Ka-Sol - Fairytale

[SkeletonMan]

 

Label: Suntrip Records

Catalog#: SUNCD05

Format: Jewelcase

Country: Belgium

Released: 12 May 2006

 

Tracklist:

1 Tecmorning (8:58)

2 Blogz (8:54)

3 Shlumpen (8:09)

4 Skreno (7:37)

5 Back Basic (Goa Mix) (7:57)

6 Matrix Remix (8:57)

7 No Return (9:09)

8 Sticky Web (7:58)

9 White Magic (8:04)

10 The Light (8:04)

 

This surely is the noisiest release from Suntrip so far, even if it gets gradually more accessible through the album.

 

While the first 3 tracks are less devastatingly dark than, say, the Sanantonic Audio release or Derango's Tumult, they're still pretty fucking far from easy listening! Perhaps coinable as some sort of commercial forest psytrance, this is multi-layered, complex, attacking psytrance. And hardly with any theme safely to return to, you gotta love complex psytrance compositions to get the full benefits of this part of the album. On the other hand, if you are able to go all in, this part may reward you generously. Even I can tell it's done in a clever way.

 

To me, however, this album doesn't really open up until track 4 Skreno. A catchy bass line shoots this track off building gradually until midways when a high pitch lead takes over the stage. Again, you gotta go ALL in to get this, or it may come across as cheesy. Ka-Sol even applies modulation. Well, to my dismay modulation is actually used throughout the album ruining a couple of moments for me. But if you don't mind modulation, this may just as well add a star in your book.

 

Anyway, by now things have taken a turn for the better. Back Basis (Goa mix) is a mean party-stomper embracing the New Skool Goa sound Suntrip is famous for. Think Filteria less 50 peaks. A strong track for the floors.

 

And so it seems the 2nd part of the album sticks closer to the Suntrip tradition. Hearing No Return you can hardly tell it's the same album you set out with! Melodic and trippy, this track retains its momentum, until 5:24 when Ka-Sol unleases his powers. This has GOT to set the floors on fire! Sticky Web follows up with another head-on psychedelic monster. Again, think Filteria, but without the relentness. Sweet, sweet track.

 

Hm, what is one to conclude here? There's good and bad this time around. On the down side this album seems somewhat incoherent. It sets off with border forest trance and ends with New Skool goa. On the plus side this means more variety. In any case, Ka-Sol represents a more challenging type of psytrance and followers of Suntrip may need to adjust their ears to get the full impact of this release. I know I am. The Suntrip trademarks are still here, though. No-bullshit, head-on dancemusic for the height of the night, 2006 production with a twist of Goa fascination, and a hell of a lotta testoterone.

 

Still, if you wanna find out what the hype around Suntrip is about, I suggest to check the Apsara compilation first. This also contains an excellent Ka-Sol track.

 

One last comment. I DO like the cover picture, but what's up with the white squares? A friend said he thought it looked like a photoshop error. I'm inclined to agree with him. It looks weird. But I like that Suntrip tries something new. Not overly happy with the execution though.

Edited May 21, 2006 by DeathPosture

[DeathPosture]

Ka-Sol - Fairytale

 

 

Hi-res cover: front

 

Artist: Ka-Sol (Sweden)

Title: Fairytale

Format: CD (jewel case)

Label: Suntrip Records (France/Belgium)

Cat. #: SUNCD05

Distribution: Arabesque

Date: 12 May 2006

 

Track listing:

 

01. 07’46” Tecmorning

02. 07’42” Blogz

03. 07’39” Schlumpen

04. 08’12” Skreno

05. 08’38” Back Basic (Goa Mix)

06. 07’16” Matrix (Remix)

07. 07’12” No Return

08. 07’13” Sticky Web

09. 08’26” White Magic

10. 08’47” The Light

 

Review:

 

From psychedelic tooth grind to fluffy melodies in 10 easy steps…

 

Once again the Psynews.org spawned label Suntrip Records is out with a genre-defining, daring album. Fairytale is the long awaited debut album from Swedish sound magician Christer ‘Lulle’ Lundström. Previously Ka-Sol had more members, but for the last couple of years it has been Christer on his own. He has been in the biz since the late 1990ies though – and has produced psychedelic music in a number of outfits including Lulle, Alien Hand Syndrome and Exakt Abstrakt.

