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V/A - Seismic Mood (AuraQuake 2005) CD
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DeathPosture
IsraTrance Full Member
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Posted : Dec 14, 2005 14:43
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V/A – Seismic Mood
Cover: http://tinyurl.com/dylzo (front) + http://tinyurl.com/76bg5 (back)
Title: Seismic Mood
Format: CD (jewel case)
Label: AuraQuake Records (US)
Cat. #: AQCD002
Distribution: Arabesque
Date: 12 December 2005
Track listing:
01. 08’19” Parus – Star Pass
02. 08’03” Penta – Dangerous Game
03. 07’30” Sector 7G - Exploit
04. 07’55” Penta – Half Dimensional
05. 06’42” Ocelot – Trumpeter Swan Rmx
06. 06’39” Parus - Leshiy
07. 09’07” Penta – Always Noon
08. 06’45” Sector 7G – X-mas
09. 07’08” Parus - Volna
.m3u-playlist: http://tinyurl.com/dg8x8 (all tracks!)
Review:
Earthshaking: an issue of seismic proportions and ramifications!
With the release of Penta’s second album Funraiser in September 2005, Bay Area-based label AuraQuake Records immediately entered the big psytrance league… That was, and still is, a gargantuan album packed to the rim with funny, murky, twisted and downright oddball darkpsy tracks… One of the best albums from 2005 within the genre… So, naturally I was excited when this compilation was announced… To be honest, I only know about Penta and Ocelot off the tracklist, but I’m guessing the AuraQuake quality inspectors are competent people… Let’s find out…
Let me take you thru the tracks…
#01: Parus – Star Pass
Parus is the trance-outfit of Latvian-born, American-based twin brothers Mark and Valentin Tarasov… They open this compilation with a slow, technoid afternoon groover… Minimal in structure, but with enough progressive stamina and melodic touches to keep me entertained… The perfect soundtrack to a lazy, sunny afternoon… Stripped down, electro-ridden morning tech-trance meets melodic psytrance… Nice opening track!
#02: Penta – Dangerous Game
Russian-born, American-based producer Nikita Tselovalnikov shouldn’t need further introduction… I’ve already talked about his second album Funraiser, which was just as good as his first output Pentafiles… Anyway, this track is more uplifting than the previous one… The infamous ‘retarded melodies’ from the newest album are back on this track… And that’s a shame – coz I still don’t like them…Luckily they don’t pollute the track completely, and there are some extremely wicked passages in this track… Pretty nice – despite the dreadful melodies!
#03: Sector 7G – Exploit
Besides from being Homer Simpson’s work place, Sector 7G is the moniker for the combined forces of Russian-born Alex Becker and American Scott McDonald… Allegedly their music is the closest thing to punk rock within the trance scene… I dunno about that, but what I do know is that this is indeed a powerful track… The long, murky intro builds tension, but doesn’t reveal the splendour of the actual track which follows… We’re still in pretty minimal, electro-driven morning trance territory – and this track has an impressive NRG level… Best track so far!
#04: Penta – Half Dimensional
Second Penta track – which I’m happy to say, I find much better than the first one… This one has deranged melodies and Penta-twirls too, but somehow they sound much better here… Anyway, this is hard-core night-trance… Which I guess can be played at ‘evil mornings’ too… Pure zombie fodder… Instantly trippy, easily complex in all its multilayered glory - and ever so scary! I mean – holy fudge! A trademark Penta track – amazing!
#05: Ocelot – Trumpeter Swan Rmx
Bay Area thrasher oCeLoT (Aaron Peacock) really impressed me with his second album vectorSelector released in June 2005 by Dropout Productions… Just like the style of the album, this is experimental, borderline night-trance with a melodic touch… So yeah, this is more morning-orientated than the Penta track… It’s still immensely trippy though – like only Mr. Peacock does it… Long driving pads and twirling psychedelia all over the place… My only gripe is a couple of ‘repetitive’ passages – but all in all, this is still a solid track…
#06: Parus – Leshiy
The twins are back with another track. This time, the music is a little more extrovert, but we’re still very far from say the Ocelot or the previous Penta tracks – which kinda throws of the flow a little… Anyway, this is minimal tech-trance with hints of uplifting, melodic morning trance… I kinda like the industrial-slash-technoid approach to trance, but I’m also slightly thrown off by the seemingly bland, infertile atmosphere… So yeah, this track isn’t as easily accessible as some of the others, and will take several listens to fully dissolve… I’m not quite there yet I’m afraid!
