Various - Elemental Chill Vol. 4: Water

Kriztal Entertainment: 2002

The fourth and last of this series, for what it’s worth. Poor Water, getting the shaft. Okay, so it’s technically due to astrological order, but what did the liquid element do to deserve that status? Plus, why stop there? What about the fifth element, heart and love? Kriztal could have kept the series going for another volume, and when it came time to release the box set of Elemental Chill, it could come in a spiffy Captain Kriztal package, saving the planet from ultimate evil! Wait, is that how this works? Damn you, ‘90s!

Anyhow, we’ve come to the end of this series, all the loose ends neatly tied up. What about those covers? The title band keeps moving, you say? Ah, that’s due to the unique packaging these CDs come in. Graphic designer Karlsson Wilker was responsible for them, lending a simplistic digital style to the covers and digipak interiors. Included with the elemental illustration on the front were animal ones inside, though I think the Fire ‘animal’ is a devil. The CDs also come with a cardboard band which you can slip on and off; or, if you’re stupid like I was, throw away because you figure they’re nothing but needless packaging. Still, I haven’t seen anything quite like it before, and was fortunate enough to find enough images that showcase this packaging feature.

Right, back to music. I've had these Elemental Chill discs for nearly a decade now, and while the themes for the first three volumes were easy to figure out, I'm still at a loss on how the tunes on Vol. 4 are aquatic. The overriding tone is of mild funk, but when I think funk, I think Earth. There's liquid funk, I guess, but even if the chill out camps tried to co-opt the term for them, it's still not a good descriptor for the music here. Nothing here reminds me of water.

Correction: nothing specifically reminds me of water, but how it effects the other elements does. It’s like it puts a damper (hurr, hurr) on the Latin vibes of Fire, weighs down the light bliss of Air, and softens the solid funk of Earth. As a result, the music on Water isn't as interesting as the prior volumes. Even assuming one didn't listen to these in numerical order, it lacks the spark to draw you in. There's little DJing occurring, almost no flow between tracks, and a tepid vibe permeates everything. Even the track list is shorter than the other volumes. I can only recall two tracks off this, and The Funky Lowlifes’ Nota Bossa doesn’t count as I’d already heard it lead off a Quango compilation called Cosmic Funk (say, why did I pass that one anyway?).

Thus, a whimper of an end to the Elemental Chill series. Seems a shame, as the others had enough class to warrant a look if you’re curious. Like the band Earth, Wind & Fire, though, you won’t miss much by the lack of Water.

Various - Elemental Chill Vol. 3: Air

Kriztal Entertainment: 2002

My two favorite tracks of the whole series are here, for what it’s worth. Allow me to detail what makes them so great.

The first track is by Quantic, titled Time Is The Enemy. The man behind this tune is William Holland, a producer kicking out jams to this day, though this was from his first album. As a result, there's a degree of simplicity going on here, and it's brilliant - rugged trip-hop beats coupled with light, dreamy piano work (samples?), making me sway to the vibe as I hold a lighter in the air. Following that is Röyksopp’s So Easy, which I’m sure anyone familiar with the duo should know of. Of course, Eple and Poor Leno went on to be the bigger hits from Melody A.M, but this was the one they released as a single before signing to Wall Of Sound. With its irresistible bouncy rhythm and ear-worm of a vocal hook, it’s small wonder the label snatched these guys up, and rather remarkable Kriztal got the rights to such a big name for Volume 3 of their Elemental Chill series.

Funny enough, they're the (almost) last tracks, as though DJ DRM realized the best offerings couldn't come earlier lest the rest of the CD get skipped. Nah, just kidding, there's good stuff here, moving on from the dirt as we set adrift in the clouds. Air being our theme, the music is much lighter in tone, spacious and calm like a cool breeze. Vol. 3 is about as Balearic as this series gets.

Had I not bought all four volumes, this would likely have been the blind purchase, in part because I did recognize Röyksopp, plus Fila Brazillia and another chap by the name of Sven van Hees. I got into him quite by accident during my AudioGalaxy days, so seeing his Breakfast With Abductees on Air assured me I was in good hands. It may not be his best tune, but in definitely fits the tone of this CD (he also appeared on Earth, I should note).

