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Future Engineers - Technetium EP - 25-Aug-06 08:07 AM
One of the weakest releases from the great duo, showing very unusual lack of inspiration.
In my opinion, only SOURCE CODE saves it from total failure, although best suitable for mix than home-listening.
The trademark bass and atmospheric loops are there but not that special quality vibe running through tracks like MERGE, a sublime one, much of the same period or a bit earlier.
Here, all is reduced to simplistic figures, repeated again & again.
The other tracks are just too poor and cartoonish to be noticed.

Various - The Adventures Of Astral Pirates - 20-Aug-06 08:40 AM
At least five marvellous tracks can be found on this compilation from upcoming and promising label Camino Blue.

First the two Electrosoul System tunes which are among their best to date, still by now :

MYSTERIA is an introspective mover, offering mellow mystical vibes, soft trancey pressure with glittering "mirror patterns" and busy drums.
One for the melancholy souls eager to watch beyond their blue moments ...
DREAMS can be that radical change of mood, a tribute to positive exalting feelings and, truly, an underground hit, battered in almost every sessions by Future Engineers in 2004/2005 (for instance opening their "Cosmic Show" on the now asleep Good Looking site). It combines all the finest of both so called "old" and "new" schools into a strong fusion, balanced to perfection :
profound choirs, bright keys playing infinite melodies and the distinctive groove of a tasty bass.
To sum up :
funky, trancey and spacey all in one ...
That track is pure enlightenment !!

Let there be now even more gladness and gratitude as it's time to welcome MARSLAYERS from P.B.K., the german blessed duo !
... Magics of layers (how appropriate is the title !), sweetness of the harmonic progression, alchemy of rhythm, cleverly contrasting with the dreamlike soundscape by use of sharp snare and big drums, always percussive despite their weightlessness ...
Such tracks help having faith in d'n'b ...
... And, oh yes, it has been remixed by Modemellow but it's absolutely nothing in comparison.

Talking about Modemellow, the next great title to mention is PHAIDON NIGHTS, a minimalistic kind of jazzstep piece, built of fast pace, dreamy piano, catchy bass and a lot of smokey late nights in open air ...

And last but not least comes BLUEDAWN by Skeema.
Here we have a patient one, focusing more on light touches of grey (and blue of course !)than colourful sketches.
Quite progressive, it takes the path of discretion and fluidity of watercolour ...
It takes more a listening to reveal. But is worth enjoying.

The other tracks can be described as decent (although for me rather patchy and sometimes empty of personality)to the exception of LIFECYCLE from Pete Rann and ONE TOUCH from Intersidereal which are big mistakes to avoid, especially ONE TOUCH, so disappointing compared to their meaningful stuff (EARTH IN SIGHT, VAULT 13 for instance, for those in the know).

Subwave - Bad Ambitions / Digital Symphony - 20-Aug-06 08:38 AM
Two massive stormers of equal power on the same piece of vinyl ...
Aren't we lucky ?!

A menacing layer sets the scene for BAD AMBITION, quickly turning into a fast thrill-ride made of two complementary sections. At first with the malignant bass and driving steps stressed by the sound of gloomy chords overwhelming the mid range under their repeated resonance.
Then it is replaced by swirling tinklings in stereo motion while the drums get a bit subdued, yet keeping the mood steady as well as the tempo.
Eventually the two episods merge before all things fall together into one single train of filtered kicks, as if the track was reabsorbing itself !!
Fat job.

DIGITAL SYMPHONY is more epic indeed and sized to make the dullest crowd upset ...
After some efficient atmospherics (a short echoing phrase of keyboard combined with melodramatic strings)and a sampled voice giving its own definition of "d'n'b business", cool things are on ...
Drums off, a thick bassline slowly rises, born from a pair of riffs, one becoming the pulse for the other, before blowing into a kind of heavy metal robotic hook with snares full on !!
In fact the wrath and nearly hate that track displays overrun those of BAD AMBITION.
As if it couldn't be enough, it is increased by regular blasts of seismic organ tone which halo fills the high and mid registers like dark fireworks ...
Who could resist ?!
Beware, Pendulum's fans, stay clear !
This is the all mighty darkstep current at its purest and back with a vengeance ...!!

Voyager (3) - Beatnik / Apollo - 26-Jan-06 02:01 AM
If there is a record from this not so well known producer (not as he should be) still to be amazed by, this is the one !!!
If you don't have it, search it by any means !!!!!
And if music can really have an influence on life, then, for me, there is before and after the "Apollo" tune ...
I remember, tear in my eyes, nearly falling on my knee when I listened this kind of cosmic musical prayer for the very first time.
This track is not only an underground anthem of the GLO events circa 1997/98.
It's much much more than that.

