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Artist: Shantifax Title: Delete Automation Label: SarnarSchourt Records Date: December, 2011 01 - Formatio Reticularis (122 BPM) 02 - Hushushush (85 BPM) 03 - One Thing (95 BPM) 04 - Ancient Fields (feat. Irrsinn) (118 BPM) 05 - Desert Trip (feat. Tommy Mirror) (120 BPM) 06 - Aquarius (138 BPM) 07 - Grau N (137 BPM) 08 - Out Is In (90 BPM) Although I wasn't personally a fan of his second album, his debut speaks to me. It's very creative, floating amongst genres like a butterfly. So much so that it is difficult to properly pin down just where it belongs in the electronic music spectrum. Which I'm sure is just the way he wants it. Tracks may begin as a downtempo excursion, but then promptly jump into a more uptempo jaunt, only to return to a slower feel. The percussion really grabs with tablas and changing rhythms. Very imaginative where no track sounds the same as they evolve. There are a lot of twists and turns yet it doesn't sound like disjointed musical phrases thrown together in a patchwork fashion. Just when you think you've wrapped your head around where he's going, BAM...he switches course. He even goes a little dark with Ancient Fields. Lots of didn't see that coming moments. Recommended for those that want something a little different. Free At Ektoplazm

Artist: Shantifax Title: Complete Tranceformation Label: SarnarSchourt Records Date: March, 2013 01 - Awake (120 BPM) 02 - Aum (90 BPM) 03 - Concrete Combination (100 BPM) 04 - Amygdala on diamonds (130 BPM) 05 - Rudra (138 BPM) 06 - Stone Steps (124 BPM) 07 - Karma Never Forgets (102 BPM) 08 - Be Human (120 BPM) 09 - The Same (104 BPM) 10 - Northern Lights (140 BPM) Wow. That's a big f*cking image. This is Klaus Balzarek with his sophomore album. That is all. Awake is a nice spiritual opener that sets the table. Aum has a dirty hip hop groove like I'm about to go put in some work and catch these fools slippin. Damn it feels good to be a gangsta...But it's hard to feel like a gangsta with that damn Buddhist chanting. Can we do another run through? Concrete Combination has a couple of good beats but I found it much less powerful and a little aimless. The percussion was top notch though. Kinda felt like I was high and things were happening around me in which I had zero control. Amygdala On Diamonds is more hallucinating while sh*t happens around me. Minimal and boring. Maybe if I was high. Unless my reads this in which case you guys are a bunch of drug addicts who need help. Stop trying to corrupt me. Love you honey. Rudra has more chanting. Sense a theme? Exotic instruments fire away in a mid tempo groove which I suppose would be good for meditating. Stone Steps is another tribal ambient offering and I wish the album was a lot more of this. It's lush and full of feeling. Karma Never Forgets - Shoulda used your right foot. Karma never forgets, but I will. And this minimalistic progressive stuff makes it easy. Be Human- See every track here with a beat. The Same- Oprah can't believe you described your whole album in a track title. He finally ends this disappointing album with a hopeful and very positive downtempo piece that sounds very relaxing. Northern Lights sounds like the forest bursting with life after a cleansing thunderstorm. Meh, I was hoping for more. A lot more. When I first heard Aum I thought he was going to combine hip-hop beats with tribal elements, but that's not what happened. He does dip his toes in a lot of genres (progressive and tribal mainly), but it didn't really stand out to me. It just kinda went. The scope is large however with huge pads and a deeply spiritual feel and I believe he excels in the ambient stuff. It just seemed to have more gravitas than the minimally boring stuff. Cue sad price is right music. Free at Ektoplazm Mdk