abasio

Aes Dana Memory Shell Ultimae 2004 Tracklist 01. Chernozem 02. Iris Rotation 03. Dusts 04. Opalin 05. Memory Shell (Lost Radio E-dit) 06. Haze 07. Shouting Valley 08. Cities Update 09. Sub Morphing 10. Grounds Around 11. Exposure (Aes Dana Rmx) 12. Chernozem (Closing) The 3rd album from Aes Dana & the only one still available (at the time of writing) at a decent price. After hearing Season 5 at a friends house I really wanted to own it but I couldn't manage to get my hands on it so instead I bought Memory Shell & I was definitely not disappointed, I think it is Aes Dana's best album to date but it has to be said that it is the only one I own on CD so I have given it a lot of time to be heard. 1. Chernozem A short soft ambient opener. A purple drone in the background & a muttered vocal over the top. Slight acid rain & underwater melodies give this a dark wet feel. 2. Iris Rotation A beat starts us off but is quickly replaced by an irregular rain and a baseline or two. The 1st is melodious while the second one is more subtle & rhythmic albeit brief. The melody is fantastic & really builds the atmosphere. It's a semi dark semi sci fi atmosphere with beats that give energy but don't detract from the spaciness. Ambient trance with the best of ambient and the best of trance. 3. Dusts Weird bits of sci fi melody come & go & it's a relief when something bigger comes. The drone is pretty minimal but it manages to fill the space & widen it before & oscillating cry comes out of the abyss & into the track. The beats themselves feel like they are coming out & returning to a vacuum. The baseline melody turns the ambience into a tune & the beat drives it into a foot tapper. Very nice dreamy track. 4. Opalin The word Opalin makes me think of opium & mescaline. The track is far from the atmosphere of an opium den but the does manage to combine the trippiness of opium with the melody & the weird background blips & the slow floatiness of mescaline with the steady but slow 4-4 & the very subtle rushing synths. I don't know if that was the intention but that's definitely the result in my mind. 5. Memory Shell (Lost Radio E-Dit) I wear your body, I'm still your memory! This is the end of the opening sample. A lovely sounding lady is quite psychedelic but it's the lonely wind that swirls around that gives the atmosphere to this track. By the time the baseline comes in shortly followed by the beat I've already been transported to the fields of my past, standing in my memories turned into night. Everything I remember is darker & different, like my past should or shouldn't have been. 6. Haze The vocals are really beautiful here. They seem to come out of the ether & into my soul. The beats are very tribal adding an earthy touch to the goddess like vocals. An earth goddess loves me & wants me to know. She embraces me while keeping me distant 7. Shouting Valley Supposedly recorded in the Shouting Valley of the Golan Heights in Syria, this track does exactly what it says in the title. The sounds is like some big vocal opera singer giving it their all from the bottom of the valley. I guess the opening murmurs are the actual recordings but it's the main female vocal that is so haunting. It so real & yet so unreal at the same time. 8. Cities Update A sudden change from natural phenomena to man made structures. Another 4-4 beat feels artificial in a machine like way with the baseline as the electricity feeding it. The vocal jargon only adds to the engineer make up of this city. Industrial beauty is strange but apparent, must be alien because humans can't do this. 9. Sub Morphing The melody straight away is played by the baseline. This plus the weird metallic sounds add up to one metallic sounding track. The robotic artificialness continues but evolves into more natural cyborg sounds. The late melody hints at humanity but the rest only portray industry 10. Grounds Around A much more earthy track sounds like a grounded spacecraft. It's like it wants to fly but can't find the right sequence. voices call out instructions & it starts to run but it's running across the ground & not flying. A strange earth like space. 11. Exposure (Aes Dana Rmx) This track cries out to be heard. From the escaping vocal in the intro to the baseline & the beats this screams notice me in really subtle & reserved way like an emo that craves but doesn't want attention. Beautiful yet strangely dark. So there we are an ambient emo anthem. 12. Chernozem (Closing) To close we have the mirror of the opening. An oceanic feel with a dark underwater vocal & a pseudo melody. By the vocals & the sounds I'm not sure if this is supposed to be deep ocean or nuclear winter. The track title's proximity to Chernoble makes me think the latter but being inexperienced I always feel the former. So all in all Aes Dana has produced a stunning album that's still available now (Dec 2007). So if you like this sound buy it before it's too late

