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RA - Unearthly Altar Records 2012 1. Floating Shrine of Inanna 2. Rain No Water 3. Ascend 4. Shift 5. Lifethread (Serene Mix) 6. Lightspark 7. Unearthly 8. Celestial Slice RA is one of the leading pioneers of Goa-Trance. Christer Borge-Lunde of RA is also known for producing some of the best chill tracks in the past few years, mainly on elemental compilations by Altar Records. Unearthly is the latter with all new songs. It's the first downtempo album by RA and one of 2012's best albums! 1. Floating Shrine of Inanna is a beautifully optimistic, harmonious piece with catchy female hymns. Initially I thought it could have developed a little more. On return listens, I find it just right, a song that gets better with repeat listens. The strings in the second half are creatively utilized and reduce the sense of repetition. The warm mood and atmosphere, violin, and various other instrumental sounds add to the immersive, downtempo feel. This is a great opening track. A- 2. Rain No Water is an ambient driven epic that's floating, contemplative, dreamy, and evocative. The first half to two thirds is pure gold, magic. Sometimes I feel like it goes on for several minutes longer than necessary; that it could have ended at around 7:47. In the end, that's probably a nitpick. The song oozes with passion and beauty. It's like a masterful opera track for ambient. Overall, this is a wonderful song filled with love and light. I could easily see it complimenting a great scene in a film. A / A 3. Ascend begins with a sample of living in the present, NOW. I love the opening sounds; they fit the track title perfectly. The mid if not uptempo song reminds me a little of those upbeat, infectious tunes from those futuristic F-Zero racing games for Nintendo. The overall track sounds eons apart, more natural, harmonious, and well orchestrated. The ambient support is fantastic, and oozes life into the digital body. My hesitation to give a solid A relates to how engaged I am from beginning to end. I love how optimistic and positive these tracks are. A- 4. Shift is more Egypt/RA-influenced. This is more psychedelic and combines creative, tasty sound/melody combinations. At least one layer music is manipulated to create an energy-like, skipping (I don't know what I'd call it) wormhole (?) effect. It's very catchy! The Goa influence (touches?) work extremely well. The song keeps moving, developing. It's arresting throughout. Excellent work. A 5. Lifethread (Serene Mix) is a chill version of Lifethread on the Shaltu compilation. The song has an intriguing opening and some beautiful ambient to boot. I like it a lot more than the uptempo version that felt too safe to me. I simply find the synth work catchier on the other tracks, comparatively speaking. Nonetheless, the warm, emotive touches stand out. The lighter approach brings balance to the less light numbers (before and after this one). I can't help but find the other songs catchier, but this adds variety, has some great elements, and is a welcome song to the canon. The last third develops nicely too. B+ 6. Lightspark has more energy than the previous tracks. It's more dynamic too! Once again, the ambient is different and supports the catchy synths. I love the first half of this song; it's refreshingly gripping. I like how the song develops, growing catchier as it moves forward. Unfortunately I find that it begins to feel a little repetitive around the fifth (to 5:50) minute, just before the interlude. The song felt more zippy and tight leading up to the 5th minute. The interlude is very good as well as the beat's return. To me, the last act could have stood out more and incorporated greater development, as it grows a little repetitive to me (again) by the seventh minute. The song's homogenous though; it's very nicely composed and some may prefer the song this way. I love the tempo and the accents on and around the beat. This is another solid number. I simply expected more based on the first half. B+ 7. Unearthly is another Chill-esque number that's fairly upbeat. The kick drum produces more of a dance-friendly feel and atmosphere. The ambient notes and harmonies are pleasant and catchy. The key changes are nice too and support the piano. Towards the end, an almost mini-climax or rush takes place. I wonder if this was intentional. The rising sound effect of a particular sound enhances the track, as it leads up to new ground and as the horse continuously gallops. I'm a huge fan of the melodies too; they're emotive and contemplative, beautiful and gripping. They develop in arrangement which is one of the artist's many talents. To me this has more variety than the previous two tracks; it keeps my attention more, due to a greater sense of development. Great track. A- 8. Celestial Slice is another beautiful gem. The song begins with a magical and floating opening. The ambient produced has a surreal feel that for me, enters the realm of fantasy. I love the melody/sound work throughout this song. The interlude is seamless and gripping, connecting a gentle flute to the fluid whole. The song has a feel to it, as if its been crafted to near perfection. It's full of emotion and harmony, and makes me feel hopeful, optimistic and loving. The flute segments, and the song's progression and development is beautiful. This is a terrific song from beginning to end. Well done! A Unearthly is beautiful, engaging, imaginative, and magical downtempo album. This is easily one of the best downtempo (chill) releases of 2012 along with Akshan's The Tree of Life, and few others from the ones I heard. Unearthly has some wondrous, magical numbers. The songs develop in ways similar in spirit to Goa-Trance. Some evolve more than others. Some of the evolutions I find catchier than others, but everyone will have their favorites. It's a rare treat from some of the most talented artists, a downtempo album full of catchy, innovative numbers. At times, melodies comes across like feelings oozing into the songs. Furthermore, the album has soul. There's even a few infectious mid-tempo tracks to boot. If I were to be more critical, constructively speaking, I'd say that Lifethread (Serena Mix) and Lightspark, though good, are the least strong (magical, memorable) tracks on the album, to me anyway. They're more or less interesting and add variety. All in all, Unearthly is a gem. Highly recommended. Favorite tracks: 1, 2, 3, 4, 7, 8 A- Sample / Order http://www.altar-records.com/ra.html http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=ra+unearthly