Cryo Chamber: 2018
I won't deny having some favouritism towards icy-cool looking cover art, but it's generally spread out among my other albums so it doesn't become a running theme. This is the third album out of the last four to go wintry though, enough that I'm sure some folks are wondering if something more than biased interest is going on. Heck, it could have been the fourth, but I held off on grabbing Ensiferum's From Afar – have enough Viking metal for now, thanks.
It wouldn't be so bad if we were going through a typical summer, with the heat and the drought and the forest fires and all. Some parts of North America are getting that as usual, yeah, but not in my neck of the rain forests. It's been comically dark and grey these past couple months, some of the wettest on record, with humidity you can practically swim in. Not that I want a return to the years of beige lawns and a constant layer of acrid haze in the air, but nor this far extreme the other way. Just enough that listening to a whole pile of CDs with frozen landscapes as the cover art is a soothing escape, not a reminder of miserable weather.
Actually, even in those ideal conditions, I'd hardly call Ice Breath Of Antarctica a 'soothing escape'. In traditional Ugasanie manner, we're taken to a realm of utter desolation, where no sane human being should wish to tread. In theory at least, but the south polar region has its share of tourists eagre to see penguins and southern elephant seals and... um, other fauna local to the ice caps while they last. Only during the summer months though. And preferably when there's ideal weather. While in the company of others, so as not to get lost roaming about. Pretty much the exact opposite of the conditions Ugasanie presents to us in this album, is what I'm getting at.
While Pavel has been Cryo Chamber's go-to guy for all things frozen over, his albums still typically have specific themes in mind. Explorations of abandoned Siberian science stations, the mental state of being overcome by the northern lights, and so on. No such 'journey' happens in Ice Breath Of Antarctica, unless you count being consumed in the absolute worst conditions you could possibly endure while venturing there. Second track Shores Of Antarctica is basically five minutes of bellowing winds whipping your face with freezing sleet before settling into the sort of empty, minimalist drone that's long been this label's breaded butter. You are alone in desolation, absolutely alone. Not even a stray penguin in sight.
The whole album basically plays out like that, unrelenting in consuming you within the polar continent's harsh climate. Some tracks feature sounds of being emersed within slow-moving ice, others offer a brief respite with quiet, reflective harmonies carried along the wind. Almost as if Ugasanie is asking, “well, what did you expect of the lands even The Thing couldn't survive in?”
Tuesday, August 25, 2020
Monday, August 24, 2020
Voyage - Genesis
Tech Itch Recordings: 2016
This is now the third album I have with Genesis as its title. Not the most ludicrous thing to occur, I admit; an amusing tidbit of info, nothing more. No, what makes this remarkable is the fact one of the other Genesis albums I have – care of dark ambient project Paleowolf – was released within the same month as this Genesis (December 2016). Does... does this happen often, in the world of music? I can't imagine so, even with generic titles like this one, but with so much being released all the time, the odds may be higher than anyone could imagine without studious cataloguing to confirm such statistical variances. Are there any chroniclers of Lord Discogs' tomes willing to find out? Like, what else you gonna' do during quarantine?
Forgive me for an opening paragraph that has nothing to do with the music on hand. Gotta' burn through self-imposed word count somehow when the artist leaves very little in the way of biographical info to wax the bull on. This is the fifteenth artist to take on Voyage as an alias (so sayeth Lord Discogs), with no details of who the man behind the moniker is, not even a name. Cool picture though.
Maybe it's a jolly ol' throwback to the days when d'n'b artists were all about that anonymous cred', hiding behind mysterious pseudonyms so only their music stands tall and proud. I mean, if you're gonna' make darkstep jungle that sounds as fresh as it did in the late '90s, may as well go whole hog with it. And no, that isn't a diss or a criticism. I went into Tech Itch Recordings expecting to hear tuneage in line with Technical Itch's classic menacing style, and by jove does Voyage ever deliver on that front.
Like, right off the bat. Some creepy, spacey sounds and simple tech-step rhythms warm you up in Extraterestrial, soon unleashing vicious Amen break business. Holy cow, this is just track one, and this dude's already cranked the intensity to such a threshold, it's bordering on breakcore. Follow-up track Control Blade doesn't let up, with many more coming after. Not all at once though, oh no. Voyage still finds room for some stripped-down tech-step roughness (Coma, Synchronic, Backpropagation, Immune System) and even a little stab at microfunk with GEO600 and Modified? I mean, if you want to call it that – it certainly sounds like 'minimal tech-step', so why not? Oh, and there's a hilarious attempt at injecting what I can only describe as squawking funk guitar in Dangerous Idea. Title's definitely apt there, but hey, points for trying, and the Amen bedlam elsewhere in the track is mint anyway.
But yeah, more vintage darkstep follows, and tickle me pink with how much I enjoyed Genesis. As with so many classic d'n'b genres, there's little sense in messing with what worked in the past. If Voyage is representative of the up-and-comers being featured on Tech Itch Recordings, then darkstep's future looks solid indeed.
This is now the third album I have with Genesis as its title. Not the most ludicrous thing to occur, I admit; an amusing tidbit of info, nothing more. No, what makes this remarkable is the fact one of the other Genesis albums I have – care of dark ambient project Paleowolf – was released within the same month as this Genesis (December 2016). Does... does this happen often, in the world of music? I can't imagine so, even with generic titles like this one, but with so much being released all the time, the odds may be higher than anyone could imagine without studious cataloguing to confirm such statistical variances. Are there any chroniclers of Lord Discogs' tomes willing to find out? Like, what else you gonna' do during quarantine?
Forgive me for an opening paragraph that has nothing to do with the music on hand. Gotta' burn through self-imposed word count somehow when the artist leaves very little in the way of biographical info to wax the bull on. This is the fifteenth artist to take on Voyage as an alias (so sayeth Lord Discogs), with no details of who the man behind the moniker is, not even a name. Cool picture though.
Maybe it's a jolly ol' throwback to the days when d'n'b artists were all about that anonymous cred', hiding behind mysterious pseudonyms so only their music stands tall and proud. I mean, if you're gonna' make darkstep jungle that sounds as fresh as it did in the late '90s, may as well go whole hog with it. And no, that isn't a diss or a criticism. I went into Tech Itch Recordings expecting to hear tuneage in line with Technical Itch's classic menacing style, and by jove does Voyage ever deliver on that front.
