Solar Fields - Blue

Droneform Records/Sidereal: 2014/2018

I made a big hullabaloo about having two 'beyond' albums in a row, but let's be honest here: I have far more 'black's and 'blue's. And why not, artists always eagre in finding ways of combining sensory input such as sight and sound. It's easy for us to associate certain colours with types of music, especially when something goes 'darker' and such as. Lordy, for 'blue' alone, I have Blue Lines, Blue Mountain, Blue Planet, Bluenote Cafe, The Blueprint EP (spoiler!), bleu, and Blumenkraft. Oh, and Solar Fields' Blue Moon Station, that one too. Hay, guess what song's on this compilation!

Yep, it's finally time to wrap up another box-set, the quite small yet somehow long gestating three-CD collection of Red / Green / Blue. Which I, naturally, reviewed out of order, though at least the Blue CD came last. Good thing I didn't start this from my usual alphabetical placement, eh? Throw everything into utter chaos, everything I says!

If you've forgotten what this coloured series from Magnus is about, they're essentially round-ups of all his wayward tracks, singles, and remixes as found on various label compilations, primarily from his '00s body of work. Considering he managed to gather three album's worth of material is a testament to his relentless work-rate throughout that decade but to be honest, it feels like Mr. Birgersson was stretching things to fit the concept to meet Blue's quota. For instance, that track I mentioned two paragraphs above? Yeah, there's an alternate version of it on here, but rather subdued compared to the grandiosity as heard on Blue Moon Station proper. It's fine as is, just can't stand toe-to-toe should you feel inclined to compare.

And that's the impression I get with most of Blue. Granted, I've been so got'dang spoiled by Solar Fields over the year that even what I might find 'mediocre' is still downright brilliant when stacked against the yearly bilge. Good Times? Such a deep, groovy slice of world beat and psy chill. Just, y'know, I've heard similar stuff from the man before. Water Silence? Oh yeah, that's a dope tune, but that was on Ultimae Records' Fahrenheit Project Part Five: aka: the one with so much amazing music, Solar Fields actually sounded ordinary on it!

Okay, let's get some neat/interesting stuff out of the way. The opening track, Life: where's this from? Lord Discogs seems to have no record of this chipper world beat tune existing elsewhere. Closer In Motion (Good Morning Edit): ah, good ol' prog-psy Solar Fields, gotta' love those slow, considered builds. Small Little Green Cubes: vintage opulent Magnus, and classy of him offering it to help kick off the Electrik Dream Records print. And finally, a remix of Cloud-Kingdom by Filteria, which really had me thinking Solar Fields was going a little synthwave at the start, before getting back to typical psy-chill territory. Still, that name, Filteria, seems familiar to me somehow. Let me check on Discogs a moment to... Oh son of a...!

Natural Life Essence - Wave Bio Generator

CYAN: 2017

Hm, been a bit longer than I anticipated coming back to Natural Life Essence in one form or another. Maybe going through his entire Bandcamp discography won't be as repetitive as I initially thought. *glances tenatively at the rest of 'W'*.

When Juan Pablo was starting out nearly a decade ago, the bulk of his releases were through CYAN, a free netlabel out of Germany primarily run by Jaja and Marco Köller, which they released their own material through. It was successful enough to lure in a myriad of other artists though, including Natural Life Essence with the album Hidrogenesis. This particular album, Wave Bio Collector, captures about the middle of that run. Which probably also explains why Juan was still using his original alias, not adopting N:L:E until he went fully independent. Hopefully these introductory paragraphs for future Natural Life Essence reviews won't be as boring as this one.

So the music. Looking at track titles, I thought I was in for something super-heavy on the field recordings side. Frogs And Toads (Hipnotic Swamp Choir); Geckos Tangled Trip (On A Confused Turtle); Spiders Trip... While there are samples of forest and swampy critters scattered about, it isn't the album's primary focus. Heck, that 'Swamp Choir' features more chattering birds than croaking reptiles within its peaceful ambient drone. Follow-up Snails Caravan (Snails Down The Mountain Dragonfly's Point Of View) mostly carries on the tranquil ambience with some added buzzing dub treatments, a simple rhythm of tribal drums and... a regular drum kit in a hall? Well, whatever, they gradually emerge with some added melodic bits, then abruptly ends on a hard fade-out. I only point this out as being odd because no other track just... ends like that, most quite content with a gentler fade. Makes me wonder if this was some weird production or upload flub.

Anyhow, the rest of the album mostly carries on in a typical world beat slash ambient dub sort of way. Mosquitos Trip On Train (Green Train Mix) has a fun little groove about it, and includes the requisite last train to the deep forest samples. The aforementioned Geckos Tangled Trip gets even groovier into the reggae dub bounce, while Slugs Caravan (Caravan Is Approaching) opts for more of a meditative vibe. Spiders Trip, meanwhile, does the multi-part thing, the first sticking to pulsing Berlin-School ambience, the second bringing in funkier ambient techno rhythms. Think I rather prefer the beatless version. Finally, Climbing Leaf (Hipnotic Petalum) features more synth pads, tranquil samples, and gentle, echoing rhythms. Really selling the feeling of a wide-open nature, 'tis.

So the base elements are all solid enough, but if I must quibble (and I must, since the title of this blog implies I will), the rhythms do come across rather flat and plastic at times. Like, this album could have used another pass on the mixdown. It's far from a deal-breaker, but if you demand immaculate production, you may not get as much out of Wave Bio Collector .

faru - Utasava

Carpe Sonum Novum: 2018/2022

I'm really getting into some 'off the grid' music lately. What can I say? When a bit of cover art strikes my fancy, followed by sound samples that scintillate my stapes, I'm an easy sucker. This one I found particularly striking in that the sepia photo reminded me of Ultimae Records, yet the music within most decidedly did not. Nor did it sound like much of anything I've yet heard on Carpe Sonum. Neither label has ever gone quite so... world beaty.

Turns out that was something of a departure for Fabian Ruf as well, most of his musical compositions hanging out in the ambient drone category I've indulged plenty of over the years. Okay, he hasn't released a robust discography yet, his Bandcamp page only offering a handful of titles to his faru moniker, but one of those includes a Silent Season EP (Through Darkness Comes Light), so making significant inroads quite early on. From the looks of things, this Utasava is his first physical roll-out, Carpe Sonum Novum offering up a CD option for this album. And as mentioned, quite the turn away from the sort of Archives-styled ambient he was making to that point. Sometimes though, a vacation in a foreign land does wonders for one's inspiration. Having a recording microphone on hand capturing all those unique sounds doesn't hurt either.

And wander through a new realm he done did, opener Walk To Sri Pada almost entirely field recordings, folk and fauna busying themselves all around you, save a singular sitar tone and drumming guiding us along. The sounds of the street are so acute, I actually feel like those darn crows are dive bombing me! No, wait, that's those darn crows on my regular morning jaunts – the track is just giving me PTSD hearing their angry caws pan from right to left.

