"V/A - Reefer Madness"

[Trance2MoveU]

 

Artist: Various

Title: Reefer Madness

Label: TIP.Records

Date: November, 2003

 

1 Dickster – Dizzy Drops 9:43

2 Bamboo Forest – Parallel 8:30

3 Orion – Activity 7:47

4 Sybarite – Mint Condition 8:22

5 Pixel vs. Wrecked Machines – Help The Situation 7:34

6 Aphid Moon vs. Lucas – OK People 10:06

7 TCD – We Can Still Make A Change 7:19

8 E-Jekt – Afrikan Nightmare 7:58

9 Logic Bomb – Hazy Mazy Cave 7:08

 

I'm going back into the vault here. 2003 seems like an eternity ago but due to the phenomenal track record of Lucas on compilations like Tales of Heads and God Save The Machine I decided to complete the Lucas hat trick with his first compilation effort. He used to mangage the legendary Flying Rhino records back in the day. I had never heard this before but with a pretty attractive tracklist I was intrigued. PKS reviewed this on Discogs 6 years ago, but I thought I would give it a fresh coat of paint. What makes the tracks Lucas selects for compilations so awesome is that they are heavily psychedelic with great atmosphere and pumping sound. Not the dreary cut and paste boredom that a lot of full-on suffers from.

 

Dizzy Drops- "I feel dizzy..."

 

Ever play dizzy bat? We used to do it before Ultimate Frisbee games. It's where 2 players chug a beer and then with a bat standing on the ground, put their heads on the handle and spin around 10 times. Then you race to the finish line some 10 yards away. Most don't make it...well, at least not in a straight line. Baseball players do it without beer, but it was more fun to watch with the hooch. Don't get too close...

 

This is Dick Trevor with the opening track of almost 10 minutes. If you are unfamiliar with his style, go check out God Save the Machine. You won't be sorry. The beginning sounds like alien communications traveling across the stars. Very spacey with a galloping straight forward bass line. What makes it appealing is the effects. It's not until after 3 minutes that a lead appears, but it works perfectly with the groove. The break is ominously dark with cold pads and bubbling synths. Pretty good track, but I think it would've been better if it was shorter. Still, great way to start.

 

Paralell- It's 2003 up in here so this is when Bamboo Forest was really good. The effect sounds are deep and undulate like a wave, crashing at different points. The lead has it's origins in the goa sound accompanied by some chopped up strings. Miss some ethnic chants? Don't worry they're here. Thankfully they aren't overdone. The goa melody returns for the end and man it is nice. I didn't think it was as powerful as the first track, but it was still very good. 2 for 2 people...

 

Activity- Jean Borelli has been doing his thing for a long time. Sure he doesn't bring it like he did, but he still belts a cracker out every now and then. Outer space and alien effects complete with lasers and the crawling of some monstrous beast start it off as an acid line streaks across the sky. The layers begin to pile up and there isn't an inch of wasted space. The break was expansive and dark, but didn't stay long enough for me. But the atmosphere of the track was palpable, really thick. I liked it. A lot.

 

Mint Condition- "What was I doing? What was the meaning of this trip?"

 

I had some comics from the Marvel when I was a kid, but when you're a kid you're stupid. I didn't know anything about saving them or keeping them in "mint condition." So you know what my brother and I did? We thought it would be cool to put tracing paper over the cover and trace the image to maybe learn how to draw. Idiots. Totally f*cked up #10. Dr. Doom looked like sh*t.

 

This is Lucas and some guy named Rick Featherstone. He's been around a long time that's for sure. This is the definition of an effects driven track. Bass line gallops on as dark sounds cascade all around you. Bubbling, echoing, and forest like deliciousness. He teases with slight peeks of melody, but alas that track on the sequencer stays dark until almost 7 minutes! These guys are like Hitchcock! Even without melody, I thought it was a really intense and atmospheric trip. Loved it.

 

Help The Situation- "You can do whatever you want to...there are so many options...that's what life is about."

 

No kidding. I wanted a sandwich for lunch today...and you know what? I f*cking had a sandwich.

 

I'm sorry, I lied. I was too lazy to fix it so I had nothing. But hey, that's an option. Right?

 

Somebody left their Electribe on for this track. Wait, they didn't have those back then. The bass line does its running thing as percussion echoes along the track. Samples sound throughout this thing, but it is minimal and rather...nah, it's really boring. There is only one way to help this situation and I think it's best we never speak of this track again.

 

Ok People- "Ok people look sharp, we're gonna run this simulation one more time. Remember if we overshoot, there ain't no comin' back."

 

Well Lucas is back with some pre Global Culture Aphid Moon. So that's good, right? Not so fast buddy. Let's not forget that the minimal revolution just recently finished spreading its dark seed back in 2003. So what you have is a bass line and what I call noisy effects that don't really contribute to the feeling of the track. Basically it's let the track run and we will pepper some sounds over it. And don't forget the LSD sample that's in there. But back in 2003 that was a lot cooler. Better than the last one, but that's like saying getting peed on is better than someone dropping a deuce on you.

 

We Can Still Make A Change- "We can still make it out of here. Come with me. We can have everything you ever wanted. Nothing.Ever.Changes."

 

If the gentleman is referring to nosedive the compilation is taking, well you can always make the change. To another compilation! HA! Zing!

 

This is a teamup of rather terrible artists (IMO...jeez, don't get so testy!) and it sounds just like you think it would sound. The bass line left running on the sequencer and mediocre full sounds play over top of it. The whole way through. The best part was the sample. Does TCD stand for Terrible Crap on Display? I think they knew, because they made only one track.

 

African Nightmare- ZZZZzzzzz.......wake me up when someone bumps the sequencer. The DMT sample today just sounds tired and cliche but back then it might've been fresher. I think that Africa has gone through enough in the past several hundred years that adding this isn't helping. Slavery, constant civil war, poverty, famine...they don't need any help from this track.

 

Hazy Mazy Cave- Yeah, I like some Logic Bomb goodness as much as the next guy, but this....well, let's just say this is not their proudest moment. Everyone played Mario Brothers back in the day, but why artists think it's a good idea to make a track that piggybacks off stuff like this is beyond me. I can sum this track up in but one word...cheese.

 

Wow, that went downhill at ludicrous speed. Give 'em a break though, it was only 2003 so the artists were finding their groove. The first 4 were nice, but after that, welcome to craptown. Kinda cool to see the evolution of Lucas as he was laying the foundation for his future comps.

 

Holy f*ck Psyshop actually has it!

 

Saiko Sounds

 

Goa Store too?!? What else are you guys hoarding?

 

 

Mdk