Drexciya ‎– Neptune's Lair

The last great Drexciya LP. Mixing longer-form pieces with shorter interludes and electro bombs. Standouts include the vibrant, instantly memorable synth riff of Andrean Sand Dunes, the incessant punch of Funk Release Valve, and the organic pulsations of Oxyplasmic Gyration Beam. But really the whole album is worthwhile. It's a real shame that the following two Tresor Drexciya releases leant heavily on long long LONG tracks that really don't develop enough to justify their length. Sometimes tracks only need to be 2-3 minutes and Neptune's Lair - probably the best Drexciya album - proves that. A thoroughly essential melodic electro techno classic.

What can i say that already hasnt been said? Its drexciya, buy it!

The music is incredibly beautiful. However, I would strongly recommend to buy the CD, not the vinyl. I have both CD and vinyl and the mastering on the vinyl is a mere shadow of what you can hear on the CD. The fragile balance of the sounds on the CD is lost on the vinyl, the lower frequencies sound undifferentiated, and the percussions just don´t kick. The difference is astounding. The same is true, alas, for the "Hydro doorways" 12", which does also feature tracks from the CD version of "Neptune´s lair". For me as a drexciya lover and vinyl junkie this is an especially sad fact. I don´t know about the quality of the repress but I presume that the mastering will be the same.

Together with Grava 4 this must be the greatest Drexciya album. It features more, rather short, tracks than the other albums. Due to these short tracks Drexciya allowed themselves to expose a great diversity in electronic sounds to the world. It turned out great!

Neptune's Lair begins with a very dark intro, a good way to get in the mood. The first real track is 'Andreaen Sand Dunes' a great deep magical track to start things off. The same can be said about the last track 'C To The Power Of X + C To The Power Of X = MM = Unknown'. The rest of the album contains funky tracks like 'Funk Release Valve', crazy aquatic interdimensional tracks like 'Draining of the Tanks', warm soulfull tracks like 'Organic Hydropoly Spores' and dancefloor killers like 'Bottom Feeders'. Words really can't describe the greatness and quality of this album, it will only become clear if you actually listen to it. If you're NOT familiar with the Drexciyan sound, this album is very good way to start things off and get a taste of the great world that Drexciya represents.

The above review says it all. For me this LP is the most confident Drexciya release I have heard - the melodies just seem to pour out of them. "Andreaen Sand Dunes" - a smooth moment of simplistic beauty. "Organic Hydropoly Spores" - what a feeling! "Surface Terrestrial Colonisation" - an electro-funk workout of breathtaking originality. "O to the power of..." - closes the album by bringing you into new realms. Really a monumental album of electro! What a legacy Drexciya created!

classical record. a masterpiece. starts off with the very mysterious "temple of dos de aqua" and then kicking the record off with "species of the pod", a progressive trip into the deepest realms of space. the third track, "andreaen sand dunes" shows what drexciya does best, incredibly beautiful harmonies smashed togheter with a perfect rhythm. this is astonishing. i doubt any track touches me as this one do. "running out of space" is another example of the genious minds behind drexciya. perfect harmonies, very gentle but still mysterious in some way. nr 5 is another one of my favourites, "habitat 'o' negative". the intro takes you further into the deepest ocean, sinking deeper and deeper, and then blasting off with a very plain beat accompined by a heavy and funky bassline. pure genious. "universal element", "drifting into a time of no future" and "polymono plexusgel" are all great tracks aswell. what hits me is that drexciya are really good of showing us what they really want. the aquatic space-feeling is definetly there, and i love it. "surface terrestrial colonication" is another example of what drexciya can accomplish and adds to the myth that drexciya record all their tracks live. this is a very simple track, verse and chorus are perfectly blended and on top of this a incredibly good synthlead. this is music. this is genious. "funk realease valve" comes next, a fast funky piece of electro with warm sounds and as always a simple beat. great. "organic hydropoly spores" and "draining of the tanks" are two of the oddest tracks, but they add to the aquatic space-feeling in a excellent way. "devil ray cave" and "fusion flats" are both very rhythmic and odd tracks and there is not much to say except that drexciya's genious minds can be better expressed then this way. "triangular hydrogen strain" is exactly that way. a playful and rhythmic masterpiece, the melodies somehow remind me of videogames but with the usual drexciya-twist to it. very nice. "oxyplasmic gyration beam" is a weird piece of music, but the drexciya feeling is very real. beautiful harmonies combined with a very odd beat. "quantum hydrodynamics" is another example of the drexciya brilliance. warm and creepy sounds climb up your spine, and the aquafeeling doest come closer. "lost vessel" breaks the atmosphere. a distinct and funky track with a wicked melodie and warm pads. this shows you that electrofunk is so brilliant with the easy yet clever harmonies. "bottom feeders" is a weird and simple track, leaving a feeling of emptiness burried in the ocean. the japanese arcadefeeling in "jazzy fluids" is awesome in a ironic way, and still they manage to show us that you shouldnt mess with there brilliance in music. "c to the power of x + c to the power of x = mm = unknown" raps it all up. and in what a way. the emptiness combined with the totally huge melodies is scary. it isnt human to make something this good. pure brilliance.

so, what more to say? buy this record. its worth all the money in the world. this is great.