There is lots of dub similar to this released these days. While none of it is particularly bad, most of it is pretty average, or better yet forgettable, rarely getting plays in my library after the first 2 or 3 listens. I never even heard of the artist so I was expecting a very average album, Tor.Ma in Dub’s new album was actually a very nice surprise. It is very heavy dub and very psychedelic which is a very good thing because the psychedelic vibes present make it more interesting. While not really innovative, I don’t think it was meant to be. It’s a perfect album for just chilling out, put it on repeat, lie down and forget about everything else. The breaks track at the end is kind of interesting as well.
After having it for over one month and listening to tons of different music everyday, I keep coming back to it very often. Good album that does its job just the way I like it.
Final grade: 7/10
Pros: Great overall mood
Cons: Nothing new or especially different about this album
Tracklist:
Label: Beats & Pieces
Country: Israel
Released: 15 Mar 2010
Genre: Psydub
Links:
Discogs
MySpace
Aug 3, 2010
Darkpsy Adventure
Last week I realized I know almost nothing about darkpsy, a genre that has always seemed interesting to me, but I never got around to actually checking it out. Well except for Blisargon Demogorgon, whose music I always liked and even that did not push me to delve deeper into the genre back in the day. I rarely listen to trance these days, some goa now and then, but I abandoned that genre a while back so checking darkpsy was sort of like going back to where I came from in my musical evolution.
I got three albums by three different artists: Tumult by Derango, Waves From Innerspace by Kindzadza and Da Budet by Psykovsky.
Derango – Tumult
First of I have to say Derango is a great name for a darkpsy project. Just perfect. That’s what got my attention in the first place. That, and also the fact that Derango always seemed to be one of the most praised projects of the darkpsy sphere. This album contains some of the most evil and twisted music I’ve ever heard. It makes you feel like you’re being dragged through a forest path in the middle of the night and the path is full of thorns, rocks and evil creatures that follow you the entire way. And it doesn’t end well. As you progress on your trip it just gets darker and more hopeless. Very, very climatic, I must admit.
Unlike in some cases the samples are perfectly blended in. If anything deserves the label dark psychedelic trance it is definitely this album. The only minus might be that none of the tracks really stand out, it’s a solid album, but no real “hits” on it. Maybe after more listens it will become clearer.
Rating: 4/5
Kindzadza – Waves From Innerspace
I chose Kindzadza because of its high popularity on Last.fm. For a darkpsy project of course.
Waves from Innerspace is definitely a ligher album than Tumult. The sounds are not as twisted, not so evil sounding. There is a bit more variation here though, beat pace changes quite often, and there are some melodies here and there. Overall though I have to say this is not as good as Derango’s album. It’s a good release, but I’m guessing this is pretty
much standard darkpsy. No fireworks, just solid dark psytrance.
Rating: 3.5/5
Psykovsky – Da Budet
For the last release I decided to follow Last.fm tags and checked what came up for the tag forest psytrance. Psykovsky wasn’t on top but the name caught my attention. I decided to get the second album because it is purely him here and on Debut he included several remixes and collaborations. This album is very varied. Even more variations in the beat pace than Kindzadza, really excellent voice samples and dark atmosphere is what makes it great in my opinion. At times it sounds chaotic, but in a good way, very keeps your attention to the music. Unlike with the previous two albums, here the tracks stand out a lot, each one having something specific to offer. In my opinion the deeper you get into the album the tracks get better and better. The Indian prayer (I guess it is a prayer) at the end of the final track was a really nice surprise.
Very interesting art work for this one, I like it a lot.
Rating: 4.5/5
After touching the tip of the darkpsy iceberg I have to say I am hooked! It is definitely not something I would listen to everyday, or at least not long periods of time, but it is definitely very good stuff. Possibly the darkest music I have ever listened to, hard to believe people put it under the same label as all the fluffy trance, not to mention all the pop Tiesto and company release these days. I would say that besides goa (new or old), this is the most interesting sub genre of psytrance. Fans of evil and twisted stuff should not miss this.
