Hydro Generator - Lucid Dream

[DeathPosture]

Hydro Generator – Lucid Dream

 

 

Artist: Hydro Generator (Japan)

Title: Lucid Dream

Format: CD (jewel case)

Label: ELF Music (Japan)

Cat. #: ELFCD 008

Distribution: QQS/Wirikuta

Date: 20 April 2005

 

Track listing:

 

01. 05’54” Psychological Depiction

02. 08’00” Philosophy

03. 07’38” Evolution

04. 07’24” Future Scape

05. 08’34” Lucid Dream

06. 08’33” Dream Provider

07. 08’01” Karma (Circulation of the Orbit)

08. 08’11” Dawn 2005

09. 08’16” Cosmo (New Edit Rmx)

 

Review:

 

When a dreamer becomes aware, or wakes up inside a dream, they are said to be 'lucid dreaming'…

 

Hydro Generator is DJ Toru (Toru Furuyama) from Nagoya, Japan… He’s been a DJ for seven years and has been a producer for three years and has gained quite a rep on the Japanese scene… He has released tracks on USTA, Alkaloid and had a track on the brilliant ELF Music compilation After Ten Years Of Japanese Trance released in 2004… I really liked that track and generally I’ve been impressed with what ELF has released – so my hopes for this, Toru’s debut album, are high…

 

Let me take you thru the tracks…

 

#01: Psychological Depiction [100-120 BPM]

The intro-track is kinda weird… It starts out as shamanistic downbeat but soon evolves into more experimental, dubby territory... Later on it’s electro-chill, breakz and even some deranged noise-arrangement and shpongle beat-box… To be honest, I don’t really understand this track and tend to skip it…

 

#02: Philosophy [142 BPM]

“Then was it really worth it? Was what worth it? Was massacring all those people worth being separated from your love for the rest of your life? You mean, was an instant of purity worth a lifetime lie? Please explain to me, where's the "purity" that you couldn't live without in 52 people who are no longer on this planet because they met you and Mallory? What's so fucking pure about that? How do you do it?” First the intro will trick you, thinking it’s another weird experimental tune… But only after a couple of seconds, the much anticipated bassline is revealed… Toru then starts adding stuff into the psy-pot… First a subtle melody, then another one – and soon the track is in full effect… Flaring, catchy synth melodies and spacy FX… Dark pounding night-trance – with uplifting morning element too… The Natural Born Killers quote is well-fitting and the build-up/climax part is fucking awesome… Sweet track!

 

#03: Evolution [145 BPM]

“Evolution. It has enabled us to evolve from a single-celled organism into the dominant species on the planet. This process is slow…” Ultra-sharp R2D2esque robotic noises try to shred your ear-drums in the intro to this track… And if they don’t succeed the bassline that is introduced straight after takes a stab at it too… This is more fast-moving, deeply psychedelic, highly melodic psytrance… Again we’re treated to rapid changed in pace – constant evolution (ahem!)… The X-Men 2 sample is kinda overused, but besides from that this track is brilliant…

 

#04: Future Scape [145 BPM]

Future Scape – where melodies rule! Pounding bassline, percussion with breakz and synth galore… Again a sweet take-off, though it would have prolonged my pleasure if it was even longer… But screw it, there are so many of them here you’ll never run out… Sweet little twirling synth-lines jump around playfully whilst Toru keeps applying filters… Oh man, the last couple of minutes are pure old-school goa bliss… Genki-tastic!

 

#05: Lucid Dream [147 BPM]

The title track starts off brutally… A very noisy guitar and gritty industrial FX… Yikes! I’m not a lucid dreamer, but if it’s anything like this – I want in! This is hectic, multilayered, deeply psychedelic, darkish psy-trance… It reminds me a lot of the Rinkadink style – and I fucking love Rinkadink! This is nothing short of excellent!

 

#06: Dream Provider [145 BPM]

“Never again wake up!” More dreaming here… We’re still in the faster end of the BPM-scale and its still very much night… The bassline is harder than ever and Toru pulls out a bunch of J.M.Jarre-like melodies and chanting monks to kick the track in the right direction… I’m not sure it works completely for the first half of the track though… I like the three previous tracks better – this is still good, but it’s not until the last couple of minutes that all hell brakes loose and the melodies run free… When they do it sounds awesome, but it took too damn long to get there… Ok track!

