abasio

Artifakt The Magus Timecode Records 2008 Tracklist 01. LCD 02. Bulk 03. Crystal 04. Psylocibin 05. Macbeth 06. The Magus 07. Viagra Bastard Spawn 08. Gather 09. The Probe 10. No Present 11. The Pole Well I was never too impressed by the first Artifakt album but the second one blew me away so much I felt the need to share it with my friends and family, even buying extra copies for them. Hearing that there was a third album made me really hope that Artifakt would be one of those artists that just got better and better and this album has not just lived up to my expectations but actually surpassed them. Well starting from the horrible sample at the start of the first track LCD this album gets infinitely better. The pure funkiness of the first track with the deep electronic orchestral influences make this short intro a great one. The next track Bulk, also starts off in less than impressive fashion sounding like a glitchy minimal nightmare but it slowly evolves into a really nice deep quirky. The sci-fi samples towards the end are some of the best I've heard and really add a deep darkness too the music. Crystal is another techno influenced track with a lot of spacey effects in it in such a glitchy random way that on paper looks awful but manages to work here most wonderfully. The guitar at the end of it just punctuating it all. Psylocibin is a high octane track with touches of eastern melody but dominated by tech and glitch. Macbeth has some Shakespearean samples and a really old world feel in it's brief insurgency. The Magus, the title track embodies the album so far for me. It's a mix of all the tracks before it. It's energy, it's glitchy randomness and it's deep feeling. The piano section feels like it's going into some classical concert before the electronic atmosphere covers everything and the dark sample drags the atmosphere down into the catacombs of the mind. Viagra Bastard Spawn is a bastard of a track. The synths are all over the place and the rolling bassline while quite ordinary is one of the best fitting I've ever heard. It fits around everything really well and everything else is as random as possible. Great stuff! Gather is one of the best tracks I've heard in years. It feels classical at the beginning leading into to crazy glitch and then blending into a mix of the two. The electronic feel of course wins out but there is always that underlying feel from years past in it. The mix culminates in the end into such a weird mix of classical energy. Fantastic. The Probe tries to be spacey with it's star like melodies and Space Odyssey samples. It initially seems to fail after trying so hard but manages to glitchily go deeper with what would have been a spacey atmosphere twisted into a weird hyperspace anomaly. The sci fi samples might seem a bit obvious but they fit perfectly and add to this dancefloor sci-fi brilliance. No Present starts as a simple melodic full on track but creates deep journey like feelings with strings and deep bass Throughout most of the track. There are guitars in this but they get almost completely overlooked as they fit in rather than destroy the music. It's a good feeling. Later on they become more obvious but never shit. The Pole may be the energetic culmination of the whole album with the beats driving and the bassline in perfect sync with the melody and the beats as well as the synths. Great stuff all sound as you'd expect. So I was expecting the follow up to Artifakts II to be good but to be honest I didn't expect to like it as much as I did. Don't listen to anyone but yourself. Take people's recommendations, try the CD and hear for yourself. It's even better than the street says. Get it now, it's one of the most enjoyable albums you'll have heard in years I'm sure of it

This is old news no? I thought I'd seen loads of threads about this album before now

Your comment is probably the best lager in the world! either that or extraordinarily random! np Artifakt - The Magus

Ordered that one too very much lookid to that and all the other promised stuff from http://www.v-i-r-t-u-a-l-w-o-r-l-d.com

I always think that Pandemonium! is Pandemonium It's very confusing

The last album was great I thought

I am still of the mind that these tracks & most music called ambient here is just horizontal trance

1. The Answer 2. Mystical Experiences 3. Under The Overtones

Materia Musica

Artifakt - The Magus Goasia - From Other Spaces M.E.E.O. - Highlight Me Please Phobium - Future Uncertain The Peaking Goddess Collective - Organika Spies - SUVMI Various Artists - Materia Musica Various Artists - Kokopelli Various Artists - Future Memories Various Artists - Max.Chillroom Various Artists - Tranchillizer

Ace

Damn this is good. Best album in ages along with Artifakt's new album

Fuck.My.Arsing.Boots!! This album is the shit! Really fucking good. Everything I hoped for & more. I can't believe in the last week I've bought 2 albums (this & Jikkenteki) that are the best I've heard in ages.

Yeah, this is definitely one of the best albums I've heard in ages

#015 although I'm not awfully bothered by the numbers. The music is fantastic & that's all that matters to me

I was so interested I included it in my last Saiko Sounds order

The joy of living in Japan Playing again now before I go to work :posford: :posford: :posford:

Both, then if you don't want the track by track you can just read the overall felling. You don't have to read everything you know.

