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V/A - Cold Conclusion: Tales of the Freeze Delerium [MMD Records 2007]
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squirm
IsraTrance Senior Member
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Posted : Jul 16, 2007 18:23
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well this compilation has been around for a month or so now and i'v been sucking this album ever since i got my hands on it. since last year’s erratic distortion I have looked upon MMD records as a new giant in the south african scene- promoting relatively unknown projects like lost n found, frozen ghost, zion linguist (owner of mmd records), and hiyarant. this compilation is no different and it is pure madness. the man behind this cd is none other than frozen ghost aka barry wynne. i have always dug his work since his 1st release on afrogalactic way back in '03, and this compilation does not disappoint. enough yapping, time to get to the good stuff  .
1. emp vs hiyarant - binary [147 bpm] : here we have mmd's very own hiyarant collaborating with a new project emp (francis moult and Vaughan de villiers who are signed on to afrogalactic records), to give us the first tale of the freeze delerium . one thing u might notice is the unusually high bpm for an opening track, especially for a compilation with twilight music. the higher bpms persist with the tracks on this compilation. Anyways lets get to the track - it starts off with some cool spacey sounds and samples of someone asking, “where are these things?”. Muted kicks come in and soon a phat bassline kicks in. after a little teasing, by 0.55 the track is jumping into place. The bassline is jumpy, aggressive and just raw, with lots of mind games happening especially with this tweaky computer like bleep lead and some stellar work on the highs.. by 1.50 the track is off and hell yeah, it’s a joyride  . the bassline is really phat and just infectious. They use some cool sliced up talking samples, which reminds me a lot of r.a.m.’s work. By 2.30 there is this flipped out lead that comes in and the moment you here it, you know its going to blow you away. The track evolves smoothly like a funky ol’ beast . by 3.20 the flipped out lead is backed up by these neat little melodic leads in the background – trademark hiyarant stuff . the break in the beginning of the 4th minute is mind game central right from the brain bending melodies which use a distorted metallic lead, to the little tweaks and hints of groove just screaming at you! When the muted kicks come in, the power meter goes up up n up, and with some samples that I could not understand, the track starts getting itself together piece by piece. After a massive buildup with samples, split beats and a whole load of madness, the track is back with a very very twisted lead which is accompanied by a groovy assortment of bleeps and tweaks. Soon there is a deeper melody that keeps a smile plastered on your face while you commence your stomping . This track presents some cool ideas and nifty new sounds which I haven’t heard on any previous hiyarant tracks. All in all a pretty cool collaboration and an interesting tale to say the least . 8/10.
2. frozen ghost - frost fiction [146 bpm] : here we have the mastermind frozen ghost, giving his own little version of what the eskimo's call, 'frost fiction'. the track starts off with some cool spacey sounds and leads into the kick bass which sounds alot like zion linguist. its mean, low and dirty. i like . the track evolves smoothly with the highs coming in at just the right time, and this eery ambient pad in the background. lots of acid sounds here, from the metallic edgy lead gone mad to that eery pad in the back, and the banging hit hats . by 2:00 or so the track is going out in full power with a new lead, which is another edgy lead with a cool melody to it. by 2.30 there is this super nice break with lots of ideas, then a whole new melody is brought in, and soon the frozen ghost madness begins with distorted sounds which sound like a penguin gargling  . by 3.00 there is a really crazy melody. what a ride and we still have another 4 min to go! the track pretty much peaks out with the main melody, accompanied by twisted leads and this some what electric guitar lead that comes out later, by 3.50 the same lead is more prominent. The track builds up with a cool break. There are some really haunting pads used, which just give so much depth to the track, then come the muted kicks and those crazy distorted sounds. lots of cool ideas and by 5.00 the track is getting back to business and its not planning on taking any prisoners. metallic sweeps with even more haunting pads. by 5.55 there is this insane new lead which is ... twisted to say the least. it sort of reminds me of this s.w.o.r.n. track, 'poultry in motion' off va -decadance. what i love most here is that amongst all the chaos there is a serious groove happening . the track ends slows down to a somewhat peaceful end, thus ending this piece of frost literature. this is a pretty cool track on the whole, and more significantly it shows a cleaner sound from frozen ghost who i think at times sort of goes beserk with all the madness. overall, a banging track bound to get some stompers going. 8/10.