 

#07: Karma (Circulation of the Orbit) [147 BPM]

Beautiful orchestral intro with something that sounds like pan-pipes – and before you know it the track is in full throttle full-on country… This is more on the morning side of things – very fast, and very melodic… For a while it’s a pretty generic track - and that’s a shame really… Well, it’s very uplifting and for what it’s worth it’s… Well, full-on! It’s good, but not wasabi-good… Ok track!

 

#08: Dawn 2005 [143 BPM]

And now it’s dawn time… Time to pay homage to the rising sun… And what better way to do that, than with a nice uplifting morning tune… The base of the track is made up by tribal percussion, floating melodic pads and a subtle bassline… The bass disappears for a while, but once it’s back it has regained strength and sounds pretty damn good blasting away alongside the tribal drums… This sounds like an old-school ethno-ambient track – only with bass and drums… And that’s pretty cool! Tasty!

 

#09: Cosmo (New Edit Rmx) [145 BPM]

And we remain in morning territory for the last track, though this has a more pounding nature… Long floating organic pads – with joyous melodies… Come to think of it, this is pretty cheesy – but it’s morning what can you do?

 

As you can tell, I enjoyed the first part of this album the most… The rest isn’t bad; it’s just not as good as the first part – IMO… It’s all about taste, and I’m sure fans of melodic morning-trance will appreciate the second half of the album immensely… It’s a journey really – going from darker night-trance to lighter, more uplifting morning trance… In general this album is packed to the rim with build-ups/breaks and climaxes are everywhere… I’ve kinda missed that in modern psy-trance, and not since the Filteria album Sky Input have I enjoyed so many climaxes… So hats off to DJ Toru for bringing that back into the scene – great production indeed!

 

This is my third ELF Music release and they’ve all been above average standard – pretty good statistics! To conclude, this album is good – and I especially like the first half which more than justifies a purchase… Fans of high-quality Japanese psytrance will definitely like this album… I did! Enjoy!

 

Favourites: 2, 3(!), 4(!), 5(!), 8

 

DeathPosture

 

External links:

Hydro Generator: http://www.hydrogenerator.net/

ELF Music: http://www.elf-music.net

Wirikuta: http://tinyurl.com/5r4rw

 

And more online shops soon…

[DeathPosture]

It's been released now:

 

Psyshop: http://www.psyshop.com/shop/CDs/elf/elf1cd008.html

Saiko Sounds: http://www.saikosounds.com/english/display...ase.asp?id=4790

Beatspace: http://www.beatspace.com/dettagli/dettaglio.asp?id=2001

 

Check it out - it's well worth it! =D

 

DP

[PKS]

Hydro Generator is Toru Furuyama from Japan. He has previously released tracks on labels such as Alkaloid, USTA and Elf Music. He is now out with his debut album on the Japanese psytrance label Elf Music, who celebrates ten years of Japanese trance these days.

 

Hydro Generator "Lucid Dream" Elf Music 2005 (ELFCD008)

 

1. Psychological Depiction

2. Philosophy

3. Evolution

4. Future Scape

5. Lucid Dream

6. Dream Provider

7. Karma – Circulation Of The Orbit

8. Dawn 2005

9. Cosmo Rmx

 

First out is a chilled track, with some weird almost industrial sounds. Pretty weird, but interesting start on the album. We also get some tribal influences here. Then we jump over in a night time mood in track two. Here we get a rolling, hard bass line, with mostly dark sounds jumping in and out of the track. We also get a voice sample and some scary floating vibes in there. Something for the night. Track 3 is a pumping track. This one goes the dark direction too. Quite massive track. This one is a little bit lighter, but still it is quite dark. Something for the stumpers. The melody we get here is a little bit simple in my opinion. It reminds me a little bit of the Chemical Crew style. Track 4 is a bit more floating. Quite trippy and melodic, which should fit better in the morning. The melody reminds me a little bit of old school goa trance.

