Thursday, 1 May 2014

'Desert Dwellers - Nomadic Ecstatic: The Wandering Re-mixes Vol. 1' Review

Artist:
Desert Dwellers

Release: 
Nomadic Ecstatic:
The Wandering Re-mixes Vol 1

Label: 
Black Swan Sounds

Release Date:
29th April 2014



The Desert Dwellers have been quite active on the release front this year and this five track re-mix single could be construed by some as more of the same re-jigged. For me personally I think they are going from strength to strength from the laid back bamboo flutes and tablas of the 'Downtemple Dub' series to the bass re-mixes of the 'Re-Calibrated' albums and the psy-filled grooves of their Twisted Records release 'Seeing Things' I'm lapping it up.

On this release I think there's a strong selection of tracks with re-mixes from the U.K.'s veteran of global ambient dub Banco De Gaia and two of America's world fusion aficionados Jeff Stott and Drumspyder* as well as a couple of new names to me Kaleidoscope Jukebox and Chaos Control.

The release begins with Drumspyder's take on 'Wandering Sadhu' which on the whole bounces between the dum tek of the darbuka and low frequency bass. Once the vocals join in it's quite a happy little groove that chugs along nicely enough with a few variable breakdowns on route.

Next up is Kaleidoscope Jukebox's re-mix of 'Saraswati Mata' I usually plump for the Adham Shaikh re-mix but kept an open mind when pressing play. I certainly wasn't disappointed as this version retains the vocals and eastern strings with plenty of dub reggae chords and echo that you can easily delve into.

Banco De Gaia's re-work of 'Shiva Nataraj' provides a lovely elongated synth journey that carries you on a space like under-current beneath the tablas and Nicole Jenson's vocals. Having heard an abundance of re-works of his own material it made a pleasant change to hear his imprint on someone else's building blocks again,

Jeff Stott brings us back to the 'Wandering Sadhu' again this take is lighter in places retaining more of the bamboo flute than Drumspyders. It's still bass music but in more of a teasing manner and also provides some nice percussion of it's own. Although, I generally like both artists this one strikes more of a chord with me.

Last but not least is Chao's Control's re-work of 'Mysterious Presence' which begins with a lovely spacey synth, chimes and vocals and although they inject the odd psy flutter the laid back feel is retained when the percussion and sitar joins in. Perfect temple vibes for the hammock.

Review by Woodzee

Links: http://desertdwellersmusic.bandcamp.com/album/nomadic-ecstatic-the-wandering-remixes-vol-1




* Fans of Drumspyder should keep an eye out for a couple of other new releases 'Mountain Drums' on the Luminosity Projects 'Lumineyez Vol 1' and 'Bayati Violet Dub' on Phantasm Records 'Anti Particle'

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