RAH Posted September 5, 2005 Share Posted September 5, 2005 Artist: Jocid Album: Sonic Addiction Label: Manic Dragon Records Web: www.sonic-dragon.com Year: 2005 Format: CD Songs: 01. Sweet Thing [140 BPMs on G m] 02. X-Ray Vision [145 on G m] 03. Behind the Mask [145 on A m] 04. To the Body [142 on G m] 05. Jimi The Page [145 on D#m] 06. The Knife [146 on G m] 07. Suckubus [143 on F m] 08. Master Plan [146 on E m] 09. Play Ball (With Duckeraf) [145 on G#m] What's this about At some point is always nice to find someone that forces you to redefine the concept of sub-genre's, to blur the idea even more. What is full on? What is progressive? What is in between? The drums, congas and other tribal recurrences define carnivalesque rhythms and splashes of melodies a-la house, with a modern day touch of treated filters, mixing surprising well in the pot. For what is worth, it is a fitting connector to bring your musical directions smoothly into different vibes, remaining ‘psy-gressive' with a melodic intent. Musical coherence comes in between highly distorted arpeggios and melodic artifacts tuned to high heavens, inviting a very complex interaction of grooves that seem familiar and strangely fresh at the same time. It is a resource you will not be ashamed to plaster in the midst of a progressive set. Per-song break-down 01. Sweet Thing A deep kick opens the track with the shakers punching the rhythm in strange accompaniment. The Sweet thing here is definitely the stuttering-flute, reminding somewhat of Saint Germaine in the first minutes. The bit that sets Jocid apart from other hybrids is the effects, dripping and squeaking in a structured interaction maintaining a balanced whole. It's a rhythm you could swear you have heard before, but not in this context, it might sound a little bland at times, but those lower ranges are still very much alive. 02. X-Ray Vision * The voice conversation makes it unclear if someone is taking of in a spaceship or is setting up the sound. But, is damn cool! To bad the mid-breaker sample “I got super powers, I can see through wooden doors, I got x-ray vision.” In my view crumbles as a total waste of great sampling work. It is a personal favorite though. The synth work is minimal compared to the majority of the tracks, merely complementing the groove. What remains though, is a lead washed away in squelching and distorted synthetic notes. Very uplifting in a Zillion Mental Anarchy style that's tough to corner and even tougher not to dance. 03. Behind the Mask * What is behind the mask? A back-to-roots effort with the congas included and a minute cow bell in between. The mid ranges arrive with an orchestra of jarring synthesizers turning wobbly, metalized with a melody that's tastier than grandma's cookies. It is satisfying to hear harmonies develop with a strong sense the song is moving somewhere. 04. To the Body * To the body soothes and energizes in one tasty package. It is soaked in flaring modulation goodness and screetches atop palpable techno rhythms, which admittedly work best dancing. 05. Jimi The Page * Jimi comes fueled with a few riffs in tasty distortion and one hell tune. The sub-melody is so spacey I would love to hear this as I'm taking off in the challenger. The cheeky bass line is deceptively simple and bad-ass for lack of better vocabulary. There is one sample bit that gets recycled from the previous song, adapting quite well to both stories, which mind you, have nothing to do with each other. Again there is organic drumming keeping things progressive as the mid ranges go Israeli in a squeaky kind of way. 06. The Knife The knife cuts right through the speakers reminding a lot of "Confusion (Pump Panel Reconstruction Mix)" by New Order, showcased in the Blade Movie. Different octaves sure, but the sultry synth knobbing is questionably similar. That is until the song takes off and we start talking about different subjects altogether. It is still very 303-ish and happy as it could be expected from twisting those melodies in the heavenly distortion. 07. Suckubus * According the South Park Dictionary of modern English: A Suckubus is a lady friend that enchants you in her female qualities, until you loose yourself in the charms of the opposite sex. The female achieves this act of dumbfounded ness on the male counterpart by playing a melody. What does have to with the song? Not a whole lot to be honest, except the magically dispersed tunage here and there squeaking in full glory. The track is more structured in the break, returning with what seems to be an inverted version of the original synth by the end, which strangely enough sounds really Asian. After all that is how you're supposed to kill a Suckubus... gentlemen, mental note. 08. Master Plan * The song opens with a peaking selection of heavenly pads, quickly clearing the road for what is undoubtedly the strongest, deepest rhythm in the album. The kicks are cyclic, redoubling on top of effects and a few filter sweeps. Another slightly dumb sample unconvincingly explains why it is called the ‘Master Plan' ruining the flow a bit personally, while it opens the doors to mellodica land. The first round of synth's this time around sounds a little flat. There after the song presents a truly awe inspiring melody, as if someone had thrown a life saver on a sinking castaway… and the rescue mission is a total success. 09. Play Ball (With Duckeraf) Play ball fittingly begins with the samples of a couple playing squash… the sneakers sliding, the balls bouncing on the walls; it shouldn't be hard to figure out names in this album, judging by the samples alone. On this match Duckeraf lends a hand on the production. Throughout the first part you can feel those squeaks in the upper ranges ducking like a slightly annoying trumpet. Thankfully an unannounced break comes in with the adapted melody at much lower octaves, working well to improve the cool factor of the song. We slowly return to hight pitch chaos and a whole lot bang for your buck. On the whole a few too many screeches for my virgin ears, but i have heard lots worse. * Favourites All and all A very convincing album full of groove and strong beats to back up the madness. A crossover exploration that remains on the whole fresh, with very a snappy melodic intend that is never jaded. Strongly recommended if the description seems to fit your taste. I would have removed 90% of the voice samples but it's judging it in my opinion. The digi-pack is colorful and you can see the strong resemblance in the visual touches with V/A – Multiple Personalities, that if you happened to pick up, it will look great next to each other. Where to get PsyShop > http://www.psyshop.com/shop/CDs/mdr/mdr1cd002.html Saiko Samples > http://www.saikosounds.com/english/display...ase.asp?id=4932 Samples, artwork, more reviews > http://sonic-energy.net Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gnome Posted September 5, 2005 Share Posted September 5, 2005 Although at the beginning it looked like a full-on after a few listens i can say that this album is quite interesting...nice stuff! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NT Posted September 6, 2005 Share Posted September 6, 2005 Ooh yeah, this is a true 'hidden gem' among all those hardly interresting releases nowadays, Jocid keeps it fresh in this mixture of different styles. Highly reccomended! Favourites: Behind The Mask (!!!) The Knife (!!) Suckubus (!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NT Posted September 10, 2005 Share Posted September 10, 2005 Whaaaaaaaat?! why do people seem to ignore this album! I don't get it... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RAH Posted September 10, 2005 Author Share Posted September 10, 2005 i dunno... i did what i could to get the word out Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Time_Trap Posted September 10, 2005 Share Posted September 10, 2005 at first listen it doesn touch me that much... will give it another try though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NT Posted September 10, 2005 Share Posted September 10, 2005 at first listen it doesn touch me that much... will give it another try though. 333106[/snapback] Well this album really got a grip on me when i listened the song "Behind the mask" for a couple of times , try it! The climax is great, love those melodies! Some mentioned full-on, but i'm allmost sure there isn't a bit of full-on to hear on this album! Think a mixture of melodic prog/tech/funk/groove/deep/not too complex dark and forest style! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NT Posted January 11, 2006 Share Posted January 11, 2006 I'm currently listening to this again! And it still remains one huge 'hidden gem' ... please, check this out! Lovely stuff! Needs more attention imo! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Cocco Posted January 11, 2006 Share Posted January 11, 2006 On first impressions, this seems to have a sound that's just not worth getting too excited about. Surely there will always be people to find an album far better than others, in this case, not many on these forums to date seem to find it charming. And please don't over analyze these impressions. I haven't heard the album in it's entirety, and here is my views based on samples. Track 1 - sounds regular full on. Not a good way to start an album off because a decent amount of people judge (and often mistake) an album by the first several tracks; the first one sets the impression. Track 2 - sounds psychedelic but too noisy. Track 3 - Not THAT good, it sounds better than other so far. The melody changes, distorts, and is altered multiple times. I like that. Another comes in and the track sounds more catchy. Hmmm.. more tracks like this would have been nice. One of the better sounding tracks on the album. In my opinion, none of them should be anything less than this one because this one isn't all that great to begin with, but far better than most others itt seems.9 Track 4 - boring. I found the previous song far more catchy. Track 5 - okay. Track 6 - Finally a stronger melody, unfotunately one melody, which is a sustained (as simple as holding a key down on several different) melody that seems isolated from the potential of having other melodies to compliment it. Track 7 - Suckubus seems more melodic, deep with warmth and sound. I like that. Track 8 - sounds, hmm... better also. The voice sample got my attention too and I liked the song before that happened. Track 9 - Sounds okay, but this has a melody I find annoying... until the "tennis" (?) and voice sample I find humorous, although it sounds like a "special" person trying to hit a tennis ball, no offense to the special people, that's just what the sample sounds like. ... After the sample the song gets a little better, until that screechy melody returns. It's irritating to my ears and I don't care for it. It's as if the album gets better after the first several songs, which probably aren't captivating as many listeners to continue to certain songs that seem to have more colorful character. This may be possible because the songs don't sound ALL THAT. There is far better melodic psytrance currently on the market from 2005. A good 2005 example, being Driodlock - Elefantronika, which makes this album sound forgettable to me in comparison. It's not the album doesn't have melodies, it's that it does -- and I don't find them captivating or imaginative or engaging. Other than some psysounds and frequency shifts/alterations in sound, (which is common in psytrance) I find the songs fairly uninteresting, not all, but enough to turn-me off from "wanting it" or currently writing something more positive. On a side note, I found the 2004 Bio Tonic - Divina album wonderful (not great, but overall good) and a real gem in having female voice samples compliment several tracks and no one seemed to agree with me on these forums. I felt like I owned a kickass album that everyone was missing, dissing, ignoring, and not realizing. Sometimes this happens and it can be quite frusterating when one feels an album deserves more credit than it's gotten. Who knows why things are the way they are... those are just some thoughts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trance2MoveU Posted September 4, 2015 Share Posted September 4, 2015 "It's party time!" Wheee. eeeee..... eee. Yeah that gif pretty much captures the lack of enthusiasm I have for this album. It hasn't aged well and can someone please explain to me how this isn't regular full-on? Perhaps in 2005 his squelchy, bouncy tunes were a breath of fresh air, but it's 2015. We have since seen the return of Alien Jesus. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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