Guest Astro Cortex Posted October 4, 2005 Share Posted October 4, 2005 Gamma (1993 Fax) 1. 10:36 Attuale 2. 20:04 Katanga 3. 21:27 Spirituale 4. 10:29 Speltrum 5. 13:16 Intelletuale All tracks written by Massimo Vivona & Dr. Atmo, except "Speltrum" by Massimo Vivona Gamma is a collaboration between Massimo Vivona and Dr. Atmo, the former of which shouldn't be too unknown in the psy scene (e.g. he made an album for Flying Rhino records, under his Kinetico alias). The music here is not too far away from early Goa trance, and it has a tribal edge to it that really works. It starts with Attuale, one of the faster tracks here. Frankly, I don't find this one particularly interesting. It's nice but it doesn't fit too well as an opener. Katanga I like much better, it's slower and exceptionally hypnotic. The strange thing though is that several elements of it seem so familiar. The bassline, for instance, reminds me a bit of early X-Dream, I'm not sure though where I heard that sound before. (Anyway, Massimo and Atmo did it first of course ). This is one of those long and repetitive but not-boring-at-all mesmerizer tracks. Great one!! Next is the mighty Spirituale. It is even a bit slower than the previous track, but beware, it has huge dancefloor potential. It doesn't happen all too often that a track of such low tempo (ca. 100 bpm) can be such a stomper! There is some deep tribal percussion work in here, and it has a really huge bassline that creates a totally addictive funk in combination with the elegantly punctuated snares. And the background synths somehow remind me of Astralasia's "Flight 303 to?", which can only be a good thing . Awsome!! Speltrum is a more upbeat tune again, and I like it more than Attuale, mainly due to the more focussed rhythmic component and the very nice backround ambience included. Intelletuale is nothing more, nothing less than a downtempo reprise of the first track, and it works a bit better than that one. Unfortunately, this is a very rare CD, definitely more people (than 500) should hear it IMHO. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dragonflier Posted October 10, 2005 Share Posted October 10, 2005 *drools* Would love to hear this, but with that limitation it seems unlikely. How did you get hold of this, and what did you pay for it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Astro Cortex Posted October 10, 2005 Share Posted October 10, 2005 eBay of course. The funny thing is, I ebayed it from Massimo Vivona himself, he's quite a nice guy. We even had some phone calls because the package got lost in the post He then just sent me his shelf copy of Gamma together with some odd techno CD of his, which wasn't my cup of tea at all I got it for 40 Euro, which is still quite a fair price for such a rare Fax CD, but I've told you all that already. I guess it's near impossible even to download it, but I can send you the tracks if you are interested. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
qa2pir Posted October 10, 2005 Share Posted October 10, 2005 Are you sure you're willing to send them? And another question: No Reprint? And a third: can you send via msn? I am very interested =) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Astro Cortex Posted October 10, 2005 Share Posted October 10, 2005 1. only if you are sure you're willing to hear them 2. true 3. I don't have msn messenger but can send it either via icq or by eMail Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dragonflier Posted October 10, 2005 Share Posted October 10, 2005 I would be very thankful if you could send it to me, I can't recieve via ICQ or the likes though because my internet connection won't allow it. Perhaps you could use a site like yousendit, that way you only have to send it once and everybody who's interested would be able to download it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dragonflier Posted October 10, 2005 Share Posted October 10, 2005 Another thing, I would be very interested in 2350 Broadway 3 too, if that's possible (I saw you mentioned it as one of your favourites in the Namlook thread). If there's anything Namlook/FAX or anything ambient at all you need, feel free to ask as I have quite a lot and would be happy to send somethign in return. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
qa2pir Posted October 10, 2005 Share Posted October 10, 2005 I could send you something aswell, but probably you have everything i have already. And yes, http://www.yousendit.com is great for this purpose. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted October 10, 2005 Share Posted October 10, 2005 some odd techno CD of his, which wasn't my cup of tea at all 355383[/snapback] Could it be possible you could send some of those tracks for me? I'm a quita technolova' you see. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Astro Cortex Posted October 12, 2005 Share Posted October 12, 2005 OK, here are the tracks: Attuale Katanga Spirituale Speltrum Intelletuale Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
qa2pir Posted October 12, 2005 Share Posted October 12, 2005 wee! review coming up i hope. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
qa2pir Posted October 12, 2005 Share Posted October 12, 2005 Ok this is stuff you've gotta get into... For me these songs seem to repetitive. They would sound so much better with a shpongle-style melody on top. But perhaps i will think differently about it in a couple of listens? Right now the last track is absolutely the best. 2 and 3 are waaay to stretched. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Astro Cortex Posted October 12, 2005 Share Posted October 12, 2005 uaarrghh, not a Shpongle melody, for facks sake!! It just wouldn't fit. I enjoy Gamma in all its intelligent simplicity. The tracks (especially 2 & 3) are not really meant to 'entertain' you but rather to hypnotize and induce the trance state in its true and primordial sense, that's why they're so long and repetitive. I know it's not quite the obvious killlaargh album, but I'm sure you'll get into it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
qa2pir Posted October 12, 2005 Share Posted October 12, 2005 Yeah i know. I just described the feeling i got from listening to it for the first time, with no special expectations. A shpongle melody would fit i think, but maybe not when you know the true potential of these songs. but you really gotta be in the right mood for this stuff, right? Anyway, free music is always good, thanks =) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Astro Cortex Posted October 12, 2005 Share Posted October 12, 2005 but you really gotta be in the right mood for this stuff, right? 356973[/snapback] yeah, of course Anyway, free music is always good, thanks =) 356973[/snapback] Haha, but know that I only do this for out of print stuff that's nearly impossible to find on CD Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
qa2pir Posted October 12, 2005 Share Posted October 12, 2005 yeah, of course Haha, but know that I only do this for out of print stuff that's nearly impossible to find on CD 356981[/snapback] But still free =) I wish there were more ultrarare out of print cd's hehe... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Astro Cortex Posted October 12, 2005 Share Posted October 12, 2005 Come on, there's nothing like a proper CD with full sound quality and nice artwork and stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
qa2pir Posted October 13, 2005 Share Posted October 13, 2005 No. But i'll never get this one. And free music is better than free abscence of music =) Listened to the album again, sounds better now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dragonflier Posted October 14, 2005 Share Posted October 14, 2005 Thanks a lot mate, my internet connection is kinda fucked atm, so it will take a while to download the tracks, but once I do I'll post a review. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dragonflier Posted October 16, 2005 Share Posted October 16, 2005 Wow, what can I say? This is some of the best ambient material I have heard in a long time. All of the tracks are brilliant, I also liked the first one very much, even though it's possibly more downtempo trance than ambient. If one of the tracks stood out it has to be "Spirituale", that one was really stunning. Thanks again Astro Cortex for sharing this, and your definetely right - more people should hear this awesome music. Rating: 9,5/10. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
exotic Posted April 5, 2007 Share Posted April 5, 2007 OK, here are the tracks: Attuale Katanga Spirituale Speltrum Intelletuale Hey astro ! It would be relly nice of you if you could re-upload those tracks , i would really like to give it a listen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Cocco Posted June 11, 2007 Share Posted June 11, 2007 GAMMA 1993 1. 10:36 Attuale - B 2. 20:04 Katanga - B- 3. 21:27 Spirituale - B+ 4. 10:29 Speltrum - B / B+ 5. 13:16 Intelletuale - B Welcome to the rarest album ever made. So rare I have the songs and I'm not even allowed to listen to them. I'm just kidding. This is an extremely distinct album for extremely distinct tastes. For 1993 reviewing this isn't easy. Back then I don't even think I was listening to The Prodigy. This seems to be a more progressive (gradually add layer after layer) melodic sound, from what [but not from where] Goa would later blossem and evolve well beyond. I became aware of an album called Zen Paradox thanks to astro on here. I really liked that album but it quenched my old-school thirst at the time. I didn't bother to cycle back through all the 1990-1994 review section threads on rare albums I may have missed. I definitely missed this one. It's good overall with a handful of slower, less alterated and psychedelic Goa melodies. It's slower and takes time to build. Some tracks pick up within several minutes and others take