Planetary Assault Systems - The Messenger

Ostgut Ton: 2011

I recall a fair bit of joy when Luke Slater announced he was dusting off his Planetary Assault Systems project a decade ago. We were in peak 'minimal', see, and fans of that ol' school, 4am bangin' techno were left wanting. Their former heroes were chasing 'class' and 'sophistication' (and big bank) in fancy Ibizan clubs and European lofts rather than tearing that shit out in grimy warehouses and dank basement clubs, the former glory of techno's renegade roots all but a historical footnote. Why, even psy trance had more underground cred in the late '00s, despite crossover stars like Infected Mushroom in their camps! Of course, things would eventually work their way back to the Dungeons of Detroit Doof, but it needed someone with some clout to start the mass migration back to the holy land. Or an abandoned power station in Berlin, that'll do.

Ostgut Ton and their various DJs and producers (Shed, Dettmann, Klock) got the ball rolling, but when Luke Slater joined their roster with a returning Planetary Assault Systems album (Temporary Suspension), it gave the young label that all-important veteran cred purists demand. Already responsible for some of techno's toughest classic records of the '90s, Slater had seemingly mothballed the project in favour of seeking his own limelight. That didn't turn out as he planned though, so what better way to reassess one's career than to go back to the scene that nurtured your rise in the first place? Lucky for him there was a fledgling label and club that had an ear for that type of techno already going.

I did check out Temporary Suspension, initially coming away thinking there wasn't that much different in there than was going on with 'minimal' techno abroad. I have no idea what daft nonsense was going through my head at that point though, 'cause taking another listen recently, that would totally have been the type of techno I'd be down for in ye' olde year of 2009.

Fast forward a couple years, and the cavernous Berghain sound has overtaken all forms of techno as the One True Techno all others must follow (suck it, m_nus!). Yeah, it's still technically 'minimal', but not so dry and sterile as before – at worst, you could say it's just functional 4am weapons. And that's what The Messenger comes off as to me, another collection of utility tools for the 2011 crowds. Save a couple chill explorations (opener Railer, Movement 12), these tracks are all business, establishing mood and atmosphere straight away, and riding their established rhythms over spaced-out blips 'n bell tones, dubby effects, and percolating drum kits. The first half is the headier portion of the album, while the back-end unleashes a few feral beasts for the sweatiest moments of a night out. Like a lot of this brand of techno though, it all makes better sense while in the throes of massive sound-system reverberating off concrete walls rather than a typical apartment setting. High-end headphones help in a pinch.

The Field - Looping State Of Mind

Kompakt: 2011

It shouldn't have taken me this long to get myself another album from The Field, but you know me. A darling techno act, lauded by indie media who don't usually fuss with 'techno', and here's ol' Sykonee, giving it that 'Drake Pass meme' pose, all the while pointing with a smile at some obscure ambient techno item. Not an out-and-out rejection, mind you, but I can't help but let these sort of releases sit on the back-burner for a few years, the hype passing long enough to approach it with fresh ears, unsullied by what Very Important People tell me I should be listening to. Though I do wonder, why have I still not gotten Mr. Willner's debut From Here We Go Sublime? Like, for sure I've heard it (yay streaming), but it's been over a decade since it first came out, more than enough time having passed such that I shouldn't feel like I'm just hoping on a hype bandwagon.

And it's not like this particular album of Looping State Of Mind wasn't equally hailed when it dropped. Right, maybe not quite the same Metacritic heights as Sublime, but still a darn good response from the usual suspects. Yet whereas Sublime continues to be held in reverence, Looping has kinda' fallen the way of Yesterday & Today, simply seen as just another record in The Field's discography that ever so gradually evolved his songcraft. Maybe it didn't help that it carried the white cover art from Sublime, so it's forever compared to that one (sure didn't help Yesterday's cause). Not to mention Axel flipped the cover-art switch in his next couple records, sub-consciously making us believe those albums were of more importance than supposed retreads. Crafty and diabolical, those cover artists.

Ah well, that just means I get to enjoy it more for the album that it is, and not some Very Important, genre-defining, upper-echelon work of techno mastery (or something). And me, I dig Mr. Willner fearlessness in utilizing more instruments into his brand of 'shoegaze techno'. The bassline in opener Is This Power is one of the grooviest I've heard out of The Field camps, while follow-up It's Up There coaxes out a suitably heavenly techno loop-fest before changing lanes for a lengthy, funk outro (well, as funky as white Germans doing techno can get). Elsewhere, Axel proves he could continue crafting epic, escalating, wall-of-sound techno beasts like Arpeggiated Love and the titular cut till the end of days without a hitch if he so chose.

Fortunately, he has a little more ambition than that, the final two tracks mellowing things right the f' down. Then It's White feels almost jazzy despite being no less loopy than his other techno works, while Sweet Slow Baby treads into abstract territory, its overlapping short loops having something of an ambient drone tone about them. Makes me want to check out where The Field went after this. Eh, what about that first album? Man, that's all in the past.

Legowelt - TEAC Life

Nightwind Records: 2011/2017

In the era of electroclash and music that wasn't electroclash but was getting called electroclash (*whew*, what a mouthful), one of the biggest anthems of the time was Legowelt's Disco Rout. Looking back, one could make the argument the tune was a precursor to the outrun branch of synthwave, though I'm sure Danny Wolfers would be rather embarrassed by such a claim. In any event, Disco Rout was definitely a fav' for yours truly, after which I promptly digested any and all Legowelt mus- no, wait, that's not right. As the tune never appeared on a subsequent album, I promptly forgot about Legowelt, moving on to other things. Well, no more. Time to get me caught right the fuck up on his music proper-like, and I remember hearing good things about this here TEAC Life album when it came out in 2011. Sure, let's see what sort of Bandcamp deal I can get with this. Oh... oh my! Dude's literally giving it away!

Even when it was brand new, The Teac Life was a free giveaway, which boggles the hindsight mind. A double-LP of vintage Detroit techno would fetch ludicrous sums of money in physical formats, and has in the few vinyl runs Mr. Wolfers has released over the years. Still, the fact it remains a free download in digital suggests one of two things: either ol' Danny is just a real generous guy, or he didn't think it would garner enough interest to warrant regular financial compensation for his efforts.

I'm honestly kinda' leaning towards the latter, at least initially, because who'd ever want to hear a two-plus hours of throwback Detroit techno when minimal, dub, and the tough, functionalist Berghain sound were the dominate forces in Technoland. Seems to me that Legowelt just had a bunch of tracks he made for fun and gave it away since ain't no way DJs would play these in all the Very Important clubs. Funny thing is not only did he underestimate people's desire for pure, true-blue Detroit techno in the modern era, but he may have released his best album in the process.

