The Transactional Dharma of Roj

Ghost Box is very excited to release what we believe to be one of the most original and unique albums of electronic music for many years. The Transactional Dharma is a haunting and immersive experience. The album has an academic rigour but it also channels the wild eyed outsiders of the genre, like Angus Maclise or Bruce Haack but with an oddly British twist.

As Broadcast’s original keyboardist, Roj Stevens picked up a thing or two about weird audio, and this solo release transforms vintage meditational Library Music into an aural Wonderland of mysterious Germanic voices, glinting ambience and atavistic rhythm science. "Yellow Peel" and "Go Without Me" throb with Hare Krishna hand-drums and hypnotic tom-tom pressure, soaked in the washing-machine reverb of early concrete music. "A Beginning Word" even displays Suicide-al tendencies. This "hauntological" sound is something you either buy into or reject wholesale, but Roj’s psychic journey is among the most listenable examples so far.

UNCUT

The Boost Box label continues along its unique trajectory, blurring the gauzy lines of separation between past, present and future. This debut from ex Broadcast member, Roj, is typical of a roster whose hallmark is the re-conceptualisation of past echoes, seeking to transform them into blurry mythical tapestries of a fantastical, though failed, future. The Transactional Dharma is populated by burbling electronics and bizarre sonic tributaries, but unlike, say, the work of some of the imprint's other acts, the mode here is often less playful. Cashing in the cosy retro-futurism of groups such as Plone and, indeed, Broadcast for a more academic approach.

It’s easy to interpret many of the pieces here as a process or (re-)discoyery, in the vein of the BBC Radiophonic Workshops groundbreaking audio work. By stealing the clothes of such sonic pioneers, Roj could be attempting to show that there’s nothing new under the sun. Or maybe he simply wants us to cast our minds back for a better tomorrow?

RECORD COLLECTOR

...you know what, it's excellent -- totally Ghostbox-aligned yet completely distinctive as a musical voice, ... such an intricate eerieness to the production.

Simon Reynolds,
BLISSBLOG

Roj - The Transactional Dharma of Roj (GBX012D)

Download Album

1.		Roj - Meditation on nothingness	3m 4s
2.		Roj - Yellow Peel	2m 4s
3.		Roj - Your turn	42s
4.		Roj - Transcommunication	1m 17s
5.		Roj - Morning Break	48s
6.		Roj - Bongo Workout	1m 34s
7.		Roj - The Process Revealed	1m 6s
8.		Roj - Clear Channels	42s
9.		Roj - A Beginning Word	2m 14s
10.		Roj - Sighting in Corridor 12	1m 21s
11.		Roj - Go Without Me	1m 27s
12.		Roj - Mountain Tone	25s
13.		Roj - They are in the room with us right now.	2m 7s
14.		Roj - Inhale. Exhale. Love!	3m 16s
15.		Roj - Intermission exercise	1m 22s
16.		Roj - Attaining the Third State	1m 25s
17.		Roj - Brain Sync	3m 54s
18.		Roj - The Gamelan Threshold	2m 35s
19.		Roj - Trance and Bilocation	49s
20.		Roj - modified apparatus test	3m 33s
21.		Roj - "Now you're chanelling the real thing"	20s
22.		Roj - Rejoice ! He is here	1m 51s
23.		Roj - Attainment of the Final Key	4m 31s
24.		Roj - What I saw	4m 3s

Roj - The Transactional Dharma of Roj (GBX012)

CD Album

1.		Roj - Meditation on nothingness
2.		Roj - Yellow Peel
3.		Roj - Your turn
4.		Roj - Transcommunication
5.		Roj - Morning Break
6.		Roj - Bongo Workout
7.		Roj - The Process Revealed
8.		Roj - Clear Channels
9.		Roj - A Beginning Word
10.		Roj - Sighting in Corridor 12
11.		Roj - Go Without Me
12.		Roj - Mountain Tone
13.		Roj - They are in the room with us right now.
14.		Roj - Inhale. Exhale. Love!
15.		Roj - Intermission exercise
16.		Roj - Attaining the Third State
17.		Roj - Brain Sync
18.		Roj - The Gamelan Threshold
19.		Roj - Trance and Bilocation
20.		Roj - modified apparatus test
21.		Roj - "Now you're chanelling the real thing"
22.		Roj - Rejoice ! He is here
23.		Roj - Attainment of the Final Key
24.		Roj - What I saw

We now have mp3 samples available for you lovely folk! Click the play button next to each track title to listen to its preview.

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