Tool: nima

"I bought the nima CDthe one with the clear lenticular case that could wiggle the cybernetic album art designed by artist Cam de Leonwhen I was 12 years old at a long-forgotten record store in Whitewater, Wisconsin, where I grew up. I was, at that time, on whatever level of consciousness is associated with being in middle school and sitting at the lunch table that hosted Magic: The Gathering gameslevel one, I guess."

"By the 1990s, the city hosted a cottage industry of psychics, astrologists, oracles, new age publishing houses, numerologists, crystal dealers, and tarot throwers. (Keenan claims an Angeleno psychometry practitioner foresaw the arrival of Justin Chancellor, Tool's new bassist for nima). The glut of woo in Los Angeles had established itself slowly over the years, under the influence of charismatic leaders and con artists alike, descended from the strains of 19th-century metaphysical groups such as the New Thought movement and the Theosophical Society."

A childhood memory of buying the Nima CD evokes middle-school life, Magic: The Gathering games, and suburban curiosity. A later discovery of the Erowid Vault revealed amateur and professional psychonaut accounts about drugs, including morning glory seeds and Robitussin experiences. Small-town youths with dial-up modems used such resources to access alternative means of exploration and enlightenment. Erowid archives recorded varied mentions of figures and cultural touchstones. Los Angeles developed a robust cottage industry of psychics, astrologists, and new-age vendors by the 1990s, rooted in nineteenth-century metaphysical movements and influenced further by Hollywood’s arrival.

Read at pitchfork.com