C-Jay 'Backslider Parts 1-6' Review

Artist:

C-Jay

Title: 

Backslider Parts 1-6

Label:

Bedrock

Released: 

4^th of April

This mini-LP is a one hour musical experience split into six distinctive parts which creates a journey of atmospheric ambient electronica as opposed to six re-mixes of the same theme. Bedrock fans may well recall 'Backslider Part 1' which featured on last summers excellent 'Underground Sound of Ibiza Series 2' compilation as well as 'Backslider Part 3' on the recent 'Live In Montreal' release.

Part 1 starts dark and moody somewhat akin to a storm before various little loops begin to circulate and sparse but strong vintage analogue chords are released. It takes a little while for the track to gain any sort of momentum with such a variety of little loops circulating and dropping off. While Part 2 takes more of a continual loop with a retro feel toying with the theme in places and dropping atmospheric rushes here and there and to be honest I couldn't really decide if I liked it or not.

Part 3 gets deep and dubby before the overlaying bleepy tones and heavenly synths take dominance. A self awareness monologue is introduced (which is nothing new in this field). However, it balances well with the piece rather than sounding intrusive and at this point I'm beginning to warm to the release. There's a little more bounce to the sequenced loops of Part 4, although essentially it's still a deep and atmospheric piece with some lovely synths injected, I'd go as far to say it's a would make a really good starting track for a progressive set.

The slow plodding beat is more predominant in Part 5 wrapped in atmospheric synths while the female soliloquy is reminiscent of the Orbs 'Little Fluffy Clouds' which cohesively makes for a lovely laid back number. The album ends with a somewhat organic feel stretched across a more industrious background, almost like someone playing lush heavenly synths with a touch of pitch bend over the Sabres of Paradises 'Clock Factory'.

Although initially it felt to me that there's so was so many intricate themes that there was no cohesive pattern to follow as such, by the end of the album I'd really brought into it. Overall, it's a journey of deep and atmospheric ambience with various themes, lush synths and some good old fashioned Moog sounds that fits in nicely with the more down-tempo side of the Bedrock catalogue.

Reviewed by Woodzee.

Links

www.bedrock.uk.net

https://www.facebook.com/cjayamsterdam/

http://www.c-jay.eu

Various Artists 'Diversity In The Isles' Review

Artist: 


Various

Title: 

Diversity In 

The Isles

Label: 

Unknown

Released: 

25^th of March

Compiled (not sure Curated is the correct terminology) by my counterpart on the Chill Out Sessions Liquid Lounge this is the first in a series of releases, with the sole aim of featuring down-tempo artists (both established and new) from the United Kingdom who are currently active on the festival circuit. As the title suggests the intent is to cover a vast array of sub-genres ranging from psy-dub to glitch, trip-hop and jazztronica, new age to psy-chill and all points in between.

The gamble with a diverse compilation is will it be to everyone's taste and to be honest not everything featured on this album is to mine. However, that said there's plenty that is and it features a fair few artists familiar to me, which I mostly listen to already and some new ones that also appeal. OOOD for example are well known on the festival circuit and on occasion produce something a little more chilled than their staple psy-trance in this case a pleasant enough piece of well produced electronica. Pete Ardon (Orchid-Star) also features along with Helen Francis delivering a mellow piece of tropical ambience accompanied by plenty of birdsong and flutes. Whilst the ever-popular Bristol based psy-dub producer Globular delivers his usual antics to good effect and Manchester's Perpetual Loop leans more to his Digital Duvet moniker with some laid back Ibiza style chill out. 

Those few aside I'm also well aware of Northampton's Mosienko Project (also part of Trans-Irie Nation and Celt Islam's band) who fuses the pungi, oud and darbuka's of Arabia with electronica. As well as Welsh dub-punk Rev Dread who draws on the traditional roots and dub-reggae adding a modern twist. Narcose I'm less familiar with but did bag his 'They always come at night' an excellent track from the compilation 'Ethnomystica Vol 2' the piece featured here is an eerie slice of psy-chill with a lovely piano melody but doesn't quite reach the same heights.

Of the artists I'm unfamiliar with the ones that really stood out for me is Geoglyph whose contribution is a summery slice of harmonica fused ethnic dub. Whilst False Identity provides a lovely laid back guitar piece that would slot comfortably into a Balearic set. As would Ultramorphic's blend of Vangelis like synths, Pink Floyd'esque guitars, counter-balanced with horn and sax laden reggae.

Reviewed by Woodzee

Links

https://diversityintheisles.bandcamp.com/

Available for pre-order as of now with immediate down-load of Pete Ardron's track.

Misled Convoy 'Translations' Review

Artist: Misled Convoy

Title: Translations

Label: Dubmission Records

Released: 1^st April

This release is a selection of re-mixes from Pitch Black's Mike Hodgson under his Misled Convoy moniker, which covers a broad pallet of styles from long established and up-and-coming artists across the globe.

