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Koxbox: The Scanner 2015 . ZERO ONE MUSIC


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Will be curious to listen to it but indeed that bassline is an instant no buy for me, I personnally didn't really enjoy U-turn even though it had good moments but this dance floor oriented psytrance is not my cup of tea.

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  • 2 weeks later...

the sample sounds pretty dull, but they are basically just intros... Heard him play stuff which was supposedly from this release back in November and it work fine on the dance-floor, dunno about home listing though...

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  • 2 weeks later...
Guest antic

Was anyone able to find longer / better samples?

The ones I linked above contain primarily some buildups / fade-outs, so difficult to judge properly.

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Guest antic

New samples up on Psyshop and they actually sound interesting. It's not an old-school Koxbox obviously, but good nonetheless - properly twisted, psychedelic, dark, a bit reminiscent of the output from Bom Shanka Rec. and (better, more involved & developed) Nano Rec.

 

I actually might get it after all.

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The cover is koxbox style but the music is 100% full on, i have heard the samples on psyshop and well it is not what i expected, but of course it would be better to hear full tracks. Also this was made by Frank & Illinton

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The cover is koxbox style but the music is 100% full on, i have heard the samples on psyshop and well it is not what i expected, but of course it would be better to hear full tracks. Also this was made by Frank & Illinton

 

I really enjoyed the "Hidden Pathways" album by Frank E & Illinton, so that's ok by me. :)

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  • 2 weeks later...
Guest antic

So, how is it? Based on the samples alone I can't really decide whether to buy it or not (same like with latest HuxFlux...)

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Guest antic

I've bitten the bullet and bought it :o

 

After 3 full listens my short review would be: it should have been better, but it also could have been a lot worse - style-wise it's like British psy-trance, i.e. focused on atmosphere, layers, sound-trickery, atonal blips & blops and while there are some melodic passages here & there, it's never the main focus. It's all very playful, even experimental at times and still has that vintage Koxbox' feel. My main gripe would only be with regards to the full-on bass lines that really hold it back, I think - I'd appreciate some more craziness in the bottom-end of the sound spectrum. Still, I need to give it some time to grow, though - such things can hit you hard when you least expect it.

 

BTW, mastering is fine ^_^

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After reading Bill's review I bought it too... Got the download from psyshop but probably will wait for the disc to arrive before checking it out. Didn't listen to the samples either... I'm actually a bit scared to listen to it :D

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Guest antic

After reading Bill's review I bought it too... Got the download from psyshop but probably will wait for the disc to arrive before checking it out. Didn't listen to the samples either... I'm actually a bit scared to listen to it :D

 

Well, IMO it's nowhere near the quality of Dragon Tales or other Koxbox / Psychopod output of that era and actually it's much more similar to U-Turn released in 2006 by Twisted Rec., which was heavily criticized for being too much influenced by full-on*. But I don't regret buying it, as it is quite good but if I were you I'd keep my hopes / expectations in check :)

 

 

* and the new album is stylistically closest to "Next Stop" from U-Turn, which IMO was the weakest track there, in particular because of full-on bass line that constrained the rest of the arrangement into cliched squelch-fest.

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Well, IMO it's nowhere near the quality of Dragon Tales or other Koxbox / Psychopod output of that era and actually it's much more similar to U-Turn released in 2006 by Twisted Rec., which was heavily criticized for being too much influenced by full-on*. But I don't regret buying it, as it is quite good but if I were you I'd keep my hopes / expectations in check :)

 

 

* and the new album is stylistically closest to "Next Stop" from U-Turn, which IMO was the weakest track there, in particular because of full-on bass line that constrained the rest of the arrangement into cliched squelch-fest.

 

Similar to U-Turn as far as full-on, absolutely! However, so much of Dragon Tales and Forever After is weird and wonderful and creative and imaginative, very similar to this album. In each track on The Scanner there are some weird and wickedly trippy alien transmissions going on (you'll know them when you hear them) so you cannot just limit it to a "full-on" release. It is very much a piece of art, like the Koxbox goa albums, above all else.

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After 3 full listens my short review would be: it should have been better, but it also could have been a lot worse - style-wise it's like British psy-trance, i.e. focused on atmosphere, layers, sound-trickery, atonal blips & blops and while there are some melodic passages here & there, it's never the main focus. It's all very playful, even experimental at times and still has that vintage Koxbox' feel. My main gripe would only be with regards to the full-on bass lines that really hold it back, I think - I'd appreciate some more craziness in the bottom-end of the sound spectrum. Still, I need to give it some time to grow, though - such things can hit you hard when you least expect it.

 

BTW, mastering is fine ^_^

 

Great short review (as usual). I often wonder why you don't contribute more to the review section as I often appreciate what you've written.

 

It's interesting, I went in to this one with low expectations and got floored. Then went in expecting a great listen and came away kind of disappointed. Then just let it be what it is and it was great again - haha. It's that kind of album!

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