Liquid
Sound Design re-visit and
re-mix Bluetech’s
album ‘Liquid Geometries’ initially released on DiN
last year. They described the release as Evan using a huge range of
analogue modular synthesizers, with a distinct nod to the Berlin
masters of the past he upgrades that musical heritage with nine
shimmering soundscapes utilising modern production techniques to
create beautiful tapestries of sound. The DiN label boss Ian Boddy
also features on the track ‘Tranquillity Gate’ using his
distinctive Ondes Martenot analogue synth keyboard.
So
if like me the original released passed you by and you’ve not left
us to buy that already. You’re probably wondering who Liquid
Sound Design have got onboard to add their musical seasoning to this
already enticing album. As
you may well have expected label boss Youth and fellow label artists
Pan Electric, DF Tram and Mixmaster Morris make an appearance as well
as Evan Marc himself and Ian Boddy. There’s more some of which are
known to me and others which are not but they shall come to light as
I work through the release.
The
album commences with what I can only describe as a jumbled up space
transmission reminiscent of a 50’s sci-fi film on Pan Electrics
take of ‘Helix’, this leads to a series of bleeps and sequences
with occasional changes of tone that throughout the piece left a
sense of a spaceship navigating an erratic course through a meteor
storm. Next up is DF Tram on
‘Dawn Ascent’, where
he conjures
up an exotic lingering
piece of dub with plenty of apt spoken samples, and as
I travel through the track it’s
beginning to make me wonder what else is in store. Moving
on to Mixmaster Morris with
his re-working of ‘Tranquillity Gate’, and what an apt title it
is, my ears are treated
to synthesized
sequencers, weaving through flute like and ethereal clouds of sound,
resulting in me being
enchanted by this piece
of music.
The
Saafi Brothers tackle ‘Crystalline Forms’ with a low-fi piece of
acid tinged dub-techno that pushes a tad harder
than it’s predecessors, but never fully breaks into a sweat. Fellow
Americans the Desert Dwellers offer a similar pace and push on ‘Dawn
Ascent’ although it’s more melodic in places, whilst
atmospheric and dubby in others. Evan then joins the throng with
Bluetech’s Dub Diver mix of ‘Vessels’, which in some respects
reminds me of a slowed down piece of progressive house,
counter-balanced with angelic chilled out voices and slow deep drums.
We
then re-wind once again to ‘Helix’ this time with Living Light at
the controls. There’s no space transmission here, this is a rolling
piece of lush spacey
electronica, with touches of echo fx and sparse drum rolls, which
Eartha
hasinjectedin
all the appropriate places. Label
Head Honcho Youth drops the pace somewhat with an
elongated beat-less intro to ‘Resonating Heart’. Once the drums
do drop there are enough little fx and twists peppered through the
lush synths to maintain your interest. I’m not familiar with David
Last who adds his touch to ‘Bardo Waves’ but he ups the pace a
little once more and the drum work is quite intricate and industrial,
adding a mechanical harshness that juxtaposes the lighter synth
sequences.
We
re-wind and drop the pace again with Gaudi’s version of
‘Crystalline Forms’ it’s softer and lighter than the Saafi
Brothers and somewhat like Youth he utilises an elongated beat-less
intro. This is followed by a shuffling beat and bleepy tones that
float along throughout the rest of the track. DiN label boss Ian
Boddy eventually gets to stamp his mark on ‘Subterranea’, where
the dark and foreboding intro seeps into the light somewhat, before
the drones reclaim that fleeting glimpse with an eerie atmosphere. I
then encounter a by now familiar track in ‘Crystalline
Forms’ this time re-mixed by another unfamiliar artist Backstage
Gurus. I find myself adrift here even more so than with Gaudi’s
take as the flutes they utilise work wonderfully with the mellow
chilled out synths and shuffling beat.
By
this stage I’m in totally unfamiliar territory and enter into
Takkra Satori’s version of ‘Underground Lakes’. Although, I’m
oblivious to his usual productions, I think he’s held his own here
with this lovely piece of chilled out dub, even
offering some subtle touches of vocoder fx that feel totally in place
on the album. The next track flips the switch with the Sy Borg
re-mix of ‘Bardo Waves’, the most driving take so far and as I’m
unfamiliar with his work, totally unexpected, but not unappreciated.