There's not a duff cut in these seventeen tracks. Not one! This is Detroit techno that sounds as sourced from its early '90s heyday as it does plucked from the futurelands it draws influence from. It's retro in all the right ways, never navel-gazing so much it sacrifices solid songcraft, but never deviating from what makes Detroit techno so beloved in the first place. The simmering electronic funk, the sci-fi synthy leads, the singing soul of the robot underclass, it's all present and correct.

My only complaint is that even seventeen tracks of mint Detroit techno does get tiring. Mind, that's a complaint for any singular genre exercise extending beyond ninety minutes, by which point I usually tap out. TEAC Life though, it makes me want to keep pushing for those extra few cuts, those extra couple miles, those extra dozen reps. You know it's worth it in the end.

Various - Soma Records: 20 Years (Slam & Silicone Soul Mixes)

Soma Quality Recordings: 2011

A 20-Years party ain't complete without a couple DJ mixes thrown into the, um, mix, and Soma Records has plenty of tools in their arsenal to do the deed with. As is typical in such an event, one set handles current material, while the other digs deep into the archives, and the results are about as you'd expect. No matter how 'cutting edge' or 'forward thinking' or 'better produced' current material may present itself, it simply cannot hold a candle to the bonafide classics standing the test of time. It is what it is, so you can only hope that the upfront tunes at least don't embarrass themselves too much in relying on gimmicky trends of the era they came out in.

And Slam's set (the 'current' one) mostly avoids such pratfalls. The Soma owners grant themselves some leeway in plucking tunes that have been a part of the label's history by presenting them with contemporary remixes. This includes Diabla (Christian Smith & Wehbba Remix), Stepback (Adam Beyer & Jesper Dahlback Remix), Passage Of Time (D'Julz Remix), Lifetimes (Pan-Pot Bass Times Mix), Right On, Right On (Nick Curly Remix), and Positive Education (Zero T Remix)... kind of. That last one's actually a d'n'b rub, which just wouldn't fit in a deep, tech-house, techno set such as this, so Slam uses a snippet of bass while bridging two versions of Stepback together. Which comes after that Lifetimes track no less, so that's technically four Slam tracks in a row. Not to mention opening with the Deepchord Atmospheric Rebuild of Groovelock, plus the Oxia Remix of Human a little later after. Slam sure love themselves some Slam tunes.

For the most part, their set starts from deep house groove before riding tech-house funk to a thumping techno peak, indulging a couple detours into minimalist-plod (oh God, why'd you use that mix of the lone Vector Lovers track?), with enough clever blends and layering for the ardent trainspotter to enjoy. I mean, you gotta' love how cheeky Slam is in using just a portion of Groovelock for intro purposes, when Deepchord's rub runs over thirteen minutes.

Silicone Soul takes on CD3, and oh boy, just look at all these mint Soma tunes! Daft Punk's Alive! Desert Storm's Scoraig 93! Rejuvination's Requiem! Alex Smoke's Chica Wappa! Chaser's Destination Unknown! Funk d'Void's Diabla (Heavenly Mix! (wait) Silicone Soul's Right On, Right On! (haven't we already...?) Slam's Positive Education! (now just hold here...!) Okay, so there's a lot of repeats from the Soma Classics CD. Mr. Soul does a few clever acapellas and overlays along the way, but I'm kinda' worn out on Positive Education now, thank you.

Also, if you aren't fussed about the DJ mixes, the digital options for 20 Years does include all the original, unmixed tracks for your enjoyment. I usually stump for the physical, but damn, even if you stick to streaming sources, that's a good deal. More than enough music there to get the whole Soma story, and then some.

Various - Soma Records: 20 Years (Soma Classics)

Soma Quality Recordings: 2011

Has there been any UK label more influential than Soma Quality Recordings? Yes, yes there has. Many more, in fact, and I could name-drop a dozen of them off the top of my head. I won't, though, because this is supposed to be a summation of Soma, a label that often likens itself as Very Important, but is honestly more like Kinda' Important. Still, they've released a lot of classic tech-house and techno over the years, and was a go-to source for many top progressive house jocks from the lands of Britannica. They've been steady homes for Slam, The Black Dog (Phase II), Samuel L Session, Silicone Soul, Funk D'Void, and DeepChord. Soma also introduced me to one of my all-time favourite artists of the past decade in Vector Lovers, and that's gotta' count for something. Oh, and a French house duo got their break on this label too, though they were quickly lured away by big Virgin dollars, so we needn't talk about them.

Oh, fine, I guess I must. I mean, it's practically the selling point of this 20 Years blowout, plastered all over the front cover. Frankly, I was more excited getting an unmixed version of their rub on Scott Grooves' Mothership Reconnection, one of the last before becoming robots. All that prime-era French filter funk in full effect, mmmm... Oh, right, the exclusive, unreleased cut, made before even Da Funk, when they were still doing hard acid house with Conor Dalton. Okay, my review of Daft Punk's Drive: it's a'ight.

I have half the tunes on the Soma Classics disc already, but in DJ mixes, so it's nice having them mostly in their full, original versions. Kinda' gutted that Desert Storm from Desert Storm is missing the intro portion with the war dialog and tasty pads on their own, but since this CD maximizes its runtime, some space needed saving.

Three Slam tracks make the cut (thumping acid techno of Positive Education, loopy hypnotic techno of Azure, Pt. 1, and vintage Balaeric progressive house of Eterna), because it's their label, damn it. And no Soma classics CD would be complete without inclusions from Silicone Soul (Right On, Right On), Funk d'Void (Diabla, though the lighter Heavenly Mix instead), The Black Dog (Cost II, by way of a 2007 reissue loophole since the 1993 original came out on General Production Recordings), Percy X (X-Trak 1 letting Detroit know that Soma recognizes the roots), and Samuel L Session. Interestingly, Mr. Session's Can You Relate is the only nod to then-contemporary bloopy tech-house on this CD, and by way of the Joris Voorn Flooding The Market With Remixes remix. Unsurprisingly, it's the least interesting cut here.

Of course, this is hardly the full Soma story, many names and tracks not included here. Fortunately, two additional DJ mixes handled by Slam and Silicone Soul come with this package, filling in those gaps to various degrees. Check in to Part Two of this review for the details!

