V/A - A Walk Through Neptune's Garden

[DeathPosture]

V/A – A Walk Through Neptune’s Garden

 

 

Hi-res: cover

 

Artist: Various

Title: A Walk Through Neptune’s Garden

Format: CD (jewel case)

Label: PAR-2 Productions (USA/Japan)

Cat. #: PAR001

Distribution: http://www.par-2.com

Date: 28 Jul 2005

 

Track listing:

 

01. 11’46” Keiretsu vs. Soliptic – Ripples (Imprint Of Creation Mix)

02. 09’11” Jikkenteki – Slippery Slopes

03. 07’12” Zekazy - Unicorn

04. 06’44” Phi – In The…

05. 06’30” Zekazy - Broadcast

06. 09’23” Jikkenteki – Modori Odori

07. 12’50” PAR-2 – It Is (What Isn’t)

08. 09’56” Anjin – Nesta’s Soft Escape

 

Review:

 

Liquid trance…

 

This is the first release from PAR-2 Productions - an American-slash-Japanese outfit for organizing parties, producing and now also producing music. It’s run by childhood buddies Patrick Huneke (Katapult) and Rennis Buchner (Jikkenteki) from their offices in the US and Japan… This first compilation was more than a year in the making and has no overall distribution – it’s only available through the PAR-2 website @ the low price of $10 (including free shipping worldwide!). Kinda like what Schlabbaduerst Rekkords and Sanaton Records are doing… This is different style wise though! Water in its many shapes and forms is the overall theme here… Let’s find out what that’s all about --- let’s take a walk through Neptune’s Garden…

 

Let me take you thru the tracks…

 

#01: Keiretsu vs. Soliptic – Ripples (Imprint Of Creation Mix)

“This is basically what the early universe looked like before the galaxies were formed. And it is out of those ripples which are really density perturbations in the early universe that the galaxies and the clusters of galaxies formed. So, eh, in terms of theory they provide you with the imprint of creation!” … These guys from the UK are remixing themselves on this monster of a track! This is a great, great track in many aspects… The most visible being the track length – but also the sheer magnitude of the music is so strong here… This is melodic trance with all kinds of musical influences: old school goa trance, drum & breakz, teKkno, electro, etc… The lengthy, flowing intro – and the full-on technoid middle part – the spacey bridge - and the tribal second half… All great stuff! What an amazing journey track! I really, really dig this one!

 

#02: Jikkenteki – Slippery Slopes

American born/Japan-based producer Rennis Buchner has been in the game for several years – he’s a founding member of PAR-2 Productions and he’s a raging music collector and DJ… Jikkenteki is his solo project and his debut album should be in the pipes… I can’t wait for that, coz this is some goooood sushi! The first half of the track is kinda rough, technoid progressive trance – but after a couple of minutes we get some nifty space-like stabbing synths… Star Wars acid trance attack! Oh yes, I’m a sucker for this kind of shit… Full-on is the best sense of the word! Guitars are great and the break is particularly well executed… A wonderful cross-over track!

 

#03: Zekazy – Unicorn

Zekazy is 23 year old Jari Rönkkö from Stockholm, Sweden… Apparently he’s been producing music for a long time, but this is my first encounter with his music… The intro sets the mood for the entire track here – electro/synth galore! Melodies all over the place – kinda old-school I guess, but the production sounds so very, very crispy here… Kick-ass! I like the many little twists and turns this track takes… Very trippy – and very rewarding for the listener… I’m not sure what to think about the huge orchestral part towards the middle here – it’s on the edge of being a little too Balearic… Anyway, I’m sure this will tear any dancefloor completely apart… It’s so full of surprises and it changes direction constantly… Brilliant!

 

#04: Phi – In The…

Phi – the kings of Japanese tweakage and Engrish track titles! Shuji Ichimura & Shinnosuke Masuo released their debut album Phinalizer on Elf Music in 2004 – and that album still has a very special place in my heart in all its old school glory… This track ended being the last track produced within the Phi framework – these guys are broken up now and Shuji is working as Slum and Shin is working as Symphonics… Anyway, this track is reminiscent of the album sound – the first couple of minutes are a little bland perhaps, but the acid is unleashed soon enough… Yeah, I really like the melodic leads here – though perhaps I could have wished for more power during certain passages… But still – a nicey nice track!