#07: Penta – Always Noon
“Come, we don’t have much time. We’ll make it – it’s still noon! It’s always noon here! What – what do you mean? Back home it’s already after midnight! What?” The third and final Penta track on this compilation is a murky, haunting affaire… And though Nikita claims it’s always noon, I beg to differ… This track is what you want to hear in dark, abandoned warehouses with smoke all over the place and the smell of brimstone in the air… Über-dark and somewhat repetitive, this is easily one of the darkest Penta-tracks I’ve heard in a while… Like Xenomorph on PCP…And that’s about the best description I can give. A ripe, mature track – which once again shows just how talented this guy is… Impressive track!
#08: Sector 7G – X-mas
…‘Tis the season to be jolly, so here’s the Becker / McDonald take on a psychedelic Christmas carol… And by golly, this is a hard-core x-mas tune! Stiff syncopated acid-stabs revolve around the bassline from hell – and the pixies and elves are dancing around tripping on shrooms… Check out the cool breakdown after which the track rebuilds itself into an even stronger party choon… This is a very interesting and very unique tune… If only it wasn’t so short… Ho ho ho!
#09: Parus – Volna
Final track by the twins is another odd one... But whereas the others were kinda low-key, this one is more four-to-the-floor and accessible… Don’t get me wrong, it’s still very much Parus, but with an acid-spin put on things… So yeah, we get flaring melodies here alongside the bland, industrial-like soundscapes… Sadly I’m not a big fan of those melodies... Actually I find them kinda annoying… What a shame – this track had potential!
Well, let’s take the negative stuff first… I really didn’t connect to the last two Parus tracks – style wise they seem oddly out of place on this compilation, which leads me to talk about the evident flow-problems… I know that flow is maybe not as important on a compilation compared to an album, but still… I would have much preferred to have all the Parus tracks first – and then move on to more accessible stuff… Also, I can’t seem to get past those demented, high-pitched melodies in the first Penta-track… But enough with the negativity now – thankfully there are heaps of stuff to be positive about here!
Yeah – this is a wicked compilation! There are a handful of really excellent tracks – and I’ll never get tired of the Bay Area experimental psytrance… I really, really like it and we get some real hits here… The cover-art was made by Penta himself, and I dig it… It stands out from the crowd and fits both the overall seismic activity theme – but also the music… Especially the Parus tracks! Fans of Penta/SF psytrance will definitely take well to this compilation – and I’m sure the Parus tracks will find its fans within tech-trance circles… To conclude, this is a solid piece of plastic… Easily worth a purchase… Enjoy!
Favourites: 3, 4(!!), 5, 7(!), 8,
DeathPosture
External links:
AuraQuake Records: http://www.auraquake.com
Discogs: http://www.discogs.com/release/582918
Saiko Sounds: http://tinyurl.com/ajo2m
Beatspace: http://tinyurl.com/akdld
Wirikuta: http://tinyurl.com/crbrw
Psyshop: http://tinyurl.com/acebu
Chaos: http://tinyurl.com/7vtxa
Juno: http://tinyurl.com/b2x2u
  On really romantic evenings of self, I go salsa dancing with my confusion... |
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Dai
IsraTrance Junior Member
Dai aka Amatti
Started Topics :
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553
Posted : Dec 14, 2005 15:43
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Great review, DP!
in my opinion, AUraQuake is one of the best new label this year! I might vote the label as best 2005 section...Funraiser was massive as well as Sesmic Mood...All track has something that grabs your attention, not to mention Penta! and my favorites are Sector 7G tracks! Reminds me of the insanity that I experienced at north of SF forest fullcircle phenix family gathering...they played deep driving minimal set in the morning with exactly same costumes as the picture inside( i agree with you, seems like nothing to do with punk rock as mentioned in the sleeve)Hearing thier music in the mornig was super trippy!looking forward to more stuff from them.
Good luck with the future releases!!!
Tell me what you listen, and I'll tell you what you are.
http://www.brainbusters.info
http://www.psytribe.com |
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PSYTOUR-night oracle recs
Psytour
Started Topics :
14
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802
Posted : Dec 15, 2005 16:16
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looks like a great cd. nice to see more penta tunes... 
