Afrikan Sciences – Circuitous (PAN 54)

Peerless rhythmist and sonic explorer Afrikan Sciences makes his PAN debut with ‘Circuitous,’ the third full-length, freeform offering from the New York-based artist.

At the nexus of Afrofuturism, science fiction, transcendental free jazz, and future hip hop, this new work from Eric Douglas Porter casts itself and its creator in a liminal zone most recognizably charted by astral traveler Sun Ra. ‘Circuitous’ follows from nearly a decade of releases for Deepblak —the Oakland-rooted imprint of frequent collaborator Aybee— and shares common blood with both the elevated consciousness of late ’80s club culture and contemporary West Coast beat scene.

Built around Porter’s signature polyrhythms and complex melodies, the unorthodox agility demonstrated throughout the album’s fourteen tracks reflect his long history of live, improvised sets combining multiple turntables, upright bass, and a command center of digital tablets and controllers. Each track maps the artist’s own movements, tracing paths of flight, highway trajectories through tunnels and over bridges, and rides through rough and gated neighborhoods. If familiar on the surface, deeper or repeated listenings to ‘Circuitous’ reveal the dynamic multiplicity embodied within.

‘Circuitous’ is a free and unbound body of work—one that defies easy classification yet translates fluidly across multiple environments—compiled over double LP in order to fully realize the scope of Afrikan Science’s sonic palette.

The album is mastered and cut by Rashad Becker at D&M, pressed on a double 140g vinyl & CD, featuring artwork by Louis Reith & Bill Kouligas.