 

Track 5 starts with a crazy guitar sound, before we get thrown into a massive night time drift again, with some voice samples and quite industrial sounds above. A rolling track for those who likes it dark. Not among my favourites, mainly because I find it a bit nagging. Track 6 is a stumping, quite melodic track. Again, I find the melody a bit simple, but this one is better. It sounds quite clubby, but might be something for the morning. Track 7 is among the fastest tracks on this album (147bpm). This track is pretty good. A massive, rolling track with some beautiful floating vibes. A full on trippy track, perfect for sunrise. Track 8 is my favourite track on this album. This one goes slower, with a groovy, stumping bass line. Almost like progressive trance, but a bit more full on. Nice one. The last track on this album isn’t bad either. Quite melodic, groovy morning vibes, with some mystic, floating sounds in between.

 

In my opinion, the second half of this album is definately the best. This album doesn’t sound like all other darkpsy out there, but tries out more melodies, which is nice. The cover art is also pretty good. So if you are curious about some new Japanese trance, this might be worth checking out.

PKS

 

More reviews at:

 

http://www.trance.net

[Jikkenteki]

Hydro Generator - Lucid Dream

ELF Music ELFCD 008 2005

 

01 - Psychological Depiction

02 - Philosophy

03 - Evolution

04 - Future Scape

05 - Lucid Dream

06 - Dream Provider

07 - Karma - Circulation of the Orbit

08 - Dawn 2005

09 - Cosmo Rmx

 

Japan's Elf Music returns with yet another release from the up and coming crop of Japanese artists, this time featuring Hydro Generator. While I actually received this CD several weeks ago, I waited on writing this review because on first listen I suspected this is one of those albums that change for the listener with time. Simply put, I suspected that in a week I would either be completely bored of or totally be in love with it. In hind site my suspicion was correct. My first impression was that of a solid, modern full-on-ish album. Over time however, this album has slowly been revealing added layers of depth and sophistication. Lets take a quick tour.

 

Psychological Depiction starts us off wonderfully. This is a freestyle-ish slow brooding, breaky, heavily compressed bass monster that reminds me of the old days when labels like Matsuri, Blueroom, and company where willing to give us something outside of the standard four to the floor. Hell, it is even DJ unfriendly with its changing BPMs and shifting moods as. Me likely, gimme more.... Philosophy is up next and is a classic example of the type of current psy-trance I like, that being the soaring slowly while still pounding aggressively down in the lower regions variety. Lots of synth lines swirl in and out while fly-by sounds are given lots of breathing room with long reverbs and delays.

 

Evolution follows and while many of the samples here have been used before, it doesn't really bother me. The bass and kick give us a typical, but not too in-your-face style full on base upon with more lovely synth lines float in and out. Hydro Generator knows how to balance dirty leads with clear glassy clean ones well and at times here I am even reminded of some Astral Projections better moments in days of yore. Moving on, we have Future Scape. Hydro Generator's style is pretty well established by now. Solid full on bass and kick with an ever evolving soundscape of dirty leads, clean bits and long fly bys sound effects. As with previous tracks, Future Scape isn't afraid to let a lead soar long and slowly rather than drop straight into the typical 16th note craziness so common now (although there is plenty of that too), nor is he afraid to let a part evolve slowly. Balance seems to be the name of the game here, and Hydro Generator is doing it well.

 

Lucid Dream drops in pretty hard after a few reverbed bangs and crashes. Even better, the bass line changes up rather than simply chugging along in the same pattern all the time. This one has a little less melodic content than the previous tracks, in fact it is a hair mono-tone at times, but it storms along fairly well regardless. I suspect this tracks is probably better on the dance floor than it is for the home listener. It's not bad, but it's just not quiet as sonic-ly deep as the previous tracks. Dream Provider is our next stop and we are back on track. Hard kick, bouncing bass and spread out, evolving melodic content. Lots of calm trailing echoes dripping off quiet understated leads here. Good stuff.