Like, right off the bat. Some creepy, spacey sounds and simple tech-step rhythms warm you up in Extraterestrial, soon unleashing vicious Amen break business. Holy cow, this is just track one, and this dude's already cranked the intensity to such a threshold, it's bordering on breakcore. Follow-up track Control Blade doesn't let up, with many more coming after. Not all at once though, oh no. Voyage still finds room for some stripped-down tech-step roughness (Coma, Synchronic, Backpropagation, Immune System) and even a little stab at microfunk with GEO600 and Modified? I mean, if you want to call it that – it certainly sounds like 'minimal tech-step', so why not? Oh, and there's a hilarious attempt at injecting what I can only describe as squawking funk guitar in Dangerous Idea. Title's definitely apt there, but hey, points for trying, and the Amen bedlam elsewhere in the track is mint anyway.
But yeah, more vintage darkstep follows, and tickle me pink with how much I enjoyed Genesis. As with so many classic d'n'b genres, there's little sense in messing with what worked in the past. If Voyage is representative of the up-and-comers being featured on Tech Itch Recordings, then darkstep's future looks solid indeed.
Sunday, August 23, 2020
Lowfish - Frozen & Broken
Noise Factory Records: 2008
So I went on a Suction Records mini-splurge. We have that Tangent 2002: Disco Nouveau compilation to thank for that, reinvigorating my interest in their associated artists. Turns out a couple of them, Solvent and Lowfish, had their own label going, though essentially folded by 2007. They went in different directions for a while, realized that wasn't doing much for them, so dusted off the print for a relaunch. Over a decade later and Suction Records is still going... I don't want to say 'strong', as its mostly just a half-dozen acts releasing material every couple years. They're consistent though, with enough albums available that a mini-splurge on their Bandcamp isn't difficult.
What's funny is this particular album I got from Lowfish wasn't even released on Suction Records, despite currently being available through them. Nay, this record came out on Noise Factory Records, one of the prints Mr. de Rocher went with during Suction's time in abeyance. Frozen & Broken was the last release on Noise Factory, which I'm sure helped convince Lowfish to get the old Suction team back together with Solvent.
Right, what exactly is the deal with Lowfish, then? I honestly know very little about him (especially since Lord Discogs is scant on details), having only come across his music twice in the wilderness. The second was Tangent 2002, but the first on Turbo Studio Sessions Vol. 3, featured among such 'electroclash' stars like Tiga, Chromeo, LCD Soundsystem, and Scissor Sisters. Yeah, yeah, I know, none of them are 'electroclash', but that was the thing at the time, and they all got lumped into it as that thing together, including Lowfish. He dates further back than that though, releasing vaguely electro tracks with an IDM bent. Think early Warp Records, with a heavier emphasis on Detroit lineage. After time, his tunes started going more pure electro and synth-poppy (thanks, 'electroclash'!), while never losing that pure fetishism with robotik muzik.
The album opens with Things Fall Apart, and it's the tasty electro I was expecting going in, then the titular follow-up comes on, and I'm struck by how steady this beat is. And this happens in a couple more tracks throughout (Lies, Claustrophobe) which got me wondering, gosh, what genre is this? You might think techno, but they're kinda' bouncy, bumpin', reminding me of when Vector Lovers would get his proper groove on. It's like, electro, and house, at the same time. What, electro house? No, it can't be that, whatever that was tagged 'electro house' in 2008 something vastly different than what this sounds like, this real merging of electro and house. Ah, just call it tech-house and call it a day.
Anyhow, the rest of Frozen & Broken features plenty of stripped-back electro with mechanical broken-beats and moody futurism. A couple tracks even sound sentimental (Knives gets me such feels despite the aggro bassline deployed), but nothing that will throw you for a techno-loop. Lowfish's style remained retro and unfussy, which is just how electro purists prefer it.
So I went on a Suction Records mini-splurge. We have that Tangent 2002: Disco Nouveau compilation to thank for that, reinvigorating my interest in their associated artists. Turns out a couple of them, Solvent and Lowfish, had their own label going, though essentially folded by 2007. They went in different directions for a while, realized that wasn't doing much for them, so dusted off the print for a relaunch. Over a decade later and Suction Records is still going... I don't want to say 'strong', as its mostly just a half-dozen acts releasing material every couple years. They're consistent though, with enough albums available that a mini-splurge on their Bandcamp isn't difficult.
What's funny is this particular album I got from Lowfish wasn't even released on Suction Records, despite currently being available through them. Nay, this record came out on Noise Factory Records, one of the prints Mr. de Rocher went with during Suction's time in abeyance. Frozen & Broken was the last release on Noise Factory, which I'm sure helped convince Lowfish to get the old Suction team back together with Solvent.
Right, what exactly is the deal with Lowfish, then? I honestly know very little about him (especially since Lord Discogs is scant on details), having only come across his music twice in the wilderness. The second was Tangent 2002, but the first on Turbo Studio Sessions Vol. 3, featured among such 'electroclash' stars like Tiga, Chromeo, LCD Soundsystem, and Scissor Sisters. Yeah, yeah, I know, none of them are 'electroclash', but that was the thing at the time, and they all got lumped into it as that thing together, including Lowfish. He dates further back than that though, releasing vaguely electro tracks with an IDM bent. Think early Warp Records, with a heavier emphasis on Detroit lineage. After time, his tunes started going more pure electro and synth-poppy (thanks, 'electroclash'!), while never losing that pure fetishism with robotik muzik.
The album opens with Things Fall Apart, and it's the tasty electro I was expecting going in, then the titular follow-up comes on, and I'm struck by how steady this beat is. And this happens in a couple more tracks throughout (Lies, Claustrophobe) which got me wondering, gosh, what genre is this? You might think techno, but they're kinda' bouncy, bumpin', reminding me of when Vector Lovers would get his proper groove on. It's like, electro, and house, at the same time. What, electro house? No, it can't be that, whatever that was tagged 'electro house' in 2008 something vastly different than what this sounds like, this real merging of electro and house. Ah, just call it tech-house and call it a day.
Anyhow, the rest of Frozen & Broken features plenty of stripped-back electro with mechanical broken-beats and moody futurism. A couple tracks even sound sentimental (Knives gets me such feels despite the aggro bassline deployed), but nothing that will throw you for a techno-loop. Lowfish's style remained retro and unfussy, which is just how electro purists prefer it.
