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Artist: Space Tribe Title: Peak Experience Label: Space Tribe Music Date: November, 2011 1. Peak Experience (vs Mad Max) 2. Destiny (vs Laughing Buddha) 3. Real Simulation (vs Dickster) 4. Just say yes!! (vs Mad Maxx) 5. One Drop (vs Laughing Buddha) 6. Distorted Reality (vs Tristan) 7. Beyond Words (vs Dickster) 8. Gene Machine (vs Laughing Buddha) 9. The Bomb (vs Johan Bley) Few things are sadder than watching an icon fall from the mountaintop. I think she just gave me eye chlamydia Did you watch the Superbowl Madonnapalooza halftime show? It was like a 16 minute commercial pandering to the audience. That Madonna...always good at seeing which way the wind blows. "Look at me! Pay attention to me, I'm still relevant! I'm still cool, look...I work with Nikki Minaj and M.I.A. (who?) and those guys that keep on shufflin!" And Cee-Lo what the f*ck man? You looked like the fat black Keebler Elf they keep in the back to break down the truck. Nobody wants to see a 53 year old grandmother hobble around the stage lip synching to bad music. I can do that at my na-na's house. I get you were an icon and you truly were. Changed the game and had an tremendous impact on girls (and unfortuanately lots of guys). But that was two decades ago. Life changes. We as a people evolve as technology evolves and the torch gets passed. You time was during the introduction of the first cell phone and Ferris Bueller. We have the internet now...we know where to find you. This is Olli Wisdom one of the true legends in our little corner of music who's been banging out tracks for more than 15 years. From my window he released a bunch of albums early in his career that were more memorable for the flashy colors and pictures than any of the sonic material on the inside. But I still sought them out and collected them because that's the kind of anal guy I am. A completionist. It wasn't until the middle of last decade that he really popped up on my radar with the albums Time S-T-R-E-T-C-H and Thru the Looking Glass. Full of power, melody, and acid explosions and boy I was hooked. I really enjoyed his collaboration with Electric Universe as EsP. His last album Electro Convulsive Therapy in 2008 had some real stormers on it but it also had tracks that had you scratching you head, wondering what the f*ck he was thinking. So where is he now? Looking at the tracklist impressive names abound so here's hoping that he maintains his footing and doesn't plummet like Boris Blenn did. I mean did you actually hear Higher Modes? Peak Experience (Kailash Rmx)- "Well this calls for a joint, wanna do the honors?" The first teamup is with Max Peterson who had a fantastic debut with After World in 2008. You'll be seeing him again, but this has a full-on foundation with repeated samples and little in the way of meat. Kinda just goes through the motions but has a nice synth line near the end. Not bad, but I have heard much better and deeper tracks from both artists. Ummm....is that joint still on the table? Destiny- "A single moment that takes you out of yourself. Makes you feel very tiny or very large to some extent one with life" Jeremy Van Kampen is one half of Cosmosis and released the underwhelming Sacred Technology waaaaay back in 2010 under the Laughing Buddha project. Already the acid quotient is higher and that makes me smile. It bubbles at times but my favorite part is the 303 lead that slowly growls in volume that reminds me of the meat locker scene in Blade with all the vampires. They add effects and take a rather thin track to thicker status as it all comes together at the end. Better. Real Simulation- "They discovered that you may not be real." Dick Trevor has been around for a decade or so and more often than not has nailed that British, hypnotic sound. Acid waves screech by and this is even more promising with the pumping bass line and effects. It's more detailed with echoing leads and lasers firing from all directions. The signature move of Olli is to twist and manipulate a sample and he does that here. The layers begin to stack and a new melody arises while the acid flies. Good stuff. Just Say Yes!!- "If you smoke marijuana...you will become a unmotivated dysfunctional loser." While that may be true, you could also marry a surgeon and become a stay at home Dad to two kids. But yeah, I see where you're going... Max is back and he brought his distortion pedal with him. But they also brought the bouncy leads and acid whip. Now normally I don't go for guitars in my psytrance. But the crunch isn't bad even though they might go a little overboard here. It's hit or miss really. I'm sure some will love the far away scream of the guitar and some will throw their headphones across the room. Not me. No, that was saved for the painful stop and start samples that included Obama (yes I'm not kidding) saying "Yes we can." And then for the ahem...guitar solo. So what did I do? Well, I actually just shook my head, but this was what I wanted to do. One Drop- "One drop...that's all you need. Can't be greedy. I guarantee you'll see the world with new eyes. Trick is...you have to let it take you in. Follow it. Soak it in." Hey Jeremy's back! Everybody Jeremy's back!!! The acid wash stutters like the Kings Speech and then the tempo changes. Doesn't last too long before that acid returns and it brings it's friends. That and the sample are the stars here. Good stuff again. Distorted Reality- Tristan Cooke is another one that has been around for a long while. They begin with a heavily modulated lead but it's the next one over top of it that has my attention. They continue to build on things and it gets better and better as the track moves along. By 5 minutes this thing is stickier than model airplane glue. Easily my favorite as it sees a return to former Space Tribe greatness. Good show mate. Beyond Words- "It was a life changing experience. It goes beyond words." Dick part 2. And they take a little effects trip before it gets going. Hallucinatory samples get monkeyed with and then they bust out the lead. It slows down and then gets all reggae on you. Pretty smooth transition. But it's the buildup that I didn't care for. As far as I'm concerned that is a momentum killer. The end has a screaming 303 but what am I supposed to do? Forget that middle bit ever happened? Can't do it. Just.Cant.Do it. Gene Machine- "The subatomic world of DNA." I typed that, but the way the sample was played with it would stretch about 2 lines. Jeremy again? What are you guys, dating? Anyway, you can really make a Space Tribe track out with they way he f*cks with samples. You ain't changed a bit Olli. The first 3 minutes are white noise to me but that echoing lead has me by the short and curlies. Awww shucks. I can't stay mad at you Olli. It picks up in intensity and adds layers flying with a space vibe. Pretty good. The Bomb- "We've had time now to see and study the effects of LSD." The synths shine and this one feels darker. But the guitar....sorry I just don't like it. It dominates and I can't concentrate on the synth parts. Not for me. There are a few things you can count on with a Space Tribe release. The font on his album, numerous drug samples, and a heavy dose of acid. And all that is represented here. So why do I feel...unfulfilled? The tracks were fine mostly, but I couldn't shake the feeling that something was missing. Power, a presence...something. There was something in all of the tracks that I liked, but other than Distorted Reality it lacked that blistering few that can carry an album. Good parts surrounded by the not great with maybe a little too much relying on samples. To be honest, this sounds like it could've been made 5 years ago. And that's cool, because I have plenty of music from 5 years ago that I liked. But when I compare it to the two albums I mentioned in the intro it pales in comparison. So let me say that it's good. Not top of the mountain good, but maybe just below base camp good. I don't normally rate it, but if I had to...4/5 Psyshop Beatspace Saiko Sounds Goastore Mdk