Jane Weaver - Modern Kosmology

Jane Weaver, married to DJ Andy Votel, founder of Finders Keepers Records, visualizes the future sound of hypnotic cosmic-space-electro rock. Now, mind you, I’m very new to Weaver’s music since hearing her 2014 album, The Silver Globe album. This year she’s released her follow up to The Amber Light with Modern Kosmology. Released on the Fire records label, Jane takes you beyond the stratosphere with pop, surrealism, shoegaze, post-rock, and the Krautrock sound.

It has these late ‘70s/early ‘80s vibration the moment I put the CD on. And I knew right from the get-go, she was taking me to a whole new infinite world. The six centerpieces throughout the journey from the outer limits of space have taken me not just by surprise, but making my eyes open to discover more of Jane’s music. Loops in the Secret Society closes your eyes that takes you back to the golden-era between the experimental scene in Germany and the Motorik rhythm sound which is evidential with the essence of NEU and Michael Karoli-sque guitars.

Then, everything sets into a mysterious driving beat as if you were looking through the various doors to decide which one to open and see where it will lead us to with the futuristic trip on The Architect while Jane dives into the river of the psych-folk ballad on Valley. You can feel her voice behind you as if she’s giving you goosebumps down your spine as if she is hypnotizing you by walking through an abandoned forest.

The music itself brings to mind between Pink Floyd’s Atom Heart Mother-era and the Beatlesque textures from the rhythm guitar that fits well on the composition. Jane herself honors the Krautrock sound. I could tell from listening to this from start to finish, she’s done a lot of research and whether you like her music or not, Weaver herself has been around from day one from her work with both Kill Laura, Misty Dixon, and her solo career.

Is there a stop sign for her? Absolutely not. She is definitely going to keep going and knowing what brainstorm she will come up with next. The homework she did is incredible between the essences of CAN’s Ege Bamyasi and Agitation Free’s 2^nd as the synths set the location of the wasteland as if you as a listener walk through the rubble between the Bass, Drums, Guitar and Echoing effects from the percussion on Did You See Butterflies?

CAN’s Malcolm Mooney does this mourning spoken introduction that is almost poetic before the double-track reverb/effect vocalizations that Jane does as it comes across an Avant-Pop electro vibe as if CAN sessions between 1968 and 1970 on Ravenspoint as it segues to the closing track I Wish. The track continues with the Motorik sound from the drum machine as if to say the listener that a new day, a new beginning will happen to move forward.

I always imagine Klaus Schulze helping Jane out on the arrangements on here and giving some advice on where the piece needs to start and where it would end. You can always imagine a scene inside your head where the layers would go to next with the eerie synthesizers and explore what will happen next into the following pages after that.

This has been my second to third time listening to Modern Kosmology and I have to say I was very impressed from what I’ve listened from beginning to end. It’s mixtures again as I’ve mentioned before; New Wave, Krautrock, and Shoegaze music, it’s all there. And I hope to see and imagine what will Jane Weaver think of next. Modern Kosmology may not be everyone’s cup of coffee, but this may be in my albums of this year.