“Schulze Variations” by My Science Fiction Twin

The latest from Kansas City’s My Science Fiction Twin (aka, Jonathon Smith) boasts eight instrumental pieces that recall labels like Ghost Box and Wayside & Woodland Recordings. (See “Winter Solstice” and “Arctic Riffs,” in particular.) Which is to say, it’s uniformly lovely stuff that’s right inside my wheelhouse. And if you’ve been reading Opus for any significant amount of time, then quite possibly yours as well.

The album’s highlight, though, is “Schulze Variations,” a nearly eight-minute-long arrangement of brooding synths and sparse melodies that — as its title suggests — drifts through the same interstellar regions as Klaus Schulze’s kosmische musik. In particular, Smith evokes the contemplative soundscapes of Schulze’s final album, 2022’s Deus Arrakis, to great effect.

WiFi Unicorns is now available from I Quit Records.