Transporting Salt

Spiritczualic -- "cz" borrowed from the Polish "tʂ" or hard “tch” -- a word-melange of “ritczualic” and spiritual, reflects upon the ancient practice of musical ritualism. As an idea, it predates the physical occurrence of the Enhancement Center on Christmas in 2017, when an Ottoman building below the Gates of Jerusalem provided itself for a remarkable meeting. They were synchronized by state-of-mind, rather than tune or scale, and began exploring sonic sessions of do-it-yourself mysticism. Transporting Salt bears the fruits of their first attempt to develop this practice live, imagining the Enhancement Center as an ongoing outer-national collaboration. Drawn from Russia, America, Iran, Israel and Germany, six musicians found themselves hosted in Prague, Berlin, Vienna and Hamburg. For each of these sessions, culminating on the Spring Equinox in 2018, they were joined by a local bass player they hadn’t known before. Imagine something you might hear accompanying an hallucinatory Paul Bowles story: a spiraling, psychedelic epic from the early-days of electrified jazz. It traverses barren swamps, evaporating amidst asymmetrical waves of guitar and drones of homemade electronic feedback. Full of constant movement and growth, with distorted keys and Zither waiting patiently to appear for their parts. Naive children of Riley and Reich, Spiritczualic Enhancement Center offer a serpentine hike up the “Wisdom of the Idiots” trail, with the gravity of their emerging ritual as its mineral essence. Featured in Free Form Freakout's Favorite Music of 2020 Staff Pick at the Attic (March 2020) "Though officially based in Berlin, Spiritczualic Enhancement Center’s home is the globe itself. This transcendental jazz band features members from the U.S., Israel, Iran, Turkey, and Russia, each lending elements of their folk tradition to form a universal sound that defies regional distinction. SEC’s work floats on single-chord drones, weaving spooky threads of melody around syncopated beats. It’s meditative stuff, but more introspective than relaxing. Played in the background of your daily routine, Transporting Salt can make the mundane surreal." -Bandcamp Daily "Really cool stuff." -The Avant Ghetto "Really, really strong..." -The FFFoxy Podcast "A chiller for uncertain times." -Tabs Out Podcast Drums: Nicolas Sheikholeslami Percussion: Faani Qanun: Yael Lavie Guitar: Æladin Keys: Omri Shmulewitz Homemade electronics: Sasha Lee Bass guitar provided by The Outernational Artist Association... Hamburg: Carl-John Hoffmann Praha: Vojta Kubec Wien: Clemens Miggitsch Berlin: Yonatan Levi Artwork: Dima Rabik Calligraphy: Ella Ponizovsky Bergelson Layout: Etkin Çekin All tracks recorded live during the Discourse With A Hermit tour (March 2018) at the following venues: Golden Pudel, Hamburg (4,6,8,10,11) Punctum, Praha (9) Rhiz, Wien (2,3) Arkaoda, Berlin (1,5,7) Live mixing... Hamburg: Kristian Jakob Praha: Pavel Štěpánek Wien: John Norman Berlin: Goh Nakada Mixing & Mastering: Nicolas Sheikholeslami