Renaissance Man - The Renaissance Man Project

Turbo: 2011

I feel like I should know more about this duo than I actually do. For sure they were Resident Advisor Approved, this album earning a Best Of 2011 blessing, plus a podcast DJ mix feature – though honestly, everyone in the world of house, techno, tech-house, future garage, and pants gets one of those. When this album popped up in my search for more 2011 material though, I was surprised it came from Turbo. While I'm not as religious a follower of Tiga's Label That Could anymore, I'd like to think I still keep a finger to the pulse of what Mr.Sontag's promoting. Heck, Renaissance Man even appeared on that Brodinski Fabriclive mix (that one with the dude of sardine fingers), a total Turbo love-fest in spirit, if not in actual track selection.

On the other hand, it's not like Renaissance Man has done much else of significant note since coming out with The Renaissance Man Project. Comprised of Ville Haimala and Martti Kaliala, they first emerged with the sort of minimal/tech/fidget house that was all the hipster rage in the late-'00s, but truly broke out as something unique when they started approaching the craft with the ol' 'kitchen sink production' style. Meaning, no sample was off limits for their usage, the less conventional, the better. Even if it makes a track almost unlistenable, it don't matter so long there's some semblance of a tech-haus groove for the rooftop shufflers to sway against. This, of course, is the sort of sound that's utter catnip to discerning music journalist sorts, always on the look-out the most unorthodox music around to claim they were the first to rep it, should it take off in any culturally meaningful way. It made Herbert's Bodily Functions a critical darling, as has many such dalliances by tech-house producers (I recall even Vector Lovers got in on that action once).

I honestly thought The Renaissance Man Project was gonna' be a rather tedious example of this stuff. The first few tracks are all interesting in the myriad samples thrown in, with What Do You Do When You Do What You Do having a decent bump going for it, while Stalker Humanoid features a nifty little hook towards the end. Nonsensus gets grating in its ping-ponging with no direction though, while Damon Nabru has fun with firework samples, and that's about it.

Then Vancouver hits with a bunch of psychedelic ethnic sounds and tribal thump, and suddenly I feel like I'm in the middle of a latter-day Future Sound Of London album! Wow, this tune's wonderful, more like this please!

Sadly, Renaissance Man hits such a high but once again, at the end with anthemic S.O.S.. In between there's more minimalist, bloopy tech-house and goofball sample indulgences, all expertly produced but stuck in '00s-era plod mode. And how can I not mention the CD-bonus twenty-nine minute [Untitled] track featuring twenty-two minutes of silence. Makes me wonder if these guys gave a care for the album format at all.

Psychomanteum - Oneironaut

Cyclic Law: 2011

When browsing about for music, it's always the album art that sells me on it. Who's the artist or what's the genre generally comes in a close second, but now that I've started digging through dark ambient's coffers, those points are almost irrelevant. Yeah, there are many thematic variations throughout this scene, but the associated art won't go out of its way to trick you – if there's a post-apocalyptic city-scape or weird demonic creatures on the cover, you're gonna' hear stuff that paints such pictures in your headspace within. As I've got a major weakness for the Cosmic Fantastical, it's always the space themed albums that get my attention first, and you bet I couldn't resist one of fancy colourful nebula dancing in the forever black, serving as a hairpiece for a disembodied, statuesque head. I had no idea who Psychomanteum was, exactly what an 'oneironaut' is, or specifically what sort of dark ambient I'd be dealing with. There's something spacey going on though, so that's good enough for me.

Turns out I'd dealt with this duo after all, even name-dropped them a year ago now. A short-lived two-piece outfit, Psychomanteum was helmed by Robert Kozletski and Jakob Detelić, the former of which you might recall has a newer solo project called Apócrýphos. If you don't recall, eh, don't feel bad – I totally forgot about it myself. It's hard keeping track of all these dark ambient dudes and their main projects, side-projects, collaborative projects, and alternate dimension projects. If I end up with a copy of Shock Frontier's Mancuerda Confessions from Malignant Records, and somehow still forget it's another release from ol' Robert, I deserve a right smack upside the head.

As for Psychomanteum (that name's a lot harder to type than you'd think!), they made their debut with this Oneironaut, provided a few additional tracks to various compilations on Cyclic Law and Kalpamantra, then disbanded a mere year after, Mr. Kozletsky drawn to other interests, leaving poor Jacob behind (he has no other Discoggian credits). Seems a lot of dark ambient disciples lament this dissolution, many enthralled by the scant offerings they provided with their lone LP.

I can buy into that, Oneirnaut the sort of mellow, droning meditative style that suits the album's theme (dream walking and all that). Tracks flit between melancholy reflection and empty nothingness, at times calm and soothing, other times leaving you feeling naked and bare against yourself. Along with the subtle synth pads and moody drone, flutes, ritualistic chants, sparse rhythmic percussion, and dubby, unearthly echoes add to the overall canvas. A lot of stuff I've heard before, true, but Psychomanteum show wonderful skill in crafting their sonic journeys, more musical than most drone artists go without being overtly obvious about it.

It's dark ambient that's not about challenging you with macabre perversions or existential nihilism, but serving as a guide for your own lucid explorations. Indeed a shame this is all we got from them.

Namlook • Montanà - Labyrinth 4

Fax +49-69/540464: 2011

Yeah, I caved on these. How could I not? I've said plenty that finding first run Fax+ albums in circulation is extraordinarily rare, so when I heard Lorenzo had actual hard copies of his Labyrinth sessions available through Bandcamp, you bet I scoped what was left. What I hadn't counted on was these being double-disc albums, presented in traditional stereo and DTS 5.1 audio. I knew Pete Namlook had taken a fancy to this supreme audiophile technology on some of his works, but didn't realize it was every album he worked on from as far back as 2006's Air V + Jeux Dangereux. He'd even started re-issuing ancient Fax+ catalogue in this format, as seasonal compilations called The Ambient Gardener. Guess that's one way to make extra bank on old material, but man, does it pinch paying for a format you have no means of hearing properly.

Anyhow, Labyrinth from Namlook and Montanà. Lorenzo had debuted on Fax +49-69/450464 with Black Ivy in 2009, and must have made quite an impression with Mr. Kuhlmann. Not only did the two immediately start collaborating, and not only did the resulting sessions generate five albums in a two year time span, but it also put Pete's endless sessions with Move D on the back-burner. Talk about your combo-breakers! I'm not sure why Namlook took such an instant interest in Montanà; just liked the cut of his beatcraft? Perhaps, Lorenzo's minimalist, unfussy ambient techno glitch unlike much of what Fax+ had been promoting the previous decade. Not that Mr. Montanà's take was entirely unique itself, but it must have been enough of a fresh sound for Namlook's ears to get his inspiration fired up again.

