The
overall ambience and tribal chants places Liquid Bloom as one of my
favourite on the Desert Trax roster. So 3 years after the original
Re:Generations release, comes this album of re-mixes. Too long some
might say, personally I’m happy to have the opportunity to listen
and relay my thoughts.
The
producers brought in have have done exactly what it says on the tin.
You won’t get more relaxed than when you encounter the whispering
vocals that float across the deep ambient synths and drones, on the
Eternell Ambient mix of ‘Ensenme’, mesmerising like those
seductive sirens of the Greek fables. Even the Temple Step Project’s
re-mix of ‘Resonant Migration’ which features the Australian
shamanic powerhouse Deya Dova on vocals, is stripped back, laid back
with her tribal chants just carrying the music into the ether.
If
you are seeking out deep ambient music, that is blended with eastern
instrumentation (and the faintest touch of psy) as an aid for a
healthy body and mind, or simply looking to kick back and relax, then
this album ticks all the boxes as a perfect accompaniment.
In
the promotional blurb for the release Andrew states this album is
very personal to him. Written in dark times through the winter, often
in the middle of a sleepless night. You can clearly see by the
majority of the titles of the tracks, the root cause and Andrew
himself admits this is probably his darkest production to date.
Historically, it’s often been reported that artists produce their
best work in times of pain and sorrow and perhaps that is often true.
One
of the things that has always struck me with Andrew’s music is that
like a good DJ who knows how to build suspense before the drop, for
me he really knows how to use space between sounds. Whilst listening
I ascertained a sense of pondering and melancholy with the slow
deliberate use of the piano between the drones and field recordings.
Other than this it was business as usual with what I come to expect
with his musical productions.
Then
I reached track five ‘The Airwaves Call Us’ where I didn’t feel
any sense of melancholy, more a sense of peace and beauteous to my
ears. The only comparison that comes to mind is a cookery class,
where everyone prepares the same dish from the same ingredients and
recipe. The results are always variable but this is the dish that
stands out above the others.
The
sense of peace and beauty continued for me listening to track six ‘I
Sleep Above the Forest’, enhanced somewhat by the addition of Lydia
Kenny on Soprano Sax. This trend continues with a good proportion of
the tracks that follow although there are more sombre pieces like
‘Black Days’ for example which utilises subtle field recordings
of wind and rain.
To
summarise if you are a fan of Andrew’s music this album ticks all
the boxes as well as the others. At times it can feel melancholic
however, it’s counterbalanced with feelings of peace and harmony. I
guess it’s all down to personal perspective, many of us can
relate to troubled times and some people like music to tug at an
array of emotions.
Ahead
of the release of "Twilight 32", maverick Dutch producer
Uncle Fester on Acid's re-arrangement of the entire "Sixteen
Sunsets" album, Misled Convoy drops two dub mixes of the title
track, one by the Uncle himself, the other by UK dub legend Adrian
Sherwood.
With
such a good response to UFOA’s unravelling and re-arrangement on
Pitch Black’s ‘Filtered Senses’, fans of Mike’s more
industrial dub side project Misled Convoy will be glad of this
teaser. Not only will
this whet the appetite of the dubhead’s eager to hear the results
of the
tweaks, twists and
turns created
in the Dutchman’s sonic laboratory. There’s
the additional bonus of a fresh perspective by On-U Sounds head
honcho Adrian Sherwood.
This
E.P. is the result of a project between Frank Jousselin and Florent
Marcheix Merli, 30 years after they were in a rock band together.
The duo create a dark fusion that incorporates rock and electro, two
areas were they share a common music taste.
The
release commences with ‘Through Mist’ where post-rock guitar sits
above mellow tones and juxtaposes with darker synth breaks. Somewhat
harping back to the Goth sound of the 80’s which is clearly an
influence.
The
electro bassline is more pre-dominantly featured on ‘The Last Tree’
along with the rolling synth loops. However, the overall feel of 80’s
Goth influence within the piece remains the same as it’s
predecessor, although with more of a recognisable Kick Bong flavour.
