Koxbox - The Great Unknown

[Guest Pit-UFO]

Koxbox - The Great Unknown

 

 

Artist: Koxbox

Title: The Great Unknown

Label: Nova Tekk

Date: 2000

 

Track listing:

 

01. 00'42" Statement

02. 07'55" Go Fly A Kite

03. 10'32" The Great Unknown

04. 07'32" 6 Cells

05. 07'36" Crunchy Moles

06. 00'26" DJ Traveller

07. 08'29" Geomancer

08. 11'04" Lunar Bin

09. 03'01" Doppelgänger

10. 09'48" King of Jazz

 

Review:

 

KOXBOX has been making music since the early 90's, so I guess

as a musician you must evolve, reinvent yourself and explore new territories,

unless you are Astral Projection and you just don't care about evolution and

quality. For this record these guys buried Peter Candy, move

the pitch to slower tempos, and put a lot of creativity to produce a really

good

album, hard to swallow, very psychedelic with house, funk and breakbeats

influences, and precise samples. The adventure begins with Go Fly a Kite a very

dub oriented track that prepares you're neurons to try to decode the best

KOXBOX

song since Fuel-On, The Great Unknown :-).  Crunchy Moles has some great

samples, this track could be played in any nightclub it has a sort of house

sound but never fails to introduce psychedelic energy. Geomancer its so spacey

and enjoyable that's almost peaceful!!  Lunar Bin along with

Dopelgänger work as a unit, this song has the classic KOXBOX

obscure ambience and acid lines but with some delicious breakbeats

UFFFFFFFF!!!!!!. The CD ends with a Jazz experiment that's really bizarre but

interesting. Your brain will appreciate this sonic fest if you're open to it.

9/10

[Guest "double dipped daffy ducks"]

oh yes. mature psychedelia for sure. i thouroughly enjoyed "forever after", and

this is slightly different, but still the koxbox vibe. very very cool. not

mindmelting stuff, but very mind expanding stuff!! little surprises come at

you every time you listen to this cd. it's not party music in my opinion, but

more for the refined listener. some really lovely stuff here by koxbox. 9/10

for the refined listener, 6/10 for the dumb party animal

[Guest Psylent Buddhi]

I entirely agree with what has been written above. This album is breathtakin.

It's a super psychedelic album, with only superb tracks on it! Koxbox said

themselves that this album was "...a radical departure from the usual Koxbox

style..."! You can only agree with them, but their style certainly does not

lack and "psychedelicness"! Their detailed production has remained, but this

album sounds a lot more funky and mature! Just keep an open mind when

listening to this, and then you'll have an album that'll keep your interest in

many years from now!

P.L.U R. - Psylent Buddhi

[Guest Ian Orion[at]yahoo[dot]com]

Live outside in Nagano/Japan for 3 hours seriously altered the way I listen to

these guys and trance in general. Nobody does it better for the term

"psychedelic trance" and this Cd is no exception. Wicked allround, however

there are a couple of tracks I think which are a little too experimental

(notice the Xavier influence).

[Guest a_ozi]

BeeaauudiFULL album of amazing sounds melodies, sample warping and don't you

just love the Australian film and broadcasting sample in "Crunchy moles".

Supposedly an EP of remixes of that track coming soon. CD full of funky assed

vibes but with many other influences placed considerately in the mix. Of the

whole cd my only gripe was that "Go fly a kite" was on Infinite Excursions 3

in only a slightly different mix, but as its such a silky smooth chill journey

its listenable to many times without boredom. The rest... even better. 10 fat

cones.

[Guest AtomikElf]

9.5/10, just read what 'ol double dipped daffy duck wrote. by the way, that's

some cool acid ;-)

[Guest jperzzon[at]telia[dot]com]

Well!

Is it that I have listen to much of Israelish trance and so or am I the only

"un-normal" person here! This cd is strange! Go-fly-a-kite starts very good

from this cd, and I liked it a lot. But then, then tracks seems to lose all

the good feeling. I hate to say this but this cd is right now, a big mistake

I've bought! I am not A KoxBox fan but this record you can't play on parties,

at least that's what I think! This cd is for me one long mess of annoying

tracks... Maybe I change my mind later, but I am pretty sure I won't.

 

I give it a 4/10

[Guest ehsan[at]yahoo[dot]com]

HOW DO THEY DO IT?

 

TEN FAT JOINTS OUT OF TEN!

 

Bom Shankar! Hesjan

[Guest X - Dreamer in NYC]

KOX BOX rules 8/10 Not a perfect album but close to it.

[Guest Ubik]

We're two now I agree with you Joakim, even after several listenings, I

don't

find it good, too much experimentation here ! I prefer the old Koxbox/Psychopod

sound. This album is not really goa for me. Nonetheless, there are two good

tracks : The great unknown and go fly a kite. 5/10 Maybe it'll get better...

[freak51]

It isn't Goa. If they hadn't been in the scene since the beginning, it

wouldn't even be trance (like the new Total Eclipse record (Access Denied) -

it gives record store managers fits as to where to file it). It's an exercise

in how to craft weird noises into music - not that that's a bad thing, but

it's not for me.

