DeathPosture Posted July 3, 2005 Share Posted July 3, 2005 oCeLoT - vectorSelector Artist: oCeLoT (USA) Title: vectorSelector Format: CD (digipack) Label: Dropout Productions (USA) Cat. #: DPCD101 Distribution: Arabesque Date: 20 June 2005 Track listing: 01. 04’57” Intro 02. 06’48” Snickety Snack 03. 07’26” Alien Harmonix 04. 06’45” Tine Tanies 05. 06’00” Penumbra 06. 06’45” Snooze Kontrol 07. 07’28” Electrix Connectrix 08. 06’48” Upwards Spiral 09. 07’23” Totally Tubular 10. 07’46” Livnoc Tulor Review: Bay Area Thrasher! San Francisco-based label Dropout Productions made their notable entrance on the hypertrance scene with the compilation Alien FM released only a month ago… And now they’re back with their second release – the album vectorSelector by oCeLot. Mr. Aaron Peacock released his debut album Aural Sects on Ceiba Records in 2003 and since then he’s released compilation tracks on such labels as Soular, Insomnia, Avatar Records + of course Dropout Production where he had two highly original, darkish tracks on the Alien FM compilation… This second album has been hyped around the net ever since it was released – let’s find out what the fuzz was all about… Let me take you thru the tracks… #01: Intro [100 BPM] Intros are coming back into fashion – like chilled last tracks on artist albums… Generally I like them – it’s usually a nice way to start a journey… Let’s you adapt to the sound environment you’re about to be exposed to…This is no exception - what we get here is a very experimental, atmospheric and dark track… A big mish-mash of various styles. Aaron shows off his talents here, as he tweaks through an industrial-ridden downbeat universe… Cold, harsh, static and gloomy… And very interesting! I’m ready… #02: Snickety Snack [140 BPM] We stay on the same experimental, darkish pad here – but now we get a subtle bassline to go with it… Yummy! … We’re deep in the Bay Area underground here – cruising at a very comfortable 140 beats per minute… Spacey synths, subtle melodic acid lines and just enough rippling industrial FX to keep me happy… This is some good shit – I like how Aaron keeps this melodic despite its grim appearance… Fuck me, this shit rocks! Brilliant track! #03: Alien Harmonix [146 BPM] I really like when a track name suits the actual music – and this is absolutely well-named… Alien harmonix indeed… Just like the previous track, we’re deep in the psy-trance underground here – phat, kicking, pumping alien trance – reminds me a little of old Orichalcum – only with a more serrated edge… Razor-sharp kicks, evil hisses and relentless acid-lines – seasoned with a no-questions-asked bassline… Again Aaron makes sure not to forget about the melodies – they’re in there - hence the harmonix! This is a dope track! #04: Tine Tanies [146 BPM] Aaron takes a different approach here… Nice! There’s a really cool, orchestral, majestic pad running in the background for a long time here – puts an otherworldly spin on things… Yeah, this is some medieval, spooky shit…. Like something the Misted Muppets would pull of if you fed them MDMA… Cut beats, percussion experimentation and the ever-present ingenious little acid-lines… I’m sure the break will work very well on the dancefloor… The last couple of minutes though seem to lack some of the energy put forth in the first half of the track… But still, nice track! #05: Penumbra [148 BPM] A penumbra is the area of partial illumination surrounding the darkest part of a shadow caused by an eclipse… And yeah, I can see that – this is murky stuff indeed… The bpm-count is a dead giveaway, but still… Holy smokes, this is hardcore tunage – with a dark, haunting atmosphere to scare kids, pets and neighbours… I really, really like the spooky, yet strangely appealing naïve melody here… Very forest-like – and very shroom-friendly I’m sure… This is the most psychedelic track thus far – brilliant! #06: Snooze Kontrol [148 BPM] Woow! Talk about an intro that will knock you right off your feet… What a cool surprise! We’re shifting towards more digital, electro-rich, acid-ridden hyper-trance now… Reminiscent of Phyx, N3XU5 and the likes… Though still with the trademark murky oCeLot touch… The rapid changes in pace are cool, but somehow I could’ve hoped for even more variation here… Don’t get me wrong, this is a very dynamic track, but when it’s this good I think I’m entitled to have high expectations… A decent track, but surely not the best here… #07: Electrix Connectrix [148 BPM] Here’s another fast-paced, in-yer-face stomping track… It’s tweak-o-rama – those stabs are indeed crazy, but somehow also a little monotonous – that’s true for the first half of the track at least… All in all, this is a very, very fast track – and to be honest it’s too hectic for me… I need some time to breathe… Moving on… #08: Upwards Spiral [148 BPM] Onwards and upwards… Another aptly named track here – you can hear the spiral from the get-go and throughout the track… Yeah, this is more like it – this track has the same bpm count as its predecessor, but it’s much trippier… It’s dark and fast-paced – but it keeps a melodic edge to it – and this it just how I like my 148-bpm trance to sound… The computer game FX are funny and puts a smile on my face… The tribal drums halfway through are also very cool… I really like the constant evolving here – spiralling upwards… Great tune! #09: Totally Tubular [148 BPM] We continue down the same path – now totally tubular! This is fast-paced right from the start… Night-trance with a melodic edge – tons and tons of layers of synths, acid-lines, percussion and atmospheric pads… With a big splash of electro thrown in just to annoy your neighbours! I really like the blend of naïve melodies and a hard-hitting rhythm section + the blend of old school sounds mixed with modern underground sounds… Totally tasty track! #10: Livnoc Tulor [144 BPM] We already had the downbeat tune, so the last track is also full-power psytrance… I’m not too impressed by the generic bassline here, but I can cope with it… The echoing-humming sounds are cool though and the filtered loops are cool for the first couple of minutes – luckily they morph into something else before they really started to piss me off… The transition @ 2’51 is insanely cool – typically oCeLot… All in all a pretty nice track – though on the verge of becoming too hectic and too loopy for my tastes… But very oCeLot – and a very nice way to end the album… Alright, I can see why this album was as hyped as it was… It was totally worth it! I really like oCeLoT’s style… It’s very diverse within a darkish framework… And Aaron makes sure not to forget the ever important melodies in his darkish psytrance… Well done! The production sounds rich and flawless too me – and this is one of those albums that works best on a massive sound system or in headphones – so make sure you do not bereft yourself from listening to this on a proper set-up! Oh and before I forget – Punkadelik’s artwork looks absolutely smashing here – this will look good on your CD-shelf! I like most of the tracks here – a handful of them are even very, very good – and they outweigh the less good tracks by far… All in all, this is a massive album, and hopefully an indication of where Dropout Productions are headed in the future… If that’s the case, the future looks pretty damn bright from where I’m sitting… Put on them shades! …Fans of experimental, borderline night-trance with a melodic touch should not miss out on this… Nor should any fan of diverse, darkish, underground, acid-ridden psy-trance… Arrrrgh – enough labelling, just check it out and find out for yourself… Enjoy! Favourites: 2(!!), 3, 5(!), 8(!), 9 DeathPosture External links: Dropout Productions: http://www.dropout-productions.com Saiko Sounds: http://tinyurl.com/7tcry TranceShop: http://tinyurl.com/75mfr Psyshop: http://tinyurl.com/c2wge PsySale: http://tinyurl.com/9ymjp Wakyo: http://tinyurl.com/d4ku9 Chaos: http://tinyurl.com/cnyfp Ajuca: http://tinyurl.com/bqsjo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RAH Posted July 4, 2005 Share Posted July 4, 2005 " All in all, this is a very, very fast track – and to be honest it’s too hectic for me… I need some time to breathe… Moving on…" HAHa.. good job man, looks sweet Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cybernetika Posted July 4, 2005 Share Posted July 4, 2005 Another thing I've been looking forward to for a long time! Brilliant review! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dragonflier Posted July 4, 2005 Share Posted July 4, 2005 Artist: oCeLoT (USA) Writing your name like that is just soooo cool. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RAH Posted July 4, 2005 Share Posted July 4, 2005 Writing your name like that is just soooo cool. 290608[/snapback] the doOd's keyboard was obviously broken at that point... is it necesary to mock him because of it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dragonflier Posted July 4, 2005 Share Posted July 4, 2005 the doOd's keyboard was obviously broken at that point... is it necesary to mock him because of it? 290613[/snapback] Yeah, you're probably right. I better send him my excuses. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RAH Posted July 4, 2005 Share Posted July 4, 2005 Yeah, you're probably right. I better send him my excuses. 290616[/snapback] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ormion Posted July 5, 2005 Share Posted July 5, 2005 Psyfactor,Para Halu and now oCeLoT plus lot of great comps So far 2005 is a kick ass year for Dark Psy. Yeah, great album, hard and insane. Also the cover is awesome. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lemmiwinks Posted July 7, 2005 Share Posted July 7, 2005 woah man this is some pretty good shit... even for someone (like me) who's not really into dark psy. The thing is that compared to most dark psy releases this is much more "dynamic": first of all, the droning bassline which is usually constant all throughout the track changes here like once every 30 seconds! And there are tons of ideas thrown to you everywhere. No real use in track-by-track comment cause it all sounds similar except the downtempo intro which actually brings in some oldschoolish melodies... and that's all the melodies you'll hear in the whole album. After that it's just wierd sounds and bleeps throughout the whole album (but it works out very well ). I have also realised now that most of the dark trance tracks played in parties that caught my attention were in fact unreleased Ocelot and I found them on this album... So this is some awesome stuff!! Better than Para Halu IMO (but not as good as Scatterbrain - Infernal Angel which remains to date my no. 1 dark psy album). Nice to see that there is still room for creativity in this genre fave tracks: 1, 3, 6(!!!), 8 9/10 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gnome Posted July 14, 2005 Share Posted July 14, 2005 After listening to this album for about 30 times i have to say im really impressed. /Respect to oCeLoT I'd say thats a classic Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Le Lotus Bleu Posted July 18, 2005 Share Posted July 18, 2005 Ocelot – Vector Selector [Dropout Productions] 1. A downtempo goa intro in guise of Intro, in the beginning it reminds me how the Phototropic track from Transwave was , good memories & sweet Intro by the way. It’s a little coloured, exotic warm up before the dark tempest. 2. The starting atmosphere of Snickety Snack throws you into an adrift spaceship with a highly hacked lead that goes detuning down (from start upto 1’10). Then, the spaceship succeep to reach a more normal trajectory even if the electronic components & computers ( on board are all getting mad, they seem to be totally drunk (from 1’36). The idea is reinforced at 3’25 with the twisted down & slow motion electric guitar melody conferring a staggering feeling. From 4’20 upto 5’10 the spaceship makes sort of ‘hips’, like if it was about to encounter nauseas. With lots of efforts, concentration & tiredness the captain Ocelot finally lands the spaceship without any prejudices. 3. Today, the captain Ocelot has a rendez vous with Alien called Harmonix to play with them at Lazergame in the cosmos at 16h30. Equiped with a plastron & a cygergun-toy, your aim is to touch front & black opponent’s plastron or his weapon-visor. Each time you hit (like at 1’04 )or get hit (at 4’45 ), you can listen to a specific sound which officialize it. Of course, there’s lots of running & hiding, reason of the non-stop vitality, energy all along the tune. 4. Once again captain Ocelot travels the milky way on board of his spaceship. The old engine lacks of poweder furthermore it’s about to be out of fuel consequently it becomes less cooperative. You can check at the sound that there’s several major backfires during Tine Tanies. This old flying scrape will still let you go a little bit, but it’s really time to quickly buy a new one unless you want to sink into a black hole for the rest of your days. 5. With the money earned during your lazergame parties with the alien, captain Ocelot got enough money to purchase a new spatial locomotion. Penumbra is the name of the brand new spaceship, unlike told the seller captain Ocelot decided to test the max speed limit & turbo booster during his first fly which procurs a strange squeaning sound environment (from 2’03). Exciting like a kid towards a new toy, captain Ocelot takes the opportunity to explore further areas in order to do a moving-cyberfish of some little comets & shooting stars (from 3’08). 6. Captain Ocelot forgot the manual instruction on the desk at the spaceship shop. He’s intrigated about the ‘Snooze Kontrol’ function. He dimly remember the seller told him about a totally new innovative technology bla-bla, specifity of this spaceship’s brand but he simply lost what was the pragmatic interest. Only listening his courage & mainly his uncounscious state of mind, captain Ocelot pushes the button (0’40). Suddenly, Penumba bolts following random trajectories according the instrument panel. Gosh ! captain Ocelot is realizing he just activates the ‘auto-control nagivation & automatic self defense’ for escaping from skyjackers. You can listen that all the submachine guns have left their hide, and are shooting everywhere risky & continually (from 1’20). 