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Artist: Various Title: Cyan Clouds Label: Cyan Music Date: January, 2013 Side 1 01 - Fortadelis - Groovytational Pull (125 BPM) 02 - Saftronic - Lørdags (132 BPM) 03 - Low Orbit Satellite - Synchrotation MKII (125 BPM) 04 - Ross McLean - Subterrane (136 BPM) 05 - Paranal - E-System (125 BPM) 06 - Paranal - Binary Interaction (125 BPM) 07 - Arkadelphia - Fluidity (118 BPM) 08 - Arkadelphia - Lunar (112 BPM) 09 - OuD!n13 - Alteration (100 BPM) Side 2 10 - Low Orbit Satellite - Supersonic Traveller (95 BPM) 11 - Blatancy - A Cup Of Tea In The Twilight (Original Mix) (105 BPM) 12 - D-Echo Project - Subtle Change (110 BPM) 13 - Smooth - Nachtwerk (104 BPM) 14 - The Mixing Chef - Phases Of Chill (90 BPM) 15 - Tenonaki - Raumklang Mars (125 BPM) 16 - Bandarlog - Excerpt (100 BPM) 17 - Jaja - Riga (EBE Mix) 18 - Yagya - Old And Slow 4 The promo here pretty much nailed it (shocker). Side 1 gives you short tracks of various branches of techno. Some were floaty and hey! They repeat sh*t over and over like we do. Some of them sounded unfinished like they had an idea and then went to look at some porn. What stood out to me the most was the absolute lack of samples. Our music seems to thrive on them so to not hear any was very noticeable. Not saying that's a good thing or a bad thing, just a thing. The second half sees longer tracks as well as the first sample that gives me the knowledge about thunder and lightning I obviously lacked. The track by The Mixing Chef was great and had tremendous cosmic appeal. And there are a couple like that here (Excerpt is a moody sumb*tch). In the beginning there is more of a lounge and beer on the beach feel so if that's what awaits after alien abduction sign me up. Honorable mentions; tracks by Yagya and Jaja have some HUGE nebula watching pads. It's nice to get a break from trance once in a while. In that spirit, the next album I plan to review will be Wu-Massacre featuring Method Man. I think there might be a lot of f word in that one. Free at Ektoplazm Mdk

Artist: The Mixing Chef Title: Intense Meditative Trip Sessions Vol. 1 Label: Cyan Music Date: April, 2012 1 - Ongoing Harmony (79 BPM) 2 - Nearby River Flowing (90 BPM) 3 - Technetium (90 BPM) 4 - Psyciety (92 BPM) 5 - I Can't Breathe (100 BPM) 6 - Acid (Bright Colours) (79 BPM) You know for the longest time I believed there to be only one chef that mattered. I find it amusing and sad that in order to market him in the US at that time they had to dumb his name down. Boyardi? Too ethnic, people will think he's a communist and they won't want his sh*t on their dinner table! When we all know that there can be only one. Ran this through google translator because apparently only elves and pixies actually speak Swedish. "F*ck You Gordon Ramsay! You stole my bit mother f*cker! F*ck you, f*ck your mother, f*ck this fucking apron! F*ck your show and your fat f*cking co-chefs. Try making me cry mother f*cker I'll f*cking slice you with some dual cleaver action. F*ck this turtle and what the f*ck? Why the f*ck am I cracking eggs on a f*cking turtle? Who f*cking writes this sh*t" Holy sh*t Gordon did steal his bit. Apparently there is a new chef in town. The mixing chef. Don't all chef's mix? Whatever, he is Kristof Du Mon and the promo spared no cooking pun in describing his assemblage of downtempo music. Ongoing Harmony- Nice beats and heavenly pads join twinkling melodies making for the best track right out of the gate. Nearby River Flowing- It does have the vibe of a flowing river, but just like a river if I stare at it long enough time vanishes. Meh. Technetium- 11 minutes! I really think my attention span is shrinking rapidly. Anyone got the cliff notes for this thing? 5 minutes to go and I'm really not connecting with this. It's one of those that just kinda...goes. Psyciety- Jesus Tap Dancing Christ another 11 minutes?!?!? At this pace it'll take an hour. But I suppose hurtling through outer space at 1 mile an hour with this soundtrack won't be all that bad. There are some rapid percussive elements that make it seem like we are soaring past undiscovered planets. The last bit sounds as if the computer is picking up signs of life from the surface of one of those planets. Different. I Can't Breathe- It's holding down a funky breakbeat with some warped bass effect and various synthetics. I liked it. Acid (Bright Colours)- I didn't hear any acid but I think I did hear some quality beatboxing. It moves at a slow plodding pace with some bright sunshine pads sparkling in my eyes. Then it switches to a drum centric beat to close. Not bad It really is a collection of different styles of downtempo music. Some tracks are pretty long as I mentioned and you can really zone out. I know I did. Not the best stuff I have ever heard, but I always like to support new artists. Free at Ektoplazm Mdk

Artist: D-Echo Project Title: The Flavour of Fusion EP Label: Cyan Music Date: June, 2012 1 - Inadequacy (79 BPM) 2 - Funky Smooth Biz (79 BPM) 3 - Wind Trails (100 BPM) 4 - Chilling Drop (79 BPM) "No man can tell what tomorrow will bring." Well I hope it brings me more of this! Now this is what I'm talkin' about. Smooth beats and melodies ideal for sipping a cold one on the beach with friends. Don't know these guys from Portugal? It's cool, the music will unite. The promo says they create easy listening music, but this ain't your Mom's Air Supply. Nope, this is Louis Armstrong and Barry White cool going over to James Brown's house to jam. Oh, there will be no money exchanged...only warm vibes. It is repetitive also so why aren't I ripping it like I have some others? One, the tracks are not 8 or 9 (or God forbid 11!) minutes long of the same sh*t. Maybe if you add all of them together. These guys understand how long they can get away with this style and create the track accordingly. Another plus? You can actually hear the instrument sounds. Not just obscure noises. This actually sounds like musicians played the notes in the studio. Cool downtempo goodness and groove that like the sample says will make you have a smile on your face. Yeah, it's not beer, but that will also work. Get your relax on! Mdk