Kri Samadhi - Konx Om Pax [Ovnimoon Rec.]

[antic604]

01. Degrees Of Self
02. Tomorrow Will Come
03. Untamed Clocks
04. Diver Down
05. Space Ripping
06. The Journey
07. The UFOs
08. One Million Years
09. Speaking Voltages
10. Entropia (feat. Cydelix)

While the actual origin and precise meaning of the phrase Konx Om Pax is elusive - links are drawn to the ancient cultures of Egypt, India and Mayans and even to the mythical Atlantis - its usually thought to be connected with mysterious, spiritual ceremonies. In its early years, psychedelic goa trance parties and culture also heavily evolved around Hindu beliefs and symbols, the famous Ohm sign in particular. In the US one of the organisations promoting the culture from early on was TOUCH Samadhi, founded by Chris Johnson a.k.a. Kri Samadhi.

As far as I can tell, "Konx Om Pax" is actually his 1st full solo album under that moniker, but digging deeper there's huge catalogue of releases - as Annunaki, PulseWave, Sonance and others - ranging from industrial, techno and psy-trance to down-tempo. One would think, that with such an overwhelming discography his music would be something special? Well, both yes and no. On one hand, "Konx Om Pax" is a beautifully electronic creation, full of modular synths trickery, organic sounds and mind-altering tweakery. For the point of reference, I'd say it sounds similar to early Wilidthings Records releases (e.g. V/A "Wild Rumpus", RealityGrid's self-titled album) or Goa Gils The Nommos project: a fresh, deeply psychedelic, acidic and underground sound, taking a middle ground between full-on and the darkpsy. However, for most of the time those beautiful sounds seem to be wasted to create incoherent, messy and disjointed pieces without much in a way of purposeful progression, meaning or direction. Mostly, its just a bunch of sounds on top of - pleasantly soft, but punchy - 4/4 beat, which I guess is fine for the dance floor but disappointing for home listening... From time to time you'll get a glimpse of interesting sequence or a melodic riff binding all the bits into an *almost* meaningful whole ("Diver Down", "Space Ripping", "Speaking Voltages", "Entropia"), but more often than not things quickly fall apart into dissonant, off-tune meanderings only glued together by the pulsating rhythm section (case in point - "One Million Years" that starts awesomely ...and then gets lost). Obviously, there's nothing inherently wrong with that kind of music, but it requires something special to stand out and this one doesn't have it, IMO. Also, as its often the case, the best track is the one featuring a guest musician - in this case Cydelix - which strongly suggests that the main artist works best with others, where his sound-engineering chops are complemented by someone else's song-writing abilities.

All in all, this was a pleasant but ultimately forgettable release.

3/5

Samples:
https://soundcloud.com/krisamadhi/sets/kri-samadhi-konx-om-pax-cd

Purchase here:[/size]
http://www.psyshop.com/shop/CDs/ovn/ovn1cd112.html
http://www.beatspace.com/9689/Ovnimoon+Records/KRI+SAMADHI/Konx+Om+Pax/detail.aspx

[recursion loop]

I wonder what Cydelix is doing here. For what I know about him, he is mostly doing downtempo and atmospheric DnB, very mellow and melodious music barely touching psychedelic.

 

As for your opinion on the album I fully agree - technically good but forgettable musically (judging from the samples on soundcloud). The only interesting moments I've heard were that subtle melody in Space Ripping and the bubbling synths in One Million Years, but even this was not interesting enough.

 

Btw, I want to say that I really enjoy your reviews, you usually manage to catch the essence of the album and give weighted and unbiased opinion. This is much better than some other reviews which often boil down to "sounds like banging oldschool goa = good/ doesn't sound like banging oldschool goa = bad".

[antic604]

Btw, I want to say that I really enjoy your reviews, you usually manage to catch the essence of the album and give weighted and unbiased opinion

Thank you! Good to know my "work" is appreciated, as this is - other than buying music - the only way I'm able to contribute to the scene

 

However, soon enough you'll realise I also have a favourite type of music, which is maybe broader than "only goa" but is quite specific nonetheless: it needs to be non-linear, non-schematic, organic, moderately melodic, intricate and surprising. Thinking about it, those are not really bad expectations to have

[antic604]

Two weeks in and I still stand by my 3/5 rating - it's enjoyable, some tracks (that I mentioned above) stand out but otherwise it all sounds very samey, very consistent in the wrong way. One would think that with analogue equipment the palette of sounds should be infinite. This particular sub-style of psychedelic trance - focused on sound patterns & textures, sonic manipulations - should in particular leverage on that. Instead, a lot of those artists (Wildthings , Bom Shanka labels) fall into the trap of locking into vary narrow sonic niche, that obviously works initially but quickly gets boring...

 

It's mind-numbing not mind-expanding, especially in larger doses. 1-2 tracks in a DJ set will probably work just great, full 10-track album is just too much.