 

#05: Zekazy – Broadcast

Jari Rönkkö from STHLM returns for a second track… The intro is more old-school than Donkey Kong with its grim electro bits – but soon we’re exposed to a phaaaat basslead and some sonic sound trickery… As with the previous Zekazy tracks, this is highly experimental stuff – we get all kinds of cool influences and constant changes in direction… Also, this must be among the fastest tracks on this compilation – full power avant-garde psytrance – galloping away at an incredible pace! Fuck yes – this is another great track!

 

#06: Jikkenteki – Modori Odori

Rennis Buchner returns for another dose of samurai-trance… This one is a tad more introvert than the first one – I’d even go as far as saying that you can hear this was produced in Japan… So yeah, this is experimental – with some serious pad action going on… Extremely atmospheric and when the bass finally kicks in it will scare the shit out of you, as you were floating around in dreamland… The second half of this track is nothing less than brilliant – a gargantuan wall of melodies and tribal percussion… I liked the first Jikkenteki track better, but this is also very good… Can’t wait for the debut album!

 

#07: PAR-2 – It Is (What Isn’t)

Patrick Huneke (Katapult) and Rennis Buchner (Jikkenteki) are childhood friends – and the PAR-2 freestyle collaboration project was where it all started… This track was conceived back in 2003 and just like the first one on this compilation; it’s a journey track… These guys had plenty of time to experiment and pretty much just play around… So we get long, organic pads of soft trance here… But that’s not all – as mentioned earlier this is a hybrid track with all kinds of different influences: Ambient, dub, electro, drum & bass, breakz, trance, goa, etc… It’s all good music, but to be honest I tend to skip this track… It’s too damn long! There’s much more interesting stuff to be found on this compilation…

 

#08: Anjin – Nesta’s Soft Escape

And now it’s time to chill out with Anjin…This is Blink – a producer from the US – and this is as chilled as it gets… Virtually beatless ambient that will send you straight to dreamland… Kinda reminds me of Ishq at times… The tribal percussion is a nice touch, which sends the mind on a journey to far away places… The vocals seem oddly out of place though!? Good thing they are only there for a short while… All in all this is a nice little downbeat tune – not the best I’ve heard, but certainly it does what it’s supposed to: help the listener come down after the walk in Neptune’s Garden… ;o)

 

I’m not sure how much I got from the whole water-is-the-common-denominator-thing, but who gives a shit!?… This is a solid compilation – especially the first couple of tracks are downright amazing – and the quality continues all the way though… There are no bad tracks here, though I have to be in the right mood to fully enjoy the last couple of tracks here… Anyway, I like how there are no musical boundaries here – pretty much everything goes… So here’s a big phat double thumbs-up for musical diversity!

 

I like the cover-art here – maybe the font used isn’t too exciting, but besides from that I think Kaori did a good job… And you can get it for only $10 – including free shipping worldwide! I think that’s a damn good deal – coz this is a pretty damn good compilation! I recommend this to fans of border-crossing trance with rich influences from all over the place… Enjoy!

 

Favourites: 1(!), 2(!), 3, 5(!), 6

 

DeathPosture

 

External links:

PAR-2 Productions: http://www.par-2.com (samples available!)

Discogs link: http://www.discogs.com/release/485082

[Jikkenteki]

A quick note here to let you know that Neptune's Garden is now available at Saiko Sounds here....

 

http://www.saikosounds.com/english/display...ase.asp?id=5297

 

It is of course also available directly from us at our shop at www.par-2.com.

 

Best,

Jikkenteki

[Guest Le Lotus Bleu]

This compilation was mastered by Katapult & the artwordk done by Kaori@Future History.

 

 

1> Soliptic (member of Keiretsu, a drum n' bass band) proposes a remix very Pynk Floydish of this title. Imagine Pink Floyd making tunes with a little hint of psytrance and hop you obtain Ripples (Imprint Of Creation Mix).

