V/A - Materia Musica

[abasio]

Various Artists

Materia Musica

Ajana Records

04 Apr 2008

 

Tracklist

CD1

1.1 Relapxych.00 - Pharmaceptic (Edit 1) (4:55)

1.2 Senzar - The Red Water (7:06)

1.3 Electrypnose - Eternal Sunset (6:59)

1.4 Ovnimoon - Magical Visions (8:10)

1.5 A-Kara - Evil Shamans (8:42)

1.6 Khooman - Dakhara (10:40)

1.7 Xerxes - One-Oh-Three (6:54)

1.8 A.I.A - Signals & Systems (8:14)

1.9 Grains of Sound - Meridian (7:08)

1.10 Chronos - Spiral Clouds (9:30)

 

CD2

2.1 Unstable Elements - Escape (Intro) (3:00)

2.2 Capsula - Salviation (8:07)

2.3 Chronos - Solar Movement (Paleolithic Edit) (5:29)

2.4 Kane and Echoside - Thoughtless (7:20)

2.5 Kick Bong - Vague à L'âme (6:45)

2.6 Dagas - Green Moss (8:37)

2.7 Zoe Wheelingz - Synthetic River (5:20)

2.8 Ovnimoon vs. Dagas - Southern Wind (9:33)

2.9 Yestegan chaY - Unleaded (7:08)

2.10 Zoneotura - Unreal (5:39)

2.11 Unstable Elements - Seasons (10:35)

 

Now I’m not really sure why I bought this, I had heard very little about it but the cover looked sleek & there were some familiar names on the 2CD tracklist that gave me hope for a nice sleek chillout compilation. It’s hard to go wrong with artists like Xerxes, Khooman, Kick Bong & Electrypnose. The 1st CD is supposed to be more ambient chillout for the home listener with the 2nd being more danceable tracks but I find that each CD has tracks that could be played at home or in a chillout room at a club.

 

The first track, Relapxych.00 - Pharmaceptic (Edit 1) I originally found really boring & is not really going to entice the listener but after a few listens it did show itself for what it is a nice dark, natural intro and from then on the musical quality is very high. Senzar – The Red Water is a dark atmospheric number with creaks & samples right out of a horror movie I’m sure. Very eerie with a nice steady beat like a slow heart beat. Electrynose offers up Eternal Sunset which is more melodic but melancholic throughout, a very calm breakbeat pushes the track & keeps it interesting while allowing the ambient sounds to be fully appreciated. The piano in Ovnimoon - Magical Visions is surprisingly bright but the bassline & dark ethnic vocal are enough to battle it & I end up with the feeling of a relaxed struggle of elements. A-Kara - Evil Shamans does exactly what it says on the tin. It’s a dark eerie melodious track with a beat that makes it sound like a forgotten ritual on a cold dark night, the half heard vocals add to the feeling of witnessing something you shouldn’t. Next up is Khooman – Dakhara which is a melodious piece of dark psychill. It sounds mystical & mysterious & the repeating sample Dakhara Dakhara Dakhara sounds oddly Japanese. As beat driven & steady as it is it ends in a very glitchy & odd fashion. Xerxes - One-Oh-Three sums up everything that is great about this album so far. It’s dark ethnic psychill. The atmosphere is great with a long droning flute, slow marching beats & occasional melodious sounds. After that we have A.I.A - Signals & Systems which is a more upbeat scratchy track with an raw energy to it that is very refreshing. Later in the track we get a really ethereal feeling & that of flying. Grains of Sound – Meridian has a strange disconnected otherworldly quality to it. It’s glitchy in a minimal way but it doesn’t offer much to keep me focused, my mind starts to wander on to non musical things. Finally we have the awesome Chronos - Spiral Clouds. This is definitely saving the best for last & summing up the journey with the best possible example of it. This is dark, atmospheric, ethnic influenced, twisted psychedelic chill. The dark atmosphere is great & the cut up & twisted chants are supreme. Think Deep Forest turned dark & you’ll be close. A great way to round of a great CD.

 

CD2 is more of a mixed bag though. Whereas the first a nice dark journey into ethnicity with mysticism abound and never going to cheesy, CD2 has some of those elements but also more in the way of urban sounds, spacey sounds & a few of the vocals & melodies verge on the dangerous side of cheese. Unstable Elements - Escape (Intro) starts us off with more or less a continuation of CD1 with a clod dark ambient soundscape rich in texture & feeling. Capsula – Salviation feels more urban with spacey textures. The melody in this one is really nice, melancholic & reflective with great ambient synths. Chronos - Solar Movement (Paleolithic Edit) sounds right off of CD1 with it’s dark ethnic feel, a little more spacey though with wider open spaces. I don’t know if Paleolithic is a misspelling of Palaeolithic but if it is I guess it because of the big sounds used, very nice track. Kane and Echoside – Thoughtless also sounds like it should have been on the first CD, this has laid back percussion & ethereal atmospheres. That seems to be it for dark ethnic music as Kick Bong - Vague à L'âme has much more of an urban lounge feeling of big sofas & dim lighting. The vocal is pleasant like an unobtrusive jazz singer doing her job perfectly. Dagas - Green Moss is a forgettable trip hop sounding track with pleasant enough chanting from what sounds like kids but the real cheese factor comes in the next track Zoe Wheelingz - Synthetic River which has one of the worst female vocals I’ve ever heard. Like a bad karaoke singer butchering a song it ruins the whole track which would be pretty crap anyway without it. I can’t help thinking why the hell has this been included on an otherwise great compilation? Quickly onto Ovnimoon vs. Dagas - Southern Wind which is a joy to behold after the tripe that preceded it. It has great spacey textures, melodies that seem to float out of the ether into the brain & nice trippy beats. It verges on cheesy towards the end but stays on the right side of it. Yestegan chaY – Unleaded is a heavy glitchy track with urban texture & street smarts. It’s a nice piece of glitch hop with some nice downtempo melody at the end. Zoneotura – Unreal though crosses over once more into cheese. The dark textures of earlier have gone completely & are replaced by bright upbeat happy tones. This doesn’t sound too bad when listened to by to as a standalone track but in the context here it is out of place & unwelcome. We finish on a much more positive note though with Unstable Elements – Seasons which combines natural sounds with soft warm melodies & drones changing into a cooler breakbeat track gaining cold melodies & ending with an atmospheric feeling to make you feel good about yourself. Just like on the first CD they have saved the best for last here.

 

 

I can definitely say that this 2CD compilation is worth getting. The first CD alone is worth the money & there are also some great tracks on the second CD. I’d actually say the best tracks are on CD2 but they are mixed in with some not so good ones, an out of place one & an awful one & with CD1 being such a nice calm journey that ebbs and flows like you want it too I’d say that it wins the best CD competition with it’s great Dark Psychill feel I find it quite unique, the ethnic elements never get cheesy & are all well placed & well used. I’m eagerly awaiting new albums from Xerxes, Khooman, Kick Bong & Electrypnose after the great offerings here I will also be sure to check out more of Chronos’ work & I will be on the lookout for more music by Senzar as The Red Water is one of the creepiest tracks I’ve heard recently.

[Oxycanta]

Loved this one, there were some weird tracks (The Red Water) and some cheesy ones (Unreal) but the rest made up for it. Nice to see a new Capsula track too <3.

[gurutrance]

A wonderful compilation with a lot of great tracks that I never listened on other previous release.

#CD1 have dark and meditative ambient and #CD2 alone is for me a perfect release.

 

5/5