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Zero Cult - Dreams In Stereo
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Morpheus Music
IsraTrance Full Member
Started Topics :
94
Posts :
165
Posted : Jun 15, 2009 10:26:50
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STYLE
Downtempo electronica and spacey ambient dance. Dreams In Stereo is a dynamic album of lush synthetic sound that has its roots in chilled psychedelic trance. The beats are mostly blissed out programmed affairs with various digital blips and manipulated hits incorporated - in places the intensity of the rhythms rises to the edge of techno, but more frequently the tempo takes a less hurried pace. Zero Cult is perhaps less dependent on arpeggiators than some in the genre, yes the basses pulse and throb in sequenced patterns, but the synth structures are mostly melodic - brief secondary phrases and lead lines are carefully played and overlaid creating a strongly emotional sense. There are generous ambient passages and abundant use of atmospheric pads as well as diverse enhancements such as birdsong, echoing voice syllables, strongly effected guitars, ethnic hints.
MOOD
Dreams In Stereo immediately impacts with a rich sonic palette - the synth settings focus on liquid clarity and brightness, the more acidic sounds and muscular tones working just below the surface highlighting all the more the beauty of the lead lines. Zero Cult is obviously a project in pursuit of musical beauty since most of the tracks have gorgeous themes of enigmatic elegance touched with a spacey melancholia.
ARTWORK
I have only the digital version of this release and so have just the front cover seen to the above left to refer to. The image is simple yet striking - large black rectangular blocks form a diagonal geometric pattern that on closer inspection turn out to be dark speaker cabs. The scale of the picture shifts dramatically when the tiny figure is spotted alone. Now the sense of an impending enormous sound.
OVERALL
Emil Ilyayev aka Zero Cult from Israel began electronic music making in 1997 and having passed through various stylistic experiments settled into downtempo forming Zero Cult in 2002. The debut CD Art Of Harmony came in 2006 with the follow-up Ikebana being released the next year. This latest offering is delivered again via Cosmic Leaf Records and contains ten energetic chillout tracks including a remix of Side Liner’s Once Upon A Time. High sound quality and musical inventiveness are assured from Zero Cult as this ascending artist draws on his considerable experience and musical maturity to deliver a very powerful third album. The label's website contains sound samples if you'd like to know what you're getting. The intention is for the album to be presented live 12 July 2009 at the chill out stage of the PNF Festival in Israel.
WHO WILL LIKE THIS ALBUM
Dreams In Stereo is an album for downtempo fans that enjoy beautiful melodies among their psychedelic elements without sacrificing the muscular edge of the genre
  MORPHEUS MUSIC
www.morpheusmusic.co.uk
ELECTRONIC MUSIC MALL
http://www.electronicmusicmall.com |
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lara
IsraTrance Full Member
Started Topics :
116
Posts :
442
Posted : Jun 15, 2009 15:31
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Ah-sid
Started Topics :
2
Posts :
610
Posted : Jun 15, 2009 18:08
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his older releases were far better than this 1....... |
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Meta-Morphosis
IsraTrance Senior Member
Started Topics :
216
Posts :
4980
Posted : Jun 15, 2009 18:56
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Yes Art of Harmony was really timeless i feel.
But this new piece of art is more mature, tracks like frozen, indigo dream holds the intense zero cult style, but unfortunately some tracks were really cheesy for example, 'Cosmic Voice'.
The side liner remix is fantastic though !!!
“What we need is the development of the Inner Spiritual man, the unique individual, whose treasure is hidden in the symbols of our mythological tradition and in man’s unconscious psych.” - CJ Jung |
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Acidhive
IsraTrance Full Member
Started Topics :
76
Posts :
2014
Posted : Aug 2, 2009 19:32
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My review from Isratrance:
Zero Cult - Dreams In Stereo (Cosmicleaf)
1. Indigo Dream 8:02
2. Electro Wind 7:41
3. Cosmic Noise 6:49
4. Seclusion 7:27
5. Frozen 7:01
6. Once Upon a Time (remix for Side Liner) 7:28
7. Inside the Urban Ocean 6:41
8. Edelweiss 6:26
9. Walking on the Moon 7:22
10. Till the Morning 7:36
After two albums on Cosmicleaf Records (among the best releases of this label in my opinion) and numerous remixes for other chill projects, Zero Cult now releases his third album called Dreams in Stereo. The style of Zero Cult is best characterized as rhythmic, deep and with lots of melody. If you like synthesizer artists like Vangelis for instance, you’ll like this too. Listeners of Zero Cult’s previous albums who are looking for more stuff like this will feel right at home with tracks like Electro Wind (T2) and Seclusion (T4). There is a lot to like here if you’re into chill that’s a little busier. I found this album flowing away nicely, sometimes without even noticing that the track had changed. It makes the album feel like a whole, the little silences in between feel like part of the overall sound picture, and sometimes the tracks do flow over into one another, like Frozen (T5) and Once Upon A Time remix (T6). The album is best suited for home listening, right after some crazy psytrance for instance. The cover says this is a voyage through stereo images and space frequencies. One could imagine this when listening to it and closing one’s eyes. It’s what I did, and I loved every minute of this album. The cover artwork is very straightforward too, and a bit funny. The mastering is top notch, sounding crystal clear and with a nice full bass and not too much emphasis on the high, like some other chill releases.
Recommendation: Dreams in Stereo is a great description for this album. If you listen to this and close your eyes (preferably with a good pair of headphones) then you’re in for a sonic treat. As I said, the previous two Zero Cult albums were among the best releases of Cosmicleaf Records, and this one is no exception. Together with the new D. Bastitatos album, Cosmicleaf hits us with two excellent releases.
Link: http://www.isratrance.com/cd-reviews/zero-cult-dreams-in-stereo-d1070.html
"Subconscious unravels at the point of death, and all time it has known erupts into a moment. As death extinguishes us, so we become it."
[Esoteric: Subconscious Dissolution Into The Continuum] |
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