Terre Thaemlitz - Tranquilizer EP 2

The Terre Thaemlitz reissue series gracefully ventures on with this first time vinyl pressing of one of the most blissfully transportative tracks from her 1994 debut LP. There's just the two tracks here - 'Fina' and a previously unheard extended version of that same song - but oh my, there's a world of emotion captured in here that others would fail to capture over multiple sides. Ambient/after-hours music can be many things, soporific, introverted, enveloping, even chintzy, but rarely does it seem so expressively narrative-driven. In the press release, Terre includes a personal recollection of an alienating life growing up queer in a backwards-thinking Missouri, salvation only coming in the discovery of a dollar bin at a local Fina gas station where she was to discover the life-changing sounds of Mark Isham, Bill Nelson and Yukihiro Takahashi. 'Fina' doesn't require that background to be enjoyed, but it's an unavoidably important contextual anchor nonetheless, an origin story of sorts and a love letter in its own way, too. Everything comes from somewhere, and it's not always necessary to know the where or why. Terre Theamlitz' story feels like an especially compelling one, and the music she made in 'Fina' is fitting of it. Of its kind, as good as it gets.