I Ching

Signed to the small New York Tonsil label, the band's 1970 debut "Their First Album" teamed them with producer Teo Macero…

Though it was released under the name Ataraxia, The Unexplained is one of innovative electronic composer Mort Garson's best-known albums, along with Lucifer's Black Mass and Mother Earth's Plantasia. And while ataraxia is a term for inner calm, this wild exploration of supernatural phenomena couldn't be further from that state of mind. During the late '60s and early '70s, the occult was a major pop culture trend, and one that Garson dove into deeply with Black Mass and his astrology-themed series. As on those releases, the unearthly sounds of his Moog are perfect for expressing the magical and mysterious. On the opening track "Tarot" alone, he combines weightless atmospheres, metallic percussion that feels like a precursor to Suicide's taut mechanical rhythms, and organ-like tones that belong in a church - or a horror movie. "I Ching" is even more lurid, with a monstrously fuzzy bass drum, brittle cymbal-like crashes, and gurgling textures…

Though it was released under the name Ataraxia, The Unexplained is one of innovative electronic composer Mort Garson's best-known albums, along with Lucifer's Black Mass and Mother Earth's Plantasia. And while ataraxia is a term for inner calm, this wild exploration of supernatural phenomena couldn't be further from that state of mind. During the late '60s and early '70s, the occult was a major pop culture trend, and one that Garson dove into deeply with Black Mass and his astrology-themed series. As on those releases, the unearthly sounds of his Moog are perfect for expressing the magical and mysterious. On the opening track "Tarot" alone, he combines weightless atmospheres, metallic percussion that feels like a precursor to Suicide's taut mechanical rhythms, and organ-like tones that belong in a church - or a horror movie. "I Ching" is even more lurid, with a monstrously fuzzy bass drum, brittle cymbal-like crashes, and gurgling textures…