"V/A - Remember the Slime" [Treetrolla Records]

[Hasheeshian]

 

 

 

 

Artist: Various

 

 

Title: Remember the slime

 

 

Label: Treetrolla records

 

 

Date: Semptember 27, 2013

 

 

 

 

 

Damn, that artwork.... It's apparently made by a polish (I think) artist named Leszek Kostuj, who also did the cover for the Aegolius-album released on Medulla Oblongata a few years ago. For me it's a perfect aesthetic to the forest sound, I personally get quite affected by the artwork when listening to an album. This is another compilation by Treetrolla Records, a label which never has disappointed me. Compared to their earlier releases this one seems to lean more towards the old school forest vibe, with artists such as Ka-sol and BOTFB and sounds inspired by them. 

 

 

 

 

 

1) Ka-Sol - Dialouge

 

 

2) Nirmanakayas - Spherestic

 

 

3) Derango - We're All Mad Here (original version)

 

 

4) Zoon - Toothbender (bended live edit)

 

 

5) Goch - Keg

 

 

6) Schoiroideairis - Dance On The Rain

 

 

7) Ka-Sol - Discover

 

 

8) Battle Of The Future Buddhas - Forever Before

 

 

 

 

 

1) Ka-Sol - Dialouge: I love Ka-Sol. I love their morning stuff, night-time stuff and everything in between. This one starts off with a crisp kick which seem to echo in the highs, or something. After less than a minute we are introduced to some weird panning percs and a first glimpse of the melody which will guide us through this mad journey. Deep reverberating saws, filtered synthezizer-madness and some distant voices keeps appearing and disappearing back in the darkness.... This is a great starting track, it seems to keep teasing the listener through the first half, adding and taking away elements. The name "Dialouge" is great, the noises sounds like they're communicating with each other.... After the fourth minute it slowly starts to gain energy! Hats, gated synths and classic styled undecipherable noises which remind me why I love this band. Solid track, could've gotten a bit wilder but works very good as an opener. 

 

 

 

 

 

2) Nirmanakayas - Spherestics: Nirmanakayas is an artist I just have gotten into (though I can't understand why it didn't happen earlier). From Macedonia, Hana Cheljo Petreski - the brain behind the project - keeps pumping out massive goa/forest tracks which sounds more related to the scandinavian sound than the macedonian forest artists I've listened to. Anyhow, this tracks starts with a atonal weird lead and a strong kick+bass, soon leading us into a nice acid-line, haunting strings and some great melodies. A few minutes in more melodies are introduced and towards the end we finally get that ripping 303-sound. The ending consists of some masterly melody work but in my opinion it could have gone on for 2 minutes extra! This is quality forest music in my ears!

 

 

 

 

 

3) Derango - We're All Mad Here (original version): Oh mama! This is the original version of the classic remix on Tumult. True to the Derango vibe, this track is more complex than the previous two, less goa-inspired and has more variation. First minutes consists of some introductionary weirdness which morphs into a classic Derango jam - which means constantly throwing different crazy sounds at us. The first longer break is a sample from The Shining: ".....it was as though I'd been here before. I mean, we all have moments of déjà vu, but this was ridiculous..." Great   Once the beat starts again stuff is getting pretty damn funky, dripping echoing melodies and bubbling noises dance around the quite subtle bass-drum. The following part is a mad party filled with stuff I can't describe, but Derango delivers as usual. I wonder if - since the remix was released 05' - this has been unreleased for almost 10 years?? 

 

 

 

 

 

4) Zoon - Toothbender - Bended Live Edit: Zoon has appeared on numerous compilation with some really good tracks and released a full length in 2013, but I've never sat down and listened very carefully to his music. Toothbender brings us a biig kick drum and an interesting "wouhhwouhing" bass to start with, building different effects and sounds on top of this. The first two minutes move quite slowly but after the first break we're getting deeeeep into the forest   Tribal vibes, twisted frequencies and some splashes of light between the trees. This is stomping music for sure. The melody that comes in at 03:30 is very interesting, it has some pretty light tones in the background but brings a dark feeling when put in the middle of all this madness. After a while there's a break and we encounter a weird plucky melody and hard hitting percussive sounds. I promise you I'm hearing the click of a computer mouse..... The track quickly gains layers, breaks down, builds up and so on. 7 minutes in and Zoon is far from running out of weirdness. By this time one can only enjoy: there's syncopated hats, bright, crashing noises and metallic "leads". The track is over eleven minutes long and ends by transitioning to a few moody melodies, I am impressed. 