The album commences with the scanner mix of 'Nuerotrash' from London disco-punks Feral Five which is a dubbed out electro-rock that seems to retain all the original punk vocal elements to good effect.. While the earth will have two suns re-mix of Holotronica's (Stuart Warren Hill of Hexstatic) 'Super Nova' takes you on a journey into space tinkering with scientific monologue and bubbly electro-dub. This is followed by the borrowed time mix of 'Do You Know Where Your Going?' by Japan's Supercozi (Zen Lemonade) a chilled out dub which utilises a lyrical reggae vocal that works better when dubbed out for me.

Moving across to Mike's homeland with the next track re-working 'Please Wake Up' by the Adults a Kiwi rock supergroup formed by Shihad frontman Jon Toogood of which I am blissfully unaware. I'd never have had this down as a rock original to me it comes across something akin to the afx re-mixes of Seefeel in the early 90's which is no bad thing. Some of the previous styles meet somewhere in the middle with a dubbed out re-mix of 'Sufi' by the U.K.'s Flies + Flies which seems to stitch together elements of gothic, arabic, ambient, shoegaze and industrial dub fairly seamlessly.

The re-mix of 'Lost in the Valley of Scintalla Strings' by Sheffield's ambient audio-visual duo Animat, is a deep and atmospheric piece which combines dub techno with a cinematic and classical feel. In contrast the pastscape re-mix of Banco De Gaia's 'Wimble Toot' takes you on an elongated intro of ambient voices and sound, before the bass line is employed and the horns take the piece into the realms of dub reggae.  Then moving back across to the other side of the globe Mike then gives one of his own Misled Convoy tracks 'Leap Beneath' a re-rub in the far more expected reggae style to close.

To summarise I'm really impressed with this collection it's a real mixed bag of genres and styles at times ambient and atmospheric others industrial and rock-edged. However, the common link thread is as ever the dub.

Review by Woodzee

Links

https://misledconvoy.bandcamp.com/

Paddy Free In Dub Review

Artist: Paddy Free

Title: Paddy Free in Dub

Label: Dubmission Records

Released: 1^st April

Back in 2008 Paddy released 'Karekare: Te Reo O Te Whenua' an album which differed from his previous digital dub releases as one half of Pitch Black, instead placing the focus on the traditional Maori music of his native New Zealand. Personally, I really brought into the tribal yet chilled sound that arose from this project. He continued this concept further teaming up with Richard Nunns and Horomona Horo and forming the group Nga Tae, who fused the traditional Maori music with electronica. Additionally, he produced the album and toured worldwide with Moana & the Tribe who fuse reggae and dance with their traditional music. Eight years on Paddy re-visits some of the tracks composed with the aforementioned groups utilising the dub techniques previously heard on Pitch Black releases.

I'm going to split the album into two sections and start with the first of four Moana & The Tribe numbers. The first track a short piece entitled 'House of Strife' begins with horns and vocal harmonies in a stereotypical Reggae style and to be frank I wouldn't have associated this as Maori music if I wasn't in the know. This is followed by the lengthier & dubbier 'Rangatahi' which displays much more of a Pitch Black vibe with Moana's vocal chorus dipping into dub. The Maori sound becomes more apparent with the use of shells and the language with 'Upokohue' and the mixture of beautiful vocals tones and spacey dubbed synth sounds really hit the spot for me. The final Moana track 'The Whole World's Watching' begins somewhat like a dubbed out soulful gospel number transcending into a more percussive dub reggae vibe followed by some wonderful horn sections.

The second section comprises three tracks by Nga Tae the first 'Orohanga' is a slow paced dreamy electro-dub with occasional chimes and masculine Maori spoken word. The snail pace trend continues with 'Star Waka' however, the bass frequency gets lower nestled alongside the haunting flute like sounds which I imagine are again created with shells and spoken word. The pace picks up with 'Whanau Puhi' which once again features those haunting shell sounds dubbed out to maximum effect.

Review by Woodzee

Links

https://paddyfree.bandcamp.com/

http://www.ngatae.co.nz/

http://www.moananz.com/

mctfhg 'Space E.P.' Review

Artist: 

mctfhg

Title: 

Space E.P.

Label: 

Dubmission Records

Released: 

14^th February

This fresh release is a collaboration between mctfhg and Winconstan based artist Carlos Schmitt (www.carlosschmitt.com) where if you're so inclined you can actually buy a certified acrylic of his piece 'Time Travel with a Space Centipede' upon which this releases artwork is based.

