abasio Posted June 1, 2016 Share Posted June 1, 2016 Artist: Eat Static Title: Dead Planet Label: Mesmobeat Released: 2015/7/27 https://eatstatic.bandcamp.com/album/dead-planet-human-upgrade Dead Planet System Static 9:50 Parallel World 8:16 Dragon's Breath 7:25 In All Worlds 6:30 Irritant 6:12 Sea Of Dreams 7:31 Ringlefinch 6:00 Odious Odium 8:09 In My Dreams 7:43 Voodoo Doll 6:49 Qedarite (Bonus Track) 6:10 Agitator (Bonus Track) 7:16 Human Upgrade Frozen In Time 8:59 Dead Planet 8:20 Daemon Song 4:37 Near Future Myth 7:10 Fistful Of Shekels 6:48 The Sacred Key Of Kalfu 9:10 Cavok No Sig 9:45 Thoraxian 6:57 Seven Pillars Of Wisdom 7:42 Where Ghosts Lay... 4:26 Scavenger (Bonus Track) 3:43 Yiraka (Bonus Track) 10:13 Eat Static has long been one of my favourite artists. The albums released in the 90s were all somewhere between great and fantastic. Prepare Your Spirit is still to this day one of my favourite and most listened to albums. Its raw crunchy sci-fi sound, ladened with psychedelia and really good sample use always took me away to another dimension. In the early 2000s, output was less good, some albums that felt more pop or lounge and some retrospective compilations were all the scraps we had. So, after a long time with nothing new coming out, even Revisitation was 2009, 2015 sees a double CD of new Eat Static material. Excited I can say was too small a word to express how I felt when I randomly came across this album. Ecstatic is closer but still a little off the mark. I bought the CD instantly and was fortunate enough that my wife was away visiting her parents for 2 weeks and I was able to listen to this album a lot. I loved it from the first listen and while the downbeat CD pretty much stayed the same, the upbeat CD, mostly, just sounded better and better with each listen. This is basically exactly what I needed even if it isnt exactly what I wanted. It has the old Eat Static atmosphere, the sci-fi feeling, the cheesy but well used samples, the psychedelia and the crunchiness that made me fall in love with them in the 90s but it also sounds more modern: it feels more chrome and less raw, different but familiar, its just what I neededalmost. Ill quickly go over the bad. First there is an absolute travesty on this album; on the upbeat CD there is a song, an actual song and it stands out not just because there is singing in the middle of what is, samples aside, basically an instrumental album, it stands out because its utter shite (IMO)! An awful song, repetitive, annoying and I just wish it didnt exist. The singer is Robert Smith from The Cure, it doesnt matter, its still awful. Instant skip on the CD and I removed it from the rip I made. This is a big thing for me as I almost never skip and think that an album is much better as a whole but in this case the album is better without this song. The second negative thing I have to say about this album is that the bonus tracks are only on the digital download version. Theres no download link or code in contained with the CD so if you spend the extra money getting the CD, you end up with less music, but if you spend less on the digital download, you get more. I dont understand the reasoning behind this, as a fan of physical media it seems counter-intuitive, they must be trying to steer people away from CDs and onto downloads. Well congratulations, you made me pirate some music. Although I bought the CD I had to go to a torrent site and download the FLAC. Now, on to the positive! The rest of the music is great, really really nice stuff with an Eat static flavour in a more modern style than the albums released in the 90s. The rest of the collaborations with the likes of Steve Hillage, Chris Rich and Martian arts, work wonderfully. The samples are sometimes very cheesy (Im looking at you Voodoo dolls) but even when they are, they work nicely and even on repeated listens they hold up well. This has always been a strong point of Eat Static, cheesy sci-fi samples that actually fit in to the music really well and there is no exception here, theres even a smattering on the classic Wrath of Khanh sample Let them eat static! which gives the music a nostalgic touch. The upbeat CD is very danceable, even when listening at home I feel my body aching for the dancefloor. My favourites are System Static, Dragons Breath, Odious Odium & Voodoo Doll, they are all very energetic with nice acid touches and trippy atmospheres. Voodoo Doll has some really cheesy Scooby Doo samples but they work pretty well and the synths and bassline just make me melt into the wall. The downbeat CD is not so downbeat, its not ambient made for floating off in a dreamy haze. Its quite powerful downbeat, strong beats, harsh synths and while its definitely downbeat it still has a lot of energy. There are some tracks with lengthy samples, Frozen in Time and Dead Planet that get a little tiresome after repeated listens dont go so far as ruining the music even after 20+ listens. Standouts on this CD are Near Future Myth, its dark atmosphere punctuated by bright melodic sounds, Cavog No Sig also with a dark atmosphere and surreal landscape and Where Ghosts Lay which sounds like its title, very soft glitchy piece with ethereal voices. All the rest are decent and quite eclectic while keeping with a similar feeling, the Eat Static feeling. The Bonus Tracks I was quite hoping for these to be crap and justify them giving them only to the digital crowd but theyre not in the most part. None are quite as good as the best on the actual CDs but theyre pleasant enough and fit well on the end of the CDs. Agitator is actually a little mellower but still with a lot of energy and makes a fitting end track. Yiraka at the end of the downbeat side is a nice dreamy track with what sounds like flutes blending into female vocals. All in all its a very worthy purchase. Except for one track the upbeat CD is fantastic, the downbeat CD has some less stellar tracks but they are all at least good and there are some wonderful standouts. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blubber Posted June 13, 2016 Share Posted June 13, 2016 yesss, i like this also sooooo much. this is robotic metallic atmospheric futuristic star-wars-sci-fi trance with themes and twists. i don't care how their previous output sounded, this is a strong release with lots of ideas in typical eat-static-manner. one word about the utter shite: In All Worlds is The Best Psypop hymn that psynews (and me) has seen the last years, trust me. this is a melodramedy around the schizophrenic culture of ourselves. surrounded by brooming slow beats and a madmaxian soundscenery Smith's voice creates a image of a tortured soul on Dead Planet. this is AWESOMEEEE. my favourite track of the year from all genres!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abasio Posted June 13, 2016 Author Share Posted June 13, 2016 Well I'm glad it's been well received by some. But personally I can't stand it (@_@) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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