Mergi

Artist: Ian Boddy Release: Box Of Secrets Year: 1999 Label: DiN Cat-#: DiN 1 Rating: 4/5 With the Databloem reviews roaming the site I figured there might also be some space for a DiN CD review, actually there is very much alike IMO. Ian Boddy is leaning towards more techno in a few of his tracks but it's all very very subtle and I think it could be quite hard to get it to work on the dancefloor (did IDM ever work on the dancefloor?). Listening on the other hand works perfectly, this is perfect background music or inspirational music. Very much like Databloem. Frozen Web opens high tech with a... well, a web of rhythmical effect pads fading in. The loops continues in a hypnotic kind of way with additional simple yet imposing melody sequences sweeping through over a breakbeat filled environment. Very nicely done, nothing sounds out of place. In the latter half the beat is let lose and a 4 by 4 session ensues. The track manages to stay restrained in the atmosphere, it does not spiral out of control it stays uncompromised and interesting. Box Of Secrets is more tentative, at least in the beginning. A slow heartbeat-like sound is accompanied by overlaying atmospheric pads and everything is very very calm. The beat fades completly in after awhile and is accompanied by yet again simple but very beautiful melody layers echoing through the atmospheric background pads. Very dreamstate ambient music, only downside maybe is that once the track has established itself it fades out and leaves room for the next track. But damn, those few minutes of bliss... damn... Shadows In The Sand opens with just sweeping atmospheric layers which after 2 minutes fades out and leaves room for beats to fade in. The whole track turns kind of cool with it's breaks, but along the way we get layers of arabic-like melodies emanating from all sorts of different instruments. Very nicely done IMO. There's Something In Your Attic is short interlude I guess, which only purpose is to be abstract in it's atmosphere. Ambient noises of various shapes pitches tweakiness is sweeping through. The album is getting slightly darker feel to it. Walking The Slow Path opens with despair, subtle dark menacing atmospheric layers fades in and out along with subtle chants and what sounds like flute. This gradually gets louder and louder until it stops and gives room for rhythmic pads and a simple bassline which only appears in the middle of every bar, it shiftes slightly during various sections of the track. Also along comes what sounds like a very wobbly kind of guitar layer. To add to the surreal atmosphere is a layer which sounds like glockenspiel. Nobody's Home is pure evil. I've managed to collect enough music to compile (for myself of course) a Mentally Unstable compilation of beatless tracks, this track made onto it in no time (along with Aphex Twin and Hesius Dome to name a few). There's never too much going on here, one layer fades out and another fades in, of course along comes strange sounds from out of this world, and, well, all sorts of moods is here. At one time the track sounds like there's light at the end of the tunnel, but the light is abruptly swallowed by menacing layers of dark twisted sounds and when this track is halfway through you are going slightly mad or at least having very bad/strange dreams. Hive Culture, if you fell asleep, will wake you up with a roar. It settles quite quickly into a 4 by 4 beat environment, sometimes a few of the beats are accentuated. It's still going evil but now it's not going to lull you into madness, it's going to hunt you down... and well you better start running. The track turns quite epic and/or imposing with a drizzling melody layer that fades in halfway through. It ends abruptly though and the track folds back into itself again with additional screeching tweakin' layers that gently fades in and out. This is really well done journey through all sorts of moods and all sorts of different paces, everything is mixed together so there's no stopping to go to the toilet or grab popcorn... once you've tuned there's no turning back.

OCD = Obsesive Compulsive Disorder? I'm far from completing any labels, but I do own all 12":s from boshke beats...

