Hallucinogen - In Dub

[traveller]

Hallucinogen - In Dub

 

 

Artist: Hallucinogen

Title: In Dub

Label: Twisted

Date: 2002

 

Track listing:

 

01. 11'54"Mi-Loony-Um (A Floating Butterfly Stings Like A Bee Mix)

02. 08'59"Solstice (Warwick Bassmonkey Mix)

03. 10'53"Gamma Goblins (It's Tutles All The Way Down Mix)

04. 08'16"Spiritual Antiseptic (Minty Fresh Confidence Mix)

05. 09'19"LSD (World Sheet Of Closed String Mix)

06. 10'25"Angelic Particles (Buckminster Fullerine Mix)

 

Review:

 

Track 1. Mi-Loony-Um (A floating butterfly stings like a bee mix). The beginning makes me terrified. Will this be another full on album, besides what the name promises? This sure doesn?t sound like dub or chilled music. More like very energic full on intro. Those ?tic tac? sounds are even faster than in the original. I?m just absolutely petrified. Will the evil bpm enter soon? At 00:40 something extremly relieving happens. The tempo get?s slower and slower.?Tic? followed by one second pause and then ?tac?. Yippee! At 01:00 it sounds like the original, but played on vinyl player that was accidently turned off. At 01:30 some action can be heard, something is about to happen. A distant female voice saying something like ?tao, tao..?. Well anyways it dissapears into the track. Beat get?s it shape. At 02:30 we get a dub like bassline. Is this really the same track? Cool pitched hi-hats dominate the track. Somewhere on the edge of 04:00 the dialing sounds enter, only much more twisted than in the original. A few seconds more and suddenly the track turns into reggae, well dubreggae, or maybe psyreggae? Well that?s not important. What is important is that this is just perfect. Somewhere around 05:00 we get a synth. Is this some melody from the old track? Can?t really remember. Even if it?s, well it barely resembles it. Somewhere between 06:00 and 07:00 this could be Shpongle, only thing missing is that magic flute. Lots of work done with pitching and effects here. Almost every second a new drum says ?cha? or ?zi? or ?sziuu? or well actually pretty much everything is thrown in here. Just before 08:00 there?s sort of break part. On the background there?s a female voice saying ?uuuuuuuuuh?, ?aoooooooooooh?, ?heyiaaaaaa?, ?mayaiaiaaaaaa? and so on. It?s echoed in a splendid way. Is that Michelle? I can?t tell. At 09:45 there?s a familiar sample. ?I became tuned in?.?. It?s like ½ tempo of the original though.

The track starts to see it?s dusk at 10:20.

 

Track 2. Solstice (Warwick bassmonkey mix). The beginning is pretty much like in the original. Maybe the tempo is just a little lower and there?s more stuff going on on the backgroud. Also the synth is somehow edgy. The ?pipipi, pipi pii? synth enters companied by a gentle clean bass. At 01:45 it?s ?wah wah? time. After that the beat scrubs some space to slacken in to. At 02:30 there?s like ?Bob Marley meets the new millenium feeling? written all over the place. Somekind of horn gets a big role here. At 03:20 this could be something like a burden. So much stuff going on on the background. The reaggae feeling comes mostly from the electronic guitar. The track keeps on changing every ten seconds or so. At first some breakbeats, then suddenly scrambled female voice saying something weird. Finally it?s time for ?pipipi, pi pipi pii?. At 05:20 there?s a build up process going on. The song actually sort of truns into a track. A little 4x4 stuff going on. Well I don?t mind, it?s still perfect! At 06:30 the burden comes back, only as a lot stronger, and yes.. edgyer. Very strong and emotional moment. Streams pass. At 07:30 very trancey feeling again. Not trance ?trance?, but still not so dubbish. 08:30 the track starts to end.

 

Track 3. Gamma Goblins (It?s tutles all the way down mix). Strong disturbance going on in the beginning. Are there some gamma goblins behind it? Oh yes, at 00:40 I can alreqady hear them. Is that water dripping? The intro of the original track is sort of presented here, only as much more twisted version. Then there?s that cool sample talking about stages and elements. 02:00 some hi-hats make their first appearance for a few seconds. 02:20 the bassline can be recognised, although it?s still pretty quiet. 02:30 the gamma goblins enter, and believe me, they do it strong, and somehow it feels like they are more twisted this time. ?tiidi tiidi tiidi tiidi tiidi tiidi tiditidididi?. At 03:00 there are quite many of them. When did the bassline get that strong? And the beat? These two really stand up from the track. 04:00 it?s obvious that a lot of hours where spent at the studio. And it definetly pays off. A little before 05:00 the style is definetly psydub. Not because of any evil bpms, but the psychedelic effects. 05:30 the gamma goblins sound a little evil and even more disturbed. Just before 06:00 there?s some familiar stuff going on. Then at 06:10 a gong stops everything but the goblins. But then they turn into a synth. A sample steps on them and starts the bassline again. 07:00 also the beat get?s it?s shape and space. Goblins are still there, but mostly as echoes. They aren?t far away though.. you can definetly sense their contiguity. 07:52.. teach me how to do that effect . Dub is back and gammas are gone. 08:25 the guitar plays the ?melody?. At 08:50 still going strong. Once again various stuff happening all around the track. Water.. was that a cat? Water finally beats the track at 09:40. Then a voice of a man (the man himself?), is this sample in the original too? Finally some weird bird noise and we are all set up for the next gem.

