V/A - USTA

[Guest [Anonymous]]

V/A - USTA

 

 

Artist: Various

Title: USTA

Label: USTA

Date: 2002

 

Track listing:

 

01. Gataka : Tekken Man

02. Sesto Sento : Datura

03. Psycho Abstract : Bamboo Leaf

04. Ultima : The Digger Was Fucked

05. Lish : Under Dinamos Sky

06. Conntact : Ainchent Echoes

07. Ultima : Cabel Connect

08. Alien Project : Stoned

09. Beat Hackers : Pice Of Art

10. Seston Sento : M M Wars

11. Beat Hackers : Smoke

[Tatsu]

This is my first CD from the USTA label, don't know about the other releases but this one really is a let down... I bought it from a used disk shop (thankfully at a very cheap price) and I really don't know what to say. Since I didn't have the chance to prelisten the tracks I had to decide if I wanna buy this disc only considering the artist names. First looks it seemed ok to me, I like full-on so names like Gataka, Sesto Sento, Alien Project, Beak Hackers and also Lish (Free Fall is my favourite album from the progressive side) sounded ok to me. But my hopes were destroyed very fast when I put the CD inside my CD-player...

 

Tracks Nr. 1 to 6 all sound very similar and boring. An uninspired halfway full-on bassline with some even more uninspired percussions and some other noises. The only thing that stands out is the short western guitar part in the first Sesto Sento track (Datura), the rest is all boring as hell. Even the Lish track is a disappointment. Ultima - Cabel Connected is the first track that is bearable, it has some nice layered melodies instead of the boring percussion noises. Also the following tracks are a bit better than the first six tracks. Nothing really outstanding but at least some melodies and effects were added that didn't sound like random noises. Also the bassline changes and doesn't sound the same in all the tracks... The second Sesto Sento track is also more on the monotone and boring side, it's not as bad as the first six tracks but still rather uninteresting.

 

My favourite tracks: Well, not that hard to decide since half of the track are so crappy they are not even worth a mention... Ultima - Cabel Connect is rather nice, as I've said it contains a nice fluffy melody. Besides that I really like the Beat Hackers - Pice Of Art track. It's very energetic with nice melodies in it and an interesting bass-line. Also the second Beat Hackers track is ok, some nice effects (even when they are nothing new or anything) in it.

 

What else to say? The CD sure deserves the bad rating on discogs, most tracks sound very uninspired. I can't say much about the mixing, it's stated on the back of the CD that this is a live mix by Zoo-B. Well, it's not that hard to mix if all tracks nearly have the same bassline. This comp. will for sure NOT make me check out more releases from the USTA label or mixes from Zoo-B. So I have to rate this CD 3/10, only the Beat Hackers and the Ultima tracks prevent it from getting a straight 1/10...