V/A – YggdraSounds II (Yggdrasil Records)

[psytones]

V/A – YggdraSounds II (Yggdrasil Records) 2009 (YGGCD003)

 

 

1. Konkylie - Bikini Lagune (8:34)

2. Loke - Expand Horizon (8:16)

3. Helan & Halvan - Gnomen (9:57)

4. Krussedull - Whiskeyjack (9:22)

5. Hutti Heita - Indianer (7:49)

6. Purosurpo - More To It (Version 2) (8:27)

7. Troglodytes - No Isolated Archetypes (8:09)

8. Freeform Syndicate - Roar Like Thunder (8:31)

9. Kanka - Supreme Beings (9:39)

 

Bouldering thundering roars can be heard deep inside the forest, bears lift their head in questioning awe, dears run for shelter, the squirrels gather their flock to party down and the Moose, King of the forest, shakes his head, smiles and asks; what’s up with these crazy Norwegians? YggdraSound II is undoubtedly a strong, thick and bold release with nice clear sounds running all over deep inside its forest bubble. The tempo and grooves are stable, the feelings are in constant wonder and it aims to comfort you, relax you and create an amusing show of bleeps, piips and meeps. What is most impressive and standardizing about this release is its sound of haunting atmospheres, creeping and squeaking effects and a sense of being inside a world manipulated by party trolls. Because of the strong groovy baselines in most tracks you feel like you’re riding a Safari truck from the other dimension, riding along an adventures mystical forest trail of dark trees, unsettling fog and some colorful frogs and insects. Most of the album is a gathering of tracks made by Yggdrasils core members Alf, Kim and Frode. These guys have scattered them self out in varies projects where they collaborate with each other or stand alone in their solo projects. They all sound pretty much the same which is the foundation of why this compilation gets a review like it was a album instead of a V/A release of multiple artists and impressions. YggdraSounds is a focus on making one unique sound that will represent them with deep rolling baselines in a superb sound quality with thick/soft grooves and a production that is extremely pleasant on the ear – It deserves a massive sound system to be recognized for its audio genius. I think you either love this music, or you think it’s nice with some value as it has a certain cool factor about it. It doesn’t excite my pants much but shows a lot of impressive promise in sound and production. At times they seem out of ideas of what to do, how to thrill. Loke is for me the track with the strongest baseline grooves though it has a stupid melody being repeated to create that strange factor, while Krussedull, Purosurpo (One half of Derango) and Kanka is the ones giving the smartest tricks and hidden melodies. Konkylie is presented as the opener sound on both compilations and is the one act I expected the most from since their track on the first YggdraSounds was impressive. It represents a killer opening and a good sound, but as it nears its end it gets extremely boring and it would help a lot to have the sample removed as it is hyper annoying, ‘for the last time’. The down tempo track in the middle by Hutti Heita pauses the repeating feel through the first half of the compilation but unfortunately it ends up sounding as a slow version of itself and becomes boring too fast – none the less a smart move to place a breaker in the middle of the compilation. After the break we get a couple of acts that heighten the tempo and provide us with some much needed fresh air with faster beats and snappier effects while they still deliver true YggdraSounds but in a more Swedible fashion where the atmosphere is thinner and more in your face. The compilation ends with Freeform Syndicate which is the combined project by Alter Egon and Loke, and Kanka takes us back to the introduction realms of chubby vibes, but delivers a trippier touch to finish off a mediocre but interesting release. On a positive note the artwork by (Are) Marmelade on both YggdraSounds releases has been nothing but pure beauty and the mastering is done by the honorable and repeating name within mastering, Tim Schuldt.

 

Recommendation: I think a major problem for me personally on my taste is the vary trials of making strange moods and melodies. In my opinion they fail and sound strangely uncomfortable or boring and not pleasantly strange and exciting. If we take away the strange trials of making something sound strange, and we take away the at times random but nice sounds floating around we are stuck with a strong sound image that delivers in all its glory a humping and pumping compilation which is soft and relaxing like a huge sofa. It’s the way the sound walk, the grooves and wiggle that saves this shit from being flushed down along to a forgettable puddle of sounds. After multiple listens in different moods and on different sound systems I feel it’s wearing a strange cloak – maybe it has elements that I can’t see yet, maybe. But I strongly feel that this album is giving me all it can give and contains very few surprises. Yggdrasil Records is a fairly fresh Record Label still trying to make their ground and sound. I think that with some more work and imagination these guys will be able to deliver us some of the more impressive work heard, no doubt. The strong foundation has been laid down so it does sound good, but YggdraSounds has a potential to sound even better and more interesting. With these words I congratulate the YggdraCrew with their massive success seen round the globe and especially in India, because needless to say they are praised as being something fresh and innovating. This second release is a step up from the first release so we should expect something extraordinary from the third release in the YggdraSounds series. In short: If you’re after something new, fresh and strange maybe something you haven’t heard before, seemingly deep in emotion and impressive baselines that sounds cool and feels relaxing while being played, this may be a winner.

 

 

Where to buy and other links:

Yggdrasil Records: http://www.yggdrasilrecords.net/

Psyshop: http://www.psyshop.com/shop/CDs/ygg/ygg1cd003.html

Saikosounds: http://www.saikosounds.com/english/display...ase.asp?id=7744

Beatspace: http://www.beatspace.com/dettagli/dettaglio.asp?id=4653

Wirikuta: http://www.wirikuta.at/web66/product_detai...owDetail=215250

Discogs: http://www.discogs.com/Various-Yggdrasound...release/1629663

MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/psytonesmusic

[-N-2-O-]

Yes! This Is The Stuff.

[Ormion]

Nice comp. Not every track is great, some of them are a bit boring, but overall it delivers a strong forest feeling.

7-7.5/10

[Sawfly]

Nice comp. Not every track is great, some of them are a bit boring, but overall it delivers a strong forest feeling.

Yeah, it's nice but it could've been better. I'll stick with Sanaton's releases if I want real forest trance :posford:

[psytones]

I defiently forgot to prais the intelligence in this album as I should have, I'll write a review for the first YggdraSounds and shange that, because it's deserved, for sure!

 

I have heard the album from further away, hhe, if you can say that, and there are some secrets in it when it comes to melodies being spread wide that took me by suprise here one stoned night.

 

And Sawfly, this might not be as powerful and real forest music like Sanaton, but it is fucking real moss music, which stinks more forest then anything lol

 

[Sawfly]

And Sawfly, this might not be as powerful and real forest music like Sanaton, but it is fucking real moss music, which stinks more forest then anything lol

 

Yeah it's a different style and Sanaton has taken the forest music to the more psychotic edge. I didn't mean this is bad music, no sir, but still it's not fully my style so...