Squid Inc. - Indelible [Trick Music]

[antic604]

 

01. Untilted

02. Orthocone

03. Indelible

04. Uncoiled

05. Architeuthis

06. Prehensile

07. Decapod

08. The Worm (Part II)

09. Entrapment of John Dory (Squid Inc rmx)

 

Squid Inc. is a collaboration project of two very prominent artists of early 2000’s: Ady Conor and Santos de Castro. Their music was never ‘goa’ and gravitated strongly towards more ‘psychedelic’ venues, with Ady’s Scorb project prefering more varied, experimental and - slightly - brighter sound, while Santos’ Deviant Species focused on darker, cinematic, entrancing experiences.

 

“Indelible” is a music for a dark sci-fi horror movie, with lots of cybernetic sounds and vast atmospheres, punctuated by a minimalistic, relentless beats. Their label - Trick Music - refers to it as “psychedelic techno” and it’s a fitting description: a lot of care is placed to the sounds and textures, that are given plenty of room to breathe: develop, morph, change over time ...and repeat. Stylistically it’s somewhere in between forest darkpsy and full-on: it has that nightmarish, menacing vibe, density to the sound and attitude of the former, but with a hard hitting stabs and mild “melodic” hooks of the latter (think Nano Rec. style). It’s definitely much more dancefloor friendly, without being cheesy or overly simplistic. The arrangements are usually pretty straightforward: 1st half introduces various “melodic” and “sonic” ideas and sequences, while the 2nd mixes it all together in a jazzy manner, i.e. the sounds and sequences complement or are talking to each other, creating more intricate patterns.

 

Having said that, more often than not it does sound pretty “boxy” and “sequenced”, meaning that most of the phrases start and are repeated in equal, perfectly timed measures of 4, 8 or 16 beats. Also, while the tracks are definitely not static, they - and the album as a whole, as well - don’t really progress in a flowing, gradual and incremental manner like Deviant Species’ “In The Hands of the Randomiser” did. There’s no story here, I think. It doesn’t help, that - sonically - most tracks sound similarly and thus lack identity or uniqueness: the drums, bass and effects are very much alike, if not copied outright. Further still, a lot of those sounds can be traced back to their early 2000’s releases, which can be taken for laziness but I prefer to think of it as consistency of style...

 

Still, certain tracks stand out: “Untitled” - where all the layers come together in a satisfying final run, “Orthocone” - with it’s liquid, crunchy bass line, and well-implemented haunting melodic elements, “Architeuthis” and “Prehensile” - which are funkier, screamingly acidic, percussive and get very ominous and hypnotic; or the remix to the their mysterious classic: “The Entrapment of John Dory”.

 

Overall, it’s a very solid 3/5 release and if you’re familiar with and liked Deviant Species’ “In The Hands of the Randomiser” or Scorb’s “Ipso Fvcto” you should be happy with it, because - to certain extent - it’s more of the same, just with a spit of modern polish on top.

 

Buy CD & digital straight from Trick Music:

https://trickmusic.bandcamp.com/album/indelible

[recursion loop]

sonically - most tracks sound similarly and thus lack identity or uniqueness: the drums, bass and effects are very much alike, if not copied outright. Further still, a lot of those sounds can be traced back to their early 2000’s releases, which can be taken for laziness but I prefer to think of it as consistency of style...

 

I didn't listen to the whole album, only several tracks from bandcamp, but my first impressions are the same: typical psytrance sounds thrown over a typical full-onish bassline.

 

Recently people were discussing how to make FM leads for pystrance at another forum, and Scorb posted this:

 

"The FM thing has been done to death though and apart from the ubiquitous galloping bass is one of the sounds in psy that can make it mind numbingly derivative and boring. I've been at more psytrance events than many have had hot dinners and everytime I hear tracks that contain little else other than that FM sound, it makes me roll my eyes skyward and head for the bar! We caned that sound 15 years ago and it no longer sounds futuristic.

 

Innovate don't imitate"

 

Well, I think calling this "mind numbingly derivative and boring" would be way too harsh, but I don't hear much innovation either. That galloping bass is very prominent here. I didn't hear much sounds that could be attributed to this very recognizable two-osc FM made in Nord or Virus, but other cliched psy sounds are definitely here as well

[antic604]

Well, I think calling this "mind numbingly derivatie and boring" would be way too harsh, but I don't hear much innovation either. That galloping bass is very prominent here. I didn't hear much sounds that could be attributed to this very recognizable two-osc FM made in Nord or Virus, but other cliched psy sounds are definitely here as well

 

Yes, hence the 3/5 rating and "it's more of the same, just with a spit of modern polish on top" conclusion...

 

Too bad really, because I had high hopes for it, even though early previews suggested it won't live up to my expectations

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I'm just finding it a bit funny that one of the creators of this album tells other producers not to use old sounds and production techniques and to invent something new instead but is totally sticking to such sounds and techniques himself.

[antic604]

Two weeks later it still - mostly - sounds pretty bland, boring & uninspired. Normally it wound't bother me, but in this case i.e. the album being written by two established artists with critically acclaimed back-catalogue; I can't get over the fact that this could have been so much better! All the ingredient are there, but somehow they end up adding them to create negative synergy - it's constantly lacking something, be it structure, variety, catchy riffs, variation, etc.

 

Sigh...

[Daksi Timecode-Sangoma]

I enjoy this album a lot ... more for listening at home and in the car - not really what i would play ... for that i rather stick to

Scorby classics... Production of this release is next level and alone that a pleasure to hear ... 4* from my side

[antic604]

I enjoy this album a lot ... more for listening at home and in the car - not really what i would play ... for that i rather stick to

Scorby classics... Production of this release is next level and alone that a pleasure to hear ... 4* from my side

 

It's funny, because I find myself listening to this mostly in the car as well - it somehow works very well in that context, although it must confuse a lot of people when I'm stuck in a traffic jam or at the pedestrian crossing and there's this loud kick/bass thumping from a company VW Passat driven by mid-aged guy in suit & tie