Loopus in fabula - Fat Ladies Bingo

[psychedelic_mustache]

Artist: Loopus in Fabula

Title: Fat Ladies Bingo

Label: Fabula

Catalog: FABCD03

Format: CD

Released: 2006

 

 

Tracklist:

 

01. Doofy Duck (Feat. Ritchie Mantrix)

02. Controversy

03. Dreamschwartz [Rmx for Visnudata]

04. YSD

05. Fat Old Ladies (Feat. Paul Kearney)

06. Funky Express

07. Feel Again

08. Rockit

09. Let's Dance

 

Can you feel it? Spring-time is comming! May is just around the corner, the temperature is getting better, the suns lurks around on the sky, and guess what? loopus in fabula is out with a new album. I know I'm excited about it. No time to chat, let's listen to the tracks...

 

01: Doofy Duck

Funky guitar-play and some weird voice-noise kicks off the album and after a few seconds we head into strange fabula-land. Quirky analog leads fuses with the rather unusual (for this kind of music) guitar-sounds. Some acidc-lines emerges here and there, and I'm sold. The quirkey sample-work is marvelous and I know I'll be listening alot to this track... nice opening!

 

02: Controversy

A robotic bassdrum is followed by an ultra-funky guitarlead causing heavy rotation in my oh-so-seldom-used disco-swinging hips. Have no fear though, this is far from being a greasy 70's BeeGees ripoff. This is probably the funkyest psychedelia your ears will feast on this year, and my darn it, how it pleases me....Great!

 

03: Dreamschwartz

This is a remix of a track made by Visnudata...I'm not previously familiar with this name, so I can't really comment on the original track here. This piece opens witth a star-wars sample...(AARGH!) Heard it before? Sure! Should it be here? No! That being said, the track is totally insane! The bass moves around frenetically while the overall mood of the track shifts from totally laidback to über-trippy tribal crazyness. I love both the atmospheric floating parts here and the playfullness involved.

 

04: YSD

'YSD' opens deep, dark and rather minimal... It progresses nice and slowly - builds steadilly adding new elements throughout. There are also a few break-beat sessions involved here, and I think they work out really well. After a while also this track gets dressed in that rather weird loopus-suite that I love so much. Great!

 

05: Fat Old Ladies

This is a weird little thing. It's got alot of the same elements that the rest of the tracks here do, but I don't think they work out as well here. It sounds more 'random' and less well constructed than some of the brilliant moments on the disc. Its basically a beat, a bassline and on top of this a ton of samples, twists and turns. For me this is no favourite here..

 

06: Funky Express

Allright everybody - stand back! After a rather dissapointing track we head back to funky-town. This is sheer and pure dance-music for body and mind. It's fun, it's twisted, it's funky, it's varied as hell and it follows no-ones formula. Again I love the way loopus varies their track with well-constructed breakbeat together with high-octane dancemusic. Oh, and the euphoria when that high-pitched trumpet(ish) sound kicks in? Marvelous!

 

07: Feel Again

Feel again opens with the glass-like twinkeling of some ambient soundscapes but soon shoots off to become an insisting, repetitive, hypnotic and highly danceable trance-tune. The bassline is simple and catchy, but there's alot of background-tweaking being done all the way, and it ceirtanly manages to stay fresh and interesting.

 

08: Rockit

Opening as a trafficjam of proportions this soon turns in to an acid-line frenzy. It's a solid track, but I find the 4/4 sections of this one to be a bit bellow album-average. The big-beat -ish workings on the slower side of things work darn well, though. Ok track, but no favourite..

 

09: Let's Dance

Ok I admit it. I'm a worshipper of David Bowies music. I've seen the man live several times, and own nearly all of his albums...Remixes of his work most often make me want to throw myself with full force towards the nearest speeding semi-trailer... This is basically a remix of his infamous 80's hit "let's dance". You might or might not know it and you might or might not like it, that is irrelevant. This piece of wonderfull remix-artistery works extremely well, and it's really har not to dance to this one. Some might find this too comercial, I guess - But who the fuck cares? Great way to finish the album!

 

Final Remarks:

So there you have it! I'm extremely impressed by this release, and I know this is one of those albums I'll be listening to for a long time... One of 2006 absolute top-releases so far in my book! Even though parts of it is rather corky, my guess is this should have rather wide appeal, also outside your average psy-crowd. So basically....just get it!