There’s
a touch of the east with the strings sounds utilised on ‘Babylon’s
Garden’, nothing that overpowers the piece just a nod in that
direction. The main body of the piece comprises melodic bell like
tones with a darker bassline running underneath.
The
intro on ‘Immanence’ is dark and atmospheric before melodic
synths drift you towards piano then guitar. None of the tracks on the
E.P. have much pace to them but this one in particular is more
sedate. Leaning more towards chill out than rock in comparison.
When
I reviewed the original album I wasn’t really feeling it. Not to
say it was this album itself, but dub music in general. I couldn’t
fault the production it was more a case of having listened to dub b-sides of 7” reggae from 1979, I wasn’t finding much in
the genre that sounded fresh and inspiring in recent years. However,
having attend the live show after penning that review and that
impressed me far more.
So
considering the wealth of talent brought into to add their touch to the
tracks and already catching the promo of Pitch Blacks take on ‘The
Gods Must Be Crazy’ (which was my personal favourite from the
album). Alongside the fact I’ve found myself enjoying some new dub
releases of late I decided to give this a go.
With
30 years of experience in producing dub and chill out as well as
historically working alongside Youth, Alex Paterson’s the Orb seems
a natural choice to start proceedings. Fresh off the back of their
popular new album ‘The Abolition of the Royal Familia’ is the
Orb’s Uraniborg Castle in the Sky mix of ‘Four Horsemen’. The
intro sounds very much like the incidental music from the original
Star Trek while the main body is carried along by a tribal beat,
running the gauntlet of sound fx such as telephone dials, vocal
reggae stabs, space launch commentary, vocoder and other samples with
the ease and grace of an Olympic sprinter.
Record
enthusiasts will be pleased to hear this will be released on 12”
vinyl with Pitch Blacks remix on the flipside this autumn.
Following
on is the Alsan Afro Tribal Dub of the title track ‘Astronaut
Alchemist’. San Francisco’s Jef Stott is a multi-instrumentalist
who has studied under some of the masters of Arabic instruments. He
now teaches as well writing, producing and remixing for the likes of
Azam Ali, Stellamara, Natacha Atlas and more and is regarded as one
of the instigators of the global bass scene. The intro here fuses
ethereal vocals and a sample that I’d hazard a guess is David
Childress of Ancient Aliens over the rising volume of dub. Samples
aside the piece is a nice catchy piece of dub with effective rolling
tribal drums.
New
Zealand’s electro-dub pioneers Pitch Black brew up a bass heavy
concoction of samples, reverb and sound fx to tempt the taste buds
with their Hubristic Prayerformance Mix of ‘The Gods Must Be
Crazy’. Whilst simultaneously stamping their individual brand of
dub, that they have honed and crafted since the late nineties both in
the studio and with electric festival appearances and shows
worldwide. As well as having been selected to tantalise the ears of fans
with the first promotional video of this album.
West Coast producer Eartha Harris
weaves a musical tapestry of dub inspired global dance music under
the name Living Light with four albums under her belt, compilation
appearances for Desert Trax, Merkaba Music, Sofa Beats and of course
LSD as well as touring coast to coast and appearing at festivals
across the Americas and Europe. Her remix for Bluetech’s
‘Geometries in Dub’ proved to be extremely popular over the
streaming sites. Here she ups the pace somewhat with her version of
‘Black Crow Dub’ and juxtaposes between tribal flutes and driving
electro dub to brighten up the dance floors.
Athenian
bass player, dub, electro and psychedelic producer Vlastur, has
amassed a healthy following of reggae fans and regularly graces
psychedelic festivals with his live band in mainland Europe. Whilst
representing the Mediterranean on ‘Bass Weapon’ ft N.Yiakoumis,
he firmly places the traditional Jamaican reggae keys at the
forefront of the piece. Paired with occasional horn accompaniment and
short breaks of dub fx. The overall result of his work basks you in
sunshine vibes from start to finish.