 

2> Slippery Slipes is nocturnal with a pleasant & atypic lead at beginning then it becomes puffing on the last third.

 

3>Zekazy (Jari Ronkko fromdu Sweden) opens on a whistled melody, it's the kind of tricky tune for dj's as it's often changing.

 

4>Phi (Shuji & Shin) delivers here the same standards which contributed to their success with their debut album Phinalizer. The atmosphere is more tournmanted & slighty sour with more triturated sounds but the delight remains the same.

 

5> Tempt the alchemy between psytrance & électro, some have already tried without lot of success; with Broadcast, Zekazy managed to cook something well done up with a funny & evolutionary rythmic.

 

6>For his second track, Jikkenteki gives us a long tune based on an latent atmosphere eitheir mysterious or hypnotic, it's at the same time a mental & dancefloor production..

 

7>Par-2 invites you through a long morning trip which turns into tribal during the journey. It's the kind of song in parties that makes you think you gonna stop easily dancing on it & finally roots you to the spot, achieving to fully destroy your tired legs.

 

8> You might thought the last track was already chill but not at all, here's the true one with Anjin (aka Blink,Organic Paradox,Goofy Gaijin) . It's a sweet chill with in background, samples of cricket's chant during the summers night; the whole thing accompanied with percussions, all as softest it could be.

 

 

We could almost believe we came-back to the golden age of goa, giving a look at tracklenght which for major part, oscillates between 9 et 12 minutes; yet this well concerns a 2005 psytrance compilation school goa with simply old school goa accents.

Favourites:1,4,5,6,7,8

8,5/10 recommended

[abasio]

I really enjoy this compilation. Had it for quite a while now & it keeps getting back into the player

It starts off absolutely brilliantly. The 1st 2 tracks are out of this world fantastic & although the rest of the tracks are really good it climaxes too soon.

All in all I would highly recommend this comp!

[psytones]

I got it but am sorry to say that I rarly listen to it. I also have the PHI album eleased on Elf Music Records which I consider to be in the same spirit as PAR-2 Productions and listend to it today with fresh ears (it was much better then I could remember, hehe). Will have to listen to this compilation more closely with fresh views soon! Great cover art, and the feeling of the album is crystal clear goa-full-on with smooth and fresh production. Will listen more closely soon!!

[abasio]

Various Artists

A Walk Through Neptune's Garden

Par-2 Productions

2005

Psy/Goa/Ambient

 

Tracklist

 

01. 11’46” Keiretsu vs. Soliptic – Ripples (Imprint Of Creation Mix)

02. 09’11” Jikkenteki – Slippery Slopes

03. 07’12” Zekazy - Unicorn

04. 06’44” Phi – In The…

05. 06’30” Zekazy - Broadcast

06. 09’23” Jikkenteki – Modori Odori

07. 12’50” PAR-2 – It Is (What Isn’t)

08. 09’56” Anjin – Nesta’s Soft Escape

 

This is the 1st release on Par-2 Productions, I bought it a while ago now & it got me eagerly awaiting more releases (Which I subsequently loved too). Par-2 matches my tastes very closely. It's got something that a lot of releases are lacking nowadays. It has energy, pace, feelings & a lot of acidic psychedelic sounds.

 

1. Keiretsu vs. Soliptic – Ripples (Imprint Of Creation Mix)

A nice ambient intro, spacey alien sounds (actually sound like ripples) before the beat kicks in, some subtle synth work & a sci-fi sample talking about the creation of the galaxies. It all adds up to a very spacey track with lots of energy & atmosphere & enough variation in it's progression that it is fully worth it's 12 minutes.

What I really love about the track is the use of the synths, so acidic, so goan, they remind me of the golden technosommy sound on Synthetic Flesh.