 

Track 4. Spiritual Antiseptic (Minty fresh confidence mix). The soundscape is interrupted at 00:30. Soon the beat takes over. Or does it? Hard to say. 01:11 it?s game over for the soundscape. It?s time to dub again. This time the bass is a little smoother. There?s really cool kalimba saying ?trrrrrk? every now and then. The bassline is sort of complicated. At 02:18 there?s like the best melody ever presented to the beings of this planet or (I?m quite sure about this) to the whole universe and multiverse (which ever theory you believe in). I feel like an ancient sailor. ?Is the edge of the world close?? At 03:31 it?s all about the bass, the beat and the melody. But not for long. Pretty soon the weirdo effects enter. Sometimes they are infront, sometimes behind, sometimes they come from the left and sometimes from the right. Also sometimes from up and sometimes from down. 04:45 just throw the flute in and you have a Shpongle gem! Well hard to describe now on! Just simply perfection! At 06:30 there?s somekind of human choir thing going on. And the kalimba is back . At 06:40 there?s a radical change. The masterpiece is sort of over .

 

Track 5. LSD (World sheet of closed string mix). Oh yeah. ?I believe..?. I myself believe that this track will be just perfect.

While the man tells us about the doors that we are not wanted to go into the bassline and a fractal beat sort of sneak in. Immediately after the sample gets louder. Then a guitar playing some familiar melody. Yep it?s the one. Almost impossible to recognize the very first time. Well the beat is sort of drum n bass(ier?). 02:20 this is just perfection. Am I still here? Or in OTT Land? Is this Shpongle? It definetly could be! A very weird instrument enters. It sounds like if 100 000 people would say ?miiii? at the same time. Oh yes! Bring it on! This is dub, but still it?s sooooo psychedelic. 03:10 we are told some facts about LSD and religious experience. 03:30 there?s some time to fill your lungs, you know, breath while you can. After ten seconds the bassline returns followed by the beat and the guitar. 04:29 --> this bassline is so familiar. That one part, is it from some Shpongle song?? 05:10 the effects get a huge role. I wonder if my old computer could make it through that? Probably 2.6 giga herz computer would crash. It?s just way too complicated! That familiar melody thing comes back for a little spin. But the bassline wants to be the strongest. Well their co work is terrific, splendid! 07:00 you know that the end is coming closer and closer. A familiar sample interrupts the ending. I think he?s talking something about circles. Well this track will do a lot of circles in my cd player, that?s for sure! 08:24 there?s no bass nor beat, just birds, car sounds and some other weirdness.

 

Track 6. Angelic Particles (Buckminster fullerine mix). Birds are still singing. Some minor weirdness stuff going on all the time. This must be something great, after all it?s the last track. 00:41 some glass drum things start a tribal beat. At 1:20 still keeping it very chilled, absolutely nothing radical going on. 01:45 you can sense that something is about to happen. This is great and rare in ambient. There?s somekind of building process going on. Everything is crystal clear, but still wicked. 02:30 that female ?aaaah? beginns. Yes, it?s about the same ?aaaaah? than in the original, but more dubbish . 03:08 We suddenly get a bassline and once more a mixed up guitar that has Spain written all over it. The beat starts to build up a little, it for example gets some backing up echo stomps. Close your eyes and you are there. Where? Well I?m there, where that ?aaaaah? is coming from. And there?s a good reason for that ?aaaaah? too. Once again, just add the flute and stir it up and voila!, it?s a chilled shpongle tune. The guitar is not so mixed any more but fingerpicked. Song keeps on getting dubbier, mainly because of the bassline. 06:15 at this point you should understand that this is just simply a masterpiece. The absolute! Then you are good to go for the incoming guitar solo. This music could be played with out computers, it?s very organic. Well there aren?t really words to describe this. The track remains pretty much the same, but still every second of it, is perfect. Close your eyes and you might notice the stuff that it keeps on collecting on the way.

