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Artist: Syb Unity Nettwerk Title: The Space Puppy EP Label: Flying Rhino Records Date: March, 1997 1. Space Puppy 2. Limited Access to the Files 3. Morphogenesis 4. Untitled Kris Kylven is to old school goa trance what Dennis Rodman was to basketball in the 90's. This is not to say that Kris dated Madonna or donned a wedding dress. I'm not saying it didn't happen, but I'm not not saying it either. You would have to ask him. Kris is Mr. UX the undisputed king of dark goa trance. Powerful, melodic, and intensely chaotic. I don't know why he has this project because it sounds the same. His style is unmistakable. Maybe label problems, like the Etnica guys had. I dunno. There are 3 versions of this according to Discogs and I shall review the maxi CD with 4 (actually 3 tracks; why even put that nonsense at the end and call it a track?) Space Puppy- There it is, the Kylven UX synth that stutter steps across the sky. Pure old school goa, but wait...did the track just pick up speed imperceptibly? That lead twists like leaves in a strong breeze as it emerges from someplace very dark. There is a key change as more leads fill the sky and damnit it's getting delightfully crowded in here. If you're not twirling to this, someone amputated your legs whilst you were sleeping. Maybe it was....him!!!! Limited Access to the Files- "My experience is but a small part in this great plan. The Venutians are here among us with great love...believe me there are many more to come. Their purpose is to help us in this world crisis. Their influence is very great as you will see. You're going to be able to meet these people, to talk with them, as well as take part in a trip to their planet. Believe me for I know it is so." The bubbling effects in the beginning set the alien tone as he wastes no time in getting down to business. Here he goes with that synth that is thicker than a pastrami on rye from Mulberry St. I guess you guys won't get that. How about, thicker than your girlfriends midsection? Regardless, more leads pile up (not unlike the layers of pastrami...getting hungry) and I would say this track is even more intense. He has this ability to keep the entire track hypnotic even as he changes sounds or begins new phrases. Truly entrancing as leads climb higher and higher and dark whispers are spoken. The tone is delightfully alien. Morphogenesis- Wow, starting simply enough with a bass line and a jangly synth but a no less alien environment. Juicy leads and dark stabs provide the backdrop as he reinforces his atmosphere in the break. The leads creep about like some supernatural evil and I'm sorry did I just wander into this guy's nightmare? Good God this guy was a great goa trance producer. Just some amazing soundscapes with rich detail and plenty of melody. The beats always made me want to dance, and it was dark and delicious. You can probably still find this at some vinyl shops, but who knows. Even if you have to download it from somewhere, do it. It's f*cking quality. Mdk

Ultimate Xperience (U.X.) is not a prolific producer. Their original CD was released in 1997 on Dragonfly Records. That CD, "Ultimate Experience", was something above and beyond the bog standards of the time. The Pleiadians also released I.F.O. during that same time. It was an exciting time to be alive, turned on, and plugged into the global psychedelic music scene. U.X.'s "Ultimate Experience" was, and is, such an incredibly powerful album. It has earned its place in a very special category of Goa... sci-fi, gothic, industrial, dark, cyberpunk, hard... that few other artists share. Juno Reactor & Mandra Gora are in this place... It is now March of 2019, and we have now been blessed with Kris Kylven's "magnum opus". The Realm Of A New Dawn is not just another release. This is something to be experienced many times over, with different levels of consciousness. The release is in two parts, Lazarus Rizing & Ad Vitam Aeternam. Disc One : Lazarus Rizing 1. Andromeda. 145 BPM : Opening track of the Lazarus Rising disc. Beautiful, sweeping pads open up a lush soundscape. A voice enters, then the beat. This is UX sound, but much more refined. The mastering is done very well, all of the synths sounds clear, crisp, and beautiful. As the track progresses with more layers and complexity, Kris slides in some of his magic at the 9 minute mark opening the soundspace up even more. Very cool effect. Excellent opening track. 2. Kingdom Of Heaven (Invictus Mix) 145 BPM : Voices open up this one. And then a very aggressive, driving trance explodes. This is sci-fi/gothic Goa done right. There is a mysterious and hauntingly beautiful quality to the way everything is put together, and then we are pulled into space.... with this orchestral sounding section. The build up to the coda is great, everything is on point, another solid track. 3. Across Thee Universe (Space Time Continuum) 145 BPM : The deadly secrets of a place we call, the Universe. There are a lot of haunting voices in this one, a close listen is required to pick up on what is being said. The trance itself is great, the melting synth lines... this is dark music, but absolutely beautiful. Very refined UX. Great track. 4. Lazarus (Sanctum) (Mix XIII) 145 BPM : This track is epic. NOW RISE! 5. High Energy Protons (Deus Ex-Machina Mix) 142 BPM : This is definitely the best remix of High Energy Protons I've ever heard. While it definitely is High Energy Protons, it's brought to a higher level. Nearly 12 minutes long, and none of it dull. Absolutely solid music. 6. Radio-Activity (eXtinction 13) 120 BPM : This is the first downtempo track of the album. It fits very well within this Gothic space opera. Like so many tracks on the album, this one is stellar. 7. Genesis 120 BPM : Back to trance,but with a more gentle tempo. This track has a very optimistic feel, the pads and other synth sounds are sweeping and lush. The lady's voice is most excellent and her message is interesting. The strange rhythms of the trance are so good... Disc Two : Ad Vitam Aeternam 1. Jezebel (From Here To Eternity) 145 BPM : Personal favorite track. This is just... magic for my ears and mind. Very powerful. Dare I say, perfect track? The breakdown, and rise before the coda is pure sorcery. 2. The Night Ceatures (Mix XIII) 147 BPM : Another monster track. Very cinematic. Beautiful voices, electric synth lines driving a pounding trance right through you. 3. Prophecy (Thou Shall Not Fear) 145 BPM : Haunting opening pads, and choir, along with a VERY UXian synth line. It has a wicked sound. There is something Kris Kylven does with synths that I adore... a clear example is from his track "Morphogenesis" (as Syb Unity Nettwerk Experience). A wicked vibration. 4. Temple Of Love 147 BPM : A classic Gothic dance track from the late 80's re-imagined. Kris Kylven's voice has an ethereal quality over the pounding trance, and sounds so close to the original I assumed it was Mr. Eldritch himself singing. Outstanding remix. 5. Blaze Of Glory 157 BPM : Following Temple of Love, this track is just perfect. industrial, Gothic Goa. The guitar is done very tastefully. This is not "Butt Rock" Goa, this is refined. 6. Lux Aeterna 140 BPM : The beat on this one is delicious. All of the voices, the strings... another outstanding track with Middle Eastern sounds throughout. 7. The Ark Of The Convenant 134 BPM : Middle Eastern sounds throughout. Excellent down tempo track that feels like a coda to this most excellent album... but it isn't as that honor goes to Children Of The New Dawn (Farewell). 8. Children Of The New Dawn (Farewell) 64/128 BPM : The album comes to a conclusion with this down tempo piece. Again, we have optimism here, as our journey through the darkness ends in peace. Perfect ending to an incredible album. There is nothing weak here. Every track has something to say, and says it well. Jezebel is my personal choice for "best track", but this is a very close competition. I will listen to this over the weekend with very enhanced ears and provide a more detailed analysis, but as it stands, this is a must buy. It is the perfection of UX, it is a cybernetic, cinematic journey through sci-fi hyperspace. If you're a fan of UX, Juno Reactor, Mandra Gora, Johann Bley, Transwave, Syb Unity Nettwerk, X-Dream... or just really amazing psychedelic soundscapes in general... buy this album. It is the album of the year. After multiple listens, this is my favorite album of all time. The mastering is so good, all of the sounds are in their respective places, everything compliments everything. Damn sexy! Ultimate Xperience did not disappoint in the least. 11/10 Kris Kylven is a genius Buy it here

