DeathPosture Posted February 4, 2007 Share Posted February 4, 2007 V/A - Vapour Hi-res cover: front + DJ slip Artist: Various Title: Vapour Format: MP3 (320 kpbs) / WAV Label: Element Of Time Media (Dominican Republic) Cat. #: ETM001 Distribution: elementoftime.net Date: 14 January 2007 Track listing: 01. 07'42" Lemurians – Input Flip (Procs Remix) 02. 07'33" Mubali vs. Infinitesimal – Exciting World Of Hip 03. 08'40" Halava – Soma Rasa 04. 06'26" Ocelot – Under The Table 05. 08'27" Aldus B – Match In The Dark 06. 09'32" Ghreg On Earth – Metafictional Quagmire 07. 07'20" Encephalopaticys vs. Kulu - Esopotron 08. 08'44" Bodhisattva 13:30 & Devic – Confused Perception 09. 07'05" Kerosene Club – Haunted Civilizations 10. 07'03" Triptonics – NL3 11. 06'54" Electrypnose - Vapour Samples: http://tinyurl.com/yo7tor (all tracks!) Review: Rumours Of Vapour… Element Of Time Media, is a newly established psytrance net-label set up by esteemed reviewer Guillermo aka. RAH from the Dominican Republic. This guy is one of the most articulate and most respected 'darkpsy' reviewers – and thru his hard work, he got in touch with lots of producers from around the world… The next logical step was to sign them himself – and distribute the music from an internet label platform, cutting out the physical format. Element Of Time Media was born. Vapour is the debut release and the tracklist reveals a balanced mix of well-established artists + a couple of rising talents. Let's inhale and get vaporized. Let me take you thru the tracks… #01: Lemurians – Input Flip (Procs Remix) [145 BPM] This track, originally w&p by German/Norwegian producers Andreas Kuchenbauer and Jan Osh Riemann, was first released on their second album Secret Message (Shiva Space Technology/2004). Three years later it gets the Procs treatment. Mikael Stegman from Sweden has always been one of my fav'e shroom-trance producers – though his debut album Stuck In The Oven With Me (Trishula Records/2005) wasn't quite up to par with his amazing previously released compilation tracks. Aaaaaanyway, this Procs remix is much darker and much more interesting that the original. What we get here is something-eerie-lurking-in-the-dark, wobbly psytrance with the distinct Procs shroomy trademark. Not dark for the sake of being dark, just very murky and forest-like… In the exact style that made me fall in love with Procs' sound back in 2000. Lovely track. #02: Mubali vs. Infinitesimal – Exciting World Of Hip [145 BPM] "Hello there and welcome to the exciting world of hip!" American producer Mubali (Greg Farley) released his nocturnal debut album Cats @ Play on Trishula Records in 2006. The best tracks off that album were the ones where Greg collaborated with other people, so I'm thrilled to see he's joined by George Kirstein here. This is a hard-hitting, yet funky piece of night trance – rich in oddball flavour, tons of quirky acid-lines and trippy little frills, thrills and jazz-pills! The sampling from one of Disney's old Goofy-cartoons is spot on – and I'm surprised no-one ever thought about sampling those humorous lines before. All in all a great track. Dark yes, but not over the top… It's just plain good. Bonafide dope! #03: Halava – Soma Rasa [147 BPM] Halava is a new moniker for Macedonian nutjobs Atriohm (Leonid & Aleksandar Golcev), Encephalopaticys (Vasko Velikovski) and Yudhisthira (Ognen Zafirovski). This track takes on a different approach than the previous two – in which it fuses lighter morning vibes with darker, murkier harmonies… Something as rare as uplifting night-trance performed at 147 BPMs. Usually I'm somewhat reluctant when things gets too dark – so you'd think this track would be right down my alley. And sure, several passages of it rubs me just right, but somehow I can't help shake the feeling that there is something unbeknownst missing here. It's good, but it's not OMG-god. #04: Ocelot – Under The Table [148 BPM] "Spirit, spirit, spirit…" American producer Aaron Peacock still ranks high in my cool-book – despite his somewhat disappointing third album Dream Selector (Vertigo/2006). This track however, is all about going back to Aaron's roots – and encapsulates the anti-fluff Ocelot sound I've praised so often in the past… Flaring metallic riffs, spacy synth notes and crackling, pounding percussion. Kinda minimal without getting introvert or boring… Subtle, wholesome psytrance. #05: Aldus B – Match In The Dark [148 BPM] Despite a couple of previously released tracks, this is my first encounter with the works of Aldus B aka. Celsung (Matt Freeman currently residing in Thailand). This track marks the turn to the dark side of this compilation. What we get here is dark, haunting psytrance bereft of any kind of uplifting element… Hardcore basslines, IDM-bridges, industrial razor-slashes and an overall pretty grim outlook on things… Definitely not for the faint-hearted. Maybe I'm getting old or something, but this didn't really grab me – especially the middle part seems to lack direction. #06: Ghreg On Earth – Metafictional Quagmire [148 BPM] "This place is different. It's special. The others don't want to talk about it because it scares them. But we all know it, and we all feel it! Is your White Rabbit a hallucination? Probably. But... what if everything that happened here happened for a reason?" Greg Carson from the US has ranked very high with the dark psytrance fans ever since the release