Saturday, August 22, 2020
Part-Sub-Merged - Four Forests
fsoldigital.com: 2007
Going direct to The Future Sound Of London's website to buy their music is good and all, but what's better are the few items from other artists along with the endless side-projects and alternate aliases. Daniel Pemberton, Neotropic, Ross Baker, and so on. What better way to discover someone new, especially if they come with a FSOL seal of approval! Who to choose, though, who to choose? As is so often the case, I went with my gut instinct, wherein my gut tells me to pick out an item with cover art that somehow resonates with me (often blue). Ah, this here wintry scene of barren trees partially obscured by a frost-encrusted glen fog. Reminds me of so many ambient dronescape releases I've dabbled in. 'Part-Sub-Merged'? Never heard of 'em before, so must be proper obscure. Sounds like a worthy candidate for a blind purchase, I reckon.
The project is obscure, yes, but not the producer behind it, for Part-Sub-Merged is none other than Brian Dougans. You may know him for his early seminal acid house work as Humanoid, or being one-half of psych-rockers Amorphous Androgynous (among other, incidental things). Not that I realized it when I bought it, the digital download offering little in the way of details. It's like, they expected the only folks who'd be interested in this would have already known that FSOL made a DVD movie, and this was the musical tie-in. I didn't though. I just saw an intriguing bit of cover-art in their digital shop, and went in cold-blind. Did make me curious of what this Four Forests film looked like.
Good luck finding that. The DVD was only available through the glitch.tv website, a rather archaic domain of custom FSOL gear and whatnot. A few selected vids can be found on YouTube though, which gives a decent idea of what you're in for. Drives out to the country, wanderings about the forests, a bunch of trippy effects and layered images, all doing that abstract art thing FSOL have been known for since their earliest days. It's interesting enough if the group's visual aesthetic isn't a turnoff, in a Boards Of Canada sort of way.
And speaking of retro music making, the score for this little film is pure '70s weirdness and experimentation, with a touch of the modern production quality thrown in. I'm sure you could squeeze contemporary genre tags into some of these pieces - Slight Movement as trip-hop, Cark as... dub, I guess? Melody isn't high on Brain's mind with this though, most of these tracks short pieces of musique concrete effects most definitely better suited for visual accompaniment. Occasionally something resembling a trippy tune emerges – the creepy bleep of Second Glance, the twee mini-Moog melody of First Breath, the outright psychedelic ambience of Held - but these aren't the norm.
Nothing about Four Forests is normal though. For sure check it out if you're insatiably curious, but this remains one of FSOL's most obscure items, deservedly so.
Going direct to The Future Sound Of London's website to buy their music is good and all, but what's better are the few items from other artists along with the endless side-projects and alternate aliases. Daniel Pemberton, Neotropic, Ross Baker, and so on. What better way to discover someone new, especially if they come with a FSOL seal of approval! Who to choose, though, who to choose? As is so often the case, I went with my gut instinct, wherein my gut tells me to pick out an item with cover art that somehow resonates with me (often blue). Ah, this here wintry scene of barren trees partially obscured by a frost-encrusted glen fog. Reminds me of so many ambient dronescape releases I've dabbled in. 'Part-Sub-Merged'? Never heard of 'em before, so must be proper obscure. Sounds like a worthy candidate for a blind purchase, I reckon.
The project is obscure, yes, but not the producer behind it, for Part-Sub-Merged is none other than Brian Dougans. You may know him for his early seminal acid house work as Humanoid, or being one-half of psych-rockers Amorphous Androgynous (among other, incidental things). Not that I realized it when I bought it, the digital download offering little in the way of details. It's like, they expected the only folks who'd be interested in this would have already known that FSOL made a DVD movie, and this was the musical tie-in. I didn't though. I just saw an intriguing bit of cover-art in their digital shop, and went in cold-blind. Did make me curious of what this Four Forests film looked like.
Good luck finding that. The DVD was only available through the glitch.tv website, a rather archaic domain of custom FSOL gear and whatnot. A few selected vids can be found on YouTube though, which gives a decent idea of what you're in for. Drives out to the country, wanderings about the forests, a bunch of trippy effects and layered images, all doing that abstract art thing FSOL have been known for since their earliest days. It's interesting enough if the group's visual aesthetic isn't a turnoff, in a Boards Of Canada sort of way.
And speaking of retro music making, the score for this little film is pure '70s weirdness and experimentation, with a touch of the modern production quality thrown in. I'm sure you could squeeze contemporary genre tags into some of these pieces - Slight Movement as trip-hop, Cark as... dub, I guess? Melody isn't high on Brain's mind with this though, most of these tracks short pieces of musique concrete effects most definitely better suited for visual accompaniment. Occasionally something resembling a trippy tune emerges – the creepy bleep of Second Glance, the twee mini-Moog melody of First Breath, the outright psychedelic ambience of Held - but these aren't the norm.
Nothing about Four Forests is normal though. For sure check it out if you're insatiably curious, but this remains one of FSOL's most obscure items, deservedly so.
Friday, August 21, 2020
Lars Leonhard - Erstwhile
self-release: 2016
I didn't think I'd get the chance to stress test my Leonhard Science so soon. Okay, I did – it's not like my listening/reviewing order just springs up out of nothing. For sure there would be more Lars music coming (because of the big-huge amount I got sent), but somehow I mentally blocked Erstwhile in the queue. It's like, being so razor-focused (and excited!) to cover stuff like coldwave, ancient Fax+, and Viking metal made me forget what would follow. To say nothing of what's in store after this. Plus, having done the double-dip of Dark Tales From The Woods and Deep Venture, you'd forgive me for not being quite so enthused about another Lars record so soon. I may have proved there were differences between his albums if you played them back-to-back, but I needn't a third to prove it further, do I?
Even then, I had something thematically tangible to work with. Dark Tales was quite explicit in its theme compared to Deep Venture, whereas the latter was general enough you could imagine it soundtracking either underwater exploration or solar ultra-vids. Erstwhile, however, seems to be about music existing for its own sake. Perhaps a general mood of tranquility and reflection, but nothing so definitive as many of Lars' other works. In fact, this may have been the first time Mr. Leonhard ever went so abstract, so that's at least one talking point in Erstwhile's favour. Just not one that lets me wax the bull for a given amount of self-imposed word count, especially in a music scene filled with deliberate wallpaper songcraft.
