, with energy, a spirit expressed by planetary forces that murder the ego of the hairless, fragile animal that wanders across its crust. The title track captures the violence of plate tectonics and what even atheism could only attribute to “Acts of God.” “Badagas” has a funkier sway; one imagines the oxygen catastrophe here, new life dancing on the old. Side B is a totally different animal (so to speak): “Circumference” has that snaking sleek bassline lurking in all sinister electro tracks; “Earth 2” is pure art of noise — an attempt to sort through the chaos of the planet as we see it and fish for patterns, modes, an order in a brief snap of a human life on a galactic time scale.

Photonz: Planetary Spirit (Naive / 12″ Vinyl / Digital / December 2021)
1. Photonz: Planetary Spirit (07:06)
2. Photonz: Badagas (05:01)
3. Photonz: Circumference (05:52)
4. Photonz: Earth2 (04:24)

⚪️ Disclosure Statement: This record was submitted as a promo by Hype Filter.

This was originally published in House Music Is Church: 5 Mag Issue #195 with Rahsaan Patterson, Kaspar and more. Support 5 Mag by becoming a member for as little as $1 per issue and get every issue in your inbox right away!