Lastly (no pun intended) David Last gets another stab with his
extended dub of ‘Bardo Waves’ the intricate drum work remains and
there’s still a sense of the industrial feel that I mentioned
earlier, this time more subtle and leads
to far longer passages of guitar laden dub reggae.
To
conclude this album is a journey within itself and as with any album
there’s peaks and troughs. However, overall I feel this is going to
be a strong contender when those end of year chill out charts are
being compiled. My personal favourites were Mixmaster Morris, Living
Light and Takka Satori, but I suspect there will be some debate
amongst the fans regarding this.
Liquid Sound Design is hosting a special event the 19th April on Good Friday at London hot spot Mau-Mau Bar on Portobello Road. The event comprises conscious talks, art, a pop-up shop selling classic L.S.D. & Dragonfly Records vinyl, cd’s, and label paraphernalia.
You can also hear Dj sets from Youth, Gaudi, Dr. Alex Paterson/The Orb, Mixmaster Morris, Robin Triskele & Liquidyne.
I took a little time leading up to the event to prise L.S.D. label manager Robin Triskele away from her busy schedule to talk about the event,
recent releases and what the future holds in store for fans of the label.
1)
What does it mean personally to you managing an iconic underground
label as Liquid Sound Design?
I
have been listening to L.S.D. releases since the labels inception in
the 90s and for sure some of my very favourite early psychedelic dub
albums would be from Liquid Sound Design. Being in the scene in
various manners since the 90s, I have always had a deep respect for
Youth as he is renowned for launching the first Goatrance label with
Dragonfly Records and of course soon to follow was the first ‘psydub’
label with L.S.D. These early releases defined these genres
throughout the world by putting them to vinyl & CD.
When I was asked by Youth to manage the relaunch of the label in early
2015 I was quite honoured. Through running a music and event
management consulting agency with Triskele Management, I have had the
chance to work most of the scenes artists and labels over the last 15
years but to be given the opportunity to help bring such a seminal
label back to life has been a wonderful opportunity.
Having already been friends with or connected to the labels artists and much
of the other leading downtempo electronica artists, has helped
considerably in making the label grow and bring new sounds and styles
into the fold. Everyone fully got behind the label with such amazing
releases and remixes and this has led the label to be quite prolific.
I am blessed to have such legends weaving our labels history again,
including Youth, Mixmaster Morris, Gaudi, Saafi Brothers, The Orb,
Kuba, DF Tram, Suns Of Arqa for example. Most of us have been involved in
the music industry for decades, we all share a strong family vibe and
the artists have a very dedicated approach to the music we are
releasing. The best part is it feels like we are just getting
started!
2)
I tend to think of Liquid Sound Design as a psychedelic dub/dub
reggae off-shoot to Dragonfly Records. More recently it’s much more
diverse for example Abraham Carmona’s ‘Ibiza’ focused on a far
more laid back Mediterranean sound. What did you feel this release
brought to the label?
The one thing that we are consistently doing within the label is trying
to find new talented artists and music that is fresh and cutting
edge. Music that is different to the norm with an open mind and
slightly left field approach to the genre profile we were defined by
in the earlier days of L.S.D. While psydub/psychill is still very
much prevalent in our label, we have been exploring a wider variety
of new styles. Over recent years we have seen the chill out scene
become much more diverse and artists are exploring and experimenting
more with sound. We see chill stages at music festivals and events
are now offering more eclectic line ups and the music scene seems to
be widening its scope of what is considered chill out. We want to be
sure to embrace this change in L.S.D. as well now and you will
continue to see us dipping our toes into different genres and scenes
more and more with releases to come.
Abraham Carmona recorded his traditional flamenco album ‘Homage to Catalonia’
(Suriya Recordings) with Youth at his legendary Space Mountain
Studios in Spain. After finishing the traditional album, they decided
to explore a new sound, combining beats, samples, electronics, and
merging them with Abraham’s unique style of infusing jazz
techniques with a flamenco aesthetic. The result was ‘Ibiza’.
