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BrettFromTibet

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  1. Artist: Waterjuice Title: "Liquid Journeys" Label: Vaporvent Records, San Francisco, USA - www.vaporvent.com/home/ Available in HQ digital download @ Beatport www.beatport.com/en-US/htm...d_journeys Tracklisting: 1. Are You? 2. Don't Kill It (featuring Blane Lyon) 3. Next Steps 4. Psychic Dissent 5. Swamp Planet 6. Liquid Journeys 7. Back to Ibiza 8. Bells Review: Q: What do you get when you distill organic Goa trance, dub, bewitching breakbeats, smooth downtempo funk, psychedelic guitar wizardry and celestial trip-hop into a pure crystal goblet? A: A tangy, highly-intoxicating elixir called "Waterjuice." The San Francisco-based duo, Waterjuice, is among most underrated live electronica acts in North America. Party people go crazy over Bassnectar and The Glitch Mob, they love Bluetech, and they worship Tipper and Shpongle DJ sets... but when it comes to an actual "live" performance, Waterjuice's beats and grooves hit the dancefloor just as hard, and they're more interesting to watch on stage. The third Waterjuice album, "Liquid Journeys" pushes their classic 'electronica jam' sound to a new level of refinement and contemporary influence. The sound is quirky like the trigger fish on the album artwork: colorful, FUNKY, liquid, and submarine... with a few shadowy crevices between the coral, a couple of spines and nips from tiny teeth. "Liquid Journeys" stands apart countless generic, laptop-produced downtempo releases (with ethnic wailing ripped from the same sample CDs). This is proper music: hand-carved, slow-cooked sonic artwork. Individual tracks: 1. "Are You?" is a monster opening: a moody, post-terrestrial psychedelic-tech-funk sojurn. Melodian synths, vocoder syllables and strange sine waves are soldered together into something epic and haunting. I get the same excited feeling as the first time I heard tracks like KoxBox - "Go Fly A Kite" or Shpongle's - "Dorset Perception." Listen to the gorgeous melodic solo 4'24" and you will feel it, too. 2. "Don't Kill It" drops some serious trip hop knowledge. Accelerating didjes and pulsing grooves push the the breathy, high-vibration rhymes into meta circuits of you mind - and keep them echoing around in there. 3. "Next Steps" squeezes out juicy, funky basslines and fat percussion grooves that could take on James Brown or George Clinton... A 70's detective show interlude with extra-terrestrial flair. Midway through the track..a UFO turns on its transporter beam and things get weird for a moment, before dropping you back into funky, familiar terrestrial realms. 4. "Psychic Dissent" - A clever, cheeky sample about an unauthorized party at a kid's parents' house sets the stage. A curtain of sound flows out of the speakers as cool as spilled liquid nitrogen, sublimating into FAT breakbeats -- fatter than your momma standing on a black hole after drinking 1000 lead milkshakes. The seductive, wommpy basslines and percussion synthesesia is beyond hypnotic. If the bass groove that drops 2'00" doesn't make you dance... there's no hope left for you. Nothing will. 5. "Swamp Planet" opens with a slow, classic Waterjuice techy interlude until 1'05".. KA-POW!..a soft gunshot sound pops the track into high gear. Delicate, complex pummeling percussion and liquid melodic swirls percolate over whispers of ancient Tuvan throat singing and future robot voices. FUNK! Watch out at 4'08" for a heady drum solo and bass attack! 6. "Liquid Journeys" gallops right into bumping, driving downtempo with a sublime underwater vibe. Colorful calypso grooves and shimmering metallic tones swirl and dance about like schools of tropical fish in coral atoll water. 7. "Back to Ibiza" is slow-burning, punchy new-skool Goa trance. An unexpectedly complex sound fractal that's triple-acid-dipped and bursting with original flavors. This monster track has a decidedly split personality... it's legs are rooted deep into the mud of a primordial swamp... the upper limbs and tentacles flailing high into the stratosphere. 