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Bodhisattva 13:20 - Excursions Through the Ancient Future (Truffle Records) 2005
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Rah
IsraTrance Full Member
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Posted : Jan 15, 2006 23:17
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Artist: Bodhisattva 13:20
Album: Excurssions Through the Ancient Future
Label: Truffle Records
Web: http://www.trufflerecords.com/
Year: 2005
Format: CD
Songs:
01 Psychoactive Wizardry
02 Pac vs. R2
03 Telekinetic Dream
04 Ancient Future
05 Celestial Novice
06 Xcon Negative
07 Electronegative Beings
08 Juxtaposition Existence
09 Power Vortex
Boddishtava 13:20 better known as Chris Martin, is another Californian from the latest American invasion importing raw goods in the form of orchestrated madness. Author of a book on production tips and techniques, he is due to release his second album Secret's of the Mojave next month on Geomagnetic.tv / Darkstar Records.
Bodhisattva in Central American ethnic mumbo-jumbo means one who seeks enlightenment and encourages others to be enlightened. The 13:20 bit relates to the frequencies known as the Hunab-Ku. In the ancient Mayan culture the term is credited for giving mathematical structuring to the universe, describing the certainty of cosmic consciousness (Fusion Anomaly). Pretty dense stuff huh? He didn't just pick those names at random. So beyond all this clever-worded identity, how is the sound?
I have quacked out a theory for this type of beats looking to appeal desert trancers: psychosomatic forest-styled fractal sounds, a good doze of bubbly, stretchy, liquid melodic bleeps, discounting the tweeter-bleeder kicks of the 150's club… for full on. All tracks run on the 144 mark with enough diversity throughout to keep it interesting, lacking evolution within the actual tracks though. Why so seemingly slow in comparison to his kindred brothers in the dark side? Because the desert is really, really hot and the idea of stomping your boots off for more than five minutes evaporates with the sheer thought of dehydration.
There are very interesting standouts here, the ‘Psychoactive Wizard' presents as a strong opener advocating fickle effects with an impressive display of disarray, conjuring psychoactive production. It goes a bit mono-thematic on the engine, like most tracks here which is a shame cause there a lot of novel ideas. Vocodic chanting is a short but sweet affair in the track leaning awkwardly on psycho-active harmonics. The rest of the trip carries forward squelching away until it reaches cruising altitude. A possible remix of this could be devastating (in the good way 
The Pac vs. R2 relates a lot more to R2D2 having a full on orgasm… Handcuffed to the bed, decked out in S&M gear, screaming his lungs out. The little breaks before he drops the basssssline again will make a Star Wars fan smile.
In Celestial Novice the psy breaks start shinning a bit more, the bass gets more playful and that is positive. The relentless effects are conjured with a sense of pace telling a full story. Once again that melody by end, hiding away in the raindrops of effects doesn't convince me much. The same thing happens in 'Ancient Future', it's a good thing is rather reserved and short.
In ‘Telekinetic Dream', things start heating nicely. It really goes out of its way to mount different themes and sounds pulling a decent pick up. A little diversity on the bass would be very welcomed, but shakers and the claps complement the vibe well with prissy attention to detail. From the battle samples, screams, swords to the thunders without sounding morbid or tragic. It's all in good fun.
The only real grudge I hold is the lack of progression in the static bass lines and rigid kicks. If a third of the energy that is focused on the groove, was invested on the beats it would be standout material. Does it matter much? Only if you want to nitpick, on the higher ranges there is so much action you will hardly notice. Before this excursion I had not heard much of Truffle Records and they are standing true to its name. As for Chris' progression it will be really interesting to follow the development of this artist with a new album next month, because there is definitely potential here. Admittedly the artwork isn't all to exiting and I have erred judging the book by it's cover…
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Dai
IsraTrance Junior Member
Dai aka Amatti
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Posted : Jan 15, 2006 23:39
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Its so nice to see the album finally reviewed, thanks Rah. He is the one of few making very unique and original desert psychedelic tunes. I have heard him playing couple times, super intense doze of mindblow...Waterfall of liquid sounds and driving feeling match very nicely.He is also making trippy chill and IDMs too. Great stuff. Good luck with your second album, cannot wait to hear how it sounds! Kickass Bodhi 
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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Hidroponik
Arahat
Started Topics :
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1075
Posted : Jan 16, 2006 02:09
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i thoroughly enjoy this album on many aspects. especially since i watched it grow from just a little seedling of an idea into full reality.
bodhi is one the hardest people to please when it comes to musical tastes, this is why i think that he writes incredible musical compositions. his songs always seem to stand out from the rest of the pack, its own unique identity. he's speaking his mind through a Pentium processor.
in a time where most anybody with a computer writes music, its inspiring to hear an album that truly goes where nobody has really gone before. i can't wait to see the results of the second album, after watching him write some of the new music, it should be very positive. 
Bom!!! by this album!!
We are all family. We put the fun in disfunctional.