Artist: Various Release: Tribal Matrix Year: 2006 Label: Dakini Records Cat-#: DAK2117 Rating: 3.4/5.0 1. Makyo - Swords 2. Adham Shaikh - Beyond I 3. Aquila - Song Of Laya 4. Taichi Masuda - Si-Lim-Tau 5. Freeman - Obelisk 6. Lumin - Lacyan Way (Irina's Mix) 7. Makyo - Whirling Dub 8. Taichi Masuda - Drum Solo 9. Makyo - Devabandha (Tantrik Laswell Edit) 10. Badawi - Fifth Eclipse Of Dajz Mara (Dakini's Dub) 11. Gus Till - Rainsong 12. Dubsahara - Persiana While this certainly is a satisfying compilation it does have a tendency to be slightly redundant. Track five has been released almost five years earlier, track six appears on Lumins new album on the same label, the Tantrik Laswell edit is taken from Makyos first album and is edited down about 7 minutes to a meager 5 and a half minutes. Swords and Whirling Dub is very typical Makyo stuff, they're not especially long tracks but they deliver nonetheless. Swords is a very nice opening track with it's mindwandering atmosphere, the guitar like instrument throughout (Saz? in sleeve) combines perfectly with the rhythms and the vibe as whole. Whirling Dub is actually more to the point with an ever speeding beat, it's slow slow slow in the beginning but the latter half is trucking along quite quickly. This one revolves more around the dub and a very simple sequence on the Saz. Beyond I (track 2) appears on Adhams newest album Collectivity but is on the album 30 seconds shorter. As usual Adham never fails to deliver complex soundscapes, a fusion of sweet female vocals, dub, tribal elements, nice melodies and once again the Saz. This time the Saz is put to extensive use in the climax Aquila - Song Of Laya does sound very interesting, it's got a very dense dubiness which makes it all soothing in a way. Along with the subtle tweaked synthline and vocals this is great, the downside though is that they fade out even before the 3 minute mark and thusly kills its own purpose, IMO. Taichi Masuda delivers two tracks... the first two that has been released it looks like. It sounds mostly like he's having fun with his new tools, as these two tracks are not much of musical pieces but more asian-like tribal interludes. Si-Lim-Tau is the one with the most atmosphere, a continuos dark single tone synthline throughout the whole track along with the occasional layers of different wind-instruments accompanies the surrounding tribal percussion. Drum Solo is, well, just that. A big chunk of tribal & percussiveness to say the least. Probably fun to sample and use in DJ-sets but could get quite tedious to just listen to as is. Freemans Obelisk is a breaksfilled track with occasional screeching layers. Everything is very looped and simple in structure, it still retains a somewhat cool feeling. This track could've been expanded somewhat both musicwise and timewise. Lumins Lacyan Way sounds like a more busy version of Makyos Swords. Tempo is high, a lot more percussive elements. The instruments are manipulated a lot more. Nice indeed but it has a tendency to make me a bit nervous. I would've liked to hear the 12+ minute behemoth of Devabandha, the version on this compilation is just irritating. It is totally mesmerizing with it's surrounding layers that fades in and out, the dub and subtle tribal elements are great stuff and it's just made to go on forever. But it does not, instead it fades out after only 5 minutes passing by. It's like he tries to say something like, "this is how great things sound on my now impossible to get first album"... "muhahaha". The three last tracks is actually the maindeal of the whole compilation and I must say it's these tracks that makes this compilation worth buying. tracks 10 and 11 are two big tracks that literally takes you on a journey. The Badawi track may be looped extensively, percussionwise it's damn busy but it's all very subtle so it never gets irritating, there's also a sweet guitar layer throughout the whole track. It's somewhat experimental with it's cut-up glitchy sounds fading in occasionally. All in all a great track to just space out to. Gus Tills Rainsong is a great track! It's got a slightly progressive dubbiness, with a subtle 4 by 4 beat. At first the track might seem slightly empty but along the way he uses different layers cleverly to create a very nice atmosphere, strings of various kinds, tribal elements, chants, a somewhat tweaked melody loop that goes up and down the notescale and of course thunder and rain. When Greg Hunter has got his hand meddling in stuff you can hear it immediatly. The Greg Hunter sound is just very different and very strange to say the least. I even had trouble getting myself through the Alien Soap Opera album on Electric MELT just because it's so damn strange in a way (I've got a weak spot for Voodoo Dub though). Persiana is actually quite freakin' great. It's got a nice rumbling bassline throughout, lot's of arabic-like chants and guitar like plonk plonk samples as well. There's always something going on here, and it's of course slightly twisted on occasions.