 

2. Jikkenteki – Slippery Slopes

After hearing this track & learning that Jikkenteki had an album, no wait, a double album coming out I knew I had to get it. This track sums up what I like about this label's sound. Synths, melody, energy, acid lines & lots of psychedelia. I like it very much. It twists & turns the way tracks used to & it7s as good as anything from Psy Trance's golden era yet unmistakably modern in it's production. It's well layered & remains interesting throughout it's 9 minutes

 

3. Zekazy - Unicorn

Another energetic track which just bounces along. When I'm sat down this makes me want to stand, when I'm stood up it makes me want to dance. In the latter half the melody morphs into a real brain pleaser. Majestic, slow & really really good! Another great track that twists & turns. I'd forgotten how much I missed that.

 

4. Phi – In The…

I've never been too impressed by Phi. Seems like generic fullon in my ears & I can't hear what other people seem to hear in them. This track is probably the best I've heard from them but it has the same baseline that ruins their other tracks, it's a little more understated in this track & doesn't derail it but there are no twists & turns or progression really & I get a bit bored.

 

5. Zekazy - Broadcast

A more interesting baseline by Zekazy & some static noises at first replaced by acid stabs. This is not a track to listen to on 8am on a Sunday after a heavy night as the stabs can too easily pierce a broken brain. Nice changes, lots of energy & evolution. Quite a lot of evolution too for a relatively short track.

 

6. Jikkenteki - Modori Odori

Another very psychedelic layered offering from Jikkenteki. Good synths again, really move the track & move my brain. Little stabs of melody come in and morph about in the background while a second melody floats over the top. The sounds used throughout just scream frantically inside my head. What I really like about Jikkenteki's work is that each track tells a story. I don't always know what the story is but they definitely have that story feel.

 

7. Par-2 - It Is (What Isn't?)

Quite a long track here & it's pretty abstract. I've not heard a lot of abstract psy but going on the strength of this track I'd like to hear more. I'm an abstract kind of a guy & this really speaks to me. It takes a while before any beats come in & initially there are very few but they grow & grow into some kind of breakbeat tribal mish mash. Odd but very enjoyable. Towards the end the beats even out but the rest stays as chaotic as before. This isn't for everyone but it really sits well with me. More please.

 

8. Anjin - Nesta's Soft Escape

An ambient number to round us off then. A very soft piece with nice tribal beats & a slow baseline. The sound of what could be a load of frogs & a reggae vocal echo throughout. An odd ending to this compilation but I like it.

 

 

So, nice job Par-2 Productions, a really nice collection of tracks for the most part. I'm not sure I can see the water theme but that doesn't really bother me. I'm really looking forward to more releases from this label in the future.

I can't quite understand what other people don't see in Par-2 Productions. People who I thought would have liked this stuff have labeled it boring! I can't see where they get boring from. This anything but boring, each track is psychedelic as hell. They have an old school vibe with a modern touch. I guess the elitists will never be happy until people are just regurgitating the same music as 10 years ago with no fresh ideas. Or maybe this is just too psychedelic for people

[soliptic]

<span style='font-size:14pt;line-height:100%'>V/A – A Walk Through Neptune’s Garden</span>

 

 

#01: Keiretsu vs. Soliptic – Ripples (Imprint Of Creation Mix)

“This is basically what the early universe looked like before the galaxies were formed. And it is out of those ripples which are really density perturbations in the early universe that the galaxies and the clusters of galaxies formed. So, eh, in terms of theory they provide you with the imprint of creation!” … These guys from the UK are remixing themselves on this monster of a track! This is a great, great track in many aspects… The most visible being the track length – but also the sheer magnitude of the music is so strong here… This is melodic trance with all kinds of musical influences: old school goa trance, drum & breakz, teKkno, electro, etc… The lengthy, flowing intro – and the full-on technoid middle part – the spacey bridge - and the tribal second half… All great stuff! What an amazing journey track! I really, really dig this one!

thanks

 

btw, keiretsu = guys, soliptic = guy.

[yerg]

Hot Hot Compilation. Lots of interesting tracks including downtempo ones.

Trance tracks are really different and every producer showed his own genuine style.

Actually i really like PAR-2 for their distinct sound. Their other compilation "Mainspring Motion" is also superb.