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Technical Itch - Stronghold / Hidden Sound - 30-Aug-09 09:34 PM
This is TIs fourth single release on Moving Shadow. "Stronghold" has deep metallic, drifting sounds and stabs, together with a radio type vocal transmission and simple drums in the intro. This then breaks into a phat, semi-distorted bassline with live sounding breaks accompanied by hard hitting Amen edits. The Amen hits you harder later in the tune with more complex edits and a stab dragged up from somewhere in hell. "Hidden Sound" is more of a deep, phat roller with some severely processed kicks n snares and a vocal sample from our old friend Oscar. Deep, phat sub bass and old school hardcore type stabs provide the sounds for your head.

Various - Fill Your Head With Phantasm - 26-Jul-09 08:39 PM
"Fill Your Head With Phantasm" reads the title mission statement. Four tracks of pure trance, and a fifth strange bleepy minimalist thing. There are two things on this LP which exemplify some current trends in Trance. First off are the really long drum rolls, and second are the drum rolls with synth lines that build and build, pause, then build again. Its crazy that you can go through three stages or plateaus on one song. The first track "Ghosts on the Highway" by Mindfield implements both techniques masterfully. Starting out just right, groovin along then building rapidly really kickin it out briefly before sending you off on your way through more Goa madness. And thats just the first track.

Various - Trance Ambient - 26-Jul-09 08:27 PM
This is one of the compilations released by this blossoming Los Angeles label, Vox Lumania. An offshoot of rap giant, Priority Records, Vox Lumanias mission was to bring dance music in several forms to the masses of America, a bold yet very worthwhile endeavor.

Despite Trance Ambients rather misleading title the cuts on here are all quite good, half the music contained within is trance and the other half is more like trip-hop and mellow house with a dash of ambient dub. The artists are for the most part previously unheard of, although the rumor is that a number of well known artists appear under pseudonyms. The most impressive tracks are those by Native Budz, "Bruthas" being the compilations title track which does an nice job of living up to its claim of "sounding like marijuana," and contains some excellent and aggressive panning on the beats. "India" by Pandoras Box is a graceful, and charming mellow trip with some Asian influences. And of the trancier tracks, Zons "Chrome" is very nice, but Crystalspheres "Future Vision" is a load of bollocks. A bit of a mixed bag but the overall quality is better than average.

Sven Grünberg - Hingus - 02-Jun-09 04:37 PM
Sven Grunberg is well-known for his 1976 progressive rock album Mess. But, he would soon release two classic albums of ambient electronic exploration. "Breath" (Hingus) features three long tracks of Klaus Schulze and Jean-Michelle Jarre influenced space explorations. Sven tends to use Moog-like synths, and what sounds like a small church organ, to slowly build tension. Once in a while, I hear percussion instruments, but the music is rarely driven by percussion. Given that these tracks were composed between 1978-1980, the sound is "analog". Surprisingly, though, the music sounds quite new. It could have easily been composed today without sounding dated. Overall, this sort of music will appeal to fans of space-rock, Klaus Schulze, and electronica. Personally, I can only take small doses of ambient electronic music, but given how popular the genre is right now, this album is certainly one of the classics from the early days of electronica.

Sean Deason - Allegory & Metaphor - 02-Jun-09 03:57 PM
Sometimes the beat isnt what hypnotizes us. Detroit techno has proven that over and over again, especially in recent years with albums from Urban Tribe and Detroit Escalator Company. The latest attempt to "wrest control" from the dancefloor comes from Sean Deason, who has composed an amazing album of slowed tempos and alternate constructions for techno.

Gliding into one another almost as if they were slivers of a mix-CD, the first two songs ("Creation" and "Phunk") move abstracted beats in and around chords, which set the stage for the rest of the album. The next cut is arguably the most impressive: the title track "Allegory & Metaphor." Deason captures one of those elusive mid-range moods that are at the core of Detroit techno--the songs wailing melodies juxtaposed against hip-hop beats and wandering pianos. The title itself even suggests that techno is an ultimate reflection of lifes emotional spectrum.

The next cut is "2030 AD." With a title like that you know Deason has something momentous in mind: Is it a hymn to the famous techno landmark--or is he already looking forward to life as a sexagenarian? Or maybe theres both: this subtle track seems to be wistful and forward-thinking simultaneously.

Just about every cut continues or supports the albums ethereal themes, and the only possible "exception" is actually more of an extension: "Zig," featuring Claude Young. Approaching a kind of Detroit/London/Vienna edginess, a raw and elastic bassline is an immediate and contrasting clue that opens "Zig" up for more aggressive mixes. This version never quite achieves this, but you can hear echoes of an intense techno battery throughout (Perhaps theres a mixable twin? Can we expect "Zag" on a Claude Young album?).

One can easily trace Deasons artistic development on this release--especially when "Psybadek One" and "Hiphoptrak" are cued up. Besides having one of the coolest "Amen Break" cut-ups since the theme to Pi, the former starts connecting all of the different threads and approaches Deason has experimented with before on Razorback (!K7) and Eleven Phases (Sublime). Now hes coalesced them all into a distinctive sound, we should all keep an eye on Deason and the rest of Detroits so-called "third wave." The coming months and year are sure to be theirs.

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