Artist: Midi Miliz / Fuzzion Release: The Missing Guest / Frog On The Run (Remixes) 12" Year: 2007 Label: Boshke Beats Cat-#: BBS013 Rating: 4/5 Tracklisting: A: Midi Miliz - The Missing Guest (Tony Rohr Remix) B: Fuzzion - Frog On The Run (Extrawelt's Run'n'Bass Remix) I was really disappointed with the Tony Rohr remix when listening to the samples provided by the boshke website. But when I finally recieved the vinyl it immediately started growing on me. It's groovy as fuck, containing a seriously heavy beat and sweet subtle percussive elements... one of them being some sort of FX layer that sounds like you're moving heavy rocks on the ground. It's far from having the same mentally unstable atmosphere as that of the original, but wait for the additional tweaked FX noise introduced in the first break. It's truly unbearable at first because it's continuos, luckily it's cut up and used efficiently for the rest of the track and it also helps the track freak out like the original does in the end. Finally the run'n'bass remix is in my possession. This version is a lot more polished and up to date than the one on BBS012. They've removed the unpolished rumbling bassline and added a more polished efficient multiple note one which also is higher up in the note scale so it's pretty much a melodic bassline. Otherwise it stays pretty much the same as the earlier version. I liked all the other elements in the earlier one except for the bassline, so combining those elements with the bassline of this one creates a high quality track with great potential both for homelistening and dancefloor.

Artist: C-Lab Release: Liberation 12" Year: 1998 Label: POF Cat-#: POF 033 Rating: 3/5 Tracklisting: A: Liberation B: Bio Logic So I found a promo copy of this one. It's seemingly the only tracks they released apart from two extra tracks on Nataraja 3. I bought it immediately after hearing Bio Logic. Liberation is the a-side and features on one compilation as well so probably this is the track people know about the most. It's a slightly busy goa track with a decent amount of tribal elements and a two note melody layer which is used here and there. To me this track is not all to special. Bio Logic on the other hand is a track that I'm having trouble to stop listening to. It's got a funny little bassline that seem to be having a hard time making up it's mind where it's suppose to go but somehow this is what makes it so groovy. This track is also a lot more polished and all elements fits perfectly with each other. There's not much going on in the first half, but if you have patience there will emerge from the depths a strange yet truly irresistable kaleidoscopic melody layer and on top of this there is a second melody layer drizzling down... the result is a very trippy melodic journey and it's a bit sad it's not longer, because there is lot's of potential to loop this for an additional 5 minutes without the loss of interest.

Artist: Electrotete Release: I Love You 12" Year: 1992 Label: Apollo Cat-#: APOLLO 4 Rating: 4/5 Tracklisting: A1: I Love You (Pete Ramson & Danny Van Wauwe Remix) A2: I Love You (Original Version) B: I Love You "The Deeper Mix" (Tony Thorpe Remix) In the beginning Ben Watkins actually had different group names with his collaborators... it's as if he ran out of ideas for project names and later on chose to only use the Juno Reactor moniker for every collaboration he did. The collaborator for Electrotete is mr S. Holweck from Total Eclipse, and well this is really a very typical sound for this duo. If you've ever laid your ears over the tracks The Heavens, Contact or 10000 miles (which holweck produced as well) you will pretty much know what to expect from this release, or at least the original version of this track. It's quite ambient, very melodic. The original is very laidback and subtle, downtempo. Soothing rhythms and a simple yet effective melody loop. It's actually bordering on being a bit cheesy but it still got lots of charm. The Pete Ramson & Danny Van Wauwe Remix has cranked up the volume a bit, also the cheese factor has increased as the lead melody is now played with a piano sound. There's all sorts of cute swirls here and there, to say the least there's a lot more going on here than in the original. But I still prefer the original, it's not suppose to be an in your face tune in my opinion. The B-side is brilliant. Tony Thorpe truly got this tune very deep. It retains a lot from the original, the whole feeling is still there. In addition Thorpe has added lots of groove. This track is long, 11+ minutes. A two part track with lot's of twists and turns. The first part is actually quite straight forward and as I already said before, groovy. Then comes a break and a slightly long ambient layer stretches out for a minute or so, and then we're suddenly merged into the second part. This is seriously alien, sporting a 3/4 beat, a simple 3 note synthstab layer used as bassline. Strange FX layers rebounds, fades in and out and so on, tweaked. Suddenly he starts twisting and tweaking the original lead melody, this adds tremendously to the alien atmosphere. This is seriously one of the strangest ambient workouts I've heard. To round this up I have to say the original got lot's of quality and originality but "The Deeper Mix" from Tony Thorpe is the main deal, a house-ambient hybrid which is truly interesting to listen to.