3. hiyarant - makeshift [146 bpm] : hiyarant is back for his 2nd appearance on this cd and this time its a solo effort. Track stars off with the usual atmospherics, kind of like a creaky old spaceship drifting about, with alarm noises and cool phazer like sounds. Really neat stuff and it leads into the kick bass smoothly. The kick bass arrangement is just awesome, the power and groove are just sick. By 0.50 there are these cool fx sounds used, which remind me of a tribal kind of beat. The track continues in chill mode, and at 1.15 the track pulls out this new lead in a freaking awesome way...it just bubbles out and sticks to you. The new lead is then distorted like crazy and by 1.45 the track is going out in full power! A real beast this one, with some crazy leads which are reminiscent of hiyarant’s earlier work, but the overall production level is more polished than any of his previous releases. By 2.38 the track is kicking in again, with bassline showing some cool changes lending a playful yet aggressive tone to the track. Soon there is a new lead which just adds to the madness and by 3:03, the track shows some very mean progression. by 3.30 there is a small break followed by a buildup that is super sweet. with a less noisy and cleaner lead, the bassline really has space to completely suck you in. there also these other sounds which add a hint of melody to the track, and by 4.50 there is a new melody altogether which is taking u forward. The leads all have this crazy metallic edge to it which add a sense of a deeper groove to the track. the break around 5.20 is just awesome, from muted kicks, to whiney sounds picking up pitch, the main melody comes in with these really distorted kicks , and then comes this massive lead from the back, and with some superb playful sounds, sort of like drumsticks, the track kicks back with like a beast. The primary lead that comes in soon after is all hiyarant and is just mind bendingly good. The track ends off with a slow down with some of the leads making sure u remember them well .you can clearly see hiyarant’s trying some out some cool new ideas, especially with his bass lines, and ill tell you something, its working! This track is a treat and just keeps getting better and better with every listen. 9/10.
4. frozen ghost – fridget midget [148] : here we have frozen ghost putting out his 2nd solo track of the compilation and this time around things are getting a lot more hectic with the bpm rising to 148. starts off with muted kicks and eery atmospherics, which gets creepier and creepier until about half a minute into the track the kick bass just lands. Wow. The kick bass is bad ass – its just massive and uber uber mean. The track continues like this with really haunting pads, and keeps building the suspense. soon cool sounds are used which sort of remind me tribal beat work but not quite, really cant put my finger on it. by 1.31 the track kicks in completely with the highs setting place, and soon there is this really sick lead, something straight of the frozen crypts of the ghost. It sort of sounds like an old school shift lead a little. Around 2.12 he gets this really cool tune, sort of like a kiddy tune from an old game or something. a distorted lead is introduced to back this melody. The overall effect is wonderful as u have this really sick tune with this massive kick bass. By 3.05 the cool tune is gone and what we have is a killer break down, with some cool little stops and a sample talking about the smell of freedom. At this point all u can hear is the intense bassline and those trademark frozen hit hats. Amongst all the madness, by 3.55 there is this new groovy melody that is dropped in. really steller stuff. It’s a different lead used this time arund, not so much of an edge to it but freakin cool none the less. By 4.30 there is a really sudden stop, which is followed by some very cool tricks with mute kicks. The melody returns with some changes and just as you think the tracks about to destroy you, it builds up a little with the kiddy tune coming back. What a blast. This track is unpredictable and will definitely keep people hooked. The melody from 3.55 persists for the remainder of the track with some ambient pads adding an epic touch to the track. Again this track shows some new ideas like the kiddy tune which is just too demented not to enjoy, and some new sounds. This is grade A frozen psychedelia, the midget has spoken, “ 9 on 10!!!”.