-PsyCircle on Tribe-
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- Arahat -
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*Karma Cola*
IsraTrance Full Member
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Posted : Jan 16, 2006 05:37
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Good album.. tokk a few listens to fully grasp some tracks, but serious psychedelia round here. Very nice, i really enjoyed it.
Nice review also, and i completely agree about the R2D2 track
@rah
dude, i think the term Bodhisattva comes from Buddhism. Im guessing it means a enlightened follower of Buddha. Not a 100% sure, but i came across it many times in the book 'Tibetan Book of the Dead'.
~*** You can tell By the way i use my walk, Im a woman's man, No time to Talk***~ |
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Rah
IsraTrance Full Member
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Posted : Jan 16, 2006 06:37
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Hey Karma, i think you're right. Looking back at it i don't remember where i got Bodhisattva was central american... i know 13:20 was though. Guess i got confused with all those terms...  thanks for the heads up
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Sonic-energy.net
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Bodhi 13:20
Bodhisattva 13:20
Started Topics :
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725
Posted : Jan 16, 2006 11:06
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Hey all:)
Thanx for the review! I loved the comment on R2 
To clear up my name, the word Bodhisattva is older than Buddhism. It is Sanskrit for "enlightened being", having roots in the northern India/Tibet/Nepal region and probably reaching as far back as the Mohenjo-Daro civilization and perhaps before. I have written more about my name in the promotional thread for this album:
http://forum.isratrance.com/viewtopic.php/topic/64715/forum/41
To clear up Rah's quacked theory about desert music being slow due to the heat and lack of moisture, he is partially right. The desert is very dry, but the temperatures quickly change are very extreme, and usually it is very cold at night. For example when I was at an Integral Gathering back in 2001, at night it fell to 5 degrees Fahrenheit and a few hours after sunrise it was sweltering hot. Desert psytrance parties happen in California usually from about November to March when the weather is not as hot and the temp change has less dynamics. In the summer, it can be 80 at night and 110 during the day.
But anyways, I'm not sure if desert climate has anything to do with the tempo of the album, I just know from experience that when the music is too fast, people don't dance as much. I usually don't play a set past 147 BPM. But thinking about it, it does seem that people like faster music when it's warm at night.
info/tourdates/psy
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3rd Album \\\"Equations\\\" on 2to6 records |
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Lepton
IsraTrance Junior Member
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Posted : Jan 16, 2006 21:50
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superb album !!!
lots of crazy sounds
top 5 release 2005 !!!!!! |
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DiMiTry
IsraTrance Full Member
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2299
Posted : Jan 16, 2006 23:34
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agreed - definitely in the top 5 artist albums of last year for me. Very intelligent and super-danceable stuff, not very dark or pounding but instead very psychoactive - just the way I like it! 
..it's just another party.. |
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The Farting Parrot
Double R.E.L / R.E.L
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Posted : Jan 22, 2006 15:52
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Such a great album here !!!
totally amazed from it i love it all from A to Z .... great sounds and structure lovely story teller u are !!!
bring me more of these plzzzzzzz
way to go here looking forward to hear more from u
R.E.L Space Case EP !
Double R.E.L ceREaL KiLLeRZ / U Name iT !
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Bloodclot
Bloodclot
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Posted : Jan 22, 2006 23:20
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Finally a good review for this album. Will agree with double rel.. that album sure does have a story to tell .. and im sure 3am in the Mojave is going to be another tantalizing story as well!!
Look out for it!
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Hidroponik
Arahat
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Posted : Jan 23, 2006 17:58
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paradigm
IsraTrance Full Member
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Posted : Jan 24, 2006 03:51
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indeed a great album and im looking foward to the next one.
Bodhi for several years now has been one of my favorite night time acts to book at my parties, and with a very good reason why.
Though deeply psychedelic, and somewhat somber, ive never really thought of it as dark, just hard
and hard does not or is not dictated by tempo. Ther can be hard as nail 140 bpm stuff out there, as well as 155 bpm candy fluff...
Logical Light Music - SF
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mixes for dl at :
http://www.thehothouse.net/straylight/paradigm/index.htm
"He who ha-ha's last, ha-ha's best" |
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psybratt
Devic
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442
Posted : Jan 24, 2006 19:10
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the longawaited review of this album came in a little late but definately worthwhile .. it's time everyone noticed this guys' stomp .. the first album was good .. and the second one is going to be even better ..
watch out for this man ..
cheers,
Devic |
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Mistress of Evil
Mistress Of Evil Records
Started Topics :
101
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961
Posted : Jan 24, 2006 19:50
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Nice One Bodhi! Bringing the desert sound out in the open I especially love the R2D2 track!! May the force be with you!
Waiting for the next album
Bringing Dreams to Life!
www.encantadaproductions.com |
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mubali
Mubali
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2219
Posted : Jan 24, 2006 20:33
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This album has taken me places very few artist albums have before. It's definitely one of my alltime favorites, and I can't wait to hear the next one.
An Eagle may soar, but Weasels don't get sucked into jet engines. |
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