This album goes to show how the labels idea of downtempo
electronica is not wrapped up in just one sound. It also shows how
well different styles and genres can morph together to create
something new and exciting and shows our fans we are always there
with something unpredictable. At L.S.D. all artists & DJs
involved with our label are truly passionate about all types of
downtempo electronica and sharing good music! We are pleased to have
the platform to share what we consider to be ground breaking music
and to be able to introduce these new sounds through our releases.
3) Another example is DF
Tram whose previous album release was on Afterlife’s Subatomic UK
label which again focuses on the sunset Balearic sound. What inspired
you to bring him over to the dub side so to speak?
Personally, even before I came to re-launch L.S.D. in 2015,
DF Tram had been on my peripheral radar. Being from the US
originally, I visited San Francisco several times and was familiar
with the underground chill scene from the early 2000s. Dylan has been
involved in the North American underground scene for over two decades
and is known for his eclectic and thought provoking
multi-media collages combining music and video. He has also visited
the UK several times playing Big Chill Festival.
DF Tram came to know Mixmaster Morris almost 20 years ago from bringing him to play a
weekly club night in San Francisco he was organizing and has also has worked
with him on some early The Irresistible Force productions,
but his original connections to the LSD family came through Alex
Paterson/The Orb. Alex sampled one of his tracks many years back and
this led to him playing shows with both The Orb and Thomas Fehlmann,
they have remained friends since, so much that he has been opening
for The Orb on their 30 yr anniversary tour stateside.
Dylan passed ‘Serenitay Infinitay’ on to Alex Paterson, who
passed it on to Youth and the rest is history!
L.S.D. Label night : YOUTH & GAUDI ‘ Astronaut Alchemists’ launch party video
4)
The tail end of last year you put together an album launch at Bloc in
London for Youth and Gaudi’s ‘Astronaut Alchemists’. Whilst
this Easter weekend in conjunction with Dragonfly Records, you’re
promoting an afternoon of talks followed by an evening of Liquid
Sound Design D.J. sets at London’s Mau Mau Bar. Could you tell the
readers a little more about these events?
Being
in event production and management for over 20 yrs, I’m involved at
any given time with several ongoing festivals and events globally,
but I have really been wanting to do something new and interesting
locally within UK. For the last couple of years I’ve been flirting with the idea to do L.S.D.
label events but have been waiting for the perfect opportunity. It seems the stars aligned
when the Youth & Gaudi album dropped and thus came the first in a series of bespoke nights
that would be tailored to appeal to the new generation,
whilst still enticing to the music aficionados from days of L.S.D.
past. I was clear on the vibe I wanted to create and the visual image
I wanted to present, something that would leave an impression with
people and an image that would remain consistent throughout the
future events.
When Youth launched the label in 1998, his
intention was ‘to create an outlet for more experimental and
down-tempo music as well as satisfying the demand for the post club
chill out sounds.’ So I wanted to create this vibe along with top
notch visuals and deco that bring a reminiscence of the 60’s
psychedelic consciousness and art. I wanted to somehow keep in mind
and honour Youths vision and his ideals from early days of the label.
I invite you to read the press notes from our release Society Of Inner Light compiled by Youth:
‘Youth started the Society For Ancient
Enchantment in 1999, with the intention of combining ritual, music
performance, spoken word and DJ's to be able to dive deeper into the
mystery and meditation of the music. This created some legendary
early L.S.D. events and recordings and is directly connected to this
Society of Inner Light album and future events. The inspiration
behind this compilation goes back to the 1930's and "Dion
Fortunes Order Of Inner Light ". Some of her rituals in
Bloomsbury were said to have ushered in the 1960's flower power era
... Our intention here is to facilitate that same intention and free
the spirit of those times for our present and future tribal, dance
floor, chill out gatherings and facilitate and create an esoteric
counter culture that communicates to mind, body and spirit.’
