Basilisk Posted November 15, 2004 Share Posted November 15, 2004 Review: http://www.ektoplazm.com/reviews/ultrapop/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nefarious Posted November 15, 2004 Share Posted November 15, 2004 Nice one Basilisk. I really dig Loopus in Fabula so this comp looked a treat. Obvious adjectives such as groovy and funky spring to mind. The Phat Kontrollerz trak is the one thats doin' the damage so far. Brilliant opener, a little more brooding than the rest. Tip top tasty comp that will make my summer that much nicer!! Cheers to all funky freaks involved. Another supreme release for 04. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris Posted November 17, 2004 Share Posted November 17, 2004 nice compilation indeed. some of the stuff is quite different from what i had expected though. i expected it to be a lot more crazy-funky, but in general i found the songs to be quite calm and easy to listen to, which is not bad at all. at first i really liked the kino oko song and the chase by loopus in fabuala. after some more listening i really got in to the dendron song and the phat kontrollerz track. the kiwa track kind of reminds me of a saiko pod song(i think it's called silent running). i'd say overall it's definately worth getting if you are open for a different side of psy trance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jikkenteki Posted December 31, 2004 Share Posted December 31, 2004 Various Artists – Ultrapop Fabula Records 2004 FABCD02 Phat Kontrollerz – Simple Control Complex Antiscarp Warriors – Invalead Kiwa – Offset Loopus In Fabula – Casbah Praecox – Fraktalik Penis Kino Oko – Crakrum And Bocianum Loopus In Fabula – The Chase Dendron – Supernatural Jazz Popper Hnool – Disco Seinis – Nifty Fifty If there is one thing I have grown tired of in today's psy-scene, it is cookie cutter compilations. You know the type... Look at the back cover, find the biggest name and then you basically know what the rest of the CD will sound like. I seem to recall a time when I could buy a compilation fairly regularly and get a nice mix of what I expected and something different that I might not have heard elsewise. Unfortunately those type of releases are definately the exception today and therefore I'm happy to report that Ultrapop is definately one of those exceptions. Those of you who like a little variety in your compilations and want to stretch your musical boundries a bit will find a lot to like here. Lots of variation, lots of groove and not a single cookie cutter full on track to be found. Phat Kontrollerz starts us off with some nice deep progressive stylings. I am of two minds of on the progressive sounds, finding some of it to be amazing and the rest of it mind numbingly boring. "Simple Control Complex" is of the variety I like. Groovy, sonically clean, yet full, lots of percussive action and some surprising sonic mood shifts make this building beast a winner in my book. A promising start to the comp here. "Invalead" by Antiscarp Warriors is next up. Upon hearing the grooving bassline and weird snyth sounds I though to myself "Finland" and a quick look inside the cd jacket proved my hunch right. Some Finnish music I find to be weird just for weirds sake, but this is a quality piece of work. It has all the bits of the Finland sound I like, without an undue amount of "hey look at this weird sound/sample I came up with" going on. I like the smooth and steady interplay of the simple kick and bassline, above which various layer of madness dirft back and forth. Crazy wigglying synths, chopped up horn samples, bouncing percussion.... Good stuff. Another Finnish act, Kiwa, is next with "Offset". We start off with some atmospheric flybys and breaky bits, then start piling up layers of percussion before cutting out for a brief second and then finally dropping into the base bass/kick groove. "Offset" is somewhat tribally progressive in some aspects, but there is a lot more going on here with the endless amount of layer addition and subtraction going on. Yet another winner here, and even better, all the tracks so far stand up on their own and aren't part of the sort of one flavor sonic mush that so many releases are becoming. Loopus In Fabula are next up with "Casbah" and if you know Loopus In Fabula, then you know something different is coming your way. This track almost seems to say "Yeah baby.... funky Jaaaaaazz" to me. Hell its even got a flute solo! While its perhaps not my favorite track of the comp, it definately is solid, and even more important, original. The fact of the matter is, it is rare that a person will love every track in a comp, but I'd much prefer a strong track that's not my usual style to run of the mill filler. This is a strong track and definately not filler. Praecox are next up. In my darker moments I like to put on Praecox's dark ass semi industrial monster 12"s released on Hadshot a few years ago, so I was excited to see what "Fraktalik Penis" would be about. Again, we have a very different sort of track here that seems to combine some of the weirder elements of some of Loopus In Fabula's work, with a slightly colder sonic palate and focus on a sound that I can only refer to as a Jamaican steel drum gone totally awry. There is a lot more development going on here than the older Praecox tracks I am farmiliar with. While I wasn't entirely sold on the beginning of the track, by the half way point I have definately been sucked in. Again, not my usual cup of tea, but a good solid track regardless. As Monty Python would say "And now for something completely different". Kino Oko jumps right in with a bassline that I can only describe as a full on