Not to turn this 'review' into another reflection on the so-called struggles of writing about music, but there isn't much here to go into depth with. I've reviewed eight of his albums up to now, so folks should be well-versed in his downtempo dub techno style, and Erstwhile doesn't do much to shake his formula up. The opening portions of the album stick to the slower tempos, with a couple steady-beat offerings towards the end (Pillow is basically prog at its BPM). A requisite piano indulgence with chirpy birds and other quaint field recordings leads us out in Freedom, properly selling you on the whole 'tranquil music for tranquil times' theme, even if the bulk of Erstwhile still features Lars' more techno take on downtempo dub.
And yes, when stacked against the other two Lars albums I've reviewed this month (!!), this one does stand out as distinct from them. It may not be so thematically concrete as Dark Tales and Deep Venture, but an album of music simply being present for reflective times remains one to hang onto. Like, how many lonesome piano pieces of been created for that very reason? Still, I won't deny being far more enthralled by Lars' muse when he's taking on specific ideas. Like night trains, or the sun, or deep forests, or stars, or... um, space, and, uh, cosmic dust... Dude's got quite a fixation on space, 'kay?
I didn't think I'd get the chance to stress test my Leonhard Science so soon. Okay, I did – it's not like my listening/reviewing order just springs up out of nothing. For sure there would be more Lars music coming (because of the big-huge amount I got sent), but somehow I mentally blocked Erstwhile in the queue. It's like, being so razor-focused (and excited!) to cover stuff like coldwave, ancient Fax+, and Viking metal made me forget what would follow. To say nothing of what's in store after this. Plus, having done the double-dip of Dark Tales From The Woods and Deep Venture, you'd forgive me for not being quite so enthused about another Lars record so soon. I may have proved there were differences between his albums if you played them back-to-back, but I needn't a third to prove it further, do I?
Even then, I had something thematically tangible to work with. Dark Tales was quite explicit in its theme compared to Deep Venture, whereas the latter was general enough you could imagine it soundtracking either underwater exploration or solar ultra-vids. Erstwhile, however, seems to be about music existing for its own sake. Perhaps a general mood of tranquility and reflection, but nothing so definitive as many of Lars' other works. In fact, this may have been the first time Mr. Leonhard ever went so abstract, so that's at least one talking point in Erstwhile's favour. Just not one that lets me wax the bull for a given amount of self-imposed word count, especially in a music scene filled with deliberate wallpaper songcraft.
Not to turn this 'review' into another reflection on the so-called struggles of writing about music, but there isn't much here to go into depth with. I've reviewed eight of his albums up to now, so folks should be well-versed in his downtempo dub techno style, and Erstwhile doesn't do much to shake his formula up. The opening portions of the album stick to the slower tempos, with a couple steady-beat offerings towards the end (Pillow is basically prog at its BPM). A requisite piano indulgence with chirpy birds and other quaint field recordings leads us out in Freedom, properly selling you on the whole 'tranquil music for tranquil times' theme, even if the bulk of Erstwhile still features Lars' more techno take on downtempo dub.
And yes, when stacked against the other two Lars albums I've reviewed this month (!!), this one does stand out as distinct from them. It may not be so thematically concrete as Dark Tales and Deep Venture, but an album of music simply being present for reflective times remains one to hang onto. Like, how many lonesome piano pieces of been created for that very reason? Still, I won't deny being far more enthralled by Lars' muse when he's taking on specific ideas. Like night trains, or the sun, or deep forests, or stars, or... um, space, and, uh, cosmic dust... Dude's got quite a fixation on space, 'kay?
Wednesday, August 19, 2020
Ensiferum - Ensiferum
Spinefarm Records/Fontana: 2001/2008
We all knew this was coming, eh? It's all Blood Music's fault (Blood Music!!). While browsing the label's website for synthwave and CBL, I noticed many striking pictures of Vikings, and couldn't help but wonder what the music within sounded like. When I heard some, a quickly realized I had to hear more, more, MOAR!! Okay, not that much more, but enough for an exploratory dig based on reviews found on Sputnik Music. How novel.
Why Viking metal? I'm not really sure, to be honest. Absolutely there's a romanticism surrounding the peoples of Scandinavia, those who ventured far into lands and waters no sane human dared go. Plus, all that rich lore in their pantheon of pagan Gods, ripe for retelling and such. They also were kinda' massive pricks to their European neighbours, but eh, so was everyone else to everyone else in those times. Basically, my scant metal music indulgences typically go for the escapist, and Viking metal is definitely that, while grounded in some semblance of historical fact. This is my excuse for taking Viking metal somewhat seriously, while still snickering over things like fantasy metal.
Ensiferum was the band that got my attention, so it's only appropriate (and alphabetically fortuitous!) that we're kicking this off with their debut, self-titled album. I had zero idea what to expect going in – maybe something harking back to '80s metal like Manowar? I hadn't counted on the evolution of thrash, power, and death metal having been so thoroughly ingrained in Northern Europe, that even the Viking stuff would be doing it. Just... holy cow, all those blast beats and shredding! Not to mention raspy growl of lead singer Jari Mäenpää going on about folkish tales of Gods and men. At least, that's what the liner notes tell me, as I can barely understand him most of the time, his voice often buried under the aggressive layers of guitars. Was this just how death metal was mastered at the turn of the century?
But yeah, after an acoustic folk ditty for an intro (played on a Finnish instrument called a kantele), it's just go-go-GO after, a relentless assault of guitars, drums, epic power chords, operatic choir choruses, and it's glorious! Okay, maybe a bit on the corny side too, but only if you don't buy into the whole vibe, and Ensiferum, they win you over immediately. Just as you're acclimatizing to the ridiculous speed of their music, in comes one of those choruses celebrating honour and adventure and all that good stuff. Some songs go a little slower (Token Of Time, Treacherous Gods), others heavier (Old Man, Abandoned, Eternal Wait), including brief downturns back into acoustic folk. All is again overcome by d'at galloping metal though, right up to final song Goblin's Dance, more of a metal jig, complete with flute action. Judas Priest namedrop here.
So yeah, great first impression into this realm of Viking metal, but I didn't go on this journey for just one album's worth. Stay tuned...
We all knew this was coming, eh? It's all Blood Music's fault (Blood Music!!). While browsing the label's website for synthwave and CBL, I noticed many striking pictures of Vikings, and couldn't help but wonder what the music within sounded like. When I heard some, a quickly realized I had to hear more, more, MOAR!! Okay, not that much more, but enough for an exploratory dig based on reviews found on Sputnik Music. How novel.
