Bill Posted March 18, 2015 Share Posted March 18, 2015 Blue Lunar Monkey All One Altar Records Tracklist: 1. Omkara 2. One Love 3. Metilbufotenina 4. The Unknown 5. Interstellar Travel 6. Dream Wonderland 7. Union If you've enjoyed anything from this Mexican producer's previous three full-length down tempo albums then you'll be sure to find much to appreciate on "All One." At his very best (which he offers up quite often), Blue Lunar Monkey is pure magic. And at his least, his tunes are good without ever sounding like filler. In short, this is a very solid outing for the veteran. Of course, there are many out there who need to know if this is the best album that the Monkey has yet come up with, if his art has come to the pinnacle of his abilities. To that, I'm not so sure there is a "best" album from this guy. Perhaps his impressive debut on 2007's "2012" is his best or maybe the gorgeousness of 2011's "Here And Now" is. No question, there's much evidence for 2013's "Spirit Molecule" to be his signature work. However, there are many reasons to consider this outing as his best yet. That's kind of the point. Blue Lunar Monkey is a very gifted producer and he taps into many of the same heavenly frequencies that he has in the past making the very best moments of "All One" equal to the very best moments of any other track he has ever created. If that means he has not progressed much as an artist then so be it. More accurately, perhaps, is that this is a great producer who is continuing to make some very great music. The 10-minute "Omkara" opener is pure bliss, a spiritual journey of sound where the samples are a lovely invocation toward the listener's relaxation and the constant "Om" chants in the background are hypnotically beautiful without ever becoming too chilled-out. Here, on this great track, the Monkey grooves and weaves a very wonderful spell. Too, on the sunny dub follow-up of "One Love" much magic is conjured from his hands and mind, remembering not only the lovely dub moments of his own history but also seeming to recall some of the most pleasing times of another great down tempo producer, Androcell. The swaying dub and spirit-soaring rhythms and melodies on "Union" seems to combine the best of those first two tracks and emerges as a staggeringly good album closer. "Interstellar Travel" is an outer space gem, content to float among the star dust with eyes wide open at the wonder of the galaxy's expanse, an imaginative seven-minute piece of gold. And if there are three other tracks here that do not work nearly as well the feeling is that BLM did not skimp on the quality of those. He certainly tried but I found different things not nearly as enjoyable, be it with some of the melodies or rhythms. Long one of my personal favorites for down tempo producers, overall, "All One" is a testament to how good Blue Lunar Monkey is at his craft. No better than any other album he has created but just as equally good as he has ever been before, a fantastic continuation of one man's excellence at making soothing and wonderfully rhythmic music. () 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djzen Posted March 18, 2015 Share Posted March 18, 2015 Nice and very fair review. Thank you. The album is here: https://altar.bandcamp.com/album/all-one-24bits 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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