[Guest Tequila]

can't listen to it till the end, it's so horrible.I want to puke each time I

listen to Go Fly A Kite.It's sad cuz I'm usually fond of Koxbox.1

[Guest cosmo[at]futaba.ne[dot]jp]

It's not in the usual line of things-good! Bit sick of screaming

GMS type cheese anyway. I could listen to this again and again and again. As

far as parties go, I too saw them live here, and won't ever forget it-what a

difference to the six hours of Jorg that came before, playing all that

Infected shite.

[Guest SpaceCowboy2002[at]hotmail[dot]c]

When I bought this album, I truly ventured into The Great Unknown. I didn?t

know how mediocre it would turn out to be. A bit on the lame side even.

Although it contains a sprinkle of the old Koxbox sound, it is not as tight as

it is weird. And what?s the deal with the cover art? If anything, it is

likely to boost sales to the members of the community with more active

libidos, but that doesn?t make the music any better. Perhaps it is to make

you think that the erection you get from the album is caused by the music

itself. ?Wow, this must be good music, it aroused me, huh hyuk!? I don?t

think so. No amount of soft porn will mask this album?s repetitiveness. If

you think you are in for the perfection that was their last album, think

again. Overall, 6 out of 10.

[Guest LaGoaTrance]

No !....I can't fly with Koxbox's music.....it's not very bad but tracks are

not very well built, melodies are not original...so listen to the whole album

is hard.

[Guest AlexG]

i think there are basically 3 major sounds floating around the scene right now:

1. the melodic israeli sound influenced by the older goa

here are bands like a.p., yahel, luminus, or shidapu

2. weird, dark, screaming psy-trance

the likes of gms, infected mushroom

3. minimal psy-techno

x-dream started it, now 2/3 of all new acts are doing it

 

personally, i like all of the above, as long as it's done good. but with this

album you have a problem because it doesnt fit into those categories. it takes

trance, house, downtempo, breakbeat, and more of god-knows-what and blends it

all into one big mess. the music is highly experimental and, in my opinion,

very good. those people who claim this to be boring, repetetive, etc. are

simply unwilling to see it for what it really is. just think about this:

somewhere out there there is a person who will listen to astral projection for

the first time and say: "this is bullshit! premature, repetative, beat-driven

crap! i've heard better stuff in videogames!" always be openminded, innovation

is one thing that makes life beautiful! 9/10

[Guest Kuldipsidhu]

totally shit what a waist of money guys try to under stand what he says when

he says goa trance love kuldip

[Guest crussakmail[at]aol[dot]com]

KoxBox - Very Good album. Go fly a Kyte sucks but the rest is worth giving it

a try. So buy it and like it

[Guest F-AcTivE]

No man , Go fly a Kyte is nice ! =) don't be bad now , This album is very

very very nice , Strange sounding guys from Denmark , i prefer Sweden , but

this album really rocks ! woohooo !

[Guest booty[at]bigbooty[dot]mil]

Well I am new to the trance scene, but these guys seem to be rather intelligent

in the way they craft their songs instead of pumping out the same formulaic

crap over and over again.. Right now I have some MP3's but I am gonna go buy

the album even though its a more expensive import..

 

PS the cover art is great.. "me so horny!"

[Guest armordsaynt[at]aol[dot]com]

Koxbox is simply delicious to my ears! I love this stuff! It gives my ears and

brain an erection! This new album is just different and a little more

accessible and repetetive beat oriented than that of their more morphed alien

sounding previous releases. But like alot of you have said, Koxbox can still

wake up your ears and provide sound vitamins for the brain! Give it a chance

to sink in as you absorb it with an opened mind!

[Guest R.I.P Israel]

WOW!!!! This is what I'm talkin' about!! KoxBox have made the best album of

the year!! It is not boring, it is so totally danceable, and just simply

amazing!!! A.P, M.F.G and all the rest of the Israeli/ morning-trance bands

make music that will bore you after the first few listens!!!! "King of Jazz"

for example, #10 on the album, is fuckin' excellent....so fresh, it just makes

you move!!! I think the problem is that people who keep on liking "GOA", are

the ones always on Speed or E!!! The thing is, psychedelic music is meant for

LSD and Cannabis use, and as such, this evolution and progression that KoxBox

is showing fits in with those people, who actually experience and float "in"

the music, instead of just gritting their teeth and punching their fists

repetitively in the air like crazed idiots. don't get me wrong, I used to

love E as well, but believe me, it is just such a boring and useless drug

compare to ACID or SHROOMS!!! Open your mind, and HEAR the music...KoxBox

certainly do!!!!Peace!!!

[Guest Paddohead]

really FAT-ASS !!!

i like this !

8.5/10

peace

[Guest hitch-hiker]

My first impression of this album was "what a crap", but I'll give it another

try as lots of ppl here seem to like it.

To "R.I.P Israel": M.F.G. bores you after a few listenings... And you like this

KoxBox release? Are you serious? I think you simply don't like true Goa Trance!

[Guest hitch-hiker]

I want to add that my most listened album ever is "M.F.G. - The Prophecy" and I

still love it, it's a real killer, maybe the definition of Goatrance ;-)...

"Pleiadians" or "Green Nuns of the Revolution" Album can also be listened very

often without becoming boring or repetitive!