New Born - Nothing But A Title

[Trance2MoveU]

 

Artist: New Born

Title: Nothing But A Title

Label: Cronomi Records

Date: September, 2015

 

Disc One

 

1. Circus Is Open

2. Omen

3. Universal Bus

4. A Sleeper's Guide

5. Playing Games

6. Something With Stuff

7. Sun Worshipper

8. Far From Home

9. Going Somewhere Else

10. Nothing But A Title

 

Disc Two

 

1. For It's Own Sake

2. Ineffaceable Moments

3. Birds Of Imagination

4. Fish

5. Staring Into The Abyss

6. Touch Nothing

7. Healing Process (Last Of The Star Makers)

8. Gentle Perfection

9. The New World

10. These Yellow Eyes

11. Ancient Piano Melody

 

 

 

"I'm gonna do the best I can do and that's gonna have to be good enough for all of you!"

 

 

Girl you look stressed. I can relate. That's how I feel about reviewing 2 CD albums. On the one hand I'm excited like a kid on Christmas cause the possibility of aural gems doubles with another disc. But...the other hand is a slap in the face cause you gotta find time to digest two discs worth of material. People are depending on me out there, I can't half ass it. So I'm always slow on the double albums. Do you know I have yet....have yet to listen (not review) just listen to Mind Rewind 1 or 2? Can you believe that sh*t? Just sitting in a drawer. Pleaidians?

 

Please, get in f*cking line.

 

So Cronomi is a label that doesn't put out a lot of stuff, but the music they do release is usually pretty good. M-Run, Portamento, and the Erta Ale compilation are wonderful and that's the kind of stuff I expect from them now. No going back, when you set the bar high you don't try and run under it. So their latest is a 2-CD album from obscure producer New Born (Tom Rarin) who has made a few compilation appearances as well as a couple EP's. Not exactly a big footprint so this release is either ambitious or he had a lot of pent up music that needed to get out there. Either way I've spent the entire day listening to this. And I mean entire.

 

Circus Is Open- Who doesn't love the circus? Peta. Peta doesn't love the circus, buncha vegan, tree huggin, humus nazis! Actually my four year old was kinda freaked out when we took him. Elephants and sh*t. This is a nice, bouncy opener in a kind of Principles of Flight does goa.

 

Omen- This felt longer than it was. But not in a Tuesday at the office will lunch ever get here kinda way. Goa trance that was very exploratory in nature with frequent changes Not bad.

 

Universal Bus- The first of a few blistering goa tracks. Eleven and a half minutes of pure power music. I'll get on this f*cking bus.

 

A Sleeper's Guide- Psytrance with a nice guitar crunch until the last bit where it becomes a rollicking good goa track. Made me double take in a good way, like when you see hot teacher. Makes you smile.

 

Playing Games- is most certainly not playing games and is the second scorcher on this album. This guy seems to know what he's doing. He's got a good command of the ebb and flow of a track.

 

Something With Stuff- He keeps it old school with that screeching lead and it is a nimble little thing! It's a constant pumping sound that takes no breaks. Great stuff!

 

Sun Worshipper-

 

 

 

Yeah I'll be rocking this one for a while. A long while. Blistering track number three that just piles on.

 

Far From Home- He goes darker with that rumbling bass line and a little less bombastic. I sense a shift. The extended break promises a brighter day.

 

Going Somewhere Else- Yep we're a little happier now as he drew back the curtains and let some light into this dungeon you call an apartment. Geez, would it kill you to use a little Febreeze every now and then? Another track that resides just on the edge of f*ck you up.

 

Nothing But A Title- Last track of this impressive fist disc is a slinky bit of nastiness. Mid tempo and very atmospheric.

 

Pretty pleased with that. Now on to the 2nd disc...

 

For It's Own Sake- Another intro that's nods slightly towards that POF sound.

 

Ineffaceable Moments- I don't think that's a word. This track sounds like a continuation of the intro with its eerie standoffishness. Like wandering through an old, unfamiliar castle. Not goa per se, but more minimal.

 

Birds of Imagination- Still eerie, but he returned to his goa ways. It's not as lush or powerful as the goodies from the first disc yet it's not bad.

 

 

Fish-

 

Why are they naked? And where the hell are their fingers and opposable thumb?

 

I love fish. They're delicious! And this track is another good one that would seem more at home on the first disc.

 

Staring Into The Abyss- Ambient Interlude. Very science fiction-y

 

Touch Nothing- Annnnnnd we're back to the filler psytrance stuff.

 

Healing Process (Last of the Star Makers)- Mild goa trance with some Space Tribe acid washes.

 

Gentle Perfection- There ain't nothing gentle about this bruising monster! It's another that escaped from the first disc and rolls over you in waves.

 

The New World- Pretty good goa. Wasn't crazy about the main lead though.

 

 

These Yellow Eyes-

 

Creeping me out dude. No, no, you just...ah, you just stay over there. I'm good. Another good goa track that has a gentle beginning before it starts erupting.

 

Ancient Piano Melody- and the outro continues its creepiness. It sounds as if it should be a happy, ambient melody, but something about it...makes me feel as if it is a ruse.

 

First off let me say that this is not a melodic, door busting, bomb where each track attempts to outdo the previous one. So get your expectations right. There are numerous tracks here that will rock you, and that soar with the best of them, but he takes goa trance in a lot of directions. The promo says to approach this with an open mind and that's good advice. In our world of instant gratification this may be difficult for some to swallow. Find the patience and give it the time it deserves and the rewards will be handsome.