 

 

 

 

 

5) Goch - Keg: Goch needs no introduction.. This macedonian producer has been doing fast, intense forest music for many years now - with a very unique sound. It's hard to describe but listening to Goch high is like sitting under a 40feet waterfall only the water is acid and it's punching your head with energy and it's the darkest hour of the night and your in the middle of a deep forest and.... you get my drift.... This stays true to this vibe and doesn't take much time to get going. New sounds quickly joins the strong bass+kick in a great flurry. There's some great vocal-sounding samples jumping around, incredible lead just a minute in and lovely percussions.... Oh yeah!   But Goch isn't done yet! More layers and more layers upon those, I have no idea how all this stuff fits into one track... Constant arrays of new leads and details drop in and out of this massive atmosphere, keeping the energy and feeling pretty stable but never repetitious. The melodies in the middle of the track is superb, we are hearing a master at work. Goch seems to do something delay-related with his hats to achieve a certain sound, like a very fast trill-effect (is that the word? or maybe tremolo otherwise). Wild saws join the party during the last minutes and the track kind of settles, taking away some energy before ending. Nice! 

 

 

 

 

 

6) Schoiroideairis - Dance On The Rain: The track I've listened the least to. As I've understood it Schoiroideairis is part of the group "Hada" which appears later on this comp. This starts out energetic with lots of sweeping sounds and noises, but oh shit! At the 2 minute mark we meet a saw-arp which would make any Schlabbaduerst-freak wild with excitement, great! The song keeps moving trough gated sounds and creaking synths, there's a lead that sounds like a sad troll and awesome plucky tones here and there. Again at minute 5, the schlabbaduerster inside me screams of joy! Amazing synths modulating up and down, strings filling in the top shelves of freqs and I'm starting losing myself in the music by now.

 

 

 

 

 

...I should probably try to review something that isn't as close to my personal taste next time, because by now it feels like I'm mostly screaming "GOOD! CRAZY! YES! MORE! SAWS!" but ohwell, this is one great VA so far! 

 

 

 

 

 

7) Ka-Sol - Discover: Time for the second Ka-Sol track! This one starts with a pretty similar kick and some interesting synths. I hear acid burps in the air and acid melodies climbing up trees. This track has a bit of a morning vibe with a few bright synths, but it generally keeps it on the darker side. There's something special with Ka-Sol's way of writing trance, they're tracks are often more monotonous than much forest trance (not that they don't know how to turn a track upside down:..  ) but they're packed with ear candy. This one keeps progressing through acid lines and flickering noises, sweeping effects and super cool saws. Not much more to say about it, but listen to it and you will ...discover... some interesting things. Ka-Sol will always be one of the best forest-projects in existence for me 

 

 

 

 

 

8) Hada - Der Teufel: This is one of the very few Hada track I've heard, but it makes me wanna search for more   Some research tells me Hada consists of Nirmanakayas and Schoiroideairis, the plot thickens...... These guys capture something that I really love with the early scando-sound, but they don't limit themselves to "old school" restrictions or genres (geographic or general) so to say  Great work with the energy in this one, it probably sounds great on a dancefloor....  But do does it at home in my monitors, so let's get on with the review! Hada delivers interesting atmospheres with staggering gate-arps, squeamish melodies and a schlabby bassline. YES. Last part is so good! Swirling synths and creepy melodies, spacey percussions drifting from ear to ear and a strong backbone of bass and atmosphere. This was one trip for sure.

 

 

 

 

 

9) Battle Of The Future Buddhas - Forever Before: You can't really compare Botfb to anything in the psy-world, this is truly a one of a kind producer. Father of the forest-sound and ever defying the rules of production, this punk has created more weirdness than most labels releases under they're lifetime. Dave starts this one with a thumping bass and detuned leads, mystical! This track progresses slowly, using subtle changes to keep us listening - very meditative in a way. The track builds up with more weird leads and a female vocal sample which feels out of place and yet perfectly fitting into the song. This is one of the great things with the buddhas, unconventional use of samples and sounds! The track reaches an awesome crescendo during the last minutes, bombarding us with massive saws and atmospheres. Great track, perfect way to end this VA

 

 

 

 

 

I'm happy I took the time to once again hear this compilation from start to finish, this is a collection of tracks that will bring great joy if you're into forest trance. It has a different direction than other Treetrolla releases, focusing more on the early forest sound as said in the introduction. My favorite tracks are 1, 2 and 8   But every track is top quality, strong release!