Regardless, the real highlight of this album is second track The Sacred Mountain, a near twenty-minute excursion into deep meditation as a temple monk sings through all manner of industrial distortion. I've seen this piece compared to Alio Die or Popol Vul, though as always my reference point remains Rapoon. It does eventually morph into more traditional ambient, but man, hearing those effects on this man's voice is some other-wordly vibes. It also kinda' makes the rest of Utasava come off rather tame and safe in comparison.

Not that there's anything wrong with tracks like Indian Ocean, Makar Sankrati and Along The Coast, it's just world beat and ambient dub paths well travelled since the days of Loop Guru. Meanwhile, the glitchy psy-dub of Mirissa and industrial techno of Summre Rain (!!) throw such a left turn on Utasava, you'll be forgiven for thinking you've somehow stumbled into an entirely different album. Don't get me wrong, I appreciate the diversity. It's just bizarre going through such an intense meditative journey with The Sacred Journey, only to have gabber beats thumping some twenty-five minutes later. Well, unless you're Rapoon, I guess.

Saphileaum - The Traveler

Silent Season: 2019

I've had Saphileaum's The Traveler for some time, bought among a bundle that included Beat Pharmacy's Safety In Dub, Mohlao's Landforms, and Wanderwelle's Lost In A Sea Of Trees. Items I reviewed two years ago now. Why, then, did I skip this one? Some weird quirk of my convoluted queuing system? Nay, 'tis a sillier reason: I simply forgot I had it.

As The Traveler is a digital-only release, I assume it got lost among all the other 'travel' albums in my folders (Travel The Galaxy, Traveler '03, Traveller, Travelling Without Moving... bonus points if you can I.D. what artists those are tied to!). Only now, during this run through the 'T's, did I realize I missed Saphileaum's EP. Oopsie on me, but that sometimes happens when I don't have a physical copy to confirm I actually bought something. And y'all wonder why I held off on the buying digital for so long.

Anyhow, Saphileaum. There's a lot of history behind this project of Andro Gogibedashvili, at least according to his Discoggian bio. More than I'm willing to divulge here, if I'm honest. Perhaps his biggest claim to fame (aside from being the grandson of one of Georgia's most popular singers, Temur Tsiklauri), is having a snippet of one of his tracks sent out into space, directed at a Neptune-like planet orbiting a red dwarf called K2-18. Huh, seems a bit random. Why not an Earth-like exoplanet, like Gliese 667Cc, or Trappist-1E, or Kepler-69C (nice). Guess the waiting list to transmit to those locations is a tad longer.

Anyhow, after spending some time floating about net-labels like Norite, Controlled Violence, and Oslated, Andro landed on Silent Season with a debut of The Traveler. And what an interesting debut it is, treading into sonic territory I've yet to hear the label venture into. Sure, opener Golden Tunic seems to follow upon similar, spacious dubby aesthetics so often heard throughout Silent Season's history, but there's something oh-so relaxing, calming, and soothing about these gentle synth pads and soft tribal rhythms. It's ambient dub, but for the New Age sect. Not that we haven't heard mystical-leaning music out of this print before, but almost always with a dub techno approach. Saphileaum shows almost no techno-fetishism in his songcraft, dub merely used to enhance the spacious vistas he creates. And boy howdy, does he create some deep spaces indeed.

That said, the tracks making up The Traveler do run a tad samey throughout. Establish a steady rhythm with a meditative melody and twilight field recordings, then subtly loop them for around six minutes each, throwing in a few rolling drum fills, layers of harmonic drone, and echo effects for flavour. It's all finely crafted, no doubt, but once you catch onto the Saphileaum stylee, you won't hear much deviation from it. Fortunately, The Traveler doesn't grow long in tooth either, wrapping up in a tidy seven tracks. A perfect length for a nice stroll through ancient forest paths.

Various - Serenity Dub 2.1 p.m.

Incoming!: 1995

Even for short-lived '90s ambient dub and techno labels, Incoming! feels among the most short-lived of them all. I mean, probably not, in that it had a three year run with a few home-grown acts sustaining it in that time. I even crossed paths with the print once, via S.E.T.I.'s The Geometry Of Night, as fine an example of the darker, more paranoid side of downtempo dub as I'd ever heard from that era. That seemed a chance encounter though, so who knows if I'd have stumbled upon any other Incoming! releases in those years, much less be as drawn to cover art. Maybe that Golden Star CD from Nonplace Urban Field? Or the warped speakers from the compilation Submerged – A Collection Of Blooming Breaks + Bulging Beats - that looks a little familiar.

Regardless, as is tradition with many labels starting out, a compilation or two showcasing their musical manifesto doesn't hurt, and Incoming! did the deed with a pair titled Serenity Dub. I got the second one because, well, I knew more names on it than the first. Names like Rapoon, Biosphere, S.E.T.I., Loop Guru, Scanner, and Mouse On Mars.

Those first four, I already had their tracks, though you can't blame me for not recognizing them as such. Like, I find Rapoon's Vernal Crossing a captivating listening experience, even gave Bol Baya Ace Track honours, but that still don't mean I can I.D. the piece blind. As for Biosphere, Botanical Dimensions kinda' gets overshadowed by Novelty Waves as the highlight off Patashnik. Same can be said for Loop Guru's Tchengo as heard of Duniya. That's all the familiar tunes though. Let's hear what fresh dub music I get to experience for the first time on Serenity Dub 2.1 p.m.

The CD opens with Transonic's Low Space Monitor. Hm, I know that name, but from where...? *THAT bass tone emerges* Oh, it's another Bill Laswell joint. Of course it is. Actually, a pairing with Robert Musso, where the two dropped a few albums over on Fax+. Interesting get for Incoming!, but their world beat vibe does fit. The dub business carries over onto Nemesis Dub System's Caravan (In Dub), a rather dated instrumental, even for '95.

Further along, Scanner does another of his noir-ish downtempo tunes as radio chatter chatters about, while the always interesting Mouse On Mars gets in on some early sound experiments with a minimalist dub throb. Their Chagrin grows very chill over time with relaxing layers of reverb and echo – serenity indeed. Following that, Cosa Nostra almost goes pure space noir on This Thing Of Ours, with ultra-dreamy pads and trumpet playing. Damn, now I want to watch some Cowboy Bepop.

Rounding out the rest are Seefeel and Unitone Hifi with some dubby jams (weirdo shoegaze-reggae and world beat, respectively), and you have about as well-rounded a collection of '90s underground dub music as you could hope for. Well, if you're starting a label promoting the stuff, at least.