Jikkenteki Flights of Infinity Par-2 Productions 2008 Tracklist 1 Symplicity (31:04) 2 A Bowl Gruel World (11:23) 3 The End Of The End (9:20) 4 Another Kick In The Head (9:41) 5 Running Start (11:02) Jikkenteki is out with his second album. This was meant to be the 3rd CD to his debut The Long Walk Home but was not ready in time. There was a long wait as this took some time after being finished to actually make it out. The poor sales of Par-2 Records’ albums & comps amazes me as it is by far and away the best uptempo music in the scene today in the humble opinion of this reviewer. Better even than Gi’iwa, way better than Twisted & up there with Ultimae as one of the best labels around albeit a completely different style from Ultimae but you must get my point. After The Long Walk Home there was a huge chance that I could be disappointed in this album. I was not expecting however for this to be so much better even than that album, which completely blew my mind. This album has not only blown my mind but my soul, spirit & even the wall of my very reality. 1. Symplicity We kick off the album with a monster track over half an hour long. That’s longer than some albums. I have said many times that an artist with the talent to make long tracks and keep them interesting throughout the whole duration is pretty rare but when they do it it’s always something special. I was talking about 10-15 minute tracks but I was never expecting a trance track of over 30 minutes to be this good. I was sure it would get boring at some point but incredibly this track is the real deal. It is engrossing throughout. Maybe one of my favourites ever from Jikkenteki and I’m a fan. It starts of with a nice downbeat intro for a few minutes, strings & orchestral sounds fill my senses for about the length of a track & then the beat kicks in with the bass & synths. The bass has a bit of a hiss when the beat is the main focal point but when the synths are flying they produce a clear crisp sound like a scythe cutting through my brain. The way the synths & the melody progresses in the early running is great & at times manages to sound like voices crying out from the void, from behind some invisible barrier yet sharp & piercing. The atmosphere in this track is something else, the ambience in the background is floaty in really driving way, led by the beats & synths it gets under my skin & seeps into the inner reaches of my mind driving me slowly & deliciously insane. Halfway through it breaks down with a melody more eastern in it feel yet glitch without the glitch. The beat kicks in a little darker with the melody continuing & the bass tearing through everything. Great synths once again scythe through everything like a hot knife through the butter that is the mind. The track with 10 minutes to go has another breakdown this time with a really spacey, meteor shower kind of feel to it. The beat gradually comes back in to a slipstream pace where everything just seems like it’s whizzing by at the speed of light. The beats, the synths, the melodies & the whole atmosphere of the track seems to me like a race in hyperspace with the wall s of reality rushing passed me tinged with a touch of sadness. I think it’s the melody at the end (I say the end but around 6 minutes to go) that puts me in mind of some of the losses I’ve had in my life. I’m not sure how it does this as it seems quite an upbeat one but it seems to have a melancholic edge that speaks to me. The ending really drives a stake into my already fragile heart. I’m going to stick my neck out & say this is the best track of 2008. I really don’t see anything else beating it. It could possibly be one of the greatest tracks I’ve ever heard. It will need the test of time before I can commit myself to that but oh my god this is such amazing stuff. 2. A Bowl Gruel World Starting off with my favourite sound, that of rain before the tune kicks in with a solid bass & chimes leading into a beat & more synths that cut my mind up like sushi chef. It was always going to be a hard act to follow coming straight after the insanely good Symplicity. But like Johnny Depp taking on Gene Wilder’s character of Willie Wonker in the remake of Charlie & The Chocolate Factory it doesn’t try too hard to imitate the role but instead makes itself a completely different story with the same seductive style. This track for me is a little more introspective, more melancholic & punches from the right whereas the previous music punched from the left. It feels more ethereal in it’s overall feel, with other dimensionally sounds & pitches coming from every direction & none at once. The build up & trance moments are great for the energy of the room. Not only is this a beautifully psychedelic ride that can be enjoyed alone at home but would be amazing at a party either 15 years ago or 100 years in the future. Really. Fucking. Good! 3. The End of the End The growls linking the 2 tracks are almost scary & the atmosphere set by the drones & dark chords is well...dark. The orchestral feeling that follows on is great as the beat kicks in & the electronic sounds take over but the feeling is left in the auditorium with a huge open space to work with. The synth work is among the best I’ve heard form Rennis & that is saying quite a lot from the guy I hold up there with Technossomy as the best synth player I’ve ever heard. To be honest with this album I think Rennis may have even surpassed Technossomy not just in terms of output but in terms of brain cutting slices of acid that manage to cut deeper & deeper with every note. This is really really good, the pace the psychedelia, the energy so effortlessly released at every turn is so mind-blowing I struggle to fathom why other artists aren’t this good. 4. Another Kick In The Head An effortlessly seamless drift into this track it seems like part of the same journey with a new companion to accompany me with. Once again the synths are in depth, playing a melody more engrossing than the trippy main melody. The floating ambience in this track surpasses everything I’ve heard before in upbeat trance. As journey like as any ambient I’ve heard yet as energetic as the most powerful rave tracks from back in the day. The psychedelic level is as high as it can be and I am left absolutely stunned that I am still totally enraptured by this amazing piece of audio art. The melodies seem to come out of nowhere from any direction each time catching me off guard in the most fantastic way. Bliss 5. Running Start Our final chapter has a hell of a lot to do to close off such an amazing album & it starts it off in a dark way with strong sci-fi ambient bolts shooting down from the top. By the time the beat kicks in to break the ambience I am already completely lost. The glitch sci-fi noise has taken my brain into places it may never return. I’ve never been a fan of glitch static but this really floats my boat, sets it’s sail & then carries it out in the deepest parts of the ocean, moors it on an island of bronzed warrior women who make me their god & compel me to make love to them every night for the rest of my long happy life, interspersing these sessions with feasts & other musical & delightful entertainment. Sound good? Well it does to me & this track gives me the same vibe like I’m experiencing delight in aural form. Brilliant stuff to round off a brilliant album and I love the natural ending with the birdsong & the weird sounds of someone doing something very ordinary that manages to give a very very earthy feel. I am completely amazed again by the brilliance of this album. I must say again that I am a big fan of Par-2 Production’s sound. I do feel like this label is just catering to me & me alone in that each release just brings me music that I wish everyone could make but so few do. I feel great knowing that other people out there have the exact same aural passions as me & the talent to create the music that does it justice. I am astounded as to how Jikkenteki is not a bigger name, people harp on about music not being psychedelic these days or how everything was better in the golden era of Goa & Psy but to my ears this album outshines most of the music even from the olden golden days of Dragonfly Records & the Flying Rhino boys. Anyone complaining about the state of modern music really needs to hear this if not on original CD then at least on some lossless format. Anyone who listens to this on CD & doesn’t like it can feel free to never recommend me anything again as I am sure your taste is so far from my own that I would call it shit & never want to visit your house & hear your crap. I am 95% sure that this album is going to be my top choice for top 2008 album. I’d love to be proved wrong & hear something even better but I will be amazed if it actually happens