AP Records still releases a decent amount of vinyls...

Databloem or Dataobscura has no real ties to the psy/goa scene and thusly a lot of people who are active on this forum will not have heard about it. Databloem/Dataobscura is pure real abstract-ambient/downtempo labels so you really have to be an ambient fan to really get yourself to explore it. Also they're quite new, so they still need time to sink into the environment. Abasio, if you like Databloem I'd recommend the label DiN for more experimental-ambient CDs.

Artist: Crop Circles Release: Lunar Civilization Year: 1997 Label: Auracle Recordings Cat-#: AURAEP003 Rating: 4/5 Tracklisting: A: Lunar Civilization 9'44" B: Antonomasia 10'55" 1997... the year when releasing goa records was at it's peak (just have a check on blue rooms discography for example). This is second 12" from the Crop Circles... we all know who they are, and if you don't know, you should probably go do your homework, fast! I've never seen Antonomasia on any other format than this 12" and an almost utterly impossibly hard to get ultra rare cd-single. To make matters worse I have to say I enjoy Antonomasia much more than the title track which has been released on multiple compilations. An 11 minute tweakly bleeply frantic monster, very nice work on those synths, though they do seem to run out of ideas somewhere in the end as they keep looping some of the tweaked out effects which in turn creates an uncomfortable time for your ears. Apart from that this is a track with those synthlines that can pretty much scoop you up and take you on a journey. Lunar Civilization is a more straightforward track, very energetic and organic in it's sound. This one is a lot more easy to follow than Antonomasia and I guess has much potential on the dancefloor, especially after the long energy build up which is released after the "ancient universe" voicesample in form of a, typical of the time, energetic mystical epic melody synth line. This procedure is then repeated once more. I don't know if this is so totally mindblowing as hype seems to suggest, and I've heard better tracks. But it's damn good, so if you happen to stumble upon it I'd suggest you don't hesitate to buy it.

Artist: Fuzzion Release: I C U / Frog On The Run Year: 2006 Label: Boshke Beats Cat-#: BBS012 Rating: 3/5 Tracklisting: A1: I C U A2: Frog On The Run B: Frog On The Run (Extrawelt Remix) 2 years has passed since the last 12". The diminishing trend is somewhat making me uneasy. The choice of tracks just seems illogical. Had they chosen Distort And Discord as well as the title track Black Magic this would've been one tasty essential 12" that could've worked both on the dancefloor and for homelistening. Yet now we're left with two tracks containing no real energy and a b-side that is quite nice to listen to but is on the other hand too cluttery bassline-wise that it's hard to use in any way. I C U always gives me the feeling of loneliness, there is this longing for better times. It sports an alternating synthline (to say the least)... in that it alternates from drizzling to a fast trot, and from sounding xylophone to vibraphone. Very nicely done along with the occasional trancesynth stabs and the whispering voice-samples "I see you" "I feel you". The simple guitar-riff that is added later on is somewhat out of place though and is quite annoying IMO. A decent 4 by 4 track that can work on occasions when you're in the right mood I guess. Frog On The Run is a totally ridiculous track and I have no idea where this came from. It's an electro track with lot's of, well, ridiculous FX sounds... something that sounds like distorted farting, then high pitch squeak-squeak and so on. I don't really know what to make of it and I usually just skip over it. The extrawelt remix of FOTR is a typical 4 by 4 loop thing again, but much slower and laidback. They've sampled only a few sounds from the original, first something that sounds like you hit bottles with different amount of liquid in them and then an unpolished rolling bassline sequence used just for a short time in the original but which is used for the whole track here. I like this much better than the original, nice listening material.

