Rumble Pack (Blue Vortex) Posted July 3, 2007 Share Posted July 3, 2007 hey everbody as we are interested what all the psynews fellows think of our music...we post here a review from Full_on thx for replays Rumble Pack – Packed and Ready ( Mahogany & Morphonic, Apr. 2007 ) Track List: 1. Are we Fucking Done? 2. Packed and Ready 3. Kingsize 4. Mental Scope 5. John Steam in the Snailhole 6. Binary Beach 7. Control Unit 8. Back to Basics 9. Tea Time Rumble Pack is a psytrance project by Andreas Marki and Philip Guillaume from Zurich – Switzerland. This information if not found anywhere on the CD, so I had to resort to their homepage to find this info ( www.rumble-pack.ch ). There I found that these guys have some side projects and even released an album before under another project; if you’re interested on more info about these guys check it out. My first contacts with Rumble Pack’s music were the tracks Simulated Roadmap and The Sliph released some time ago. It’s been a long time and now two French labels, Mahogany Records and Morphonic Records (M&M Production), joined forces to release this album. Avi aka Space Cat is responsible for the mastering and did a good job. The cover is neat and was designed by Nico at PsyArt studio. It looks like an Air Mail package and the CD shares the same design. Check it here: http://212.227.206.198/cgi-bin/zoom.cgi?mp...ph1cd004.html:; There’s no booklet, just the cover with the track names and credits on its back. Also no DJ sleeve or track times or bpms. The first track is a collaboration with DJ Jackomo (anyone has any info on him?) and begins with the sample: "Einstein was wrong when he said ‘God does not play dice.’ Consideration of black hole suggests not only that God does play dice, but that he sometimes confuses us by throwing them where they can't be seen." It turns to be a 145 bpm full on track, on the lines of some Hom-Mega artists. Some people maybe understand this as a compliment, but it has two sides. Well produced, predicable and dance floor directed: that’s how I feel this first track. A lot of people will love it; for me it’s only a proof that the guys know how to produce on today’s standards, which is great as an opening track, but not good enough to stand out in the crowd. Packed and Ready (T2) is even faster and more energetic, but a little less straight forward. It also has a few samples (please help me to ID that "red eclipse ravers" or something ), and it’s good to dance. This is the kind of music that is being played here at Brazil in most parties; once again this compliment is an undeniable proof of its dance floor effectiveness, but also suggest it lacks on the psychedelic side. Kingsize is the name of the third track, when I notice that this track had 140 bpm I thought I understood the meaning of the track name. A relentless pounding beat and bass creates an introspective feeling and the other elements state that clearly something is going to happen. The tension is in the air, but it does not leave. An unexpected sample: "Theories predict singularities in two situations: one is in the future when the gravitational collapse starts and other massive bodies. Such singularities will be at end of time..." A sweet melody and the beat is there again, the music wake up with a well executed change in the bass, changing its direction to the dance floor and there we go… And here we are, riding the 145 bpm of the following track Mental Scope (T4), a danceable track with a nice chanting and good flow, I only miss something that could twist my legs a little more. John Steam in the Snailhole (T5) is a groovier track which arrived at good time, when I listened this album for the first time I was starting to get afraid that the whole album would be "dance floor effective." Here the album takes a turn and with the seeds of diversity everything becomes more interesting. The next track, Binary Beach (T6), is one of my favorites. Its instantaneous success comes from its background atmospheres and the good taste in the choice of the elements. Another relevant aspect is that it is one of the longer tracks here, having time to reach its full potential. Control Unit (T7) starts as a more held back track, and its bass variations and steadiness reminds me of more serious full on, like the Nano or Alchemy stuff. All in all a nice track. Then we have Back to Basics (T8), another favorite of mine, with a unique bass line signature, twisted synths and an atmosphere that keep suggesting me that things are not the way they look. Suddenly Japanese samples or something else I can’t understand catch my attention and here we go again through these bass lines... Very good work from the Rumble guys here , it’s an excellent track, specially the first 3 minutes. More Japonese samples? It’s Tea Time (T9) the track that comes at 90 bpm to close the album with golden keys. Definitely one of the best tracks here. I tested this one with coffee and it’s better than tea. After a long trip we arrive at a break in the 6th minute, right at the time to order my third espresso, good taste and small details making huge differences, yeah, this track made me smile. This is the happy ending the album needed, and it surely makes it scores higher. This CD is being the soundtrack of my laboratory experiments in the last week. The second half of the CD really put me to dance , and since I’m doing experiments overnight and everything here in the lab is video recorded, the night security guys now keep making jokes... That’s a fair price to pay for having some fun at work. This is a good album for keeping me up and dancing . As constructive criticism I must say that I missed more info about the project and the artists themselves on the booklet. M&M Production could invest a little more on the this. Also it’s good to keep in mind that not every track must end dance floor friendly. I mean, for a debut