Hibernation - Some Things Never Change

[abasio]

Hibernation

Somethings Never Change

Aleph Zero

2008

Downtempo

 

Tracklist

 

1 Melt (5:25)

2 Trickle (7:23)

3 Lazy Radio (3:58)

4 Empty Cities (5:50)

5 Glitch Police (5:10)

6 Are You Sure? (5:25)

7 Reflect (2:11)

8 Beautiful Sky (5:33)

9 Seven Steps (5:37)

10 Some Things Never Change (6:45)

11 The Littlest Computer (2:18)

12 Reflected (5:35)

13 The Art Of Living & Dying (7:46)

14 Colours (6:12)

 

Seb Taylor the man who brought us great projects such as Shakta, Digitalis and Kaya Project is out with an new chilled album on Aleph Zero Records, a great label in my opinion with a quality filter, bringing us only the most quality music that comes their way. Aleph Zero seem of late to be discovering new routes to take with their music and this album is like nothing I have heard so far from them. It's very ecclectic and more loungey than previous releases, the sort of album that at first seems to be a mix of weird and cheesy but which manages to grow into a deep enjoyable ride.

 

1. Melt

The opening track, Melt is a very soft track made for lounging around the city I'm sure. The feel is very urban and even the more ethereal female vocal that wails throughout seems like she's standing right on the opposite pavement as cars rush by momentarily obscuring her from view then revealing her once more. Take that, put a sofa on your side and collapse into it, relax and watch the busy world go by and that's how this track makes me feel. It's so relaxed yet many of the elements seem busy and rushed, the rhythmic plops and the rush in the background being the prime examples.

 

2. Trickle

If the opening track melted city life before us then this one lets it trickle back, more upbeat with a stronger bass and more of a kick to it. The brief pieces of melody on what sounds like a harp, the subtle synths adding some nice glitch and the plops & pings in the background give me another nice urban feel but this time I'm walking among it, smoothly gliding through the throng of people on the high street. Again the woman is on the pavement across the street even more elusive this time.

 

3. Lazy Radio

Here we go a little darker and more glitchy, an oppressive drone dominates the intro but is dissipated when the bassline and melody come in. With that it feels more like a 70's detective movie when the cop is first introduced in all is amazingness, either that or bad 70's porn. Either way there is a very funky retro feel to it that almost breaks into some jazz but manages to resist and stays good.

 

4. Empty Cities

From the urban feel of the first few tracks we go a little more sci-fi here with melodies that glimmer like polished chrome and muttered samples giving it a futuristic feel. The atmosphere lives up the title, giving images of deserted city streets with decay & neglect all around. Amidst all of if this though is the bright hope of something green. I am somehow reminded of Wall-E and the green plant growing in the trash heap of Earth. The jazzy melody towards the end is quite haunting and very well fitting with the mood.

 

5. Glitch Police

More in line with the 70's detective feel of Lazy Radio than a follow up from the last track. Jazzy melodies and glitchy beats with traffic noise in the background most obviously the police sirens. It's all very random yet coherent enough to fill my head with images. When the jazz lady comes in doing the talentless jazz singing (doodadeedoopuda) I can only picture New York basement lounges portrayed in the movies, filled with gangsters and police a like. A weird track, horribly enjoyable.

 

6. Are You Sure?

Another loungey track filled with glitchy beats, much more glitchy that the last track. Imagine the last setting I imagined and make it much more of a fairy tale, that's what I get from this track. An urban loungey fairy tale. The bass strings and the flute I think are the main reasons for this sounding very olde worlde in style but blended in the the glitchy mayhem of the rest of the music. The meldoy that kicks of the second half of the track sees it go into 3D with the sound, similar to the first half with more of a gloss and more energy.

 

7. Reflect

A Short track halfway through the album which kind of acts as an intermission or a chance to cross over. The piano sounds like a glitchy IDM track while the atmosphere is deep yet stuttered. It feels like it should be smooth but someone has crinkled and even ripped the music. A decent bridge from the urban feel of the first 6 tracks and what is still to come.