 

Tomas(Psychedelic Mustache)

 

Get it here:

Psyshop

Saikosounds

Discobole

Beatspace

[Drosophila]

Yoap this is a solid release! Really puts me in a good mood listening to it, just very funky and happy, perfect for a bright sunny spring day!

I havent decided on favorite tracks yet, if I ever will, but I really like track 5 "Fat Old Ladies"!

 

I for sure will be listening some more to this one! GO LOOPUS!!!

[freak51]

I just got this one in the mail.

 

First impression: IT'S BRILLIANT !

 

Track #2 in particular grabs me and shakes my head around. There's something compelling about the bass line.

 

More later, as I discover it. This one could break people in two!

[pedro]

Very good release by Loopus. To my ears, it is significantly better than their Astrofunk CD which I also purchased. Like its predecessor, this CD is a funky affair, but the tracks are better built and more interesting.

 

A word on Loopus’s penchant for reinterpretation of old classics. Their take on Funkytown on Astrofunk was quite annoying and pointless. I had some fears this mistake would be repeated on Fat Ladies. And it is somewhat. I Feel Love is a silly take on the great I Feel Love by Donna Summer. I wonder what Giorgio Moroder thinks of this hapless butchering of his music. Lets Dance sees Loopus turn their gaze towards the Bowie hit. In this case, the results are much more palatable and I actually enjoyed the track (gasp!).

 

Nevertheless I wish Loopus would keep to their own tracks.

 

Still, my first prize for most awful and insipid remake goes to Cosmosis with his Also Sprach Zarathustra on his Contact CD. Never since the days of the terribly pompous (and untalented) Emerson Lake Palmer has somebody so miserably murdered a fine piece of classical music.

 

I recommend Fat Ladies. Oh, and I like the cover too!

 

 

 

Pedro

[freak51]

Overall, not as strong as the Ultrapop comp.

 

It's track #3, not #2 as I'd thought initially, with the imperative baseline.

 

The percussion is what I'm disappointed in, overall. For the most part, it's simplistic one-two-one-two plodding. It's fine on its own to listen to for a while, but it doesn't hold its own end of a mix in a lot of cases - too linear and bland.

 

There are a few very good tracks nonetheless - #3 is a standout; #1 and #8 are serviceable. The "Let's Dance" cover is OK, but like Pedro, I think covers are half-assed filler in general. The Donna Summer cover should never have got up from the cutting room floor.

 

6/10 from me overall, but I still ADORE the cover art.

 

Joke's on me, on the strength of #1 and #3 I went and ordered 'Astrofunk', which I'm pretty sure now, from comments above, will disappoint.

[furthur]

Loopus in Fabula – Fat Ladies Bingo

 

Label: Fabularecords FABCD03

Date: April 2006

 

Track listing:

 

01. 07’27” Doofy Duck (feat. Ritchie Mantrix) [140 bpm]

02. 08’18” Controversy [142 bpm]

03. 08’52” Dreamschwartz (rmx for Visnudata) [142 bpm]

04. 08’05” YSD [140 bpm]

05. 08’23” Fat Old Ladies (feat. Paul Kearney) [136 bpm]

06. 08’22” Funky Express [138 bpm]

07. 07’08” Feel Again [136 bpm]

08. 07’31” Rockit [135 bpm]

09. 07’37” Lets Dance [134 bpm]

 

Review:

 

I have always been a big fan of unusual funky trance, while not being a big connaisseur of it. I remember digging the first Loopus album, but not being blown away by it. It is the recent compilation Ultrapop that put loopus and the label in the spotlight for me. So, needless to say, I was looking forward to this while having absolutely no idea what to expect.

 

Also, I have read that this CD makes heavy use of covers of eighties songs, which I was not sure what to make of, since I personally find that the eighties are one of the worst decades musically. The upside is that I am not overly familiar with the originals these are covers of, so cannot be influenced by preexisting likes or dislikes.

 

Well, let’s go for a track by track overview.

 

1. First thing that hits us is a funk riff with a beat not lagging far behind. Blow instruments of some kind (trumpets?) make their appearance as well, all making for some very fun listening as the album kicks off. Reminds me of the circus for some reason, but with the clowns wearing serious expressions on their faces. The layers definitely take their time to develop, which I am usually a fan of, giving one’s ears time to get used to the music. By the 3rd minute mark, it has certainly picked up already, and the feet cannot be stopped from tapping. The break at 4 minutes is strange, but when the beat comes back in, it is impossible not to smile, especially with that ribbit ribbit screaming going on. Even the sample admits that the track is “hoho, very funny”. Basically, this is a great song to dance to, lots of fun, very light. This is a musician not taking himself very seriously.