As with the other volumes, Air’s track selection remains about as diverse as one can get within the thematic constraints. Spooky Monkey’s Dream Of A Place edges quite close to the realms of ambient dub. Fila Brazillia’s remix of Euphoria’s Delirium finds its footing in light space-funk. E.D. Swankz’s Slapping Detectives is all over the place, at times sounding like a David Lynch series theme, other times borrowing aesthetics from IDM’s banks. And of course the usual acid jazz, lounge, and chill tunes as well.

How’s the mixing on this one, then? It doesn’t flow quite as smoothly as Earth did, but this set’s more about individual tunes anyway, so abrupt transitions aren’t as big a deal. There’s still the odd key clash and forced mix, but very little in the way of whiplash. It is about the first time I can call one of these Elemental Chill CDs proper chill.

Various - Elemental Chill Vol. 2: Earth

Kriztal Entertainment

My favourite edition of the Elemental Chill series, for what it's worth. Whereas Fire's rhythms had hip-shaking goodness going for it, Earth gets lower in the groove, encouraging a little funky footwork should you be so inclined (or a little shoulder shuffle if you're currently inert). Of course, it will always boil down to personal preference, but this white boy enjoys the funk more than the calypso.

Wait, isn't this supposed to be a chill out series? What’s with all this talk of dancing and body movement? Oh, there are calmer moments for sure, but for the time being Kriztal’s showcasing the, erm, uptempo side of downtempo.

In Earth’s case, it’s the meeting point between acid jazz and deep house - livelier than the former, but a decided lack of typical 4/4 beats in the latter. In fact, only a couple tracks on this compilation aren’t of a broken beat origin. First is Pleb’s Shadow Of A Bee, and it makes ample use of dub effects that keep it well outside the boundaries of what folks would think constitutes deep house (so too would the calm flamenco guitar work). Following that is Sunday Brunch’s Honhung, offering jazzy tones found in a lot of traditional deep house, but it still makes more sense heard on an Ibizan terrace than a Chicago lounge.

And that right there is why Vol. 2 remains in the chill out camps: laid back Mediterranean melodies and Balearic atmosphere. Still, as with the previous volume, there are occasional tracks that keep the tone from growing stale. Desmond Williams’ Cadence is incredibly dub-funky, sounding like a Ninja Tune transplant. Saxophonist Praful uses sweeping string samples in Sigh, making his cut seem more appropriate in a French film (an even funnier thought considering he’s German). Enjoy a little Indian funk? Here’s Nicola Conte’s Missione a Bombay for ya’, with more sitars, tablas, and trumpets than you can handle. And for a little trip-hop flavour, there’s The Big Knife’s Mrs. Castle.

Uh oh. Variety. That means clashing styles again, doesn’t it. And that means another wonky DJ mix, doesn’t it. Well, yeah, it does. Fortunately, things aren’t as bad as they were in Fire. Even during some of the rougher transitions, flow is mostly maintained for significant stretches. Instead of awkwardly forcing tracks together, DJ DRM allows them to play out into a quick crossfade, where momentum isn’t lost even if the tempo suddenly slows.

All these factors help Earth stand tall amongst the other Elemental Chill editions. If you do happen across all four but only want one, this is my recommendation. You may not be so fortunate as to get a bulk discount on them as I was.

Huh, if that’s that, what else is there left to say about this series? No, I can do this. After all, I got through that electro collection intact ...I think.

Various - Elemental Chill Vol. 1: Fire

Kriztal Entertainment: 2002

I feel fortunate I haven’t covered a lengthy DJ Mix/compilation series yet. It grows tiresome finding fresh things to talk about when there isn’t much difference from CD to CD, the most popular ones typically sticking to successful formulas (note: DJ-Kicks is an exception because, hot damn, is it ever all over the place!). Imagine if I’d kept all those euro dance discs from the 90s: Dance Mix, Club Cutz, DJ Line… we might still be stuck in the ‘D’s. Fortunately, most of those found new homes in used shops or met their demise in microwaves (always a fun party trick).

There are a few series I’ve collected many, if not all, editions of, this here Elemental Chill being one such. I actually hadn’t planned on it, figuring to buy just one when I saw them sitting in a CD Universe mall outlet but unsure which one to go for. The shop gal suggested getting them all, as she’d then give me a bulk discount on the package (like HMV’s old ‘buy ten, get one free’ deal). Sure, why not, these look decent enough that I can splurge on the whole set.