With the Mau Mau takeover we are opening
the scope and bringing it to the community by hosting a day out for
people to come along to have a chat, hear enlightening talks with
Gregory Sams, Lee Harris & Youth, share some wicked music and be
immersed in art in a more laid back vibe. It’s a great opportunity
for us to see our music family in a more social setting and be able
to share new ideas and dream new concepts into creation, invite
people to embrace and co-create the esoteric counter culture Youth
speaks of. We will also be hosting our first Dragonfly & L.S.D.
pop-up shop to bring the label to people personally and connect.
We’re really looking forward to a chilled Good Friday with good
folks and good music at this legendary Portobello Road spot.
5) What else is in the pipeline for Liquid Sound Design this
year?
We
have started the year off with a bit of a much needed break after
dropping 8 releases in 2018!
So far this year we’ve mostly been busy arranging some really exciting
artist collaborations whilst stepping into and tickling many different genres.
We are curating remix albums for Youth & Gaudi – Astronaut Alchemists,
The Irresistible Force – Kira Kira, the Saafi Brothers seminal debut
album Mystic Cigarettes (originally released on Blue Room in 1996).
We are really excited to be bringing Bluetech into the LSD family
fold with ‘Liquid Geometries in Dub’, with a collection of rather
eclectic artist remixes from his recent ambient and fully modular
release on DiN Records. We also have a new album soon to be delivered
by psydub maestro KUBA, the next release in the Future Horizons
series and EPs from both Pan Electric and DF Tram.
On the flipside…. We are super excited to be on the precipice of a
re-launch of the legendary Dragonfly Records! The label has been
resting far too long and we think it's time to bring it back to life.
We have been collecting demos and seeking new talent to join us
alongside some of the original Dragonfly family for the next
instalment of the well-loved ‘Order Odonata’ series, coming this
autumn! The label will also see a new psy trance album from label
head YOUTH, the first in almost 15 years.
Comprising
two producers whose careers have been heavily entwined with dub,
simultaneously in the studio. With
Youth on bass, Gaudi on keys and taking turns in the knob twiddling
studio fx. So on paper this
promises to be an album of interest to fans of this genre. Therefore,
it stands to reason that the question is does it live up to the
expectation?
The
album opens with ‘Bass Weapon’ a stereo-typical piece of dub
reggae comprising low frequency bass, keys and lots of reverb.
Initially, it fulfils what you would expect from a dub reggae tune
with nothing to stand out from the crowd. However, around two minutes
in there are some uplifting strings which unfortunately are short
lived. I felt this was remedied somewhat with ‘The Gods must be
Crazy’ a far more interesting piece in my opinion, which although
maintains an old skool feel I could imagine enjoying on a speaker
shaking sound system.
As
I moving through the album I think I’m able to answer my question
above. It does live up to expectation in the sense it’s well
produced and arguably could hold it’s head high amongst some of the
classic albums of the genre. However, where I feel it’s lacking is
it’s nothing new even down to the samples on ‘Apollo’ (which
were to be expected I guess considering the album title) utilised
countless times before.
That
said I can imagine the live performance will be rocking and those in
and around London at the time the launch party is being held at Bloc
in Hackney Wick, London on Friday the 7th
of December. You can book your tickets via
https://accessallareas.org/listings/youth-gaudi/
Dylan
Yanez A.K.A. DF Tram is a D.J./Producer from San Francisco who has
recently relocated to Malta. His D.J. sets combine a selection of
crate digging rarities ranging fromambient, jazz and world music,
which are infused with sampled dialogue from film, documentaries,
adverts and cartoons. He goes further at times playing alongside film
clips in what he calls a Movie Mix. His first album ‘Illegal Lingo’
was released on Subatomic UK and reflected the style of his mixes
somewhat and also had a slightly different feel to the other sunset
Balearic releases of that label. Dylan has made no secret that he is
overjoyed that this release, which he produced in San Francisco was
then mastered by Youth with re-mixes from his musical hero’s the
Orb and the Irresistible Force. There are also vocal inclusions from
Coppe Sweetrice (who appeared on Illegal Lingo) and Lina Fouro, piano
from Clifford Borg and bass from Youth himself.