 

2. Right off the bat, this has more psychedelia going for it. And some great guitar to boot, without forgetting the lewd (?) lyrics. Once again, we are treated to a “progressive” piece, in the sense that there is a very visible progression in the evolution of the track, maybe even a bit to slow of an evolution, because I cannot wait for an explosion to occur. I guess it will be worth the wait. If Finland became techy all of a sudden, and started drinking less, this would be the result I guess. All in all, this is not so great imo, I like the melodies and instruments surrounding the main beat, but I think that that beat wants too much attention, and it is not all that interesting, and a bit monotone. The overall intensity of the piece could use more variation too. I fear this might become a track to skip once in a while as the album is playing.

 

3. A hypnotic breakbeatsy atmosphere greets us at the beginning here, with a strong trance bassline showing up soon enough though. This would be a perfect car chase soundtrack, with little mishaps going on during the chase. Definitely the heaviest track on this album, maybe due to the fact that it was not originally written by Loopus. Almost like a slowed down very early “dark” trance piece, but without that in-your-face forced feeling. This one is not so great for home listening either, but I am sure that dropped at the right time, it would cause havoc on the dancefloor, and driving to it was a shitload of fun too, just make sure you’re wearing your seatbelt. Definitely more varied than the previous one too as far as I am concerned.

 

4. Wow, almost had to check that this was loopus indeed and not an early 21st century Digital Structures record. Starts off very minimal; me likey. Very cool, bigwigesque. This is a track that some might hate, and others will dig like hell. So far, I have found myself in the latter category. Finally, it feels like loopus is exploring his potential to create funky, fun, and yet still very interesting music. The last 2 minutes especially cannot help but make the whole dancefloor smile from ear to ear. Great.

 

5. Let me start by saying that this is certainly my favourite track of the album. Very original. Here, a bingo hall is quickly transformed into a chaotic disco. Lots of weird sounds that seem like they might be out of place, but I feel that they are all perfectly placed right where needed. The bassline keeps one on one’s toes throughout the duration. Those funky guitar riffs add a lot of flavour. And when by the end of the third minute, that driving relentless beat starts up, butt is a-shaking. This is pump-yo-fist-in-the-air music, whether yoyr fist be organic or mechanical. This is that noontime track I was looking for to complement sunshine and psychedelic substances. The fact that there are so many breaks only adds to the excitement for me. Not perfect, but damn close.

 

6. We are back to minimal psychedelic trance in funky express. Obviously layers are continually added, and the funk is built onto the minimal structure piece by piece. I appreciate what loopus tried to create here, but fear that it has been done better. This is either very complex or simply boring, only a couple of years will tell. Actually, for the most part, I would not even call this very funky, apart from the annoying “funky disco” sample.

 

7. woohoo, liftoff. Another driving track. A bit more madness here than most of the rest of the album. Now, this is funk. As you can see, the potential of this piece here has reduced me to a babbling three-word sentence monkey. I love it. Extremely mind-altering music with lots of early psychedelia influences (maybe it’s just me, but I feel a slight dose of jefferson airplane going disco here), just electronica style. Groovy, baby, yeah. This would work great on any dancefloor imho. Another really fun, dancefloor oriented track.

 

8. Hmm, is that the sound of Milan’s traffic? Well, we are not left wondering for a long time, as those sounds are overtaken by more digital ones. This is one of the slowest pieces on the album, but it feels harder than a lot of the others. Lots of crashing pots and pans over the bassline, one that stays diverse enough throughout the whole track. It also has a very distinctive goa feel to it. This is pretty creative, but I think it is just a bit too creative, should have kept it simpler. This will probably not work on the dancefloor, as it has that vibe-breaking potential, taking people out of their trance. Nor is this really homelistening material either. This could have been something very good with loads of variety, influences from pretty much everything, but once again, I think it is overdone. Still enjoyable though.