 

Second, the music is complex with melodies intertwining and new ideas springing forth within the tracks. The transitions are smooth and interesting and take the road less traveled when it comes to the current sound of today's goa trance. I like the first disc better, but that's just me. The second one seemed less...accessible let me say. It's softer almost a goa trance lite yet still with that sense of wariness. Notwithstanding this should be in your collection. Good job Tom and keep on doing what you do Cronomi.

 

Cronomi Bandcamp

 

[Ake]

Pretty good album indeed, Universal Bus and Fish are probably the best tracks. Nice job.

[Drosophila]

A great release from New Born, and yes it is very weird that with the otherwise sparse output we now get a double album! But wow this is a packed a large variety of stuff, so I imagine this has been why we haven't heard much "lately"!? The 2nd CD is my favorite, very playful and experimental, and lots and lots of layers and really nice with the more downtempo tracks as well! Some tracks also makes me miss good ol' Jikkenteki with the constantly weaving of melodies (as in Gentle Perfection), great stuff! All in all a very complex album that needs many playthroughs to digest, and that is a very good things... I quite often find that those are the releases I tend like the most in the long as they can keep on growing on me and not become stale right away

 

Highly recommended!!! 4.5/5

 

 

and BTW I love the quote inside the cover: "without music , what are we?"

[HappyHorse]

Thanks guys: working on more to come

And yes, "New Born" is one of a kind, you need time to grow into it (like all other Cronomi CDs): but that is what we want, CDs you can put up in the next decades to come

 

Feedback here is highly appreciated by us <3

[Oopie]

This a marvelous album! New Born has one of the best melodic ears in our scene and it's wonderful Cronomi gave him a chance for a full double album. He's got a knack for building the tracks patiently, yet making eloquent twists that keep the listener occupied and interested. The album is filled with rich, varied scenes with impeccable precision in choosing the right synths and effects. It's a daring, at places a bit "leftfield" even, album that I've hoped to hear in neogoa scene for way too long. It sounds like an album the producer had no rush releasing; a feeling that's all too often missing in about any modern day music.

 

Very much recommended.

[Psychedelic Alien]

Honestly, the worst Cronomi cd by far. I can not believe people like this... Every sound is the same. The same preset over and over again. And maximum 3 notes! Where is the complexity? This is kids music! Probably working on a dancefloor because of the kick... But that is simply a cheap modern kick without any interesting things happening in the rhythm section. I listened 2 times and it is for giving away now!

[The Dude]

An Absolute masterpiece,

I've been in quite a few raves here in Israel which Tom played in, and I must say his style is truly unique, the deep sound, the precise and powerful baseline, the mind blowing melodies and beautiful progression,

each and every track on this album is pure joy to the ears, offering a mix of old and new Goa sounds, speaking of sound - I've found myself many times just appreciating his ability to produce sounds that I did not even think to exist.

He's my favorite Israeli artist today by far, and I think his commercial success is a matter of time should he have the right publicity.

A true pleasure for your Auditory cortex .

[Manuser]

A mixed bag, the fact that there are 21 tracks allow any listener to like at least a few. But sorry, so many fillers in this album.

Actually at first listen, my first thought was: nice album, refreshing, morning, melodic. But after four or five listens I got a bit bored with it. It lacks something, but it is certainly not bad as background music. Now I usually picks 3 or 4 random tracks to play and it works better like this.

Tracks 2, 3, 4 on CD1 are quite wonderful, especially Omen.

[HappyHorse]

An Absolute masterpiece,

I've been in quite a few raves here in Israel which Tom played in, and I must say his style is truly unique, the deep sound, the precise and powerful baseline, the mind blowing melodies and beautiful progression,

each and every track on this album is pure joy to the ears, offering a mix of old and new Goa sounds, speaking of sound - I've found myself many times just appreciating his ability to produce sounds that I did not even think to exist.

He's my favorite Israeli artist today by far, and I think his commercial success is a matter of time should he have the right publicity.

A true pleasure for your Auditory cortex .

 

 

I cried when he played first time live in Belgium.

His melancholic tracks drive me crazy

In Israel - as he told me - he can't even walk the streets normally any more: goa super star handing out signatures (no joke) - lol!

 

 

 

A mixed bag, the fact that there are 21 tracks allow any listener to like at least a few. But sorry, so many fillers in this album.

Actually at first listen, my first thought was: nice album, refreshing, morning, melodic. But after four or five listens I got a bit bored with it. It lacks something, but it is certainly not bad as background music. Now I usually picks 3 or 4 random tracks to play and it works better like this.

Tracks 2, 3, 4 on CD1 are quite wonderful, especially Omen.

 

 

Thanks for your honest feedback Appreciated.

Let me add, well actually it is not just a mixed bag haha!

Let me tell you why (cause we worked long and hard on putting a logic into the album):

 

a ) CD 1 (compiled by dj Psara) = newer material from post 2010 - a complete new period in New Borns goa music making: harder, faster. But the focus here is "pure dance music", dancefloor stuff.

 

b ) CD 2 (compiled by me) = all material from 2000 - 2007 - all tracks were selected on their deeper trance vibe, depth and story telling and especially the very melancholic and a bit darker feeling into them (just like 'the Observer" is - all that music is from that specific period).

 

 

He and we really wanted to show both sides of New Born We hope this way we succeeded?!