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PITCH HIKERS - Twilight Zone [Nexus Media 2006]
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bluespectralmonkey
IsraTrance Full Member
Started Topics :
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Posted : Feb 16, 2006 23:23
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PITCH HIKERS
Twilight Zone
Nexus Media 2006
NEXUSCD006
1. Twilight Zone
2. Present Tense
3. Ice Queen
4. Sink In
5. Skyf
6. Colombia
7. Questions
8. Peaches
9. Game On
"PiTcH HiKeRs is the new side project of South African PsyTrance producers Shift and Slug. NeXuS MeDiA is proud to present their debut album together "Twilight Zone". Its difficult to describe the sound they present here. Somewhat psychedelic, but it wont make u mad. Its powerfully driving, but not for too long. Its fat as hell, but has delicate touches too. Its got awesome groove, but doesnft get cheesy. Has sickeningly large and boisterous leads, but also huge soundscapes and slow deep emotions. Its got melody, but cranking techno too, and an attitude. Its slightly aggressive, but entertaining and playful as well. Its perfect for the transition from night to day. Its the Twilight Zone."
From this promo blurb we might not know what to expect unless we are familiar with the artists involved. a bit of everything for sure... lets check it out!
1 from the start theres an atmosphere of playful menace. spooky laughing sfx set the tone over a stabbing leadline, soon joined by long keys and a nicely tuned arpeggisynth... the bassline begins to roll and things get crunchy. spiralling inward we find tingles expanding while epic soundscapes flow. more long pads lead us up and out of the break, the elements are fully in place and growing back into another stonking blastsegment. the pads create a storytelling style that these two generate effortlessly.
2 an overdriven uprightbass sounding intro, and "501, oh we gotta stash it!" the low end is fat and round here, more space than the last, a creaky lead and a couple synthy rave hits, next thing you know theres a wall of encompassing harmony and some real nice warmth flowing over you. a break comes early, with some reverbed kicks, slowly re-entering groovespace. deepness inherent in this one, the overall melodic sound would blast any sunlit dancearea. some of the
key arrangements come off ravey, but the powerful and constantly morphing rest builds a strong movement that is undeniable. the "take me on a vision" sample sounds lifted from underworld?
3 entering into a vast experience, this one has more what i might consider trademark sounds for these artists. bendy twisted lead and very deep ideas, theres enough room to breathe, never being overbearing. huge warmth laid down by some tasty pads, and then - it teases a bit before reentering a straight ahead groove, which seems to breathe. a tasteful use of a vocal sound, and were back into sizzley open-ended rolling funkyness. i wish i could type while dancing! the shifts and changes keep it interesting and monster creativity is apparent as the song comes full circle.
4 another markable entry comes on strong, but with some aspects of reserve. "please take a moment to allow this information to sink in..." a twisty worm over the top of the running rolling fun-funk leads us into a breakdown that keeps the ass bouncing, theres some definite shift and slug sounds in here go figure. the main break comes with playful tune, sounding familiar perhaps, but as everything comes zooming back in, sounds cascading from multiple directions of brainstorm. im happy with the way the track morphs and doesnt stay in one place too long. the little tune comes back to really start ripping now. great streaky effects and accents combined with forceful production and mastering make this another solid jam.
5 power rolling is the order here, still with the playful energy and bouncyness seems to be ahead of the rest so far. full force edges and a fresh approach, with a touch of grind thrown in to the middle to darken it up a bit, but somehow manages to stay lighthearted as it drives away into ovlivion.
6 a funky deep triplet and some snappy percussion get going into some spaced morning sounds, but still with drive and elements of the jamspace. a nice diverse track, lots of stylistic exploration here, maintaining the epic sound and keeping you interested with builds that actually lead you into something
more instead of tickling you with kickrolls for days. real hands in the air stuff at the end here, will have you zooming around the dancefloor for sure, try not to lose track of the ground!
