[VA - Khan Altay]

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.