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Gus Till Best of the Rhino Years Vol.1 Sonic Dragon 2007 Tracklist 1 Slinky Wizard - Beautiful People (Bus Remix) (8:24) 2 Bus - Bullett (Correct Mix) (8:51) 3 Bus vs. Venom - Bugged (8:34) 4 Slinky Wizard - Fistful Of Mutants (8:53) 5 Stoop & Fidget - Mefisto (8:51) 6 Bus - N By NW6 (Correct Unreleased Mix) (9:11) 7 Bus - Something's Always Out There (8:50) 8 Busted - Uncontrollable Substance (9:28) 9 Bus - Finissimo (7:55) The Rhino Years! We all must remember Flying Rhino Records, they continued to push the boat releasing different, interesting & quality music up until the time they closed there doors. Gus Till had a lot of tracks under the name Bus as well as with Slinky Wizard (w/ George Barker), Bugged (w/ Theo Butt) Stoop & Fidget (w/ James Munro). For the 1st time these tracks have been released together on this disc as well as vol.2 (released later in the year). As you'd expect it's quality stuff. Let's take a look. 1. Slinky Wizard - Beautiful People (Bus Remix) This starts with the unmistakable sample Please Hold Me & It's beautiful, You're Beautiful! which echo, well beautifully. This track really needs no introduction. A classic from a golden era of trance remixed by the man who's style the original track was most like anyway. From the samples to the long dropping sounds to the beat that adds an extra one at seemingly sporadic intervals, it all twists my brain in nice psychedelic ways. The main difference I can tell from the original I remember is the ending though. 2. Bus - Bullet (Correct Mix) Brilliant orchestral sounds mixed with a soft beat in the intro. The beat kicks off with really lush ambient sounds floating around. What could be described as ethereal lost souls come out of the sky. The sounds slowly get added with some synth layers giving a more metallic edge & the orchestral sounds coming back in along with the lost souls give a darker feel. 3. Bus vs Venom - Bugged The beat builds up with a few crazy sounds but all in all a very minimal intro. Not atmosphere until the squelchy bassline comes in adding an extra 3 dimensions with just the one sound. Without noticing they manage to add more & more layers & I get lost until the sample They Sucked His Brains Out comes in & I suddenly notice where I am. A very atmospheric track in the end. Dark & subtle yet dreamy & it has a lot of whacked out sounds in there for good measure. 4. Slinky Wizard - Fistfull of Mutants You must have heard this one before. I first heard it on Black Rhino, a compilation of Flying Rhino's darker more twisted trance. This fit very well with that theme, it's hard dark an full on (in the true classic sense of the word). The beats are really driving and the sounds manage to come out of everywhere at once menacing & comfortable. The track manages to build even more energy throughout & ends with a crescendo of dark sounds assaulting the aural gateways. 5. Stoop & Fidget - Mefisto A steady driving track with a lot of atmosphere. It's a tricky one to describe. It's not a great track but it is bloody fantastic. A bit paradoxical but there you are. On the surface it seems like a bog standard driving dancefloor track but given time it opens itself up & shows you it's inner beauty but given more time it seems to get bored of your attention & clams up again. Each time I hear the track it sounds different & I can never remember anything about the track. When it clams up it's nice enough but those times when it's open to me it's really damn good. Maybe there are just things in there that appeal to a certain kind of mood & not others. 6. Bus - N by NWG (Correct Unreleased Mix) Originally on the TIP compilation Halluci-Nations but that mix was apparently unfinished. Here we have the finished article, polished up nicely too. Produced with Raja Ran, the beat & pace are very similar to the last track but there is more melodious sounds that wouldn't be out of place in a 1960's suspense movie when something unfortunate is about to happen. Some samples sound like RR but the synth work is definitely our man here. It's a nice track, a few over the top sounds/samples but nothing that ruins it. 7. Bus - Something's Always Out there A strange mid range reverberating sound runs through this track, scything it's way through the brain, opening it up for the subtle attack from the synths which change from acidy sounding to squelchy to metallic acid again once they are inside the brain. Everything here seems more subtle. The beats are more reserved the sounds plop a little more casually & it creates an atmosphere of isolation in a cabin in the forest but knowing that outside the door are all manner of plants & animals awaiting you. 8. Busted - Uncontrollable Substance We pick up the pace slightly here with a more forceful track. There is still the subtlety that I've come to expect from all of Gus's work but the beats are stronger & nearer the front & the sounds are on different levels. Those in the foreground covering those in the back but you can still make out the foundations of the track nicely. There is a sound that almost sounds like an elephant before the breakdown. The breakdown shows off it's atmospheric side with light little drips of sound & that elephant noise again over some dark ambience. The beauty of this track though is when it kicks back in, the acidic line that traces the beat is fantastic as are all the different forms it takes there on. These sounds take a good track & make it great 9. Bus - Finissimo Possibly the most atmospheric on the album. the drones in the background the noises the decelerated beat all build a nice sleek feeling of flying around the above or among the clouds on a nice bright day. The metallic sounds remind me of flying machines & there are a lot of other really trippy sounds that seem to be coming from the cosmos. Very nice track, a lush way to finish off this collection. So there are a lot of Great Gus Till tracks here people. If you don't know who Gus Till is or have never heard his music then this will be a great place for you to start enjoying his music. For those that are already familiar with his music & maybe even own a lot of it, there is still enough on this to make it worth while. Just having them all together is nice but they also seem to have an extra shine when they were remastered. Definitely worth the cash