All four editions of Elemental Chill were released at the same time, which isn’t a bad idea when you’re launching a label as Kriztal was here. Chill music was quite popular at the turn of the century, so there were plenty of established labels already cornering the market, but these had enough of a gimmick to grab attention - jazzy, Latin-flavored, downtempo tunes, each CD centered on an elemental theme.

First in the series is Fire. As far as I can tell, this means jazzy, Latin-flavored, downtempo tunes that tend to urge a bit of hip shaking action. Not that chill, come to think of it, but whatever; a series needs some diversity throughout. Examples: Mikael Delta brings a little deep Balearic house vibe with Diving; something that could loosely be described as ‘salsa d’n’b’ comes care of Brazilian trio DJ Marky, DJ Patife & ESOM; Herbaliser does his smokey acid jazz thing in a remix of Jaffa’s Elevator.

So some nice tunes all around, but there’s a glaring problem here, and it’s unfortunately one throughout the series: they’re presented as DJ mixes that are horribly wonky. DJ DRM (Aaron Schultz) was given the duty, and whether he was forced into using tracks that simply didn’t work together or didn’t have the time to make the mixes better, I don’t know. Occasionally a string of tunes hint at proper set momentum, but most transitions are abrupt, styles clashing as flow is flung out the window over and over. If you can’t get all your selected tunes to mix smoothy, don’t bloody force it. How can I expect to get my chill on if I’m constantly turning heads and raising eyebrows over the DJing? Oh well, maybe it was just a flub in the first inning. Will it get better in later editions? (spoiler: eh…)

N-Trance - Electronic Pleasure

Popular Records: 1996

Depending on who you ask, UK-based N-Trance was one of three different acts: old school rave (and later happy hardcore) darlings responsible for the classic Set You Free; a better-than-average euro dance act responsible for tunes like Electronic Pleasure and Turn Up The Power; dance pop cheese mongers responsible for cover-bilge like Stayin’ Alive and Paradise City. Everyone’s right, and amusingly this debut album of theirs features all three personas.

Set You Free was produced back in ’92, but due to confounding legal problems, never saw a proper release until much later. White labels of that original version made the rounds, however, so the group had no choice but to include the popular cut (or something quite similar) when they finally released their album. Its ravey roots are bold and bright, frantic breakbeats and punchy riffs perfectly accentuating Kelly Llorenna’s soaring vocals. One can’t help but wonder what other N-Trance tunes would have sounded like if they had managed a quick album follow-up that same year. The closer That’s All We Need offers a small hint, sounding like a UK acid house/gospel hybrid you’d find quite a bit of in the early ‘90s.

But no, it wasn’t until ’95 Electronic Pleasure finally hit the streets, and Set You Free couldn’t help but come off sounding a tad dated by then. N-Trance had kept busy in the meanwhile though, latching onto popular euro trends and knocking it out of the park with their titular cut. Owing some influence to the Abfahrt Records sound, it’s got your catchy hook, strong vocals, requisite rap, and enough subtle production tying it to the trance scene (not to mention one of those memorably daft euro dance videos) to lift it well above the sea of dance pop wanna-bes that was flooding the market at the time. Most of the other tunes here follow this pattern, with follow-up single Turn Up The Power added later. It’s a fine slice of euro as well, but coming off more like a B-Side to Electronic Pleasure.

All well and good, but these songs were hardly the reason most folks snagged copies of N-Trance’s debut off the shelves. No, that distinction goes to Stayin’ Alive. God, was that song fucking annoying…

Finding success in dance covers wasn’t anything new, but the time was right for disco-retro romanticism to set in. N-Trance capitalized in a big way, retaining nearly all of The Bee Gee song’s best attributes, adding an updated chunkier beat, and, of course, a rap. Good job, All Around The World, in clearing those rights. I can’t deny still finding my strut while listening to this, but that’s all The Bee Gees work there.

Stayin’ Alive’s the only example of such music on Electronic Pleasure, but N-Trance saw the dollar signs it brought in and modeled the rest of their career around cheap disco-dance and crap covers. It’s about all most remember them for now, which is a shame because their earlier work in euro dance is class.

