1. Troll Scientists - Altaian Chant
2. Fragletrollet - Goa Snill
3. Sattel Battle - Transformulator
4. Ocelot - With Me
5. Olien - Solar Alignment
6. Tsabeat - Psy Chop
7. Gappeq - Everything Resonates
8. Olien - Altay Alignment
9. CPC - Balamut (Remix)
The latest offering by Zaikadelic records makes the ambitious claim of
preserving the magic of an extremely remarkable gathering - the Khan
Altay festival of 2008, which many participants believe to be the
single most insightful, mystical and euphoric party they'd ever
attended. It has to be said that the sonic content of this CD more
than lives up to the hype. It's an exceptional collection of
incredibly trippy sounds and Earth-shaking rhythms that can transform
the most urban setting into a psychedelic wonderland inhabited by
strange and wonderful creatures.
Troll Scientists - Altaian Chant
The opening track places you somewhere in between the dancefloor and
the chaishop - the beat is too persistent for a chillout track, yet
too slow to make it dancefloor material. There are snippets of throat
singing samples sliced and diced by the almighty gate sequencer, and
it is solid and original enough to make you want to just listen to
where the stream of sounds will take you. And it leads us right into
the middle of the mushroom field that we encounter in
Fragletrollet - Goa Snill
We are engulfed in a storm of eerie harmonics, mewing cats, violin
passages processed beyond recognition, a bassline that churns a cyclic
melody and draws more attention to itself than a well-behaved bassline
normally would. We hear cackling crones in the distance, voices of
tiny trolls, snare drum rolls followed more mewing. This track has
Psylocibin written all over it, complete with a queasy feeling in your
stomach. The rhythm gets livelier towards the second part, but the
overall shroomy feeling remains, and when the deconstructed violins
sneak in, you get distinctly shroomy visuals without having to chew on
a single liberty cap. Intense - the author is Norwegian, but I find
the sound in general distinctly Finnish. And extremely mushroomy. I'd
be extra cautious with this one in certain states. Uncanny and
somewhat bewildering - strong meat, but you'll definitely appreciate
its wacky intensity if you can stomach it.
Sattel Battle - Transformulator
This may well be my favourite track on the compilation, although it
has some extremely serious competition. A delightful minimalistic
melody leads the way into a sonic landscape of symphonic proportions.
The author appears to have ridiculed nearly every cliche inherent in
the genre by introducing unpredictable developments into patterns that
we have become accustomed to perceive in a certain way, making certain
expectations - those are mocked most brilliantly and maturely, and not
a single gramme of danceability is lost. There are some shroomy
overtones here as well, but in this case the mushroom juice has been
combined with enough menthol and chocolate to warrant a very smooth
trip without any queasiness whatsoever. It is rather melodic, but
never cheesy, not even for a second, and reminds me of Scorb and
Rinkadink at their finest.
Ocelot - With Me
A barrage of screeches, crickets on acid, mosquitoes, mimsy borogoves
and the mome raths outgrabe, atonal melodic lines - the bassline is
contemplative rather than driving or relentless, and I would have
never identified this track as something written by Ocelot. The sounds
towards the end conjure the image of a hybrid between a harp and a
bong. The frumious Bandersnatch can't be too far behind.
Olien - Solar Alignment
Olien's first oeuvre begins with a sample about the ancients
predicting eclipses thousands of years into the future, creeps up on
you and then hits you with a rubber hammer that sets your lower
extremities in motion as your head is fed by the voices of fairies on
dissociatives reaching you from a separate reality. An uplifting
composition that constantly makes you feel as though sunrise were just
around the corner, although no rays have lit the sky as to yet. One
finds Goa trance elements where one doesn't really expect them to be -
yet it's the furthest thing from neo-Goa; the harmonic and melodic
patterns may be there, but the very structure of production is that of
a state-of-the-art contemporary psytrance track with all the bells and
whistles offered by modern technology.
Tsabeat - Psy Chop
An energetic track that takes you to many places, you can hear your
neurones branch out forming new patterns. There is a slow buildup and
an energetic culmination - the artist appears to be weaving every
single sound there is into the fabric of a single track. A bold, if
somewhat chaotic, endeavour, and a good track to go wild to at the
dancefloor.
Gappeq - Everything Resonates
Indeed, everything resonates. Endless repercussions of crisp and
crystaline resonations carried by a heavy rolling bassline to keep
your feet grounded as your cranium gets filled by an array. Definitely
my favourite track by Gappeq so far. Solid, innovative and trippy
enough to put the psy back in psytrance. Yet another personal
favourite.
Olien - Altay Alignment
A very fast-paced track, midnight in an enchanted forest with a
headful of Dr. Hofmann's elixir - the sonic canvas spreads so fast
that it can make you forget your ego, with ancient chants of a
shamanic choir and electric discharges saturating the atmosphere. Very
intense, nocturnal and enthralling - the rhythm changes towards the
end of the track as you get out of the woods and see a friendly
campfire in a gap between the pines and firs. I'm not surprised Olien
had two tracks included in this compilation - they're both superb.
CPC - Balamut (Remix)
The Muscovite wizard feeds you delight in tiny but frequent morsels,
and the ethereal pads provide a very warm contrast to the percussive
bacchanal and the rubbery sounds of an expanding consciousness. There
is clearly an instrumental narrative here, and the synths are telling
a story of an endless voyage to the heart of the Universe over a solid
beat that will summon you from the coziest chillout location right to
the dancefloor.
All in all, the compilation is like a single uninterrupted gulp of
fresh mountain air - if you're listening to this at home, you'll be
tempted to do it without any interruption and will most likely play it
again. If you're a deejay, this CD is a perfect investment - this
definitely isn't one of those compilations with just one or two tracks
that you can use stashed away in the bulk of dull and clicheed filler
material. The first two tracks may seem odd, but they're original,
interesting and well-produced, which is more than can be said about
four out of five releases one comes across in this day and age.
Zaikadelic Records has once again lived up to its reputation of
maniacal perfectionism and a very meticulous choice of material. This
is as close to the original festival feeling as you can get without
actually being there. Ten out of ten without a doubt.