I definitely agree about the life-changing part. I may write a separate post about my life in the arse end of the world, where electronic music was typically incredibly difficult to get in the pre-internet days. Nevertheless, Prodigy found its way there and was present in almost everything I was doing back then, be it music, computers or something completely different. It was also the great unifier. By MftJG, everyone with even the slightest exposure to electronic music knew them. By TFotL, everyone under 60 did - also there in the middle of nowhere. Barely any other EDM act could match that. "The greatest" is not that easy a decision for me, but all things considered, it's definitely hard to name a better album than their 90s classics. They're just so goddamn solid musical adventures, whereas many other contenders have a whiff of recycling two or three ideas a few too many times. Many other albums from that era I listen mainly as a nostalgia trip but Prodigy because they're so enjoyable and awesome throughout. And they definitely managed to bring EDM on big stages, properly. Yes, music-wise (in the early days) it was just that one guy operating a sound system in a booth, but the show was nothing like a laptop-staring session. The rest of the guys really completed it. The name of their video collection "Electronic Punks" was spot on. Which brings me to the main point of this post... Mind you, I absolutely don't want to belittle Keith. He was with the crew for almost 30 years, really going for it at 100% power and delivering unforgettable performances. Still, I find it a bit strange when some major news outlets write headlines like "Keith Flint, Prodigy frontman, dead at 49" (CNN). Others refer to him more modestly or accurately as "vocalist" or "singer". Meanwhile, there are some tones hinting that now the group is gone when their "frontman" died. Yes, that's how it went with Motörhead and Lemmy, but in this case it sounds odd to me. After all, before TFotL, Keith was a dancer, strictly. That was his credit on Experience. I think that before Breathe and Firestarter, his vocal contribution comprised about four words spoken on "Fire". Maxim delivered the vocals on Poison (arguably their first track with their own, full vocals) and most of the hype on stage. By the time of TFotL, they had already released two massive albums, about 9 singles, 2 EPs and whatnot with barely any musical contribution from Keith. The rave scene found them "too mainstream/popular to be cool any more" already in 1992, when Keith was "just" a dancer. Even though all of them had their role, for me Liam was - and still is - the true brain and soul of Prodigy. It was his magic touch I heard on the albums. To be really honest, I was even quite disappointed when they picked up the new, vocals-heavy style. I wanted rave tracks, not songs. They, however, seemed to prefer stuff that was fun to scream on stage. In hindsight, it wasn't a bad move for their success nor even that unfitting (electronic punks and all that), yet I reserve the right to prefer their old output with instrumentals and occasional weird vocal samples. Well, times have changed. And the band, and the show too. Maybe in this century Keith really counted as the frontman. But I still remember vaguely one quote from a book, maybe "Adventures with the Voodoo Crew" (1997). They talked about one of their earlier US tours, where slightly clueless reporters were asking "so you're a band - who's the bassist?" Back then there was no bassist nor a singer - or if there was, it was Maxim. Now I wonder if the reporters who have only seen the post-TFotL days really understand how the group worked in the past. I don't know what happens next. Upcoming gigs have been cancelled so there's a bit of truth in the notion that the frontman is gone and the band cannot go on (at least for a while). Then again, that decision makes a lot of sense in a situation like this in any case. I'd say that without Liam there would be no Prodigy. Without Keith...I don't know. We'll see. Sharky left in 1990, Leeroy in 2000. Now there are zero dancers and no firestarter either. Their early live track "Death of the Prodigy Dancers" has taken a really grim turn.

thanks dude!! I really appreciate it =)

UX is definitely the new Juno Reactor ! It's already a lengendary album for me !