Cypher 7 - Security

Subharmonic: 1995

It started with Psychonavigation, then moved on to include Divination. That only left Cypher 7 as the remaining artist from that Alien Ambient Galaxy compilation I hadn't properly indulged in yet. I wasn't so sure I would though, as from what I could glean, this project had the least amount of Bill Laswell input out of all three, his primary credit being “Navigation & Ground Control” (re: producer). Then again, the chaps behind Cypher 7 – Alex Haas and Jeff Bova – worked with Laswell on some of those Divination sessions, so there was bound to be some connective sonic tissue there. Not to mention appearing on Bill's Subharmonic label.

Then again, said label wasn't really a major focal point for the Laswellian One, more of a means to distribute some of his European releases (re: Fax+ output) on American shores, so how much attention could Cypher 7 really be given? Then again-again, Subharmonic also was where he released his take on ambient dub, so maybe the rest of Cypher 7 would lean that way? Ah, fek'it, let's just buy one of their albums should I find a Discogs seller offloading it on the cheap. Ah, here's one! Guess I'll settle with Security, as it not only has two familiar tracks on it (The Suspicious Shaman and Nothing Lasts), but has a cooler bit of cover art too.

Sure enough, opener Message Important gets into some of that vintage Laswell downtempo dub action, with a groovy rhythm, ominous string pads, a quirky sample of French resistance broadcasts, and jazzy playing with organs and bass guitar provided by, yup, Bill Laswell. Just no mistaking that bass tone. Unlike some of his lengthy jams though (this one lasts upwards of fourteen minutes), Message Important is tight and compelling as it plays through. It feels like you're immersed in some noir flick, silhouettes of smoke flowing through the shadowy cracks of a dimly lit basement.

In fact, much of Security has that vibe. Tokyo A.M is a pure, minimalist ambient piece with sparse field recordings of damp back alleys and subtle, sinewy pads, lurking in the dark of door enclaves. Following that, Benares (Open Secret) gets more operatic with opulent orchestral strings and... light Indian singing and drumming? Not quite so French noir as the other tracks, unless you want to count Moroccan into that equation. Which I will because I like me some consistent themes with my albums, yo'. And nothing says French film like having Jeanne Moreau going on about passion and love in Nothing Lasts.

Final track Falling Backwards is another moody, minimalist, experimental ambient piece. At sixteen minutes in length though, it finds room for a little dub jamming towards its end, the piece even morphing into more of an uplifting tone. Ooh, a positive outcome in a noir setting? What is this, modern Hollywood? Sadly not, as Cypher 7 would move on from the project after this. Another intriguing story of '90s underground ambient dub, cut too short.

Sykonee's 'Sportsing' Surveys: DELERIUM / CONJURE ONE

Ah, Delerium. Some love 'em. Some hate 'em. Some loved 'em before they hated 'em. Some didn't know they existed for a decade before coming to love 'em. A great many more are probably indifferent but know at least one or two of their songs - typically in a remixed fashion. Wherever you stand on their worth, it's undeniable the group - primarily helmed by Bill Leeb, with Rhys Fulber as his frequent fellow muse, and a whole gaggle of lady vocalists in later years, have done much in the worlds of musical scenes most would deem incompatible. Are they really so?

Yes, if you were to take their very earliest industrial and dark ambient records against their most recent ethereal dance-pop outings, you'd wonder how that link ever formed. Or at least I wondered. And with wonder comes an interest in exploring an entire discography. Buckle-up, me buckos, this one's a three decades spanning dive!





























That sure was a dive that felt longer than I anticipated - probably didn't help I took on an additional discography in the process. That'd be like if I'd done all the solo albums of the original Genesis band members along with that band's primary output! Felt like I'd have done Rhys dirty if I didn't include his stuff with Leeb's though: the two remain so synced with each other after all these years, and the two projects were relatively similar overall. Ooh, does this mean I'll be tackling all the other Leeb/Rhys projects out there? Front Line Assembly does have quite the extensive discography too, not to mention other, smaller outings like Synesthasia.

Hhmm, no, I need to listen to something a bit different for a while. How does New Order sound to y'all?

Saafi Brothers - Live On The Roadblog

Iboga Records/Carpe Sonum Novum: 2014/2015

Yet another in a long, long, long (oh Gods, just so damn long) list of acts I've sorely neglected. By all accounts, Saafi Brothers are a group I should have dove into sooner. All the pieces are there for me to have checked them out at some point, members with discographies I've crossed with plenty of times.

Most prominent of these is, of course, Gabriel le Mar, who I have heard in scattered amounts over the years, and never been let down by his output. Another member is Luca Anzilotti, whom most probably don't know off hand, but have definitely heard in the past, being one-half of the famed euro-dance outfit Snap! Michael Kohlbecker isn't one I'm familiar with, though he's been active on the scene many decades, his Eternal Basement project probably his most recognizable alias. Alex Azary (of Aural Float and Elektrolux fame) was also with the group on its first album, so all said, quite the super-group of German producers here.

And what sort of music did these numerous talents create together? Why, nothing less than the invention of prog-psy, is what! Okay, maybe not quite, their works more of an ambient dub techno blend with wordly psy-chill, but tell me 1997 tracks like On Air and Internal Code Error don't predict that genre emerging in the coming century.

As you can imagine with a group containing so many busy-bodies, reconvening for an album session isn't the easiest endeavour for Saafi Brothers. It would explain the sparse discography (and my overlooking of said discography), the group seemingly disbanding after 2007's Supernatural, save live gigs. Still, such gigs seemed to inspire the trio to actually start recording some of those sessions, which they did, consolidating the best outings in the studio for this here Live On The Roadblog album. Initially released as a digital item on prog-psy outfit Iboga Records, it was given the CD treatment on Carpe Sonum Records off-shoot Novum. That isn't as strange of a 'worlds colliding' pairing as you'd think, what with Gabriel le Mar being something of a fixture with the sub-label.

Listening through Live On The Roadblog, you definitely get a 'live' feel for how these tracks were crafted, everything quite loose in arrangement. Still, with most hovering around the six-to-eight minutes mark, they seldom wander off in rambly jams, a clear structure in their progression. Just, y'know, not so stiff in execution as most studio works go. As for the types of tunes, you get dubby world beats (Infinity Is Reality, Ghosts In The Tree), prog-psy groovers (Running Free, In The Eye Of The Storm, Moving Crossroads), blissy chillers (Feeling Lone, Touched By An Angel, Moments Of Clarity), and... electro-dub bangers? Wow, where did How High Can You Get? come from?

The music is solid stuff for sure, but man, all the drippy-hippie spoken word bits, I could have done with less of. When the whole album's concept is 'following one's wanderlust' though, I guess it comes with the territory.