While looking through Gus Till's discography on Discogs it looks like he has just released a new ambient album click Gus's site is down & all I can get from his myspace is that he is working on a new deep ambient label Aquana. I'll be keeping my eyes peeled for this as it looks pretty sweet has anyone else heard of anything about this?

Bus Morebusinesslinkyouthere Sub 2005 Tracklist 1. Disco Suns 2. Take a Walk With Me 3. Outta Their Loco Vulcan Heads 4. Plastico 5. Bambi and Thumper 6. Bus L'Ouverture 7. Return of the Fist 8. Attitude Jets 9. Depth Charger 1st I'll just take a minute to express my surprise at the lack of responses to this thread. Have you guys been hiding under a rock? How can so many people have missed this masterpiece from one of the best in the scene? Gus Till, who was a member of the infamous band Slinky Wizard who released a string of amazing tracks from 1994 - 2001 but who never brought out a full length album. Of all the members Adam Boyd, Dominic Lamb, George Barker, Gus Till, Ronnie Biggs, Simon Posford, James Monro, Dick Trevor, Matt Evans, and Jules Evans, I'd haveto say Gus Till was my favourite. The subtlety he manages to squeeze into music is fantastic. His music has not always been something I can listen to at anytime as when I give it casual listens I miss most of what he's done. But given time (& headphones) his music paints the most fabulous soundscapes I've ever heard (Notice that Simon Posford's name was also included above ) So Bus's first album is definitely Gus's work. There is a lot of variation in this ranging from what I was expecting to very easily accessible stuff. Let's check it out. 1. Disco Suns A really dreamy intro sets me in a spring mood right from the get go. It takes a few minutes for the beat to kick in but when it does we are treated to a hard kicking beat that manages to be subtle enough to not dominate proceedings. As usual from Gus Till there is a lot of psychedelic sounds used all around but there is also hints of melody that I never really heard in his previous (Bus) work. Smooth as silk is how I'd describe this track. Not sure about the disco feel hinted by the title but the melody really reminds me of Suns 2. Take A Walk With Me A little more energy here. The pace seems to have quickened. After the opening sample It's a whole different way of life, it's a whole different way of living, but more than that it's a whole different of thinking… some radio-ish voices merge in & the beat kicks off. More than that though is all the sounds used & the way the sample is twisted really add to the energy. The beat kicks & trips and there is so many "Gus" sounds all over the background. Lots of subtle synth works with a few hints of melody here & there. Very nice track. 3. Outta There Loco Vulcan Heads On the surface this is a more minimal track with no melodies 6 seemingly less sounds but focus on it & it's rather more subtle flavours & there is a lot more than on first inspection. Dark ambient sounds rush through the background & there is an interestingly slow bassline. All in all this is like how Brian Eno described ambient, it is as ignorable as it is engaging. 4. Plastice The intro is a collection of twisted vocal samples, looks they are sped up rewound & turned inside out. A heavy kick comes in and some dull metallic synth sounds. These blend into what in my mind sounds like some dark twisted creature's attempt at civilised communication but fucking it all up. The female vocal sample is really weird & it repeats along with some melodic bleeps & other weird sounds in a kind of rhythmical way. The twisted troll sounds come back & overall I get quite a dark feeling from this track. 5. Bambi & Thumper A much funkier track here, I can hear this being played on dancefloors in cheesy clubs everywhere & the e'd up kiddie dancers not noticing anything different. Don't get me wrong, it's not a cheesy track. There are a lot of cheesy elements in it but we are dealing with Gus Till here. The man is a master & he easily has the skills to make a track that's easily accessible to people outside the scene but deep, engaging & psychedelic enough to appeal to fans of his too. Great track! Really funky & the poppish female vocals are ethereal (enough) to not ruin it but add a sexy feel. 6. Bus L'Overture (Gus Till Conducts the Concrete Unlimited Orchestra) As you can imagine from the track title & note this is an orchestral track. Gus Till actually conducting the CUO & mixing it with his progressive stylings. Quite an interesting fusion of sounds. The classical string instruments mix surprisingly well with the trance beat & there is even quite military sounding beats in there. The samples & electronic bits add a surreal atmosphere to the track leaving my jaw hanging open. Love this track 7. Return of the Fist Lots of effects in this one, they remind me of the Pioneer CDJ effects like Phaser & Flanger. All very sci-fi & incredibly weird (in a good way). Much more maximal in your face Bus than anything I've heard previously under this name. A mad crazy mess of sounds all over the place. Think of the Slinky Wizard tracks Fist Full of Mutants & Sacred Fist on Black Rhino & you'll get where the track title came from. Very much in that style, dark crazy stuff 8. Attitude Jets Lots of Jet type sounds from the opening sound of the rotor engine starting up to the whooshes throughout. Once again this reminds me more of Bus's older work. On the surface there seems to be not much to it, but dive deeper into the music & you'll find that there is a hell of a lot going on. He merges the sounds together nicely with the beat sounding like it's walking through a swamp at high speed & the acidic stabs coming out of the night sky as the beat runs off. The bass, the acid, the beats, groans & engine sounds all create a little world for you to explore. I imagine I'm outside at night in a forest clearing, planes rush over head & back again as if searching for something, occasionally coming closer & then rushing off again. Great track, needs focus or you'll miss it. 9. Depth Charger This is a Bus remix of a Slinky Wizard track. I've never heard the original so I can not compare it. This is a nice little journey though. Some melodic sounds, some darker sounds mixed in. A nice beat that makes me want to move a little bit but not too much. There are vocal samples expertly inserted so as not to distract your attention but more divert it slightly into another direction. There is funkiness, ambience, rhythm darkness all in one tight little package. A really nice track to round off the album, the long drawn out ambient synths in the background make me just want to fly away. A great album the by Gus Till, he's managed to make a progressive album that is interesting, varied & very very good. I'm not usually a big fan of prog but there is definitely something about this album that makes it stand out from the crowd of identikit prog by numbers that has been released over the years. Each track is definitely Gus Till but each one is different enough to make it a really interesting album. All tracks are between good & fantastic. I don't think this album has had the recognition it deserves but comes with my full recommendation.