Artist: X-Dream Release: The 1st Year: 2004 Label: Boshke Beats/Gravity Plus/Solstice Cat-#: BBS011/G+001/SOL-WEP003 Rating: 3/5 Tracklisting: A: Quantumlab B1: The 1st B2: The 1st (Club Mix) A triple label 12" for the highly anticipated The 1st track. This one has reached a rarity status very quickly, for reasons I'm having trouble understanding. Quantumlab is a minimal journey into the lab with a seriously thick dense beat and few bleep-bleep from the computer consoles. Also the talking Ariel who explains about "quantum logic" and "billion different universes"... the setting is there but the track fails to deliver, IMO. An imposing melody layer with distorted drawn out single note stabs is introduced after a break in the middle but then it takes a horrible turn to the worse, a totally annoying and out of place high-pitched drone enters the track somewhere in the latter half and prompts me to lift that needle of the record... it's a pretty decent track up until then, but I'm having a hard time enjoying the track as a whole. The 1st is a great track! Breakbeats accompanied by a perfect atmosphere and a grinding FX-drone that somewhat reminds of the one used in MidiMiliz - No Alibi. Also the vocals fits perfectly. Works nicely both on the dancefloor and for homelistening (at least for me, but then I like beats). The Club Mix of The 1st is a stripped down version of the original, it's also edited down to less than four minutes. The breaks and the rhythmic pads are still there, so are the vocals... everything else though is removed leaving you with a track that lacks atmosphere and substance. This is probably good as a DJ-tool as it doesn't hold up very well on it's own but could work if you want to sample the beats.

Artist: Midi Miliz Release: No Alibi EP Year: 2004 Label: Boshke Beats Cat-#: BBS010 Rating: 4/5 Tracklisting: A: No Alibi B1: Antibody B2: OnePointOne This one along with Non Standards is making it very clear that the MidiMiliz now stands for massive tweaked groovy techno leaving the ambient-minimal-tech sound (that is hinted several times on Passages) to the Extrawelt alias. No Alibi is a massive track to say the least. Opens with a grinding FX-drone which pretty much is equivalent (with the right volume and speakers) to a gale force wind accompanied by a pounding double kick. It settles down for a moment somewhere in the middle to introduce a mystical melody loop, this together with the FX-drone certainly is a perfect combination. Antibody is co-produced with Marcus (Der Interpret) and is an all out electro track, very minimal in all ways. It's not all too bad, but I find my interest in it subside before it ends. It's got a hi-tech feel with it's bleepy atmospheric melody layers introduced later on but the sound they use for the bassline sounds incredibly out of place. We're once more delivered to the 4 by 4 path with OnePointOne which at first seems to be a bit more restrained. It's far from restrained but it does have a bit more of a polished feel to it than the No Alibi track. Contains a wobbly two note bassline with a nice build up process of rhythmic hi-hats which creates all in all a nice nighttime groovetrack. Also, very nice break in the middle where all percussive elements are removed except the kick and the bassline which continue on to accompany a brilliantly atmospheric melodylayer that fades in continuosly.

You haven't experienced real minimalistic music until you've heard Steve Reich. 25 minutes of, plong... plong... plong, and so forth will most certainly drive some people insane. It's a real challenge to listen to... or to be more exact, endure.

Artist: Midi Miliz Release: The Remixes Year: 2003 Label: Boshke Beats Cat-#: BBSCDS001/BBS009 Rating: 3/5 CD Tracklisting: 1: Mrs. Vargas (Paul Brtschitsch Remix) 2: XV! (Original) 3: XV! (Ozy Remix V.2) 4: XV! (Ozy Remix V.1) 5: Mrs. Vargas (Original) 12" Tracklisting: A: Mrs. Vargas (Paul Brtschitsch Remix) B: XV! (Ozy Remix V.1) To begin with, no I don't have the CD-single so it will be impossible for me to review the Ozys version 2 remix of XV! On the other hand I've heard the original XV!, also I've got the 12" version of this release and the 12" containing the original Mrs. Vargas. The 12" opens with Brtschitsch remix of Mrs. Vargas, a more straightforward minimal progressive piece compared to the playful original one. A nice remix with the melodylayers sweeping through the track continuosly, and the atmosphere is still very laidback. It still also retains the polished hightech feeling as well, the break in the latter half gives this feeling lots of emphasis. If the A-side was laidback the B-side is almost on the verge of making you doze. XV! original is typical MidiMiliz looptechno with FX-noises being tweaked, and sometimes they do indeed succeed but this time it just doesn't work all too well IMO. The original one also featured on Chronika Chapter 1. Ozy polishes this one down to a a few cluttery FX sounds, the distinct pitched electricity drone and a sound used as bassline that sounds like your swinging something big through the air, all in all a quite OK ambient techno piece, IMO. This 12" might be a bit uneventful, still it's all high quality so I'm not unhappy I bought it.

