V/A - A Magical Journey

[DeathPosture]

V/A – A Magical Journey

 

 

Artist: Various

Title: A Magical Journey

Format: CD (jewel case)

Label: Ajana Records (Germany)

Cat. #: AJACD001

Distribution: Arabesque

Date: 13 Jun 2005

 

Track listing:

 

01. 07’43” Capsula – World Of Information

02. 06’34” Ovnimoon - Jabarei

03. 06’48” Dejan - Error

04. 07’41” Derango – An Ancient Tale

05. 08’20” Terra Nine – Axiom (The Omm Squad In Dub Mix)

06. 07’52” Kukan Dub Lagan – Psychedelic Child

07. 07’53” Cell – Asian Morning

08. 06’25” Electrypnose – Perce Oreille

09. 07’40” Psyfactor - REaliens

10. 08’44” Capsula – Crown Ethers

 

Review:

 

Around the world in a daze!

 

Up until know we all thought that Ajana was just a town in Western Australia – but now it’s also a record label. The chilled downbeat/experimental outlet of Germany’s Trishula Records… A record label with an impressive quality level – and now label boss Rudra is getting into downbeat stuff too… Brilliant! Let’s begin our journey and hope it becomes as magical as promised…

 

Let me take you thru the tracks…

 

#01: Capsula – World Of Information

“Information is primary. This world, this cosmos, this universe, this body and soul, are all made of information. Information is a deeper and more primary concept than space, time, matter, energy, charge, spin, angular momentum. The world is *made* of language…” Capsula is Yosef Shamay from Israel and I was really, really impressed by his trippy track on the Chilling Goddess compilation released on Peak Records earlier this year… This track is very similar… It starts out with a lengthy Terrence McKenna sample – and soon evolves into a dubby, chilled downbeat beast of a track… The rhythm section is very impressive and extremely psychedelic… Oh man, I can’t wait for the full Capsula album to be released by Ajana later this year… What a monstrous track to start this journey!

 

#02: Ovnimoon – Jabarei

Next up is Héctor Stuardo from Chile... That’s right – Chile! This is my first encounter with his music, but he’s released a handful of tracks on Synergetic Records… The atmosphere in the first part of the track is that of ancient Amazonia… Tribal drums, jungle sounds, flutes, birds and native children’s choir… Kinda reminds me of Kaya Project or Aluna… Later on the track takes on a more spacey, yet floating character… Brilliant!

 

#03: Dejan – Error

Dejan Mihailovic from France is up next... A guy that usually makes hard night-trance, but here’s a downbeat detour… Here we’re treated to tight percussion, dubby bass and a mixture of industrial and organic pads – beautifully combined, creating a rich sound… Reminds me a little of some of Aes Dana’s urban tracks… A tasty, well-polished track…

 

#04: Derango – An Ancient Tale

Derango are Jens Eriksson & Ola Eriksson – a highly acclaimed mushroom-trance duo from the deepest forests of Sweden… They’ve released stuff on Stoneage, Trishula, Gi’iwa, Inpsyde and Sanaton Records, and so far I’ve really enjoyed their highly original sound… And now the first ever Derango downbeat tune! This is deep, mellow ambient from the deep Swedish forests – dubby, lazy beats and phat trippy soundscapes… If there ever was such as thing as shroombient, this is it… And it would have fit perfectly on the chilled Schlabb 006 compilation released by Schlabbaduerst ReKkords last year… Very nice track!

 

#05: Terra Nine – Axiom (The Omm Squad In Dub Mix)

And now we’re really chilling out… Terra Nine/Omm Squad is a bunch of guys from Australia mostly releasing stuff on Green Ant, Deviant Craft and Tempest… I haven’t heard the original, so I can’t tell you what was changed… Despite its Australasian heritage, this track is more Indian in appearance… Complete with native chanting, long flute lines, and slow dubby beats + ancient sounds… Ethno-ambient to be more precise with a combination of analogue and digital sounds… I could’ve been without the ‘oh yeah’ lyrics halfway through though… But it’s still a very soothing track!

 

#06: Kukan Dub Lagan – Psychedelic Child

Itay Berger from Israel took everyone by surprise last year when Candyflip released his highly original psy-chill-dub debut album Life Is Nice… A highly experimental album I still enjoy for its unique mixture of leftfield/psychedelic sounds… And I’m happy to say this is more in the same vein… The beats are back and as the title suggests this is one of the most psychedelic tracks on the album… It’s downbeat dubby goa-trance – if that makes any sense? Similar to ancient Juno Reactor in certain places… Come to think of it, it doesn’t make any sense trying to describe Kukan’s music… Listen for yourself! Highly original track – sweet!