Apollo 440 - Liquid Cool (Volume One)

Stealth Sonic Recordings: 1994

Even in the free-wheelin, 'anything goes' Cambrianic explosion of electronic music diversification that was the first half of the '90s, Apollo 440 were all over the place. They did eventually settle on a big-beat rocktronica fusion as the decade wore on, but as is quite evident in their debut album Millennium Fever, it took them a while to hash things out. After a few early singles mostly following hardcore rave tropes, they seemed to hit upon a groove with the Rumble EP, hitching their wagon to the burgeoning progressive house scene. Hah, no, not really, such tunes sharing equal space with sub-par Psykosonik jams like Astral America and Don't Fear The Reaper. Yet it was their proggy stuff that went on to be some of the band's most endearing tunes. Thanks, Sasha and Digweed!

Lodged on the b-side of that Rumble EP was a ten-minute track called Liquid Cool. I don't know if it was intended for a follow-up single of it's own, but boy howdy did it ever get the deluxe treatment when pressed into service. Somehow, someway, Apollo 440 managed to rope in a group that, while popular, were not exactly known for their remixes, their main output primarily studio works. Yes, I am talking about that indomitable powerhouse duo of the ethnic-fusion sample-o-sphere, The Future Sound Of London! What, did you think I was talking about Enigma?

But yes, The f'n FSOL is on this remix package, who take the rocky, world-beaty original into their Earthbeat studio and give Liquid Cool the ISDN treatment. By which I mean they slow the pace down, throw in a few of their own custom/unique/identifiable samples, and add a heavier trip-hop beat. If you know your ISDN-era FSOL, you can hear this track without even playing it.

Also on hand in this remix package is bassist, OG world-beatist Jah Wobble (what, was Bill Laswell not available?). This was actually the start of a mini-comeback for the Wobble one, John Wardle's project having laid relatively low for over half a decade to this point. His go with Liquid Cool starts simply enough, mostly following the same structure as most remixes do with a little extra bass jamming along. Then two minutes in, Jah switches into the highest gear you could go in '94, frantic jungle rhythms and speedy bass playing galore. Again, if you familiar with his works (or Laswell's), you likely can already hear how this goes.

That leaves the Theme For Cryonic Suspension remix (essentially the album version) done by Apollo 440 themselves, a radio version of that (pass), and the one that everyone knows and loves, Deep Forest's Ice Cold @ The Equator Mix. Yeah, it's dope, possibly the best version of Liquid Cool for so many reasons that I won't be able to detail here. Almost out of word count, see. Besides, there's an even better version out there! Yes, even greater than the one you've heard on Northern Exposure. What could it possibly be?

FSOL - ISDN

Virgin: 1995

You'd think I'd have gotten this in my initial gathering of FSOL albums, a necessary companion to Lifeforms and Dead Cities. A few things kept me from doing so though, a primary factor being I wasn't sure this was even an album. Compared to Ziggy Riphead's striking, CGI artwork from this period in Future Sound Of London's timeline, ISDN is flat, drab, and nondescript. Which hey, is an artistic statement in of itself, plus you'd find plenty weirdo visual-scapes within the booklet if you really needed them.

Still, this record had something of a rep, in that even for a FSOL LP, ISDN was way out there. Wherein Brian and Garry, uninhibited by such limitations as 'performance' and 'audience expectation', could transmit their muses directly into your living rooms. Oh honeys, you hadn't heard anything yet. Just wait until you get a load of this thing called 'live streaming'!

That all said, an appreciation of Brain and Garry's numerous Environment outings finally got me to properly grab ISDN. Okay, reconnecting with a few tunes like Slider, Amoeba and A Study Of Six Guitars didn't hurt in nudging me either. Whether this was some over-indulgent live show broadcast over a fledgling internet, or an assemblage of studio wankery, it was hard to deny at least a handful of dope-ass tunes emerged from these sessions. Surely there were more than what I plucked out of ancient P2P programs.

Confounding the “is this a live album or not?” vibe of ISDN is opener Just A Fucking Idiot, sampling live audio from a Joy Division/New Order. From there, the track's pure future-shock territory, so *deep breath* The Far Out Son Of Lung And The Ramblings Of A Madman grounds things with freeform jazz-funk groovy goodness. An appropriately bit of bridging ambience in Appendage later, and we're into the highlights off ISDN: Slider and Smokin Japanese Babe. Yeah, you could argue they're FSOL jumping on some trendy genres (big beat and trip-hop, respectively), but they're still done in that nifty, warped, post-apocalyptic, psychedelic, sampleholic way only FSOL were doing at the time.

After that though, ISDN goes wa-a-a-yy deep into sound collages and music making for its own sake. For sure some moments stick out – the electro-chill of You're Creeping Me Out, the spritely melodies in Eyes Pop – Skin Explodes – Everybody Dead - but it's not until eleventh track Egypt that things steer in some sort of direction again. As for Egypt, it's got electro rhythms, chants, crickets, woodwinds... y'know, vintage Lifeforms-era FSOL.

Kai and Amoeba feel like two halves of a whole, what with their muted rhythm sections, though I prefer Amoeba's sputtering voice pads over Kai's industrial drone-throb. Six Guitars remains pure bliss, and Snake Hips takes us out on total psychedelic rock weirdness. An Amorphous one calls from beyond.

So yeah, ISDN does have some of FSOL's best moments. It's just a shame they mostly come at the bookends of the album rather than as a consistent whole.

Banco de Gaia - Igizeh (20th Anniversary Edition)

Disco Gecko: 2020

I was hyped when Toby Marks started putting out 20th anniversary editions of his back-catalogue, but only for the first couple albums. As I only discovered Banco's music after the Last Train To Lhasa era, his early years had remained something of a mystery, a potential trove of unreleased alternates, versions, and remixes of tunes that don't get as much shine in modern years. By Big Men Cry though, I was consistently on the ball about Banco, so didn't miss out on much that I wasn't interested in to begin with. And to be blunt, the packages that were released for Big Men Cry and Magical Sounds... didn't look to enhance those albums beyond what I already got out of them. Thus I let them pass on by.

Igizeh's re-issue though, I was interested in this one. This album tends to get overlooked, the big-beat 'hit' How Much Reality Can You Take? overshadowing some of the best songs to ever emerge from the World Bank. Seti I remains a top class tribal opener, Obsidian a fun romp into trance's domain, while Ms. Folker's heart-wrenching go with Glove Puppet cuts like a knife through your soul. Meanwhile, though B2 and Gizeh may not be quite on part with similar tunes in Banco's catalogue, they're still solid entries into his ambient dub and epic jam lexicon. Even the 'lesser' tunes like Creme Egg, Fake It Till You Make It and Sixty Sixteen nicely round out the album experience. Yes, Igizeh has everything going for it that should have made it a Banco de Gaia classic, if not for one thing: the mixdown.

Granted, there's none of the dirty digitalness that marred You Are Here. However, it was rather muffled too, as though the microphones used to record in all these live settings simply couldn't pick up the performed music at its best. Surely a spiffy, modern, remastering of Igizeh would erase those limitations, give these songs the resonance they deserve? Well, there's more clarity in 20th Anniversary - I can pick out even more drumming than before! I still need to crank the volume a little extra though. Guess there's no getting around the quality of the source material.

