MissRobin
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Posted : May 1, 2006 21:23
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Full HTML version and samples can be found at www.triskelemanagement.com/promotion/om
Slackbaba - and the beat goes om
Release date: June 2006
“And the beat goes om” is a work of strong catchy basslines, crisp compressed beats and colourful cyber-squelch! Its mix of styles and influences pays tribute a wide angle slice of musical genres that have been aired, on the groovy side of mid-tempo, over the last few years. In this, his debut album, Jonathan Smith (the Slack Baba himself) introduces the un-initiated to his version of events… a melting pot of fluid grooves and swirling psychedelic melodies, a touch of the ethnic and some very respectable bass frequency action.
As one of a new generation of British psychedelic artists, Jonathan’s individual style has produced some memorable live sets; turning down tempo audiences into full tribal stompers at last years Glade and Glastonbury festivals and delivering his cross-boundary hybrid grooves with impunity. His music draws the listener through a labyrinth of pulsing rhythms and mind-bending sonic states, demonstrating his skills in sound manipulation and delivering a new take on psychedelic electronica.
Expect to hear a lot of this album this summer and a lot more from ‘Slack Baba’ in the future. This is a strong debut album that will not only further confirm Jonathan as one of Liquid Records ‘groovers and shakers’, but should also establish his place in the CD cases of DJ’s and punters alike both in the UK and internationally.
© Wordsmith, April 2006
1. A Drop in the Ocean
2. Drink More Tea
3. Sea of Green
4. Long Sunny Daze
5. The Golden Apple
6. Metatron’s Sugar Cube
7. And the beat goes om
8. Fruit of Mahoot
TRACK BY TRACK:
A drop in the ocean
Liquid metallic synths stretch out lazily but steadily creating a fluid space for a crisp dubby groove. Metallic electro-synth melodic themes create punctuation and a bendy rounded sound. Twangy and bouncy contrasts with floaty and psychedelic. Vocal samples hint of other dimensions. The bass is tidy and defining. Synth sequences build and fade.. the tide comes in the tide goes out. The waves roll in the sea goes calm… the drop empties in the ocean and the ocean empties into the drop.
Drink more tea
Flutes and the sounds of an electro-jungle create the environment, opening the space and preparing the way for the entry of a deep suggestive bass line. Bass takes centre stage and the electro-jungle decorates over the top. Chopped up distorted vocals whisper in and out creating a busy psychoactive space over the simplicity of the grounded bass. Synth melody lines create shape and a journeying mood as they develop and become more elaborately interwoven …
Sea of green
Eastern flavoured strings echo out an intro which is swiftly underpinned by a gentle breaksy heart-beat of a rhythm. Strings turn into a stretched out spacey pad progression and the horizon is extended …the small field becomes a sea of green. Striding through this sea comes the bass… a confident dubby stroll of a bassline which weaves elegantly in and around the warm purr of the strings… an offbeat synth skank gives groove and added reggae flavour … all the while the pads ebb and flow in and out of melodic synth sequences as the track builds in complexity… then slides away…
Long sunny daze
Spacey intro, mysterious and deep… the gentle build of rhythmic sequence fills out a subtly busy sonic soundscape. Bass and synths confirm a reggae flavour with gentle timbale providing added seasoning. Extra dimension is created by the contrast of a deep slow pad progression moving along under an up-beat & cheeky arpeggio synth melody …this one, as the title suggests, has summer in mind… subtle psychedelic meanderings of the dubby variety. This track manages to be spaced out, laid back and upbeat all at the same time.. as a perfect sunny day should be!
The golden apple
A tribute to the illuminatus trilogy? Yes.. there certainly is more to reality… A distorted strings intro and a slow breaksy beat leads into a well paced dubby bassline. An electro vocoder sounding sequence mixes it up with ripples of tabla creating a squelchy robo-groove that kicks along above the bass and a compact syncopated kick. Filtered strings fill up the mid section – both extended and chopped - leading into a dissolving breakdown which creates space and a change of ambience… The return of the electro-squelch is interspersed with the flavour of chopped up strings.. themes are built and developed and then they’re gone… the track exits in a contemplative space.
Metatron’s sugar cube
Fizzing and swooshing give way to an eastern themed synth sequence underpinned with generous bass drops. then enter the bass groove, solid and breaksy. The head’s kept busy with distorting synth sequences while the lower regions are led grooving by a solid bass theme wrapped tightly around a good kick – one which sounds set to stick in the ears of dance floor groovers all over this summer! More of that please.
And the beat goes om…
A slow build of Indian vocals with the tone and intensity of a devotional chant woven around a synth theme and the drones of saranjy pour you like treacle into the beginning of this track. The spaced punctuation of a compressed kick and percussive echoes create anticipation in the build that leads to the entry of a loping bass line groove … the vocal verse repeats and with each repetition slowly builds… synth sequences lead you down paths interspersed with ‘electro-scratching’ and echoed sitar fills, while slow bass drops punctuate and ground the swirling meanderings of filtered vocals and synth
Fruit of Mahoot
The subtle twang of a tampura drones under the slicing sound of something being sharpened... The beat kicks in solid and steady and gentle off-beat synth echoes are balanced in their lightness. The kick and the bass enforce one another to create the drive which is syncopated and groovy… electronic wild-life chatters and chirps, buzzes and clicks above ripples of percussion (tabla) creating an intricate electro-organic frosting on the lower frequencies. A spacious mid-section brings out the rippling rhythms of the tabla while distorted vocals are woven into the mix to become part of the instrumentation. The synths return augmented and more melodious, the mix fills out and builds before gently dissolving as the track echoes away.
NEWS & REVIEWS:
“Liquid Records' downtempo department has been busy over the past year cooking up some of the frostiest grooves, and Slackbaba's latest release, "And The Beat Goes Om", is undoubtedly one of the plumpest fruits of their labor. Serving up a healthy slice of dubtempo with roots and branches drawing from, and extending into, a myriad of musical directions, Slackbaba's beats are as abstract as a Picasso piece seen through a kaleidoscope, and the production quality is top-notch as well. Don't think you'll be sleeping through this one... this album spans the spectrum of speeds and there is a veritable traffic jam of colliding sounds coming at you from every which way... this music is that busy! “
Axis Mundi – Scene Networks
"Break beats and dubby rhythms drive you safely into a deep relaxation. Rasta ragga elements and atmospheric sounds are arranged in a such a way that he has created a true masterpiece of relaxed electronic music. For me, some of the sounds feel like they're directly from the stars and I would say this album fits totally into my definition of shpongled music. Colorful, dreaming, melodic, somewhere between dub and drum & bass it will get the highest recommendations from the chillout scene."
Liese - Mushroom Magazine
"There's nothing slack about this baba, his beats slap straight to the om, with a nice touch of dubs, breaks, and smooth electronic sound manipulations to keep your synapses stimulated as the journey unfolds."
Chris Organic - Organic Records
"The best thing we have heard in ages, all our friends are raving about it"
Steve and Miquette - System 7 / Mirror System 7
You can see more about Slackbaba including pics, bio, and more, visit http://www.triskelemanagement.com/slackbaba
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