 

He has also been a frequent guest on Schlabbaduerst compilations, both under the Ka-Sol guise but also as a member of the following constellations: Church Of The New Age Hippie Disco Shit, Doda Hundens Kyrka, Lardfish and Signal. All of which has produced extremely underground, maximal, forest-friendly psytrance. So yeah, this is a guy that doesn’t give a shit about psytrance conventions – he has always gone to great lengths to produce unique music – and pretty much everything I’ve heard from his hands have been relentless, extremely powerful, unconventional and totally stellar! So hell yeah, I’ve been looking forward to this album longer than I can remember… It’s a fairytale!

 

Let me take you thru the tracks…

 

#01: Tecmorning [145 BPM]

Forget about boring, lengthy and pretentious intros… Ka-Sol is grinding teeth right from the first second… As the title suggests, we’re deep in teKknoid goa trance territory… The edges are rugged, the rhythms are rugged and pretty much everything is as anti-fluff as it can get… This is 100% pure, unfiltered, untreated, underground goa trance… Reminds me of Snake Thing – Shango in all its maximal glory. Hypnotic and hectic – and maybe even a tad too hectic a few times… But generally I like it. The last couple of minutes are pure goose-bump moments and they kick the shit out of anything that dares to label itself as full-on… This is fuller-on! Brilliant!

 

#02: Blogz [145 BPM]

The distinct old school melodic ventures from the previous track continue in this track… And old school is just what this is – it’s very reminiscent of 1997/1998 melodic trance – though with a very distinct industrial/rugged edge… The Ka-Sol style, you know! Halfway thru, the track changes appearance into a more upbeat, stomping nature with distinct tribal rhythms… The psychedelia is flowing freely and there’s acid pouring out of every conceivable orifice now… Trippy stuff! Wonderful!

 

#03: Schlumpen [144 BPM]

This track was made in cahoots with the previous Ka-Sol members Jens Kvisler & Mickael Svensson. Despite the lower BPM this track seems even faster than the previous ones… What we get here is wall-to-wall, maximal psytrance… Packed to the rim with flaring, distorted acid-lines and demented melodies tweaked beyond recognition… The sound spectre is bursting and this track will put your hi-fi to the ultimate test… Is beyond hardcore – its frekkin’ massive and so jaw-droppingly intense! Again the hectic nature of the track is almost too much for me to cope with – it drains all my energy reserves! Yikes!

 

#04: Skreno [142 BPM]

Skreno continues the old-school approach to maximal, melodic, modern goa trance (and that’s the first time I’ve ever used ‘old-school’ and ‘modern’ in the same sentence!). After some nerve wrecking building and building, this track eventually explodes in a meteor shower of raging, full-power, relentless melodies… It’s a cornucopia of multilayered, interweaved, Pleiadians-like full-on melodies… And in that perspective, this is reminiscent of another Suntrip heavy weight – yes, you guessed it: Filteria! Extremely uplifting – and sadly also a tad over the top… Yeah, I’m sorry to say so, but to me, those demented, high-pitched melodic stabs are too much of a good thing… The rest of the track rocks though.

 

#05: Back Basic (Goa Mix) [145 BPM]

As the title suggests, Ka-Sol takes things back to basics now – goa style! That’s right, this is full-blown goa trance just like on all those wonderful releases from the mid nineties… Ka-Sol is paying homage to the pioneering labels such as TIP, Trust In Trance, Blue Room, Matsuri, Fairway, Symbiosis, Dragonfly, etc… This is quintessentially goa trance as it sounded 10 years ago, but with 2006 production qualities. It’s rich, deep and totally soaked in modulation, flaring 303s, galloping bass lines, etc… Nothing new under the sun, but DAMN, not since Filteria have I experienced such a trip down memory lane… Brilliant trippy and immensely melodic stuff!