Now
to get to the nitty gritty what is the new album like? The opener
‘Lounge Lagarto’ begins like a TV show and quickly moves into a
dub fusion of the Middle East bazaar, which sounds like it could be
plucked from an old movie rather than a newly produced piece. The
track is over-layered with short samples of duck hunting and horse
riding, which may not appeal to some depending on your stance of the
subject matter. This is followed by the Orb’s Bravo Foxhole re-mix
of ‘Lovers Radio’, which begins beatless and very much in the
style of the early 90’s ambient dub, eventually a plodding four by
four bassline is utilised alongside a vocal sample that I imagine
relates to the bunkers used in the Vietnam war. Next up is the title
track ‘Serenitay Infinity’ a slow burner overlapped with poetry,
that you could imagine springing up in a beatnik bar of 60’s San
Francisco. ‘Eagles Shield’ takes a funky turn, filled with
samples and orchestral sounds that remind me of old movies, that is
bridged with more of a country music feel. This would fit easily
alongside releases from Coldcut or the Jurassic 5.
The
album takes another turn with ‘A Thousand Knives’, where gentle
piano leads to distorted vocals that provide a slight 80’s New
Romantic undertone, before sampled psychedelic themed dialogue and a
dubbier bassline join the throng. This is followed by ‘Body Fizz’
which again has an ambient dub feel, where the samples sound like
they have been plucked from a story not too dissimilar to Alice in
Wonderland and the vocals have an early 70’s pop feel. The album
then moves on to ‘Stellar by Starlight’ the title employed to a
movie mix, recently aired in Malta and this years Bestival in the
U.K. The piece itself is very ambient accompanied by faint harmonic
voices from Coppe which rise and fall in a gentle sleepy manner. The
mood then gets initially darker on ‘Honeycomb where a deep dark
bass gets us underway with vocal samples, before lighter tones
juxtapose and sultry half spoken vocals and vocoder voices (initially
reminiscent of Newcleus) are employed. Which are possibly a
combination of Coppe and Lina?
The
album continues once again with Beatnik like poetry, distorted fx,
old Arcade game sounds and half sung vocals on ‘Broken’. While
‘Dawn is Breaking’ another slow burner which begins with lush
analogue sounding synths and vocal dialogue samples, the track builds
into something reminiscent of classic Tangerine Dream before calming
once more. The final track of the album is the Irresistible Force
re-mix of ‘Sandcastles’, a haunting piece of synthesized ambience
which once again initially has a somewhat retro feel to it (in this
case Berlin School) before the beat comes in and it morphs into a
dubbier affair.
To
summarise I’ve always found Dylan’s mixes to be a creative
journey and this album reflects that more so than ‘Illegal Lingo’
the change of label may also open his productions to a whole new
audience. Admittedly with it’s wider palette of sounds it may not
appeal to those who strictly love the dub reggae but it’s
definitely dubby and definitely psychedelic. I for one would
certainly bag this for my collection.
Review
by Woodzee
This
album is available to pre-order via Liquid Sound Designs bandcamp
page
Youth
started the Society For Ancient Enchantment in 1999, with the
intention of
combining ritual, music performance, spoken word and DJ's to be
able to
dive deeper into the mystery and meditation of the music.
This
created some legendary events and recordings and is directly
connected to this Society
of Inner Light album and future events. The inspiration behind this compilation goes back to the 1930's and "Dion
Fortunes Order Of Inner Light ".
Some
of her rituals in Bloomsbury were said to have ushered in the 1960's
flower power era ... Our intention here is to facilitate that same
intention and free the spirit of those times for our present and
future tribal, dance floor, chill out gatherings and facilitate and
create an esoteric counter culture that communicates to mind, body
and spirit.
The
album begins with Tripswitch 'Collider' which begins in a tribal dub fashion before adding his distinctive progressive touches applying plenty of reverb in places
and the balance of the two styles on the whole works rather well.
This
is followed by the Youth re-mix of Kuba's 'By The Foot Of Your
Mountain' Where classic ska, dub, spoken word samples, horns and
harmonica are chopped up with the original Indian vibe to great
effect.