7 a long intro build starts to tease and finally drops in around 1:05, the trained ear can tell its in for a trip. more triplets provide the framework for a smoothly developing blastsequence. folding in on itself while simultaneously unfolding somehow, cool trick! i am wrapped up and twirled by the variation in sounds that keep zooming by. after a short break, we are in rinse cycle, everything starts going faster, sounds harmonizing and zippers zapping and shiny details just keep coming. just the right amount of tricks and plenty of substance keeps even the widest eyes on the prize.
8 slightly crunchier and more digital sound for this one, again providing a full range playground for the brain to climb around on, throbbing deepness underneath it all. big rampy fx lift us up and into the segments as they move toward us, i get the feeling that we're on some sort of conveyor belt, with many areas moving past, yet you can almost see and hear whats gone past in the reflections being laid down in the now. real thick layering and everything dialed in to a sonic perfection. the last blast is the cake though, and youre being tossed around, quite nice!
9 the final track starts to form itself around a deep core. at about 2 minutes the bounciest funkyest rollyest bassline of the whole album comes out to play, saving the best for last? the track stays fairly subdued for a while tho, not overwhelmingly anything, just right. huge progress and drive being cast out, a full assault, only with a smile. and the epic saga slowly draws to a close, your legs are probably mush by now.
in summary - the side project of two very talented artists truly brings out the best in both. plenty of variation and constantly shifting movement keeps every track fully active and listenable. fans of intelligent, grooving emotive, blasting morning sounds definitely do not miss this debut!
http://www.saikosounds.com/english/display_release.asp?id=5333
http://www.psyshop.com/shop/CDs/nex/nex1cd006.html
http://www.nexus-media.co.za/
  www.bluespectralmonkey.com
www.touchsamadhi.com
www.interchill.com
www.metacrew.com
www.nw-psy.com |
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Syntax442
IsraTrance Junior Member
Started Topics :
12
Posts :
350
Posted : Feb 17, 2006 03:10
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good SA full-on  |
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Shimmer
IsraTrance Junior Member
Started Topics :
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162
Posted : Feb 17, 2006 08:12
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Pretty cool album actually...Shift never disappoints me, and I love the reformed sound he has here...the album is a consistent piece of work...
_______________________________-______________________________
I watched a snail crawl along the edge of a straight razor. That's my dream. That's my nightmare. Crawling, slithering, along the edge of a straight... razor... and surviving. |
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Greennun
Started Topics :
6
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151
Posted : Feb 20, 2006 10:16
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This album rocks, from ice queen onwards the album flies, the bestof both shift and slug.very nice buy.
Good one nexus.
Boom
"If Pac man had affected us as kids we'd be running around in dark rooms, munching pills and listening to repetitive music. |
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brain inverter
Started Topics :
3
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8
Posted : Mar 2, 2006 20:32
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review courtesy of psyreviews.com
A very interesting release here from Nexus Media, Pitch Hikers being a new project from mental-mongers Shift and Slug. You would be forgiven for thinking that pedal-to-the-metal nighttime mushroom madness was the order of the day; but the reality is much more fluid, smooth and generally easy-on-the-cranium. Twilight Zone has a hell of a hook to it, a sort of schlock-horror movie theme that gets the hairs on the back of your neck standing up and has you moving towards the source of the sound to see what its going to do. Present Tense is a gorgeous record. Theres plenty of meat to it, with a delightfully chunky bottom end chugging along like a faithful Doberman. On top of this you get ravey noises, funky twists, atmospheric back-melodies and plenty of changes and the whole thing has this air of significance about it, as though youre hearing something genuinely new and fresh. Ice Queen is another delight, the movement here is purely insane and its staggering to hear the balance of traditionally dark sounds with a sweet aeroglide vibe and perhaps most significantly a bassline I dont remember hearing before. Sink In and Skyf both see the energy creeping up: still addictively fluid, but with more of that darkness creeping in. The sounds across the top are part ravey, part smooth electro, and the when it combines with the gnarly pace, the effect is something rather special. Colombia is a ballsy, inyaface tune with a sound thats familiar and timeless all in one. And its a belter. It just hits you in the face, like Shift often does, but rather than pulverise you into a mulchy mess on the carpet, it leads you deftly through far-reaching, psychedelic, shit-kicking music. Questions is a very, very strong track. Were moving into more direct harsh territory all the time, but the funk and fluidity is still present and correct. Likewise Peaches, which keeps the momentum flowing and tight in what is nothing other than a tight, effective bit of twilight trance. All of which largely pales in the shadow of closing track Game On, which has that classic feel to it from start to finish.. .great movement, unbelievable atmosphere, and more balls than a pinball addicts convention. This is one hell of an album fresh, varied, interesting. There may not be quite enough to sustain the casual, play-it-through listener but DJs of the harder sound will certainly find their sets given a new twist of space and momentum with this beauty. |
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andonis
IsraTrance Junior Member
Started Topics :
28
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901
Posted : Mar 4, 2006 19:18
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Nice SA full-on on the milder tip. Good for home listening and sunny dancefloors.
