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1200 Mics - The Time Machine


Lemmiwinks

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1. The Creation

2. Egypt

3. Stoned Henge

4. Shivas India

5. Rock into the Future

6. Glories of Greece

7. The Mayans,Incas and Aztecs

8. Garden of Eden

9. 1001 Arabian nights

 

So Riktam, Bansi, Chicago and Raja are back with a 3rd album. For me, their first album is a CLASSIC (and I don't care what everyone says about it being "just another GMS project"). It's actually one of the rare "post-96 era" album that made me have a trip and also one of the rare "non-oldschool" albums that I still have pleasure in listening to it after a few years... However the 2nd album was a MAJOR dissapointment for me, it was quite forgettable and made me really wonder how much time did Raja Ram spend in the GMS studio... So will this be more like the 1st or the 2nd?

 

Well, it's kindof in between, but closer to "Heroes of the Imagination" than to "1200 Micrograms" :(

As usual, loads of 140 BPM melodies with harsh sounds and also some melodies but of which 90% can be qualified as "cheese"... and not to forget the trademark 1200 Mics "swirling noise" during breaks :)

 

That said, even if this album isn't of much value for home listening, these guys sure know how to make PARTY MUSIC!!!

Rock Into the Future is my fave track here. It has a sample of a guitar riff (probably Iron Maiden but not sure...). It reminds me of the "Acid For Nothing" concept except Acid For Nothing didn't have anything except the Dire Straits sample. This one's made as an entire coherent track. Yes, some melodies are a little cheezy but I like it!!! And I'm sure it will make a lot of people smile on the dancefloor!

 

The Mayans, Incas and Aztecs is a pretty nice all-rounder. It has a nice flute sample from old karate movies (I'm sure that when you'll listen to it you'll instantly recognize it :) ) This track is also a little less cheezy than the others here. It also has some guitars that are nicely inter-mingled with the rest of the synth sounds.

 

Garden of Eden is a bit slower and is a treat for those who regret the days when the mighty 303 was used :) I really like it when 1200 Mics slow down a bit and make some 120 BPM stuff... it's not as good as Magic Mushrooms but I like it aLOT!

 

1001 Arabian Nights msut be 1200 Mic's first ever DOWNTEMPO track! I think the BPM is around 90 on this one and it has a LOT of cheezy arabic music samples and also the bassline from a well-known new beat track " 101 - Rock to the Beat "... don't really like this one :(

 

Glories of Greece must be the cheeziest track EVER!! It starts with a sample from a well-known traditional greek song ("Zorba") - Anyone who's been into a greek restaurant or gathering has heard this one... It is HORRIBLE!!

 

Stoned Hedge and Creation are typical "Heores of the Imagination" stuff, not really my cup of tea.

 

Shiva's India I like more (actually I'm a sucker for indian "mystic" samples :) ) Also, the dynamics of the track remind me of some sort of cross between Hashish and LSD which are classics so I gather this one will work pretty well on the dancefloor as well :) BTW this track must also contain the stupidest sample yet (well I guess they felt the need to raise the bar even further after their first 2 albums lol): "Let's go back in a time machine to ancient India and smoke hashish before Shiva"... WTF???

 

Land of Pharaos brings some interesting old-school lines around minute 5:00... a bit "profanized" as is always the way with these guys but I never could say no to oldschool ;)

 

 

 

Conclusion I doubt this will reach cult status like their first album... however it's a nice FUN album which will make a lot of people smile on the dancefloor!! And it's better than Heroes of Imagination :)

This album has barely been released and already there is LOADS of negativity pointed towards it (as always with GMS project releases...). Sure, some of the criticism is well-founded but most is just a result of the collective "anti-GMS" mentality. Just listen to the album for yourself before you juge :) 8/10 from me

 

[EDIT: Since I've written this review I'm finding this album to be growing on me every day!! Garden of Eden has actually become one of my fav 04 tracks and 1001 Arabian Nights is getting better at each listen... Maybe this will reach the classic status that 1200 Micrograms did after all? Actually I remember liking the first album only moderatley at first too and then it growed on me on the following months so... anyway, my mark has climbed to 10/10 :) ]

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  • 2 weeks later...