album sound quality and "danceability" are very important, however the originality and tweaking (psychedelia) that denotes the artist's peculiarities and personality must also shine through the music. It's difficult to achieve an equilibrium between these variables, this debut is a proof that it can be done, but probably the crowd will be expecting more on the next releases. Recommendation: This successful debut album is recommended for those after well produced full on with a drop of spice here and there. The album is solid, slowly evolving and getting better with each track, starting with regular full on and finishing with more innovative music. Its effectiveness does not compromise the home listening aspect, which is actually one of its strong points, specially the last half of the album. Give it a chance and will probably get hooked. Buy it here: http://www.saikosounds.com/english/display...ase.asp?id=6464 http://www.beatspace.com/dettagli/dettaglio.asp?id=3390 http://www.psyshop.com/shop/CDs/mph/mph1cd004.html Favorites: 3, 6, 8(!), 9(!!). Respect! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Cocco Posted July 3, 2007 Share Posted July 3, 2007 hey everbody as we are interested what all the psynews fellows think of our music...we post here a review from Full_on I only heard the samples but since you asked for what we think of it... I don't want to write too much giving some people the wrong impression that I'm reviewing samples again. Tea Time sounds nice, gentle and floating. Maybe Rumble Pack should introduce a second artist name and make a downtempo album? Just an idea. I like the female parts in Mental Scope giving the song some emotion. Same with moments in Packed And Ready but those songs are otherwise forgettable to me. Control Unit is decent with the emotive parts. The other tracks sound like general Full On to me. Typical. Nothing great or exciting to my ears. Rumble Pack may (more or less) appeal to general mainstream audiences. But not me. Full On is an over saturated market now. If an artist makes something awesome it will get attention. On another topic I liked the Blue Vortex - Mirage album by these same artists in 2004 now called Rumble Pack. There were more catchy [key word] melodies on the Mirage album. There seem to be so many so-so melodic bits bouncing around the kickdrum and bassline here. It's like yeah so? Is that it? This does nothing new or exciting really IMO. With emphesis on great melody work, energy, and actually some great and excellent songs these artists could make an album worth the attention this will not and less here as well INO. It's nothing personal. To the artists: Take your strength and capitalize on it while improving upon your weaknesses. Go nuts! Make awesome songs. Not decent or even good or great ones. Go beyond..(!) Blow people away with amazing psychedelic and maybe even emotive dance songs. Sure it's easier said than done. So take risks! What's the worst that can happen? You always learn and gain from each experience. Come up with something that stands out and is magical and powerful, that is stunning. Or not. Choices are life. Full On albums I found worth buying (they stood out) and maybe these can give Rumble Pack some insight what worked in the past, is 1200 Micrograms - The Time Machine. Some work by Astrix equates to good Full On too along with Lemurians - Secret Message album. Those artists made great songs that stood out and became hits on the dancefloor and in clubs, at psy parties, etc. They creates some wonderful Full On tracks with enough energy, kickass melodies, rhythms, beats, (and other sounds, fx), buildups, climax...I and a good amount of people who like strong Full On bought them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maden Posted July 3, 2007 Share Posted July 3, 2007 OK, after a long long waiting to see this out, and after lot off listening, i think the first part of the album is average, but the second part, great .. my favorite track are Control Unit , Binary Beach , and Back To Basic ... but in a sens, i have mixed feeling in this album, i think it could be far better with this long long waiting for packed and ready. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maden Posted July 8, 2007 Share Posted July 8, 2007 Yes it's Weird feeling, one exemple, the Packed and Ready track took long long time to grow on me, and now i just pretty like it, try this two passage in it ( 4:04 and 6:08) maybe it will grow on me again and again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rumble Pack / Motion Drive Posted August 16, 2007 Share Posted August 16, 2007 a bit late...but thx for the few replays/reveiws.. @jon cocco I appreciate your honest oppinion and critics, and im can say theres for shure some truth in it. In our opinion the first half of the album is quite the standart full on as you mentiont, but after its changing...at least thats what we feel and tryed to do...in our oppinion its not a standart full on album where every tracks sounds the same... I think Full_on pointet it out quite good in his review above... On the other hand i find it quite funny how you give us the last 1200 mics album as a referenz for non-standart full on..or even astrix... anyway..taste is something you cant disscus about it, and music is always very individual taken by the listener... thx again for your replays Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
recursion loop Posted January 24, 2017 Share Posted January 24, 2017 Playing it here right now, 10 years after. I think it's great. Not all tracks are equally good but each of them does something for me ( except for the first one which is pretty much mindless full-on but still pretty groovy, must be good for a dancefloor). Trippy, melodic, emotional, futuristic (even today)- this is what I love about psytrance. 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.