| Author
|
SUNKINGS - Before We Die (Chill Tribe Records)
|
PKS
IsraTrance Full Member
Started Topics :
75
Posts :
490
Posted : Mar 5, 2009 10:33:47
|
Sunkings from the UK is finally out with their third album after many years in the music business. Sunkings was an early forward-thinking techno/IDM group, which started as a trio in 1990 by Jay Paine, Paul N. Davies and Michael Bluemink. After several releases on a self-financed label, they gained attention of 808 State, which resulted in the recording of the Return of the Killer Rays EP for 808's own Creed Records in 1991. Hugh Ashton replaced Michael Bluemink around that time, just before the trio signed to GPR, which released their first album entitled Hall Of Heads in 1994. The album earned plaudits from Brian Eno and John Peel. They also brought Taz Alexander into their studio, for female vocals. Taz later also joined Juno Reactor, after Ben Watkins heard her works for Sunkings. After GPR went under, the group switched to the increasingly respected Blue Room Released label, which released their second album Soul Sleeping. Now they are back with an album full of beautiful variation and fantastic vocals by Taz Alexander, on Chill Tribe Records.
Sound clips, cover artwork and information:
http://www.arabesquedistribution.com//index.php?option=com_artistavenue&task=singleCd&id=1870&Itemid=20
Release date: 27 March 2009
Sunkings Before We Die (Chill Tribe Records) 2009 (CTRCD07)
01 Brotherhood
02 Mad Love
03 Barleycorn
04 Sonic Pigg
05 Fallen Angel
06 Starbuck Revisited
07 Sunrise
08 Micromega (Old Nicks Mix)
09 Sunrise (Optic Mix)
10 Some Fractal Mourning (Gumbo Mix)
11 Homunculus (Brain Stem Mix)
Psyshop:
http://www.psyshop.com/shop/CDs/ctr/ctr1cd007.html
http://www.chilltriberecords.com
http://www.myspace.com/chilltriberecords
  CHILL TRIBE
CTRCD01 QUALITY RELAXATION
CTRCD02 RELAXED JOURNEYS
CTRCD03 EAR PLEASURE
CTRCD04 WOMBATMUSIC - Shameful Silence
CTRCD05 POLYPLOID - Grow Your Own
CTRCD06 IAN ION - Gringo Locomotion
CTRCD07 SUNKINGS - Before We Die |
|
|
|
mattman
Started Topics :
7
Posts :
168
Posted : Mar 22, 2009 13:41
|
Sunkings - Before We Die Chill Tribe Records, 27 March 2009)
1 Brotherhood (3:59)
2 Mad Love (5:31)
3 Barleycorn (6:37)
4 Sonic Pigg (4:37)
5 Fallen Angel (4:04)
6 Starbuck Revisited (7:52)
7 Sunrise (5:58)
8 Micromega (Old Nicks Mix) (4:17)
9 Sunrise (Optic Mix) (7:23)
10 Some Fractal Mourning (Gumbo Mix) (4:39)
11 Homunculus (Brain Stem Mix) (5:56)
Sunkings make a visit to Chill Tribe Records! After more than a decade they're back with full force. Striking, to say the least, Taz Alexander, the vocalist from our beloved Juno Reactor guides this album from start to finish through groovy, dubby electronica. Even tribal influences, together with her voice, makes for clear resemblances to the before mentioned group of musicians. Just listen to track #2 - "Mad Love"! Through Sunkings, Ben Watkins in Juno Reactor discovered Taz and brought her on board. This album carries that talent with extreme care. One of the reasons for that is the way the music is almost catered to the vocals of Taz, which makes the experience extremely rewarding. I dare say this is an outstanding album. The sheer quality of production and mastering makes for something out of the ordinary. I've recently taken a great interest in Dub music, and that makes it all the more exciting to have that collection diversified with Sunkings new album. Now, there is a more electronic / new wave touch as the tracks progress, and I can only imagine how seeing them live would be a great experience. The electronic parts makes for a really great contrast to the more ambient tracks. This shift between ambient / dub / electronic style caters to many different tastes, but what they have in common is a thoroughly presented theme that rings through the whole playlist. It is very exciting when hearing through an album the first few times, and each time confirming your suspicion that there really is a deeper edge to the tracks you're listening to. British electronica / dub is hard, if not impossible to overdo, as all the big names out there can confirm, and in my book, Sunkings takes a solid spot up there with the rest of them. This loungy, British touch to the tracks presented to us makes for a really good vibe. This is a diverse, extremely well produced album. The tracks are well chosen to bring the experience to different peaks as the hour flies by, and the real feat of ingenuity lies in the way Taz' voice has been sampled both as lead vocal but also as really eerie pads to lay a foundation for much of the theme of the album. There also a great obscure part to the experience that is "Before We Die". The artwork and scribblings inside the digipak makes for an interesting touch. You really get the feeling of receiving a complete story with this album, something every artist tries to accomplish. Fans of Juno Reactor will surely recognize the genius of this, as fans of ambient, electronic and dub. Chill Tribe Records has yet again released a superb piece of music. This is highly recommended.
Get it: http://www.psyshop.com/shop/CDs/ctr/ctr1cd007.html
Goa Goa-trance & Psytrance parties in Oslo, Norway:
http://www.facebook.com/RotorUnderholdning |
|
|
|
PKS
IsraTrance Full Member
Started Topics :
75
Posts :
490
Posted : Mar 26, 2009 16:06
|
Thanks for a great review mattman!
It's now available at psyshop:
http://www.psyshop.com/shop/CDs/ctr/ctr1cd007.html
Enjoy!