Why Viking metal? I'm not really sure, to be honest. Absolutely there's a romanticism surrounding the peoples of Scandinavia, those who ventured far into lands and waters no sane human dared go. Plus, all that rich lore in their pantheon of pagan Gods, ripe for retelling and such. They also were kinda' massive pricks to their European neighbours, but eh, so was everyone else to everyone else in those times. Basically, my scant metal music indulgences typically go for the escapist, and Viking metal is definitely that, while grounded in some semblance of historical fact. This is my excuse for taking Viking metal somewhat seriously, while still snickering over things like fantasy metal.
Ensiferum was the band that got my attention, so it's only appropriate (and alphabetically fortuitous!) that we're kicking this off with their debut, self-titled album. I had zero idea what to expect going in – maybe something harking back to '80s metal like Manowar? I hadn't counted on the evolution of thrash, power, and death metal having been so thoroughly ingrained in Northern Europe, that even the Viking stuff would be doing it. Just... holy cow, all those blast beats and shredding! Not to mention raspy growl of lead singer Jari Mäenpää going on about folkish tales of Gods and men. At least, that's what the liner notes tell me, as I can barely understand him most of the time, his voice often buried under the aggressive layers of guitars. Was this just how death metal was mastered at the turn of the century?
But yeah, after an acoustic folk ditty for an intro (played on a Finnish instrument called a kantele), it's just go-go-GO after, a relentless assault of guitars, drums, epic power chords, operatic choir choruses, and it's glorious! Okay, maybe a bit on the corny side too, but only if you don't buy into the whole vibe, and Ensiferum, they win you over immediately. Just as you're acclimatizing to the ridiculous speed of their music, in comes one of those choruses celebrating honour and adventure and all that good stuff. Some songs go a little slower (Token Of Time, Treacherous Gods), others heavier (Old Man, Abandoned, Eternal Wait), including brief downturns back into acoustic folk. All is again overcome by d'at galloping metal though, right up to final song Goblin's Dance, more of a metal jig, complete with flute action. Judas Priest namedrop here.
So yeah, great first impression into this realm of Viking metal, but I didn't go on this journey for just one album's worth. Stay tuned...
Tuesday, August 18, 2020
Dreamfish - Dreamfish
Fax +49-69/450464/Avatar Records: 1993/2001
So I got one of the O.G. collaboration albums from the Fax+ discography! Okay, not the O.G. version, as that one goes for stupid amounts of money now on the Discogs Market. Ah, then it must be the Rising High Records one, since this features the classic psychedelic fish artwork used. Nope. Gosh, one of the two Ambient World re-issues then? Not those either, fam'.
No, this comes care of Avatar Records, an Israeli psy trance outfit known for many Asia 2001 and Goa Gil releases. I've absolutely no idea how they nabbed the rights to this record – I didn't spot any other Fax+ or Rising High items – but hey, brand new, hard copy version of Dreamfish, now in my hands. That's a score no matter the circumstances.
Still, it wasn't an instant purchase, part of me wondering if I even needed this album. I already have two of the four tracks off here - School Of Fish and Fishology - and if general discourse is to be believed, those are the highlights. For sure I buy that of School Of Fish, its long dreamy soundscapes of shimmery acid and flowing synth washes a perfect melding of minds between the likes of Mixmaster Morris and Pete Namlook. Meanwhile, Fishology's weirdo environment is definitely on a more playful tip, with soft, jazzy rhythms accompanied by bouncy bleep-techno goofiness, all the while a groovy bassline and froggy electronics ride things out. I know this piece has its detractors, that it's not 'serious music' from the Fax+ camps, but for a label known for getting a tad too po-faced on occasion, it's nice to hear some lighthearted fun out of there too.
That just leaves Hymn and Under Water. The latter is the album's closer, and at fifteen minutes sounds mostly like a Mixmaster Morris joint, with his vintage ultra-dubby, tripped-out manipulations of orchestral strings and such into hypnotic dronescapes. Pure headspace stuff, quite indulgent, but also suitable for proper chill-room environments, such as they still existed in the early '90s when this was made. As for Hymn... hmm, is this ever the odd man out.
At nearly twenty-eight minutes in length, you probably think this a super-noodly Fax+ session, but with a bunch of Mixmaster Morris weirdness thrown in. Not so, going more for that ancient trance songcraft of simple, hypnotic synth leads and spacey pad work, though remaining beatless throughout, and just keeps going on and on, long after many natural end-points pass on by. Stylistically, it isn't much removed from what Namlook and Morris were doing before establishing their critically-hailed directions, thus less distinctive compared to the other pieces on Dreamfish. It doesn't even mesh with the overall tone of the album, as though Hymn was a separate jam before they went into this session with a clearer theme in mind. It's fine for what it is, but yeah, I'll still take School Of Fish and Fishology over it any day. Combined, they're shorter too.
So I got one of the O.G. collaboration albums from the Fax+ discography! Okay, not the O.G. version, as that one goes for stupid amounts of money now on the Discogs Market. Ah, then it must be the Rising High Records one, since this features the classic psychedelic fish artwork used. Nope. Gosh, one of the two Ambient World re-issues then? Not those either, fam'.
No, this comes care of Avatar Records, an Israeli psy trance outfit known for many Asia 2001 and Goa Gil releases. I've absolutely no idea how they nabbed the rights to this record – I didn't spot any other Fax+ or Rising High items – but hey, brand new, hard copy version of Dreamfish, now in my hands. That's a score no matter the circumstances.
Still, it wasn't an instant purchase, part of me wondering if I even needed this album. I already have two of the four tracks off here - School Of Fish and Fishology - and if general discourse is to be believed, those are the highlights. For sure I buy that of School Of Fish, its long dreamy soundscapes of shimmery acid and flowing synth washes a perfect melding of minds between the likes of Mixmaster Morris and Pete Namlook. Meanwhile, Fishology's weirdo environment is definitely on a more playful tip, with soft, jazzy rhythms accompanied by bouncy bleep-techno goofiness, all the while a groovy bassline and froggy electronics ride things out. I know this piece has its detractors, that it's not 'serious music' from the Fax+ camps, but for a label known for getting a tad too po-faced on occasion, it's nice to hear some lighthearted fun out of there too.