 

9. This is another one of my favourites here. What I consider the most intelligent track here. Love that sinthy feel. Best part of the eighties, warped into the third millenium. Yes, sometimes, there are noises that somewhat random and could have been avoided, but I am too much of a fan of simplicity. Now, I do not know that Bowie song all that well, but I am sure I have heard it before, and I see no evident resemblance. Not that much to say here, great calm groovy even sexy song. My style. Let’s dance.

 

So, is this what I expected of this album? No. Is it better or worse? Well, it is different. It is very good. Very original. The first listen had me extremely excited and almost jumping out of my seat on the bus. I have to admit that after about 2 weeks of listening to it, I have grown a bit blaze to it. Either, I have listened to it too much, or it might not age that gracefully.

Does loopus reinvent the wheel here? No. Does he take elements that almost noone else uses? Yes.

This is not an essential psytrance buy. Only if you are a fan of this specific genre. But then again, there are what, 5 albums a decade in this specific genre?

Also, I would say that the album is not that consistent. Yes, there are some corkers, like 5 and 9, and some other extremely enjoyable songs. But I feel that there are some letdowns as well; 2 and 6 come to mind right away.

The flow is mostly very good, but this is far from a concept album. Tracks that fit very well with each other, but there is not really a story told here. Not that I think there is supposed to be one.

Basically, if you’re looking for deep emotional music, this is not for you.

If you are looking for fun, fun, and more fun, without any pretentiousness, and with a considerable amount of originality, this is for you.

 

Oh yeah, the artwork. All I have to say is “Fear and Loathing in Arizona”.

 

7.7 overall

[agia_igoumeni]

psychedelic mustaches from the whole galaxy!!! very nice & FRESH musik again from the funland...

 

SUOMI FINLAND PERKELE

 

[furthur]

well, loopus is from italy

and honestly, this is not what i would call suomi trance either

slightly influenced maybe

[agia_igoumeni]

well, loopus is from italy

and honestly, this is not what i would call suomi trance either

slightly influenced maybe

522235[/snapback]

i forgot that they re from italy,but i insist that their musik style is suomi influenced...

[freak51]

re: track #7, 'I Feel Love' cover.

 

It gets messy at the end, but that's not a deal-breaker.

 

The deal breaker is that the bassline ratchets up around 4:00, then again a minute or so later, but never returns. It creates an expectation that is never satisfied. It's like, "guys, you forgot to finish it".

 

The first 4 minutes are nice though, just be sure to take it out before it goes off to Indecision Land.

[furthur]

@freak51

i actually liked that, it was totally unexpected

[kathmandu]

heh heh it was totally unexpected

[freak51]

I disagree. In the original, it ratchets up, but then cleverly returns under the covers when all vocal hell breaks loose on "love" when Donna Summer sings "I feel, l-o-o-o-o-ve".

 

The original is one of the few kickass tracks that made disco worthwhile.

[Basilisk]

.

[Jon Cocco]

Sounds funky, different, goofy, and occasionally fun.

 

My impressions based on the extended samples are that it's nothing spectacular but def one of the better electronica albums of 2006.

 

I like what I've heard from the first three songs. I also like parts of track 5 (the sample on psyshop) WOW...catchy! So I suppose this is short feedback to the artist.

 

Overall this isn't my type of album to buy now...but it certainly sounds different and I respect that.

[pr0fane]

Artist: Loopus In Fabula

Title: Fat Ladies Bingo

Label: Fabula Records

Format: CD

Released: April, 2006

Cover: http://217.160.138.169/pic_b/fab1cd003_b.jpg

 

 

Review:

 

Loopus In Fabula is undoubtedly one of the most well-known acts in the more funky direction of psytrance, and so far with 3 full-length albums in their discography. Behind the name we find the two guys from Italy's capital for fashion, Milan, Matteo Stroppa and Jacopo Barbaccia. Their first album, "Loopus In Fabula" was released on Australia's consistently psychedelic label Demon Tea, and their 2nd album, "Astrofunk" was released on their own label, Fabula Records.

 

Personally I've never been a loyal follower of their music, and I haven't heard any of their albums, so when I received the promo of their new album, "Fat Ladies Bingo" I approached it with an open mind.

 

 

01. Doofy Duck (feat. Ritchie Mantrix) [140 BPM]

The album-opener is "Doofy Duck", a track themed over Looney Tunes' well-known Daffy Duck character. It starts out rather well with a funky, almost progressive grooves with distinct disco-influences, but sadly the whole Daffy Duck theme was over the top. Didn't come out as an amusing concept for me, just slightly annoying.

