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TESTSPINZ 014
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  REVIEWS Testspinz: Albums + Singles This week’s AVANTRAX by: DJ Spooky Send vinyl 12"/CD for review consideration to:
Ever since I plunged into Deep Dive Corp's Support Your Local Groover, life has become a undersea trance odyssey because the CD hasn't left the player in two weeks! First get your feet wet to siren's wail as you suit up for Deep Dive. Next Sarah's vocals on "Summertime," a breakbeat remix of Gershwin's classic showtune, create a heat wave, relieved fortunately by cool guitar licks. When I finally washed ashore it was to strains of island gamelan groove in "Bali hi." Use your "Imagination," as you prepare to be astounded by startling discoveries: barrier reefs of breaks, schools of minimal melody, playas of percussive perfection! With the playfulness of a dolphin "Enjoy" as this CD makes you "Laugh," leaves you "Trippin'," reveals "who shot the Gogodancer." Support Your Local Groover gently takes you so deep that it gets you high. Wow! Guaranteed to make a splash anywhere and everywhere people undulate like the waves of a tropical sea! Sprout
Smashing, crashing, banging Jungle Action! Dieselboy: A truly remarkable DJ! Dieselboy continues to pound out the slickest Drum & Bass mixes you'll hear today. I have always been amazed with his up-front, in-yer-face mixing style. On this continuous mix you will hear the latest, greatest tech-stepping tracks out there! After a short ambient intro Dieselboy wastes no time gettin' lifted. Track two "Mindscan" by Ed Rush and Optical is truly one of the best hard techin' tracks this year. SoCal local-boy E-Sassin takes the third slot with his track "Symptom." Dieselboy can always pull off mixing up a couple tracks and take you in a totally different direction without breakin' up tha flow. Not something all DJs can do. E-Sassin's "Symptom," and "Ultrasonic Sound" by Hive are perfect examples of this. No mercy for the dance floor here. No rest for the wicked! Some of the other great producers on this comp include: Biostacis, Dom and Roland, Decoder, Future Cut, Kemal and Rob Data, Stakka and Skynet, Jonny L, Facs and B Key, Technical Itch, Bad Company, and Absolute Zero. With taste in music like that how could you go wrong? Don't take my word for it, check the boy out next time he's in your town. Better yet check out this CD--you won't be disappointed, I promise. Jefsta
And now for something completely different: Hippiehaus' music. Freeform definitely has their hands on the pulse of the zeitgeist of electronic music. Here's an offering that spans the range of electronic dance from dub to trance to trip-hop to house, with plenty of breaks and guitar riffs thrown in the mix. Something for every head--music that will open your mind. Oriental chanting meets breakbeat trance meets guitar-rock in "Underdog." And onward it rolls 'til b-movie's phat bass and innovative use of samples. "Outa Space" shifts into scratchy waxy oriental-flavored trip-hop grooves and "Harp Age" delivers six minutes of breakbeat bliss. Check out this eclectic melange of new sounds if you dare pull the trigger. Sprout
A sun-drenched, liquid dub session, inside the womb of Jhno...the synthetic movement draws you into the surrounding walls of technorganic bliss. Two years following the release of his album Kwno on NewDog Records, along with side projects with artist Spool and a few compilation spotlights, this is the next step in Jhno's musical wizardry. The opener, "Prelude," draws you in for a warm journey perfect for a weekend chill-out, moving into the heavy synth flair of "Unlimited" and peaceful drum roll of "Moment Two" and "Ovaltune." Resonating, throbbing, breathy basslines are the sweetly crafted unifying element to the whole composition. Tune your delicate ear this way! Ms.E!