That just leaves Hymn and Under Water. The latter is the album's closer, and at fifteen minutes sounds mostly like a Mixmaster Morris joint, with his vintage ultra-dubby, tripped-out manipulations of orchestral strings and such into hypnotic dronescapes. Pure headspace stuff, quite indulgent, but also suitable for proper chill-room environments, such as they still existed in the early '90s when this was made. As for Hymn... hmm, is this ever the odd man out.
At nearly twenty-eight minutes in length, you probably think this a super-noodly Fax+ session, but with a bunch of Mixmaster Morris weirdness thrown in. Not so, going more for that ancient trance songcraft of simple, hypnotic synth leads and spacey pad work, though remaining beatless throughout, and just keeps going on and on, long after many natural end-points pass on by. Stylistically, it isn't much removed from what Namlook and Morris were doing before establishing their critically-hailed directions, thus less distinctive compared to the other pieces on Dreamfish. It doesn't even mesh with the overall tone of the album, as though Hymn was a separate jam before they went into this session with a clearer theme in mind. It's fine for what it is, but yeah, I'll still take School Of Fish and Fishology over it any day. Combined, they're shorter too.
Monday, August 17, 2020
Saitoh Tomohiro - Drawing Line And The Curve
Databloem: 2018
So remember when I bought a big ol' Databloem bundle, and spent the better part of last year (or two) getting through it all? Turns out I missed one! I know I've done this before, but it still boggles my mind that I can accidentally skip some CDs in my orderly queue, getting lost among all the other piles I let build up. What, I could just not buy numerous items until I'm all caught up? Balderdash, no one has such will-power, I tell you. No one! Even the sagest of Bhudda monks would be all like, “Damn, I gotta' get me that latest Fantasy Enhancing CD before the limited 100 run out!” Scarcity is a remarkable motivator.
I can't be entirely to blame for this one getting lost in the shuffle. I know nothing of Saitoh Tomohiro, so an album from the man wasn't high on my 'must hear' priorities. Plus, the cover art is part of Databloem's unassuming 'colour smear' period. I actually bought all the early CDs of this pseudo-series, but the others came in colours that always catch my eye (primarily blue), whereas red... eh, just doesn't resonate as much with me. So while Kaleidos, Upwelling: Emergence and Atlantic Fusion (Simple Songs too, kinda') easily stuck out and couldn't slip by if they tried, Drawing Line And The Curve didn't. Grammatically odd title wasn't helpful either.
And even if I had done some research digging before buying, Lord Discogs wouldn't have been terribly helpful with Saitoh Tomohiro. His most prominent work is as one-half of Colbets, who released five albums over five labels within a (approximately) five year span. Only one of these albums, Far Away From The Light, saw anything resembling a proper release (on Japanese ambient dub techno print AY; bvdub has appeared there). This here Databloem debut is his solo debut period, with practically no inlay or PR blurb detailing what his deal is. Sure making this a hard sell, lads.
But hey, Drawing Line And The Curves is quite nice, far as ambient is concerned – would you expect anything less from Databloem? While there is some of that Japanese 'tonal harmony with sporadic glitch' thing going on here, this is mostly a straight-forward outing in the genre, with the layered synth pads, varied gentle tones, droning soundscapes, and the like. There's a general theme of 'twilight atmosphere' throughout, whether losing oneself in foggy forests or city stargazing, and plays out in a rather traditional sort of way, with shorter pieces interspersed with longer ones, though nothing ever breaching the ten-minute mark.
Then, you notice something odd. One of these pieces seems to be going on longer than you thought it would. It's like it never ends, and you can't help but take notice how much in stark contrast it stands with everything else. Then you check the liner notes, and see the final piece lasts nearly twenty minutes, titled Day Will Break Soon. Given the theme of the rest of the album, that's apt.
So remember when I bought a big ol' Databloem bundle, and spent the better part of last year (or two) getting through it all? Turns out I missed one! I know I've done this before, but it still boggles my mind that I can accidentally skip some CDs in my orderly queue, getting lost among all the other piles I let build up. What, I could just not buy numerous items until I'm all caught up? Balderdash, no one has such will-power, I tell you. No one! Even the sagest of Bhudda monks would be all like, “Damn, I gotta' get me that latest Fantasy Enhancing CD before the limited 100 run out!” Scarcity is a remarkable motivator.
I can't be entirely to blame for this one getting lost in the shuffle. I know nothing of Saitoh Tomohiro, so an album from the man wasn't high on my 'must hear' priorities. Plus, the cover art is part of Databloem's unassuming 'colour smear' period. I actually bought all the early CDs of this pseudo-series, but the others came in colours that always catch my eye (primarily blue), whereas red... eh, just doesn't resonate as much with me. So while Kaleidos, Upwelling: Emergence and Atlantic Fusion (Simple Songs too, kinda') easily stuck out and couldn't slip by if they tried, Drawing Line And The Curve didn't. Grammatically odd title wasn't helpful either.
And even if I had done some research digging before buying, Lord Discogs wouldn't have been terribly helpful with Saitoh Tomohiro. His most prominent work is as one-half of Colbets, who released five albums over five labels within a (approximately) five year span. Only one of these albums, Far Away From The Light, saw anything resembling a proper release (on Japanese ambient dub techno print AY; bvdub has appeared there). This here Databloem debut is his solo debut period, with practically no inlay or PR blurb detailing what his deal is. Sure making this a hard sell, lads.
But hey, Drawing Line And The Curves is quite nice, far as ambient is concerned – would you expect anything less from Databloem? While there is some of that Japanese 'tonal harmony with sporadic glitch' thing going on here, this is mostly a straight-forward outing in the genre, with the layered synth pads, varied gentle tones, droning soundscapes, and the like. There's a general theme of 'twilight atmosphere' throughout, whether losing oneself in foggy forests or city stargazing, and plays out in a rather traditional sort of way, with shorter pieces interspersed with longer ones, though nothing ever breaching the ten-minute mark.
Then, you notice something odd. One of these pieces seems to be going on longer than you thought it would. It's like it never ends, and you can't help but take notice how much in stark contrast it stands with everything else. Then you check the liner notes, and see the final piece lasts nearly twenty minutes, titled Day Will Break Soon. Given the theme of the rest of the album, that's apt.
