Sugaar Pan is the project of a Basque musician working with a circle of collaborators, weaving together krautrock, psychedelia, ambient drift, and folk ritual. Sugaar Pan’s music often feels hand-crafted rather than digitally polished, especially the new record, Lorategi, which was released this past June.
Lorategi (which translates to “garden”) is an album but also a multimedia work. Along with the music, there’s a collection of photographs, shot on a Nikon FG from 1982, paired with tracks that mirror their mood. Each image carries its own sonic twin, turning the record into neofolk sketches that blur melody with texture.
The music is as organic as the photographs themselves. Recorded largely with Shure SM58 and SM57 microphones through an SSL interface, the sessions emphasized imperfection and intimacy. Only the keys on “Lore pentsakorra” break the rule, played via a Steinberg Velvet VST and MIDI controller.
Everything else—flute, Fender guitars, lyre, kalimba, Tibetan bowl, Korg Monotrons, chimes, throat singing, even body noises—remains grounded in the physical world. The result is earthy and wholly unpretentious.
A PDF booklet of the photo series accompanies the download, making Lorategi as much a visual diary as a sonic one. The album cover itself is based on an acrylic painting on rugged paper, extending the analog feel.
The album unfolds across nine tracks that sound very much like they’ve been unearthed from another time, carrying the patina of age and memory. The opener, “Lore lasaia,” drifts in with an Eastern inflection, ushering the listener into a space of calm. By contrast, “Lore pentsakorra” veers into more enigmatic territory. The interplay between piano and flute is a shadowy tapestry, equal parts mysterious and alluring.
“Lore inozoa” drifts deeper into dreamlike territory, carried by the vocals of Kate Sattler (aka Sweet Freeze). Her voice hovers between sweetness and apparition, weaving in and out of the baroque-tinged instrumentation.
“Paduretako lorea” stands out as one of the album’s most charming detours. It’s a brief stomp built on handclaps and harmonica. It carries a faint echo of Zeppelin’s “Ramble On,” though filtered through something far stranger.
“Lore arduratsua” dives headlong into the experimental and psychedelic, reviving the album’s Eastern inflections but surrounding them with a fuller palette of mystical textures.
The album concludes with its longest piece, “Odolezko lorea.” Gentle yet tinged with melancholy, it drifts forward like a final exhalation. Fragmented public-domain recordings flicker through the mix, their indistinct voices deepening the sense of mystery. On a record steeped in esoteric charm, it’s a fitting closer.
In a world obsessed with speed, Sugaar Pan is telling us through Lorategi to slow down and let ourselves get lost.
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