Best album in years. Better even than 2006's The Long Walk Home, better than my favourite last year Sienis - From A Nutter Perspective. Yes yes it's that good & I am so happy to now have the CD so I can fully appreciate it

Maybe I was trying to be all mysterious or something To be honest I never actually thought about the track names. I know it's by me so I never thought about other people downloading it Next time hopefully I'll remember. Can you not change the name yourself?

New mix Link

Solar Fields Mix

I wasn't going to buy anymore CDs this month but my resolve wavered & I put in a small Saiko Sounds order |- 1 x Artifakt - The Magus - CD - Timecode - [TCCD023] = USD 15.95 |- 1 x Goasia - From Other Spaces - CD - Suntrip - [sUNCD09] = USD 15.95 |- 1 x M.E.E.O. - Highlight Me Please - CD - Demon Tea - [DMTCD16] = USD 15.95 |- 1 x Phobium - Future Uncertain - CD - Wirikuta - [WKTCD006] = USD 10.95 |- 1 x The Peaking Goddess Collective - Organika - CD - Peak - [PR013] = USD 15.95 |- 1 x Spies - SUVMI - CD - Celestial Dragon - [CDREC05] = USD 0 |- 1 x Various Artists - Materia Musica - 2xCD - Ajana - [AJACD009] = USD 17.95 |- 1 x Various Artists - Kokopelli - CD - Conscious Dreams - [KOKO001] = USD 15.95 |- 1 x Various Artists - Future Memories - CD - Interchill - [iCHILLCD032] = USD 15.95 |- 1 x Various Artists - Max.Chillroom - CD - New Land Music - [NLMCD001] = USD 15.95 |- 1 x Various Artists - Tranchillizer - CD - Peak - [PR014] = USD 15.95 inspired by the Artifakt album I was a little perturbed by the free CD Spies - SUVMI as when put in yen it was 811 fired off a question while ordering about that