You know that old adage, never judge a book by its cover? Sorry to be superficial, but when it comes to records, that one can go in the bin. As soon as I saw the artwork for Baltimore guitarist and producer Tarotplane's new record "The Feedback Sutras", I had to have a listen, and unsurprisingly, I was not let down. Tarotplane (PJ Dorsey) styles himself as "Using old-school techniques to forge a new-school kosmiche sound," and across the two sprawling (20 min plus) guitar-meets-synth compositions that make up the 12" (slide A: self-titled, side B: "Between Two Islands") this mantra certainly rings true.

We're dealing with a music maker who is clearly very studied in the early German krautrock and kosmiche modes of expression, and refreshingly, also understands it's better to make music like this from the vantage point of the late 2010s/early 2020s than cosplay the '60s/'70s. And hey, when you have access to new technological developments in sound, why not take part in the possibilities they afford?

As an experience, "The Feedback Sutras" is music as rolling, time-lapsed landscapes, familiar feeling spaces coloured by a subtle sense of the unknown, pregnant with the possibility and potential that lies around the corner on otherwise mundane days - that boring moment before you accident crossover into another realm. I say that to say this, take this one for a walk, and make sure you use decent headphones. I swear it's the sort of project that makes me wish portable Sony Recordmans were a thing, but obviously MP3s or the Bandcamp app will suffice.

"The Feedback Sutras" is out now in digital and 12" formats through VG+ (order here)