V/A - Earth

[Jon Cocco]

V/A - Earth

Altar Records

2010

 

 

 

1. Vibrasphere feat. Iz - Tierra Azul (Vocal Version)

2. CJ Catalizer - 2012

3. CJ Catalizer vs. Zymosis - I'll Be There

4. Tentura vs. Zymosis - Unity of Cultures

5. Zymosis vs. Tentura - Magic Species (Kadasarva rmx)

6. RA - March of the Lunar Priests

7. Lab's Cloud - Raining Over The Sun

8. Chronos - Ants World

9. Asura - An Talamh

10. CHI A.D - Lost Island

 

 

Earth is the first Altar Record's compilation of 2010, and the fourth in the elemental series after Air, Water, and Fire released in 2009. As with the others, this is a Psy/Chill down and mid-tempo compilation.

 

 

1. Vibrasphere feat. Iz - Tierra Azul (Vocal Version) begins with gentle piano keys, running water. This is a floating, meditative downtempo track. I really like the instruments (piano, guitar), subtle distortions, pads; the female hymn's are nice too. Somewhere in the middle, the track reaches an elevating interlude. I simply wish more of an evolution took place past this center into the last third. This is a pretty good number. B

 

2. CJ Catalizer - 2012 is more interesting than the last, beginning with strong ambience. The song has an emotive feel early on, developing well over the first minute. I like how the songs take time to develop, and the distorted, psy work around 2:00 as the beat picks up. An interlude transitions a progressing evolution with more movement. Coupled with catchy psy sounds, varied melodic elements, and a rumbling, downbeat backdrop, the ambient notes enhance its direction in the second half. Although the melodies could have been stronger, the song has a psychedelic edge. Good track! B+

 

3. CJ Catalizer vs. Zymosis - I'll Be There is one of my favorite tracks on the album. Although what appears to be an echoed baby's voice close to the beginning is a little strange. It soon ends. The song begins and develops extremely well. The first realization and energy pack is uncovered around 3:31. The slowly trekking music remains mysterious, yet gradually revealing. The speed picks up at 4:33; it sound great. But the melody that arrives at 5:12, combined with strong supporting work, is wonderful. It soon enters a romantic transition, before evolving into an even more awakening spirit. There's moments when I feel like this song could have been inspired by Solar Fields - Movements album, along with previous songs via Altar Record's compilations: Air, Wind, and Fire. The melody lead from around 5:14 forward is arresting, and compliments the floating backdrop. Beautiful number! A-

 

4. Tentura vs. Zymosis - Unity of Cultures is one of the more psychedelic (Shpongle and/or Younger Brother in fair comparison) tracks on the album. The alluring entrance develops nicely with startling and/or distorted nature-esque psy sounds. Prior to the first minute, a bright melody appears, and is soon comforted in a blanket of ambient. A dribbling touch of water joins an interlude as a catchy, psy industrial/machine sound emerges. Halfway into the second minute reveals that this is a mid-tempo number. There is a cool, foreign sounding build up; a strong melody lead arrives around 3:05, and the entire song break out around 3:15. The song is terrific past this developing moment, becoming more psychedelic, touched up, until around 4:30 at least where a female vocal enters. The excursion flows smoothly as ethnic melodies swirl around a psychedelic backdrop. The beat and rhythm return at 4:48 with a twist/catchy melody lead supported by another intertwining lead. This is an intricate, evolving cocktail of flavors, cleverly fused together as an elaborate psy/ethnic influenced downtempo gem. Excellent track. A

 

5. Zymosis vs. Tentura - Magic Species (Kadasarva rmx) starts out more ethnic, primitive, and atmospheric. Sounds of flute, drums, and various other instruments set the backdrop, coupled with psy segments. This stream soon emerges into a back beat, at 1:50, that is really catchy. The music picks up around 2:12; it's fluid and flows well, and soon approaches a beat-free interlude. The music becomes more psychedelic as it returns and crosses the fourth minute. It's here that I find its swishing, background, and distorted sound alteration/direction less satisfying. I feel like I need something more musical to balance them out. Nevertheless, the song has interesting moments. Some may like its rougher approach. A hard drum combination enters around 5:55. This parts really good, and provides more of the tribal trance influence that I like. Beyond the catchy, thumping segment, there's little that hooks me, but the song ends soon after. This is a fairly good. I liked the others more so far. B

 

6. RA - March of the Lunar Priests begins with a wonderful, warm, and slow melody that reminds me in concept of Transwave's classic Land of Freedom number. A surprise takes place around 1:48; the song forms an emotional dragon, awakening into mid-tempo. I wouldn't be surprised if RA was inspired to make the beautiful harmony after hearing the the wonderful Sugar Rush (Kanc Cover) from Altar Record's super Fire compilation. Maybe not, considering their known for strong melody work in general. A dreamy, floating interlude takes place. The song evolves to some degree past this, remaining strong with varying melodies, rhythms, and its beautiful harmony lead's return. I feel that the song's a little repetitive sounding, but its repetition works to its advantage here. The mid-tempo approach was unexpected after the dreamy opening, and compliments the track. Great number! A-

