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Cover art for Little H Collective's Avalance Pass

Little H Collective
Avalanche Pass

WAV, FLAC, MP3 / $8

Sun Cru

SC12 - 2023

Subtly gorgeous, healthful, a boon to inner and outer life, Little H Collective’s new guitar and drone album, Avalanche Pass, is a 25-minute float on ripples of body-spirit phenomena that naturally merge into a welcoming flow of joy and tranquility.

 

The shining Self moves about freely between dream and waking. What ensues below is dialogue without effort, loosely collaged from discussions leading up to the release of Avalanche Pass:

 

The photo is one of several, taken from the same hiking trip. The stark contrast of the overcast sky and the dark mountain plunging into the lake. The solitary dead tree on the slope looking down on the partially submerged stumps.

 

And the little big mountain in the distance, made to seem small by the canyon wall in the foreground.

 

It’s like a new channel opened. I am just soaking up all the feelings right now. Just letting go and staying very tuned-in at the same time.

 

The photo matches the music beautifully, all one thrust — music and image in concert.

 

The photo was dug out of a box a few days ago. I took this picture at some point around 1990 when I was working at a summer camp in Vermont. This is the Avalanche Pass trail in the Adirondack Mountains of Upstate New York. The trail climbs through the forest to the northern end of the lake where you are met with sections of boardwalk bolted to the rock face. There are several of these sections along the way as the trail hugs the edge of the lake. The southern terminus leads to a region called the Flowed Lands. A wide flat plain filled with rivulets from the lake drainage. This is my all-time favorite span of hiking trail. Memories of standing in awe of the rock, water, and wood. It all sprung to mind after we talked about the way the music evokes a sense of discovery around each bend in the path. I think the title might be Avalanche Pass. I have tried on other titles for sound and feel, but I keep coming back to Avalanche Pass.

 

We have felt the mystical power of the Adirondacks. The mountains had a new and comforting beauty that I had not experienced before. The little mountain towns we passed through all shared a vibe that I still remember clearly. I stood in a grocery store parking lot and saw around me and within me a new natural realm. Trees encircling the human movement. It was charming. It made me know myself better. That you’ve chosen the title Avalanche Pass is like a shining point in a constellation of meaning. I am so stoked right now I can’t even describe it. The music is beautiful, calming. It makes the back of the neck tingle. So many pleasant turns on the way, like coming around the bend and seeing wonders, then around another bend. A vision of purple and green gems at dusk. The feeling has something of evening, almost night about it.

 

It is evening and not evening.

 

Day inside the night.

 

And night inside the day.

 

The shining Self swims like a great fish between the banks of a river, moving about freely between dream and waking.

Credits

 

All music, art and mastering by Little H Collective

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