Space: transmissions from electrostatic circuitry, waveforms and pattern-resonant beats, textures underlying static-synth noise. An unknown microphone in the background records the traces of unspoken symbolic reverberation. The early futuristic beginnings of metallic, organic, advanced life-formations of existence. Rhythmic, yet incomprehensible movements that shift from dimension to dimension. Longing piano and haunting-melodic guitar, crackling pops, hisses and drops of electrons underneath semi-sub frequencies in random order. Eleven tracks with no identity, names defining thoughts of the artists as they create and leave the interpretation of composition up to the listener. This is the second album from these ambient musicians out of Tokyo. Wunjo
Slip around the corner to your local Groove Grocer, where Non-Chemical Beets and Speed Cabbage are being sold by the pound, it's a free-for-all Organic Monday! Watch out for the Darkside of the Melon, the trip you get from that one has everyone in the neighborhood talkin?...more powerful than a Kumquat Shot! I think we have a new genre here. Beats you can eat! The oddstep sound with a twist of Latin & International flava...a rockin', discodelic dream served up sweetly by the Three-Sixty heads with the support of Tummy Touch king Tim "Love" Lee...this CD will keep you movin' and groovin' til the break o' dawn. Deelicious! Ms.E!
Let's see here: OK, a little of some drippy, bubbly synthetic psychedelic-trance sound effects, some jazz flavoring and deep, driving, funky jungle rhythms underneath it all. No, wait a minute: house-influenced Detroit techno, mid-tempo grooves with organs, acoustic bass, horns and flutes. No, no, a couple of guys hanging out in a jazz or blues club in Chicago sampling and writing music with portable equipment and headphones while listening to a band play. It could be all of this or just my interpretation/imagination, but this CD has the smoothest, jazziest undertones with a variation of tempos for anyone's palette. I think this is one of my newest favorites and plan on listening to it until I force myself to hide it somewhere in my flat. You should probably get a copy and check it out for yourself. I'm keeping mine! Wunjo
An all-encompassing theory is, as they say, tested, tried and true. Like a mixtape you'd put together for a good mate this collection is full of soulful, swingin' jazzy beats. The third in a series, the No Categories Compilation by Andrew Jervis and the Ubiquity crew premiers songs from up-and-coming artists like P'taah of the Wamdue Project with the track "Crossing (Evacuation of Form)," Puracane's "Went Away" and "Things You Should Leave Alone" (remixed by the Underwolves) plus Skyjuice, Mumbles and the Cut Chemist featuring Dark Leaf, and Nobody. Ranging from the deeply atmospheric, Brazilian-infused rhythms to the melodic breaks and beats, this double CD oozes optimism. Far from the regular club feed, this is one to hold on to. Ms.E
According to some, Drum & Bass is the future of music. If so, Good Looking records has been emotionally moving and spiritually lifting their listeners into that heavenly future. Deep sub-bass, toe-tapping rhythms and melodic layers composed of synthetic elements continue to lift the listener into a state of bliss. Each artist delivers a completely different, fresh, new and uplifting composition that has, personally, lifted my spirits and added depth and dimension to the daily humdrum of life. As I walk along the streets of San Francisco and take in the beauty of this city, this CD in my Discman definitely adds to the upbeat mood I am in and puts an extra spring in my step and a smile on my face. No matter what city you're in or how you choose to listen to this compilation, I recommend that it becomes a part of your collection. Wunjo
This compilation is brought to us by a new label out of Byron Bay, Australia. Luna Orbit and Luke Psywalker are the people behind this new up-and-coming label. The two of them are the most accomplished promoters in the area, being responsible for some of the best outdoor parties that Byron Bay is so well known for.The CD starts with a Scandinavian-styled trance track and then moves through a Psychedelic-Trance journey led by Morphem, In Sect, Space Tribe and many more. The sleeve says that Psionics are powers derived from the mind that enable us to perform in ways resembling magical abilities; this may give you an some inclination as to where this compilation is taking you. All the way through to Harmonic 33's "Zombie Shuffle" and then the sweet, chill-down track "Urd Buddha" by Orbit Constructions, this is a solid dance compilation recommended for anyone who likes to dance. Dov
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