Review. KEYS OF PERCEPTION - Mirrors of Maya (2016). WHEN...

KEYS OF PERCEPTION (https://www.facebook.com/Keys-of-Perception-1427334124224542, https://keysofperception.bandcamp.com) is one woman band from Vienna, Austria. Sounds ironic, doesn't it? There are so many "one man bands". And the music is also ironic, but in a metaphysical sense of this word. And it's not some kind of cheap new age stuff.

The band began in December, 2014. It had pretty much time to prepare a very good album, and it did so. 11 songs and compositions by Aida de Acosta are released on famous label Aorta, run by Gerhard from Allerseelen. Nevertheless, music of KEYS OF PERCEPTION has nothing in common with Allerseelen, the style is different.

The album is terrific, i can listen to it every day and find something new. It is not a boring music which happen to be in modern experimental music. Especially powerful for me are tracks no. 6, 7, 11, actually, all of them sound like one symphony. Perfect and powerful. It's one of the best albums i've heard so far.

The album is a CDr with only 30 copies. Names of the compositions are as names of dreams that are recorded into the album:

1     Hua Shan     
2     Maya     
3     Think Tank     
4     Oneirophrenia     
5     Nishkama     
6     Echoes     
7     Kailash     
8     Akasha     
9     Nirvana     
10     The Lord of the Dance     
11     Yuri Gagarin in Kali-Yuga     

    Gong – Christien H. (Allerseelen)

    Keyboards, Lyrics By, Electric Guitar, Effects, Vocals, Drums – Aida de Acosta

    Mixed By – Gerhard Hallstatt (Allerseelen)

Inspiration: Marcel P., Pater Michael Hass.

Tattoo-machine: F.J. Lörch.

A golden key to open the door behind which the answer lies .

- Virgin Prunes

Aida de Costa answered to some questions (2017 02 07):

What do You think about old Krautrock? Amon Duul, Can, Neu, Faust? Your music is different from it, but You still call it Krautrock.   
 
I dont really like these bands.

A Krautrock Band that I value very much is My Sleeping Karma because of their layered song structures.

One "old" band that I also appreciate much is Kyuss because their songs are very powerful and dynamic.

So, is now the time of Krautrock revival? It really differs from the old one.

I would say that Krautrock has some kind of revival time now because there are many "young" Krautrock bands that formed in the last few years. And the number of concerts played by these bands has also increased.

What is Sound Art to You?

I personally would define Sound Art as something handmade and personal that the musician and also the listener can easily build a relationship to and that he can identify with. Not a Sound Art is everything that lacks this handmade aspect like techno music, for example. This is not something that is unique because it uses the same computer generated beats over and over again. You can compare Sound Art and a real musician to a craftsman, everything he creats is unique and has a very personal meaning to him.

What other musicians do You value?

The person that I value most is Maynard James Keenan, the singer of the progrock band Tool. His lyrics are very inspiring and have a very personal and deep meaning to me.

Would You play in a punk rock or other type of rock band except You do?

I would play with a rock band if the people would be cool and if the concept of the band would please me. My musical background is punk rock 'cause this was how I got introduced to rock music at the age of 7.

What inspires You?

There are mainly 2 things in my life that inspire me the most which are nature and Hinduism. I always liked nature and I really enjoy walking around in the forest for example. It relaxes me and Inspires me.

Hinduism is also a great source of inspiration because it gives me ideas for new songs and it remainds me of the experience I made.

The things in life that I consider main are happiness and Inspiration because without these two things life is not liveable.

What are You currently working on?

Currently we are working on new songs. We haven't planned any concerts yet.

Thank You.