 

#06: Matrix (Remix) [144 BPM]

“Now we’re not in the past or the present anymore. This is the future. Don’t worry about a thing!” The next track also relies heavily on old-school characteristics… The construction, the flow and the basic feel are all very ‘classic goa trance like’… This track seems even more multilayered than the previous one, and the melodies are more sharply defined… Lulle tweaks those knobs like a madman, and there’s some serious synth exploration going on here… Filtered acid-lines, travelling melodies and smoking hot trance passages… This is what Astral Projection should have sounded like in 2006! Lovely!

 

#07: No Return [146 BPM]

The next track contains some of the same flaring, high-pitched, somewhat demented and deranged melodies we heard earlier in the album. This time they are not set in a darkish, brutal, industrial like track, but in a much lighter, uplifting piece of a goa-like trance… Tons of melody lines are tripping over each other, spiralling out of the speakers doing their best to lull the listener into trance… Sadly it doesn’t really seem to work, and I’ve never thought I’d hear myself say this about a Ka-Sol track, but this is too cheesy for my tastes… Double yikes!

 

#08: Sticky Web [142 BPM]

Let’s raise the bar a little after the somewhat disappointing last track – luckily the next one is better! It’s still very melodic and extremely uplifting, but this time there’s a distinct edge that suits me much better… And even if the BPM is among the lowest of the album, this track seems like one of the fastest – strange! Again the Pleiadians (and evidentially Filteria) link is evident, but this is far from being a clone… This is Ka-Sol sending a friendly nod to his peers of the past… The acid is still flowing freely and those 303s are really getting a workout now – Green Nuns style! As hypnotizing as it is mesmerizing! Sweeet!

 

#09: White Magic [145 BPM]

Up next is another extremely party-minded show tune! Yeah, this is more unpretentious melodic goa trance reminiscent of the days long forgotten… The layers are too many to count and the bassline sounds like it’s lifted directly out of a 1995 track. So yeah, it’s hardly uncharted, but who gives a fuck when it’s this good? The intensity level is unsurpassed, and unlike some of the previous tracks the high-pitched melodies doesn’t bother me one bit here – they help raise the bar and lift this track into another dimension! Trippy!

 

#10: The Light [146 BPM]

“And way off in the distance a pin point of white light, and it was so subtle it was coming towards me and I didn’t know it. Until I was completely embellished in that light. And then I realized the same type of light was coming for me. I really was light, I wasn’t flesh and bones.” The final track starts with a very AP-like sample about UFOs and the track itself continues down the same path... This is extremely uplifting stuff – luckily it never crosses over into complete cheesy fluff. It’s the last track of the album and surely it’s meant to be enjoyed as the first rays of sunlight travel across the dancefloor and meets the ecstatic dancers who’ve been going on all night… This is the burst of energy needed to dance another couple of hours… Somehow I feel the track looses some of its bite in the last couple of minutes, so I prefer the first half… Not a bad track though – and you’ll need to catch your breath after this compulsive explosion of energy. Phew!

 

So, did this album live up to the expectations? Well, yes… for the most part! The first three tracks are pretty much what I hoped for – raging mad, relentless Ka-Sol mayhem… The next couple of tracks are somewhat of a hybrid between the I-don’t-give-a-fuck-attitude of recent Ka-Sol tracks mixed with more full-on, uplifting elements – but those extremely intense moments riddled with high-pitched and deranged melodies never really grabbed me… Those less-good moments are scarce though, and the vast majority kicks royal ass! Luckily the last half of the album saves the day with its nostalgic pure goa trance tracks… That style was somewhat of a surprise to me, but in retrospect I don’t think I could have coped with an entire album in the hardcore Schlabbaduerst style. So, as always, diversity rules!

