Loops, layered digital delays of didgeridoos, theremin sounds, acoustic guitars, and ambient washes of sound are part and parcel of Acid Mothers Temple the Melting Paraiso U.F.O.'s architecture this time out. For example, take the 18-plus-minute Astral Projection from Holy Shangrila, the first of Interstellar Guru and Zero's two tracks. All of the above elements weave a hypnotic, trippy fantasy before Kawabata Makoto's electric guitar even enters the mix. And when it does, and he's going for the outer reaches, it's buried deep down in the mix so the effects themselves become not only the framework for this track but its actual m.o., and Makoto pushes his guitar -- and other stringed instruments -- into the fray until they all meld into a blissfully gorgeous noisescape (it seems as if Higashi Hiroshi was really the architect of this recording). The title track, which is almost 40 minutes long (!!!), begins with a simply organ chord played by Makoto, looped digitally so as to create a cross-sonic index somewhere between Terry Riley's In C and Fripp Eno's An Index of Metals. Gradually, warmer keyboards are layered on top, with all edges removed in the studio, and a sense of drift occurs before Hiroshi's synth effects -- which feel more like something from early Tangerine Dream than Pink Floyd -- caress these extended organ and keyboard loops for a full ten minutes before a chord change takes place. Then it begins anew. Percussion and backmasked drum loops enter five minute later and finally, at the 25-minute mark, guitars and basslines assert themselves tentatively at first and then gradually push the whole shebang into an awesome, mindbending cacophony. This may not be every AMT fan's cup of tea, but for anyone patient enough to give it a listen, it will provide repeated unveilings and unfoldings of aural pleasure. ~ Thom Jurek, Rovi

1		Astral Projection from Holy Shangrila
2		Interstellar Guru and Zero