Artist: Various Release: Clangour EP Year: 2003 Label: Boshke Beats Cat-#: BBS008 Rating: 3/5 Tracklisting: A: Fuzzion - E=mc^2 B1: Metalogic - El Bongonero B2: Metalogic - The Lost Parameter Fuzzion does indeed fit the boshke sound perfectly with minimal arrangement and a nighttime atmosphere. This track actually reminds me very much of Tony Rohrs track My Mind Is Going Dub, which I've heard from Chronika 2, in that it pretty much has the same buildup process, just with different sounds. You start from nothing and slowly adds each element of the track with a few bars inbetween. Soon you'll have an efficient techno track that shuffles along with nicely programmed rhythmic percussion a pulsating buzzing sound and a beat that will move you. I've not really gotten into the Metalogic sound, but I know there is some potential there as long as he keeps to a four by four beat. El Bongonero is a tribal progressive track with a pretty nice groove, the atmosphere is still going nighttime and I think this could actually work very well on the dancefloor. The Lost Parameter, on the other hand, is not all too good IMO. It actually has a nice ghostly atmosphere but is ruined by the powerless erratic beat. With this twelve inch Boshke Beats has litteraly made the Clangour CD redundant, only two tracks remain exclusive along with an intro and an outro track. Of course, it's all good for those CD junkies who now can own the 12" exclusive tracks on CD... but it's still seems somewhat strange to me.

Compilation Tracks: Where Is S? (Destination Goa - The Seventh Chapter) I've had; Shivasidpao - The Album ( http://www.discogs.com/release/38674 ) and SST EP 004 ( http://www.discogs.com/release/38663 ), both have searched their way into my friends collection who enjoys the infected sound more than I do.

Artist: Midi Miliz Release: Passage Three Year: 2002 Label: Boshke Beats Cat-#: BBS007 Rating: 4/5 Tracklisting: A1: Mrs. Vargas A2: Interleaved B1: Format: Phono B2: Model 1 My favorite 12" of the three passages, all tracks here are good IMO. Mrs. Vargas is more of a playful track with it's multiple note bassline that goes more high than low. Also the atmosphere here is more laidback and peaceful, it does not come to haunt you like the other tracks. This one is also co-produced by Marcus. Very nice listen IMO. Interleaved is a very tight track, mostly because of the bassline that is stretched and tweaked. Very cool effects throughout accompanied by the occasional ambient layers creates a nice listening experience. Midi Miliz really get things moving with Format: Phono. A very pumping bassline throughout, utilized in a most efficient way. Instead of being the same all the time it follows the melody lead which in turns creates a track with an intense groove. Great to both listen to and jump around to. Blast it loud! Model 1... we're back to slow moving accompanied with unstable atmospheres, a minimal track with it's distinct tweaked effect that is let loose a few times throughout the track. Really a great listen even though it's very minimal. "If I'm going on a trip I better pack"

Artist: Midi Miliz Release: Passage Two Year: 2002 Label: Boshke Beats Cat-#: BBS006 Rating: 3/5 Tracklist: A1: Phenomena A2: Stalker B1: Jewels B2: Stars Phenomena is a little like The Missing Guest, on the other hand it is a lot more clean in the sound and much more spacious. The beat carries a lot more bounce as well. The atmosphere is once more zeroed in on the dark nighttime setting and gives you something really great to listen to. Marcus (The Delta) co-produced the track so maybe that's why it seem to have the subtle yet epic feeling. Stalker is yet again a grinding track with layers of tweaked effects and a fast paced rolling bassline. Actually quite a good track with it's persitent one tone ambient layer that sometimes is lowered or elevated in pitch. Jewels is a hard hitting boom boom track with an emphatic hi-hat, loads of effect loops and a few bleep bleeps just to have all the ingredients for a mechanical stomp-stomp session. Very energetic to say the least, maybe not all too fun to listen to... probably works better on the dancefloor. This track never featured on the Passages album, instead it was released on the Clangour CD along with Model 1 from Passage Three 12". Stars... obviously the same as Starz *** from Passages album, is IMO not at all good. Laidback atmosphere accompanied by an annoying voicesample repeating "stars stars stars shine bright". This one really goes nowhere... boring is very descriptive a term. That Marcus co-produced this track didn't seem to help.