Moving back to the music the tracks here are more in line with the traditional 7" and 12” singles time frame than the elongated 18 minute journeys of his previous release 'Materials'. As the title suggests the space theme still remains however, this is a more melodic journey overall beginning with the laid back 'Deep Groove' which is perfect hammock material, easing into 'Grand Scheme' that sounds somewhat like a game of Galaxian layered over an 80's digital dub with a contrasting yet fitting mellow piano breakdown. The rest of the E.P. maintains the mood of the first track throughout climaxing with the looped sequences of the ambient dub'esque 'Tangential Spaces'.

To summarise this release is simply a collection of pleasant laid back dubs that would do the trick on a lazy sunny afternoon and at a mere £3 for 6 tracks a bargain to boot.

Review by Woodzee

Links

https://mcthfg.bandcamp.com/

E.R.S. 'Full Moon Skank' Review

Full Moon Skank is a fresh new E.P. from Manfred a Himalayas based artist releasing material under the pseudonym E.R.S. The E.P. is available generally through Dubmission Records from the 18^th of December (a tad late on this one).

The E.P. opens with 'Justice and Equal Rights' where the reggae keys are a constant underbelly to the intricate riddims, where the percussion rolls and at time explodes. In the latter section the vocal cuts, horns and twisted loops all come together making the cohesive whole a strong opening track indeed. The mood becomes slower and heavier with 'Hear and Now' and although the intricate and well panned percussion remains the low frequency bass is employed flirting with Dub-Step in a reggae stylee.

The following two tracks are more mellow 'E.T. Existence' employs Sci-Fi samples as you've probably ascertained from the title and the keys are pleasing to the ear. The title track however, puzzles me somewhat. There's nothing wrong with it the intricate percussion remains and the samples are fine. However, it lacks the dynamics of some of the other tracks so seems to me a strange choice for the title track. The E.P. comes to a close with 'Massive in Funk' which restores the dynamics of the first two pieces with some additional funky vocal cuts that work a treat.

Review by Woodzee

Links …

https://erssound.bandcamp.com/

Interchill the Compilation Review

Interchill Compilation

I must confess that this album was on my Bandcamp wish list, so I was delighted when Woodzee offered me the chance to review it.

First thing that struck me is the beautiful artwork adorning the front cover- the morning sun (I assume), in a clear blue sky partially hidden by the girder of a bridge. A perfect moment of stillness.

The artwork appropriately sets the mood for the music contained within. This is a selection obviously compiled with great love and attention to detail and as such it seems a bit churlish to have favourites. In saying that I’m going to single out the tracks that I either knew beforehand or grabbed my attention at first listen

First off is the effusive tones of Bruce Bikerton aka Alucidnation. I’ve known of Bruce’s music for a good few years now and love the warmth and generosity of his stuff. I was lucky enough to have Bruce compile a sublime selection for my radio show a year or so ago- (https://hearthis.at/thehouseoftheflyineyball/network16-alucidnation/)

Next up is the sublime Tom Green aka Another Fine Day with a track from his most recent album ‘A good place to be’. On remix duties is Greg Hunter who comes up with a delightful little twist taking in elements of Dub and Didgeridoo. The Kaya Project's 'Desert Phase' (Hibernation remix) is a more up-tempo offering, yet still proves to be a gorgeous slice of aural sunshine.

This is followed by the dreamy vocals of ‘To Mend’ by Bluetech & Lynx & Janover. I must admit that I far prefer this version to the harder original with the softer approach that Bluetech has taken the piece. Whilst Tom's 2^nd inclusion on this compilation is the delicate and playful ‘Dusty Feet’. This track is the aural equivalent of summer rain, all light and refreshing

Spiral System follows up perfectly with the aptly named ‘Rain’. A great bass line provides the foundation for a lazy, hazy meander. Then Liquid Stranger takes us for a little diversion into ‘Zero Gravity’ before the brief interlude of Sunmonx laid back number ‘Run’. Then the Kaya Project return with their second offering the even shorter, but appropriately named ‘Flicker’. Short but extremely sweet.

Sinepearl serve up the aptly named and blissful ‘Ceremonial Tea’ and Ishq follows with a sublime slice of ambience. Best let these last two just work their subtle magic over you and please don’t attempt to operate any heavy machinery!

Alucidnation return for their second offering ‘Genetics’. This time remixed by the incomparable Mixmaster Morris in his much loved Irresistible Force incarnation. For me Morris can pretty much do no wrong and this track has long been a favourite of mine. I’m very much looking forward to the new Irresistible Force album seeing the light of day, hopefully in the New Year.

Liquid Stranger finishes off the delights with a final slice of excellence, which puts me in mind a little bit of Global Communications, remix of Chapterhouse ‘Pentamerous Metamorphosis’. Which is no bad thing at all.

In my honest opinion this is a sublime selection of chilled and ambient tunes to keep away the winter chill and I heartily recommend adding this to your collection.

Reviewed by Matthew Foord

Links

https://interchill.bandcamp.com/album/interchill-2