 

02. Controversy [142 BPM]

After the disappointing album-opener, "Controversy" is a bit more to my liking. The grooves are faster and not quite as funky, the vibe is more serious, but there is still a small dose of funk in the melting-pot. It feels sort of like a funky version of Neelix - without the annoying, repeated voice-samples, that made me dislike his latest album, "No Way To Leave". Quite good track.

 

03. Dreamschwartz (rmx for Visnudata) [142 BPM]

Next up is a remix of "Dreamschwartz" by the Finnish artist Visnudata. The wacky, funky sounds from the first two tracks are in more the background in this blasting remix - it's even more serious than the predecessor, slightly more on the dark side, and very intense and psychedelic. Very pumping dancefloor tune, but still with very fun grooves. Definitely my favourite so far.

 

04. YSD [140 BPM]

With "YSD" the psychedelia is toned down a notch. It starts out sounding like the Scandinavian forest-minimal style from some few years back, but it slowly gets wackier and wackier, ending with some delightful and very bouncy psydisco-elements. Doesn't stand out as much as the Visnudata remix, but is among the better tunes on the album.

 

05. Fat Old Ladies (feat. Paul Kearney) [137 BPM]

The title-track (almost) "Fat Old Ladies" starts out with some demented voice-samples and a hard slapbass before it incorporates some truly corny sounds that make it sound like an 80's version of the Eurovision Contest on acid - and I mean that in the best possible way. Feels a bit too messy overall to me though.

 

06. Funky Express [138 BPM]

Next up is "Funky Express" which, oddly enough, is the least funky track on the album in my opinion. Apart from the "Funky Express" voice-samples it seems rather dull compared to some of the earlier tracks, and it doesn't really seem to develop either.

 

07. Feel Again [136 BPM]

Things rapidly improve with "Feel Again", which is one of the strongest points on the album, and undoubtedly is heavily influenced by Donna Summers' "I Feel Love". The electro-influences are back, and although it doesn't provide as many surprising twists and turns as some of the earlier tracks, I think I can best describe it as a psychedelic version of Beckers. Really good stuff.

 

08. Rockit [135 BPM]

The retro electro and disco-elements are left out in "Rockit", and it does feel rather nice for a change. It's deeper and more pumping than the earlier tracks, but the Loopus-guys still have a few clever, amusing tricks up their sleeves. Think a funky, twisted and not quite as pretentious version of Sentient, add a little bit of breakbeat and you have "Rockit". Another cool tune.

 

09. Lets Dance [134 BPM]

Last but not least is a remix of David Bowie's timeless classic "Let's Dance". The elements from the original are distinct and will definitely cause loads of smiles on the dancefloor, but this remix is definitely a very original and interesting interpretation, and not among those "original + killer bassline" remixes that has been flooding the scene in later years. Let's Dance!

 

 

Bottom line:

 

As I mentioned in the beginning of the review, I'm not among Loopus In Fabulas most loyal followers, so I approached "Fat Ladies Bingo" with a quite open mind. It was way more progressive-psytrance than I was expecting from my few earlier encounters with Loopus In Fabulas' music, and overall it was a pleasant surprise. Think psychedelic and twisted, but not as dark and hardcore as the overly popular "dark psy". Amusing and funky, but not as mind-bending as the innovative Suomi guys. More on the progressive side, but not as sophisticated as Kino Oko.

 

Like your psytrance good'n'funky? Then "Fat Ladies Bingo" is what you're looking for.

 

 

Favourites:

 

2, 3 (!!), 4, 7, 8, 9 (!!)

 

 

Verdict:

 

7/10

 

 

Links:

 

Fabula Records: http://www.fabularecords.com

Loopus In Fabula: http://www.loopusinfabula.com

[psylove]

This album couldn't be any phatter, even if it sat there and ate lard for 6 months.

Favourite surprise of the year!

[exotic]

I'm still enjoying loopus. This is the kind of music one could study , shit , do any kind of constructive work basically while listening to. Funky focusing music

[Manuser]

well, loopus is from italy

and honestly, this is not what i would call suomi trance either

slightly influenced maybe

Like you said, influenced maybe but it's not suomi, it's a mix of many genres, I personnally never liked suomi but I like this album.

VA-Ultrapop was great fun too.