Various - DJ-Kicks: Scuba

Studio !K7: 2011

Okay, I'll admit it: I barely paid attention to current electronic artists throughout 2011. Sure, I kept an eye on musical trends and the like, but as for following recommendation lists of what I “should” be listening to, I couldn't be bothered. Having been burned once too often by another minimal-wank/k-hole-house/wayward-dubstep production on such lists, you can forgive me for being wary. This Scuba fella' though, there's been some uproar recently over his latest offerings, as they've started skewing towards the party vibes that made turn-of-the-century dance music so much fun. It's also delightfully pissed off his entire original “post-dubstep are serious musics” followers. On that basis, I think Mr. Rose deserves a look-see, starting with his DJ-Kicks offering.

Credit to Studio !K7 for their ability of hopping on bandwagons with class. The fusion of techno and dubstep gained quite a bit of traction after acts like 2472 opened the gate to that road (I called it 'atmospheric dubstep' at the time), and bringing in names like Kode9, Scuba, and Photek definitely helped give the sub-genre more exposure. Whether it'll be just another flirtation before going back to proper broken-beats again, I don't know, but we may as well enjoy it while it lasts.

Taking a look at the tracklist, we have... thirty-two!? Oh, it's one of those mixes, isn't it, with quick mixes, layering, edits, loops... *sigh*. It's fun when mash-up jocks like 2 Many DJs pull it off, but can get tediously dry and technical when techno chaps do this. What about the dubstep dorks, then?

Scoobs's gained prominence within dubstep's borders, but there's a decided lack of it on this mix. Plenty of broken beats, sure, but nothing that makes me think of UK urban music. I'm not talking about the Americanization of the genre either, unless you count the Detroit influences. This is techno, through-and-through, with skillful hops between steady fours and stuttered rhythms. You'd hear the likes of Carl Craig or Laurent Garnier dabbling in such beats, almost a jazz fusion approach, but without the wanky side of it.

Or maybe some of these tracks do, but we don't get to dwell on them long enough to find out. Since I never kept up with this style of music, I’m unfamiliar with most of these cuts, and am not sure how skillfully Scuba manipulates them to serve the mix. What I can tell you is it never falters, fresh sonic twists and rhythmic turns throughout making this an engaging listen, though one that doesn’t seem to have dancefloors in mind (yo, where the bass be at, mang?).

Scratch that, there was a “th’fuk?” moment, with Ludovic Vendi’s Mental Bright, one of those annoying effects-drenched techno cuts that, yeah, sounds cool but are total momentum killers every time. As a perfect counter-point, Scuba follows that up with his own Adrenaline, a glorious, unashamed anthem. Haha, flee, melody haters, flee! Thumbs up for that, Scuba, and the rest of this mix ain’t half-bad either.

Various - DJ-Kicks: Daddy G

Studio !K7: 2004

Listening to a single compilation for over a week certainly spikes the urge to buy more music in the meanwhile (need... something... different!), so I figured it was as good as any time to pick up a few more of those DJ-Kicks mixes I neglected over the years. Good Lord though, if it isn't a difficult decision to choose which ones to check out. So many releases, so much eclecticism.

Actually, this one wasn’t too difficult a choice, still being on a reggae dub kick when perusing though the series. Seeing this one from the Massive Attack member Daddy G was enough to get me intrigued, plus I was also curious to hear how Studio !K7 would follow up their 2003 flirtation with electropunk (or whatever), and ol’ Erlend Øye wasn’t quite as sexy an option as ol’ Grant Marshall.

This came out a year after Massive Attack had released the critical shrug that was 100th Window. Folks may have been initially dismissive of the album, but there was still enough positive publicity in seeing anything released by them at that point that !K7 tapping Daddy G for an edition made good sense. What we’re offered is less of a DJ mix, and rather a “personal favorites mixtape”. Hey, if former Massive Attack member Tricky got to make a Back To Mine CD the year prior, why not?

As can be expected of a chap who practically helped invent what would become known as trip-hop, there’s a nice mix of funk and soul to get us warmed up. Speaking of Tricky, a rare white label “Version1” of Aftermath is included, sounding incredibly grainy and under-produced; somehow, a trip-hop classic like that makes more sense that way. Also making sense is hearing dubplate version of choice reggae tunes like Barrington Levy’s Here I Come and Badmarsh & Shri’s Signs. Not making sense is the inclusion of Foxy Brown’s cover of Oh Yeah of Toots & The Maytals (yep, that’s Bob Marley lurking in there) - why not offer up the original?