PKS
CHILL TRIBE
CTRCD01 QUALITY RELAXATION
CTRCD02 RELAXED JOURNEYS
CTRCD03 EAR PLEASURE
CTRCD04 WOMBATMUSIC - Shameful Silence
CTRCD05 POLYPLOID - Grow Your Own
CTRCD06 IAN ION - Gringo Locomotion
CTRCD07 SUNKINGS - Before We Die |
|
|
|
TechMonkey
IsraTrance Junior Member
Started Topics :
41
Posts :
985
Posted : Mar 28, 2009 00:38
|
Wow. I just heard Brotherhood. Breathtaking. That song alone makes it worth picking up. Taz has such a fantastic voice.
*wanders off to buy the album* |
|
|
|
Star-Trooper
IsraTrance Junior Member
Started Topics :
19
Posts :
511
Posted : Mar 30, 2009 22:52
|
Heard it. Sorry to say I didn't like it one bit.
I miss the old Chill Tribe stuff (mostly CTRCD01-03).
hmm maybe I should stick to your VA's.
Cheers...
To Infinity And Beyond! |
|
|
|
damon
IsraTrance Full Member
Started Topics :
88
Posts :
2122
Posted : Mar 31, 2009 16:54
|
|
CosmoNaughty
IsraTrance Junior Member
Started Topics :
43
Posts :
234
Posted : Apr 3, 2009 18:33
|
Quote:
|
On 2009-03-31 16:54, damon wrote:
^Same here. Celtic stuff is not my cup of tea :/
|
|
What's Celtic about it ? do you mean that it has ethereal female vocals ?? I personally liked that, it sounds like 90's ambience to me. I've got to say when I first heard that the next chill tribe release was to be a sunkings album my first reaction was "oh I can give that one a miss", but having heard the samples I'm really quite impressed with what I've heard. |
|
|
|
Shakta
Started Topics :
0
Posts :
38
Posted : Apr 3, 2009 20:06
|
Celtic or not doesn't really matter
The problem I have with these kind of releases are they seem to be stuck in the 90's. Musicical styles have moved on a long way and it's such a shame that so many labels keep churning out the same old psychill productions! |
|
|
|
PKS
IsraTrance Full Member
Started Topics :
75
Posts :
490
Posted : Apr 8, 2009 12:59
|
Quote:
|
On 2009-04-03 20:06, Shakta wrote:
Musicical styles have moved on a long way and it's such a shame that so many labels keep churning out the same old psychill productions!
|
|
Thanks for making me laugh today. If you think this album sounds like "the same old psychill", you must have listened to the wrong CD:)
Quote:
| they seem to be stuck in the 90's. |
|
I miss the 90's, so thanks...
Don't be sheeps or fashion trolls!
By the way, your wish will become true.... This is the last release on Chill Tribe (Before We Die...), so I will not be bothering you with my music anymore.
Over and out!
PKS
CHILL TRIBE
CTRCD01 QUALITY RELAXATION
CTRCD02 RELAXED JOURNEYS
CTRCD03 EAR PLEASURE
CTRCD04 WOMBATMUSIC - Shameful Silence
CTRCD05 POLYPLOID - Grow Your Own
CTRCD06 IAN ION - Gringo Locomotion
CTRCD07 SUNKINGS - Before We Die |
|
|
|
damon
IsraTrance Full Member
Started Topics :
88
Posts :
2122
Posted : Apr 8, 2009 14:20
|
Quote:
|
On 2009-04-08 12:59, PKS wrote:
By the way, your wish will become true.... This is the last release on Chill Tribe (Before We Die...), so I will not be bothering you with my music anymore.
|
|
Are you going digital or give up on releasing music?
http://www.chillumafia.com |
|
|
|
CosmoNaughty
IsraTrance Junior Member
Started Topics :
43
Posts :
234
Posted : Apr 9, 2009 17:36
|
I make no apologies to anyone that I love that 90's sound I have a real problem with a lot of the new downtempo psy releases most of it is just too noodly and clever for it's own good, so slow that there is nothing really happening of interest, just become bad jazz, Stodgy crunchy psychedelic with nothing really there apart from a studio effect or just plain irritating.
It's like a breath of fresh air to get an album that is groovy enough to move a chill out crowd and presents just good unpretentious trance based electronic tunes.
Chill tribe records will be sadly missed if this is the last release. |
|
|
|
TechMonkey
IsraTrance Junior Member
Started Topics :
41
Posts :
985
Posted : Apr 9, 2009 19:54
|
I guess there are two sides to everything. I watched some of my favorite genres in the past (industrial for one) go from constantly evolving and creating new sounds to stagnating and being pigeon-holed into a set of formulaic genre/sub-genres where every new act is derivative and directly traceable back to some point of origin. So I do agree that there is a fairly urgent need to "evolve or die" over time with any music scene.
On the other hand, I also feel that a good piece of music is a good piece of music. Regardless if it sounds dated to some because of earlier influences. This release does have a 90's feel to it, but it still sounds like a good piece of work to my ears.
PKS, don't overlook the positive remarks about this album. You can't please everyone.  |
|
|
|
Star-Trooper
IsraTrance Junior Member
Started Topics :
19
Posts :
511
Posted : Apr 10, 2009 21:35
|
That is sad news. Any good label that 'dies' is bad for the ambient scene.
Regardless, I wish you didn't take some remarks personally, even though you're the founder of the label. 
Good Luck on future projects!!
To Infinity And Beyond! |
|
|
|
