Bill Posted February 23, 2015 Share Posted February 23, 2015 Hux Flux Circle Sine Sound Label: Z-Plane Records A mix of the old-school and the new-school with results that vary greatly in quality, sometimes quite frustrating, sometimes quite pleasing, sometimes just head-scratching - in short, "Circle Sine Sound" is quite Hux Flux-ian. For best results one need locate a trio of tracks in the middle of the album where the old-school psytrance sound is in abundance, where that sweet spot between morning progressive and prime-time full-on is struck to superb results. "Snake Oil And Charlatans," "Finite Automata" and "Tarantula" displays everything great about the Hux Flux sound and why ears perk up when the artist's name is mentioned. Here in this trio, Hux Flux lives up to his reputation as a legend and shows why, in his best moments, that status is deserved. For forgettable results - of which, regrettably, there are several - the silly "Monkey Business," K-hole oppression of "Disco Dissociative" and psygressive commonness of "Collapse of the State Vector" and "Neural Growth" run the gamut from weirdly experimental to crowd-pleasing. In its most accessible moments it is the slick, over-used studio trickery that does "Collapse of the State Vector" and "Neural Growth" in, with sounds that feel so typical for the Beatport psy crowd, with the same tired syncopation filling in the voids where rolling, hypnotizing bass lines used to suffice back in the day. Even then, back about five or six years ago, if the same sounds were used over and over and over again at least it sounded more psychedelic and created better results upon the listener. Here (and just about anywhere else it is used) that annoying use of dramatic silence and subsequent syncopation feels lazy, uninspired, unimaginative and nearly derails a great track ("Snake Oil And Charlatans") when it makes its appearance there. Too, the Logic Bomb remix of "Bring Your Own Bios" is woefully out-of-place in this collection. After a few short moments it is clear that this uninspired full-on is not going anywhere and a remaster of the vintage track would have been a wiser choice. At least with a Hux Flux track it can take up to two-thirds of its play time before one realizes the production is not of the greatest artistry. "Circle Sine Sound" is big and full-sounding psytrance that is slick enough to convince that you are listening to some excellent stuff and for a few precious moments, you are. You truly, truly are. But for many moments, you truly, truly are not. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
healium Posted February 24, 2015 Share Posted February 24, 2015 I have mixed feelings about this release - some parts are amazing, but others sound uninspired or just don't come together in a pleasing or congruent way.. Tarantula, for instance, is epic for the first half, but why climax the track halfway through and then have 4 more minutes of non-melodic whatever? "Collapse of the State Vector" starts off great but then loses the vibe it had. "Finite Automata" is a great track all through - he really nails that one.. The samples in "Neural Growth" are terrible, very annoying - samples should be 1) brief, 2) catchy, and 3) not out of sync with the music - these samples fail on all fronts.. I wish he would either go more melodic or go fully zany Hux Flux style like on Cryptic Crunch.. The melodies in Cryptic Crunch were awesome though.. These tracks have too much full-on style to them.. It is psychedelic, but missing the inspiration of Cryptic Crunch.. I disagree about the Bring Your Own BIOS remix though, that one I think is pretty killer.. Dennis was super drunk or something when he played out this way, a couple years back - in a lowered state of consciousness for sure.. I think he needs to do less of that and more psychedelics and meditation and so forth.. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest antic Posted February 25, 2015 Share Posted February 25, 2015 Thanks guys, will skip it then. Too bad, had high hopes for it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
healium Posted February 26, 2015 Share Posted February 26, 2015 Just check it out on Spotify. Do you have that? Everyone should have Spotify - you can create an online library of unlimited albums for free, and listen to them as much as you want - it's the best thing since ITunes/IPad in my opinion.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Posted February 26, 2015 Author Share Posted February 26, 2015 Thanks guys, will skip it then. Too bad, had high hopes for it Most of it I would not listen to very often but there are two or three tracks that are very, very good. The album is worth checking out as an old fan but do lower your expectations a bit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
