Trance Forum | Stats | Register | Search | Parties | Advertise | Login

There are 0 trance users currently browsing this page
Trance Forum » » Forum  Music Reviews - VA - Sound Safari compiled by DJ Morus
Share on facebook Share on twitter Share on StumbleUpon
Author

VA - Sound Safari compiled by DJ Morus

full_on
IsraTrance Team

Started Topics :  279
Posts :  5475
Posted : Aug 1, 2007 15:03
VA - Sound Safari compiled by DJ Morus ( Innersound, Jun. 2007 )

Track List:
1. Baphomet Engine - Dark Empire - 6:45 (148 bpm)
2. Ufologics - Terrorize Y'awl's Neighborhood - 7:09 (146 bpm)
3. Arsenic - Cerebral Mutation - 06:26 (150 bpm)
4. Yab-Yum - X-Massive - 7:27 (144 bpm)
5. A.P.E vs Cosmical - Extraterrestrial Civilization (A.P.E remix) - 7:11 (147 bpm)
6. Stereographic - Zombie Mind - 6:10 (146 bpm)
7. Electrypnose - Alien Communication - 6:50 (148 bpm)
8. Ape vs JUL - Physics of the Triangle Engine - 6:46 (147 bpm)
9. Delysid - Evil Factory - 7:04 (150 bpm)


I ordered this third release of Innersound Records a couple of weeks ago, and since then I’ve been listening to it during my night course lab experiments. The music grew on me to the point I found myself willing to write this review.

This release features artists from 6 countries, in a peculiar assembly of styles and approaches. It was compiled by DJ Morus, a Brazilian DJ respected by presenting diverse night sets and taking his music seriously. I’ve seen him doing his moves behind the CDJs in a Festival last year, and I must say it was a first-class opener for Baphomet Engine.

The artwork was made by Rafael Limaverde and Fabio Borges, and shows a gorilla wearing headphones; it is simple and right on the theme of the compilation. Check it here:
http://212.227.206.198/cgi-bin/zoom.cgi?inn1cd003_b.jpg:CDs/inn/inn1cd003.html:;

There’s no mention anywhere in the booklet or the jewel case about who did the mastering, but I have a strong feeling it was Tim Schuldt, because it sounds good and there is a thanking to 4CN Studios. Also there’s no mention to track times or bpms on the booklet, the label could pay more attention to these small details which make difference for the few of us who actually buy the music.

On the back of the jewel case we got the message:
“Buy originals, support the artists, don’t make copies and ride the waves”.


Opening the compilation we have the most well known Brazilian night act: Baphomet Engine. It posses deep bass lines and is cleaner than most other stuff I listened from these guys, which improves the score to me. Having no build ups and relying on its flow, this is one of the best Baphomet tracks in my opinion. Excellent opener.

Ufologics is the next Brazilian act to surprise me with a track with good flow and synths. The pleasant intro and good development of ideas keep me dancing till the sample which is sort of a poem, and guess what its source is? Haha, I knew “you’ll never catch me”, it’s from Michael Jackson - Thriller.

“Darkness falls across the land
The midnight hour is close at hand
Creatures crawl in search of blood
To terrorize y'awl's neighbourhood
And whosoever shall be found
Without the soul for getting down
Must stand and face the hounds of hell
And rot inside a corpse's shell.”

Unfortunately I feel that the way the sample arrives does not fit with the track structure, but the end of the sample is well surrounded by the music, which ends in a DJ friendly way. Arsenic from Italy is next (T3), delivering one of the fastest tracks here (150 bpm). I think this is my first contact with his music, and I’m enjoying this steady stuff. In spite of being fast it never gets too dirty, even though it posses many discrete background noises. Good one.

The bpm drops vertiginously with Yab-Yum’s arrival. Their X-Massive track (T5) is the slowest track here, but many hardcore dark psy fans will be surprised to find that its 144 bpm are denser than most of the scary stuff out there. Here we got a well executed, multi-layered and psychedelic flavoured proof that night music don’t need to rely on fast bpms, producers should listen and learn. Also it is the longest track here, and has no breaks to spoken samples, which I think helps in the proper continuous development of the flow. Don’t get me wrong, I love samples as much as I love coffee, but in order to corroborate with the overall mood of the track, they must suit the music and not the other way around.

After the massive Yab Yum track we have an A.P.E remix to his collaboration with Cosmical (T5). The track begins with this sample:

"Stunned by the conclusions of the study...
The conclusions were that the planet Earth has been under a detailed extensive survey by several extraterrestrial civilizations from many, many years. The study concluded that this survey has been going on for centuries or even longer. They indicated that there was high intelligence involved, extremely high technology involved… The technology has been demonstrated to be at least 1000 years beyond anything we can imagine. Extraterrestrial Civilization...
The final portion of the conclusion was that it did not appear to be any kind of malevolent or hostile threat involved because if there had been, there's absolutely nothing we could do."

It has more breaks than the previous track and probably raises more dust on the dance floor, but nothing from another world. I like the samples and atmospheres near the end. Subsequently there’s a track by Stereographic, a Brazilian project by Andre Santana. It is a steady track, but not among my favorites here, I liked the ’percussion’ work near the end, but it feels like the track ends abruptly.

