RAH2D2 Posted January 15, 2006 Share Posted January 15, 2006 Artist: Bodhisattva 13:20 Album: Excurssions Through the Ancient Future Label: Truffle Records Web: http://www.trufflerecords.com/ Year: 2005 Format: CD Songs: 01 Psychoactive Wizardry 02 Pac vs. R2 03 Telekinetic Dream 04 Ancient Future 05 Celestial Novice 06 Xcon Negative 07 Electronegative Beings 08 Juxtaposition Existence 09 Power Vortex Boddishtava 13:20 better known as Chris Martin, is another Californian from the latest American invasion importing raw goods in the form of orchestrated madness. Author of a book on production tips and techniques, he is due to release his second album Secret's of the Mojave next month on Geomagnetic.tv / Darkstar Records. Bodhisattva means one who seeks enlightenment and encourages others to be enlightened. The 13:20 bit relates to the frequencies known as the Hunab-Ku. In the ancient Mayan culture the term is credited for giving mathematical structuring to the universe, describing the certainty of cosmic consciousness (Fusion Anomaly). Pretty dense stuff huh? He didn't just pick those names at random. So beyond all this clever-worded identity, how is the sound? I have quacked out a theory for this type of beats looking to appeal desert trancers: psychosomatic forest-styled fractal sounds, a good doze of bubbly, stretchy, liquid melodic bleeps, discounting the tweeter-bleeder kicks of the 150's club… for full on. All tracks run on the 144 mark with enough diversity throughout to keep it interesting, lacking evolution within the actual tracks though. Why so seemingly slow in comparison to his kindred brothers in the dark side? Because the desert is really, really hot and the idea of stomping your boots off for more than five minutes evaporates with the sheer thought of dehydration. There are very interesting standouts here, the ‘Psychoactive Wizard' presents as a strong opener advocating fickle effects with an impressive display of disarray, conjuring psychoactive production. It goes a bit mono-thematic on the engine, like most tracks here which is a shame cause there a lot of novel ideas. Vocodic chanting is a short but sweet affair in the track leaning awkwardly on psycho-active harmonics. The rest of the trip carries forward squelching away until it reaches cruising altitude. A possible remix of this could be devastating (in the good way The Pac vs. R2 relates a lot more to R2D2 having a full on orgasm… Handcuffed to the bed, decked out in S&M gear, screaming his lungs out. The little breaks before he drops the basssssline again will make a Star Wars fan smile. In Celestial Novice the psy breaks start shinning a bit more, the bass gets more playful and that is positive. The relentless effects are conjured with a sense of pace telling a full story. Once again that melody by end, hiding away in the raindrops of effects doesn't convince me much. The same thing happens in 'Ancient Future', it's a good thing is rather reserved and short. In ‘Telekinetic Dream', things start heating nicely. It really goes out of its way to mount different themes and sounds pulling a decent pick up.A little diversity on the bass would be very welcomed, but shakers and the claps complement the vibe well with prissy attention to detail. From the battle samples, screams, swords to the thunders without sounding morbid or tragic. It's all in good fun. The only real grudge I hold is the lack of progression in the static bass lines and rigid kicks. If a third of the energy that is focused on the groove, was invested on the beats it would be standout material. Does it matter much? Only if you want to nitpick, on the higher ranges there is so much action you will hardly notice. Before this excursion I had not heard much of Truffle Records and they are standing true to its name. As for Chris' progression it will be really interesting to follow the development of this artist with a new album next month, because there is definitely potential here. Admittedly the artwork isn't all to exiting and I have erred judging the book by it's cover… Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lepton Posted January 16, 2006 Share Posted January 16, 2006 superb album !!! top 5 release 2005 !!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amphiton Posted January 16, 2006 Share Posted January 16, 2006 superb album !!! top 5 release 2005 !!!! 417217[/snapback] #6 in my Dark Psytrance charts of 2005 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RAH2D2 Posted January 17, 2006 Author Share Posted January 17, 2006 #6 in my Dark Psytrance charts of 2005 417248[/snapback] aww.. that's where ther line starts blurring, i wouldn't consider it 'dark' trance at all... it's actually quite uplifting, but deeply psychedelic... in my view Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmtree Posted January 17, 2006 Share Posted January 17, 2006 aww.. that's where ther line starts blurring, i wouldn't consider it 'dark' trance at all... it's actually quite uplifting, but deeply psychedelic... in my view 417338[/snapback] totally this isn't 'dark'.. though Bodhi got kind of upset when I said his music was 'uplifting', ehehehe.. I meant it in the best possible way, of course - here there is none of the pounding, oppressive atmosphere that a lot of the 'dark' psy has. Very intelligent stuff, can't wait for more of the same! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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