a while but there's something likeable about the overall style and sound if you can get around the several longer tracks which seem to over stay their welcome; they lack evolution and development (building more than what's been built) into their second half. Katanga, the opening song is very distinct and friendly to my ears. I've never heard anything like this. The rhythm can be so simplistic and yet trance inducing. A melody arrives and a hard, jumping kick/beat that compliments. Certain sounds are added, and more, and more. They just keep piling on, slowly and gradually like building stories in a building that honestly, isn't tall. I actually enjoy this so far. Some sounds are subtracted until what existed before seems to take place again. The listener is provoked to maintain the state they're. I like how the track begins and continues because a seemingly continuous amount of sounds are added which puts its development in motion to the listener. The beat becomes harder and my attention is tapped more once the kickdrum enters. The sounds are generally catchy. The song is repetitive to a degree or takes time to develop and change. Katanga on the other hand was different. Initially I liked the tribal drums but the song almost lost me due to its repetition but something almost always seem to happen that pulls me back into it. I slipped in and out of it several times and had difficulty enjoying close attention from around 7:00 to 13:15, (yes, thirteen minutes into the twenty minute track) when suddanly a previous pleasent melody arrived over the other sounds. Not many sounds seem to be added and removed as the track progresses and few minipulations, alterations, and echoes seem to be taking place here. It's very old school. Spirituale is more interesting. I like how it builds with the drum combos to the sustained melody. A certain feeling is projected through the music; it's more thoughtful and evocative. There's something nice about the overall song. The beat seems to harden and voice samples are interesting. I like it. The song introduces new melodies in the middle and end it seems and enough it added, subtracted, changed up, and mixed to hold my attention throughout. This is one of, if not the best song on the album, in my opinion. Speltrum is much shorter than the last two tracks but still lengthy. Again it has a strong, gradual development and build up. This reminds me of the opening song in certain concepts, not in sound per say. For example, I like how how catchy hard and soft... beats, drums, pleasent melodies and ambient layers slowly piled up. It isn't alot but for 1993 is good, the song too. It gets a bit repetitive into the second half but its melodies and rhythm... there's something very pleasent about the overall sound created here. Intelletuale is an ambient/chill version of the more jumpy, dancy opening. It's pretty good although they seem to have literally took the opening song Attuale and slowed it down. Nonetheless it's interesting to hear and compare the two. Eventually it does get a bit tiresome. Textures repeat and the song becomes repetitive, but it's a fresh approach speed-wise compared to the other tracks. This is one of the first goa-ambient-esque tracks ever made it seems in a sense and potentially unintended due to the slow speed. In conclusion, I am looking and attempting to score this album for what it was in 1993, which is very difficult to do. This was before the debut's of Hallucinogen, Astral Projection, Transwave, Juno Reactor, X-Dream, and even the now known titled "Down-Tempo" genre. I don't even know if labels called certain albums Goa-anything back then! On Gamma, I generally find the shorter tracks more enjoyable with exception to the third one because they know when to end. The third one could have been more solid with some smart editing work but it is what it is. Fans of the most early days digital old-school days of Goa or what contributed to leading up to Goatrance may find something interesting in this rare album. Zen Paradox is another oldest of the old-school Goa-esque albums that I recommend over this one. Nonetheless, it's still interesting and for 1993 I have a feeling several tracks would have sounded impressive. Looking back over the early 1990's however, I'd take Juno Reactors Transmissions, Delerium, Astralasia, Zen Paradox's Eternal Brainwave, SFX, and several other releases over this one. Gamma is nonetheless one of the better, more underrated albums of its era to say the least. B ... (For 1993...(Now days it hasn't held up so well but it's still interesting to see part of where Goa concepts and sounds began) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bwhale Posted May 6, 2009 Share Posted May 6, 2009 I'm not a fan of track 2, the techno one... it's a little bit too repetitive..., but the others are all really nice early chilled trance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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