DeathPosture Posted November 17, 2005 Share Posted November 17, 2005 V/A - Amalgama Artist: Various (Argentina) Title: Amalgama – primer compilado de psytrance argentino Format: CD (jewel case w/cardboard wrap-around) Label: Transition Records / Dark Prisma Records split (Argentina) Cat. #: TRDK001 Distribution: AP Records Date: 17 November 2005 Track listing: 01. 02’36” Prismatix - Preludio 02. 07’48” Frantic Noise – Blues Brothers (Twist Remix) 03. 07’33” Prismatix – Tallarins With Tea 04. 07’23” Pragmatix – Relacion De Esencias 05. 08’11” Cosmos Vibrations - Genoma 06. 07’17” Durbmata – The Field 07. 07’08” Frantic Noise vs. Pragmatix – Balada Hardtrance 08. 07’36” Megalopsy - Megalupis 09. 07’51” Mindprobe – Where Do They Come From? 10. 07’05” Prisma – Goblin Twist Review: Gaucho tranco! Behold the very first psytrance release from Argentina! That’s right – Argentina! Visionary labels Transition Records and Dark Prisma Records have teamed up to showcase the best Argentinean psytrance… From looking at the tracklist, only Megalopsy looks familiar to me, but the promotional info reveals that those talented cowboys are involved in several tracks here… So I’m guessing we’re in for a treat… Let’s find out! Let me take you thru the tracks… #01: Prismatix – Preludio [120 BPM] We kick things in gear by a short prelude from Jorge Uema (Pragmatix) & Nicolás Di Bernado (Prisma ~ Filter from Megalopsy). Basically, this is a downtempo emotional piece… Cleaning the pipes and setting the mood… The murky atmosphere is brewing and you sense a dark Sith lord lurking around somewhere… #02: Frantic Noise – Blues Brothers (Twist Remix) [141 BPM] This is solo project of z1P (Matías Benamo) from Megalopsy… Although kept within a framework of night-time trance, this is still pretty melodic and somewhat uplifting… We start with a robotic voice sample – and then the melodies start emerging… Pretty simple, but strangely effective and hypnotizing… Full-on in structure, but with enough twists and turns to maintain a psychedelic edge… Packed to the rim with arpeggios and high-pitched synth-action which is pretty sweet – and I gave up counting the layers here… There are loads! Nice stuff, though somewhat lacking ‘bite’… #03: Prismatix – Tallarins With Tea [138 BPM] Jorge & Nicolás in cahoots again here… The orchestral break-down intro is pretty sweet – and those playful, simple bleeps are pretty fucking sweet in all their simplicity… Yeah, we’ve upped the trip-factor a little here – this is very shroomy! Also the breakz and the morphs really make this track stand out from the crowd! I like how the guys are really experimenting here – it works like a charm! A very unique, transcending track… Kick-ass track! #04: Pragmatix – Relacion De Esencias [143 BPM] “We’re sending you back to the future!” This is 20-year old Jorge Uema from Buenos Aires – describing the relations of essence… I’m sure there’s some deeper psychological meaning to that, but that’s really besides the point… What’s interesting about this is the music – and this kid knows his shit… This is a very, very atmospheric track… It’s both shady and mysterious – and uplifting and smiling! A very nicely done hybrid – rich in textures and with constant twists… Impressive! #05: Cosmos Vibrations – Genoma [143 BPM] This is the debut release by 22 year-old producer Alejo Galvan… He ups the ante, and takes on a more dancefloor orientated approach on this powerful track… Night-time friendly yes, but with just enough melodies not to cross completely over into darkness… The subtle acid-bits underline the message and again I’m impressed by the quality here… Well done! #06: Durbmata – The Field [145 BPM] 21 year-old Tomas Rajlevsky is another debutant… This is among the fastest tracks here, and the style is leaning heavily towards uplifting morning trance with progressive elements… Like Protoculture or Etic… The undecipherable voice-samples are pretty neat and I like the metallic-tribal percussion here… The breakdown has some problems, and I could have asked for a more closely knit flow… But considering it’s a debut, this is indeed nice! #07: Frantic Noise vs. Pragmatix – Balada Hardtrance [143 BPM] z1P teams up with Jorge Uema for a hard trance ballad… This isn’t hard trance in the NU-NRG sense – this is more like pumping psytrance – with floating, melodic elements and enough acid-lines to keep me interested… The rippling FX are nothing short of impressive and this is a very energetic track… Tasty! #08: Megalopsy – Megalupis [145 BPM] Ahh – good old Megalopsy! Matias Benamo (z1P) and Nicolas Di Bernardo (Filter) released their very impressive debut album The Abstract Machine on Trishula Records earlier this year. An unprecedented conceptual album which really challenged the conventional album flow… And yeah – this is challenging music too! Surprising twists and turns – and a general playfulness which I really like! The demented melodies are maybe a little… Well, too demented! But there’s never a dull moment with Megalopsy – I’ll give them that much! A good track, though not the best here… #09: Mindprobe – Where Do They Come From? [136 BPM] “What was I doing? What was the meaning of this trip? Was I just roaming around in a drugs frenzy of some kind?” Mindprobe is a duo consisting of Panoramix (Diego