Blog and YouTube Channel News
Hello everyone! I'm considering changing the look and possibly the name of my blog too something different. The look seems kind of boring to me and the name not really accurate so I'll work on that tonight.
For those of you who follow my YouTube channel I think I owe some explanations. It is on hold once again. I won't be home for some time and over here my internet connection is extremely weak and unstable so any attempts at adding videos fail. I decided to stop fighting with it and just wait until I have a better connection once again and I'll go back to posting videos like back in the day and hopefully for a longer period this time around. Sorry for that.
For those of you who follow my YouTube channel I think I owe some explanations. It is on hold once again. I won't be home for some time and over here my internet connection is extremely weak and unstable so any attempts at adding videos fail. I decided to stop fighting with it and just wait until I have a better connection once again and I'll go back to posting videos like back in the day and hopefully for a longer period this time around. Sorry for that.
Jul 20, 2010
Artist Recommendation: Globular
Globular was recommended to me on Last.fm. From looking at his profile I expected just another artist starting out, nothing spectacular, but nothing bad either. Globular is on the plus side though, his music is really great, especially for fist releases. He is basically what you would get if you took Shpongle’s first album, mashed it together with Ott’s music and added a pinch of darkness.
I really like the dub vibe on both albums. It is not too dominant like it happens with Ott sometimes, it just blends in very nicely. Most of his tracks are pretty long, probably longer than psychill average. They develop slowly, get you in the mood and do their magic. It surely isn’t the most complicated music in the genre, it’s pretty basic, but the production quality and the mood created stand out. I really didn’t expect a project like this to have such great samples and overall quality, great job.
The minus might be that some might say they have heard this before. It is true Globular is nothing new, sound similar to artists that might have influenced them, but it is still a real treat to hear his music. Plus after just eight tracks released we can expect much more to come and then we can see what direction is his music going and see how it’s changing.
Quick reviews of the two releases:
Colours Of The Brainbow: Dark and mysterious is how I can describe it. Lots of Indian influences, great samples, perfect for just chilling out. 95%
In Formation: A little lighter sounding than “Colours…” The tracks are more uplifting, and psychedelic. Indian influences also present. 92%
You can download Colours Of The Brainbow for free and legally at Ektoplazm. Click to redirect.
A full length album is on the way as well. Globular is what psychedelic chillout and dub are all about and I can safely say he is the most promising new artist in these genres. Look out for news about this project here and spread the word about Globular!
Links:
Last.fm
Facebook
Youtube
MySpace
I really like the dub vibe on both albums. It is not too dominant like it happens with Ott sometimes, it just blends in very nicely. Most of his tracks are pretty long, probably longer than psychill average. They develop slowly, get you in the mood and do their magic. It surely isn’t the most complicated music in the genre, it’s pretty basic, but the production quality and the mood created stand out. I really didn’t expect a project like this to have such great samples and overall quality, great job.
The minus might be that some might say they have heard this before. It is true Globular is nothing new, sound similar to artists that might have influenced them, but it is still a real treat to hear his music. Plus after just eight tracks released we can expect much more to come and then we can see what direction is his music going and see how it’s changing.
Quick reviews of the two releases:
Colours Of The Brainbow: Dark and mysterious is how I can describe it. Lots of Indian influences, great samples, perfect for just chilling out. 95%
In Formation: A little lighter sounding than “Colours…” The tracks are more uplifting, and psychedelic. Indian influences also present. 92%
You can download Colours Of The Brainbow for free and legally at Ektoplazm. Click to redirect.
A full length album is on the way as well. Globular is what psychedelic chillout and dub are all about and I can safely say he is the most promising new artist in these genres. Look out for news about this project here and spread the word about Globular!
Links:
Last.fm
Youtube
MySpace
Jul 15, 2010
The Flashbulb – Arboreal
I’ve only heard the tip of the iceberg as far as artists put in the IDM genre go. Kettel, Secede, Wisp, Venetain Snares and that’s pretty much it (I know, no Aphex Twin, but I will try something very soon). The Flashbulb is not new to me, I have Reunion, which was a decent album, but pretty forgettable. I decided to give his new album a listen to see what else he has to offer.