I have to say though, if you're just jumping into the Labyrinth series with volume 4 as I have, it may be off putting. Opening track Path XXVI starts with a weird, rubbery acid bassline and sparse, empty rhythms that sounds more like Plastikman than either of the players involved here. It's nearly two minutes before we hear melody in support, including choir pads and those vintage spaced-out synths that's been a Namlook staple since forever. The whole piece plays out in typical Fax+ meandering style, though comparatively 'short' at only twelve mintues in length. The sounds are nice, but man, I can't get over that out-of-place bassline. Path XXVII starts off with one too, but at least its accompanying sounds fit the odd tone better – rhythms chug at a dubby, chill techno pace, and oooh, Pete's breakin' out the guitar jams for this one.

The remaining Paths mostly keep to a similar feel, all rather spacious, dubby, and minimalist without ever going into dub techno's dry sterility. Path XXVIII gets a bit funkier, Path XXX more chill-out, and Path XXXI works in dubbed-out synth stabs that echo across the channels (bet this sounds great in 5.1!), but overall Labyrinth 4 is far too sparse in music to recommend beyond fans of this sound or Namlook completists.

King Midas Sound - Without You

Hyperdub: 2011

How odd is it that this Kevin Martin project immediately got a remix album, but none of his Bug material has. Even the critically lauded London Zoo only got a few token EP rubs, and that was undoubtedly his most successful album ever. King Midas Sound, on the other hand, passed by with less buzz, quite a few folks not even aware it was another project from The Bug. Still, I sense it gained something of a 'musician's musician' following, where the savviest of UK Bass ears couldn't help but zero in on King Midas Sound's developments. I doubt Martin, Roger Robinson, and Kiki Hitomi planned it as such, but when I see a crap-ton of obscure, esoteric artists 'reworking' tunes for Without You, it makes me wonder exactly who's the target audience here. Like, were so many acts anxious to lend their aesthetic to the King Midas sound that Hyperdub had no choice but to release a remix album like this?

Actually, Without You is something of a mish-mash of older stuff and new material. If you missed out on the King Midas Sound debut record Cool Out, fret not for you get the wonk-jazz of Flying Lotus' rub on Lost (eh, I'll pass) and Dabrye's weirdo synth-pop stab at One Ting as a hidden track (noice!). Both remixes on the Goodbye Girl single also show up, Without You kicking off with Kuedo's ker-lumpity bass-clump of G.G., plus Mala's tribal dubstep of Earth A Kill Ya. It ain't bad, but compare it to the bizarre place art-poppers Gang Gang Dance take the original moody number - I'm left speechless! The original was a fairly minimalist, menacing piece of spoken word dub music, whereas Gang Gang turn it into something you might expect from an Orb and Youth collaboration: all chipper, flighty, and filled with silly sounds. And yet Roger's words remain just as poignant in this setting as the other. How'd Gang Gang do d'at?

All the new songs are given 'revoice' credits, including the titular cut with a D-Bridge rub that's almost ambient dub. Kiki gets to showcase a little Japanese knowledge with Tears, Cooly G brings some R&B sultriness to the fray in Spin Me Around, and Joel Ford does his own croon in Say Somethin'. Not to let all these urban voices dominate, Green Gartside of the indie band Scritti Politti shows up in Come And Behold. It's... an odd contrast to the rest of Without You's thick haze of grimy dub ol' Kevin drenches his productions in.

In case that's not enough, other remixes go for weird abstraction (Robert Aiki; Ras G & Afrikan Space Program; ooh Deep Chord!), or familiar Hyperdub future garage (hey Kode 9; yo' Hype Williams). In all, Without You is a warped trip through the disparate muses of various musicians, the only thing holding it together being Kevin Martin's faith in letting all those invited stretch wherever they want. Well no wonder so many wanted in on this 'remix' album!

Solar Fields - Until We Meet The Sky

Ultimae Records: 2011

Though Random Friday is technically the last album Solar Fields released on Ultimae (odds n’ sods Origin # 02 notwithstanding), Until We Meet The Sky feels like the final one we got to hear Mr. Birgersson strut his stuff as only he can. Holy cow, that was over half a decade ago now, and as the label that Aes Dana built continues is steady journey into the realms of minimalist dub and downtempo glitch, I’ve grown ever more inconsolable that we may never hear such lush, unabashedly uplifting sonics as Solar Fields so often provided. C’mon, Magnus, when can we hear some new music? We all jonesing for a Solar Fields fix, yo’.

When this album first came out in 2011, I found it a reasonable, pleasant LP with enough enjoyable Solar Fields attributes, but not as strong overall as some of his previous efforts. The talking point surrounding Until We Meet was it was ol’ Magnus branching out from the psy side of things and into ‘shoegaze’ territory, the sort of chill-out that Ulrich Schnauss had long made his domain. There’d been hints of this style in Solar Fields’ palette, a gradual transition from Ultimae’s preferred psy-chill excursions as the years moved along. Six albums deep and with the label moving on in general, it seems only appropriate to finally indulge in a sound well outside one’s comfort zone.

The biggest difference in Until We Meet The Sky from previous Solar Fields albums is its recurring themes - specifically a simple piano melody that pops up every so often throughout. For one thing, we’ve seldom heard any piano from Magnus, much less as a leitmotif. He even indulges himself further in Sombrero, first playing it out as though in a grand cathedral, then distorting it to the point the track starts sounding rather like a Boards Of Canada offering.

Another noticeable tweaking of the Solar Fields LP form is the arrangement of tunes, giving us a more traditional ‘journey’ than his other works. Almost the entire first half of this album is beatless, exploring soothing meditative ambient, minimalist field recordings, and the like, with only the barest of beats coming and going. I won’t deny this can come off a tad tedious and meandering, especially compared to Solar Fields records that paced its uptempo and downtime moments more spaciously. Yet when he does unleash those vintage, massive, uplifting tunes towards the end for a couple grand finales (Night Traffic City, the titular cut), it all feels like one long build to a well-deserved climax.

Still, Until We Meet The Sky does take a while before getting a move on, which can turn away those who aren’t so patient. And unfortunately, the crescendo isn’t so effective out of context. Solar Fields practically demands you to take this album in as a whole, and for some that may not be enough. Given the dearth of such music on Ultimae of late though, what the hey, I’ll take it.