Cheezy-Meaningful Music????

 

I cant believe that so many people are bagging 1200 mics!!!

For me, they are re-inventing the whole style and concept for a psytrance act.

Sure they have some cheezy build-ups and some samples that are strangely uninteresting when compared to the music.

 

Has no-one picked up that each album they've released has been a concept piece relating to the psychedelic revolution.

 

1200 micrograms: An awesome tribute to the most powerful psyco-active chemicals on the planet.

 

Heroes Of The Imagination: A rare tangent off into the world of hard science(not that there's any formulas or whatever), yet again a tribute to some of man's greatest discoveries.

 

The Time Machine: The Spiritual Question. After one has taken mind-altering substances, and explored the scientific and philosophic ideas that arise. Once one knows what the universe is made of, what does that mean for human kind. How do we fit in. All we can do is worship the energy and chaotic chance that one has to confront when taking powerful drugs.

That's what this whole album is about.

 

"In the beginning there was nothing. God was bored. So God created the Heavens and the Earth, and Trance Music, and Drugs for Pleasure."

What an awesome opening sample to start an album with.

Then we travel to some of the ancient cultures, Egypt, Celtic Britain, India, The Andes, Greece, and Arabia. They take certain elements of these cultures and they're own style of trance music and give it to you in a format that just gets your heart pumping and your feet dancing. :D

 

my verdict: 9/10

the only drawbacks are the start of Glories of Greece (i freakin hate zorba), and maybe the start of Stoned Henge (although 4.50 onwards is gold "We offer up our spirits, we offer up our souls")

 

Give it a chance. Listen to it in the sun. It may just make you think. B)

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"Let's go back in a time machine to ancient India and smoke hashish before Shiva"...

 

loooooooooooooooooool

ROFL!!!! No way........ ROFL!!!!!!! ROFL!!!!!!

207469[/snapback]

Nothing beats going back in a time machine and smoke hashish with lord shiva. The thought of it just fills my brain with epic, fun visions. It is a feast for my imagination. :P

I dig 1200 micrograms for every new track i hear. They are pioneers of 'fun-trance' and pure dancefloor enjoyment (true testaments to this are: high paradise and mescaline). Their music really caters to my taste. Oh, and their live shows are equally awesome. Anyone who went to earthcore this year will not dispute my words. If i live to be a 100 years old i will never forget how they rocketed 10000 people in to the next world with a feast of fun, dance and energy. What a life! :rolleyes:

Give it a chance, people! Haven't you noticed how new things can initially suck and then, after a couple of listenings, really REALLY grow on you? :)

I'm gonna buy the new stash bag, too... Those sample tracks just keep getting better. :lol:

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"I'm just sure they're gonna probe my anus"

 

Some Quirk tune of their first album (masterpiece!).

207714[/snapback]

That's the kind of stuff that makes me embarrassed to listen to the music.

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  • 1 month later...

I've talked about this album on other threads, so why not write some sort of...

 

1200 Mics - Time Machine: Review

 

After reading the first review above, I gave this album another listen straight through. I tried to not over-analyze it, just listen and enjoy, and I actually enjoyed it more this time than before. As before, I find this album more fun and mainstream than their first one, which may be a classic, and I think the first one was more innovative, psychedelic, and trippy, but a bit too noisy for its own good at times, maybe unless you're tripping, heh. 1200 Mics - The Time Machine seems to have more melodies, lift-off's, well placed voice echo's; effects, (not singing) and overall a pretty good variety of tracks. My favorite track is Shiva's India, (those moments with voices and the melodies are really catchy!, I don't care for the voices and voice alterations in Egypt though) and I also really like Garden of Eden too. The last one I consider unique and above average, but I like it, and maybe it would sound less cheesy in world or ethnic album, I don't know. But its a nice, fresh, unexpected-in-its-style, melodic, downtempo song. Regardless, I feel this album could have ended with a stronger downtempo track. As Talpa's last song went too, but it was better, the final song here just doesn't have the impact or great lasting impressin I'd want, but I think its far from bad, maybe not everyones taste, and I'm glad to see that 1200 Mics can do downtempo! Hopefully the next time it will be better and cooler, like Talpa's opening downtempo track, which I thought was very well done; good.