The opening track is a very beautiful piece, one of the best on the album. It sets a good mood for the journey you’re about to begin. The second track is also excellent. I especially like the vocals, they blend in perfectly. As the album goes on it gets a bit more aggressive. The tracks are not really harsh or anything, but we drift away from the melancholic pieces from the beginning. And then starting with the seventh track we go back to the calmness the album began with.
The second part of the album is pretty standard chillout, nothing innovative or that I haven’t heard before, but it sounds just beautiful. I especially like the piano and guitar throughout the album, great to hear instruments in this kind of music. The second to last song titled Skeletons has a guitar section that took me by surprise, but it was an interesting moment. I am not too fond of the vocals on this one though, they are not necessarily bad but there is something annoying about them.
Overall I am really surprised with how good this album came out to be. It has very few weak points and overall it’s a very good and relaxing release. It’s also very listenable. The first time I gave it a listen I played it three times in a row and I could do it many times more. I guess it’s more ambient than what he used to make, but he should keep on the path he’s on now. While waiting for a next album I will probably give his older releases a try and let you know what I thought of them.
Final grade: 4.2
Pros: Piano and guitar use, atmosphere
Cons: Some vocals can be annoying
Tracklist:
1. Prayer
2. Izel
3. Out Of There
4. This Way (Live Edit)
5. Subconcious
6. Gaia
7. Times A Billion
8. Smile
9. Metamorph
10. Impulse
11. Dark Dub
12. Biocircuit
13. Raining Dub (Special Breaks Edit)
Label: Alphabasic
Country: United States
Released: 8 Jun 2010
Genre: Ambient, IDM, Chillout
Links:
Discogs
Official
The opening track is a very beautiful piece, one of the best on the album. It sets a good mood for the journey you’re about to begin. The second track is also excellent. I especially like the vocals, they blend in perfectly. As the album goes on it gets a bit more aggressive. The tracks are not really harsh or anything, but we drift away from the melancholic pieces from the beginning. And then starting with the seventh track we go back to the calmness the album began with.
The second part of the album is pretty standard chillout, nothing innovative or that I haven’t heard before, but it sounds just beautiful. I especially like the piano and guitar throughout the album, great to hear instruments in this kind of music. The second to last song titled Skeletons has a guitar section that took me by surprise, but it was an interesting moment. I am not too fond of the vocals on this one though, they are not necessarily bad but there is something annoying about them.
Overall I am really surprised with how good this album came out to be. It has very few weak points and overall it’s a very good and relaxing release. It’s also very listenable. The first time I gave it a listen I played it three times in a row and I could do it many times more. I guess it’s more ambient than what he used to make, but he should keep on the path he’s on now. While waiting for a next album I will probably give his older releases a try and let you know what I thought of them.
Final grade: 4.2
Pros: Piano and guitar use, atmosphere
Cons: Some vocals can be annoying
Tracklist:
1. Prayer
2. Izel
3. Out Of There
4. This Way (Live Edit)
5. Subconcious
6. Gaia
7. Times A Billion
8. Smile
9. Metamorph
10. Impulse
11. Dark Dub
12. Biocircuit
13. Raining Dub (Special Breaks Edit)
Label: Alphabasic
Country: United States
Released: 8 Jun 2010
Genre: Ambient, IDM, Chillout
Links:
Discogs
Official
Jul 14, 2010
New Solar Fields' album announced!
"Atmospheric in essence, almost beatless, the soundscapes invite the auditor to settle within and embark upon a profound floating experience. As in the reminiscence of a dream, Solar Fields subtly recalls Movements harmonies and melodies in a widely stretched manner with low resonating pads providing a soft texture upon which electrified and crunchy interferences glide."
Sounds good, I guess we can be expecting a more ambient version of Movements. Even better news is that another, regular album from him is also coming up "in a couple of months". Really great news, good to see such a great musician being so productive.
Read an interview with Solar Fields here.
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