WETHER “Perception Shifts” C30
(White Reeves Productions)




What’s not important, essentially, is the who or the how, but the why – although, come to think of it, the how could inform the why, and even the personality of the who could be imposed over the whole thing to lend it even more meaning. What? If you’re reading for answers, you’re not getting them. Well, except for the who and the how – it’s Mike Haley as Wether, and he uses synthesizers to make far-out space music. Why? How should I know?

Listen, this wasn’t going to be a cakewalk, we all knew that. What we did know was that our perceptions would shift, if you get where I’m coming from. Shift from what? I had a feeling that any alien transmission nonsense, whether (Wether!) those aliens were lizards or otherwise, would be put to rest in favor of new directions in sci-fi. We got some of that. And we also stayed in the same place, which, it turns out, is perfectly OK in the end.

Haley’s doing the transmitting, and he’s contacting interstellar species. I’m not sure if he’s calling them out from Earth, like he’s puffing up his chest and taunting them for space battles (Mike, give it a hundred years or so, or else we’re gonna get obliterated), or if he’s simply trying to put the human race on the cosmic map. Either way, I’m sure SETI’s got his house and his phone bugged. You can’t just go and try to contact aliens without government assistance. Haven’t you ever seen the X-Files?

Perception Shifts is two slabs of thick synth work, fifteen minutes per side. We should all thank White Reeves Productions on a continuous loop for keeping it super weird.



--Ryan Masteller