Well it?s all over. What a trip it has been!

 

 

Final thoughts: Well this is simply perfection. Great candy for Shpongle lovers. Great candy for all! There?s only 1 negative side which is that the album is only 59 minutes and 46 seconds long! That?s why I only give it 9+/10

[damion]

I'd expected this to be brilliant but not this brilliant. Freelance producer

and general sonic experimentalist Ott comes from a full-blown studio

engineer background, working with the likes of Brian Eno, the Orb and even

James. Freelancing for Youth, he met Simon Posford at London's Butterfly

Studios, and now lays down some seriously heavyweight remixes of

Hallucinogen's classic tuneage. Mi-Loony-Um opens with the same intro as the

floormashing 4-4 original, and then buzzes right down to a slower, heavy dub

tempo signalling that you're about to be taken deeper than you've ever been

before. It's jaw-dropping, with the trademark hallucinogen sound more felt

than heard. It's pure dub, with hefty bass, plenty of topend splurge, a groove

that'd melt butter and at eleven minutes plus it's a perfect duration to get

one on, light up, and float back. Solstice uses a more discernable skeleton of

the original, and builds up some insanely gorgeous patterns, with rhythms

shifting all over and melodies coming in and out of nowhere. It's got a heavy

druidic vibe, and a more complex set of atmospheres than you've ever heard

before. Gamma Goblins and things get very, very good indeed. The pixielike

main melody is underset by fat, red-eye rasta pure dub and it's a sheer

fucking delight. You always had the suspicion that Hallucinogen's stuff would

lend itself well to dub and this proves you right. It's a dub circus with

flecks of the original souping in and out, and the effect is truly

psychedelic. Spiritual Antiseptic uses the original's cutup vocals with a more

traditional dub arrangement melodica, clattering drums, and reverb to hell

and back. Meanwhile LSD takes the intro and launches straight out into an

insanely gorgeous bit of dub the clatters and spaciness make this possibly

the most shpongle-like on the album, and the new vibe and melodies Ott

prescribes give it a trippy Celtic vibe. Twisting and turning, the way the

main LSD melody surfaces is pure sonic poetry, and certainly gets those brain

chemicals flowing. Finally Angelic Particles with swirling vocals and sweet

guitar (specially recorded by Simon Posford) creating a sort of timeless dub

full of rich psychedelic harping back to Floyd, Gong and the Grateful Dead.

This is an absolute triumph: it's original, it's brave, and the sounds are

truly transporting making this a release that truly deserves the "psychedelic"

tag. Not just an album to enjoy, but one to experience and for a damn long

time as well.

5/5

[Children]

Wow ! Simon is a real Genius :-) My absolute favourite album of 2002, no doubt.

But how could have it been bad with Simon ? ;-) I'm sure he could even make me

like rap music if he made an album of it ) Ott and Mr Posford deliver very

good remixes (THAT's what I call a remix which has sense ! Someone who doesn't

know the original tracks very well could not even recognize them) of some

classic Hallucinogen tracks (few of you will certainly recognize the starting

guitar melody of 'Around The World In A Tea Daze' as well, but more dubby ;-))

All tracks are good, but some of them are pure jewels : Gamma Goblins (nice

bass & those crazy goblins laughing ;-)), LSD (very good bassline, synth and

guitar melodies) and Angelic Particles (the 2nd half is fantastic, very Pink

Floyd oriented ambience around a main guitar melody, sounds really nice), but

I'm sure I'll love all tracks in few listens. As it has been said above : an

album you have to live as a whole journey, mixing dub music to other various

styles, still with this famous Simon touch ;-) I could not imagine to listen

to one track only of it, that's the 10th time I listen to it entirely )

Rating : 9/10

[Guest 1400Miles]

Its nearly half a decade since Hallucinogen released a decent psytrance track,

not counting the superb yet pretty low BPM 'Herb Garden'(Yeti II). Funny

thing...now Simon is a true ambient/dub/backbeat guru, someone else may

release a dub/chillout version of 6 Hallucinogen trax distributed through

Simons own Twisted label. OTT is given the honour and pretty deserved if one

is familiar with his contributions for VA-ManaMedicine & VA-BackroomBeats.

One can argue whether this is an actual remix album...OTT copied and pasted the

recognizable hallusynths straight outta simons HD...did a few minor tweaks, at

least thats how recognizable they sound... and crafted 6 compositions from

scratch on in his usual happy shine, shine style...So expect a sunny reggae

vibe, bone chilling harmonica (melodica) solo's and the dirtiest and deepest

lowwwwww bass on earth. Furthermore, OTT knows how to produce an album for

'trippers' (that happens when engineering for the ORB & Youth) so loatsa

undecipherible psychedelica is going on somewhere in the background. If the

formula as such didn't sound impressive enough, Simon himself has some 'guest'

appearances doing some backing with the guitar(!).