But enough of that. The selling point of these anniversary editions has been the bonus content, and I was quite intrigued by what Igizeh's offered. Banco's drifting into proper band territory has made much of that music difficult to remix, likely the reason why Magical Sounds... featured mostly live versions instead. Not here though, every tune getting the remix treatment in some way. A couple I already have (ADF's go with Obsidian, Dreadzone's go on Glove Puppet, Jack Dangers' go on Reality), others are just dancier versions of the originals (Seti I, Creme Egg, Gizeh, B2). More interestingly, 100th Monkey's turns the Pink Floydy Fake It into prog-psy, while Andrew Heath radically alters Sixty Sixteen into his brand of minimalist ambient. It's like the rousing, climatic second half of the original never existed!

Olivier Orand - Human

Ultimae Records/Sidereal: 2008/2019

As I'm perusing the Sidereal shop looking to update my Solar Fields re-issues, I notice this remarkably striking bit of cover art. Holy hell, but what is this? Some sort of synthwave noir outing? Seems like a strange addition to a label primarily focused on Magnus' back-catalogue. I certainly have never heard of this Olivier Orand before, so maybe they've begun branching out a little. Sure, I'll give this a whirl.

When I fire up Discogs to Add [this CD] To [my] Collection, I'm struck by a sudden sense of recollection. One of these tracks is called Radio Bombay? I swear I've heard that before! Maybe a previous compilation? Let me Search Mr. Orand's Discography within Discogs and ...oh! This album titled Human is in fact a re-issue of Human, previously released on Ultimae Records by Hol Baumann. Wait, Hol is Olivier? Baumann is Orand? Finkle is Einhorn? What's going on?

So turns out, 'Hol Baumann' was an alias (nickname?) for Olivier, which he promptly dumped sometime in the mid-'10s. I can't find any information for the change. Some sort of finagling over legal matters? A feeling that his time with Ultimae was well in his past, so may as well carry on with his real name? Whatever the case, Mr. Baumann are no more, and Mr. Orand now... is.

This is also fortuitous in my case, as Human is one of the few Ultimae records I never picked up. It wasn't for a lack of opportunity, mind you, seeing it available in the label's shop long after much of their back-catalogue went out of print. For whatever reason though, I was never compelled to nab it while I had the chance, and I assume that was the case with a lot of Ultimae followers. Which had to suck just a little for one of the label's longest contributors to their series of compilations.

Anyhow, this Human is slightly different from the older Human, in that four tracks have been added (Varanasi, Handwritten Notes, Scala, Final), and one removed (Bénarès (Vârânaçî Edit)). Also, the final sequence has been rejiggered, five minutes of silence following A Forgotten Ritual jettisoned in favour of two added tracks.

Now that I have taken in Human proper-like, I cannot deny feeling a little disappointed in not giving it a chance sooner. While maybe not as God-tier as some of Ultimae's all-stars, Olivier's offering is a darn fine outing of clicky-glitchy world beat psy-dub. Even if the beatcraft and sample splicing does create something of a plastic sheen to the production, it's never too over-indulgent in effects wankery to be distracting. And when Mr. Orand goes for an opulent climax, it's easily on par with the best of what Ultimae offered at the time. The only real drawback to Human is the lack of anything immediately earwormy, perhaps doing more than what the brain can firmly latch onto long-term. Still, a nifty ride of various sounds and sonic soup while it plays.

Various - Chilled Kutz II

(~): 2002

Track List:
1. Bill Laswell - Cybotron
2. Banco de Gaia - Alpha (Waves in My Brain)
3. Deep Forest - Sweet Lullaby (Natural Trance Mix)
4. Deep Forest & Enigma - Rain Song
5. Audio Science - 2.5 Orbits Later
6. Banco de Gaia - 887 (Darkside Return)
7. Psychick Warriors Ov Gaia - The Challenge (Part 1) / Linkage / The Tides (They Turn)


Straight up, Track 4 is a mislabel, a quirky relic of the dodgy MP3 downloading era. Come to think of it, I'm astounded my AudioGalaxy and WinMX days yielded so few of them. Or maybe it did, but upon realizing I didn't have the actual track I wanted, would delete them. Only had a couple gigabytes of harddrive space to hold MP3s, y'see, and couldn't be fussed with wrong tunes. Still, good luck finding out what Track 4 actually is. After all these years, I still haven't a clue, and it's not like y'all can hear it to maybe I.D. it for me. I guess the 'proper' thing to do would give it an I.D. - I.D. tag, but it feels nostalgic keeping it mislabelled as I found it. Besides, it kinda' does sound like what an early '90s collab' between Deep Forest and Enigma.

[EDIT: After I finished writing this, I noticed Last.fm had scrobbled the track as by Chorus Of Tribes. I checked the Discogs entry, and lo', there's comments re-iterating my tale above! I'm keeping the paragraph though, as I find it hilarious this mystery was so easily solved after all]

So Chilled Kutz II has half the tracks as the first, due to the fact the last two tracks run over twenty minutes apiece. They're also redundant to my music collection, 887 (Darkside Return) re-emerging with the 4-CD re-issue of Last Train To Lhasa. Honestly though, it's not a good extended take on the track, at least compared to what Toby accomplished with Kincajou. Only reason I got it was because I could, those extended versions quite rare indeed back in ye' olden days. PWoG CDs were also rather difficult to come by, so imagine my glee in finding such a long cut of theirs. It was only labelled as The Challenge, but is clearly the multi-part outing that opens Ov Biospheres And Sacred Grooves. Also, Bill Laswell's Cybotron (from Dub Chamber 3) is here, because I had more Laswell and figured a 'darker' chill-out compilation was a good fit for it.

What's left, then? A true rarity in Banco de Gaia's Alpha, a track off the tape album Freeform Flutes & Fading Tibetans that never saw resuscitation. Doubt it ever will either, as it liberally samples Louis Armstrong's What A Wonderful World; the rest reminds me of an overtly chipper version of The Orb's O.O.B.E. The Audio Science track is a nice little moody ambient outing befitting a lonesome journey among space dust and rocks. I really should track down their album some day, considering how much I hype the group.

Various - Chilled Kutz I

(~): 2002

Track List:
1. Noiseshaper - The Only Redeemer (Cottenbelly Remix)
2. Bob Marley - Them Belly Full (But We Hungry) (Bill Laswell Ambient Dub Mix)
3. Groove Corporation - Giocoso, Gioioso
4. Bliss - Dunia
5. Sven van Hees - Jupiter's Quest
6. Sven van Hees - Tsunami (Inside My Soul)
7. Groove Corporation - Liberation Dub
8. Groove Corporation - Dub 3000
9. Sven van Hees - Gregorian Lust
10. Bob Marley - No Woman No Cry (Bill Laswell Ambient Dub Mix)
11. Bob Marley - Burnin' & Lootin' (Bill Laswell Ambient Dub Mix)
12. Kenji Kawai - Unnatural City
13. Sven van Hees - Breakfast With Abductees
14. Groove Corporation - A Voyage On The Marie Celestie
15. Rhythm & Sound - No Partial


Of course I'd make my own 'chill-out' series. Heck, it's surprising I didn't make more than four volumes, though I certainly could have. Truth is, most of the ambient techno, Ibizan downtempo, and ambient drone I had raided from AudioGalaxy were artist discographies, the bulk of which appeared on separate, exclusive discs. Almost all of those are long gone now, oxidized and covered with dust, made wholly redundant when I was able to actually buy the original albums that my younger, P2P-sharing ass pilfered from.