8. "Bells" is a slow, staggering, darkish 'come down' track. Sounds kind of like NES Metroid or Sci-fi music. This is the most 'average' track on the album. Best Tracks: 1(!),2,3,4(!),5,6,7(!) Verdict: "Liquid Journeys" is seriously high quality gear. It surpasses current downtempo cliches and production standards, and it has potential for long-lasting listening pleasure. While Ott's "Skylon" impressed me more in some ways, "Liquid Journeys" has been the most heavily repeat-played album to grace my headphones in 2008. It's also the best Waterjuice release yet... with a more polished, mature sound and complex production than the previous chapters. I dug it from the first track, but after about 25 plays my brain started to grok the subtle flavors and majestic details that "Liquid Journeys" is richly engraved with. Highly recommended! (9/10) ------------------ Written and Produced by Waterjuice: Cyril Kollock - Logic Pro, pads, drums and bass Bruce 'Raven' Tupling - live guitars and technical effects Vocals by: Blane Lyon Mastering by: L. Henry Sarmiento II. @ Sonic Vista Studios, Ibiza. ( www.sonicvistastudios.com/ )
  2. Artist Name: Waterjuice CD Title: “Melbaphonics” Released by: Vaporvent Records, San Francisco, USA Release Date: 12/2004 Available at: http://www.vaporvent.com Review by: BrettFromTibet Track List: 1. Low Room 2. New Goo – (120 bpm) 3. Something Else – (80 bpm) 4. Fresh Squeeze – (120 bpm) 5. Trip – (125 bpm) 6. Dubbly Bubbly 7. Steam –(120 bpm) 8. Green Shake –(67 bpm) 9. Surf or Sync – (104 bpm) 10. Launch Review: I really like the new Waterjuice CD, “Melbaphonics ”. It should show the rest of the world why they are one of the very top psychedelic downtempo acts in North America. This San Francisco-based duo stands out because they’ve pioneered a unique sound that is both epic, yet easily accessible to a wide cross-section of the underground: chillers, trancers, jam-band fans, and dancers. Another thing going for Waterjuice, is their “live ”shows actually seem very live - much more like a concert than a laptop recital. It’s easy to watch how they tweak their instruments, manipulate sound, and get involved in each step of the creative process. Waterjuice consists of Sur Real and Raven - Raven is an electric guitarist with a boggling array of effects and pedals that can make both classic “guitar sounds ”, as well as cosmic trance tones. Sur Real works pads and synths, and I’ve seen him tap out new fat beats right in front of the audience. He also shakes a one-of-a-kind “MIDI Space suit ” that triggers sound via body motion. They play together well and can really whip-up the audience by jamming long and hard - like a futuristic, digital, psychedelic rock band . This newest studio CD, “Melbaphonics”, smoothly cruises through a wide spectrum of chill, breakbeats, dub, psy-trance and trip hop. And it nails each of them spot-on. The disc plays very solidly – which is important to me, for picking or recommending a downtempo CD. My attention span for music can be short, but I’ve never really felt like skipping through any of the tracks on “Melbaphonics”. They’re all good. Track 3, “Something Else ”, is really something else! This darkish psychedelic dub session has bass notes deeper than a fault-line ocean trench – and it sucks me into the subduction zone every time. The disc really starts to sparkle around Track 4, “Fresh Squeezed ”, a heady blast of invigorating, slow, skunky-funky psychedelic trance. Track 7, “Steam ”, rolls out the trance-groove even harder –steaming, sizzling and smoking too. Number 9, “Surf or Sync ”, is a spectacular rock-infused jam with Water-juicy guitar hooks and freshly bubbling synthesizers. The disc finishes with a funkadelic trip-hop groove called “Launch”, something I’d imagine hearing at a whacked-out Wednseday night warm-up party at Burning Man… This disc goes great with a chilled-out smoke , or as a soundtrack for a sunny drive. Playing it out has shown that the faster tracks really WORK, and just ooze with accessibility and dance-floor magic. To push the envelope of downtempo sound design, and travel the world on the strength of your music is an extremely competitive mission. But I’ll bet that Waterjuice has the fierce creativity, stage presence, classical musicianship and studio skills to stay ahead. I can wholeheartedly recommend their newest CD “Melbaphonics”. And I wouldn’t miss out on seeing or booking their live show. You will not be disappointed.
  3. I was at Australian Outback - and it was VERY SPECIAL! I will be going to the Party in 2006 NO MATTER WHAT! I assumed it would be in Turkey
  4. Adham Shaikh - Fusion is a MASTERPIECE... i like ALL OF IT! #1 Primo Gaudi - Bass, Sweat and Tears Kaya PRoject, Angel Tears
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