But all the praises, flowers, bongpipes ea should primarily go to OTT cause he

managed to blend the recognizable bits of the originals with his own

trademarks resulting in a chillout album that is very 'alive'...'emotional'

even. One can almost argue whether this is an actual chillout album with so

many stuff in the genre being 15 minute perpetual synths, euphemistically

regarded as 'track'...'in Dub' is almost as attention grabbing and demanding

as old Hallucinogen...

"I 'still' believe with the advent of acid we discovered new ways to think and

it has to do with piecing together new thoughts of mind...". 'Old' wine in a

new bottle but tasty as ever...9/10.

[DeathPosture]

Woooow! This year keeps getting better and better... This is AMAZING!

Fantastic, deep, diverse, shponglesque re-makes of our fav'e Hallucinogen

tunes... Good damn this is good - I demand that OTT gets involved with the

next Shpongle-album. He's obviously super-skilled and could make a fantastic

group even more fantastic! This album is not a milestone as was the first

Shpongle, but still it's pretty goddam amazing... I just spend the last 2

hours listening to this a couple of times in my headphones, and WOW what a

trip that was... All tracks are good, but I prefer the longer ones... Only

flaw is, that it's to short. OTT could easily have made a dub-version of

Deranger or Shakey Shaker to fill the remaining 20 minutes... Well,

nevertheless this is a SMASHING album... And everyone that loves ambient, Raja

Ram, Simon, Shpongle, Orb, etc should get this... This get's a solid 9.3/10 on

my Cool-O-Meter.

[Guest Vbrunner]

There's nothing more to say about the details of this album as the above

reviews express it perfectly. By far the best psy-chill stuff I've heard in a

long time. Once you start playing it you're stuck. It's a journey you wish

would never end. On par with the Shpongles, if not even better. Needless to

say, a necessity for everyone to own.

[Guest Raash]

Quite good CD... Traveller should have huge credit for describing the CD in

such a good way! Some parts of the CD do have a little to much sounds at a

time but that's nothing that disturbs you alot...

[Guest Artifex]

I knew there would come a chill out cd from simon... but I never knew it would

be such good. After Eclipse and Shpongle I haven't heard anything so pure

genious and wierdly relaxing music. I bought this cd "blinded" because I

wanted to hear it myself before I looked what others have think about it. This

is my vote to the best psychedelic chill-out cd of the year 2002 at the moment.

[Guest Psykret]

What can I say about this release that hasen't allready been said? The best

damn cd i have bought this whole year!!!Maybe ever!!!??

I like every track on this cd exept Mi Loony Um, I think it could be so much

better,quite boring,but whatever solstice,gamma goblins,Spiritual

antiseptic,LSD and the best track of the cd, Angelic Particles take me higher

than i could ever imagine!

I think this cd is even better than Shpongle even though this is a remix cd.

GO GET IT! Final Verdict 10/10!!!!!!

[Guest Tchankov I.V.]

Absolutely unbelievable! You know - there're few exceptions in musics when an

artist manages to deliver his second triumphal come-back after the first one,

especially when such is already refered to as the masterpiece. No matter which

tricks, experiences, collaborations involved in his future works he usually

stays behind the notch he once reached. And that's a tremendous disappoinment

not only for the artist himself, but also for his audience too. Some men could

comfort themselves that all stays fine as it used to (in "Golden Ages"), some

not, but their vanishing point is that they both once again have to start the

new search for infinity, no matter how far they managed to advance in terms of

knowledge of "their" sound. Here, with this Twisted 16th CD release, we were

all given an opportunity to stay on our way in our search and once again taste

the fruit which Simon used to offer us before. This work-of-art holds such

great potential within that it banishes all the prejudices from the very few

seconds once CD starts spinning. This allows for unbiased listening pleasure

what results in fabulous trip. Yes its on par with either of Shpongles, if not

better! OTT has made a tremendous job for the Twisted crew, his freelance

endeavour turned out as essential investment in beloved Shpongleland & perhaps

the whole psy-ambient scene as well. So refreshing and touching its almost

impossible to believe it's not the very first time. Glory to this sound!

10/10. Tchankov I.V. (civ604@mail.ru)

[nervgaz]

This is a EXCELLENT album for all lovers of both Hallucinogen and DUB music. A

perfect remix of all the best tracks by Simon Posford by OTT. If you like

Dub/ambiant & Hallucinogen, this is a must have!!!