  www.soundcloud.com/ishikawa
www.mechanikrecords.com
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squirm
IsraTrance Senior Member
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Posted : Jul 16, 2007 18:23
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5. lost n found – integration [145 bpm] : lost n found has been putting out some really massive tunes over the past year or so, from his multistate project with xatrik to his solo stuff. So the expectations from this tune were high, and it pulled it off really well . The track starts with the usual atmospherics, but there are these trashy fx like a cut up sample of someone talking, reminiscent of multistate tunes, and then slowly the kick bass builds up with these groovy highs and the track just evolves smoothly and slowly. By 1.05 the track gets a sick little groove going for it, and the trashy funkyness just blooms. By 1.45 the track is moving along with no mercy, and soon a groovy lead kicks in. the soundscape is pretty intense with sounds like metal sweeps to bleeps bloops and that groovy lead taking you away . By 2.40 there is this semi break which uses the sample of a man sort of talking, this bit really reminds me of absolum, probably one of his more recent tunes like astral body surfing v2, or maybe take off v.2. anyways the track builds up slowly, with glitchy fx all around. Soon a new lead is introduced which is really something, distorted, mean, aggressive, all this with a hint of groove to it. By 3.45 you have some very characteristic multistate like sounds. The track thereafter moves on n on like a monster . the break around 4.40 is interesting with more absolum like voice sample. As the track builds up you know your in for a ride, with wicked fx like revving sounds and intense ambient pads. By 5.40 the tracks main melody kicks in, WOW! This tune is just insane!! I think this is the sound that sort of defines lost n found to me, lots of aggressive melodies with but loads of groove, topped off with these wonderful trashy sounds . in contrast xatrik I feel has a more psychedelic touch to his work. Back to this track, it just keeps going higher and higher thereafter and comes down to a neat end. This is a stomper for sure. A great follow up to the last track and another bomb on this cd. 9/10.
6. rubix cube – quibonomix [147 bpm] : rubix cube is kieron grieve, a new project hailing from south Africa and this is his debut release. Having known this, I really didn’t know what to expect from this one. As you can see the bpm meter has just jumped up a couple of notches to 147, and is now ready to take things to new level . Things Start off with the usual atmospherics but from the very get go u have this really groovy sound coming, and then after these sounds fade, And some soft cartoon like samples, the track’s percussion is just laid down, one sick kick after another. The percussion work is something, kind of minimal yet letting you know whose in charge. By 1.08 cool bell like sounds come in, and leave a sort of sick groove in their wake. The entire feel of the track is like a mad beast just blowing some steam . the track chugs along and soon some cool ambient pads are used to keep things moving along with some shift-like sounds. Around 2.15 there is a cool build up where there are some more cool fx followed by a very serious kick bass arrangement. In the midst of all the derangement this melody is introduced that just blows me away. Sounds like an old cryptic movie’s score. The kick bass shows some interesting changes and sounds even more serious and wham, the track is moving forward again. I love the way the different fx just fit in perfectly to give the whole track it’s serious groove, especially the bell like sounds. Around 3.55 there is a new lead which sounds a lot like s.w.o.r.n (again their poultry in motion track). By 4.20 the track gets into its main break and the build up is pretty standard with some cool ideas, especially the way the kick comes and goes, and the nice ambient pads, giving it a wholesome feel. Me lyke . the track builds and builds into a MONSTER! The tune that comes out is just soo much fun! Its slick and groovy, with no hunt of cheese. Sort of sounds like a melody straight out of an old Nintendo game. The track keeps up with this melody without getting monotonous, and by 6.00 it slows down only to pick up soon after. This is a stellar debut release and is bone crunchingly good. So far this is the best track on this cd for me. Rubix cube presents some crazy new sounds with some slick melodies, which leave you begging for more. Definitely keep a look out for this mad act in the near future. 9.5/10.
