"V/A - Manga Vol. 3"

Trance2MoveU · November 12, 2011

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Artist: Various

Title: Manga Vol. 3

Label: Yabai Records

Date: September, 2011

1. A long time ago - Phatmatix

2. U.F.O - B-55

3. Clean page panic - Damage and Orca

4. Dude Rude - Bliss Vs. Brave

5. The Moment - A-Team

6. Freaky Boyz - Mesmerizer

7. A man on acid - Azax Vs. Bliss

8. Dangerous - Brain Hunters

9. Final Line - Toxic

There are certain labels that you follow without question. For me, it's Suntrip for goa trance, Iono and TesseracT Studio for progressive, Ultimae for chill, and Timecode, Nexus Media, and 3D Vision for the twilight genre.

Oh and don't forget Yabai Records. This label is responsible for some of the best twilight compilations as well as the stuff from Frozen Ghost, Phatmatix, and the Manga series. You know that whatever they release it's going to be quality. Well, the last Damage album sucked sweaty goat dick but even God made the platipus. I mean, not to question his unquestionable authority, but....what the f*ck was that?

So yeah, Yabai has earned some credibility from me. Think of it like this. Know how in the US the bunny tries to steal the Trix cereal but he is always thwarted? Well Yabai has been a label with such strong releases it's a different story here.

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"That's my motherf*ckin' Trix!"

Therefore it was with great happiness that I heard of the 3rd installment of the Manga series was on the way. Here come the people who know how to get the job done with dark, atmospheric, twilight music.

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Except this sucks. Good early but then the wheels came off. Let me show you how I got there.

A Long Time Ago- It seems like a long time ago that we have heard from Stephane Rault. His two studio albums Sorcery and The Divine Comedy are benchmarks for me in the twilight genre. Fast, atmospheric, and melodically dark. Here he is channeling his inner French Renaissance with classical strings mixed with electronica. It's groovy no question and he uses great sounds to maximal effect. The break is an evolving entity as he twists voices and the end shines with an even funkier groove. I enjoyed it once I got past it not being a dark symphonic tale and took it for what it was. A good time.

UFO- This Japanese duo have been twilight music staples and fixtures on Yabai compilations. They bring a rumbling bass line and loud effects with which to melt your brain. It's pretty layered with tons of sounds giving the track some thickness. No real melody to focus on, but that's all right as it's a driving straight ahead track.

Clear Page Panic- "I'm gonna ask you a bunch of questions...and I want to have them answered immediately."

Firstly, where does harmless office fun end and sexual harassment begin, eh governator?

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"No Herman Cain, No! No! Very bad!"

The acid work is superb and this relentless track will have them dancing in the streets for sure. It's a pure power track that is the unquestionable gem of the compilation.

Dude Rude- Hey a Bliss sighting! Welcome back, I hope you enjoyed your vacation from making quality music and are ready to get back to work. I mean, did you hear Looney Bin? I haven't seen someone fall that fast since Tiger Woods bagged all those hoes. I believe Brave is an alias of B-55. This is a quirky track that is full-on all the way. Build up? Yes, of course. Cornball sample? Absolutely. And right about here the tide started to turn.

Guess he's still on vacation.

The Moment- "And this is the moment the entire world has been waiting for."

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Yep. The McRib is back. You know they have a McRib locator so you can go online to find it. I'll give you a hint f*cknuts it's at McDonalds. I know, I know...they're hard to find.

So much wrong here, where should I start? First, there is only one A-Team. B.A. Baracus would be turning over in his grave. If he were dead. I think I saw him pimping a gold chain on QVC. Poor name choice aside, this one had some good musical moments with a screaming lead and a nice break, but all of that was undone with the painful build-ups and guitar.

Freaky Boyz- Let's leave the "z's" to the hardcore gangsters like N.W.A. And Chris Brown.

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Yeah, that'll help album sales.

Yabai I don't know if you've had some layoffs due to the poor economy, but clearly the quality control guy needs some more re-certification. This doesn't even sound like stuff you would release. Full-on, build up. I was listening to this around Halloween and well...

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Look at him...he's in such pain. Why would you do this?

A Man On Acid- Let's not even get into the discussion of how far Azax has fallen. Common knowledge that I feel has been well documented. But since you continue to align yourself with psytrance poison Bliss you only have yourself to blame. Think of a bland scoop of vanilla ice cream, in a plain white bowl, served in a purely white room with white furniture. Now repeat it for the rest of your life and you will have this track.

Dangerous- Brain Hunters is Alfonso Zambrano and I think he tried to set the build-up record in one track. If you keep building up, the track never reaches its peak. Musically there were some strong bits but not enough to combat the avalanche of crap that rained down from up high.

Finish Line- And then we have this. The only thing Toxic is his music as he fell off the psytrance wagon and got run over by all the oncoming traffic long ago. I'ts intense, I'll give him that. I also like the kick drum + guitar + cymbal stab. But the problem with beating a horse to death is that you're left in the middle of nowhere with no f*cking way to get home. The sample is screaming at you, the build ups were excoriating, and...for God's sake I'm thinking about taking up those chicks on their threesome offer...

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"No...No! Look what you drove me to!!!!! Damn you! Damn you to Hell!!!!"

Oh Yabai, I expect so much more from you. Generic and incredibly annoying full-on loaded with painful build-ups without any of the dark, storytelling atmosphere that you're known for. What happened that you would ruin this once proud series of psytrance? Are you mad at me? Was it something I did? Tell me what it is and I'll change it. Look...I still like this label and think they can come back from this.

But like the beginning of the Lion King you never got to see...

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