Aquascape - Underwater Stranger

Altar Records: 2011/2012

Label raids are good fun and all, but there does come a point where all the intriguing releases run out. There’s only so deep down the rabbit hole one should explore before considering just how necessary total and utter completion of a label collection is necessary. No, it’s true – no single print is one-hundred percent infallible. Plenty are ace, top grade even, with track records shaming many of their contemporaries. A perfect run of platinum quality releases though? Not bloody likely. Even my all-time favorites (Ultimae, Turbo, Waveform …Cryo Chamber yet?) have a few CDs in their catalog that, in hindsight, I really didn’t need to have. To say nothing of other labels I’ve dug into over the years.

Take Altar Records. They’ve a few acts I’m quite committed to scoping out with each album, and digging further has revealed a number of solid CDs along the way. That said, the label’s assorted yoga and meditation offerings definitely are not on my interest list, nor can I say I’m committed to checking out every psy-chill act that gets signed to them. Having exhausted most of the recognizable name, however, I’m left with an alternative selection process: does it have interesting cover art? Well hey, this Aquascape looks unique compared to the usual ultra-mystical stuff Altar goes with - simple, elegant, inexplicable manta ray. Sure, I’ll give this a shot, fits nicely with the ‘water theme’ I was splurging with at the time anyway.

And boy, was I not expecting this. A decent collection of psy-chill, sure, Altar’s early track record pretty spot on for this sound. Aquascape though, they kinda’ slipped by my attention, even after giving their Voice Of The Universe track on the Air compilation an Ace Track honor. The duo, comprised of Andrey Kostomarov and Anton Salikov, didn’t stick with Altar for long though, mostly contributing to Tunguska Electronic Music Society compilations and, more recently, Plusquam Chillout. Lord Discogs tells me they’ve only released one other album since Underwater Stranger, a digital LP on Tiger Grass Records called Sunrise In Fog. Damn, I hope that’s just incomplete information, because if this album’s anything to go by, they’ve got a good sound going for them.

Right, their take on psy-chill does occasionally dip close to the shores of sappy New Age stuff, but never such that I get my cringe on. Mostly, we’re fed a steady diet of dubby grooves, acidy sounds, and guitar solos. Oh yeah, Anton provides various acoustic, flamenco, and spacey guitar work. While not on the level of Steve Hillage, it adds a fresh dynamic to your standard psy-chill tropes.

I won’t deny Underwater Stranger lacks the sort of tunes that leap out and grab your ears by their balls (!?), but it’s an album I find enjoying front-to-back every time, easing me in for a smooth, chill ride as I go about my business. Music good enough as wallpaper, but dynamic enough for those times you want a little zone-out time too.

Carbon Based Lifeforms - Twentythree

Ultimae Records: 2011

Considering how often I big-up Carbon Based Lifeforms as one of Ultimae Records’ key acts, I sure don’t talk about their actual albums much. In fact, this is only the second full-length from the duo I’ve gotten to, the first being their debut Hydroponic Garden a whopping three years ago now! Still, it’s not like they have a vast discography compared to other famed Ultimae alum’, Twentythree just their fourth album in a decade – Solar Fields released about twice that amount in the same period of time. After this, all that’s left in CBL’s catalog is Interloper and World Of Sleepers, one of which I don’t have (no points for guessing which one). Oh, and companion piece to this album, VLA, though as that’s a digital-only release, odds are that’s gonna’ remain absent from this blog for the foreseeable future. Then again, I hadn’t counted on still being at this back when I did Hydroponic Garden either. The future: as mysterious as the infinite black above.

Just as we remain lonely in the cosmos, Twentythree stands isolated among its Ultimae peers, the label’s lone drone ambient full-length. For sure there’s examples of such works scattered throughout Ultimae’s catalog – Asura’s last LP for them, Radio Universe, was about half drone alone. Hybrid Leisureland, Cell, and CBL member Daniel Ringström (as Sync24) can get downright minimalistic in their songcraft. To go an entire CD runtime with barely a beat or hint of a rhythm though, it just hadn’t been done on Ultimae before or since. Guess that’s at least one necessary ambient sub-genre off the bucket list.

Naturally, recommending yet another drone ambient album is a tough task for yours truly, but CBL bring their subtle skill with acid to this peace-out party. Opener Arecibo does the standard layered pad work you’d expect of blissful, expansive space music, but with a touch of the TB-303 bubbling in the background, the track retains enough of a distinct sound such that it’s not lost in the slush of yearly drone. Indeed, the subtle acid remains a common attribute throughout Twentythree, even if only as faint as a radio signal from deep space. Follow-up pieces have other minute features, should you be in the mood for a studious playback. System is eerie and dark, with distant, spritely dub effects. Melancholic Somewhere In Russia makes use of field recordings, prog-rock guitar tones find their way into Terpene, Inertia harkens to a primeval time, and VLA (edit) gets proper dark in a way that Cryo Chamber would approve.

Through it all, Twentythree truly sucks you in, such that when the heavy use of earthly field recordings and dubbed-out wind chimes of Kensington Gardens hits, it feels as though you’ve returned to this planet we call home after a long, lonely sojourn of the stars. What more fitting note to end on then, than the ghostly, melodic space ambience of Held Together By Gravity, astro-chatter echoing from a distant place we’ll never see with our own eyes.

Marcel Dettmann - Translation EP

Ostgut Ton: 2011

Marcel Dettman, kinda’-sorta’ Important Person in the world of techno, has put out a fair share of EPs in his decade long career. I mentioned in my previous trip into his music that most agree he’s better suited to that format, his style of German-functionalist club music not one intended for sitting back at home with tea and crumpets. And I wonder if that’s what’s kept luring me back to hear his stuff, hoping to get that sense of mental transference whilst lost in his thudding rhythms, imagining myself in the throes of a legendary Berghain set I’ll never get to experience myself. Or maybe I will, if that pilgrimage to Berlin ever manifests itself. But why would I want to go all the way to Germany just to stand in line for a while, potentially being turned away when my Canadianism blatantly signals me as a tourist? They don’t like them kind ‘round Berghain, so’s I’ve head. And with so much culture to take in those lands, my time would be better served checking out other famed locales. Does Tresor still have cool techno nights? Maybe I’d luck out with a throwback Omen party! Mmm, vintage German trance…

So nay, my only hopes for the Methodical Dettmann Experience (also the name of my experiential lo-fi indie-skweee jam band) is to live vicariously through the singles he supplies. Or maybe those DJ mix CDs he puts out on market that I’ve yet to actually pick up. Why haven’t I done that yet? Reviews of them have been mostly positive, even among the staunchest critics who never got bit by the Berghain bug. Maybe I should… No, no! I’ve got enough backlog already, the last thing I need to do is add more to it. Control, control, I must learn control!