of his debut album Sigilweaver (Wirikuta Recordings/2005). I've always admired Greg's ability to fuse the best of industrial teKkno with raw, hypnotic night trance. On this track he does it again – and I'm happy to say that this track is much, much better than the previous one running at the same BPM. This is mysterious, eerie and deeply hypnotic cross-over stuff…The high-pitched acid-lines are frightenly good – and they will cut right thru steel, bone and brain mass or whatever obstacle they might meet. Amazing track. #07: Encephalopaticys vs. Kulu – Esopotron [148 BPM] "Music was apostle. A vast and comprehensible mystery which allowed […] a glimpse of the magic world. There were new skills to discover!" Encephalopaticys (Vasko Velikovski) is back for round two – joined by Kulu (Dimitris Kulukouriotis) from Greece. As always these guys don't linger on the cheesy side, but rather present us with an avalanche of night time antics… On this track they manage to keep a somewhat coherent theme throughout the track – and I'm thrilled to see that they are clever enough to incorporate a couple of uplifting elements into the mix. Stuff like that retains my focus – and elevates a track like this from the vast, endless pool of boring 'darkpsy' released by so many labels. Interesting track. #08: Bodhisattva 13:30 & Devic – Confused Perception [150 BPM] Bodhisattva 13:30 (an ANV of Bodhisattva 13:20 aka Christopher Martin) from the US is joined by Devang Dedhia from the motherland India…. And as the BPM count suggests, this is where it gets really hardcore. And sure enough, this is blasting away at an almost uncontrollable speed leaving little time to breathe. Usually I would have packed my things and left by now, but there is something appealing about this track. Despite its raging mad tempo, the guys ease the passing by incorporation a healthy dosage of comic relief. Wise decision, as I wouldn't be able to digest this without it. This track actually has some charm – even if it's against all odds. #09: Kerosene Club – Haunted Civilizations [150 BPM] Kerosene Club is an alias of Brian 'DJ 26' Fernandes, label manager of Temple Twister Records in India. This track starts out with a mooing cow exposed to a gut-wrenching guitar-riff – and an unsane dose of pounding bass madness…. And from there, all hell brakes loose. This is super-fast, in-your-face pounding-bass-mania… Holy shit, I cannot even begin to describe just how hardcore this is. So I'm not gonna. Let's just say, that this is where it gets too hectic even for me. #10: Triptonics – NL3 [150 BPM] "Lysergic acid…" Triptonic aka. TriPPies is a new alias from Kashyyyk (Pablo Valdes Cortes) in cahoots with The Galactic Brain (Chac Pakal & Jolly Jack). And boy, does these Mexican guys know how to stir up a riot. This is claustrophobic, acid-filled horror-trance packed to the rim with inhumane, perverse FX… Highly irrational and totally demented. Stuff that will dodge girlfriends, neighbours and other normally functioning humans far away from you… I trying hard to hate everything about this track… But I can't. I'm drawn to it. I fear to watch, yet I cannot turn away. Like a moth to a flame, knowing it will utterly annihilate my soul. I dunno why, maybe it's because it reminds me of a bad trip I had once. Yikes, what the fuck was that? #11: Electrypnose – Vapour [151 BPM] I've been a huge fan of Swizz psytrance juggler Electrypnose (Vince Le Barde) since his very first track released back in 2003. With his three albums Brain Stretching (ResonantEarth.com/2005), Le Tireur De Ficelles (Peak Records/2006) and Subliminal Melancholies (Ajana Records/2006) Vince has refined his sound magically with every single release – and he still manages to wow me with almost every track I hear from him. This title track might look ridiculously fast on paper, but do not despair! Vince knows his shit and never lets us down. This track is no exception. Style wise we're closest to the style of Le Tireur De Ficelles on which Vince successfully fused irregular IDM with growly psytrance… Epic, murky stuff which once again underline how there is no end to the talent that is Electrypnose. This is the best 150+ BPM track I've heard in a LONG time. Do not adjust your sets! It's supposed to sound like this! I knew from the get-go that RAH likes his music raw and relentless. Maybe that scared me a little as I often have a hard time enjoying psytrance faster than 145 BPMs. But with only a couple of exceptions, I sat thru all of this and enjoyed it. Sure, some of the faster tracks didn't agree with me, but indeed some of them also surprised me positively. In that sense, this compilation was somewhat of an eye-opener. With only a few exceptions, we get a real cool selection of tracks here – ranging from trippy forest trance to down-right perverted night time terror tracks. Thanks for the heads-up RAH! =) The digital format slashes the price, but still offers some high-class artwork worthy of a print-out. Lovely. Priced @ only $10.99 for the WAV version or $9.99 for the MP3 version (320 kpbs), there is really no excuse for not getting this. I thoroughly enjoyed most of it – and I'm sure fans of murky, glitchy night trance will too… There are more than a few positive surprises in store here. Enjoy! Favourites: 1, 2, 4, 6(!!), 7, 8, 10(!), 11 DeathPosture External links: Element Of Time Media: http://www.elementoftime.net Discogs: http://www.discogs.com/release/896906 Sonic Energy: http://www.sonic-energy.net Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RAH Posted February 6, 2007 Share Posted February 6, 2007 just a small clarification, Element of Time is more than just me. The small quarters of ETM central here in the caribbean count with another person, WAN (Juan), who runs things behind courtains on the logistics end of the website. and there is also WAV copy available for sale. About vapour, i'm not gonna write a review this time around for obvious reasons, but what i can do, is briefly explain what was vapour about and what we wanted to achive with it: to create a compilation that captured the essence of 4:20 AM, vapour time, that specific moment during the night when then things start pushing towards morning, but they still remain quite dusky and warped. And that was basically it, a story of what happens when the night starts welcoming morning chords, not loosing a speck of power and introspection. For the compilation, each artist pitched in something special from their usual programming, and at the end we hope it sounds like saga with 11 acts, with twist and turns along the way... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RAH Posted February 13, 2007 Share Posted February 13, 2007 you can download a promotional copy of vapour at 128 kbps over at http://sonic-energy.net Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alleycat Posted March 28, 2007 Share Posted March 28, 2007 Im currently on track 8, its my first listen, and damn if this ain't some Great work from all the artists involved! So far, loving track 2, 6, and especially 8! great stuff! Thanks a ton! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drosophila Posted March 29, 2007 Share Posted March 29, 2007 This is a great compilation compiled by Element Of Time Media, that a great start u got there!!!! Better than I expected! VERY power full - not a dull moment ! And I really love the Procs Rmx, Ghreg On Earth, Electrypnose tracks to name a few.... very nice! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alleycat Posted March 29, 2007 Share Posted March 29, 2007 seriously the best work Ive heard from these artists! Particularly Bodhi v Devic, Mubali v Infinitesimal, Electrypnose, and Ghreg on Earth. The rest are great too! shhhhhhhmoke to you all at Element of Time! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amphiton Posted June 17, 2007 Share Posted June 17, 2007 Procs rmx, Halava, Aldus B and Triptonics for me Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kazuku Posted June 19, 2007 Share Posted June 19, 2007 Electrypnose track is mindblowing! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cttkba Posted June 20, 2007 Share Posted June 20, 2007 made in a very psychedelic way, 10/10 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RAH Posted June 20, 2007 Share Posted June 20, 2007 vapour was an act of love for the scene, alas a comercial failure... and unfortunately we're unable to continue on that path. But it was a blast putting it together and being a part of it. I'm very proud of what we did. At the end of the day, i hope all those who listened enjoyed it. Don't support the home labels if you don't like, don't support the scene, but for fucks sake support the artists!!! let them know their work is worth something, let them know with actions the product of their love went somewhere productive. That's the important part. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Riton Posted June 23, 2007 Share Posted June 23, 2007 Well i absolutely love this rls. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RAH Posted June 23, 2007 Share Posted June 23, 2007 it's not a +RLS it's a compilation Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Riton Posted July 4, 2007 Share Posted July 4, 2007 lol. pwnT. well the COMPILATION. is awesome... PS: all the support i do is by attending as many parties as i can with artists that i like, i believe that by doing so i ensure bookings for them. Next best thing to actually buying CDs... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lepton Posted July 4, 2007 Share Posted July 4, 2007 good compilation, you cannot go wrong with bodhisattva among the list ... keep up te good work rah !! cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeorgeMoonstoneD Posted December 21, 2017 Share Posted December 21, 2017 On 6/21/2007 at 2:44 AM, RAH said: vapour was an act of love for the scene, alas a comercial failure... and unfortunately we're unable to continue on that path. But it was a blast putting it together and being a part of it. I'm very proud of what we did. At the end of the day, i hope all those who listened enjoyed it. Don't support the home labels if you don't like, don't support the scene, but for fucks sake support the artists!!! let them know their work is worth something, let them know with actions the product of their love went somewhere productive. That's the important part. I have been trying to find a way to obtain this release for years know, but no success.. Any chance of making it available via Bandcamp for instance..? Unless you have in mind a better way of supporting the artists, the labels, the scene.. In order to support an effort, someone has to be given the chance to do so.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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