 

Lastly, I think most will agree that this is one of the best full-on albums of 2004. I also thought Psycraft, Psypilot, and Lemaurians (I didn't hear Astrix and some others) were some of the other "up there" or best full-on albums of 2004, (if Space Monkey is considered full-on, it would be dark full-on, than I place that arguably first!) and I agree that this will probably work best on the dance floor for most listeners, rather than for home listening, which for me, home listening and driving, etc... seems to work really well.

 

Overall Score: B- or an 8/10 = Pretty good. I feel this album does have some really good and mostly above average songs, but because at least 1-3 songs are just decent or not that good, and I think Greek people will like Glories of Greece because it uses a CLASSIC, traditional Greek melody, but why use it here?, and regardless, this song starts out EXTREMELY cheesy I AGREE, and because of songs like that and the other one or two decent ones, I can't rate this album higher, although it is one of the best full-on album of 2004.

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short reply... I think the fourt song is the best 'shivas india'... it start slower and has got faster part that brings you too the next level... safe cause It isn't that fast boring morning fullon bass line from the beginning to end... The bass line is like climax which is cool IHMO in this track... even the sample doens't bother me at all... like some... It's a safe joke from 1200 mics :)

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  • 1 month later...

You know, I expected it to be cheezy, but this is ridiculous.

 

There is no question, however, that there are a few minutes here and there that aren't bad at all. If I had to pick some tracks to save from this mess, it would have to be The Creation, Egypt, and Garden of Eden (nice bass on this one, for full-on anyway). It's not too terrible for the formula-driven run-of-the-mill stuff, and hey - these guys pretty much developed the formula in the first place so you can't hold that against them so much. Still, not too interesting overall, since its about 70% cheddar.

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  • 1 month later...
Guest Rain

after a second listen I really don't like... Only track 4 kan shiver my spine but for the rest it's just not intilligent... it's not less or more cheezy then other morning fullon artist but they the same sounds over & over... and comparing to their first ablum where every track has got it's unique sound & bassline this sucks :D

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I didn't listen to the whole album yet, but only 4 first track, and i think that the first track is a brilliant one, very trippy and melodic ... but the rest doesn't rox so much for me. it need time for me, and lot off listening :)

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  • 4 months later...

Most of the songs are ok, not really a very good album, but not bad too..

my favorite track is rock into the future.. cheesy but it makes me happy :)

6.5/10 for this album

364929[/snapback]

true after a while a started appreciating rock into the future more ! :D
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I also forgat about Stoned Henge which has a nice and warm melody..

 

What I like about 1200 Mics is that they don't really care about being taken serious and they don't just recreate an old sound from existing albums from other artists.. i can understand that soem people don't like because of the stupid samples, but i think some are funny..Personally I think too many people underrate them because of this and their uplifting melodies can be a bit cheesy, but you guys forget that the old school goa which is amazing can have cheesy melodisch too (eg Man with no Name - Sugar Rush).. It is always easyier to make a dark or progressive album without having cheesy parts

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  • 8 months later...
Guest The Journey Man Project

yeah not their best, but better than number 2... their first album was the absolute bomb tho!

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  • 1 year later...

one of my fav albums from 1200 mics , 10 times better then the second one

it sounds pretty poppy but anyway its positive , groovy music with kool melodies and this idea of travling in past is amazing

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