 

Rate.9/10

Nervgaz

[freak51]

It took me a while to get around to ordering this -- I'm happy to report that

it's as good as everyone above has already said. It's not necessary to know

Hallucinogen's early work, but as it drifts in and out, if you do, you'll get

extra grins. 9.5/10 for this outstanding effort: essentialicous.

[Guest MG]

I concur totally with the above testimonies. Mi-loony-Um rmx better than

original. Angelic Particles also stands out. The weakest track is LSD, yet it

still is very good. In order IMHO it is 1,6,3,4,2,5. I had a dream, with a

DMT-esque ambiguous entity in the room w/ me, and it made the

duh-duh-duuuh-duh-duhhh-na of Mi-loony-Um's opening riff, to which I woke in

shock. I attribute this to too much reading Terrence McKenna & ad infinitum

listening of this CD when 1st released. Indeed OTT would be a worthy addition

to Shpongle's line-up, they should also tour more, perhaps w/ Pink Floyd

Instant Classic a la Shpongle's albums.

[Lemmiwinks]

ahh... finally a Hallucinogen album I actually like!! Let me explain here: I'm

a big big fan of downtempo Hallu, but whenever his tracks have higher than 120

BPMs they suck IMO (except LSD, of course) and I don't care what others say

that he's one of psytrance's godfathers... Well, this one's downtempo so I

like it... I like it a LOT even, actually I find it's actually better than his

Shpongle works!!! A real journey! 10/10!!! For Hallucinogen AND

non-Hallucinogen fans alike!!!

[Guest MMV]

Yep !! Wonderful Album !! I just love it.

BUT there is ONE thing i don't like: everything is soooooo mixed up. The sounds are soooo.. reverb-ed, I guess? It's like a sea of sound, everything mixes with everything, there's not much of individual sounds.. and sometimes i feel like everything is a mess. i guess they should have spent a LITTLE more time at compressing and equalizing.. My oppinion.. Wonderful album, anyway

8.7/10

[Sideffect...]

never liked ott his original work that much but the remixes of the hallucinogen tracks here he pulled it off big time

 

10/10

[Ov3rdos3]

never liked ott his original work that much but the remixes of the hallucinogen tracks here he pulled it off big time

 

10/10

625998[/snapback]

Yeah. Gotta love this album. One of the best.

9/10 (some tunes bore me, but technically, this album is amazing)

[healium]

Agree that this is fantastic - this one and his Blumenkraft album are right at the top of the chill-out heap for me...

[abasio]

Yeah this is damn fine. Much better than the 2 hallucinogen albums IMO but then I have always prefered Simons chilled out stuff. My favourites are Solstice (Warwick Bassmonkey Mix) & LSD (World Sheet Of Closed String Mix)

[Redington]

Another one of my favorite albums. Ott really puts out good stuff. I love his main 2 albums very much as well.

 

Solstice, Mi-Looney-Um!, Angelic Particles are probably my favorite tracks, though, all of them are really good.

[Sawfly]

Yea it's a classic. 9.5/10

[Uth]

I f'n!!!! hate OTT!!!!!!! This album just never does it for me, sounds too clean and polished. I have been listening to it for 4 years on and off, every time I run away from this I tell my self 'maybe I was in a bad mood'.

 

And IMO, this in no way resembles Shpongle...it's very Otty!=unnatural and lame.

 

2/10

 

Haha It's funny you don't like clean and well-made polished music.

 

This album is definitely in the top 3 best of all time for me.

[Manuser]

Hallucinogen remixed by Ott! This is the best work I can think of when it comes to remixes. These are downtempo (dub trance) remixes of goa tracks. Favourite track: #4 "Spiritual antiseptic" (Minty fresh confidence).

I prefer this over any Shpongle album... well I shouldn't compare this to Shpongle, I like Shpongle but it contains loads of samples of world music, "In dub" is more on the trance side and it sounds fresher, cleaner. Definitely a must have.

This makes me wonder how a Hallucinogen album remixed by Koxbox (downtempo) would sound like

[StratosOZ]

It is brilliant, but I find in dub live even better

[Bill]

It is brilliant, but I find in dub live even better

 

Definitely one of the better live albums out there. Nothing against the Ott recorded album (it is brilliant!) but the live band on "In Dub Live" is perfect, the crowd noise gives it all a little more oomph, because of that it has more great elements, more great dimensions to it.

 

Still, this one puts a smile on my face whenever I hear it, especially, of course, "LSD," there is just no better remix anywhere out there. This is an album that takes me to a better plane each and every time.