7. xatrik – icey [147 bpm] : the ‘mudness’ continues here with xatrik presenting icey. Xatrik released his 2nd solo album this year, which was an awesome follow up to last year’s multistate album. This track is taking no prisoners, and it starts immediately with muted bassline. Soon the kick just bubbles out and lands. The kick bass established is trashy, and all over the place and yet not doing anything at all. With some cool fx the highs are introduced and the wobbly little monster marauds around, and by 1.20 you can see it building to something massive. Finally by 1.44 the track moves in full force, just wonderful stuff. Little glitchy leads with some cool ambient pads. Cool chaotic sounds accompanied with trademark multistate leads makes this a wonderful ride. All the while long the bassline just grows meaner and meaner until 2.40 a break kicks in …. Spooky fx and even scarier reverb come in and the track lands with some spacey sounds. It builds for a while with some cool new sounds followed up by wooshes of all kinds until the twisted controller xatrik thinks he’s got you cornered, with playful litte echoed samples of ppl talking to these little mini breaks in the track. Really out there stuff that keeps you wondering where the hell your going. The acid meter is off the roof as the track slowly gets itself back together, with wonderful n.r.s. like dementia, and suddenly at 4.50 the track stops. There are these really groovy tunes played that stick for a while until at 5.15 a super serious kick bass is introduced with metal creaks and swooshes. The track finally gets itself moving by 5.40. the groove is pretty menacing at about this time keeping your head bobbing constantly. By 6.10 there are soo many different sounds that it is just wonderful to hear. From trademark multistate leads, to these glitchy melodies all topped off with that ‘xatrical’ touch as a friend once told me . this track goes on rampage with these really spooky melodies. The whole track gives you the feeling of witnessing a wicked unpredictable experience and ends off with eery pads and samples of a woman’s voice. I didn’t like this track as much as the monsters before, but it still has something appealing to it. Its different and unique and would certainly keep the dance floor pumping. 7.5/10.
8. frozen ghost vs lost n found – sin stereo [148 bpm] : this track is pretty much a clash of the titans! 2 of the freshest acts from south Africa coming together to open a serious can of whoop ass . starts off with some creepy muted bells tolling, something straight out of an old horror movie, and then a woman speaks, ‘oh john, don’t look so grim… I can show you a glimpse of your future… I can offer you a taste of the power you will weild… if you wanted it badly you didn’t need all this mindless destruction….” Wow! What follows is a hard kick with a bassline that could kill, and soon there are some glitchy fx letting you know that both minds are present and running at full power (Y). this is a stomper of a track from the get go and I love the work on the highs. By 1.17 the track is moving forward, you can clearly hear the lost n found leads making an appearance. These leads keep coming n going and somewhat remind me of the lost n found track, ‘rhythmic stick machine’ off va – erratic distortion. The track moves on without letting up there are lots of chaotic sounds along with the standard trashy fx lost n found is known for. Around 2.00 there is a cool use of the melodic lead and soon a break follows with more samples of a woman talking, ‘your being rude’, and the track bubbles back slowly. At this point it sounds more like frozen ghost especially the lead that gets the kick bass back. Around 3.00 there are some cool changes to the beat line followed by glitched out fx which leave you wanting more. By 3.13 there is a new lead which takes over the mind manipulation. The lead sounds sort of like old school azax syndrome, but soon a more melodic lost n found lead joins this one. The break down sounds a lot like azax syndrom again but the melody that comes out of it is … just wow, sort of kaleidoscopic yet aggressive. Just when you think things cant get any better the mysterious woman returns to identify herself, “I am Mother Nature!”. And then there is a funked out build up with so many wonderful ideas from a winding lead to broken beats everything just comes together. ‘just give him what he wants’. And this is exactly what the track does. The winding lead continues and evolves seamlessly with the kick bass, and the track builds itself together with glitchy trashy fx giving it a broken yet recognizable groove. This is just wonderful stuff. By 5.00 the track is on rampage pretty much destroying any person on the dancefloor. The kick bass is just mad, and the lead that is introduced at 5.23 is just ear candy. It sounds to me more like lost n found than frozen ghost at this point. Regardless the track chugs along for a bit with the kaleidoscopic melody sticking around until this rumbling beast calls it a day. What a track! 9.5/10.