 

#07: Cell – Asian Morning

Alexandre Scheffer from France has impressed me with the compilation tracks he’s released over the last couple of years… His debut album Phonic Peace was released by Indica Music lately, but I’ve not yet have the chance to listen to it… Anyway, this track is also a combination of digital and analogue sounds… Kinda tribal and ethnic to begin with, but with an unmistakable digital interface leading the way… A nice floating tune, but somehow I expected even more from Cell…

 

#08: Electrypnose – Perce Oreille

Swiss producers Vince Le Barde has yet to let me down… He’s very skilled both as a dance and chill-out producer… I really liked his debut album Brain Stretching released earlier this year on ResonantEarth.com and his track on Chilling Goddess was cool! .. This is floating, melodic chill-out beautifully executed by this sonic sound sorcerer… Sweet track!

 

#09: Psyfactor – REaliens

Psyfactor is Dmitry Korablin from Russia who’s releasing his debut album Evil Inside on Trishula Records simultaneously with this compilation… And actually this is a little scary too… Halloween ambient? Concept-wise this kinda reminds me of the Digital Talk track Party People which was also kinda dark, despite the low BPM count… Music-wise this is a little lighter though, but still has alien influences as the title suggests… Good, but not great… The album is better!

 

#10: Capsula – Crown Ethers

Yosef Shamay comes back to close the show… And wow what a way to end this… Just like the Kukan track, this is a highly experimental, downbeat tune… Bits of dub, tribal, electro and acid are sprinkled around to enhance the listening experience… And it works wonders… The ending is something else – just wait and listen… Sweet little tune to finish things off… ;o)

 

The journey is over… And though it was a little bumpy, it was very enjoyable… Creating the perfect flow is always a difficult task when compiling tracks from different artists… And I can’t say that Ajana succeeded 100% in that – the flow is a little off at certain places here…I would have rearranged the tracks to ensure an even tighter flow, but that’s really the only point of criticism I have for this compilation… I’m actually pretty impressed!

 

The quality level is very, very high… Much higher than I had expected… There is an abundance of great tracks and even the less-great tracks are pretty good… The cover art fits the music, and all in all this chill compilation is a real winner… Well done Ajana! I’m eagerly looking forward to the Frechbax and Capsula debut albums… In the meantime I will not hesitate to recommend this album to fans of experimental chill-out and dubby ambient… Enjoy!

 

Favourites: 1(!!), 2, 4, 6, 8, 10

 

DeathPosture

 

External links:

Ajana Records: http://www.ajana-records.com

TranceShop: http://tinyurl.com/8e4xa

Amboworld: http://tinyurl.com/asbul

Beatspace: http://tinyurl.com/9a9tb

Psyshop: http://tinyurl.com/awucg

Ajuca: http://tinyurl.com/azauw

Cisco: http://tinyurl.com/bh82u

Saiko: http://tinyurl.com/dlfxj

[furthur]

Samples sound magical indeed.

Nice review as always, DP.

[Sawfly]

This must THE chillout album for me! I want more Derango downbeat!

[amphiton]

'09. Psyfactor - REaliens' is definitely the favourite for me

[psytones]

Review by Psytones

 

Ajana Records gives us a brilliant compilation of peace, love and psychedelics. Mastered by Tim Schuldt him self, it is for sure that we are about to step in to a magical journey. A journey of splitting colours, and peace at mind.

 

 

Various - A Magical Journey (Ajana Records) 2005 (AJACD001)

 

Track listing:

 

01. Capsula – World Of Information (07:43)

02. Ovnimoon – Jabarei (06:34)

03. Dejan – Error (06:48)

04. Derango – An Ancient Tale (07:41)

05. Terra Nine – Axiom (The Omm Squad In Dub Mix) (08:20)

06. Kukan Dub Lagan – Psychedelic Child (07:52)

07. Cell – Asian Morning (07:53)

08. Electrypnose – Perce Oreille (06:25)

09. Psyfactor – Realiens (07:40)

10. Capsula – Crown Ethers (08:44)

 

 

1. We start off this "Magical Journey" with samples from a beautiful speech by Terrence McKenna about the information in language, and the cosmos. We all love Terrence, so it's nice to get this as a intro to a chilled compilation. Capsula breaks in with a chilled down funky beat. It's a playful beat, with pleasant trippy sounds, and a melody which can be compared with the sun hitting your face. After a few minutes and Terrence’s second part of the speech, Capsula makes the track go a bit more Reggae like. This is truly a nice track with a big heart and a strong mind. I just cant wait to check out Capsula’s full album release in the future!

 

2. Ovnimoon's track on this compilation is a mystical one. He uses samples from a praying man, and some children who kick-starts the wonderful beat which leads into fresh but heavy feelings of bliss. The sounds are slow, but fast. Trippy and pleasant. It contains magical strings to magical sounds. this is more the track that lets the tripper think, and to just "be”. It’s simple, pure and I love it!