 

8. Beautiful Sky

A Japanese sample talking about how beautiful the sky is after a shower made just for me starts us off and leads us into a nice breakbeat track. Think Digitalis but slower and more relaxed. A much more focused and driven track than those before, more musical, melodic and rhythmical and less about atmosphere and images. It's a very nice track but not so visual. I do get a summery vibe from it which is very nice, could be enjoyable in a meadow on a hot summers morning.

 

9. Seven Steps

A more beat orientated track here, a bit slower than the last one but just as involved and a little heavier, leaning more to the symbols than the kicks. There are soft female samples I can't decipher and brief bits of melody that try to take the music somewhere but can't drag it out of the beat it has laid down. A little lacking in direction but not random enough to reach the glitchy heights of the start of the album. It's neither one thing or the other and leaves me a little cold.

 

10. Some Things Never Change

The title track does what the previous track failed to do and that is to combine the glitch of the first tracks with melody and musical direction that the album is obviously trying to take at this time. The piano and the female vocals are blended nicely with the glitchy sci-fi bleeps and scratchy background. The beats are steady and there is a little sub beat like a worm that is squirming around the main beats. A great track worthy to be the title track.

 

11. The Littlest Computer

I never get why artists do this to me. This track is basically just a monologue detailing the life and times of a computer as if it had feelings and was brougfht up in society by evil owners and who had dreams of being something more. It's fairly nice to listen to but after a few listens to the album it's one to skip. Too lengthy spoken samples just get boring I think & I don't have much love for them.

 

12. Reflected

Back to the music now with a melancholic piece with fast glithcy beats and haunting melodic sounds. The samples and sci-fi like sounds fight with the retro accoustic sounds and out of date technology making a track that sounds like the inside of an A-track cassette player. It's all futuristic but backwards like yesterday's tomorrow. The melodies towards the end while remaining haunting are quite uplifting and probably the best on the album.

 

13. The Art Of Living & Dying

Another melancholic track, of which you could probaly guess from the title. The piano sounds quite sad and the atmospheric violin is a long drawn out sorrow. There are little rhythmical droplets of sound and some samples that are cut up & twisted nicely giving this track the feeling of a distorted reel to reel message. The beats come in around the halfway mark quite heavily and they do make the track a lot more interesting. They take it from a track verging on boring to a cool intricate track with some cool style.

 

14. Colours

A very vocal track with a load of spoken samples merged together into a non vocal musical sound. Sounds like something the Orb would do but in a totally different style. This is dub like it has just had a morphine shot. It's sluggish and trippy in a "I can't remember what I just saw or heard" sort of way. It's pretty nice and although ridden with samples it manages to stay enjoyable and doesn't get annoying. A good end to a good album

 

 

All in all then we have here a very ecclectic album and while each track is different from the rest they all fit in nicely with each other. You are never left with a feeling of "what the hell is that track doing here". As with all albums this varied, some tracks are not as good as others but most are above average and some are great and they go together to make a very nice album that is definitely worth checking out, it's not the best album out there but it's a good solid album.

[healium]

I'm going to have to give this one more listens - I've heard it a couple times and am not all that impressed - sounds like the artist sort of doodling or some such, very little in the way of charisma or purpose to it... Nice sounds though, and some very nice moments... Complex mix of elements too, so this could easily be an album I "discover" at some later date/it may grow on me...

[ptn]

Seb Taylor rarely (if ever) disappoints and this album is another keeper. Being ecclectic it takes you many different places, but, like Abasio wrote, all tracks have some common factor and they fit in the album nicely.

 

I have to disagree with OP about some tunes being weaker - I think it's diversity's 'fault', if some tunes are better it's just a matter of taste with this one. I didn't have the feeling any of the pieces was rushed and it's one of the marks that characterize great albums. Recommended, 9/10.