Artist: Midi Miliz Release: Passage One Year: 2002 Label: Boshke Beats Cat-#: BBS005 Rating: 3/5 Tracklisting: A: The Missing Guest B: Baxandall Unlike BBS002 this stuff is way more subtle, much more ambience that creates a completly different setting. The Missing Guest is filled up with a most mentally unstable kind of atmosphere, a grinding flow of mechanical layers literally prods & pokes your mind. Really evil stuff that in the latter part seems to become more desperate and fierce. Great nighttime music for mystically evil settings. Baxandall is a strange track with it's breaks here and there filled up with a subtle ambient layer either hooting from the deep depths or just sweeping through and fading away. Otherwise it rolls forward in a very minimal manner which in turn results in a not so very interesting track.

Artist: The Delta Release: Hero FX Year: 2002 Label: Boshke Beats Catalog#: BBS004 Rating: 2/5 This is still, 5 years later, The Deltas latest beast(?). Go ahead and play it loud, but before you could get anywhere near the volume it needs to be played at your speakers will be dead. So yes I'm with stormbringer on this one, this is supposed to be played loud on a large system, not some puny homestereo. Parts 1 & 2 are almost identical to about 90%. The bassline is not low and rumbling instead it's, quite unlike the delta, a bit middle layered skippedy boppedy and packs no real force at all. That which stands out the most in Part 1 is a very sharp loud and effective whooshing FX noise. I remember listening to this in headphones and I couldn't turn down the volume for some reason, it was loud loud loud! It was literally tearing through my head splitting it in half. This one is not all too fun listening to at home and I would rather hear it at outdoor parties or festivals with a system that can do it justice.

Artist: Authentik Release: Vampires / Back Year: 2002 Label: Boshke Beats Cat-#: BBS003 Rating: 3/5 Tracklisting: A: Vampires B: Back I've never been much of an Authentik fan but Vampires is actually a pretty damn good track. Sporting the usual forces of in-your-face metalic-percussion which the Authentiks are known for, accompanied for once by a brilliantly evil atmosphere. Also I like the tight running bassline that keeps the pace flowing. Nicely done IMO. Back on the other hand is a recycled track or more correctly a track built upon recycled loops. It sounds like a stripped down version of Paris Parano (Authentik Remix), released the same year, and is highly forgetable. Back is a totally uninteresting track which goes absolutly nowhere.

Artist: Midi Miliz Release: Aeromode / No Exit Year: 2002 Label: Boshke Beats Cat-#: BBS002 Rating: 3/5 Tracklisting: A: Aeromode B: No Exit Aeromode is the A-side and No Exit is the B-side, not the other way around. Once more we are presented with a release containing no melody whatsoever. And yes, these two are all very much more techno than the rest of the Passages album. I've yet to figure out what their purpose on the album really is, because surely they must disrupt the overall flow of it. Aeromode is indeed all about the loop, and like Paste - Noerg it's an everchanging one but with loads of more force. It starts of with a distorted FX loop which is kept all the way throughout the track, occasionally being a bit tweaked and pitched. There's also loads of hi-hats and snares in this one, utilized in all sorts of ways. Combining it all makes one fast paced marching techno track. Watch out for the beat turning itself completly loose in the very end! The track is not bad, but it's not all that great either... it does not tell me much of a story, it just seem to exist. No Exit is more of a fun track with it's tight low frequency and slapping effects. Unfortunately these are only used in the very beginning and the very end, inbetween we have a very forced 4 by 4 session which sounds utterly out of place. Also some of the sounds in this part of the track are recycled from the Spirallianz tune Update 1.0. The potential is there but is not taken care of properly and, IMO, it is put to better use in the later MidiMiliz releases.