Melbourne
based Auckland electronic producers Deep Fried Dub built up a cult
following in their native New Zealand. They have released on Iboga
and Dubmission Records as well as re-mixing the likes of Banco de
Gaia and their local counterparts Pitch Black, International Observer
and the Black Seeds. Whilst their re-mix of Issac Chambers
‘Krytology’ ft Dub Princess has multi-million streams across the
platforms. Their rendition of ‘Ganjaman’ starts with a vocoder
heavy intro that leads into a fusion of reggae bass, horns and
switches the beat between reggae and drum and bass with comparative
ease.
Since
the early cassette releases Banco de Gaia went on to release on
the legendary Planet Dog and Beyond Records Ambient Dub compilations.
Easily accessible in the high street stores and widely received on
the festival scene his brand of cinematic global electronica has
acquired it’s place in musical history. Here he provides an eerie
atmospheric countdown with his version ‘Empress of the Tarot’
that builds into a rocket of sequential loops, before settling down
after the crescendo into ambient dub with harmonious waves.
Seb
Taylor’s Kaya Project has made a name in their fusions of organic
ethnic instruments, exceptional ethereal vocalists and electronica, as
well as many side projects ranging from trance to techno, breaks and
of course dub. Once more an act that appears on festival stages
across the globe. Also tackling ‘Black Crow Dub’ Seb fuses tribal
chill with the deep bass notes of reggae and flurries of psy-breaks.
Balearic
Funk/Chill Out band the Egg are another familiar face of the festival
scene. The Toscodisco re-mix of their single ‘Walking Away’ was
mashed up with the vocal of David Guetta’s ‘Love Don’t Let Me
Go’ reaching No. 3 in the UK Singles Chart. For their part they
went to extra lengths on ‘Good Summer’ and drafted additional
musicians into the studio, reconstructing the original into a
cinematic orchestral number, that provides a laid back chill out
atmosphere and completing the piece with some funky horns.
Lawrence
Harvey otherwise known as Kuba has formed a sound that bridges the
gap between beach bar chill out, psy-chill, dub and eastern
instrumentation. With 8 albums under his belt and another near
completion, alongside festival and gig appearances with a live backing band, he has plenty of admirers. He provides atmospheric
synths peppered with tribal elements alongside flurries of drum and
bass in ‘Empress of the Tarot’ whilst adding slower passages with
touches of glitch.
Once
again representing the west coast of the U.S. The Bombay Dub
Orchestra whose fusion of Indian Classical music and Dub brought them
critical acclaim when they emerged in the late 90’s with
appearances at film festivals across the world. Recording in various
locations across the world utilising local musicians and mastering
from reggae legends Sly and Robbie. Their input with the
international spice station mix of ‘The Gods Must Be Crazy’ on
this release continues in that vein with a soundclash of cinematic
Indian instruments and organ drenched reggae vibes. Offering a vastly
different perspective than Pitch Black.
Hailing
from the Netherlands Uncle Fester on Acid’s ‘No Sense Unfiltered’
his deconstruction and reconstructed version of Pitch Black’s
‘Filtered Senses’ sent a shock wave through the social media
sites and was released by Dubmission Records. He takes the original
production of ‘Bass Weapon’ and applies the brakes, his technique
molding a slow motion squelchy piece of dub.
Mindspring
Music label head honcho Onium is an up and coming young producer of
dub techno, chill out and psy-bass from Dallas, Texas. Also providing
another version of ‘Bass Weapon’ where the results of his
production work, delivers an electronic dub style, that’s not a
million miles away from his peers Pitch Black.
Cape
Town’s Sadhu Sensi draws his influences from a myriad of tempos and
styles from ambient and dub, to techno and trance and more in
between. Fusing elements of organic instruments with the electronic, with album releases on Iboga records and festival appearances, he’s
slowly but surely establishing himself as a contender on the scene.