H.U.V.A. Network Distances Ultimae April 2004 Ambient Tracklist 1 Distances (8:39) 2 Access To The Long Fiels (7:40) 3 Rain Geometries (5:52) 4 Symetric Lifes (7:11) 5 Processing Lights (3:29) 6 Indigo Room (6:46) 7 Time Circles (8:28) 8 Overload (Putput Mix) (10:24) 9 Moon Town (5:45) 10 Morning Call (Dawn Remix) (7:37) 11 Sunday Barbecue With The Neighbours (3:30) When Aes Dana meets Solar Fields, in my opinion 2 of the best ambient/ambient trance producers since the turn of the century. Teaming up to create an album combining both men's skills & ideas. So do these 2 ambient maestros compliment each other or did they conflict too much. Let's take a look!! 1. Distances We kick off with the title track. A soft dreamy track with an oscillating synth, right from the start. Soft voices are barely audible early on, unless you listen in headphones. If you listen carefully though it becomes more noticeable later in the track. The beat & the baseline are quite subtle & this creates a dark evening atmosphere. I feel like a small insignificant creature, lying in a field of black gold watching a UFO with mild interest. 2. Access To The Long Fields A bit more melodious here but with a slightly alien feel. Long drawn out sci fi drones with high & low pitch form the intro before a slow heavy baseline played on a double bass brings us down to Earth after the intro. Little high hats build energy as a break beat teases in. The beat never becomes steady though & after a short time is gone leaving only the spacey sounds as an outro. We were flying, crashed down back to Earth & started running before realising we were still in the air. 3. Rain Geometries More melodious still with an actual melody from the start then a heavy (sounding) base melody over the top. Some minimal acoustic guitar & the beat kicks in at the same time. The beat is steady but very spacious & slow. It seems initially to add very little to the track until it leaves & comes back which is when you realise it is timing your thoughts so you can understand every little addition. As all the sounds have arrived a break beat flutters through an infectious if simple melody. 4. Symmetric Lines This this track has a really spacious feel to it. Big orchestral droning synths in the background feel like a solar wind pushing us through space. The most percussive track so far is the most spacey & trancey. Bits of melody come at us but they feel distant as if they are moving away from us. The vocal that comes in later is a nice touch but it seems like a humanly alien landing in a parallel universe. 5. Processing Lights The sound of waves can be heard under a strange sounding drone. Light rushes from under the sea as we are shown the wonders of the deep. This track has a very wet feel like the sea. The little electronic twinkles even manage to sound like sea gulls. Albeit twisted alien ones. 6. Indigo Room If water was made up of colour & lights then this track would be the rain. I never got this track on the stereo as the baseline is very prominent and can take over an unfocused mind but listen carefully beneath the base & you can hear a colourful rain & a sonic wind lightening things up. Even the middle section with no baseline seems to have hidden depths. Listen to this track. Focus on it's beauty. 7. Time Circles A very difficult track to describe. Errrr..... the start is like many a dark ambient album. Long dark synths, no melody or percussion, just atmosphere and weird noise. A dark alien voice comes in halfway through bringing with it a soft yet oppressive bamboo beat. I have to describe this track as passively aggressive. It's chilled yet uptight. It's spacious but too dense. It is a paradox. I'm just not sure about it. I usually like weird abstract stuff but I just don't get this! It's not too weird it's just not that good. 8. Overload (Put Put Remix) The longest track on the album is quick to get going, short stabs of synth seem to act as a danceable beat & there is energy from the get go. When the beat comes in it's a 4-4 beat right from Aes Dana. Very driving relaxed dancefloor stuff. When the beat comes back in with the beat lines coming back in perfectly, I really feel like my brain's on overload. 9. Moon Town Follows on nicely from the outro of Overload. It feels spacey but also feels more tribal & grounded. Think alien tribe sacrificing someone to their god on a full moon or a double moon. It's much more relaxed than overload with a more intricate beats. It's a lot trippier & a great track visually. 10. Morning Call (Dawn Remix) The celestial vocals at the start bring with them a light warmth. The sound of an alien oceanic wave crashing against the cliffs puts me on a beach and the steady rushing sounds put me at dawn. The voice sounds like the sun's light creeping over the horizon & the beats feel like the light creeping over the hills to light the rest of the world. It feels like the day is underway but I'm on the wrong side of it. Experiencing the sunrise after being up all night. 11. Sunday BBQ With The Neighbours Now that the day is underway, the birds are out & the sun is shining. Melody seems to come out of the sky but it fades away in a foreboding manner. When it comes back it seems more sinister, the sounds behind it bring dark clouds but still the birds sing. After fading the second time only the birds are left behind. Then silence for a minute followed by some dark BBQ destroying spirits. The total opposite of the start of the track. Sounds a bit like rain and as we know rain kills BBQs. So did Aes Dana & Solar Fields work well together? I think they did! It's a good album & apart from Time Circles, which is crap, the tracks all form part of a story. The album goes from early evening through the night to the dawn & even until the day with poor weather. Favourites are symmetric lines, indigo room, overload & morning call but I wish there had been no inclusion of Time Circles. This is not the greatest ultimae album & being a combination of 2 great artists that it is I can't help but feel a little disappointed. You should listen to this before you listen to Solar Fields or Aes Dana.

