Cyrus The Virus - Virtuoso

[Trance2MoveU]

 

Artist: Cyrus The Virus

Title: Virtuoso

Label: Vision Quest

Date: July, 2007

 

1. The Gathering

2. Quantum Mechanics

3. 2 be or not 2 be

4. Virtuoso

5. Acid system

6. All I need

7. Kingdome of heaven

8. Innocence

9. Out of time

 

This is the 2nd album from Jan-Willem Bot and if you look at the surface of things it is just another full-on album. Shanti Matkin? Pop Stream? Atomic Pulse? I don't think you can get any more full-on than that. I mean Vision Quest released it and they have a compilation called: yep you guessed it "Fresh Full On Trance." Also, can you really call it an artist album if most of the tracks are collaborations? Still, I somehow keep coming back to this. Call it a guilty pleasure. Now I'm not going to blow smoke up your ass and tell you that this redefined the genre blah, blah, blah. Cause it in no way does that. But I will tell you that there is a level of detail in most of the tracks that you don't normally get in today's full-on.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Got Ya! This is pretty much color by numbers full on.

 

 

The Gathering-

 

Ahhh, the gathering. If you ever wanted to see the largest assembly of white trash in one spot then this is a must see. Usually held in the middle of nowhere ICP freaks congregate for a festival of fun. Kinda like psy festivals. Without the incest, unemployment and faygo. See any CEO's in that picture? Of course you don't.

 

The first track is a collaboration with Shanti Matkin. Is that him singing? I've heard this "song" in other tracks, but I have no idea who it is. The Arabic sample sets the mood as the tabla is struck. The only remarkable thing about this track is the synth at the end. Super powerful and engaging as it streams over the running bass line. Great? Nah, not really.

 

Quantum Mechanics- "We need a new realm, a new vision. We need a new spiritual way of understanding the nature of what it is to be."

 

Quantum mechanics is a heavy subject which reminds me of a class I took at university called Quantitative Analysis. It was tough and I was elated to get outta there with a D. Maximum respect goes to Sebi for his 2003 album Respect which I thought was brilliant. This one is deeper with more layers and a thicker sound. Plenty of synths vie for attention as it gets pretty groovy. The break and samples are big pluses here. Good stuff.

 

2 Be or Not 2 Be- I hate it when people don't spell out the words. Why stop at 2, why not just type b for be? Just a pet peeve. *Pulls big boy underwear on and continues review.*

 

So here you get a triple play of full-on artists with Jan and the first lead gets the life strangled out of it. Very poppy with chopped up synths but the break shines as a new lead swirls underneath. It's slick and demands someone twist the cut-off knob. As one synth melody comes another one goes. It's very smooth and what I would call a guilty pleasure.

 

Virtuoso- Virtuoso is another in the growing list of "words that are thrown around too casually department." Like special. Or sex addiction.

 

See what I mean? Do we honestly think he is a virtuoso? He can't even put his hat on straight. Quick, get some water, he's on fire!

 

I would say this was pure full-on, but the samples are interesting and the leads are very active to keep it fresh. Also, it has pretty good pace. Don't throw away your U-recken disc, but we have all heard a lot worse.

 

Acid System- See, here he goes with that nimble lead of his. It's dominant right into the break as new melodies slowly germinate (took a plant biology class) like a rebirth. I liked it...it was not too complex and went by quickly.

 

All I Need- Oh f*ck. Hear that synthesized voice? That can only mean that the bizarro version of CPU is on the track. That is the only explanation. You cannot tell me that the guy responsible for Computer Error is the guy making music today. "All I need?" You need to stop putting out sh*tty music.

 

I wonder if this will help me sh*t?

 

Yes it will.

 

 

Kingdome of Heaven- The sample is definitely futuristic and I would've typed it like I normally do, but I heard it, and I still don't understand what I heard. The only computer class I had in high school, I failed so that put an end to my computer study. Give me a break, it was when the language was Pascal and Basic before the intarweb. Full-on to the bone with chopped up choir pads and 4 on the floor tempo. Stop me if you think you've heard it before.

 

Innocence- More full-on bass line and drifting pads to start things off. The hi-hats jump in and he snaps his lead like a belt. The break is pretty deep and comes across as pretty emotional. The best on the disc. Then it's right back into the bounce. Good stuff.

 

Out of Time- The writing is on the wall gentlemen...your track is...what's the word I'm looking for?

 

 

 

 

He's good with the leads, I'll give him that. Also, makes the most out of a his breaks. I think he has talent and remember this was done over 4 years ago. Doesn't hold up well however. Full-on all the way. It's decent, but the only problem is there are like 872 other acts that sound the same. Virtuoso? Uh....no.

 

Psyshop

 

Beatspace

 

Saikosounds

 

Mdk