www.soundcloud.com/ishikawa
www.mechanikrecords.com
www.phonix-records.com
www.mixcloud.com/ishikawa/ |
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squirm
IsraTrance Senior Member
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Posted : Jul 16, 2007 18:24
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9. zion linguist – game over [146 bpm] : here we have the main man behind mmd records making an appearance. i dug his subliminal message album released this year, but haven’t really been too thrilled with the singles released thereafter. So lets see what this track has to offer. Starts of with some spooky atmospherics, but at 0.15 the kick bass kicks in. the kick bass is gritty and dark. And it evolves with this really synthetic lead and soon the more familiar zion linguist sounds are introduced. A little melody plays a little bit, and by 1.18 the track just kicks in. so far this track has really evolved, and damn fast at that. It actually sounds a little like old school psychotic micro when I think about it. At about 1.45 there is a break in which this really hauting melody comes in with this lead that is once again very similar to the new micro style, except less cheesy and more freaky . The track builds itself slowly with all the elements coming together, and then the hit hats come in to give this little beast some groove. After a slow down to a break with muted kick bass, the track comes back with just the kick bass. No new ideas here really, and the track progresses along with the trademark zion linguist lead doing it’s magic. Soon there is a melodic lead which adds more depth to the track and the track moves in full pace. By 4.24 the micro like tune returns, and soon the kick bass builds itself around the melody to give this tune a sort of jumpy feel to it. By 5.15 there is another break with the more melodic lead accompanied with other synthetic glitchy leads and then out of nowhere comes this really slick new lead! God damn its mean! With a neat little sample the kick bass comes back and the tracks evolving more n more, and is pretty much in full force by 6.25. the new lead has a metallic edgy sound to it with some good amount flanger n ring modulation I think. It leaves the entire track sounding like a grim old psychotic micro track, which in my books is a nice thing . The track chugs along well and ends on a somewhat sudden note. This is a decent track, but given the quality of the other tracks here, I am somewhat disappointed with this tune. Perhaps on another release it would have stood out more. Regardless, those who have enjoyed zion linguist’s earlier works will enjoy this one. 7/10.
10. smugg juggler – heathen race [147 bpm] : and now we come to the last tale of our adventure in the frozen wasteland. Smugg juggler is another new project, and from the information in the cd this is the work of hiyarant and 3 new names – dale byl, james ward and garath wyatt mair. The 4 of them come together and present some very wicked live sets including electric n bass guitars, synths n drums. The cd info book really is quite helpful. Anyways lets get to this track. Ever since I heard a sample of it online, I was hooked to this one. The track starts off with some glitchy fx and a sample of a man talking about ‘some people’, really cant understand what he says, but there are some spacey sounds and lots of glitchy fx. Suddenly you can hear a hint of a muted kick, and before you know out there is a massive kick bass just destroying your brain! The kick bass is just massive massive massive. by 0.50 the highs are in and the track is slowly building up. There are cool spacey metallic leads that come and go, sort of like a lurking beast. By 1.43 the track is just moving with all systems go! the hi-hats are perfect and the track progresses along with these small little breaks and soon there are these little groovy bell like sounds that are introduced,. At 2.33 there is a break with the kick beats just playing around. More glitchy fx and metallic sweeps appear and there is this subtle change to the bassline that gets me every time. And before you know it the track screams back at you with a new melody, and a whole barrage of new glitchy sounds. The new melody is given more depth with softer leads, all the while the long the bassline is just jumping all over with so many little changes. This is a very very intricate piece of music . with a neat little stop the track is pumping again with trashy grooves and distorted leads, leaving you feeling like your on a monster safari . in the midst of all the sonic chaos, at 3.53 there lands perhaps the most wonderful lead I’v heard in a while . its sounds a lot like hiyarant’s earlier stuff, metallic yet melodic and edgy. the melody adds this whole sick feeling to the track that makes you just stomp like a monkey. The melody evolves beautifully with some playful little changes. At 4.20 the track goes into a break with muted kicks, and some deep ambient pads, and the kicks just come bubbling back with a tune straight out of a child’s dream! Very very reminiscent of the frost fiction track earlier on this compilation. The kiddy tune is dropped in to give you a taste and soon is forgotten as the kick bass and some new leads take you around. By 5.12 the track is going mad, and the kiddy tune slimes its way back in ways so distorted they make me smile . Around 5.30 there is small break followed by the melody finally coming to you. At this point the melody is deranged, mad and yet so playful, it leaves me feeling scared and yet amused. The melody’s pitch is played around and the the original hiyarant like melody comes in and sets things right with this huge buildup that will leave you simply blown away! As the track comes back it pretty much peaks out and takes you all over. The leads accompanied with the phat kick-bass make this track the best one on this compilation. To simply put it this track is just awesome, and I am certain will leave any listener wanting more of the smugg juggler . 10/10.