 

As always with Ka-Sol stuff, the level of energy Lulle puts forth in the tracks are unsurpassed in our scene – and this kind of music should really be mandatory for all those upcoming, so-called full-on artists… *This* is how you create energetic, trance-inducing music! Let that be a lesson!

 

Flow wise I’m not sure how well this album works. I think I would have preferred it in reverse order, having the most hardcore tracks finish the album. Also, the white-out mistake on the pressing plant is an eyesore to John Bauer’s wonderful artwork. The retail copies were not supposed to have the big white squares, but I believe Suntrip Records will issue high-res replacements on their website for people to print themselves. But all that is nit-picking – this is truly a marvellous album with more than enough fantastic tracks to validate a purchase. Suntrip fans should order immediately as should fans of nostalgic goa trance propelled well into the 21st. century. Another benchmark album from Suntrip – and their best release since the Apsara compilation. Go get it!… Enjoy!

 

Favourites: 1(!), 2(!), 5(!), 6, 8, 9

 

DeathPosture

 

External links:

Suntrip Records: http://www.suntriprecords.com

Discogs: http://www.discogs.com/release/673798

Saiko Sounds: http://tinyurl.com/pofoe

Beatspace: http://tinyurl.com/r28yw

Discobole: http://tinyurl.com/rvdvx

Psyshop: http://tinyurl.com/meyv2

Ajuca: http://tinyurl.com/ro478

Chaos: http://tinyurl.com/lwfgz

Play: http://tinyurl.com/mslcj (free shipping worldwide!)

[Shimmer]

Man, this release is fascinating...have been waiting for a long time for a Ka-Sol release...

 

Pretty much agree with you Posture...those first 3 tracks were outstanding...sort of gave you a taste and then took it away from you...

 

But the rest of the album stands up on its own...almost feels like a double album in that regard.

 

Gotta mention the "energy"...man-o-man, the energy that is put into all the tracks is amazing. A lot of sweat...blood...and tears, went into each track.

 

Well done!!! A great purchase!!!

[Charlie]

I feel the album has a nice sound to it but has no real purpose and no direction. I liken it to a pretty horse gone mad, running around aimlessly, sometimes looking elegant, but ultimately needing to be put down.

 

It's interesting that Deathposture says "Forget about boring, lengthy and pretentious intros… Ka-Sol is grinding teeth right from the first second…" as it highlights how different aspects of a song are interpreted in different ways. My personal opinion on the lack of intros is that it stinks of lazyness. I love slow-building and lengthy intros, they're easily one of my favourite parts to a track, they set the atmosphere and lead you, by the hand, down the garden path and through the hole in the wall.

 

To conclude, whilst I initially thought Fairytale deserving of a 7/10, repeated play has revealed it only worthy of a 6/10.

 

Average at best.

[-l-Warmech-l-]

i dont like psytrance....i like uppsala trance!

 

psytrance is tracks :1,2,4,5,6,7,8,9,10

 

uppsala trance is track : 3

 

anyway the cd is ages beyond every release i ever heard the last 10 years in this genre and everyone who like psytrance and fullon must have it.

 

for the ones ,if there are any, who like uppsala trance wait for the schlab ka sol cd...it will be a massacre muahahaha:))))

[Sawfly]

I like this one, it's not a masterpiece, but it's good I also think that this should've started more fluffy and ended up with the darker tracks.

 

8/10

[Jon Cocco]

I liken it to a pretty horse gone mad, running around aimlessly, sometimes looking elegant, but ultimately needing to be put down.

 

My personal opinion on the lack of intros is that it stinks of lazyness. I love slow-building and lengthy intros, they're easily one of my favourite parts to a track, they set the atmosphere and lead you, by the hand, down the garden path and through the hole in the wall.

