Artist: Spatialize
Title:
Beyond The Radar
Label:
Self Released
Released:
11th Jan 2019
After
four years of concentrating on his deep ambient project ‘Experiments
in Silence’ Neil returns to the more groove orientated productions
of Spatialize. With influences ranging from the psychedelic,
electronic, ambient, world and space rock. Juicy synths, exotic
instrumentation and guitars float over organic and electronic drums,
with the album including sax from Ian East of Gong and futuristic
synths from Ishq.
The
album begins with ‘Cat and Mouse’ with sequenced synths, drums,
fx and a touch of squelch which combines to produce a sound
reminiscent of Ozric Tentacles, with sax rather than flute. This is
followed by the title track which is a more dubby affair with vocal
harmonies that still retains an Ozric vibe. The next piece ‘Hobo
Sapien’ moves the pace up a notch with a distinctly psy-chill feel,
with little touches of sax peppered in appropriate intervals.
It’s
a darker intro that emerges into the light with ‘Colour of Sky’
which continues on a psy-chill tip with some touches of the orient
and vocal harmonies. The guitar is a more prominent feature on ‘Dance
into the Light’ where the intro reminded me somewhat of Tangerine
Dream, before the groove commences with the introduction of the beat
and vocal harmonies. After the ambient introduction it’s back to
the psy-chill on ‘The Great Super Mango’ which teases you
somewhat before letting go and repeating that cycle.
The
elongated intro of ‘Tolticken’ once again had somewhat of a TD
and Ozric feel with the sequenced synths and vocal samples invite you
in before it drops into slow motion with some beautiful guitar licks.
The slow pace continues with ‘Out of Body’ intro, with a spoken
sample not a million mizles away from the Orb’s ‘Little Fluffy
Clouds’ when the drums kick in ethnic and harmonic vocal samples
are utilised and again little passages of guitar. The final piece of
the album ‘Tree Frogs’ another downtempo number that introduces
some flute and sax to the party.
For
me personally I’d strayed away from the psy-chill, psy-dub sounds
in recent years, aside from the odd producers such as Globular I felt
it was morphing into territories such as psy-bass and swamp and
losing the chill out aspect that was always a welcome element for me.
However, of late I’ve been re-visiting and enjoying some of the
older releases in the scene so this review really couldn’t have
come at a better time. I’d recommend this album to those who like
space music, space rock and psy-chill as it switches between and
combines these styles throughout.
Reviewed
by Woodzee
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