V.A. Jupiter Toadstool

[kazuku]

Here is a review I wrote a couple of weaks ago:

 

Artist: V.A

Album: Jupiter Toadstool

Label: Quantum Frog (www.Quantumfrog.com)

Release: 02/2010

 

http://www.beatspace.com/dettagli/dettaglio.asp?id=5309

Tracklist:

1. The Nommos – Freaky Baba

2. Polyphonia – Reprogram your mind

3. Zik and Orestis – Belo Alemao

4. Glosolalia- Once upon a Time (Part 1 Psyche and Eros)

5. Alien Mental – Believe This

6. Munk E – From Within

7. Polyphonia and Zik – Music is the Way

8. Quantize Mechanics – Ram Jammer

9. Will O Wisp – You know its true

 

Here goes with one of the most interesting twisted nocturnal releases so far in this yet young year. Jupiter Toadstool has a lineup which creates high expectations, throwing a bunch of heavyweight artists into this psychedelic brain stew. The chef took a whole lot of Greek psy-salsiki, some Indo-Californian tantra curry and some other selected, secret ingredients to cook up this strange alien dish. Gordon Ramsey would be intrigued.

Lets take an in-depth look at the exotic ingredients needed in the creation of this dis(k)h.

The alchemical chef must take, in this order:

 

1) 1oz Nommos sonic extract:

You can recognize this component by the established Nommos style. This is characterized by one foot of the sound being solidly grounded in earthen tones, the other being pulled up by a vortex leading to alien-infested scenarios. The general mood within the chaos is one of progress rather than desperation. We find a lot of energy-winding up micro breakdowns along with the staple clinical alien dissection effects, images of overgrown jungle temples with hi-tech cores and the balancing portion of organic grit to keep the contrast battery going.

This reminds me of some of my favorite Nommos tracks, like Magma, in the sense that “tribal rooting” of the sound keeps it rich and progressive without overloading your ears. Imho the sound retains a clear and lucid quality in the chaos, a clear message demanding interpretation. A clever person once said…there is no chaos, only patterns we cannot comprehend. In this case this may be true. Good start, solid Nommos track.

 

2) 2 ml Polyphonic juice

 

In my mind Polyphonia style stands for a tight, metallic, heavy sound. In this case the chef needs to steal some Psy-salsiki juice from the gods on the Olymp. Thus the angry Greek gods unleash their thundering anger in form of a grumpy baseline and insectoid insect plagues, scratching at our sanity. Metalic, leaden farts guide us through the labyrinth of android eeriness. There are short moments where the veil is lifted and silver glassy shards pierce through twisted disharmony. There is a looming sensation something is being revealed to us as the Zeus sets hyperspace alight with electromagnetic energy.

 

3) Next we require must combine elements of Zik and Orestis to a metaphysical vegetarian gyros extract.

 

Zik and Orestis make for a very delicious combo as I find that they balance themselves well to create an interesting style. On the Zik side we have the wonderful world of rubbery cartoon physics he likes to create, full of demented melodies, twisted comic imagery..you know….Looney Toons on acid with a Nitrous tank strapped to their backs….Blurping, belching, android sounscapes with an ever-present sense of trademark humor oozing through the sonic pores of this monster.

On the Orestis side of the recipe we have the typical relentless determination, metalo-organic grinding and epic qualities that make the sound special and keep it somewhat grounded. Great mixture.

 

4) 38 grams of rare Glosolalia powder

 

Represents a new name for me, and a big surprise. What this track delivers can only be described as epic. This does not mean everyone will like it, I think it is a typical love-or- hate affair.

We are gently pushed onto our voyage with a spacey, brooding, hi-tech scenario…we find ourselves transported to metallic caverns dripping viscous, organic ooze. Bird like aliens call us deeper into the cave with their hypnotic chirping. The groovy pattern underlying this chirping leads us to a stunning crescendo which phases us a giant worm hole. On the other side we find ourselves floating in a bubble surrounded by a Technicolor rain crystals, glass spheres, rainbow shards sonically raining down, cascading cosmic keys, cartoon pianists and disturbed nursery rhymes.

Insane, unpredictable beat patterns help us to disassociate and surf the crystal cascades creating an epic journey. At the end of our trip, we return to the same dripping metallic womb we emerged from, this time engulfed by a sense of warmth and security, reinforced through mystical chanting.