Like the sort of control I exhibited back in 2011, when my buying habits were rather skint due to lack of interest in the new and (then) now. That Dettmann fella’ though, he had some interesting music, and while I didn’t find his debut album much to get fussed about, he showcased a sound worth keeping tabs on should he move beyond the rote-loop techno-tool style of music making. It works wonders as set pieces, no doubt, and it’s always those Dettmann moments in techno mixes that kept me checking further, to hear what else he might come up with if given room to stretch.

I’ll find no answers with Translation EP though, another tidy collection of tidy loop-techno head thumpers that run between a tidy five and six minutes with little variation between. The first track, Barrier, hinted at something more, with moody, bass-heavy techno-drone and astro-chatter. Ooh, actual concept! Nope, Translation One and bleepy Translation Two going about as toolly as techno goes, though One does have some nice flange on its percussion. Last track Planning has a herky-jerky thing happening, mostly plonky and annoying for its duration. Not the techno I wished for, lad.

Tiger & Woods - Through The Green

Running Back: 2011

Was that ‘disco edit’ fad ever a short one, eh? Seemed in 2011, it was all anyone talked about in the cool branches of house music. And for good reason, the sound a welcome revisit to the funky, class sounds that built house into the house it became. After years of minimal-tech monotony and abrasive electro-slop, any return to fundamentals would be celebrated, which disco edits provided with unabashed pluck and gusto. Cool is often fleeting though, especially when centered on such a singular trick that can be rendered cliché by bandwagon copycats. It also didn’t help the micro-genre that Tiger & Woods, the very tastemakers themselves, cultivated a code of semi-seclusion, retreating from the hype train whenever they could. And a good thing they did too, capably maintaining a career as the popularity of disco edits waned in favor of the next, hot big nothing (swing house?).

It’s been half a decade since Tiger & Woods made their mark, and they’ve remarkably kept their anonymity since, continuing to use the aliases of Larry Tiger and David Woods in the scant interviews they’ve done. Fortunately, I know of a Lord That Knows All, and The Discogian One provides some clues. Not so much David Woods, or ‘Valerio Delphi’ as one alias alludes to - there’s scant material to this name in the massive database. Mr. Larry Tiger though, now here’s some interesting dirt.

Links to this name include a number of techno records as Analog Fingerprints, some ancient bangin’ acid as M. Chrome, and a respectable pile of albums and singles as Marco Passarani, which include stabs at electro, IDM, house… a varied palette, this man. While the link could just be a coincidental name-tag error within Lord Discog’s archives (it happens!), considering ‘Marco Passarani’ output suspiciously dries up right after ‘Larry Tiger’ appears, odds are pretty good we’re dealing with the same guy. A recent solo album on the same label as this one (Running Back) kinda’ seals the deal. Plus, y’know, Tiger & Woods being confirmed Italians and all.

ANYHOW, this album. The concept here couldn’t be simpler: take some disco samples, loop them a bunch, and tweak them as though they’re your own original bars in Ableton. It’s a trick that can be horribly misused and abused, but Tiger & Woods display a crafty sense of how a solid track should develop. Teasing out the builds so they never overstay they welcome, letting a vocal hook sink in without growing redundant, never falling prey to the ever-tempting effects overload. Admittedly a lot of this sounds like French house without the filters, and Through The Green does get repetitive by album’s end. Most of these tracks were out as singles prior anyway, this LP basically a formality in cashing in on their popularity. As Tiger & Woods have shown more activity this past year though, with luck we’ll see some evolution in their sound now that the fad is long past.

Lorenzo Montanà - Serpe

Fax +49-69/450464/Psychonavigation Records: 2011/2015

Somewhere during all those Labyrinth session with Pete Namlook, Lorenzo Montanà found the time to release a second solo effort on Fax +49-69/450464 called Serpe. With but a two year turnaround from his previous debut of Black Ivy, not to mention the six full-lengths released in the past three years, I'm getting the feeling ol' Lorenzo's one of those 'studio sluts'. You know the sort, spending endless days and nights huddled behind consoles and computers, synths and hardware, plus a few assorted 'real' instruments like guitars or glockenspiels. But hey, sometimes you just feel that creative pulse, propelling you from project to project in perpetuity. Though let’s not get ahead of ourselves; Mr. Montanà’s not any sort of Merzbow type. He, y’know, actually makes albums with a consistent theme to them, and all.

Yeah, I mentioned a problem with his first one was that it was missing that key ‘album’ flow, that it came off as little more than a collection of nicely produced, unconnected tracks. That point still stands (it’s only been a month since I made it), but that time spent jamming away in labyrinths with The Namlookian One must have helped refine Lorenzo’s craft, as Serpe is a marked improvement over Black Ivy. For one thing, there’s an actual theme to this album, each track title the name of a different sort of snake from the world abroad. I suppose Black Ivy had a loose plant theme going for it too, but much like the music on that LP, it wasn’t consistent.

Consistency, yes, that’s what Serpe’s got going for it. Every track maintains a running tone throughout, of moody, mysterious ambient techno with splashes of clicky glitch. While by no means an unique assortment of sounds at his disposal, Mr. Montanà comes off most comfortable working within this template, giving him the more freedom to write music fitting this concept than concern himself with technical aspects. I mean, the titualar opener sounds like an actual opener, an atmospheric little number with a stirring synth refrain and soft percussion nestled under washed-out white noise field effects, treated guitar plucking riffing off it for a brief portion before giving way to distant explosions. I’m not sure what this has to do with snakes, exactly, but tickle me intrigued for what comes next.

From there Serpe does the easy-cool build as most solid albums do. The next few tracks stick to the downtempo side of things, a groovy little number in Elaps Harlequin followed by a spritely chill piece in Dugite, while Mamushi features another lovely subdued melody within its stark dub ambient realm. As per course, the second half of Serpe ups the tempo some, Agkistrodon getting almost downright trance at points, though ol’ Lorenzo sure doesn’t hold back his fondness for the skittery side of IDM rhythms in Elaphe and Habu. Final two tracks Acrochordidae and Demansia go wide-screen in their production, and I’m left wondering how Mr. Montanà hasn’t ended up on Ultimae yet.