 

7. Lab's Cloud - Raining Over The Sun takes place as if moving over a vast cloud or horizon. The song has an interesting, atmospheric entrance, and builds nicely. This seems to balance well various psy elements in combination with more stand out melody work. The rhythm picks up around 2:42, forming a crunchy, layered texture. It's great. A gentle, ethnic, female voice enters around 3:22 and the beat chills to accommodate a floating segment, as if being suspended in motion. The beat returns at 4:25, along with the crunchy movement. I love the echoed part from 5:20 to 5:50, and find it extremely gripping. I think the song could've become more powerful, had it built upon this beat-driven section a little more before the elegant melody returned. Brought back as well is the female voice, albeit skipping a la Aes Dana's Lysistrata. This is an interesting, psychedelic number with a good rhythm and beat. I found that the melodies stood out more in the previous track, but this develops a cool balance between psychedelic and harmony, and concludes in a wave of peaceful atmosphere. Another solid track! B+

 

8. Chronos - Ants World has an interesting beginning, pulling the listener into its building, musically delving sound fusions, like a star moving across the universe. I feel like we're in space, surrounded in blackness. This is a very different number from Chronos' other songs. A melody emerges around the first minute, combined with slow, catchy ticking sounds, and a sense of optimism. The beat kicks in around 1:45 and is coupled with tasty, echoed psy effects, various other melodic elements, atmosphere, and ambient. There seems to be a really unique combination of sounds taking place here, though the track has an experimental edge. Different layers move in and out at times like colors being added to a canvas. The song shows more of its individuality throughout the third minute as it develops, shows more of itself. Female hymns work nicely over the floating, developing backdrop, and the galaxy arrives at an gentle interlude. This took time to grow on me. A stand out instrument however, throughout the fifth into sixth (stopping around 6:14) dragged further than I would have preferred. Other than that, I liked this track and found it more innovative in ideas than the previous number. This worked more in the first half than the second, but still the song's quite different from anything I've heard. That said, I enjoyed Chronos' Deep Unity number far more on V/A - Fire. This is a good song with some curious, experimental elements. B

 

9. Asura - An Talamh I have one issue with. I'm going to briefly discuss it right away because I love this thing after that. The song starts off well, with a spacey, floating introduction. But does the part from 1:37 to around 4:00 (not right away but as it passes the third-minute mark) not a little too drawn out? I felt like the song got stuck for too long there, although the introduction hooked me right away. Once the music fades around 4:13, well from 4:20 forward, it's magical. The spiritual beauty begins to show as this light moves towards its celestial energy pool, and ignites to take part with the phenomenal whole. The second half of this number is on par, if not arguably better than some of the best work on 2009's Solar Fields - Movements album. It's that wonderful relative to its enlightened evolution, from 4:19 forward, as it lets go of form to be reborn at 6:42 forward. The second half of this track is stunning! I simply wish the first half was better constructed (maybe take out the emphasis hits starting at 3:38) and didn't feel as repetitive due to such strong "emphasis" sounds repeating (after the solid intro). Because otherwise, this is one of the most wonderful tracks. A-

 

10. CHI A.D - Lost Island is a passionate and emotive downtempo number. It took some time to grow on me due to its slower, more contemplative, provoking feel. I really like it overall. The opening is mysterious, sounds organic with elements of wind, sky, air, and various other elemental sound. The ambient around 1:02 is very pleasent, coupled with various instruments and a strong bass line (that which begins at 1:39 I believe). The gentle female vocal hymns work nicely too. This has a fantasy, dream-like sound to it. I find it interesting at times how the artist integrates a deep, meditative element while keeping me engaged. The song has a beautiful elevation/interlude around 4:50; I just wish that the continued to develop that beautiful opening a little longer, or have that as an opening to a wonderful final third (as opposed to returning to its general, pleasant ambient, strings, etc). The strings are a nice touch and provide a harmonious feel. CHI A.D is one of the most solid artists in the Psy genre. I'm glad to see he's getting some attention here. This is a good/great and mature storytelling track with some beautiful elements. B+

 

 

In conclusion, there's a handful of great tracks here. Earth is much better than Air, and I enjoy it almost as much as Water and Fire. The several vs tracks are well done too. I'll Be There excellent. And Unity of Cultures is like a tasty cross between Younger Brother, Shpongle, and something else. The only vs. track I don't care much for is Magic Species (Kadasarva rmx), but it's above average. Add to that, new and exclusive numbers by Asura, RA, Vibrasphere, and CHI A.D., and more. Earth is one of the better Psy/Chill compilations of 2010.

 

 

Favorite tracks - 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 9 10

 

B+

 

 

 

Samples / Order

 

http://altar.fonderieart.com/earth.html

 

http://www.ultimae.com/en/distribution/456/index.html

 

 

[mystical dragon]

yup nice album love Ra's and asura's track the most ,when is asura coming out with his album his song on water marina falls was exellent tooo.... 3.5/5