 

The beginning of Karma makes me realize that while some aspects of Hydro Generator's sounds are solidly planted in "modern full on" (namely the kick and bass use), much of his choice of synth sounds and leads is actually refreshing old (if that makes any sense). It’s also not always crystal clear simply because it doesn't need to be. Some of the synth sounds and percussion samples here are, when listened to in isolation, rather noisy and perhaps a bit cluttered, yet taken as a whole with the flute samples and track development, the track is anything but noisy or cluttered. In fact it is wonderfully spacious and somehow "breaths" even in its most busy sections. Further proof that good musical ideas will always win out over "good" production. Dawn 2005 starts off continuing Karma's vaguely ethnic vibe, with time with some nice percussion work. The bass line slides in and slowly builds up to a frenzy rather than just storming in straight out of the gate. More flute work slides around in this track providing the early "melodic" content in a very eerie and harmonically ambiguous sort of way. Again, the development isn't rushed and some nice understated synth lines finally work their way in just at the right moment. On paper this track should probably be rather boring, but it just seems to work.

 

Last up we have Cosmo RMX which brings the vibe of the whole album up to full boil for the climax. Basically take all the elements I talked about before and bring them to their full potential for this track which I can only describe as a relaxed, full on stormer that makes the feet stomp wildly, but the head soar freely and slowly. If Hydro Generator keeps making tracks like this, he has a very bright future ahead of him.

 

All and all Hydro Generator has given us an excellent album here. It is by no means perfect, but its much more to my liking than a lot of the music out there now-a-days. While some people have called this album a little dark, I somehow can't see the "darkness" they speak off. I find this album to be deceptively calm at first, but at the same time equal parts refreshingly raw, aggressive, beautifully calm, and soaring. Elf Music has been on a roll with their last three releases and while I have loved everything they have released since Phi's pumping modern hard goa work out debut, Hydro Generator is the CD I find myself reaching for the most when I simply want to listen to some good music. Highly recommended 8/10

[Basilisk]

I like it.

 

(killer review d00d)

[Maden]

I have taken a first listen to this amazing artist name. Hydro Generator make me think to a machine off water, as i love the liquid sound in the psychedelick trance, i was pretty exited to listen this release ... there was some chance i like, yes.

 

There is some brilliant track on this album but there is some bad track to my point off vue ... i disagree with Deathposture who prefer the first part but join PKS for thinking the best part is the second half off the lucid dream .

The whole album, exept the first track "Psychological Depiction" (which i don't like for introducing) are very full on oriented, very dark bassline, and we sometimes swim deeply in a alienatic nightmare, the full on side bored me a lot in the 04 "Future Scape" and in this track, the goa trance melodies in the last part off the track are totally uggly and sound as childish and very bad cheesy track. ... Anyway, the melodies are here, but it look like strange as the melodies are shy and don't succeed to be installed, they come and disapear and that give some minimal passage where we could have a great melody with the complete kit rythmic.

 

Lot off bad point for the 5 first track i think but hopefully i was really happy in listening to the 06 "Dream Provider" track, i missed something like that in the begining off the album. A good melodic side, not too cheesy, not too repetitive, and more linearity in the structure of the track ... more trippy again is 07 "Karma (Circulation of the Orbit)" with more synthetic line, and a very good job in the building of the ideas and the melodic assembly ... very trippy rythmic kit.

 

And the surprise was 08 "Dawn 2005" atmospheric, oriental flute and emotion with some voice at background very nice track but with a no impressive end ...

 

Some very good think in this release anyway, but i dunno if its worth the buy ... 7/10.

[ELF music]

The Web site address of HYDRO GENERATOR changed.

 

New URL is here.

http://www.hydro-generator.com

 

URL in the back of the album is not being used now.

Please acknowledge it.

 

[yerg]

I finally had chance to listen to this outstanding album. And i am very glad i did, Hydro Generator is areal full-on freak.

 

Tracks like Future Scape and Lucid Dream are my favourite, they completely reflect my taste in full-on psy-trance. The melodies, the sample programming and the rhythm are masterfully crafted.

 

Thenk-you HydroGenerator for this epic album. :posford: :drama: