V/A - Utopeak

DeathPosture · December 28, 2005

V/A - Utopeak

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Hi-res cover: front + back

Artist: Various

Title: Utopeak

Format: CD (jewel case)

Label: Peak Records (Switzerland)

Cat. #: PR007

Distribution: Arabesque

Date: December 2005

Track listing:

01. 01’13” The Peaking Goddess Collective - Arcadia

02. 08’04” Yab-Yum – Tits On A Bwwwarhog

03. 07’48” Shotu vs. Suddha - Osiris

04. 07’35” Hyper Frequencies – 4 Peak

05. 07’40” Naked N3xu5 - Maschinen

06. 05’55” Electrypnose - Defasoul

07. 07’28” Phonic Request & Akhoa – Speed Freak Battle (Rmx)

08. 06’17” Drumatik – Vampire Empire

09. 07’04” Digitalist - Jackpot

10. 07’38” Phobium – Touched By The Glitch

11. 07’35” Yab-Yum – Yabyumski

12. 02’36” Master Margherita – Life (Utopian Rmx)

.m3u-playlist: http://tinyurl.com/7jat2 (all tracks!)

Review:

Utopian trance dance fest!

Utopeak is the 7th instalment released by the Swiss hippie collective Peak Records… So far, these guys have excelled in releasing high-quality psytrance and downtempo compilations… Everything reeks quality and I’ve yet to be disappointed by their releases… As with the previous dance compilations, this baby is compiled by the competent DJ Gaspard – and I pretty must trust his taste blindly… So let’s begin the next trip courtesy of the Peaksters…

Let me take you thru the tracks…

#01: The Peaking Goddess Collective – Arcadia

“Travelling dreamscapes with open eyes, catching fragments of potential, behind glitch of programmed consciousness. Non-ordinary reality illuminates the path to understanding. Utopia. Waking to the unchanged. Still believing. Life is more than an illusion!” As usual, the voyage starts with an intro track by the PGC – this time narrated by P. Van Der Merwe talking about Utopia… Spacy ambient with the emphasis on the spoken word… Gets you in the mood… As usual with Peak Records, the tracks are gently mixed (transition cuts) so we drift seamlessly into the next track…

#02: Yab-Yum – Tits On A Bwwwarhog [147 BPM]

Yab-Yum (Gaspard & Ajja S.F.Leu) has become like a very comfortable sweater to me… You know, the kind that never fails, always gives you that familiar, cosy feeling… Damn, did I just compare Yab-Yum to a sweater? I guess I did – but what I’m trying to say is, that these guys always delivers the goods with their high-quality, acid-ridden, trippy-as-fuck psytrance… And this track is no exception… I have no idea what the hell a bwwwarhog is, but I know that it has amazing titties… Nuff said, this is a brilliant track… Driving, evolving and trippy as hell… Quality track!

#03: Shotu vs. Suddha – Osiris [146 BPM]

Here’s a couple of Peak debutants: David Marmin & Nicolas Pineau… They’ve released a track made with Jahbo on the Hadracadabra compilation released by Hadra Records last year, but this is my first encounter with their music… This is evidently dark, twisted hyper trance – with a hypnotizing melodic little devilfish lurking just below the surface… I’m amazed as to how something so simple, can be so effective… There’s nothing too spectacular going on here - it’s actually pretty basic, but oh my – this is tasty nevertheless!

#04: Hyper Frequencies – 4 Peak [145 BPM]

French producer Gilles Béraud has released two albums and loads of compilation tracks, but it’s been a while since I’ve heard his stuff… This track starts pretty slow and fragmented, but soon turns into a belching night tune complete with acid-ridden peaks and tweaks… A nice track, but there’s nothing overly exciting here and the last run down sounds a little too random to me… Still a solid track though!

#05: Naked N3xu5 – Maschinen [147 BPM]

This track is made by Naked Tourist (Martin/Z-Neo & Björn /DJ Iguana) and N3xu5 (Luis Miguel Lopes) in cahoots… N3xu5 has made some really fine tracks, and especially Naked Tourist has really impressed me with their tracks on the two latest Psychedelically Yours compilations on Parvati Records… I’m really, really looking forward to their debut album Mad Different Methods coming in February 2006… Anyway, that’s beside the point – let’s focus on this track… Take the raging mad druggy night trance of Naked Tourist and mate it with the flaring, yet subtle acid-riffs and synth melodies from N3xu5 – and you’ve got the formula for this track… The German samples have a certain rawness that fits the track well, and the acid-level is just right… Another great track!

#06: Electrypnose – Defasoul [147 BPM]

Swiss sound wizard Vince Le Barde has been all over the place in 2005 with his very unique, trippy underground sound… Both the album and all the compilation tracks have been great, and it seems there’s no stopping this man… Style wise, this track ‘breaks’ the flow of the compilation, as Vince is not exactly a conformist… He’s got his own, very special ‘deeper underground’ style – which I’ve come to treasure greatly… It’s eerie, dark and totally mesmerizing… The second album Le Tireur De Ficelles is supposed to be out soon – I can’t wait… Best track so far!

#07: Phonic Request & Akhoa – Speed Freak Battle (Rmx) [146 BPM]

Phonic Request (Wilfried Decaesteker) & Akhoa (Olivier Charpier) collaborate on this track, as they did on a couple of other tracks this year… I really liked their humorous take on psytrance released on the Ketuh compilation Hyperspatial Chrysalis earlier this year… And sure enough, this track has funny bits and pieces too… I like that – it kinda takes the edge of the music, which can often come across as a little pretentious with all the darkness and acid all over the place… Anyway, this is basically acid-ridden night trance with a pinch of tech-trance thrown in to confuse you… Simple, yet effective… Nice!

#08: Drumatik – Vampire Empire [148 BPM]

Benjamin Klingemann is another Peak regular whose tracks have been featured on most of their trancefloor compilations… So far, I’ve been very impressed with his tracks, and this is no exception… As usual, Drumatik samples like a madman, switching back and forth between genres… Like flipping through radio-stations, but with a steady bassline… I like oddball trance like this, and this is by far the most original track on this compilation… It’s also among the fastest, but the pace is really irrelevant – this is phat!

#09: Digitalist – Jackpot [148 BPM]

“You sound surprised? No, it’s just not what I expected!” AFAIK this is the debut release from Dropout Productions artist Thomas Franske from Switzerland… Loads more are in the pipelines though… Anyway, we’re still in über-fast night trance territory, and we’re really pushing the boundaries to Halloween trance now… As with the previous track, the experimentation level is high here, and there’s never a dull moment… We slip back and forth between styles there’s an influx of weird samples and crazy twists… Tasty oddball trance!

#10: Phobium – Touched By The Glitch [146 BPM]

Henning Helland Ottesen from Oslo, Norway has released a handful of tracks on different compilations, but this is the first time I listen to his stuff… But not the last I hope, as this is really interesting… Really intense, driving night trance with high-pitched acid stabs and synth explorations… I really like the old-school sound here - highly fragmented and much more multi-layered than any of the other tracks on this compilation… A big, phat wall of psychedelic sounds – spacy, trippy and powerful… Kick ass track!

#11: Yab-Yum – Yabyumski [146 BPM]

Another track by Gaspard & Ajja S.F.Leu which closes the compilation in regards to dancefloor material… And yes – it’s another stormer! After a brief, naturist intro and a lengthy minimal bridge part, we’re soon right in the middle of a frenetic dancefloor stomp-fest of tribal proportions – unlike anything else we’ve heard on this compilation... Once again this track shows the sheer magnitude of talent possessed by these guys… I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: Release an album already!! That’s an order! Brilliant track!

#12: Master Margherita – Life (Utopian Rmx)

Master Margherita (Moreno Antognini) is the chill boss of Peak Records… He has released some excellent chill music and has compiled all the downtempo compilations… So he’s the natural choice for the outro track here… This is windy ambient – soothing, relaxing and pretty much a pleasure ride which will assist you in coming down off the Utopeak trip… Ahh!

Another fine Peak Records compilation draws to a close – and once again, I’m impressed by the level of quality… Consistency all the way has fast become a trademark for this brilliant label… There are no bad tracks here at all, and I like pretty much everything on this piece of plastic… Style wise, we’re still within acid-ridden night-trance – though with a few excursions into darkpsy and tribal… And of course the downtempo intro and outro tracks… A fine package if you ask me! Speaking of packaging, I also like the seemingly simple, yet beautiful artwork made by Ajja S.F. Leu & Tanina Munchkina which will henceforth be known as ‘the purple album’...

If you liked previous Peak Records releases you’ll love this… I hereby stamp this with the ‘DeathPosture seal of approval’… It’s quality all the way and a no-brainer purchase… Enjoy!

Favourites: 2, 5, 6(!), 7, 8(!), 9, 10(!), 11

DeathPosture

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