Nostrum – Chicc! E.P.

in agreement with mr servo here this seems a relatively unknown nostrum tune, more bouncy that his usual hard kick tunes with their death/funeral choir excellent melodies this is an acid builder that just adds more and more as the track goes on fuckin classsssssic

this tune goes well, infaact was made for to be mixed with hot music by lost in case and if mixed and fuckied about with right u can have 15 odd minutes of nothing but pure energised acid with not a silly melody in sight................

u can defo hear nostrum's nostrum in this but thi is a v different take on his usual pneumatic drill drums of the earlier days ie monestary/brainchild etc but its the relentless acid that does it for me with the bouncy basssline..........................in regard to the bouncy kick we, ofcourse have the likes of brilliant too

maybe as it wasnt released on timeunlimited it didnt get the exposure it needed, but lets face it any PROPER hardtrancehead kno's of all these labels so cant really be excusing that! think of the digging and searching we do to get cenobites/IST's etc we all know off bonzai/no respect/edm/lepetitprice/eve/bosca etc etc etc

as usual with berndt's releases dont even bother with the B side filler/s its all about the main track...........i will tho say that his B sides are mixeable in their own way for warm up sets if mixed quick or break to break, they aint shi-t....they just aint that goood and it appears that he makes a letal tune and then just throws a cpl of whatevers 2 min jobs on the flip...........hmmmmmmmmmmmmm

LEGEND tho, made summa my fave hardtrance tracks of all time long live mr augustini's memory as he obv dont make G/O/O/D tunes FOR NEARLY 20 YRS NOW!

rip

Due to the presence of Chicc!, I think this record is an underrated gem.

While Dig Ayca isn't bad, it's nothing special. Just a mellow acid bouncer that fits somewhere between Nostrum's typical acid trance and more plodding acid house.

Tone is even less interesting to me. I would never play this track in a set. It's sort of minimalistic acid techno, with a very dissonant (and to my ears, annoying) synth, which sounds like it comes from a cheesy rip-off of an early 80s Depeche Mode song (and for the record, I love Depeche Mode, so please don't think I'm trying to slag them). Very mediocre. 3/5 if I'm being generous, 2/5 if I'm honest (and again, I LOVE Nostrum's work on the whole, so it almost pains me to say that).

Chicc!, by contrast, is a great and surprising bit of acid work, and more than compensates for the mediocrity of the other two tracks. The piece straddles the line between typical Noom style acid trance (think Cores, early Nuclear Hyde, etc.) and energetic acid techno. It opens with acid lines that cycle around like some massive mechanical engine. After a couple minutes of that, the percussion kicks in, and we're on our way.

Admittedly, the piece never tries to do too much, and isn't all that complex. Nevertheless, it achieves what it sets out to do amazingly well. The track continues to add layers of acid and intensity as it goes along, resulting in a brilliant, close-your-eyes-and-rock-out experience, even before the major breakdown.

At around six and half minutes, the track cleans up and quickly leads into a series of formal breakdowns. In the final breakdown of this series, a saucy 303 starts to whip around, followed by a reintroduction of the cymbals and hats. And then, when you weren't even ready for it (despite a slight percussion build), the track just springs to life again, quickly burying you in all its acid glory.

As such, Chicc! deserves a 5/5 rating all the way, and at least to my ears and brain, represents a fairly unique track for Nostrum. Plus, it's over ten minutes long, so there's no shortage of mix-in/mix-out possibilities here.

Peace!