 

533004[/snapback]

These are impressions (Not a review) so I'm gonna keep it short (er) than a review and longer than most impressions because I had more thoughts here. Surprisingly, what I quoted above is how I felt during several samples. The tracks in general seem to become more interesting toward the middle and on. The samples on all previous Suntrip albums (Filteria, Apsara, and Khetzal) have been arresting and unquestionably good enough for me to buy (and review). For the first time however, I'm not engaged, (as much) and I loved Ka-Sol's "Scraqp" song on the Apsara comp. I also really enjoyed the dark, repetitive in a catchy-way greatness of songs like Electric Kool-Aid (?) by Ka-Sol.

 

Some songs on this album seem better in pieces than the sum of their parts...basically many ideas scattered all over the place without sounding really congruent...that good flow, that evolving, developing (in an intriguing way) structure seems less here. Also, the direction here does NOT sound as strong or clear here as previous Suntrip releases. I think that is because these tracks were taken from random times, not originally intended to be a main album as much as it's a compilation of exclusive Ka-Sol tracks...so there's not exactly a flowing story or an obvious or conscious connection from one track to the next. I think a good idea would have been to start off light and develop into darkness or the darker to the darkest tracks (before a peaceful final) or something more along those lines.

 

Good news is that there seems to be a good amount of quality here. I instantly find attractive the overall sound and melodies of track 4, Skreno. It's catchy and the first song on the album to engage me. And a strong, CATCHY melody on Matrix Rmx (and sample) really gets my interest. Sticky Web is another song that YES, I can tell when something sounds good...especially when you it after a track that almost puts me to sleep like No Return.

 

There seems to definitely be some very good songs on here and some not-so-good ones either. In a year that's been disappointing so far, this album does sound unique and certaintly stands out, no matter how popular or unpopular it turns out to be...it just doesn't sound up to the level of great albums like Sky Imput, Apsara, Khetzal, or even Heliopolis...and I say "even" because the recent Filteria Heliopolis album (while very well done and having some awesome songs) wasn't as fresh and innovative to me as the orignal, the Apsara comp, or Khetzal. Maybe some of this will change when I hear the entire album, after all...

 

This is not a review..

 

EDIT: UPDATE: MY REVIEW IS ON PAGE 2.

[DeathPosture]

I loved Ka-Sol's "Scraqp" song on the Apsara comp. I also really enjoyed the dark, catchy greatness of songs like Electric Kool-Aid by Ka-Sol.

535966[/snapback]

There's a track by Ka-Sol called Electric Kool-Aid?

[Sawfly]

There's one track (Tracy Snakecharmer) on Electric Kool-Aid compilation

[Chis]

I have to agree with Charlie here. I've bought this - Suntrip are deffo worth supporting - but damn it's a hard nut to crack. The first few tracks are just the sort of unmelodic, dark psytrance that I try to avoid. Because lets be honest, Cybernetika does a much better job at that genre. What I've heard of the rest of the album seems pretty similar though, so this isn't going to get much further play from me.

[RAH]

wow... i just got this today. Bought it after the track on sanatonic audio and this is great... i reallly liked Sticky web...and that's coming from someone that does not like goa (0.o)

 

very nice stuff

[Daze]

By the way... howcome this is not available in Wirikuta?

[DeathPosture]

By the way... howcome this is not available in Wirikuta?

537984[/snapback]

Prolly because Arabesque is handling the distribution... Same reason why it's not available @ Trance-Shop.com

[Daze]

Prolly because Arabesque is handling the distribution... Same reason why it's not available @ Trance-Shop.com

537986[/snapback]

Oh okay... a shame - this totally screwed up my otherwise so well planned coming order

[DeathPosture]

Oh okay... a shame - this totally screwed up my otherwise so well planned coming order

537990[/snapback]

Get it @ Play.com who has free shipping! (Yeah, I know it's says 'awaiting stock' but you did say 'coming order')

[Shaft]

Get it @ Play.com who has free shipping!

538005[/snapback]

Are you sure you don't work for Play.com?

[agia_igoumeni]

not one dry eye

[Otto Matta]

You know how sometimes you have really high expectations for a new album, and then when you get it those expectations were so impossibly high that you ended up not enjoying the album? It's happened to me a few times. This is one case where I had very high expectations for an album, and not only were they met, but they were completely destroyed.

