James Holden, Waclaw Zimpel - The Universe Will Take Care Of You (2025) [Hi-Res]

Teaming up with Polish woodwind virtuoso (and Shackleton collaborator) Wacław Zimpel, latter-day psych/kosmische journeyman James Holden fully waves goodbye to trance by embracing... well... a different kind of trance. Solid stuff - worth a peep if you're into Golden Retriever, Cluster, Justin Walter, Jonas Reinhardt or Roll the Dice.

If you've always rolled your eyes at Holden's productions, whether it's his early posh trance biz or his more recent forays into baggy, synth-heavy psychedelia, then now's the time to stop. We told you his recent remix of The Smile's 'Don't Get Me Started' was good, and if you've been looking carefully you might have noticed he turned in a galloping rework Harmonia's brilliant 'Watussi' on last year's 'Musik Von Harmonia (Reworks)'. 'The Universe Will Take Care of You' follows the same seam, and Holden sounds as if he's been guided in exactly the right direction by Zimpel. The two are kindred spirits from what we can gather, both taken by jazz and Gnawa styles and both fascinated by Carnatic music and minimalism. The duo's first collaboration - 2020's 'Long Weekend EP' - was enjoyable enough, but they've refined their process since then, and this first full-length jaunt is a euphoric slow-burner that's far greater than the sum of its influences.

With Holden handling synths and percussion and Zimpel playing various instrument (including alto clarinet, airless harmonium, alghoza and bells), the duo formulate a sequence of raga-inspired kosmische/Kraut jams, distilling their contributions into rhythmically fluxing loops and xenharmonic bursts of ecstasy. On opener 'You Are Gods', Holden's modular arpeggios intertwine with Zimpel's GEM electronic organ waves and rhythmic granulations, while they tackle more familiar Cluster & Eno-cum-Terry Riley structures on 'Sunbeam Path', playing overdriven organ curlicues over a bed of foley percussion and horizontal lap steel from Zimpel. Throughout, it's how the duo record and process their jams that makes this one so inviting; there's no contemporary DAW polish to speak of, it sounds as if they've recorded it directly to 1/4" tape through a rack of hot valves.

Just check Holden's boss-tuned car alarm synth bleats on the album's centerpiece 'Time Ring Rattles' that flutter alongside Zimpel's coiled clarinet phrases, or the Don Cherry 'Organic Music Society'-style ethno-groove that anchors 'Incredible Bliss'. It's an album that sounds as if it could have been released on a private press run back in the mid-'70s, and we reckon that's exactly what Zimpel and Holden were aiming for. Job done.

Tracklist:
1-1 James Holden;Waclaw Zimpel - You Are Gods [8:30]
1-2 James Holden;Waclaw Zimpel - Sunbeam Path [9:19]
1-3 James Holden;Waclaw Zimpel - Time Ring Rattles [5:56]
1-4 James Holden;Waclaw Zimpel - Sparkles, Crystals, Miracles [9:47]
1-5 James Holden;Waclaw Zimpel - Incredible Bliss [7:05]
1-6 James Holden;Waclaw Zimpel - The Universe Will Take Care Of You [10:01]