DeathPosture Posted March 14, 2006 Share Posted March 14, 2006 Decoy – Not Responding To Light Hi-res cover: front + back Artist: Decoy (Australia) Title: Not Responding To Light Format: CD (jewel case) Label: Dance N Dust (Israel) Cat. #: DNDCD06 Distribution: Arabesque Date: 13 February 2006 Track listing: 01. 07’05” The Ride 02. 09’55” Milkiness Of Infancy 03. 06’42” Snakey Wave 04. 10’10” Pio Pio 05. 07’15” The Feral Kid 06. 09’16” Akoha 07. 07’23” Playing 4 Time 08. 08’11” Rainwashed 09. 01’46” Afro Ken 10. 08’22” Ornette’s Nest .m3u-playlist: http://tinyurl.com/qjukp (all tracks!) Review: Progressive mardi gras… The Aussie duo Decoy (Ian Chaplin & Philip Rex) used to make a living playing jazz and they’ve now successfully crossed over into progressive trance. I’ve only heard a handful of tracks from them, and especially their most experimental stuff has been very interesting… And judging by the long list of supporting musicians on this album, we’re in for something quite different here… And by that I mean real music, played by real people with real instruments… Sweet! Let me take you thru the tracks… #01: The Ride The opening track is a slow-burning, afternoon venture into funky electro-groove… The live percussion is rich and the spoken vocals by Jeff Norris have stamina… It reminds me of a progged-up version of a Tristan… There’s nothing too complicated going on here, it’s just pure, edgy progressive trance with a fair bit of psy chunked in during the final run-down… Very tasty! #02: Milkiness Of Infancy The next track takes us further into cross-over territory… This is like a big melting pot of jazzy twirls mixed with ethno world beats and lush, plush progressive trance… Piano, didgeridoo and some hot vocal and throat noises by Mia Salsjo…. It’s like Kaya Project meets Tegma, and oh my, that’s a nice combo for sure… My only gripe is that this track runs for a little too long… It could easily have been slashed by a couple of minutes to avoid boredom… #03: Snakey Wave But do not despair, track #3 is here! And this is where it gets really interesting for me… This is definitely the tranciest tune thus far, and besides some thick morning psytrance influences we’re also exposed to a heavy dose of percussion trickery and some trademark Aussie phat reverbs… FREq meets Protoculture meets Antix meets Mr. Peculiar meets Kenny G… Yeah something like that... With a live rhythm section and a real trippy saxophone! Pretty damn nice! #04: Pio Pio And if the guys hadn’t crossed over yet, they sure do now… This is the oddball tune off the album which features the distinct Marcello Salvo vocals… Anyway, the basis for this track is a deep, rolling progressive morning tune… Packed to the rim with uplifting melodies and rich, groovy percussion – and of course the South American singing/chanting…Whatever it is, it sure is very different, and I nearly dropped my jaw the first time I listened to it… But after a while I got completely sucked in… I’m loving every second of this ethno-lush, Juno Reactor’esque bundle of joy… A stand-out track if there ever was one! #05: The Feral Kid The next track goes even deeper… This is ripe, tech-trance with enough phat progressive elements to satisfy both minimalists and progressive trancers… It’s kinda minimal but still has lush parts… A very mature and edgy track… Would be the perfect first track in an edgy, darkish progressive set – and in the same notion, I think this works less good for home-listening… But I’m not complaining, this is a pretty neat underground track… #06: Akoha Whereas the previous track was underground, this is way above the ground… Epic, uplifting and maybe not unlike 12 Moons, Gaudium or Antix… A little clubby and maybe even a little commercial – and in that regard, it reminds me of the Decoy on the recent Plusquam compilation Kodama… It’s not bad, but it’s just too silky-smooth for my taste… #07: Playing 4 Time “Time does not belong to you. It spreads itself like air…” This track pretty much stays in the same clubby lane as the previous one – though with a distinct harder edge… And edge is just what tickles my nuts, so I appreciate this cross-over track a great deal more… There’s a great deal of instrumentation going on here, and I can vividly visualize the guys jamming with their mates in their studio… The AOL-txt-language title doesn’t do the track justice… It’s actually pretty neat, and works better for sofa trancing than trancefloor dancing… #08: Rainwashed Another highly uplifting, melodic piece of epic morning trance with deep progressive roots… The intro seems to sample some Badalamenti melodies or something similar… Whatever it is, it sure is trippy… Floating, melodic and epic trance with a distinct fusion-jazz touch to it… Unique yes, but I tend to like the previous track over this one… #09: Afro Ken This track is a short transition/intro track which features some hardcore live percussion – possibly by Afro Ken!? Deep, hypnotizing, tribal stuff… Very nice – but I’d have preferred it to be a more integrated part of the last track… #10: Ornette’s Nest The final track is a good example