VA - Vampire Sunrise

[abasio]

Artist: Various

Title: Vampire Sunrise

Label: Celestial Dragon Records

Released: 6 Mar 2009

Style: Ambient/Downbeat/Dub

 

Tracklist

 

1 Colourform - Magic Carpet (Ishq Remix) (10:27)

2 Evan Bartholomew - Spirit Happening (4:18)

3 Overflow - Scintilla (7:10)

4 (Val)Liam - As Is (8:50)

5 Distant System - Lost Sequence (9:06)

6 Ishvara - Nomad (Arabian Remix) (9:32)

7 Open System - Rise And Shine (6:56)

8 KiloWatts - Nub (7:36)

 

 

Vampire Sunrise is the latest compilation on Celestial Dragon Records who have previously brought us Androcell, (val)Liam, Papa Legba, Distant System as well as some old Ishq material and the compilations Portals Of Perception, Intermittent Memories and Future Sound Theory. Definitely one of my favourite labels recently with their nice polished sound I think of as enhanced organica.

 

Vampire Sunrise is quite a mix of styles starting out quite ambient with Colourform - Magic Carpet (Ishq Remix). I wouldn't trust anyone but Ishq to remix his own work and I feel this is as good if not better than Flying Carpet. Not just because the volume is better but because I find it even more visual. Imagine standing on the edge of a cliff watching the sun slowly creep above the horizon and into a clear purple sky. Below the cliffs a milky coloured ocean crashes waves against the rocks and whirlpools eddy in the middle distance. Nice naturally alien sounds bubbling away nicely.

 

Next up is Evan Bartholomew - Spiritual. Evan is a producer who has impressed me a lot recently with his more ambient work. I like his Bluetech material but I think it's with his more relaxed music that he shines. This sounds like if Evan played on Celestial Dragon, more melodic and slick than on his Somnia releases yet just as relaxed and it could start you on a journey. Unfortunately it is too short and is over just as I am getting into it.

 

Third on the card is Overflow - Scintilla where the beats start. Nice crisp beats laying nicely under a great piano melody and some funky rumbling bass droning in the background. The beats evolve into something breakier and we have definitely arrived in danceable chillout territory. Nice melodies, cool wet sounds cascading down and a nice atmosphere make a track good enough to follow Ishq and Evan and seamlessly raise the tempo. Good stuff here.

 

Next up is (val)Liam - As Is. (val)Liam released his album Daydreamer on Celestial Dragon earlier this year and this track is reminiscent of the more upbeat tracks on that album. Like someone brought modern technology to the mid nineties and created that sound in this clear crisp way. It all blends together and no one thing is the only thing you are left with at the end. The nice piano melody, electronic melodies and clear crisp break beats and nice soft synth work all play a part. A nice atmosphere is created good for chilling at home or out and about.

 

Distant System - Lost Sequence is next and I have to say although I really like Androcell, the music he has produced under the pseudonym Distant System is much more to my liking. I love the heavy yet relaxed beats, the spacey atmospheres and the whole feeling of being immersed in the music I get from it. This could have been on Spiral Empire yet stands aside from that album in its more grounded on an alien world kind of atmosphere rather than floating among distant galaxies filled with humanity like I felt from Spiral Empire. The melodies feel like they belong on a new Colourform album painting orange and purple skies, yellow oceans and red foliage while the beats keep us ever moving and the background ambience floats us around the stratosphere giving us a bird’s eye view of this alien planet.

 

Softly sneaking in are the beats of Ishvara - Nomad (Arabian Mix) filling the air with warm nostalgia as they are instantly recognizable along with the friendly synth drones and alien atmosphere? This sounds strikingly similar to the original at the start but as the track progresses there are different beats and some subtle use of instruments like flutes that I cannot remember from the original. The drones also feel closer at times, building to a very dense feeling at the end and the beats more of a focal point fitting with the current mood/style of the album.

 

Open System - Rise & Shine starts the final section of the compilation in a more dub kind of style. It has the repetitive mellow bassline, dubby beats and a strange summer quality that doesn't quite feel right. It's not summer as I know it, maybe some alien summer or a dark lengthened eclipse kind of summer. The tribal vocal samples and twisted synths add to this odd feeling like funky little aliens on summer vacation under the shade of the Himalayas. This is a very cool track with a nice atmosphere.

 

We finish off with Kilowatts - Nub which like Kilowatts's album Ground State is heavy on the bass and heavy with the beats. Like many tracks on that album it begins kind of random and feels like it's not going anywhere but by the time it's halfway through it has become a great piece of music, funky yet full of atmosphere. All the glitch comes together into a coherent, memorable track. With some really nice melodies and ambience as well as some really cool deep bassy synths this track sticks in the memory and begs to be played again. A perfect ending track to convince you to give the album another spin.

 

 

This is a very nice compilation then. I think this might have slipped under quite a few radars. There was buzz about it but nothing in the months leading up to its release. It might not be an essential purchase but it is a good compilation and a very safe buy. Celestial Dragon lovers should really like it. I also think it is a grower, when I first popped it in my CD player I didn't really connect but after giving it some time I find the beauty of it unfold like a sharp alien flower. Well done to Celestial Dragon Records as they are making this year a competitive year for chillout music

[Sawfly]

More than decent compilation. Might not be the best some quality moments here anyways..

 

4/5