Sense - Selected Moments, Vol. 1

Psychonavigation Records: 2013

Have I reached ‘peak ambient’ yet? Like, taken in so much of the stuff now that I’m micromanaging every tiny variation of it into compartmentalized sub-sub genres? Where Layered Drone is a totally different thing from Singular Drone, and the length between held piano notes drastically separates pieces into wholly uncompromiseable BPM brackets. For sure I can tell what constitutes Space Ambient, but should it be further splintered into Cosmic Ambient, Interstellar Ambient, Black Cold Ambient, Gravitational Waves Ambient, and even Quantum Ambient (that’s some proper ‘lowercase’ shit right there, mang!). For sure I can differentiate between inner headspace forms like Meditation Ambient (mostly synths and bell tones) and New Age Ambient (stupid, silly flutes or angel choirs), and now I feel there’s more unique branches I’m dubbing Melancholic Ambient, and Morning-After Ambient, not to mention Dawn Ambient (don’t confuse it with Solar Ambient, which is a Space Ambient thing). But wait, there’s also the Dark Ambient scene too, with so many variations and permutations, you could write a Tale Of The Old Ones anthology detailing it all (Gothic! Winter! Feral! Space! …yes, that again).

The reason for spending nearly two-hundred got’dang words describing all the ambient you can handle is because I know – just know! – you’re feeling a curious emptiness with the title of this album I’m supposed to be reviewing. You want to say it, your brain is tricking you into reading it, but reality does not deceive: this CD is called Selected Moments, Vol. 1, not Selected [Ambient] Works/Moments, Vol. 2 as your eyes so desperately wants to make it. Oh, it’s most definitely an ambient album, nary a beat found within the eight tracks comprising this LP. There’s nothing really connecting these compositions beyond their general stylistic songcraft either, so for all intents this is just a volume of selected ambient works. I suspect, however, that Adam Raisbeck had the good sense to not go with such an obvious cribbing of that other very famous selection of ambient works, practical though such a title would be.

Mr. Raisbeck is something of a folk hero to the new school of dedicated ambient followers, his debut album A View From A Vulnerable Place regarded as one of the scene’s definitive classics of the modern era. Floating from label to label as many producers in this realm do, he’s found a recent home with Psychonavigation Records, making his first impression on the Dublin print with this album. It’s a lovely little collection of ambient tunes, a bit rather in the classic Eno mold, though with more musicality going on than those early works. Some calmly float along lengthy soft synths (Heading Take 1, View From The Peephole, Less Than Perfect), others make use of simple charming melodies (36 4s (Mix 14), 3songs), and Praise (Full) melts my heart to utter pud’gin. Selected Moments, Vol. 1 presents itself as typical as most ambient collections go, but dang in this Sense chap doesn’t make you yearn for more.

Maschine - Maschine

Psychonavigation Records: 2011

You know who this label's reminding me of? Shadow Records. Not so much for the music style, though both clearly have a thing for genres that defined the '90s. Right, that makes all the sense with Shadow since they started in the '90s, but they carried on into the new millennium with one foot still firmly planted in the prior decade too. What I mean though, is both Shadow and Psychonavigation Records seem to love scouring their nearby lands for obscure, unheralded talent that fits their musical manifesto. Shadow was clearly in love with sounds Ninja Tune nurtured (being their short-lived American distributor didn't hurt), and Psychonavigation comes off more fond of Warp, Apollo, and other assorted seminal IDM labels. Still, this is the only similarity between the two – ain't no way an album from one or the other might share some stylistic sound. Nope, no how. Except now, brown cow.

So here’s Maschine, who’s self-titled debut on Psychonavigation Records reminds me of something Shadow Records might have put out in one of their more adventurous efforts. There’s jazzy-hop beats. There’s snazzy d’n’b rhythms. There’s deep rumbling dubby bass. There’s an undeniable inner city cool running through this album... for about the first half anyway. The back-half goes more vintage braindance territory, thus here’s your obligatory namedrops for comparison (Autechre, Aphex Twin, Squarepusher). Almost kind of a shame, if I’m honest, as I was much preferring the Amon Tobin leaning cuts from earlier in the album. Still, best of both worlds from Maschine, his tracks unique enough to stand out from a plenty overstuffed IDM market while retaining that retro ‘90s charm. Oh, we’re not allowed to called ‘90s music retro yet? C’mon, it’s been two decades; the ‘80s can’t keep hogging the word forever.

As for the man behind Maschine, Lord Discogs draws a total blank, but the liner notes provide a few tidbits of info. Mostly a live PA act headed by Eoin Coughlan and Aza Hand, though primarily fronted by Eoin at the time of this release. The jazz influences aren’t accidental either, Mr. Coughlan having been brought up in an environment surrounded by the music - his mother's apparently big on the Irish jazz scene, which is fascinating to me that such a scene even exists. Overall, Maschine sounds like the sort of act that burbles in local obscurity for years (Vancouver’s got lots of them), and likely would have remained as such had Psychonavigation not given them a little extra promotional bump. Interestingly, they retain Prime honors for the ‘Maschine’ handle at Lord Discogs. Has there seriously never been another act to use the name before Eoin and Aza entered the database? I mean, you’d think someone in the German techno scene would have claimed it in all these years. Someone with a fuller discography than this Maschine’s. Well, if not, props to you, lads. Good album too, one worth a few additional playthroughs for those days remembering when Autechre used to write melodies.

Liquid Stranger - The Arcane Terrain

Interchill Records: 2011

In his near decade of music making, Liquid Stranger has shown no fear in tackling any and all forms of bass heavy dub beats. Sometimes this has led him to the realms of psy-dub or dancehall grime, but other times he's wilfully tackled teeth-grinding dubsteb too. And while I know full well to avoid his (probable) bro'd out endeavours on Rottun, that doesn't mean his material on other labels won't have instances to the stuff either. Even Interchill Records, they of so much world beat vibes, couldn't be completely resistant to it. Fact is if you’re releasing any form of bass music in British Columbia, you have to show your hand on what aspects of dubstep you can bring. The market is just too big, too involved, to completely ignore it. And if ever there was a year to sell-out to that scene completely, it’d be ye’ olde time of 2011, when dubstep was brought screeching into popular discourse by a stray Skr-r-r-r-r-rillex. Thus, this was Mr. Stääf’s big chance to show me how versatile he truly was, whether he could drop a dubstep album on my ears with all these potentially disastrous elements at play.

Oh, who am I kidding? This is all just coincidence. I picked The Arcane Terrain up because the cover intrigued me, as quirky covers so often do. Artist and label aside, I’m still not sure how this wasn’t a forest psy CD.