bassline as it should be done, rather than how it is usually done. However the rest of the track has about as much to do with full on as a Yanni record. The bassline and kick prove to be the launch point for everything else here. We have some rambling real slap bass floating in and out, a wide range of flybys, some various percussion loops and some various small medolic bits. All in all it sounds like it should be really boring, yet it is made just right and somehow keeps my attention through out. Loopus In Fabula are back with "The Chase". After intial being tricked into thinking something goofy is coming, with switches into a 2000-ish moody dark minimal bassline with some of the usual accompaning flybys, although with other sounds that only Loopus would think to add in this sort of track. Another solid track here and completely different from their last offering. Dendron's "Supernatural Jazz" is next, starting like a mutant 1980's break beat rap track. It then shifts gears into a morphing breaky track that reminds me of something Matsuri Productons might have put out several years ago. Sometimes smooth, sometimes dark, its great, but definately a track I can't see many labels having the guts to include on a "psy" comp, so again, big props to the Fabula Records crew for being daring. Popper Hnool's track is next and being that the track is called "Disco" we can be pretty sure of something in tune with the overall "different" vibe of the comp here coming. Complete with real drum samples, wah'ed guitar lines, more horns and a "funky baby" bassline, We have another track that is not your usual fair here. Like "Casbah", its not really my style, although I can definately get into it. Sienis closes the comp with "Nifty Fifty". If there has been one vaguely common element on this comp, it has been a sort of vague loungy-jazz vibe popping up here and there and Sienis has this same vague vibe, although in a completely different way. With the exception of the wah guitar samples and such, the sonic palate here is more modern psy than the rest of the comp has been, but the song structure is completely unlike most of the psy you probably listen too. All in all its an excellent track with almost a touch of "party" vibe to it and a great way to finish off the comp. The end result - Simply put I like this comp a lot. Even if there are a few tracks I am not totally in love with, this compilation is a great lesson in that it is ok, and even usually good to have some variety in a release these days. In the days of everyone playing it safe, I give Fabula Records a lot of credit in doing something very different. And if that alone wasn't reason enough, there is a lot of damn fine music here too. Highly recommend to the open minded!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spindrift Posted December 31, 2004 Share Posted December 31, 2004 I normally don't like when labels is trying to make compilations made to be good to listen to at home when it comes to trance music. It becomes easily neither really good for party or good for home listening but kind of half baked. Better to focus on either or IMO. But this is the exception. Great listening AND nice party music. Extremly well compiled. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
X-scream Posted January 2, 2005 Share Posted January 2, 2005 Got this on for free a few weeks ago. Not really my cup of tea but I can't deny that it's good Really groovy stuff, but it tends to get a bit boring after a while Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Manuser Posted February 19, 2005 Share Posted February 19, 2005 I really dig this compilation, no boring track in it even if track 08 - Dendron - Supernatural jazz is not really my cup of tea, but when you are in the mood it's perfectly listenable,well well made anyway... On the whole this comp is so original and surprising, typically the Loopus in fabula style i could listen to in their first album, funky and jazzy, with real instruments, flutes, guitars...and sometimes dark (05 - Praecox - Fraktalik penis), old school touch for the last track 10 - Sienis - Nifty fifty, and always those delicious basslines, funky and sometimes tehnoish (listen to track 06 - Kino oko - Czakrum and bocianum, amazing track, I dig that kickline and basslines! Technoish track). My fav remain the groovy tracks like track 02 - Antiscarp warriors - Invalead, and above all track 04 - Loopus in fabula - Casbah, please everyone listen to track 04 - Loopus in fabula - Casbah, i am addicted to it, simply that bassline, it totally works for me, so pleasant! My rating : 8/10. Quality, and this is music believe me Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freak51 Posted June 30, 2005 Share Posted June 30, 2005 I picked this one up for $10. Totally worth the money. This is one of those discs to stash away in a secret corner. There's a good chance that there is a track on here that will do for a mood change between whatever the last guy was playing and your set. A whole hour of palate-clearers that work well together as an album. There's something addictive about it, and the cover art is just off-putting enough. Me love it long time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kathmandu Posted July 1, 2005 Share Posted July 1, 2005 fully sleek psychedelic music one of the best albums of 2004 for me Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yerg Posted May 31, 2009 Share Posted May 31, 2009 Nice compilation. All tracks are very good. As it was said before this realease is full of funky suomi-style tunes. 8/10 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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