The
next track takes a more chilled out eastern dub-step approach with
the Youth re-mix of Elfic Circle's 'Om Beach'. The chilled out
atmosphere continues with Mixmaster Morris and his Ambient Sunrise
Mix of his alter ego Irresistible Force featuring Nick Turner (of
Hawkwind fame) and Youth's 'Duende' a stunningly gorgeous piece of
ambience further enhanced with Nick's accompaniment on the sax.
Then
we enter the dub wise riddim's with Brother Culture vs Youth in Dub
'Urban Rebel Dub' a
stereotypical speaker shaker featuring the dubbed out lyrical
meanderings of Brother Culture. This is followed by the Outer Space
Chug Dub of the Dub Trees featuring Jah Wobble 'King Of The Fairies'
and it's an aptly titled track where the tribal drums chug along with
plenty of dubbed out fx with the odd vocal snippets sounding quiet
different from the original piece. The album closes with the Youth
re-mix of Mycal 'I Wonder What Happened In The Future' which picks up
the pace somewhat and utilises those classic ska sounds again along
with the catchy vocal chant.
Overall
I really like this album I'd go as far to say it's probably my
favourite of the L.S.D. releases over the last couple of years. It
may not contain a great number of tracks but everyone's a winner for
me.
The
Dub Tree's are a collective of dub producers and musicians with Youth
at the helm and this latest release draws
on Celtic and Hindu fusions
featuring
a host of collaborators such as Jah Wobble (P.I.L./Jah
Wobble and the Invaders of the Heart),
Matt
Black (Coldcut),
Micheal
Wadada (Suns of Arqa) and Shridevi Keshavan (Gods Robots).
The
album commences with the Distant Green Shore Dub of 'Return to the
River Ganges' and LSD fans will remember the Ozora mix was featured
on their compilation 'Dakini Mother Tongue' last year. This take is a
lighter version with more emphasis on the bansuri flute, pipes and
harp. Around halfway through the Tablas come to life and
everything comes together
to great effect. The
Ambrosirius Dub of 'Mediolana' begins in a haunting beautiful fashion
before the drums kick in admist tribal chants and sampled monologue
are introduced alongside Carnatic vocals. While the Fiery Pharaoh Mix
of 'Indika Keltika' is a knees up fusion of Celtic fiddle that
springs off the bansuri flutes, harmonium and dub fx.
The
Pagan Dub of 'Voyage of Pytheas' places
the emphasis on the vocals of folk singer Lisa Knapp (imagine
Delirium in Dub). The Demnoriax King of the Lower World Dub of 'King
of the Fairies' is another fiddle fuelled Irish Jig this time fused
with more of a bubbling dub. The album draws to a close with Aeduan
Odyessy Mix of Deer Hunter which has more of a house sound than dub
reggae complimenting the Celtic/Hindu thread of the release.
To
summarise I think this is a bit of a marmite album as apart from the
last track and the two fiddle numbers the pieces (including the ones
I haven't mentioned) are very similar. That said, if it
grabs you then you're not going to stray into territories that don't
appeal and the standard of musicianship and production with those on
board speaks for itself.
The
Suns of Arqa's released 'All Is Not Lost, But Where Is It?' On Liquid
Sound Design back in April this year. This
wasn't a stereotypical S.O.A. release of Carnatic Indian music fused
with Rastafarian
Niyabinghi drumming
but enhanced and focused on the dub elements with Youth, the Orb and
Raja Ram on production. Label manager Robin Triskele has drafted in a
wealth of talent to dub-the-dub so to speak and add a fresh lease of
life to the tracks.
The
proceedings kick off with Total Eclipse's
version of 'Mother
Tongue'which initiates with a
tripped out raga fused with NASA samples and fades in and out of some
beautifully melodic synth sequences and guitar licks. I must confess
I'm not really familiar with Total Eclipse but I like the way they've
stepped back and mellowed this track out but retained the original
drive of the piece. The Saafi Brothers put their stamp on 'Sadrayama'
which again seems to take a step back into a more eastern dub and
dropping the squelch of the original.