of what Decoy does best: The fusion of rich progressive trance with an array of diverse music influences… Piano-riffs and jazzy saxophones are not exactly what we’re used to hearing in progressive trance, but it works like a charm here… The framework is distinct, reverb-soaked Aussie proggy pads… Guaranteed to throw a bunch of hands in the air and get some asses wiggling… Funky, groovy and totally sexy! A brilliant way to end the album! So, what are we dealing with here? I’ll tell you what… Build around a framework of lush progressive trance; this is an eclectic, unique album of rich, diverse musical influences… Ian and Philip’s jazz-background shines thru in a number of tracks, but we’re also witness to dub, ethnic world music, morning-, club- and tech-trance here… Not to mention the frequent usage of live instrumentation… Something that’s getting rare within our scene! And when it’s done as good as on this album it makes me smile… Sure there are a couple of tracks here that is a little too clubby for my tastes, but they are easily outweighed by the many great tracks… The cover art it absolutely pants, but the music more than makes up for that… So, to conclude I’ll recommend this to fans of diverse progressive trance – which crosses well into other genres… Also the broad spectre of real instruments should draw some attention – it’s not up to par with Juno Reactor, but who knows what the future might bring? I for one was positively surprised by this debut album… It’s lovely! … Enjoy! Favourites: 1, 3(!), 4(!), 5, 7, 10(!) DeathPosture External links: Dance N Dust Records: http://www.dance-n-dust.com Discogs: http://www.discogs.com/release/623913 TranceShop: http://tinyurl.com/ocwe6 Psyshop: http://tinyurl.com/ngqz5 Wakyo: http://tinyurl.com/qckux Saiko: http://tinyurl.com/rumva Chaos: http://tinyurl.com/pvyfg Ajuca: http://tinyurl.com/rnd7z Juno: http://tinyurl.com/pysjf Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Time_Trap Posted June 6, 2006 Share Posted June 6, 2006 http://www.psyshop.com/shop/CDs/dnd/dnd1cd006.html i am listening to it right now and sounds like some good psyprog that IS psychedelic,imo... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Basilisk Posted June 6, 2006 Share Posted June 6, 2006 I seldom read anything positive about the jazzy influence on this one, but it's there - and I like it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
faze Posted June 6, 2006 Share Posted June 6, 2006 I seldom read anything positive about the jazzy influence on this one, but it's there - and I like it. 542930[/snapback] Ugh, "jazzy" isn't a word I like to see in relation to psy. I will still take a listen to the samples and see what's what. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Time_Trap Posted June 6, 2006 Share Posted June 6, 2006 I seldom read anything positive about the jazzy influence on this one, but it's there - and I like it. 542930[/snapback] yes some nice sounds there... jazzy trippiness prog structure and 'funkyness' psychedelic effects and sounds now and then.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pr0fane Posted June 6, 2006 Share Posted June 6, 2006 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sherlockalien Posted June 6, 2006 Share Posted June 6, 2006 I dont like ´psy sounds´... dont find them psychedelic at all will check this out though, its not the first time I heard about it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
d_vision Posted June 6, 2006 Share Posted June 6, 2006 well this album is good for sure...and have unique sound, yes is progressive style but with many different elements in!!!little weird sound! i like to listen this album at home not so much in dancefloor cause sometimes losing his groove... So i like very much the following tracks: Akoha The ride Playing 4 time the other tracks i prefer to listen at home cause as i said is too weird for dancefloor!!!! cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Basilisk Posted June 6, 2006 Share Posted June 6, 2006 Too weird for the dance floor?!!? My usual problem is that DJs play music too tame to get me moving weird stuff is fun! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blaze Posted June 6, 2006 Share Posted June 6, 2006 It's "nice", yet very psychedelic and that is a good thing Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeathPosture Posted June 7, 2006 Author Share Posted June 7, 2006 [Threads merged!] /DP Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
d_vision Posted June 7, 2006 Share Posted June 7, 2006 Too weird for the dance floor?!!? My usual problem is that DJs play music too tame to get me moving weird stuff is fun! 543160[/snapback] Yes to weird for me! i like to play in my dj sets more groovy tracks not so weird like decoy tracks (not all, some are very groovy)! well is my opinion! When i said the album is weird i mean sometimes loosing his groove cause it becomes very complex with many different elements like jazzy... So..my opinion about this album, didnt impress me!!!except 2 tracks! Rated : 4/10 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.