Bleep

After a strong run on their native Lisbon’s Principe Discos label, the Portuguese trio Niagara are back with an album of “tropical ambient” productions for Disciples. While their prior work tethered Principe’s patented frenetic rhythms to the kick-less drift of more traditional ambient music, Magna Moralia finds Niagara sprawling out further than ever before. Built entirely from piano improvisations, field recordings, and gurgling synth textures, the record teases out a series of beautiful soundscapes that often feel like variations on a similar theme. And a captivating one at that. With tracks titled as a series of roman numerals tracks in a random order, Magna Moralia is definitely meant to be experienced as a whole, preferably in a natural setting.