So it goes with this one as well. Groove Corporation? Got 'em. Those Dreams Of Freedom remixes? Have it. Even that one, lone Kenji composition, which totally throws the dubby Balearic vibe of this disc off? Yep, even found the Patlabor 2 soundtrack for that. What does that even leave me for the debut Chilled Kutz I?

Well, there's a lot of Sven van Hees, at least. I honestly can't remember how I fell into his stuff, another one of those mini AudioGalaxy raids that turned out a nifty amount of tunes. Though he started out in that R & S Records brand of trancey techno, he eventually migrated over to a Balearic chill vibe that was remarkably dubby as well. There's something about his music that perfectly captures the feeling of relaxing on Mediterranean shores, fancy drink in hand, contemplating existence. Dude's remained active to this day too. I should probably get some of his albums proper-like.

That leaves a couple outliers, most likely nabbed after a Muzik Magazine recommendation. Dunia from Bliss is more of a world beat thing, though remarkably smooth and graceful, almost befitting an aerial vista score. Is the rest of Bliss like this? *checks the Afterlife album* Well by jove. Maybe I'll scope out more from them as well. The Rhythm & Sound track is Basic Channel inching closer towards reggae dub, probably as near to the edge as their techno background would allow. Makes for a solid closer. Bassline gets my head-bobble on.

And there's nothing more I can say about this burned CD that I haven't elsewhere. But don't fret, folks, I've more interesting things to come in the following volumes of Chilled Kutz!

ACE TRACKS:
Bliss - Dunia
Sven van Hees - Jupiter's Quest
Groove Corporation - Dub 3000

Loop Guru - Catalogue Of Desires

North South/Hypnotic: 1996/1999

It took me damn near a decade, but I finally got another Loop Guru album! Not that the group is some ultra-obscure, super-underground, impossibly niche act with a music catalogue rarer than cerium, but they haven't much luck in North American distribution either. For whatever reason, Waveform Records only brought over Duniya, while alt rock and industrial print World Domination Recordings handled Amrita. Not exactly the most compatible fusion of genres there, though considering alt rock label Mammoth Records distributed Banco de Gaia's early albums here, maybe that's just how things rolled for world beaters in the States.

By the end of the '90s, however, World Domination had folded, so Loop Guru turned to “release whatever we can get our hands on” print Hypnotic for State-side handling of their album The Fountains Of Paradise. Guess that has them rubbing shoulders with 808 State, System 7, and FSOL in that department. The label also re-issued Catalogue Of Desires Vol 3, an album a few years old by that point, and had seen limited distribution by World Domination prior. Swell beans for those who may have missed it the first time around, which is about the only reason I can see for this one getting a re-issue, as I doubt anyone but fans of Loop Guru would be interested in this record.

Don't get me wrong, it's certainly an interesting outing from the group. Though quite adept at uptempo tunes, Loop Guru truly gained their rep with long-form, meditative, ambient dub jams, so it's only natural they'd take the concept to LP length. The Catalogue Of Desires series was their outlet for exploring such sonic roads, the first two originally only available on tape (they've recently been uploaded to Bandcamp). Vol. 3 was the first to try making some hay from these excursions with CD roll-outs, but since that'd be too confusing for Americans, Hypnotic just called this one Catalogue Of Desires.

Twenty tracks in total make up this album, but calling them all 'tracks' is being generous, several minute-long interludes breaking things up between the groovier centrepieces. Even then, many longer tracks are mostly ambient outings with manipulated orchestral sections or sampled Far East music. Long stretches will pass by where you'll either feel lost in a deep trance, or spinning wheels. I'm naturally more of the former, making Catalogue Of Desires a bit of a challenge to indulge a full listen without completely zoning out. Fortunately, proper world beat tracks like Catalyst, Almost, Susleone, and Out Of The Dark Room do a good job knocking you out of such a doze.

In some ways, Catalogue Of Desires reminds me of FSOL's many Environments albums. There's the loose, free-form music making, multiple tracks of wildly varying length, and psychedelic tongue-in-cheek titles (After Dark With The Reef Tones, Nature Of The Whole, The Pear-Tree Illusion). Obviously, Loop Guru are rougher around the edges on the production department, but still, conceptually kindred spirits with latter-day FSOL just the same.

The Future Sound Of London - Cascade

Virgin/Astralwerks: 1993/1996

I do wonder, just how much of a shock this EP was when it dropped. The lads behind Stakker Humanoid and Papua New Guinea going full sample-heavy world beat? Why we never! Yeah, yeah, calling Cascade that is almost blasphemous in some quarters, but let's be real here: 1993 was peak world beat. You already had two juggernauts of that sound making bank across the globe (Enigma and Deep Forest), with many quarters of dance music raiding all manner of sample libraries and fusing them with club rhythms. FSOL, who's omnipresent hit single was no less guilty in doing such, had to feel some pressure to move beyond the association. They had greater artistic aspirations than what rave culture was offering, so time to head back to the lab and start concocting something more evolved from their Earthbeat era (big advance money after signing with the mighty Virgin helped).

Which all seems academic from our lofty vantage point three decades on (holy COW!), but not so much in those short few years of the early '90s. Far as '93 folks knew, FSOL were crafting proper follow-ups to the warehouse techno stompers as heard on Accelerator, not conceptual art music. Oh, that Tales Of Ephidrina thing? Well, they used a different alias for it, Amorphous Androgynous, so clearly it's an album satisfying their expressionist outlet, not a sign of things to come with their most profitable pseudonym. Besides, Tales still had somewhat of a techno pulse, here and there. Nothing to suspect, oh no.

So Cascade drops, the glistening digital rendering of a neuron drawing you in. Glancing at the back cover, you notice something strange for a lead single: it's all in parts, as if one long musical piece. What, were there no remixes commissioned? Not at all, son, marking the start of FSOL handling their singles as nothing less than mini-albums in their own right, demands of clubbing culture be damned.

Still, listening through this EP, and comparing it to where they'd go with future singles, it's apparent Garry and Brian were still in a feeling-out process with this idea. Part 1 is the version most know of (if nothing else than for getting featured in the first Northern Exposure), while Part 2 is mostly the same, just in a slightly extended and dubbier version – so, the Extended Remix. Part 3 goes weirder, sounding like an extended take of sound effects and alien landforms. Why yes, they were already getting the Tangerine Dream comparisons, why do you ask?

