Miktek - Elsewhere (Ultimae 2013)

[abasio]

 

https://youtu.be/qeUMwt_Y81Q

Miktek
Elsewhere
Ultimae Records
Released 2013/5/30

1. False Dawn 6.26
2. Elephants 5.55
3. Incompressible Flow 5.13
4. Ominous Ride (album Edit) 5.58
5. Human Theory 6.18
6. Abismo 2.0 5.05
7. Song of the Burning Mountain 6.47
8. Purity 5.43
9. Elsewhere (The Fade Edit) 6.23
10. Magnificent Desolation 8.03
11. Nascency 6.07
12. Time or Place 5.43

While this was released 3 years ago it has done the same as many of the greatest Ultimae releases, it didnt impress me on early listens and sat around on the shelf for a year or more, then I put it on on a whim and and listening to it felt like I was listening to a totally different album.
Elsehwhere is a slow, dark, melancholic piece of journey music. The tracks blend nicely into each other creating a beautiful story that I would highly recommend.

1. False Dawn
A deep slow opener sets a melancholy mood, rumbling bass sounds like a far off storm slowing approaching while light melodies feel like trapped sunlight trying to get around the clouds.

2. Elephants
1A bit more urgency with a faster beat sounding like the steady movement of a caravan travelling through the desert. Half heard utterances lie behind soft ambience and subtle melodies making me feel like I am watching from a distance.

3. Incompressible Flow
I love the beat on this track, there is a deliciously sharp edge to the one that starts off alone and it continues to sit nicely behind the full beat when it kicks in and adds the dark melancholic mood of the track.

4. Ominous Ride (album edit)
A steady beat, strong yet subtle melody and what sounds like water quickly flowing down a an uneven surface give a feeling of moving forward. The dark ambience gives it a slight edge of dread as if its taking us somewhere out of our comfort zone.

5. Human Theory
A slower track, starts out mostly ambience and feels like I am walking through a grey desolate plane, as the beat and melodies come in it builds a bigger picture, not so lonely yet still alone while surrounded by others.

6. Abismo 2.0
This starts off similar to Human Theory in feel but adds more energy to the journey, the beat remains steady, the melodies come out of each side surrounded by whoosing ambient drones, I feel grounded yet ready to fly.

7. Song of the Burning Mountain
This feels like a shift in momentumn, theres more and it is more progressive. The beats more prominent and a little quicker, the ambience flows faster all around and the is an energy building behind it all as if a train travelling ever upwards.

8. Purity
There is a deep strong bassline reverberating through this, a chittering in the background and beats that trip alongside themselves as they go. Tiny sparkling melodies makes me feel like sunlight reflecting on a mountain stream surrounded by invisible but audible insects.

9. Elsewhere (The fade edit)
Everything feels lighter in this track, the beats, the melodies the ambience all fly a little more like were moving above the ground. The vocal sample near the end is recessed as if were hearing it through the radio thats not quite tuned right.

10. Magnificent Desolation
If ever there was a track that deserved magnificient in the title it was this one. It feels at once lonely but extremely grand. Like floating above the clouds at night with nothing in between you and the heavens. The strings that flow through the track hold it all together beautifully. A stand out track on great album.

11. Nascency
A great follow up to track #10, it still has that floaty feeling but much more of a descending feeling. I feel like I am slowly floating downwards through thick cloud cover on a bed of soft melody.

12. Time or Place
A nice soft end to the album. It feels more grounded but still like I am floating. Imagine on top of the mountain, above patchy clouds and under a garland of starts. We have arrived.

Mikteks Elsewhere is a great melancholic journey filled with deep bass, bright melodies, rushing ambient synths and a lot of texture and details. For me it is one of the best Ultimae records.

Favourite tracks 2,4,5,10(!!) & 11

[Ormion]

I think it was nice, but nothing really great. I may give ti another try.

[Starkraver]

Wth , my afternoon's post is lost. (Thank you crappy connection!)

 

Nice review Abasio.

This is a nice album, 4/5 from me.

 

Fav tracks are Elephants, Ominous Ride and Elsewhere.

I felt track 3 was a misfit. Not fitting b/w 2&4.

 

Also, at first I felt the cover was very "dull", but later found it to be fitting.

[juril]

For me, the recent Ultimae releases have all been too melancholic. This was no exception, sadly.

[abasio]

For me, the recent Ultimae releases have all been too melancholic. This was no exception, sadly.

I hope this pun was intended

They have been melancholic, one reason I've loved a lot of them. It's not for everyone but I love melancholic chill out.

[Trance2MoveU]

 

This is a stare out the window with a cup of coffee during a rainstorm type of album. I've never seen anyone capture the feeling of a color, but Miktek's music shows you just what the color grey looks like. Slow and somber the lush tracks crawl underneath overcast skies. Perhaps it's a long trek across a November beach as the sea roils angrily. For me it was walking through downtown Philadelphia on a cold and windy morning with my head on a swivel. Mechanized dinosaurs raced and rumbled between massive steel and glass monoliths. Blank and sometimes angry stares from potential predators and prey; sizing each other up as melancholy melodies crawl with agonizing slowness. It's the rhythm of the city that I take in as I park myself on a bench in Logan's Circle. The music is cold and bleak as the thick, blanket of clouds block all the penetrating rays of sunshine. Piano protests echo hauntingly across scarred streets and I'm thinking I should've brought a heavier coat. This is a great soundtrack to those blustery November mornings when a long journey through your thoughts is what is needed.

 

Superb.