psyber Posted February 26, 2015 Share Posted February 26, 2015 Thanks guys, will skip it then. Too bad, had high hopes for it my friend!!check it out for your self first!!ther is always the matter of personal taste.and thank god its different from one to another.sure the reviews are very helpfull but in the end you ate the one who has to make the choice always friendly Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Cocco Posted February 26, 2015 Share Posted February 26, 2015 Hi guys, you can stream the full album here and decide what you think! Whoever uploaded this -- it gives the artist and album more attention, feedback, and potential sales. I keep noticing more full album streams online, a smart move. Most people do NOT like 0:20 or 0:45 sec samples. To whoever opens a review thread, please include the full track list. Here you go, and Bill thanks for the review!Tracklist1. Collapse Of The State Vector2. Disco Dissociative3. Snake Oil And Charlatans4. Finite Automata5. Bring Your Own Bios (Logic Bomb rmx)6. Tarantula7. Monkey Business (Feat. Bgm)8. Neural Growth9. Witches And Wizards10. Dub Mantis (As Illuminus)My opinion is that some of it's pretty tame, minimal (for Hux Flux) and uninspired unlike Cryptic Crunch. I miss the Goa influence, the melodic ingredients, and global album innovation. Yet other parts are great. Why not just make the whole thing great? Collapse Of The State Vector is okay. I didn't like it the first time, too risk-free and general Full On sounding to me, but not bad! Disco Dissociative is more psychedelic, varied up in mixing FX. But the track's pretty minimal for Hux Flux. It lacks being daring, imaginative, and infectious. I enjoyed the previous song more, though the second half grows a bit more lively. Finally we come to Snake Oil And Charlatans which starts good and gets great IMO. The song develops. It's rhythmic and exciting, and grows catchier as it progresses! Thank you. Yes! I love the melodies, the beeping echoed FX, technical mixing aspects, and more. The songs fun, darkly composed, and magnetic. The brief, minor, FX moment without the beat seemed unnecessary but didn't ruin the song for me. Great work! Then there's Finite Automata which is... also great, for some this will be stronger! Next up is Bring Your Own Bios (Logic Bomb dmx), a more driving and intense, determined sounding. The song changes up and stays interesting. It shows off yet another bundle of developed skills. Oh man this is nice! Tracks 3-5 blow the first two out of the water. Furthermore, they show me an evolution in Hux Flux that's different from Cryptic Crunch and I really, REALLY like it. Next is Tarantula. The first half is great. The second half isn't bad either, just less exciting. The last act is pretty forgettable, typical psytrance sounding actually. I'm not sure why the artist didn't go all out and build on the midway climax, taking the song to the next level. That would have been amazing on the dance floor because the direction was great for a while. Monkey Business (Feat. Bgm) is different. I'll give it that. Now I'm gonna go watch Planet of the Apes (the not shitty version). Was that a dog barking too? This artist has made far better tracks before. Neural Growth is back on track, it's catchy! But the cheesy (over usage and manipulated) voice samples distract from an otherwise sleek and slick vehicle. Dub Mantis (As Illuminus) is pleasant, though the male hymns I could have done without. Dub was never my thing. The melodic element's nice, unique. I would have preferred a kickass PSY downtempo number with atmosphere and goa influence, personally. CONCLUSIONThe middle third of this album and a few tracks (or parts of tracks) around it is VERY GOOD... proof that the artist & label could have benefited from releasing a non-mastered video link to the forums for feedback on how to improve the whole before the official release. The artist still processes serious skills. The album's not high on great tracks. In that sense, I wish the artist took more time to make every track count because it's been a while since we received a Hux Flux album. The stronger an album, the more excited people get obviously, the more attention, etc. With a few more super songs, this could have been a super album. While it's a mixed bag to some degree IMO, some of it really shines. Check out the free stream and decide for yourself. Favorite tracks: 3 (!), 4 (!), 5 (!), 6, 8 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Posted February 26, 2015 Author Share Posted February 26, 2015 To whoever opens a review thread, please include the full track list. Here you go, and Bill thanks for the review! Right on, thanks for the suggest, will do that going forward. Spot-on review, Jon, really enjoyed reading your words. As far as Dennis looking for feedback on how to make the album better my thought is that he was not making this one for the discerning listener like with "Cryptic Crunch." It's like "Division by Zero" in that some was very good and some was not. It probably does not matter to him any more whether the music is great so long as people see Hux Flux on the album cover and pay $$$ for it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Squid Posted August 26, 2016 Share Posted August 26, 2016 This is a nice modern psytrance album. We are not 1999, so please face the reality. Hux Flux didn't make it for money, you know very well how much money one can get from releasing an album nowadays, so this is just naive. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mozza Posted August 27, 2016 Share Posted August 27, 2016 I really like Tarantula but some parts of track are very similar almost identical as his track Somnambulant, released in 2012 for Zero1 Music. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YW-LLlHLpVg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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