Alien Communication (T7) is a shimmering gem by the multi-talented musician Vincent Le Barde, best known as Electrypnose. The subtle changes in bass and synths executed with maestri change the intensity of my dance moves, yeah, I’m dancing in the lab, hope the security guys don’t upload the video to Youtube. I won’t forget to mention that the samples at the start immensely help in the definition of the track’s theme and the achievement of its atmosphere.

A.P.E comes again, this time together with another Israeli project named JUL, in another 147 bpm track named Physics of the Triangle Engine (T8). The track has a similar approach as his last one, and present classic UFO samples:

“…and in, in the object were small bodies. Approximately 12 of them. They were small grey creatures with large heads.

There was an extensive annex based upon the... one of the UFOs had crashed in Northern Germany right near the Baltic sea.”

Closing this successful compilation we have Evil Factory, by Delysid. It is fast, danceable and has the best samples here in my opinion, from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory:

“- It is impossible… You don’t understand anything about science…
- First off, there's a difference between waves and particles. DUH! Second, the amount of power it would take to convert energy into matter would be like nine atomic bombs!
- I can't understand a word you're saying…
- Here, put these on quick and don't take them off, whatever you do. This light could burn your eyeballs right out of your skulls. And we certainly don't want that now, do we? This is the testing room for my very latest and greatest invention.
- I see.
- These flashbacks happen often?
- Yes... increasingly... today.”

Maybe it has too many turns, but other than that it’s one of the good tracks here, and definitely works on the floor. Nice one to close the deal.

With his compilation DJ Morus shows where he comes from, and Innersound Records breaks its 3 years long silence in great style, definitely deserving the support for releasing quality over quantity. However, my biggest critic to this compilation is that it presents less than 62 minutes of music, which leaves roughly 25% of the CD empty. On the other hand there are many releases out there packed with 80 minutes of fillers, so I think it is still a very good deal, particularly for DJs because it’s a flexible release.

An interesting aspect of this release is the recurrent UFO samples. I feel that they help linking the tracks together, improving the home listening aspect of the album.


Recommendation: This compilation presents diverse music for the night time. I wouldn’t call it “dark”, but instead say it fits smoothly in different styles of night sets. Here we have 9 previously unreleased tracks from heavy weight established night acts as well as from new acts. The bpm range is wider than what we find on most night releases, wise DJs can benefit from that. The music is not too fast, being ok for home listening if you’re used to the night style. Shortly, you should check this versatile release if you liked the previous work of the artists on the track list.

Favorites: 1(!), 3, 4(!), 7, 9.

Listen to the samples and buy it here:
http://www.saikosounds.com/english/display_release.asp?id=6625
http://www.beatspace.com/dettagli/dettaglio.asp?id=3401
http://www.psyshop.com/shop/CDs/inn/inn1cd003.html

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...
kazuku
IsraTrance Full Member

Started Topics :  100
Posts :  1123
Posted : Aug 1, 2007 17:54
Yab-Yum and Electrypnose tracks are very strong

Interesting album for full-on fans who like a dark twist.
Morus


Started Topics :  8
Posts :  316
Posted : Aug 2, 2007 03:58
Thank you full_on very much for the wise, deep, well written and friendly review.. you got the exact point of the whole project intention, which was releasing "middle point" music, not too dark, noizy and straight but still directed to the night mood, with a kind of groove. It should fit properly in both kinds of dj cases since there are tracks for night fullon djs or dark psy spinners.

Just as extra info, the Baphomet Engine Track, which has had great feedback from those who've listened to this compi, is one of their first productions, might be around 3 years old, and has never been released before. A real masterpiece, just like the other tracks. And watch out for the next compi from Innersound Records, out to come soon.

Hope you all like this one and come to drop your likes and dislikes about it!

Cheers
          www.myspace.com/djmorus
ufologics
Ufologics

Started Topics :  4
Posts :  14
Posted : Aug 2, 2007 04:29
Nice review for Morus's compilation...
Thanks Morus for this oportunity of releasing one of our first tracks... now we are working on new Ufologics tracks and other member Felipe Rossi has his solo project "Tacit" and me, Charles, I'm working as "Sychotria", my night full on solo project with Flavio from XPiral, also from Brazil.

thankx

charles cardoso.


Ufologics
http://www.myspace.com/ufologics

Sychotria
http://www.myspace.com/sychotria
Yidam
IsraTrance Full Member

Started Topics :  144
Posts :  3171
Posted : Aug 4, 2007 02:23
tracks 2,4,5,7 buuuuuuurn the dancefloor. great release.
djmeghan
IsraTrance Full Member

Started Topics :  80
Posts :  475
Posted : Aug 6, 2007 19:17
Awesome release! Thank you Morus and all the artists involved! My favorites are: 1(!), 2, 4(!), 6 & 7!
          http://www.psylicious.com
http://3rdeyesqueegee.com
http://www.facebook.com/djmeghan
http://www.soundcloud.com/dj-meghan
Trance Forum » » Forum  Music Reviews - VA - Sound Safari compiled by DJ Morus
 
Share on facebook Share on twitter Share on StumbleUpon


Copyright © 1997-2024 IsraTrance