Having gone through so many tales, I’m left breathless and dazed. If there is one phrase that describes this cd to me – it would be frosty the snow man gone psychotic. When I come to think about it, just about all the tracks have this Christmas like feel to it – with sounds of bells and fairy tale like tunes. In that way the music and the concept of this cd go well together. To makes things easy, this is one hell of a cd and a worthy follow up to last year’s erratic distortion, and it certainly builds up expectations from frozen ghost’s 2nd album coming later this year. I think the artwork is done by hiyarant. the cover is pretty twisted and is in the same vein as erratic distortion’s artwork. Really like the graphics on the cd itself. Overall it’s a worth buy, especially if you dig labels like yabai n nexus media. You can buy this cd at both psyhop n saikosounds, and im sorry about my lack of formatting on the league of shadows review. Big boom to frozen ghost n mmd records for putting this monster out.
Favourates:2!,3!,5,6!!,8!!,10!!!.
Overall Rating : 9/10
www.soundcloud.com/ishikawa
www.mechanikrecords.com
www.phonix-records.com
www.mixcloud.com/ishikawa/ |
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daksinamurti
IsraTrance Full Member
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Posted : Jul 16, 2007 21:49
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wow what a cd !!! cant get it out of my players.
amazing what big talents and funky collaborations come out of south africa these days.
hard to say which tracks i like best ... all of them are more then playable ... and perfect dj food
definitly a most have and one of the top 5 compilations of this year... this will stay in my case for quite a while 
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Braindrop
Braindrop
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Posted : Jul 17, 2007 12:24
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I just got the cd. but to be honest i am a lil disappointed with this. On hearing some of the samples earlier i tght it wld be a good buy... especially from MMD after the brilliant Twilight Children. Some of the tracks are good stuff. My pick from this wld be Frozen ghost vs Lost n Found - sin Stereo. Thats a pretty jackin one. The production style here is a lil refined and fresh which is good, but its less psychedelic IMO, its more hard trance influenced. But nevertheless... this label is a good one... and im hopin to hear more in the future from them.
till then keep jackin!! 
BOOM!
www.braindrop.in |
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stu|ART
Started Topics :
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Posted : Jul 17, 2007 15:45
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cool review squirm! the album is fuking cool I reckon to.
BTW: artwork is done by me... not hiyarant. both of us called stuart hehe
speaking of hiyarant... keep yer ears open for the future hiyarant album - which - is going to be something realy realy wicked. |
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full_on
IsraTrance Team
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Posted : Jul 19, 2007 23:55
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I enjoyed listening the samples at saikosounds:
http://www.saikosounds.com/english/display_release.asp?id=6601
Some good tracks here, if you liked the Frozen Ghost debut check this one.
Respect!
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...Be gentle with the earth...
...Dance like nobody's watching...
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...I don't mind not going to Heaven, as long as they've got Coffee in Hell... |
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Bloodclot
Bloodclot
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Posted : Jul 20, 2007 08:28
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I pretty much liked this compilation! Quite a stomper! Nice review Squirm
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