 

I've been a fan of Christer Ka-Sol for some time now, through various tracks on various compilations from Schlabbaduerst and Stone Age. He very quickly became my favorite psy artist because his sound just really spoke to me on so many levels, and this without having released an album. When I heard a couple years ago that there were plans to release a double-album on Schlab, I freaked. Since then I've waited as patiently as possible, and apparently plans changed somewhat, because one of those two albums has been released on Suntrip, with another one planned for Schlab in the near future. And I can't think of a better label for Christer than either Schlab or Suntrip, since they're both dedicated to releasing only the best psy music , and doing so honestly and with passion for the music.

 

The album hits the ground running, and doesn't stop its relentless, awe-inspiring, totally unique, hard-hitting, dark forest pace until the album is over. It's hard to pick a favorite track on here because they're all so good - which I have to say is an EXTREMELY rare feat from my experience. This takes the Derango album, chops it up into little bite-size pieces, and snacks on it for a late-night munchie, saving one piece to pick its teeth when it's done snacking. I don't mean it's meaner or darker or anything like that; it's just far and away superior music.

 

Thanks you, thank you, thank you, Christer, for this magic. And to think there will soon be another album that's even more hard-hitting makes me need to buy all new underwear.

 

(And about the printing error - the white boxes instead of the fade - I'm glad. Because this album, already a collector's item in my opinion, is now that much moreso.)

 

P.S. Hat's off to Tim Schuldt for an amazing job of mastering, and to Anoebis and Mars for setting this monster free.

[Time_Trap]

This takes the Derango album, chops it up into little bite-size pieces, and snacks on it for a late-night munchie, saving one piece to pick its teeth when it's done snacking. I don't mean it's meaner or darker or anything like that; it's just far and away superior music.

 

hmm.. i disagree

[Otto Matta]

hmm.. i disagree

539682[/snapback]

(One good track on the Derango album.)

[Sawfly]

(One good track on the Derango album.)

539731[/snapback]

Nine marvelous tracks on Tumult

[Time_Trap]

(One good track on the Derango album.)

539731[/snapback]

many good tracks imo. and all are decent..

and I also like the Kasol album but i think at some parts it's not that interesting.. mainly speaking for the melodic ones, I dont like some melodies so much...

 

not one dry eye

you mean you cried? tears of joy or sadness?

[Frontier Psychiatrist]

I made a huge mistake and heard that album while trying to take a short nap.

Big mistake. It sent me into nightmares and i woke up shivering. Which is good, atleast it provokes some feelings. Not that i'm interested in those.

Shift Delete.

[Chis]

This is my new favorite. Nothing compares. IFO has been dethroned. 'Nuff said.

You have gone tone deaf. There are far less melodies on this album, most not very memorable at all. It could never hope to even think about coming close to touching IFO. In fact, I'm convinced this will never be done (unless Jannis adds more breakdowns and lots more keychanges to the next Filteria album )

 

However I will concede that Fairytale IS certainly a damn sight more listenable than Derango - Tumult, which to be honest is nothing more than 4/4 kicks, one-note basslines, and lots of shitty sound effects. Pants!

[Otto Matta]

This is my new favorite. Nothing compares. IFO has been dethroned. 'Nuff said.

You have gone tone deaf. There are far less melodies on this album, most not very memorable at all. It could never hope to even think about coming close to touching IFO. In fact, I'm convinced this will never be done (unless Jannis adds more breakdowns and lots more keychanges to the next Filteria album )

 

However I will concede that Fairytale IS certainly a damn sight more listenable than Derango - Tumult, which to be honest is nothing more than 4/4 kicks, one-note basslines, and lots of shitty sound effects. Pants!

540996[/snapback]

You're right. I was exaggerating. I was just enthusiastic to finally have a Ka-Sol album. But it's still very, very good. Thanks for the reality check.