Noerg is completly devoid of any melodies, instead we get an armada of effects and sounds that fades out and in. The beginning is filled with a continous rumbling, almost like some enormous spaceship is passing over your head way too close, along with cluttering effects that rebounds and fades out. Then it goes into it's regular 4 by 4 rhythm and at first this seems to be all that we'll get, but they do manage to make one sustain interest due to the everchanging build up of the track. Suddenly it's filled with a mosaic of effects, not too much either so there's nothing to get lost in yet still much to listen to. Somewhere in the latter part it breaks of suddenly with a drawn out sound of a gun being fired (abundantly used earlier in the track as well), the track comes back with a real cool wobbly fluctuating effect. Also in this part they add much more effects used as percussion and this combination of sounds is, imo, really nice to just listen to. Progress is a strange tweaked piece of music. The intro build up is quite long but it settles into a beat and bassline after a minute and a half. Once again there's not much going on, but it quickly breaks of mainly to add a long sequence of some sort of melodyloop. Very strange sounding indeed as it is not much of a melody but it certainly is another one of those things I can just sit and listen to again and again because it fits so perfectly into the already existent atmosphere. Rating: 4/5

For some reason a lot of voice samples has been edited out of the tracks on the vinyl version... example is the "leopards & snakes" sample... can't say where exactly now, due to me owning only the LP. Getting the tracks from the CD in unmixed versions is probably impossible as the LP tracks differs slightly, except for Trancespotter and Deranger, of course.

Artist: Mystic Force Release: Frontier Year: 1994 Label: Psy-Harmonics Cat-#: PSY-014 Rating: 2.5/5.0 Tracklisting: 1. Key (1:59) 2. Spacial (5:46) 3. Pacific Sunrise (9:44) 4. Memory In Paradise (2:44) 5. Labyrinth (2:44) 6. Operating Through Time (4:54) 7. Frontier (6:11) 8. A Step In The Dark (2:13) 9. Flight To Eternity (5:05) 10. Moment Of Truth (2:46) 11. Enigma (5:43) 12. Second Wave (2:47) 13. Sunset At Dawn (6:03) 14. Final Journey (6:46) It's always fun to find an old CD, and even more fun when it is from a label you actually know releases good material... it's a bit sad though that this one did not succeed in captivating me. It's all plain trance music, with a few bits of ambient thrown in here and there. Half of it is pretty much just unfinished ideas, IMO, there's a few tracks that sound real good but fades out only after less than 3 minutes. This is very annoying. There's lots of tracks which could've been left out and thusly left room for some of the more interesting tracks to expand with a few minutes. The 3 first tracks give us a real good start. The intro (Key) is a bit of an instrumental synth-pop inspired thing which is followed by Spacial that picks up some pace, a repetitive melody loop with ambience circulating around it, not bad at all. Pacific Sunrise is pretty damn good. A long trance track which actually seem to be the only track with any real thought put into it. Nice long ambient intro followed at about 2 minutes into the song by a beat and a galloping baseline, later on a nice bleepy melody sequence is added and it works well with the surrounding soundscape. The latter half contains several breaks and a build up to an extatic climax with a different more emphatic version of the bleepy melody. Very nice work, IMO. Then something happens... and it all turns to the worse. Memory In Paradise is a slightly cheesy ambient tune so I don't mind it being less than 3 minutes, but Labyrinth is actually interesting... and should've been much longer!! Sporting a muffled shifty baseline, much like the Juno Reactors of '93, accompanied by nice ambience and a slowmoving beat makes this tune real dreamy. Operating Through Time is energetic to say the least, fast tempo and swirling melodylines in a very atmospheric setting. Actually quite good but once again, a bit short so you never manage to get into the track all that well. Frontier is a slowmoving piece with nagging high pitched synthstabbing repeated into infinity, not all that fun. A Step In The Dark sounds like a beginning to a track, an ambient interlude. Though I do not see it's purpose, and it's not especially good either. Flight To Eternity is truly forgetable, a cheesy ambient trance track, and I happily push next on the CD-player. Moment Of Truth, another interlude... a bit better this time... it's nice and all but it goes pretty much nowhere. Enigma is another pretty good fast paced track, very dreamy synthlines throughout... real good atmosphere here. Enigma and Second Wave is mixed together for some reason, while Enigma was dreamy and atmospheric Second Wave is much more of an aggresive track... to me Second Wave does nothing as it does not develop into a full scale track and thusly it becomes yet another forgetable track. The two last tracks (Sunset At Dawn & Final Journey) are more dreamtrance, pretty nice, though nothing all too special.