Space Tribe - Collaborations

Not having been much of a Space Tribe fan, I must admit it wasn't until I saw Space Tribe on the Boom 2004 DVD that he caught my attention. Seing him perform "Twitch!!!" on this amazing DVD, on the other hand, was an eye opener. Wow!! Was Olli about to fly his crowd to Mars, or what?!? If you haven't seen this DVD yet, get it and catch some festival memorabilia from ... well, it could be this earth but it looks almost inter-planetarian. And when Olli drives a crowd balearic? Fucking aye. This guy rests up there with only a few other full-on Masters.

It's not worth here going thru the trax one by one. It's done already and better than I can do, but let me just mention my favourite on the album, track 3 The Acid Test where Olli is collaborating with Electric Universe's Boris Blenn. I want these guys to marry and never make music with anyone else. Tracks like these is why anyone writing off full-on needs to think twice before doing so. Yeah, this track lives up to the formula, but tell me this doesn't make you move! The break at 5:52. If this doesn't make you rock, I don't think anything can.

Anyone reading my reviews will know I am not big on full-on. But when a full-on album rocks, the force of this type of trance is impossible to ignore for anyone even only slightly open-minded. Collaborations is this type of full-on. Clever, talented, varied, interesting. And, above anything else, head on dancing from start to finish. If you are serious about writing off full-on, at least, check Olli with friends before you take the final decision. This could be the ultimate test. ;o)

Best of Byron Bay collaborations…

Everyone even remotely associated with the wonderful world of psychedelic trance knows about Space Tribe… The sonic sound wizard Olli Wisdom has been in the game since day one – his first album Sonic Mandala was released almost nine years ago back in 1996… And Olli is still very much active – he’s released one album each year since his debut… Collaborations is his 9th album, and as the title hints, this is a collection of tracks made in collaboration with friends and co-conspirators…

I’m a big fan of the Space Tribe sound, and especially the older stuff coming out of the Rainforest Space Base studios in Mullumbimby, Australia really kicked ass… This time it’s not Spirit Zone releasing SP-albums - this is the debut-release of Space Tribe Music… It was released back in November 2004 amidst limited attention, but I think it deserves a proper review. So here we go:

Let me take you thru the tracks…

#01: Space Tribe / GMS – 3rd Eye (Spacebase Mix) [142 BPM]
This is the remix to the ‘Third Eye’ track released on the 2003 Third Eye Records compilation Digital Eyes… I haven’t heard the original, so I can’t tell you how much was changed – what I can tell you though, is that this sounds way better than the usual GMS formulated trance that usually floods the market… The flute-ridden retro-intro is cool and the overall organic groove is pretty cool… Floating, building melodies and ripping acid-lines… Nothing revolutionary, but for a neo full-on track this is pretty damn nice!

#02: Space Tribe / CPU – Single Dose [145 BPM]
This track was already released on the 2004 3DVision compilation The Sound Syndicate… This is my first encounter with it however, so I can’t tell if it differs from the alternate version which was released as a collaboration-track under the moniker CP Tribe… Samy Guediche was pretty successful with his 2003 debut album Central Processing Unit, and this track is pretty much in the same vein – intelligent neo full-on avoiding the obvious stand-still pitfalls… CPU’s sound is pretty close to newer Space Tribe, so the guys balance each other out – creating a nice full on track with a tasty groove…

#03: Space Tribe / Electric Universe – The Acid Test [145 BPM]
This is probably the most well-known Space Tribe collaboration track… Released back in 2002, this track enjoyed massive support throughout the trance-communities worldwide… And how can you go wrong when dinosaurs Boris & Olli sit down together to create magic? And yeah, despite its age, I still like this track… Multi-riffed, complex melodies and fun bits and pieces… This is how I like my full-on to sound… I don’t care if it’s old; it’s still a stellar track!

#04: Space Tribe / Psywalker – Twitch!!! [145 BPM]
“Are you a dreamer?” Yeah, I’m a dreamer… On this track Olli collaborates with Digital Psionics label boss Luke Psywalker… It’s a great combo – we get Olli’s light, fluffy, melodic full on mated with the harder, wicked input from Psywalker… So this track is among the darkest here – riddled with flaring acid-lines and a deeper bass than usual… Kick-ass stuff!