*Night Oracle Records
www.night-oracle-records.com
*Vertigo Records/Indigo Recs
*Femina Mandragora/Rhakti Dei |
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Le Lotus Bleu
IsraTrance Full Member
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114
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Posted : Dec 31, 2005 18:38
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Let's pass quickly over the cover which is ugly, i'm sure a good designer is not that much expansive Mr Penta...
Parus has a heavy & slow style like a diesel (!),which is not that much frequent in the darkpsy scene, Star Pass is a perfect illustration of this.
With Leeshiy , There's a nice Zombish atmosphere, still in quite slow tempo for a darkpsy sound & this time the pumping rythmic lets place to a discret kick..
Volna is more glacial, the tempo is falsely slow, some percus have been integrated; but this by far the most indiferrent tune among the Parus' track.
Penta in Dangerous Game delivers a melody chutte de dominos en cascade from 2'45 which is nice, otherwise the tune is confused & i've got the feeling he didn't know too much what he wanted to do here.
Half Dimensional is more psychdelic, strong,raving & fast, a Penta more effective & trippy from his best moments.
Within Always Noon, tones are eitheir spitefully triturated or metallic. It's the most boisterous & incisive track from the compilation, strangely in this context the snare is a lot attenuated. The samples contained in the song will explain you the reason of its name. Furthermore, on the end when the girl says again 'what?' after a big flooding of fx, i find the situation very funny.
Sector 7G develops an insistant structure with Exploit but i don't dig it. X-mas is bloody shambles, i didn't catch the Christmas thing if it was suppossed to be somewhere.On the 2 tracks i'm not convinced by the Sector 7G musical potential  .
Ocelot with Trumpeter Swan remix is in the lineage of his last Vector Selector album even if it's not among his top creations. I mean Ocelot's style is raving darkpsy with detuned tones, certain often slump on themselves here.
Globally the quality result of Seismic Mood is positively average, with an orientation more focused on mental goals and/or domestic listening purposes than pure dancefloor stuffs according to me.
Favourites:1,4,6,7
6.5/10
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full_on
IsraTrance Team
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5475
Posted : Jan 16, 2006 19:38
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As an AuraQuake and Penta fan I ordered this one without previous listening. Can't wait for the mailman! 
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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andonis
IsraTrance Junior Member
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901
Posted : Jan 17, 2006 13:33
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This is a really nice compilation. Have enjoyed it a lot of times since I got it. Penta and Ocelot and the newcomers Parus and Sector 7G give us some hell of a tracks. Worth having for sure.
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Mat N
IsraTrance Senior Member
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Posted : Jan 17, 2006 16:05
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Quote:
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On 2006-01-16 19:38, full_on wrote:
As an AuraQuake and Penta fan I ordered this one without previous listening. Can't wait for the mailman!
Respect!
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your full trust in Auraquake is justified- this compilation is a good follow up to Penta's Funraiser; i like the Sector 7G tracks (and also Parus' last track), and i guess we'll hear more of them in the next future. the flow of the compilation is not perfect, but most of the tracks are great.
the best tracks here imo are: Penta-Dangerous Game, Ocelot-Trumpeter Swan Rmx, Penta-Always Noon, and the 2 sector 7G tracks. good job, nikita, waiting for the next ones 
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Syntax442
IsraTrance Junior Member
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Posted : Jan 18, 2006 16:01
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Respect to Penta and Auraquake! |
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full_on
IsraTrance Team
Started Topics :
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Posted : Feb 14, 2006 17:29
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OK, the CD arrived and I'm enjoying it.
The CD is my style, night stuff without being too noisy.
The booklet has a brief bio of each featured artist, but lacks the bpm to the tracks.
Can someone please give me the BPMs to this nice release? Penta – Half Dimensional sounds like 150 bpm. 
Respect!
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...Be gentle with the earth...
...Dance like nobody's watching...
.
...I don't mind not going to Heaven, as long as they've got Coffee in Hell... |
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Le Lotus Bleu
IsraTrance Full Member
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Posted : Sep 25, 2006 21:29
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I've re-listened to this compilation recently & i'd increase the mark upto 7,5/10 instead of formerly 6,5.
The mental dark quality work proposed here has grown on me, with time the cd seems better  . |
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full_on
IsraTrance Team
Started Topics :
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Posted : Sep 25, 2006 22:42
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Soooo true.
Respect!
.
...Be gentle with the earth...
...Dance like nobody's watching...
.
...I don't mind not going to Heaven, as long as they've got Coffee in Hell... |
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squirm
IsraTrance Senior Member
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Posted : Sep 28, 2006 06:48
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