 

3. Dejan - Now this is another feeling. This is a brilliant track by Dejan from France, named "Error". This track has some of the best "dark" feelings on this compilation. It might just as well be used as a soundtrack for a dark "spy" game.

As you listen to it, it reviles you a feeling of walking down a dark and somewhat creepy hallway. It's all just so interesting and fascinating. Great track!

 

4. Derango. How can one not love the psychedelic masterpieces of Derango? This Swedish act has made some of the most trippiest tracks I’ve heard in a long time. And for me personally, this is the first chilled track I’ve heard of Derango. And I am not dissepointed, not at all! Derango gives us a magical and strange world. It's dark, but lightens up after a few minutes and shows us signs of beautiful sunlight in a dark Swedish forest. Beautiful work by Jens & Ola! Absolutely amazing!

 

5. Ah yes! This is spiritual. this is what the sleeve of the compilation indicates. The track begins in a spirit world, and glides in to a world of bliss, peace, love and harmony of childishness. A world where beauty is the ruler. A world where time stops, and where orgasms . .. hrmm… Well, it's a fantastic track! Listen and see how time stops around you. Terra Nine really knows how to make you fall deep inside his world of mysticism.

 

6. Now I do love and adore Kukan Dub Lagan's brilliant and cheerful debut album, “Life is nice”. It's been proven to me on many mushroom trips that their album is a masterpiece. But this track lacks something, or maybe it just has a wrong beat to pleasure my trip? Over a few listens it grows on me. It's not as their debut, but it's still kukan's sound 100%. Good track, but it doesn’t fit this compilations flow and beauty. Is it no more then a popular name filler?

 

7. Cell's debut album, Phonic Peace showed the world how good, spiritual and psychedelic chill should sound. On this compilation Alexandre give us a true "magical Journey" track. Woaw!! is the word spelled out of my mouth as the track builds up in the most beautiful way. And then, a soft, soft landing, and a pure psychedelic up rise to perfection. Lights are changing as if life it self is giving birth, and the child must be

 

8. Electrypnose. Now have you heard his debut mp3 album "Brain Stretching" released on ResonantEarth.com? …No? Go to the link and download some of it, because this man from where geniuses like Albert and others has emerged, is him self a true psychedelic music genius. If you don’t like crazy psychedelic trance tracks, you might not fancy his faster bpm releases. But this track is pure bliss people! And a perfect follow up after Cell's magical contribution. this is one of the most angelic and psychedelic track I’ve ever heard. Recommended!!

 

9. Wrong transition from Electrypnose's bliss of a track. But this is a beautiful track. Chaotic in it's innocent and amateurishness. ("This is a thought I had before I knew it was Psyfactors contribution.") Now I didn't love Psyfactor’s debut album, “Evil Inside”, but neither did I hate it. But I liked it as a pure dance floor filler album, nothing more. But this track is somewhat better, especially the atmosphere. But it's not completely psychedelic. There’s just to many "random” sound drops. It doesn’t impress me much. But I do love the beat work. I miss something... It’s kind of to stressing to be included on this release. And being a track after Electrypnose – Perce Oreille track. Well, it fades away in grey light.

 

10. Yes here we go! Psychedelic "noises". Oh, and what a nice, nice baseline! Capsula really covers the air with psychedelic elements on this "outro" track to a near perfect psy-chilled compilation. But the feeling of the track is somehow a tad wrong? Terrible ending to a great track, but great for DJ's who want to end a chilled session to start a fast bpm session.

 

I really enjoy owning this album. It's been in my CD-Player for many months. And it has helped me through trips, flips and hip’s =) .. My conclusion must be that it's a great chilled compilation with many fantastic psychedelic tracks. But I also feel that the sleeve picture gives me the wrong impression. because it indicates that this is a eastern and spiritual compilation, which it's not. Except contributions like Cell and Terra Nine. The title of this album is "A Magical Journey", and I agree with all of my heart. It's a compilation with great tracks and over all a fantastic feeling. But I feel that the person who compiled this compilation, didn’t really do a great job. Some of the tracks are just wrong for this album. And the order of the tracks could be nicely rearranged to make it sound more like "one".

But are you searching for a mind blowing, peaceful and very psychedelic compilation, I say go and order it at once. Because I’ve had many enjoyable moments with this compilation, and I'm sure you will to. Recommended!

 

-Psytones (psytones@gmail.com)

 

Where to buy this album:

 

http://www.psyshop.com

http://www.trance-shop.com

http://www.saikosounds.com

http://www.chaosunlimited.co.uk

[NT]

By far a better and more appealing (at least to me it is..) compilation than Quality Relaxation! Good work!