Following
on Kakan Dub Lagan add's his magic to 'Eramus Dub' which retains
plenty of old skool reggae dub flavours alongside laid back synths,
samples and scratches which he modesty but effectively tweaks I
definitely got a soft spot for this one. Tor.Ma In Dub's take on 'The
Fool Ascends' begins with a dark atmospheric intro with slow piano
bass notes, before the reggae is slowly introduced, gaining volume
and then is dubbed out in alluring and dream like fashion along with
the eastern instruments and vocals.
Once
again it seems like a step back from the initial release with Kuba's
version of 'Discordant Dream' with a more dream like quality to the
piece and the tribal drumming more of a pitter patter nestled amongst
the dub. This theme follows once again somewhat surprisingly with Eat
Static on 'The Truth Lies Therein' where you might expect a more full
on approach he utilises the poetic spoken word perfectly throughout
this frankly excellent eastern dub. The release concludes with
Youth's re-mix of 'Pablo's Lament' which if you've brought either of
the two previous S.O.A. releases on L.S.D. you will already have if
not it's a harmonica fused piece of reggae dub with some interesting
twists and turns.
As
I mentioned previously this is not a stereo-typical S.O.A. release
however, I would imagine most long-term fans of Michael Wadada's Suns
of Arqa are fans of dub and will accept this for a S.O.A. in dub
release. Personally, I'm
definitely taking that view even though the Indian vibes take a back
seat and I have to say I actually
prefer this re-mix album to the original release.
Liquid
Sound Design was created in 1998 by Youth as a sister label to
Dragonfly showcasing the more down-tempo output aimed at post-club
listening. Eventually, the management of the label was taken on by
Pathaan and is currently in the capable hands of Robin Triskele.
The
album commences with the Ozora mix of 'Return To The River Ganges by
Celtic Vedic and features a wealth of established talent from the
world music scene including legendary dub bassist Jah Wobble and
Youth himself. As you may of anticipated the track is a heady exotic
fusion of Celtic and Indian vibes easing you in gently before
dropping the dubby bass line and introducing Shri's sultry vocals
(who some may recognise from previous work with TaTva Kundalini and
Gods Robots with Janaka Selecta). This is followed by the Bhanda Dub
of 'Amethyst Corrida' by Wadada Youth Mundy which maintains the theme
with tribal drums rolling along behind melodic harp strings, flutes,
sitars and an orchestral violin break which complements the piece
perfectly.
The
album then moves away from the eastern mood with the Irresistible
Force Dub Mix of Tecktures feat. Mixmaster Morris 'Giant Robots In The Sky' which is frankly
a beautiful piece of dubbed out choral ambience. The compilation then
switches back to the eastern fusions with Kuba's 'By The Foot Of Your
Mountain' which begins with a Ravi Shankar'esque Sitar intro slowly
teasing intermittent drum hits before the laid-back dub and Indian
vocal takes full effect.
With
the general stance of this compilation so far it's no surprise that
Youth's Navigator Dub of Suns of Arqa's 'Navigator' is plucked from
the previous L.S.D. re-mix E.P. packed full of tribal chants & flutes
that provide the listener with a dubbed out chill before exploding
into pounding drums with trance like sequencing sections. The mood
switches once again with the Bhanda Dub of Brother Culture vs Youth
on 'People Love The Music' a bass heavy dance hall riddim bringing
the reggae back into the dubs.
Yet
again the style reverts back to the east with Ghostliner's 'Phoenix'
an exotic dub with tribal vocal stabs and percussion that's rather
fitting to the compilation as a whole. The album closes with the long
awaited return of the Dub Trees (Youth, Greg Hunter and Twisted
Records Simon Posford) where the Youth vs Cosmic Trigger Dub of
'Future Roots' is a lovely fusion of speaker shaking reggae dub and
psybient sounds.
To
conclude this is a solid release and continues the quality and style
fans of Liquid Sound Design have come to expect. There's a heavy
eastern element to the album which made me wonder why they didn't
stick with that format throughout the whole release. However, I can
answer my own question as the tracks that didn't fit that pigeon hole
are too good to leave out.
Reviewed
by Woodzee.