Part 4 is where the idea of 'different paths' really takes hold, a harsher, grittier IDM tone prevalent as the base melodic elements contort around gnarly electro basslines. Part 5, meanwhile, edges closer back to the domain of regular techno, surprisingly almost vintage Detroit in execution. Jettisoning most of the 'world beaty' elements (woodwinds, ethnic drumming, etc.), there's still sonic weirdness going on along with sci-fi synths, and man, gotta' love the ol' tikkity-tik-tik drum programming there too.

Carbon Based Lifeforms - The Path

Blood Music: 1998/2018

I'd heard whispers of music out of the Carbon Based Lifeforms camp that existed before they landed on Ultimae Records, but never felt much need to explore for it. I figured these early productions were simply lost artifacts of a duo still finding their feet, any choice material from those sessions eventually called into service on later albums. I had no idea their start reached all the way back into the tracker scene, from which evolved into acid techno as Notch. Along with Mikael Lindqvist, they released a couple albums of such on MP3.com, but they had aspirations for something grander, the sort of genre-bending, music-fusing, epic LP that might be said in the same breath as such classics like Lifeforms, U.F.Orb, Chill Out, 76:14, and whatever other under-heralded records you wish to throw in there (more love for Journey To The Sun, yo'!).

Okay, I'm overselling the story some, but compared to what the trio was doing prior, The Path does come off almost over-ambitious, full of ideas and influences but not quite able to pull it off. It's certainly fine for a debut from artists getting their feet wet, but compared to where Misters Segerstad and Hedberg went in the following decade, comes off strangely dated too. Still, even with Carbon Based Lifeforms and Sync24 their focus, The Path floated about the digital domain for those who were interested in hearing it, where it remained for two decades. Like, no way Ultimae would re-issue it into a spiffy CD. That Blood Music though... (Blood Music!!)

After a three-track intro that, honestly, should have been left on the cutting floor (those tracker roots really showing there), things kick off proper on Rise To Tomorrow, a moody little number of graceful pads, subtle vocal samples, dubby rhythms, burbling acid, wormy synths, and didgeridoo. Getting some serious Planet Dog vibes off it. Same with Sinful Things and Or Plan B. Meanwhile, Machinery and Submerged feel more in line with vintage Fax+, Dreamshore Forest goes pure dreamtime ambient, while Contaminated Area and Last Breath... Um, well, like I said, still figuring things out on the production front.

As for any musical hints of future CBL tunes, you can't hear Station Blue without immediately thinking their breakout MOS 6581. The subtle bassline, dubby beats, and distant samples are of the same genetic backbone, just not really explored much further. Station Blue is like a simpler, evolutionary step to the heights that MOS 6581 would soar to.

Which kinda' sums up The Path, to be honest. In a vacuum, it holds up pretty good as a lost artifact of '90s psy-chill, but can't hold a candle to CBL's future works. I'm glad Blood Music finally gave this a proper CD release, as there are a few gems that deserved unearthing. Just don't go into it expecting Ultimae levels of production. I don't think even Aes Dana's immaculate mixdowns could have rescued some of those piano tones.

Deep Forest - Boheme (2021 Update)

Epic: 1995

(Click here to read my original TranceCritic review)

Somehow, this album keeps aging like the best wines. I have no idea how or why it gets better as I get older. Is it because there's ever greater distance from my initial disappointment in hearing it the first time, so unlike their self-titled debut? Or maybe I've grown more appreciative of how much of a musical gamble Boheme truly was, especially in light of the sort of music Deep Forest would go on to make in the future.

Like, it could have been so very easy of Sanchez and Mouquet to retread 'ethno-dance'. They still had an ear for the clubs in the mid-'90s, and if you doubt it, I simply point you towards their rub on Apollo 440's Liquid Cool as proof-positive. And if that still isn't enough, I give you the Peter Gabriel collaboration While The Earth Sleeps, made for the movie Strange Days, but added as a bonus to later versions of Boheme. It makes the fumble of Bohemian Ballet on here ever the more confounding, though I like Cafe Europa a little more than before. I attribute that to hearing it as performed in a symphonic nature, on the recently released Deep Symphonic. Oh yes, even Deep Forest (now just Mouquet) gave their old tracks the symphonic treatment. Considering how many producers and DJs in clubland have done so, it's surprising it took this long for Deep Forest to also get in on that. Then again, much of their post-2000 work involved multiple instruments, so it was a natural evolution to re-interpret the sample-heavy material as though performed by full symphonies.

Speaking of, can you guess what else Deep Forest got up to, after the split? No, go on, guess! You'll never believe it. Wait, you guessed dubstep? How did...? Oh, you peaked, didn't you.

But yes, once Mouquet took the name for himself, he started a series of country-specific Deep... albums. The first, Deep Brasil, sounded about what you'd expect from a Deep Forest project specifically focused on the South American country. Half a decade passed, then Deep India and Deep Africa dropped, and I don't know what crawled into Mouquet's brain, but boy-howdy must he have been influenced by the festival psy-dub scene in that time. For sure there's still 'traditional' world beat and ethno-ambient in them, but those half-step rhythms and mid-range bass noises too. Was he trying to get hep' to the youth? Just found those sounds too irresistible to not dabble in? It absolutely boggles my mind that Deep Forest - DEEP FOREST - would go dubstep. And even more damning, I... kinda' like it? What on Earth is happening!? Oh, he's been hanging out with Gaudi. Yeah, I'd trust him in guiding the way with basslines.

Anyhow, Boheme. I think what keeps drawing me back here is the roller-coaster of emotions it wilfully takes you through. The dark, mysterious, and melancholic, followed by unabashed exhilaration and jubilation. For a tight forty minutes, that's a journey worth taking.

Ott - Blumenkraft

Twisted Records/Ottsonic Music: 2003/2012

I've mentioned before how this album was a no-brainer as a pick-up. A psy-dub debut album from one of the major players and formulators of that genre? How could this be anything less than great? Oh, there's ways, but fortunately for us, Blumenkraft doesn't go down that road. Really, its only sin is that it came out when the genre was still relatively young, and hadn't showed us its full potential yet. Yes, I'm legitimately calling Ott's debut rather basic, but only because his follow-up Skylon was such a massive leap forward in his songcraft abilities.

Make no mistake, Blumenkraft is still a solidly produced album, possibly among the best psy—leaning items released that year that didn't carry an Ultimae tag. There's much heavier focus on reggae-dub rhythms and world beat tropes though, more than newcomers to the Ott discography may expect. That's not really a fault, just a matter of fact when it comes to this music at the time. All was in transition, the Shpongle influences on the verge of spawning off copy-cats that would follow in the ensuing decade, but not so much that it was unmistakably everywhere. Yet, given his prominent role in many of Simon Posford's projects to this point, you'd understandably think an Ott album would be just as culpable of this too.