p.s. bring on the Brethren one now  . |
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ANTONIO_AK
Started Topics :
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Posted : Mar 7, 2006 04:14
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very good |
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*Karma Cola*
IsraTrance Full Member
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Posted : Mar 8, 2006 11:37
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Ice queen is totally insane!!!!
~*** You can tell By the way i use my walk, Im a woman's man, No time to Talk***~ |
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Ganeisha
IsraTrance Junior Member
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Posted : Mar 9, 2006 02:39
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PSYSREK
IsraTrance Junior Member
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Posted : Mar 11, 2006 17:55
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HanBaal
Started Topics :
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Posted : Mar 14, 2006 01:21
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indeed psysrek, Slug seems to excel when in cooperation with Shift.. not that Slug has not his own great tracks like for example "Divine Intervention" that was released in 2005 Shift compilation "Source" (one of the best compilations ever btw !).
Now to this new project... Twilight Zone has to be one of the best tracks I can remember of! That passage at 1.34 and from there on I take off to another world to never be seen by any common mortal again  The best is that this album is full of other dancefloor bombs!
Favs: 1(!!!), 2(!!), 3(!!), 4(!!), 6, 7(!!), 8(!!)
I very rarely enjoy this much so many tracks in one album alone, so I have to name this the BEST 2006 ALBUM so far and better than anything I heard last years! To Shift my best regards since I've been following his work for some time and his work just keeps geting better... best comp last year and best album this year so far imho!! Sincerely hope Pitch Hikers has something prepared for us in the near future
bOOm
EDIT: my first post though I've been around this forum for a long time so I feel I have to say at least hi.... HI ALL ! Keep reviewing a lot so that I'm aware of the best releases around |
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survey1
IsraTrance Junior Member
Started Topics :
36
Posts :
165
Posted : Mar 14, 2006 02:12
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I never heard the album, but with these 2 excellent artists it has to be a good album.
Just a thing... This album has the same name as Ferbi Boys new album Great coincidence
See ya all... |
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Bounty
Started Topics :
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27
Posted : Mar 29, 2006 09:47
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Present Tense, Colombia & Game On are killer tracks! Dancefloor madness! |
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mikeonacid
IsraTrance Full Member
Started Topics :
78
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1703
Posted : Mar 29, 2006 16:07
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i rely enjoy this cd
very nice work
fav tracks Ice Queen-Colombia- Peaches
cant wait to listen new
PITCH HIKERS tunes
http://www.noizeconspiracy.com
Combat - New Generation
VA - Greekedelia
VA - Endangered Species
Psychotic Micro - Edge of Sanity
VA - League of Shadows
Delysid - Noize Infection
VA - Twilight Vision soon... |
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Acidhive
IsraTrance Full Member
Started Topics :
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2014
Posted : May 12, 2006 16:25
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Got it only recently and I love this style. Track 3,7 work wonders for me, but the other tracks aren't too far behind either. Great album.
"Subconscious unravels at the point of death, and all time it has known erupts into a moment. As death extinguishes us, so we become it."
[Esoteric: Subconscious Dissolution Into The Continuum] |
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