Cosmic Ground - Cosmic Ground 1 (2CD)

Artists: Dark Sky Alliance
P: 2024
Spotted Peccary Music is proud to present Interdwell, the debut album from the group Dark Sky Alliance, comprised of music industry veterans percussionist Jerry Marotta (Peter Gabriel, Indigo Girls), keyboardist Rupert Greenall (The Fixx), soundscaping synthesist Eric “the” Taylor, and cinematic sound-maestro guitarist David Helpling. This visionary premiere is a feat of sonic storytelling, each composition a different scene. Hidden in Interdwell’s kaleidoscopic sound are shades of all their past work: new wave guitar flourishes, tribal ambient percussion, richly layered synth-beds, Hans Zimmer- esque cinematic crescendos—but here, they coalesce into something uniquely vivid and bracingly original, something the members of Dark Sky Alliance could only make together.
Interdwell’s twelve compositions draw inspiration from the personal and the cosmic, the natural world and the fantastical. The album’s first epic opens with “Fortunate One” featuring chanting from the late Sonam Targee and builds layer upon layer from there. Halfway through, a propulsive bass groove entwines with Targee’s chants, shifting from melancholic to euphoric, a celebration of the time we’re gifted with those we love. “Warm Inlet” was inspired by a view of the Adirondacks on 7th Lake that can only be seen by boat; new wave guitar warbles paint the glimmering whitecaps, a steady bassline the powerful undercurrent, with Vangelis-esque synth chords the sun on the mountain peaks. Dreamlike and reflective, “The Slow Train Home,” was born from Eric “the” Taylor’s first ever recording session with Marotta and bassist Tony Levin (Peter Gabriel, King Crimson) over 20 years ago. Levin’s emotive upright bass glides through an electronic landscape both airy and rich, a traveler watching the hills roll by.
The title track takes the listener beyond Earth, depicting humanity’s journey through space: the tribal march of Marotta’s percussion as a voyager, shimmering sequencers as stars through the viewport, anthemic electric guitar as a starship’s acceleration, a distant destination finally reached.
Interdwell is a vivid, inspiring odyssey throughout, a work that carries the listener from a sun-dappled lake to the furthest reaches of space and back again, leaving only the desire to experience it all over again. 

Artist: David Helpling
P: 2022
A massive double album composed over ten years, IN was born from finding wonder in the tiniest of places. Only one square inch of forest holds a world of color and life. On this miniature scale, a shard of lichen is a monument, a twig a skyscraper, an arm’s length a universe. IN is an exploration of that magic space: an expanse of delicate subtlety and minuscule vibrancy that suggests a poignancy of existence itself. IN builds this world with sounds from across Helpling’s career. Diamond-bright granular textures twinkle atop churning synths on wistful opener “Waves Dream of Breaking.” Chimes and echoes conjure cavernous yearning on “The Cold Distance Between,” while the climactic “In Waves of Fire” ascends on thundering drums before a shattering crescendo. Across this cinematic album, analogue synthesizers, digital synthesizers and ambient guitar entwine, untangle and entwine again. Yet here, Helpling explores new instruments as well as familiar ones. A 1981 Yamaha CP70 Electric Grand Piano summons a classic, fresh organic sound as it explores the vast scenes set by his textural guitar. This piano murmurs across chasms in the aftermath of “In Waves of Fire,” augmenting the well-established sound palette cultivated throughout years of previous works. Unique and diverse artists stepped into David Helpling’s vision with their own inspired expressions. Portland fine art photographer Brandt Campbell captured IN’s micro-world in breathtaking macrophotography. Co-producer Howard Givens worked closely with Helpling to explore the hidden nuances of this album and elevate each piece to its final form. Matthew Schoening’s electric cello is enchanting and elegiac on “You Already Are.” Miriam Stockley lends her rich, ethereal vocals to “Slipping” and “I Too Am Coming Home,” balancing hope and melancholy with each ebb and flow of her voice. Award-winning multi-instrumentalist Benjy Wertheimer plays the Esraj, an expressive bowed instrument from India, on the buoyant “The Bliss You Always Carried.” Vocalist Nidhi Bhatmuley gives a soaring performance on the post-rock flavored “This Burning Sky,” an emotional epic that evokes Hans Zimmer’s work with Lisa Gerrard. Through these significant contributions, Helpling has realized a macro-focus on his contemplation of life. Inspired by the vastness of small spaces, IN is both simple and intricate, both expansive and intimate. And just as the spaces that inspired them, these thirteen pieces unveil new images when examined. Here, a pebble by a stream is a fjord falling into the sea. Here, nature wrought in new colors; the greens and blues of tree and sky replaced by microbial fuchsia, folded violet. Here, a world—vivid, vibrant, waiting.