Juarez) and Rave-N (Federico Cardoso). They’ve had a couple of tracks released on obscure labels, so this is my first encounter with their music… We take it down a notch or two on this spooky, atmospheric track… The intro is pretty damn eerie and the blunt beats add to the haunted atmosphere… Where do they come from? Not from this world! This would be the perfect track to open a Halloween set with… Scary stuff! And I like getting scared… #10: Prisma – Goblin Twist [145 BPM] Nicolás Di Bernado (Filter) finishes things off with the goblin track… Another highly experimental track… Dubby basslines, freaky sampling, morphing synths, evil stabs, twirling acid-lines – all in the first minute! A very forest-like track – would mix very will with some downtempo Derango or similar Ørebro stuff… Trippy stuff! Well well well… I already knew that Megalopsy were huge talents, and this compilation shows that there’s even more talent lurking in Argentina! For a debut release this compilation is indeed impressive… I like how we’re exposed to a variety of styles within darkish psytrance… Also, the level of experimentation is high here – and I like labels taking chances! There’s no boring, mind-numbing, formulated full-on here… This is high-quality, well-crafted psytrance – from Argentina with love! The cover art is pretty boring, but the music more than makes up for that – trust me! A unique, experimental compilation… Solid too! Megalopsy fans will take well to this, as will fans of darkish, crossover psytrance… Enjoy! Favourites: 3(!), 4, 5, 7, 9(!) DeathPosture External links: Dark Prisma Records: http://www.darkprisma.com.ar Discogs: http://www.discogs.com/release/558921 Beatspace: http://tinyurl.com/7hl39 Wirikuta: http://tinyurl.com/7usdb Saiko: http://tinyurl.com/bvhge Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted November 18, 2005 Share Posted November 18, 2005 cool...i got this comp yesterday and i like it(listening to it right now).... btw nice review man.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
filter Posted January 25, 2006 Share Posted January 25, 2006 Taken from psyreviews.com Compiled by the Megalopsy boys, Amalgama is the first compilation from Argentina, and a definite sign that things there are on the up. After Prismatix’s swirly intro, Frantic Noise open up with the chunky, pleasing Blues Brothers (remix). It’s got a fairly snarly vibe to it, the bass is definitely in keeping with harsh, mushroomy nighttime music, but with a more accessible topend edge. It’s a pretty good cover of the Blues Brothers theme, with a few extra added twinks. Not bad. Prismatix’s Tallarins With Tea plods, as does Pragmatix’s Relacion De Esencias. Nothing wrong with these tracks, the sounds are fine and everything but… they just don’t have a lot of energy to them. Pragmatix is half-saved by a nice, mesmerising ending section but it’s lost its punch by the time it drops properly. Much more interesting is Cosmos Vibrations’ Genoma, which is the best newskool oldskool track yet. It’s got phasing like Infinity Project, and the balance of the sound plus the way the melodies don’t so much layer as conspire, all makes it sound very exciting, very fresh. Like finding an undiscovered gem: in fact, I would go so far as to suggest that we all submit our copies of Tip Yellow to have it re-pressed with this track included. Durbamata’s This Field is a quirky one, it has that rumblerumble bass and layers fairly odd sounds over the top – sounds a bit like you left an oldskool Talamasca out in the forest for a couple of nights with only a water canteen, spiked with LSD. Best track on the album alert: Frantic Noise vs Pragmatix’s Balada Hardtrance. It has everything you need. From the opening rumbles you know it’s going to be a belter. Deep, bubbling, with a great balance beteren hellish nighttime and melody-driven oldskool psy. The riffs are individual and effective, the sucks-you-in motion is strong, and its final run is an utterly sublime little magic carpet ride to hades (in a good way). Perfect. Up next, psyreviews’ serial 2005 favourites Megalopsy, and Megalupis is full of what I love about these fuckers. Deep, swirling stuff that almost makes you forget how frantically you’re dancing. The wedge here is more over to the manic side, and I’m sort of reminded of older dark-matter stuff; with edgy, fairytale melodies sitting uneasily over the top. Genius. Mindprobe’s Where Do They Come From has a very acidy, lysergic wobble going on. Pretty nice stuff, and incredibly clever in the way it moves around, but I can see its relentless topend getting a bit much for most pairs of ears. Finally, Prisma step forth with possibly the most worrying track on here… Goblin Twist is a wonderfully fucked-up piece of music, that I would urge every chillout DJ to play so they can get all the people who are “peaking a little bit too much” out and off the fucking beanbags and back into the mainroom where they belong. It’s like every horror film you’ve ever seen coming back to scare the shit of you. All at the same time. A nice ending to a patchy album, basically: there’s some great stuff here, and while the remainder are mostly interesting and slightly quirky tunes, it’s not an essential purchase. 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.