[Denshi Danshi - Fluid Dynamics]

Jupp Jupp. So I was gonna register an account, but to my surprise I found out I already had one. I guess the 18 year old me had a cheesy taste in nicknames (is it possible to change btw?)... Anyway, I've been wanting to start doing reviews for some time now, and this is my first serious one. It's not intended for this site, but rather for sputnikmusic to spread the gospel. Trying to bring some focus on goa to the outside crowd and to bring some publicity to something that's not the god damn forest/dark shit. But before doing that, I thought I'd run it by some of you High Priests of Goa. So here's the first draft of my review. I'm gonna listen to it one more time to check if I'm still of the same opinion Any constructive criticism is greatly appreciated.

Cheers from Norway,

Espen / Nammaï

Not too long ago a post showed up on my facebook feed. It was from the respected Suntrip label and the track was Denshi-Danshi – The Dancing Shiva, a preview of their upcoming release apparently... I pushed play, not quite knowing what to expect, and was intrigued by the soft – almost frail – intro. Then after about half a minute a mean synth joined the party, quickly followed by a hard and primal bassline. Immediately the head-nodding began and that small secretive smile you get when you're really rocking out on the dance floor just crept in out of nowhere. One more time. And another. I couldn't sit still any more, I just had to get up and shake my fat ass. In my minds eye I was connecting with my tribal ancestors and dancing around a roaring fire, howling at the moon. No small feat for just 2-3 ciders... But alas - even though I was blown away by this old school sounding monster track – there's always work in the morning and I was already overdue. However, the wheels had been set in motion and it left me with a few unanswered questions; Who or what is Denshi-Danshi? Why haven't I heard this before? And how can I get some more?

So what is Denshi-Danshi? My acute mind (and countless hours spent on anime) suggested a Japanese origin, so I tried my luck on Google translate. Evidently, it's Denshi (electron) and Danshi (boy) which roughly translates into «the Electronic Men» or «E-Men». Apperantly, these E-Men are Saïd Archer and Christophe Frére, a parisian Goa-trance duo who used to release on POF Music in the mid 90s. In fact, some of the tunes on this album have previously been released on POF and other labels. This album is just one of the ongoing wave of re-releases of artists that never got put out their own album in their heyday. It only has three new tracks, and thus feels much more like a greatest hits than a regular album. And when I say greatest hits, that also speaks to the overall quality of the release, which we are about to examine in greater detail.

The follow up track to The Dancing Shiva is Mariposa (Live Remix). The live mix has a much beefier sound than the original. It has a nice progression to it, starting off pretty melodic and slowly picking up the pace. About half-way through things are whipped into a half-frenzy when the third act hits you get the feeling it could demolish any dancefloor. Overall amazing tune, slightly flawed by an irritating skip at 5:30. The title track Fluid Dynamics is next in line and sounds way more conventional. It's a solid Goa-tune that does not stray too far from the pack or from it's own idea. Nice melody and nice flow, but not the roller-coaster ride like the previous tunes. The next dish served is Feed The Mugwumps, an enticing title. Giving me a hazy recollection (as most of my memories are these days) to Naked Lunch, it's typewriters and Bomb The Bass' seminal track Bug Powder Dust. The chorus of the aforementioned track («Bug powder dust and mugwump jism / And the wild boys runnin' 'round the Inter Zone trippin'») suits the sounds to current track quite well. It's a great acid drenched power tune that really pushes the tempo. Even so much so that you can almost hear the guys discussing «How the hell do we tune this down in twenty seconds?» «Well, shit man. Let's just subtract bit by bit and hope we land before the next track». And like a small propeller plane it does barely touch the runway, bounces, and lifts off again into Vanaspati. Not too exciting, but it has a more quiet section about midway through with some interesting bleeps and ploinks that gives the track some flavour. Make Make has much better sound to it. It's more hypnotic and has melodic highs that reminds me of Man With No Name at his best. Add a layer, remove one, up and down we go - flowing down the rapids at a slightly increasing speed. Great tune. A Fast Trip Straight Down The Ladder suggest that our rafting on the high rapids is far from over. And it's partially right. The track itself is pretty monotonous for a Goa tune, as it uses a lot of the same rythm sections over and over. However the idea/sound of the tune is solid and carries it untill you land at the Mars Alpha Base. In my opinion it has that authentic sci-fi feel to it. It's also one of those few tracks that builds really well downwards. The slower midpoint of the song is actually beautiful and a welcome treat to my ears. The song also sounds more «modern» than it's predecessors. Tsuki starts off as another of those «regular» hypnotic and melodic Goa-tunes. None too special, untill it shapeshifts a litte before halfway through. It brings in a more brooding and sinister industrial sound which it then gradually rises upwards towards the light. Pretty good! Following suit, Maelstrom, has a darker and grittier atmosphere compared to the others. It doesn't stand out in particular, it's just another one of those solid dance tunes. And staying true the Goa heritage, the album ends with Kraft Karamel as a downtempo outro track. I usually hate those tracks, so with that in mind I think this one is pretty good – all things considered. It has mysterious feel to it and with it's drum it sort of eclipses the whole album experience. It's tribal theme actually turns out pretty funky and would work well as a build up tune for an opening set.

To me, tribal is also the common denominator when listening to this album. It taps into those primal rythms deeply rooted within us. It makes you want to get up and move, dance and celebrate! Judging it as such I would give it an overall excellent rating. The weakest links in the chain are solid dancefloor tunes, no more – no less. And when coupled with the high points like Shiva, Mariposa, Mugwumps you really feel satisfied. And if you're not satisfied, they actually threw in a couple of free downloads as well! I'm not gonna critique Temple of Heaven and Cow's Blues (Live Remix) as they're not on the album, but both are good – and as we all know, free bonus stuff makes everything better. However, one thing I find irritating is that the best tunes are at the beginning of the album. If you're greedy like me, you always want more. Push the madness – higher and higher. So when you burn the best tracks early, you never feel quite complete again. However, my impression is that todays music crowd has the attention span of a worn out speed-junkie – which makes it understandable (get them hooked on your shit as early as possible). It's just a minor thing after all. One thing I really like is the album cover. It's slick logo design on a dark back ground, coupled with the elaborate and suggestive patterns you find in ancient manuscrips/books. Refreshing, compared to the usual colour-splurges with the same recurring sci-fi/forest themes. So, I guess that about sums it up. Great for new and old goa-headz alike.