**For
the chance of winning a Bandcamp redeem code for this release tune
into the Chill Out Sessions on Boxfrequency.fm at 20:00 G.M.T. on
Sunday the 25th of October and keep your eyes peeled on
the facebook event page https://www.facebook.com/events/1494797440820745/ **
The
Suns of Arqa have been producing their blend of Indian classical
instrumentation and Rastafarian Niyabinghi drumming under mainstay
Michael Wadada and a prolific number of guest artists from around the
diaspora since 1979.
This
latest offering produced by Youth who has also roped in Raja Ram on flute and
the Orb to step behind the mixing desk and add their years of
production experience to enhance the release.
The
opening track 'Mother Tounge' begins slowly with a mish-mash of
chopped up SOA clips and samples which are soon accompanied by a
powerful rolling beat providing a whirling dervish of psychedelic
dub. This is followed by 'Sadrayama' which for the first couple of
minutes is a more laid back affair. However, once the drums kick so
does the squelch which works in perfect balance with the sitar
sounds.
Bird
song and spoken samples are the introduction to 'Erasmus Dub' a laid
back piece of dub jam-packed with reverb, samples and scratches. Soft
female vocal samples and fx are blended with bamboo flutes and song
in 'The Fool Ascends' which although still dub ditches the reggae elements in
favour of a more ambient chill feel.
'Discordian
Dawn' begins with a cello like intro integrated with sequenced
synth's before bamboo flutes and tribal drumming which are dubbed out
in appropriate places stream through the main body of the track.
There's an elongated piece of poetic dialogue nestled over distorted
and dubbed out SOA with 'The Truth Lies Therein' before the vocal song and rolling drums are
implemented along with trance like synth's.
The
closing track is Youth's Dub mix of 'Pablos Lament' plucked from SOA's last e.p. and for me it's a gem. Traditional reggae vibes
and harmonica are fused with SOA vocal hooks and reggae vocal samples
in this dub-fest. There's also plenty of twists, turns brakes and
turns of speed within the piece to maintain your interest.
If
hearing the Suns of Arqa put through the array of fx and reverb and echo chambers of
the dub laboratory appeals to you, then you can't really go wrong
with the men behind the desk on this release.
I first came across the Suns
of Arqa on a free cassette from a magazine I’d brought to pass the time on a
train journey in the early 90’s. It was one of those tracks I played over and
over and not long after I came across “Kokoromochi”
on vinyl which proved to contain some perfect openers to a set. After that
somehow they dropped off the radar for me for many years until I picked up a
compilation of their tracks over the years “Through The Gates We Go” mixed by
Tom Fu.
Through the internet I
discovered there was a vast back catalogue of Michael Wadada & Co’s fusion
of Indian Raga’s and Rastafarian Niyabinghi drumming dating back to 1980. I
still have some way to go to fulfil this collection and was very impressed with
Youth’s mix of “Jagnath Bhairavi” that Matthew Foord played on House of the
Flying Eyeball’s “My Favourite Things” radio show recently (which sparked an
interest in obtaining the Interchill album).
Considering the above I was
eager to hear this E.P. (a precursor for a new album to be released in 2014) from
the word go. The release opens with a re-mix of “Ancient Temples in the
Southern Cape” by master of dub and vintage electronics Gaudi and I have to say
the dreamy synths and reggae chords grabbed my attention immediately and the
spacey vocal I can’t put a name to just adds to the appeal. Next up is a mix of
the same track by Astralasia’s Swordfish. This version seems to take a more orchestral
stance and although it doesn’t quite reach the heights of Gaudi’s, it’s still a
nice alternative.
There’s certainly no lack of
talent on this release as next up is Youth dub mix of “Pablo’s Lament” which to
me blends soundtrack vocal samples, with Augustus Pablo’esque melodica heavy
reggae and psychedelic dub. The closing
track “The Truth Will Set You Free” mixed by Gagarin is the nearest to Indian
Classical music on the release and sets me in mind of the vibe of On-U Sounds “Pay
It All Back” releases so it’s no great surprise to discover it was recorded in
their studio with Skip McDonald on bass and drums.
To summarise, this E.P.I
love it and can only surmise that if you’ve read this far you’re tastes are
similar to mine and you’re probably playing it already.