Solar Fields - Air Song (8am Version)

We've lost the name lads! What is referred to as psy-trance is no longer even close to what we remembered. The music is still there we just need a new name for it! How about Sai-Trance Also Sai in Japanese means Rhino

The Joseph Nothing track was my favourite on that comp. Thanks

If it sounds scary then don't do it

False Mirror - Plato's Last Dream Sitting by the side of a river at night, wrapped up in a blanket to warm myself from the cold biting wind.

that depends how heavily you're trippin' sometimes when you turn the CD off the music just wont go away

The only thing I have from Planet Mu is The Cosmic Forces Of Mu, which left me cold. is this a typical sound from Planet Mu?

Yeah, subtle beats over the ambient trance ones although I'm sure whatever he brings us will be top drawer!

I was flying, very slowly flying, high in the sky!

I put this on my wishlist at saiko, is it any good?

Any more news? Anything? Come on Aes Dana! Dazzle us

I finally got some stuff from DataObscura (the CDr wing of Databloem, must admit I don't see much difference in CDs & professional quality CDrs direct from the label) From The Circular Ruins (of whom I am trying to get the complete discography, as you can guess I hold this guy (the head of Databloem records) in very high esteem) I got Conjunction & Land of the Blind as well as a collaboration with Off the Sky, We All Fall Down Also got Kwook's album Unidentified Feathered Object & last years Chronostatic Scenes by False Mirror as usual with these guys I am very impressed.

1. Solar Fields - Air Song 2. Rena Jones - Aurora Borealis 3. Evan Bartholomew - Soft Spots In The Tyranny Of Matter 4. The Circular Ruins - Standing in violent Golds 5. Kwook - 30 Times the Speed of Light 6. False Mirror - The Tower of Deception 7. Krill.Minima - Nautica 8. Krill.Minima - Surface From The Groundless Oceans 9. Pan Electric - A Moment of Grace 10. Cymphonic - Gracilis

Did you? I've yet to receive mine

A ghost mix? Now there's an idea! But what other tracks would you recommend? I'm at the moment trying to compile a new wet mix! Water is my favourite sound & when it's done well in music it's just heavenly

Shit, really? I bought 2 copies, stupidly gave one to my girlfriend instead of selling it

So when can I finally get my hands on this. I've been eagerly awaiting it for far too long! *continues to wait*

A few more that are close to perfect in my ears are Sienis - From A Nutter Perspective (Gi'iwa Productions 2007) The craziness level is perfect! The basslines make my mind & body want to rise up & the energy is fantastic. Best album from 2007 & maybe one of my favourites ever. Nothing is perfect but this comes close. Solar Fields - EarthShine (Ultimae Records 2007) Purely flawless production. Trance with a lot of ambience, how trance should be. It's easy to get lost in this album. The only flaw is that it's not gapless like his downbeat albums. Solar Fields please make more trance (and ambient too ) Cymphonic - Strataradialis (Databloem 2007) This continues to grow on me. Every time I hear it I notice something new. The music is so descriptive it's brilliant. The only flaw is that it's not longer

Woot!!! This is class & needs more attention

The Circular Ruins - The Abyss of Proof In a basement, with water dripping slowly down the walls and off the ceiling. With decaying things shoved roughly in the corner & with the fear of the return of the basements owner. Well, I don't think I'd want to be there but this would accompany a movie with a plot like that very nicely