Sunday, August 16, 2020
Way Out West - Don't Look Now
Distinct'ive Records: 2004
(a Patreon Request from Philoi)
Like Hybrid, I never thought I'd dig into the discography of Way Out West. I liked the odd track I'd hear from them, but the general discourse of “each album is less interesting than the last” didn't inspire much curiosity from yours truly. Still, I took a chance on Intensity, quite enjoyed it, and will get around to their self-titled debut in due time. Meanwhile, I'm here reviewing by request Don't Look Now. Hey, that was, like, one of TranceCritic's first ever reviews! Let us never speak of it again.
Way Out West were often fancied prog-house taste-makers, helping usher in a young prog-breaks scene while Nick Warren handled a pile of Global Underground sets. There's very little taste-making going on with this album though, the duo clearly hearing the winds of change, hitching their wagon to the emergent McProg sound of the mid-'00s. They even went out and got their own vocalist, billed here as Omi (Lord Discogs tells me she performed as Emma Hall with Starecase prior).
This could have been a great album, easily on par with their older works – Nick and Jody remain talented producers no matter how 'basic' their songcraft gets. However, it feels like the sequencing of Don't Look Now is totally borked. It starts as you'd expect of a group trying to get on that Hybrid-prestige, Anything But You a decent prog-breaks outing while letting Omi do her thing. All momentum of the album is sucked out, however, with a watery trip-hop follow-up. Plus, if you came in already feeling suspect about Omi turning into a major focal point (centre-spot on the cover art doesn't help), this wouldn't have allayed your worries. Never mind she doesn't appear much after (only three more songs out of twelve total), the front-loaded impression is difficult to shake.
The middle run of tracks are all serviceable stabs at various forms of prog (house/breaks/slowbeat?) but I cannot deny my attention often drifting as they play. Chasing Rainbows' languid pace and dreamy guitars are quite nice, while Fear triggers all the right McProg-enjoying endorphins lurking somewhere in the recesses of my brain.
Still, I feel stupid for not really getting into this album until Killa, just because it's such a simple, dumb-fun tune (those chants! D'at thunderous beat!), your reptile brain can't help but take notice. From there, more intuitive breaks action comes care of Northern Lights (the sort of science some undoubtedly expected from the start), while Melt is a pleasant little ditty for Omi to take us out on. Oh, wait, they got Ulrich Schnauss with them for the actual closer, Absinthe Dreams a weirdo trip-hop session that certainly fits the title.
Regardless of how folks reacted to Don't Look Now, it ended up being a one-time outing. Omi would never return, while Nick and Jody split off for solo pursuits for half a decade. It does hold up better than most commercial prog of the day, but that's not a terribly high bar to pass.
(a Patreon Request from Philoi)
Like Hybrid, I never thought I'd dig into the discography of Way Out West. I liked the odd track I'd hear from them, but the general discourse of “each album is less interesting than the last” didn't inspire much curiosity from yours truly. Still, I took a chance on Intensity, quite enjoyed it, and will get around to their self-titled debut in due time. Meanwhile, I'm here reviewing by request Don't Look Now. Hey, that was, like, one of TranceCritic's first ever reviews! Let us never speak of it again.
Way Out West were often fancied prog-house taste-makers, helping usher in a young prog-breaks scene while Nick Warren handled a pile of Global Underground sets. There's very little taste-making going on with this album though, the duo clearly hearing the winds of change, hitching their wagon to the emergent McProg sound of the mid-'00s. They even went out and got their own vocalist, billed here as Omi (Lord Discogs tells me she performed as Emma Hall with Starecase prior).
This could have been a great album, easily on par with their older works – Nick and Jody remain talented producers no matter how 'basic' their songcraft gets. However, it feels like the sequencing of Don't Look Now is totally borked. It starts as you'd expect of a group trying to get on that Hybrid-prestige, Anything But You a decent prog-breaks outing while letting Omi do her thing. All momentum of the album is sucked out, however, with a watery trip-hop follow-up. Plus, if you came in already feeling suspect about Omi turning into a major focal point (centre-spot on the cover art doesn't help), this wouldn't have allayed your worries. Never mind she doesn't appear much after (only three more songs out of twelve total), the front-loaded impression is difficult to shake.
The middle run of tracks are all serviceable stabs at various forms of prog (house/breaks/slowbeat?) but I cannot deny my attention often drifting as they play. Chasing Rainbows' languid pace and dreamy guitars are quite nice, while Fear triggers all the right McProg-enjoying endorphins lurking somewhere in the recesses of my brain.
Still, I feel stupid for not really getting into this album until Killa, just because it's such a simple, dumb-fun tune (those chants! D'at thunderous beat!), your reptile brain can't help but take notice. From there, more intuitive breaks action comes care of Northern Lights (the sort of science some undoubtedly expected from the start), while Melt is a pleasant little ditty for Omi to take us out on. Oh, wait, they got Ulrich Schnauss with them for the actual closer, Absinthe Dreams a weirdo trip-hop session that certainly fits the title.
Regardless of how folks reacted to Don't Look Now, it ended up being a one-time outing. Omi would never return, while Nick and Jody split off for solo pursuits for half a decade. It does hold up better than most commercial prog of the day, but that's not a terribly high bar to pass.
Thursday, August 13, 2020
Moljebka Pvlse - Discourse On Lightness
Reverse Alignment: 2017
I'd forgotten how intimidating it was venturing away from the comforting warm embrace of Cryo Chamber for my dark ambient and drone fix. So many artists out there, with distinct traits and approaches, all with strange exotic artwork. It's been a spell since I last took in a release from Reverse Alignment, and for good reason. I'd more or less tapped out all the names I was already familiar with (Ajna, Dronny Dark, SiJ) and had mostly sprung for all the albums with artwork that caught my eye (your Graders, The Long Journeys, and Buried On Vanths). Beyond that would be completely uncharted territory for yours truly, no easing in.
So headfirst into Discourse On Lightness I dove, for no other reason than it was catalogued nearby other albums I'd picked up from Reverse Alignment. And as is so often the case, I plucked out an artist with a fairly common story when it comes to these experimental drone sorts. Moljibeka Pvlse started releasing material in the early 2000's, floated about many labels (Cold Meat Industry, Fifth Week Records, AudioTONG, Gears Of Sand, Some Place Else) while maintaining his own label on the side (Isoramara). He eventually landed on Reverse Alignment, debuting there with A Transformation. Wait, that's not right. He actually appeared there a tad sooner, as the man behind Moljibeka Pvlse is Mathias Josefson, who was also part of Skare (of Grader fame). Huh, so I didn't go into this so utterly blind as I first thought.