Perhaps that's why Blumenkraft is so rhythm-heavy, with less of the wordly sounds and psychedelic samples as found in Ott's earlier collaborative projects. He felt the need to distinguish himself from the Shpongle stuff brimming with instruments and melodies. Or maybe it just seems that way in hindsight, what with his future albums brimming with instruments and melodies as well. This isn't to say Blemenkraft lacks in such things, they just aren't so prominent. Whenever some organ, flute, or melodica solo joins in the fun, they don't leap out from the mixdown, the jaunty drums or frenetic jembe action with trippy effects stealing the spotlight.

Really, the few times Blumenkraft sounds like the future Ott is when he gets some vocal action going. At nearly thirteen minutes in length, opener Jack's Cheese And Bread Snack has plenty of time to indulge spoken word passages with chants and sitars, but third track Splitting An Atom really gets in on that bouncy bhangra beat. It's just a shame we don't get any more of that until final track Smoked Glass And Chrome, a wonderfully opulent tune with a blinder of a vocal that could fit snugly in any portion of Skylon. It almost puts the rest of Blumenkraft to shame, leaving me wondering why the rest of the record couldn't have been to this standard?

I get building to a big crescendo and all, but surely something just as brash and bold lodged mid-album would have truly sent Ott's debut into classic status. Instead, Blumenkraft is simply remembered fondly for its time, a strong opening statement from a producer who would go onto bigger and better things down the road.

Eastern Dub Tactik - Blood Is Shining (Original TC Review)

Waveform Records: 2001

(2021 Update:
I feel like a right idiot-jerk reading this back now, in that I inexplicably and completely neglected mentioning any Indian influence here. I have no idea why. Was I so utterly berift of cultural exposure that I couldn't recognize any? I mean, the Middle East certainly was more prominent on everyone's minds in the mid-'00s, but c'mon, man. I even made a tacky joke about it right in the brief!

This album still bumps mighty good though. I never fail getting hype hearing all these big-ass beats and ear-wormy hooks again, even after over-playing it something stupid way back when. Oh yes, this was another one of those CDs I was carrying a torch for, often whenever local festival goers would go on about some local hero. They'd be all like, "Isn't Bassnectar the greatest thing ever?" And I'd be like, "He's okay, but he doesn't play anything as dynamic as what's on here!" And they'd be like, "What? Who are you? I was talking to my friends over here?" And I'd be like "......." Good times.)


IN BRIEF: Funky fresh bloopity bloop, Allah.

Uh oh. Middle Eastern themes? A name with the word ‘dub’ in it? A promo spiel using adjectives like ‘worldly’ and ‘exotic’? Could this possibly be yet another unnecessary ‘world beat’ album consisting of noodly downtempo collages of Western and Eastern styles, where it’s blatantly apparent one or the other is in total control? Hardly.

Rather, producer Aaron Dysart has taken elements of East and West, and fused them together so his music wouldn’t sound out of place in either locale. Eastern Dub Tactik is as smooth a blend of funk rhythms, Arab harmonies, dubby psychedelia, and slummy street attitude as I’ve ever heard.

The reason for Dysart’s success is in his music’s simplicity. He doesn’t get bogged down in elaborate atmospherics or complicated arrangements. Tracks get down to business in short time, delivering all the pieces early on and having fun with them for the duration. And while some producers may overindulge embellishing their tracks’ components for tedious lengths (hi, Laswell!), Dysart keeps things concise and to the point, rarely letting a track go on for more than necessary. This does create a slight problem though. Because of their simplicity, tracks come and go without the kind of engagement reserved for intuitive songwriting; they come across as fun diversions but little else.

Such a release will often warrant a three star rating from me but you’ve probably noticed that extra half-star there by now (don’t lie; I know a bunch of you skip to the bottom first). So what, you ask, warrants that above above-average rating? Simply put, sheer diversity.

Even despite the similar themes and arrangements, no two tracks sound alike on here. Each cut has Dysart trying something different and aside from the plodding Day Of Despair and uneventful Asra, his works continuously surprise. And, whoo... are they ever catchy to boot. With their short running times and quick loops, breaks and hooks easily get lodged into your noggin.

The opening chunk of Blood Is Shining sees Dysart’s fusion at its most, shall we say, united; everything blends together so no influence overwhelms the other. The sounds of plinky organs, funky guitar licks, sitar strums, whispery woodwinds, and Arab vocals flow so smoothly, you’d think they’d all been a match since their cultural beginnings. Throw in a few turntable tricks and chunky beats with serious horsepower, and you can’t help but groove along.

Ah yes. Those beats. I’m not sure how much overdubbing Dysart did for them, but they pack a thick punch. Most of his breaks are time-worn from funk’s forefathers, so they’ll be quite familiar to anyone who enjoys hip or trip hop. They certainly are brisker than those styles though, and carry enough bass to piss off the neighbors. And even here Dysart melds cultures, gleefully allowing Indian drums to jam alongside the funk bands in overdrive. The rhythm heavy tracks - street-savvy Cultural Wisdom, the stompingly fun Brothers & Sisters, and screwy time-signatured Wicked Style - are irresistibly fun, and will light any dancefloor up. Well, maybe not Wicked Style as much, since it’s break isn’t quite as accommodating to folks weaned on standard rhythms; those funky organ licks will definitely have you trying though.

A few downtempo tracks help add to this album’s diversity as well. The aforementioned Asra doesn’t do much of note, but Like This, soaked in psychedelia, is a welcome dubby interlude. Meanwhile, closer Five ‘N’ Dub’s ominous atmosphere mixes nicely with chunky, clumping beats.

The odd-man out on Blood Is Shining is Eastern Winds, where Dysart allows the Eastern influences to totally dominate. Even the rhythms follow an Arabian pattern rather than the funky ones heard throughout. Fair game, I say, as it adds some vintage spice to the proceedings.

I suppose I should also mention the political content of this release. Actually, I was pleasantly surprised to hear it kept to a minimum: a couple sampled quotes looped at points, but no more. Dysart’s liner notes don’t dwell on the ills of society either, merely paying respect to those who’ve done what they could to change it. In this age of acts sacrificing musical content for sloganeering, it’s nice to hear less of it in tracks that Zack de la Rocha wouldn’t sound too out of place on. Then again, this was released in 2001, a year when music and politics weren’t quite so chummy as they are now.

Yes, this is an older release and, truthfully, there isn’t anything on here that makes it a necessary grab, fans of dubby breaks or otherwise. Even the melding of East and West, though exceptionally done, isn’t revolutionary. But regardless of these facts, should you decide to commit debit to disc, Blood Is Shining makes a worthwhile diversion from stressful days.

Written by Sykonee for TranceCritic.com, 2006. © All rights reserved.