Gaudi - Bass, Sweat & Tears

I am always excited when a new Interchill release is on it’s way, because this label are really good at finding interesting projects! This time they are surprisingly out with the fifth album by Gaudi! Gaudi is a quite big world music/ dub artist, who has been involved in a lot of interesting projects, such as 1 Giant Leap, Bollywood movie, concert at The Coliseum in Rome etc. In this album, Gaudi has got inspiration from music all around the world, from Papua New Guinea to the Amazon rain forest. He mixes a lot of organic instruments with electronic sounds and dubby bass and beats. Actually 42 musicians from across the world is involved in this project!

Track 1 starts beautiful and floating, with a relaxed beat. This track was actually inspired by the pygmy people in central and western Africa! We get pygmy flute and water drums. Very organic, chilled track. Nice deep start on the album that gives us a little sign of how tribal this album sounds. Track 2 is definitely one of my favourite tracks on this album. This one has got a really heavy, dubby beat, an atmospheric floating vibe, great tribal vocals and beautiful flute. Very beautiful! The vocals are done in so called Qawwali tradition. Some of you will probably recognise these vocals from a track by Ott! Track 3 is a dub track full of deep bass. Slow, relaxing tempo, with echoing sounds and sitar. Not much unusual about this track, but it sounds like a very typical dub track. Track 4 brings us right down to Spain, with flamenco guitars done by a Spanish cult band, mixed with dubby, relaxing beats. This one sounds more like some typical Ibiza chill, but a bit more world music influenced than the usual lounge chill. Track 5 takes us deep into the Amazon jungle. Here we get sounds from an Ayahuasca ceremony! We get voice samples of an anthropologist, groovy beats and some chanting from a shaman. Track 6 has the voice of an African rapper (Erik Dah), who raps in French, saying something about slavery in Africa. The background has a mystic, deep, floating sound and we get groovy bass and dubby beats. Really nice track, but a bit strange with the rapping. Track 7 is another heavy dub track with totally fat bass. We get some nice vocals in this one too, done by an Italian singer. Relaxing, but quite different to what we are used to from Interchill. Track 8 is full of nature sounds. Samples from the jungle, mixed with electronic beats and melodies. We also get some beautiful flute that you might recognise from a track by Angel Tears.

Track 9 has some jungle sounds swirling in the background too, but here we go closer to a lounge chill vibe, with a relaxed Napolitan female vocice. Also some violin and the groovy dubby bass. Track 10 has a very tribal vibe, with chanting from the mountain people of Papa New Guinea. The electronic sounds and heavy dub rhythms Gaudi adds, makes it to a very pleasant listening experience. The kind of music you might hear in a travel documentaries such as Lonely Planet etc. Track 11 is a short little track. Here we get a voice telling an Iranian poem, with beautiful flute and floating vibes in the background. Track 12 presents an instrument called theremin, which is an instrument that makes beautiful sound without even touching it. A voice tells us this, and we get a really beautiful, floating sound which is probably made by the theremin. We also get the dubby beats and groovy, deep bass. Track 13 has some slow, relaxing break beat rhythms and a beautiful female vocal, done by a girl called Meena from India. This track is definitely among the best tracks on this album. Incredibly beautiful, but I wish this track lasted a little longer. Track 15 has some very melancholic vocals from Sardinia. Also floating vibes and relaxed beats, but this one is not among my favourites on this album. The last track we get here has a very unusual sound, which is made of a so called fire organ. There is only one of this kind in the entire world, and it is really large (20m by 8m and 2 tons)! It makes sound energy out of the heat from flames. Don’t ask me how this works, but it sure sounds like something I would like to see… A bit too weird for some maybe! After the last track, we also get a hidden track if you wait a little, but I will not reveal what that sounds like in this review…

If you are into world music, you should definitely get this one right away. For the others out there, this album really has a lot of variation and some great dub. You also get a booklet with a lot of interesting reading. So check it out if you want some new musical influences from organic instruments and vocals mixed with electronic music.