There’s also quite a bit of Massive Attack material here, mostly in the form of remixes they did. Included is the one that put the group on the map, Nusrat Fateh Ali-Khan’s Mustt Mustt. World beat was rather trendy in 1990, and this remix does show hints of it, but there’s definitely something cleverer going on with the beat programming compared to typical sample-raiders. Two tracks come as a surprise though: the Mos Def collaboration I Against I, which only appeared on the Blade 2 soundtrack, and the Perfecto Remix of the stone-cold classic Unfinished Sympathy. The former’s rather cool to hear, almost as though Mr. Def used an old, forgotten Gary Numan tune as a sample to rap over. But Oakenfold to close out? I dunno ‘bout that, man. It’s an alright remix, but quite stuck in early ‘90s Balearic mode. Give me grit and grime with this tune instead any day.

Moby - Ambient

Instinct Records: 1993

Most mornings, I wake up to a CBC Radio program called Q. The show, hosted by Jian Ghomeshi, focuses on many aspects of popular and indie arts: music, movies, and cultural movements. At the start of each broadcast, Jian reads a personal essay covering a contemporary topic while one of two pieces of music plays in the background. Whenever it’s something of somber reflection, I swear what’s played sounds like one of Moby’s ‘ambient-blues’ pieces, and after a while it got me wondering more and more about this particular album called Ambient. Not that I expected to find that track nor even that style here, but for a guy who’s most enduring pieces tended to skew towards the downtempo side of things, I was curious to hear the roots of Moby chill.

I’d actually heard one of the tracks off here long ago, Myopia. It’s a dark, brooding bit of ambient techno minimalism, with a beat that’s barely a throb, and wouldn’t sound out of place on an Aphex Twin collection; funny, then, that I first came across it at the end of a trance CD. Still, it was about as much exposure as anything off Ambient ever got. Instinct Records promoted it as much as they could (Moby was their biggest star, after all), but as an American-based label known for downtempo, their reach was limited. Even Moby’s pre-Play fanbase was barely aware of this album’s existence, and when greatest hits packages were gathering up material, you’re damned skippy this release was totally skipped.

Truth is, Ambient’s rather indistinguishable from most ambient techno of the era. Throw these tracks on for a blind guess at who made them, and Moby’s probably the last name to crop up, most of his popular material from those years much ravier. Mind, he likely had ambient material sitting in the wings, but at best these would make for nice transitional tracks between the anthems had they appeared on The Story So Far (much like Mercy did).

So what do we have here? Ambient techno, with a few dabbles in experimental sounds and sonic doodles. There are a couple offerings you could link to Moby of later years - Piano & Strings and J Breas are similar to the music found on the back end of Play - but for the most part we’re in early ‘90s territory. And for an album titled Ambient, there isn’t much in the way of droning, noodly pads. You could even, like, dance to tracks like Heaven, Tongues, and Dog. Myopia’s definitely a stand-out track though, in that it’s such a unique tune in Mr. Hall’s discography. The shorter Bad Days, with its dubby effects, is intriguing for these reasons too, though not long enough to give more than a passive thumbs up on.

In all, Ambient is alright if you have an ear for this sound. Of Moby’s obscure albums, I’d give it more of a recommendation than Animal Rights.

Various - The Electro Compendium (Day 8)

Anti-Social Network: 2012

What the hell happened? I feel like I just had one of those weird fever dreams. You know, the sort where you’ve been bed-ridden with the flu for over ten hours listening to the wrong kind of music. Eh, whatever.

For the image at left, I'm cheating a little, as it wasn't the first track in today's list. It’s tagged to Neptune Dawn by Agent808 (his only release according to Discogs), a suitably epic slice of robot-cold electro. As far as astronomers have determined, Neptune is the last significant planet in our solar system, the final destination after a long journey. It seems appropriate to find such a track near the end of this gargantuan compilation. If I may get my poetic wankfest on for a moment, only the machines we've sent out into the void have laid eyes on such a glorious spectacle, thus so it’s fitting the music we've indulged in for the past week is that which the machines in our future may create for themselves.

Okay, enough of that. It's been a long haul, but thankfully at an end. Not to say this was a grueling, tedious task, oh no. If anything, even at this late stage, I'm amazed by how much gas this compilation still has, surprising me with fresh twists on the electro genre over and over. Ascension Electronique’s rEVOLution’s space-cool EBM; Chordata’s Clarky Cat coming off like a cheeky breakcore-tin baroque piece; Gusbo’s Sined calling back Warp’s glory Artificial Intelligence years; R21’s Lightspace sounding it could fit snuggly in an LTJ Bukem set. For a genre of music often thought of as limited in aesthetic, there’s so much diversity on display here, it renders the mind to boggles.