Discourse On Lightness is Moljibeka Pvlse's second album on this label, with a yin-yang approach to the offered compositions. Three pieces are featured, each hovering around the twenty-minute mark (on the relative short side of things, where Josefson drone pieces are concerned). From the outset of A History Of Levitation, you're hit was one of those multi-layered, atonal, wall-of-sound drones that doesn't feel calm or relaxing in the slightest. I'd almost call it confrontational, but there's something strangely subtle about it too, like an undercurrent of melody that lulls you in for the duration. Supposedly, this is the 'yin' portion of the album.
Makes sense, as follow-up Between Lightness And Luminance is all about that stripped-down, minimalist, avante-garde symphonic sound. Sparse discordant strings, echoing field recordings and hushed vocal noises in empty chambers, creating a rather tense atmosphere as it plays out. The third track, A Field Guide To The Sunrise bridges the gap (completes the circle? fills the symbol?) between the two, mostly minimalist as well, morphing through creepier strings, bells and tones, but eventually transitioning into a rather tranquil, soothing stretch of ambience as the piece slowly winds down. Why yes, the 'sunrise' theme is quite apt.
So an interesting outing, this. Can't say I was a fan of the first two pieces, but the third does help put them in clearer context when taking in the album as a whole. As for how it relates to all the old-timey art within the inlay, I haven't a clue.
I'd forgotten how intimidating it was venturing away from the comforting warm embrace of Cryo Chamber for my dark ambient and drone fix. So many artists out there, with distinct traits and approaches, all with strange exotic artwork. It's been a spell since I last took in a release from Reverse Alignment, and for good reason. I'd more or less tapped out all the names I was already familiar with (Ajna, Dronny Dark, SiJ) and had mostly sprung for all the albums with artwork that caught my eye (your Graders, The Long Journeys, and Buried On Vanths). Beyond that would be completely uncharted territory for yours truly, no easing in.
So headfirst into Discourse On Lightness I dove, for no other reason than it was catalogued nearby other albums I'd picked up from Reverse Alignment. And as is so often the case, I plucked out an artist with a fairly common story when it comes to these experimental drone sorts. Moljibeka Pvlse started releasing material in the early 2000's, floated about many labels (Cold Meat Industry, Fifth Week Records, AudioTONG, Gears Of Sand, Some Place Else) while maintaining his own label on the side (Isoramara). He eventually landed on Reverse Alignment, debuting there with A Transformation. Wait, that's not right. He actually appeared there a tad sooner, as the man behind Moljibeka Pvlse is Mathias Josefson, who was also part of Skare (of Grader fame). Huh, so I didn't go into this so utterly blind as I first thought.
Discourse On Lightness is Moljibeka Pvlse's second album on this label, with a yin-yang approach to the offered compositions. Three pieces are featured, each hovering around the twenty-minute mark (on the relative short side of things, where Josefson drone pieces are concerned). From the outset of A History Of Levitation, you're hit was one of those multi-layered, atonal, wall-of-sound drones that doesn't feel calm or relaxing in the slightest. I'd almost call it confrontational, but there's something strangely subtle about it too, like an undercurrent of melody that lulls you in for the duration. Supposedly, this is the 'yin' portion of the album.
Makes sense, as follow-up Between Lightness And Luminance is all about that stripped-down, minimalist, avante-garde symphonic sound. Sparse discordant strings, echoing field recordings and hushed vocal noises in empty chambers, creating a rather tense atmosphere as it plays out. The third track, A Field Guide To The Sunrise bridges the gap (completes the circle? fills the symbol?) between the two, mostly minimalist as well, morphing through creepier strings, bells and tones, but eventually transitioning into a rather tranquil, soothing stretch of ambience as the piece slowly winds down. Why yes, the 'sunrise' theme is quite apt.
So an interesting outing, this. Can't say I was a fan of the first two pieces, but the third does help put them in clearer context when taking in the album as a whole. As for how it relates to all the old-timey art within the inlay, I haven't a clue.
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Triloka Records
trip-hop
Triquetra
Trishula Records
Tristan
Troum
Troy Pierce
TRS Records
Tru Thoughts
Tsuba Records
Tsubasa Records
Tuff Gong
Tunnel Records
Turbo Recordings
turntablism
TUU
TVT Records
Twisted Records
Type O Negative
Týr
U-God
U-Recken
U2
U4IC DJs
Ãœberzone
Ugasanie
UK acid house
UK Garage
UK Hard House
Ultimae Records
Ultra Records
Umbra
Underworld
Union Jack
United Dairies
United DJs Of America
United Recordings
Universal Motown
Universal Music
Universal Records
Universal Republic Records
UNKLE
Unknown Tone Records
Unusual Cosmic Process
UOVI
Upstream Records
Urban Icon Records
Urban Meditation
Utada Hikaru
V2
Vagrant Records
Valanx
Valiska
Valley Of The Sun
Vangelis
Vap
VAST
Vector Lovers
Venetian Snares
Venonza Records
Vermont
Vernon
Versatile Records
Verus Records
Verve Records
VGM
Vibrant Music
Vice Records
Victor Calderone
Victor Entertainment
Vidna Obmana
Viking metal
Vince DiCola
Vinyl Cafe Productions
Virgin
Virtual Vault
Virus Recordings
Visionquest
Visions
Vitalic
vocal trance
Vortex
Voxxov Records
Voyage
Wagram Music
Waki
Wanderwelle
Warmth
Warner Bros. Records
Warp Records
Warren G
Water Music Dance
Wave Recordings
Wave Records
Waveform
Waveform Records
Wax Trax Records
Way Out West
WC
WEA
Wednesday Campanella
Weekend Players
Weekly Mini-Review
Werk Discs
Werkstatt Recordings
WestBam
Westside Connection
White Cloud
White Swan Records
Wichita
Wiggle
Will Saul
William Orbit
Willie Nelson
Wintersun
world beat
world music
writing reflections
Wrong Records
Wu-Tang Clan
Wurrm
Wyatt Keusch
Xerxes The Dark
XL Recordings
XTT Recordings
Yahgan
Yamaoka
Yello
Yes
Ylid
Youth
Youtube
YoYo Records
Yul Records
zakè
Zenith
ZerO One
Zoharum
Zomby
Zoo Entertainment
ZTT
Zyron
ZYX Music
µ-Ziq