#05: Space Tribe / Safi Connection – Dinner with God (Remix) [145 BPM]
“What if you thought a drug could sit you at the table with God?” The original to this remix was released on the 2004 Spliff Music compilation Digination's vol 01… As most full-on compilations, I haven’t heard it, so I can’t comment on what was changed in this remix. But Mishel Bitton & Olli has created a decent full-on track here… Pretty simple, but very effective… Uplifting, melodic, well-produced full-on… ;o/

#06: Space Tribe / CPU – Wacko [148 BPM]
Second collaboration with Samy Guediche/Central Processing Unit… Although this track is faster than the first one, it’s a tad cheesier and pretty formulated for the most part… However, there are good parts that prevent me from lighting the cheese beacon… I actually like the extremely psychedelic twirling acid-parts here… The rest is so-so… Decent track!

#07: Space Tribe / GMS – Alternate Future [148 BPM]
Another Bansi, Riktam & Olli collaboration… This was previously released on the 2003 Crystal Matrix compilation Awakening Soul and on the 2003 Spun Records compilation Pressure… A remix of it was also featured on Space Tribe’s last album Time S-T-R-E-T-C-H… And frankly – this track has been released enough now… As you’ve probably already guessed, this is fast-paced in-yer-face formulated full-on… A pretty standard bassline + synths + fluffy melodies… The only thing that stands out here is the climax part which is pretty entertaining… I would have much preferred the Space Tribe & Psywalker collaboration ‘Gathering of the Tribes’ instead of this…

#08: Space Tribe / Psywalker – Tall Poppy Syndrome [148 BPM]
Speak of the devil… Or rather, the combined forces of Luke & Olli… Ahh, this is much better… Again, Luke brings forth his dark approach to melodic full-on psy-trance… I will never get tired of the unique Digital Psionics sound – and when it’s mated with the classic sound of Space Tribe, you cannot go wrong… This is great!

#09: Space Tribe / X-Dream – Turn On/Turn Off [110 BPM]
Now this is interesting… Two psy-trance mammoths cooperating on a downtempo tune… You can really hear Jan Müller & Marcus C. Maichel’s thick influences on this deep, eerie, industrial-sounding intro with metallic hisses and cut beats ‘n breakz… Yeah, this is very different from the rest of the album, but a very interesting track nonetheless… More reminiscent of the gritty on X-Dream’s Irritant album, than of their newest We Interface… Frankly I can’t hear much of Olli’s input here though!? A very dark, gritty industrial, experimental track … I like it! =D

Right, as you may have noticed the majority of these tracks were already released in some form – so this is more like a compilation of Space Tribe collaboration tracks… Purists will most likely criticise that, but I for one, welcome an opportunity to own all these tracks without buying stacks of compilations… And you do get a handful of new, mostly brilliant full-on tracks + one very interesting, experimental X-Dream downbeat creation…

I’m not the biggest full-on buff around, but with a few exceptions, Olli have picked some of the very best neo full-on producers and the result is indeed nice… I wouldn’t go as far as calling this album an essential purchase, but fans of intelligent full-on should definitely check it out…

If I had to nitpick I would have included some of the older collaborations with Simon Posford and Avi Algranati on this album also. I mean – when The Acid Test is featured here, why not go all the way an include some of the older collaboration-tracks? Also, the obvious +50 bpm mistakes on the back-cover could’ve easily been avoided by an extra proof-reading before going into press… We do however get a handy DJ case insert – and an overall nice album… Looking forward to future releases from Space Tribe Music… Enjoy!

Favourites: 3(!!), 4(!!), 5, 8(!!), 9

Space Tribe�c. Up until recently it seemed like Olli Wisdom was about the only keeper of the old school flame. Not to say that his sound never progressed, as he did indeed take the better elements of the full on sound, but he always maintained that wonderful dirty squelchy old school vibe that we know and love from Space Tribe. This new release, the first from Space Tribe Music and released in Japan through Solstice, features a nice collection of Olli Wisdom�fs more recent collaborations with other artists. There is a lot of work with the current full on crowd, so I suspect this release will be a lot more �gcurrent�h than some of Space Tribe�fs work. So without further ado, lets jump in and see just what we have here.