A sweet yet solemn melody of choirs emerges from limbo of discreet fx, slowly opening "Apollo" in the low register, bringing the impression of some religious ceremonial.
Introduced by a floating cymbal, a little piano motif in minor tonality gets in, repeated from one bar to another, becoming a key-element that will punctuate the whole track.
Soon, sublime orchestral strings take place in the high range like bows of unknown light under a starry sky along with a deep new layer rising for a celestial dawn and being incidentaly like a sound test for your loudspeakers !!!
There VOYAGER takes advantage of the intermixed resonances to add other elements and effects :
a vocal extension from the first choirs that will interact with the piano, that one being amplified through a pinch of delay.
With another generous touch of cymbal, the full drums enter for a passionate rush, dauntless and haunting.
The first part sees the epic strings surrounding the kind of dialogue between the choirs and the piano which plays a second little pattern, like an echo in adjunction to each appearence of the first.
...And then, after the first 3 minutes of the track, this instrumental glee suddenly finds itself pushed into one of the more dazzling moments of d'n'b short history ...
As if an invisible hand was turning a page of the book of Universe, all frequencies turn to high register, a plain-chant of transcendent chorus coming out of the throats of unknown celestial beings invades the sonic space, now wide open on musical images of the infinite, causing cinematic illusion of zero gravity, "suspended in time" as Mc CONRAD & DRS once dropped over it ...
At that point, the piano signal has muted, firing flashes after flashes of intense emotion, like distress calls that would have cross millions of light years to reach us.
Well... Peak of the drama isn't far now ...
Just wait and see for the lonesome murdering melody of symphonic strings dropping their hymn to space age heroes, past, present and future
...and you'll have an idea of what once made my eyes wet.
To say it's essential doesn't pay half the homage this heavenly emotional elevator deserves.
It's more than music as it tells ultimately a story of beauty, hope and sacrifice.

Not to be forgotten, on the other side is "Beatnik", a solid jazzstep affair.
The first sound to be heard is an interrogative key pattern, waiting for something, soon sustained by loops of Rhodes chords, with delay on in the low register and arranged in continuous "walkin'" style in the medium, reinforcing the latent blue mood in the air while a percussive snare drum begins to beat, intertwined with tambourine's quiverings and occasional other drums.
When the full rhythm comes in, fierce and wild, there is no compromise : the first bitterness gives way to angry urgency as a dramatic string layer soars up briefly in the high register.
Soon the bass joins the game with its jumpin' figures.
It's not until the translucent filtered piano chords glittering in low range like heavy drops, that we hear the first quiet notes of this tormented tune in which a disillusion vibe predominates.
Further sound to soften a bit the precise breaks and rugged syncopes of the breathless drums' flow (litteraly delivering a "wall" of flying cymbals !!!) is the soprano sax.
Born from light touches of short notes, we don't wait long before it blooms into more lyrical phrases over a muted bass too, now sounding warm and jazzy ...
And so on... The soaring yet desperate string returns in the break till the wavering first mood worms its way again, leaving the end open, between doubt and tranquillity...
Captivating !!!!

Future Engineers - The Silence / Shattered - 22-Jan-06 01:19 PM
The very first release from the ENGINEERS... and a strong masterpiece, not to be neglected.

"The Silence" sees the duo paying attention to both simplicity and complexity, on complementary levels.
Simplicity through the gentle melodic progression, using a luminous layer as main tone, going from a modulation to another with a kind of large "symphonic" effect.
Complexity because this track also shows a characteristic that made their former trademark : the versatility of drumline, full of subtle breaks.
Serious debut, shining with the beauty of evidence...

On the flip, a more mystical mood is to discover with "Shattered", a track close to their further "Cerulean seas" which, although very gorgeous, isn't as haunting in my opinion.
Fluid waves of filtered choirs and layers set a spacey environment in all registers, merging together into a global tone, very pure and polished.
When listening to it, I imagine a seascape at twilight, empty of human presence...
...The breeze is a bit cold...Stars begin to reveal themselves above the clouds...
No doubt this tune carries a sense of blues within its tonality, its muffled steady bass or the discreet melancholy motif appearing in the second half.
White noise fx end this musical gem with mystery, showing another distinctive element of F.E.'s early style you can hear too in "Fragments", "Cerulean seas", "Life support" and "Timeshift".
A precious tune, crystalline and opaque at the same time, combining strenght with true sonic poetry.

Two timeless classics...

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