I believe you must be being very silly I have no problem with the baselines. They sound how I wish all fast baselines should sound! Well, I have the promise of money which is just as good, well not just as good but it's made me less cautious. Of course, Ultimae releasing some must haves has not help my curbed addiction.

My personal favourites

What are your favourite beats in a track? Mine are Aes Dana - Dusts They sound like they are coming from & returning to a vacuum Carbon Based Lifeforms - Photosynthesis A nice twisted roll Subgardens – Listen To The Flowers Grow (Aes Dana Remix) Reverse beats with a a rippling wood feel you?

Just ordered Oxycanta, Winter Blooms Cosmik Chill RED Master Margerita & friends - MASTURA Tajmahal & friends - STAR CIRCUS Cosmik Chill ORANGE but they won't be delivered until after the pre order period ends on Oxycanta, Winter Blooms

Aye! I recently bought Seinis - From A Nutter Perspective & it's reignited my love for Psytrance

So do I. I must admit that Antonio Testa is not a name I trust. Ultimae, I trust though!

my list twists & turns a bit each passing week at the moment my list looks like this Vibrasphere - Exploring The Tributaries Asura - Life² Sync24 - Source Tea Chairz - Tea Chairs Eat Static - De-Classified Younger Brother - The Last Days of Gravity Sienis - From A Nutter Perspective Spielerei & Mantacoup - Cold War VA - Mainspring Motion I'm confident that the new oxycanta will grace the list. If the Ishq & distant system albums come out this year they may very well get on the list too. I really hope that the new solar fields will be here soon too

I think my pants just might explode with that one

Yeah! I know how much people love this album but I just never got into it. It's not bad ('cept the last track) it's just not very good in my ears. Maybe they need a clean but there is much more music I think is better than this album

I didn't get Solar Fields - Earthshine Now it will be monday at the earliest

Must have made a quality track. I trust Mahiane to compile this well 10 more days! I'm putting in an order now, now now now

That new younger brother jobbie

review

Where is this readily available? I was lucky enough to buy this album this year but I've not seen it in many online shops.

C in my book is a passing grade okay to listen to but nothing special. IMO these tracks lack the journey aspect I loved about lots of goa/psy. Also I didn't find them that psychedelic enough. A lot of music when I close my eyes I see visions, hallucinations without taking any drugs. Maybe these tracks sound good when intoxicated but I have never tried substances when listening to this album because at the end of the day I find it too cheesy especially Jiggle of the Sphinx it really sounds like a nursery rhyme. I have always found Simon Posford's music to be cheesy but most of it lands on the fun & enjoyable side of cheese. This album though for me is too cheesy. The melodies are to poppy and the sounds grate on my nerves rather than take me down into a dreamy haze. Oh yeah & the samples I know a lot of people love, I hate especially the 1st one there is an area of the mind..... I know a lot of people loved this & repeated it over and over again but I find it too long & really cheesy & used in LSD mixes so sounded old rehashed I tired when I heard on this album. There are a lot of much better albums than this out there. Albums with more energy, that are more psychedelic, are more fun without being as cheesy. Sorry Simon P but you have only made 1 great solo album IMO When it comes time to decide what I'll listen to I never get tempted to put this on anymore.

Some scary ass stalker

Can't get enough of this. Best trance I've heard all year without a doubt

Giving it a headphones listen

Survive the Winter

Did you get the dakini version (2CD) or the single from interchill? You can buy Magic Square for 35 Euro

Yeah a good 80% of people I speak to have shitty shitty taste but there are some people with quality taste in music. I just wish my GF did But she's not really into music so my choice is always okay with her, that's the next best thing. If she was really into hip hop & made me listen to it every other album then I don't think she would have lasted very long I do love how the japanese hip hop is called nip hop though