Definitely a controversial tune with a story to tell, not easy listening

 

5) A pinch of Alien Mental pineal fluid curry

 

Alien Mental..the name is agenda.

Shut up earthling! Resistance is futile! Straight onto the cold examination table, alien surgeons staring you down. Strapped down, disassociated, unable to move..yes earthling, you will be probed, relax and it will be over soon….

I found this less overloaded and flipped out then some other Alien Mental stuff though as it has an imposing and playful baseline which rolls around and purrs like an affectionate cat, taking up a wide area of our attention field..

Don’t resist, it wont hurt….

As the probe scans deeper you fee pleasantly distracted by prophetic mumbling under clinical, crisp squeaking and dramatic atmospheres vibrating more weirdness then the Mos Eisley Cantina. As I find myself back in bed in a flash (with a slightly throbbing rectum) we conclude we have heard more crazy alien mental tracks.

 

6) 1 gram grated Munk E metaphysical banana peal

 

This begins its journey with hard-hitting determined baseline over-layed with insectoid chittering, metallic vibrations and subdued vocal samples. Again we have glimpses of sparkling crystal cascades flowing down. Around the 3 minute mark my pineal gland started to bleed black crystals because of the dramatic psychedelic effect that caught me by the balls- scratching at a hyperdimensional door. Again we experience humorous acid cartoon physics effects…… bleeping, blurping, streeeetching, and co…n..tarc..tiiiing over the crunchy back drop. Eventually we drop into a beatless playdough zone where we are led into an eerie landscape of twisting ravines a windy peaks in a seemingly desolate world, guiding us to an extended outro.

 

7) 1 teaspoon monoatomic Polyphonia/Zik granulate

 

Another delicious combo guiding us into another stretch and boing fest and safari through a sonic zoo. We soar past scores of 3 trunked space elephants, their trumpeting heralding Armageddon fending off pineal gland sucking mosquitos. 1000 watchful insects cry out as the madhouse is open for all. Boooing…..booooing….boooooooing….pjingggggg ….comic effects mastery and psychoaerobics in a rubber (veeeery rubbbberry) cell.

 

8) A tiny amount of rusty scrapings of Quantize Mechanics

 

The intergalactic radio dial is adjusted until we find a suitable station, to which we quickly adjust. A sick, snarling, vibrating, scaling baseline helicopters through space, throbbing through fields of insect-robots. Occasionally the dial is tuned to capture alien bleep and burp signals. The baseline seems to be fighting an internal battle with itself, plodding along as if marching against a force field slightly holding it back, causing it to recoil and wind down before shifting back to warp drive, always remaining intense and fidgety. Not one of my favs.

 

9) Finally, to complete the recipe, we need 1 strand of Will O Wisp hair

A dissociative twisted carnival intro spirals us straight into galactic warfare. Nagging space gnomes soldiers perform a ritualistic, heavily tribal dance while playing intergalactic laser paintball. Random binary codes pass down cryptic information causing the cosmic server to wind down. After restart we have entered a lift off sequence culminating in a mechanic rapture.

 

Having carefully assembled all components for the recipe how does the soup taste?

Strange but delicious! Has some real highlights and very few weak moments. My personal absolute highlight is the Zik involvement because he brings heaps of originality to the table. I repeat myself, but he really is the master of psycho-stretch cartoon core imho. I like this stuff much more than his Horror Place stuff and I hope we can have another album in the old Zik style which I have missed.

 

Polyphonia and The Nommos tracks are also bombs as could be expected, and Glosolalia was a huge surprise for me with this epic track drenched in psychedlia. The album never ventures into areas of desperation, under all the layers a positive message of progress and evolution remains the common theme.

 

I was a little bit disappointed with the Alien Mental track….I expected to be fully dissected but unfortunately I was only probed a little bit. I thought there would be more of a psy massacre here. I also found the Quantize Mech track to make a spectacular start only to become slightly boring to my ears later on.

 

I found this to be the best psycho-nocturnal release this year so far. Sits in a zone where it remains lucid enough for a full home listen, something that cant be said for many “dark” release 2010 AD. I am curious to here what people think of track 4.

 

8/10