3rd Eye (Spacebase Mix) sees Olli team up with GMS. While I have been a bit harsh on GMS in the past, but I have since made my peace with them, realizing their clones were giving them more of a bad name than they themselves were and thus I am able to objectively look at this track and say I like it. It�fs got the typical GMS bass line, but it�fs held a bit back in the background, which enables the synths to do their thing. We have a nice contrast between some cleaner exotic sounding synths and a nice mixture of Olli�fs dirty melodic leads and GMS�f dirty grinding leads. All in all the Olli squelch factor helps kick the GMS sound up several notches into a nice thumper of a track here. Full on, yes, but good full on.

Next up Olli teams up with a more recent full on master, CPU, to bring us Single Dose. In this case,, CPU does seem to overpower the Space Tribe sound a bit, but they do compliment each other well, even if CPU does seem to have had stronger influence on this track, especially in the bass and percussion areas.
Continuing on, we have a match up with Electric Universe for The Acid Test, which is truly the highlight of the album.. This track is a couple years old now and a meeting of two great old school masters, but this track outshines the newer, supposedly better (in some people�fs minds) tracks by far. Massive leads, super powerful stomping, squelching galore�c It might be old, but it will wipe the floor up with 99% of the new, supposedly �gkilla�h tracks out there. Great stuff here.

Twitch!!!!, made with Psywalker is next on the hit list, and again we have another thumping track here. Kind of full on, but more old school to my ears. Again, we have the squelchy grrr-ing leads, balanced with more recent full on sounding dirty atonal zippy noises. As is common in a lot of Space Tribe tracks, there is a lot of sampling going on here. Some people find some of his sample work to be a bit over the top, but so far there has been nothing too extreme on this release. This track becomes perhaps a hair too �gtypical full on�h for me, but its still fairly good

Next, Olli meets Safi Connection for Dinner With God. We get tricked into thinking there is a big intro coming, only to be suddenly thrown right into the track. If there is one lead sound I have a hopeless weakness for, it is squelchy leads with a strong �gvocal�h quality to them. This track has the psycho robot desperately trying to communicate with us sound that I love, so I�fm totally into this track. The change ups are pretty nice too. Again, pretty full on, but not surprising considering the collaborators, and its good full on so...

Wacko teams us back up with CPU. A typical Space Tribe sample opens things up for us. We have some CPU whirr-ing noises and then the bass kicks in. For a change it�fs not the usual full on fair here and I dare say a bit groovy. We get a nice change up with some congas and the bass changing around a bit to be busier, but not loose the groove. We get a nice total silence break and then some more CPU percussion, filter work before sliding back into the stomp. This is quality stuff here and probably my second favorite track after The Acid Test.

The second team up with GMS has a hard act to follow here with Alternate Future. The intro is cool and moody, but it unfortunately building into a bass line than just seems too bright for the mood the intro set. This track doesn�ft really stand out too much for me. The break goes back to the intro mood and gives us some good stuff for the last two minutes, but its nothing groundbreaking really.

Tall Poppy Syndrome teams us up with Psywalker again. Start out dark and distorted and drop into some thumping buzzy full on with out much fuss. This is another winner that makes up for the previous filler track. Very full on again, but it�fs just dirtier and better than the usual bright. squeaky clean, polished but all to often boring full on we get these days. Sometimes dirty is good, and this is a great example of that. Good beats, good sounds, good development�c. I know a track�fs good if I end up sitting here bouncing to it and not writing anything and this is the third track on this CD to do that for me. Great stuff.

Last up Space Tribe meets the ever morphing psy-legends X-Dream for Turn On/Turn Off. This one drops out of the 140 bpm range to the 110 area. Even more interesting, it�fs a breaks track!!!! Here we have a lot of the Irritant era X-Dream industrial distorted sounds going on with breaks action. As a fan of the long dead psy-breaks movement, I dig this a lot. That said, it�fs so far away from what Olli usually does, it�fs really difficult to imagine what he did on this track. A good track is only because it�fs so different.

The end result - Given the collaborators Space Tribe worked with here, the heavy full on vibe of the CD is no surprise at all. Having said that, there are 3 or 4 excellent tracks here, together with a bunch of other solid effort tracks. Only one track really struck me as a throw away track, which is a lot better than many CDs I have purchased recently.. All and all a nice mixture of the new and the old, with a total WTF moment at the end.