Providing a deeply atmospheric and spacey take than his predecessors
on the original production of ‘Black Crow Dub’.
Australian
Gus Till has worked with an abundance of musical stars from Manu
Dibango to U2 as well as being part of Michael Hutchinson’s (INXS)
Maxi-Q project. Re-locating to London he was the in-house engineer
for Youth’s Butterfly Records and is probably best known in later
years as one half of Zen Lemonade alongside Supercozi. Although,
appearing under his progressive trance pseudonym BUS on ‘Good
Summer’ his stamp on the piece chugs along in an electro dub
fashion with occasional atmospheric breaks.
Better
known for his psy-trance and progressive productions as M-Theory and
CIMI. Appearing here under his psychedelic techno moniker DM-Theory.
Where he adds a little drive to the original production, layered with
an underlying psychedelic feel on ‘Astronaut Alchemists’. I think
it’s noticeable and I have to give credit here, that this is not a
dance remix where he’s just thrown down a four by four and it
doesn’t quite sit right in parts of the track or the vocals, this
works in it’s own right.
Frankfurt
based Gabriel Le Mar has made a name for himself applying the dub
production techniques to techno-house and on occasion to chill out as
Saafi Brothers. He also lifts the pace of the piece towards a techno
direction on ‘Stars’, applying touches of the iconic 303 acid
sound to breathe new life into the piece.
My
conclusion is overall I liked it and there are plenty of remixes to
choose from on this release. The depth of producers selected range
from those who blend the organic with the electronic to the purely
electronic. Admittedly with some tracks are covered more so than
others. However, that works well to give different options of styles
and finding one that appeals to you.
DJ
legend John Digweed’s Bedrock label has firmly established itself
as a go to label for progressive house over the years. Personally, I’m
partial to some progressive house or melodic techno when the mood
takes me. However, it’s not all about that and this release covers
multiple moods over 4 CD’s or 5 vinyl records.
Disc
1 – Soundscape
This
disc begins the journey and features 11 original or re-mixed tracks
that place the focus on ambient, downtempo and cinematic pieces.
Disc
2 – Tempo
The
journey lifts up with 11 original tracks, this time breaking barriers
with an eclectic fusion of atmospheric breaks, deep techno and
hypnotic house.
Disc
3 – Redux
The
energy levels rise once more with 11 euphoric re-mixes of deep house,
nu-disco, melodic techno and acid.
Disc
4 – Juxtaposition
The
album comes full circle with 12 original compositions of experimental
ambient and dub soundscapes from John Digweed & Nick Muir.
A
new E.P. from Mexican producer Armando O. Vazquez entitled with the
immortal fairytale opening line ‘once upon a time’. Now this is
completely fresh to me and I had no idea what to expect especially as
pigeon-holing into genres isn’t always black and white.
The
first piece ‘El Tren de la Psique’ roughly translated ‘The
Train of the Psyche’ is a haunting piece that slowly unfurls with
reverb fx on the percussion and takes a few minutes to reach the peak
of the track and drops back again shortly after.
Whilst in comparison the following number ‘Organica’, although still a very downtempo piece, has a touch more drive to the
beat paired alongside sweeping synths and flashes of harmonica.
The
next piece ‘Modulador’ leans slightly towards space ambient to
start. Well space ambient that’s been heavily filtered until the
percussion comes in and the track morphs into something else. In fact
this tracks is almost like three in one as the final section is
introduced by a somewhat stuttering crescendo. This is a very unique
approach to this track and I can’t decide whether I like it or not.
The final piece is the Chlorophil re-mix of ‘El Otro Lado’ which
begins with a soothing ambient intro that leads to choral voices and
dubbed out piano. Add some bird song, fuzzy bass and distorted
oriental wind instrument and you get the picture. Now although this track didn't hit me instantly the sense of calm began to grow on me as I listened through the piece.
