I have long been an admirer of Nihar Kirtidev Bhatt’s releases, DJ sets, and his esoteric techno label Left Hand Path, which he co-runs with Chris Zaldua. Squirrels on Film has also consistently showcased the best of Bay Area subculture, where avant-garde and experimental artists are free to explore the bounds of mind/body dance music.
Nihar’s latest release Machines (via Squirrels on Film) draws from a palette of darkwave, techno, and industrial sounds. Delving into twisty, dark, and unsettling places, it takes listeners on grotesque journeys through blood vessels and filaments, reshaping flesh into powerful metallic symbiosis, much like implanted cybernetic armor. As time slows and suspends, the body slowly knits itself together, with neurons firing and regenerating forgotten connections and memories, while simultaneously forging newer, stranger ones. All these elements pulsate together, forming a strangely familiar yet unfamiliar living entity—a pleasant hallucination for some; perhaps a nightmare for others.
Squirrels on Film aptly describes Machines as angular and geometric. Like a more intricate game of Tetris, let its angularity infiltrate every crevice of your mindscape.