7. In Electrix Connectrix you discover that captain is a weak handyman. Once again he wanted to set up a new electric connecting & he fails (upto 0’15) . But he succeeds again to short-circuit the generator consequently all the lights are swith off . Trying to access the generator, captain Ocelot that doesn’t know very well his new spaceship yet, knocks againt the mettalic partitions (from 2’03) & stumbles over cables (from 1’10). At 3’30 Ocelot finally reactivates the autonomous cosmo-radio transmission thus he could get some help about what to do for relaunching the generator. With his faithful hammer (from 4’00), screwdriver, drill (from 4’10) & soldering iron (from 5’15), captain Ocelot at least fixes his generator peacefully ; whereas his spaceship was lost somewhere under a rain of meteorites since the beginning that reboubles of intensity on the end. 8. Today captain Ocelot has decided to have fun with the Upward Spiral, it’s a place in the galaxy where you can evoluate in natural draughts which can be either cold (1’34), hot (1’46) or shared (0’15) and that maintain you upside/downside or propulse you in multi-direction (2’25). There’s also the gravity gap where you can experience moving your body with several degree of gravity (from 2’40). 9. Totally Tubular is the name captain Ocelot gave to the experimental symphony he has created using all the sounds provided with his equipment aboard his spaceship going from computer’s gasping breath (3‘20), electronic process chimes (from the start), to his little butler robot bleepy way of communication a la R2D2 (1’12). 10. This morning captain Ocelot met Livnoc Tulor in his usual spacecoffee stop, a childhood friend who became a famous spatial bandit. Unfortunatly the guy was much more interested in stealing Penumbra, the new captain Ocelot’s spaceship than receiving news from a childhood friend. So he puts a powerfull anaesthesizing drug into the coco-lemonade of Ocelot, probably kethamine. Since the morning, captain Ocelot feels giddy, has permanent vision worries with dissociation between shape & colours when he doesn’t see things in quadruple examples. Climaxs :1,2,3,9,10 all the reste can be considered as good. A nice dark-freaky journey into psytrance that sounds more raving than harsh-dry stuff, hope to see you soon in the galaxy for further adventures aboard a new spaceship Mr Captain Aaron Peacock Ocelot. 8/10 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nefarious Posted July 24, 2005 Share Posted July 24, 2005 A very sweet ride. Fantastic variation. The basslines are a real joy, great stuff. Very mind mashing stuf. Turn it up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheCreamFilling Posted July 28, 2005 Share Posted July 28, 2005 Surprisingly, I like this album a lot. Almost all the tracks have a monotonous sound but I like what Ocelot does rhythmically with subtle synths. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Manuser Posted June 7, 2006 Share Posted June 7, 2006 Certainly an album to listen to. The structure of the tracks is linear, I mean the rhythm rarely stop but the basslines progress, break downs and build ups are rare. You like or you find it too monotonous. But I find the whole album pretty intense, some tracks progress in intensity from the start till the end, I think the last track is a good example if I remember well. Some sounds in some tracks are strident and can annoy some of you, but this is an accomplished album, and I like it. I don't find it that dark, actually it is technoish psytrance to my ears. ..and Lotus bleu, your review is hilarous ! How did you come to a review like this? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gnome Posted October 5, 2006 Share Posted October 5, 2006 I'd say thats a classic 297508[/snapback] I'd like to agree with myself on this. Still sounds fresh and powerful. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trolsk Posted October 11, 2006 Share Posted October 11, 2006 One of the best albums of 2005. High quality weirdness. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sawfly Posted October 11, 2006 Share Posted October 11, 2006 Very good album. I actually just got it while back, but it feels like it never gets boring. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RTT Posted October 12, 2006 Share Posted October 12, 2006 Actually it is 8/10, but I strongly reccomend this masterpiece to all psychonauts! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Time_Trap Posted December 19, 2007 Share Posted December 19, 2007 Crazy & trippy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buzzman Posted December 24, 2007 Share Posted December 24, 2007 Crazy & trippyYep, very shroom friendly Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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