Two things can usually be expected from the folks at Hausu Mountain: experimental soundscapes and wild, abstract artwork. The Chicago-based label, founded by Max Allison and Doug Kaplan, frequently releases records that feature innovative artists making music that’s often challenging to classify. In addition to giving an outlet to a steady roster of musicians, the two often make their own music. Allison’s musical alter ego, Mukqs, has been releasing records for nearly a decade (beginning in 2017 with the ambitious lo-fi collage gem Speedrun Skip Discoveries). Allison’s latest, Juckport, is another mind-blowing entry in the Mukqs discography.
What’s perhaps most impressive about Juckport is that it’s essentially an entire hour on the fly. Allison performed and recorded the album at home in one take, using a Roland SP404 MKII linear wave sampler with no overdubs. Although the record is broken down into nine tracks, it’s a seamless collection that can certainly be viewed as one coherent piece yet contains enough variety to be considered nine separate standalone pieces.
“Bucket Rolling Festa” is an appropriate opener, ten minutes of sustained chords and patches swirling around an unrepentant barrage of glitches. It certainly starts things off on an anxious vibe. Still, the mood turns somewhat calmer on “The Inconvenience of Being Known”, with a healthy serving of low-key, jazzy piano, synths, and fretless bass providing a meditative mood, despite off-kilter percussion samples scattered about like nervous tics.
Allison tends to set the songs in a futuristic setting while imbuing the arrangements with a variety of styles that can feel either completely anachronistic or oddly calming. The airy synths that waft through “Surrender Etiquette” are balanced by exotic acoustic guitar figures. The piano that provides the framework for “100 Years Too Soon” intersects Satie-like elegance with a Windham Hill/light jazz vibe while still meshing beautifully with the clicks and clacks of sampling.
Yet, some moments seem completely accessible to those who might shy away from this type of experimental setting. “Abyss Baby” dials back the weirdness just enough to allow the muted dance stomp and rich keyboard melodies to shine through. While “Regolith” is filled with alien bleats and percussive blasts, those sounds float beautifully through the deep haze of the ambient synthesizers.
Under the Mukqs moniker, Max Allison keeps topping himself. While the entire discography merits praise, Juckport may be his strongest yet, for its smart improvisational choices and deep sense of sonic adventure.