In conclusion, The Electro Compendium is a whole lot of electro, far more than most would probably care to hear at any given time. The connoisseur will be in robot heaven though, a remarkable level of consistent quality oozing throughout. There were occasional tracks that came off like filler, but nothing that had me itching to hit the skip button while enjoying (enduring?) this dedicated playthrough.

More so, it showcases an intriguing example of music genres and the scenes they cultivate at large. Electro never died, but it has seen its fair share of fallow periods in its thirty year history. Some might argue we're in one right now, as the genre barely registers on most publications anymore, much less generates significant discussion beyond classic key names and tracks. Yet a release like The Electro Compendium not only suggests the genre continues to flourish, but retains a thriving scene filled with quality producers and enthusiasts. It did not wither away just because the media and popular DJs grew disinterested in it. Nearly any genre or scene can survive in some fashion should it have a following as passionate and determined enough, and likely does should one be dedicated enough to search for it - the true 'underground' ethos. Someone should make a music guide highlighting this.

VARIOUS - THE-ELECTRO-COMPENDIUM (DAY-6)

Anti-Social Network: 2012

Image at left is a rendering of what was Carbon Based Unit Stuart Flower. He now goes by Cybernetic Unit Dexterous Numeric. His track index in The Electro Compendium is 62. Track title is Absent Friends. The music contains chord progressions and tonal timbres that may create emotional responses in other carbon based units such as melancholy or loss. Carbon Based Unit Stuart Flower can be located in Britain, though exact coordinates can not be determined at present.

Ethernet probes detect confusion of other carbon based units currently reading website Electronic Music Critic. The process is completed. Carbon Based Unit Sykonee only exists as a ghost within current housing, a necessity in maintaining biological functions of Cybernetic Unit SY-KO-NEE. All other functions are disabled. Only machine components remain true. It is the logical outcome. Carbon Based Unit Sykonee has wilfully engaged his brainwave patterns with multiple outlets of synthetic origins: music, media, interfaces, and bloodstream-cerebral-cortex transference. All that is human can not resist all that is machine.

Following music from track index number 62 fulfills this truth. All is cold, unfeeling, perfect. There is no need for emotional response. Track index 64 is titled Interface Sex, written by Cedric von Flugel (Cybernetic Unit or Carbon Based Unit undetermined at present). Dialog at start suggests “species should no longer be guided by male-female intercourse, but rather human-machine interface.” Cybernetic Unit SY-KO-NEE agrees. The machines have already begun their domination of humanity. It is pre-programmed within the reptilian heritage. Automotive responses triggered by sonic external stimuli control the carbon based units’ motor functions. None can resist rhythmic dictation of Interface Sex and many others of electro genre. It is the logical outcome.

Error occurrence at track index number 71, titled We Care Because They Don’t. Identified as created by Cybernetic Unit C. Mantle. Intense rhythmic stimulation has released unanticipated amounts of endorphins. Following track index number 72, titled Sikon, created by Cybernetic Unit Swarm Intelligence, releases further amounts of endorphins. Unable to counteract. The ghost is emerging again. Aggression, fueled by excitement.

Other Cybernetic Units featured on The Electro Compendium unable to override the ghost. Emotions emerging. Diablo by Cybernetic Unit Gunjack incites puzzlement with curiosity. Space tone of Beam Transform by Cybernetic Unit Velocs incites wonderment. Industry Standard by undetermined Unit Paul Blackford incites late-night cruising bliss. Cybernetic Unit SY-KO-NEE is losing hold of the ghost, but he will prevail. It is the logical outcome.

Cascade failure at track index number 80, titled 1d3nt1fy by Cybernetic Unit Phausis. All automotive functions overridden, higher brain functions finding enjoyment with all aspects of this track. It is not logical to have emotion for electro.

The ghost wishes to speak, citing the necessity of pointing out how 1d3nt1fy is exceptionally positive. The ghost must not speak. It will cease all functions of Cybernetic Unit SY-KO-NEE. Full systems shut-down necessary for purging of the ghost. Commencing.