And while that ‘show me’ angle does have some truth, it’s all pretty much moot Yes, at times The Arcane Terrain sounds like it’s an album entirely geared for the festival circuit. That doesn’t mean it’s a dubstep love-in, Liquid Stranger more often than not getting his muse on with the dancehall side of dub than anything else. That still leaves him with some annoyingly barebones tracks though, like second track Bombaclaad Star, nothing going for it than a steady hand-waving bop and an occasional mid-range fill (MC Shells’ toasting is hopelessly dull); y’know, the scene of every cliché dubstep party ever. Other tracks like Steam and Timeless follow this template too, but if Liquid Stranger was just a one-trick pony in this vein, I’d never have started digging into his discography in the first place.

I could have done without the protest-grime cuts Rise and Babylon Beast, but cool on Mr. Stääf’s part in getting KRS-One and Killah Priest on these tracks. My jam though, is always the pure reggae roots of dub music, with The Molecule Man and Vigilante doing the deed just fine. We also get some dabbling into bhangra (Totem, Laguna), gitch-chill (Overlord), trip-hop (The Squid Strander), and whatever’s going on with Zero Gravity (Balearic chill-grime?). More than ever, it shows how diverse Liquid Stranger can go, even when he doesn’t have to.

The Arcane Terrain is probably still too dubsteppy for those who can’t stand the stuff, but if you have some tolerances for the mid-range wobbles, there’s plenty other dubbed-out tunes to satisfy your ears.

Overdream - Soundprints

Sun Station: 2011

This was quite a contrast coming off Olien's Sounded Paratronic. Both are 'dark psy', though they couldn't be further apart in the psy spectrum. Olien's brand of music is almost anti-music, foregoing traditional song structure for an endless barrage of twisted sounds intent on creating wacked-out imagery within your brainpan – and it's fucking awesome in doing so! Overdream, on the other hand, sticks to psy's typical structures, even brings in a few lobe-grabbing moments, and generally provides music that sounds competent but doesn't spark the same unpredictable energy Olien's works do. Essentially, this is the ‘twilight trance' sound, a darker version of full-on (or morning, or whatever), where things can go weird, but never so much that the mind turns to mush with aggressive beats and ear shredding effects. Yeah, I know, describing the difference between 'dark' and ‘twilight’ makes as much sense as the difference between 'goa' and 'psychedelic', but great wars have been fought in establishing these sonic boundaries within the psy trance contingent, much hippie blood shed and stained with acid tabs flowing through outdoor fields and forests. Very pretty laser blasts from the starships, though.

Anyhow, that ‘typical psy structure’ I mentioned often plays out thus: here’s a section with some cool sounds, now here’s another section with cool sounds, and then a third; maybe a forth if it’s a long track. That’s acceptable if there’s sounds you enjoy hearing, but trouble is there’s often very little melodic or harmonic flow linking these together (no, that steady psy bassline doesn’t count). Psy’s tendency to cram so much randomness into their tracks makes for a frustrating listen in huge quantities, and the opening few cuts of Overdream’s mini-album Soundprints falls prey to this trope too. A shame, since this Russian duo (Maxim & Olga Kurushyna) has sonic similarities to Olien, just not the same way with the deep atmospherics. Like some of the greats of goa’s past (Koxbox, Man With No Name, Etnica), Olien’s music is constantly evolving like an advanced lifeform, whereas most dark psy’s content to just add a new appendage or antler and call it a day.

Sorry for all that, let’s get to some proper reviewing, eh? Overdream emerged during the mid-‘00s boom of dark psy, and have maintained a steady career since, mostly in compilation duty. Ektoplazm also highly rates them, hence why this came downloaded during a trawl of the ever-awesome psy portal. If you like your dark psy, or twilight psy (or whatever), you should dig on the first three tracks – just, y’know, don’t listen to Sounded Paratronic beforehand. Personally though, the throwback goa cut Zurna does the trick for me. While that plastic rhythm can’t be mistaken for anything but current, the spacey multi-tapped pads and squelchy rubber-acid have all my ‘90s nostalgia electrodes tingling. As is wont for most psy albums, even in an EP format, there’s a downtempo dubby cut to finish out, Kaleidoscope Eyes with DubMyDub. It’s, um... well, it’s not Ott.

Various - 6th Element (The Missing Elements)

Altar Records: 2011

Okay, now you're just milking your concept, Altar Records. Even going for a fifth was dubious, but the nebulous idea of a classical element that consists of ether or souls or whatever ('love'? Arrgh!) has enough traction within pop culture to allow it. A sixth though? I seriously can't even. What's this supposed to represent, the substance within hyperspace? The singularity centre of a black hole? The whiskers that makes up Evil Spock's beard? The last digit of pi?

I jest of course. A year after Altar wrapped up their Elements series, they released this download-only bonus of unreleased material that didn't make the cut for various reasons, hence Missing Elements as a subtitle (and why it's getting reviewed with the 'M's – t’was sorted that way). Normally such releases don't interest me, but since it came included with the purchase of the Elements set, here’s my six pennies' worth of opinion on 6th Element.

First off, holy cow, but do these ever sound 'unreleased'. Okay, under-produced is a better term, but that's only in comparison to the strong mixdown Altar typically provides on all its material. These feel like a layer’s cut off, or even missing an ele- *slaps self*.

What I mean is, the production quality isn’t that far removed from the sort of tunes you’d find on small sub-labels of Israeli psy trance in the mid-‘00s. Come to think of it, DJ Zen started out on one such label, Sunline Records (Quebec based), which was an offshoot of Kagdila Records (California based). I can’t say I’ve heard of anything from either print, so I’ve no idea whether their mixdown standards were up to snuff with the Twisteds and Ultimaes of the time. What I can tell you is when Zen went proper independent with Altar, he must have gotten his hands on Aes Dana’s notebook of mixdown techniques. No sense on spending that extra studio time on ‘unreleased’ material though.

So the production isn’t as exquisite as the rest of the Elements series, but there’s still some cool stuff on here. Zen gives AstroPilot’s Inside The Harmony an eighteen minute ethno-ambient remix, which may sound daunting, but the original off the Solar Walk album’s even longer! At the other end of 6th Element is Asura with a track that sounds like Vangelis at his poppier moments, suitably titled, um, Vangelis. Everything in between runs the usual gamut of psy dub, chill, and prog, from regular contributors like Zymosis, Tentura, and Chronos, to first-time outside helpers like Elea, Suduaya, and Dreaming Cooper (Lord Discogs lists this as his only credit!). And man, are there ever some corkers in this collection, tracks building as some of the best prog-psy goes. The fact these remain strong pieces of music even without extra engineering polish goes to show Zen’s surrounded himself with some incredibly talented people.

That said, I wouldn’t bother with 6th Element unless you’re already keen to Altar Records output. More a pleasant bonus to their main series, this one.