V/A - Life Is

[Guest Optimal Complexity Model]

The journey begins with Sandman, who gives us a high quality Chill-out track

that takes us to previously unexplored territories where "Sights melt into

sounds".

B.L.T vs. Realistic follows with a sad electro-dub piece. A beautifully

relaxing soundscape.

From here we move on to Space Cat & Elysium?s masterpiece, With sounds

reminiscent of a live session.

Atmospheric and uplifting at times, this track is full of Musical inspirations;

From Pink Floyd to ?Twin Peaks?.

Then we get Mental Orange, an original ethnic piece containing hypnotizing

oriental vocals accompanied by acoustic instruments. It is more like ambient

with a smidgen of drum and bass. Layers of well-placed sound, exotic melodies

and vivid effects come together seamlessly to elicit a very pleasant

experience.

Realistic B.L.T comes back with a psychedelic tekno/chill out track That evokes

the thrill of a horror movie. This is some of the most original, spaced out

groove you'll hear. It molds so many different rhythms and styles into

psychedelia.

Continuing is Oforia with a mellow, emotional break beat track. Sensitive

sounds and peaceful feelings are felt through This melodic and mystical

ambient track.

Following is the promising new act Violet Vision with a groovy dub piece.

Brilliant extraterrestrial ambient full of energy and good vibes.

Liquid Metal concludes the journey with a track that sounds Deep & mysterious,

as if taken directly from a detective movie.

[Guest Carahana]

V/A - Life Is

 

 

Artist: Various

Title: Life Is

Label: HOM-Mega

Date: 2001

 

Track listing:

 

01. Sandman : Storm Clouds Part 1

02. BLT Vs Realistic : Maybe Tomorrow

03. Space Cat And Elysium : Liquid Dub Connection

04. Mental Orange : Elements

05. BLT Vs Realistic : Dr Jackyl And Mr Hyde

06. Oforia : Walk On Water

07. Violet Vision : Sense

08. Liquid Metal : Aural Morph

 

Review:

 

This is one of best discs I've bought. Soothing, flowing ambient, atmospheric

and ever so beautiful.

Sandman opens the journey with Storm Clouds Pt1 ;- journey throught the

rainforest. I havent heard Sandman in ambient mode before, but Itzik-this is

amazing work!

BLT co-operates with Realistic to give two great tracks, probably the hardest

to dive into, especially Dr Jackyl and Mr Hyde but this is one complex peice

of work and after a few listens you can really understand its point of

view-brilliant!

Space cat and Elysium compose an ethnic chilled masterpeice. A peaceful,

emotional and dramatic journey for the mind, a peice of music that appeals to

the heart and soul. Not too complex , but still most amazing and a must for

those chilled morning moments.

Mental Orange in a taster of his abum to come, shows his ambient skill fusing

electronic music with indian classical elements. Its a nice one, and gives

incentive to wait for his album.

'Walk on water', well what can i say? This is very , very special Ofer:) The

melody filters in and out, just listen and drift away.

Violet Vision - Sense. My favourite track on this disc. These are a new find,

and what a revelation. This is stunning, so emotional. The vocals and samples

really melt in your brain. Sad and happy at the same time,

the melodies are everchanging. Open the doors of perception and into a new

world of experience.

Liquid Metal concludes the disc with another really great peice of music, a

fitting conclusion to this disc. Buy it, you can reach your own conclusions.

And I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. A must for ppl in the quest for

great ambient music.

[Guest BLT]

Well usually I try not enterfere with stuff I involved with but in this case I

will. FINALLY Israel exporting quality electro and shows that there are many

many faces to trance at all and to Israeli trance specifically in this case. I

didn't believe that Dr. Jackyl & Mr. Hide will b ever on a comp ( it's 2 years

old by now ) because there was no place to put it.. And it's wonderfull that

eventually there is this comp. that shows something different and fresh from

Israeli trance artists.

Bom Bom

[Guest Furma]

This is the worst compilation I ever heard. It's sucks very much. The Oforia

track is the worst iv'e ever heard. Only OK track is space cat. So i get this

album 2/10, it get it's 2 for space cat track.

[shahar@isratrance]

Brian Eno explained ambient in Music for Airports thus: "Whereas the various

purveyors of canned music proceed from the basis of regularizing environments

by blanketing their acoustic and atmospheric idiosyncracies, ambient music is

intended to enhance these. Whereas conventional background music is produced

by stripping away all sense of doubt and uncertainty (and thus all genuine

interest) from the music, ambient music retains these qualities. And whereas

their intention is to 'brighten' the environment by adding stimulus to it ...

ambient music is intended to induce calm and a space to think. Ambient music

must be able to accommodate many levels of listening attention without

enforcing one in particular; it must be as ignorable as it is interesting."

Well, "life is...", though way different from Eno's ambient, does just that to

me- it serves me as a great background music, and also enables me to dive deep

into it to explore other dimensions. DJ Eyal Yankovich in a team up between

Hommega and BNE releases here his relaxed electronic life story in a showcase

first ambient chill out compilation from Israeli psytrance artists. Apparently

they were cooking some serious stuff in the studios while all the booming and

banging was going on in parties and dancefloors.

 

Sandman opens the compilation very dramatically drawing us immediately into a

different universe, building a powerful atmosphere with a lot of substance,

that you can just feel and see as a world materializes around you. Great

manipulations of sounds, Sandman style, but with much more space to enjoy

them. If you just let yourself you can touch the things around you. Amazing

track, I can write a story about it, but I won't do it here. We surf smoothly

into a team up between BLT and Realistic, the first of two here. Maybe

Tomorrow (T2) is a dubby piece with a sad note, a kind of optimistic sadness,

though, leaving me with a feeling that things can/should be so much better.

Follows a much more optimistic creation- Space Cat & Elysium in a 20 minutes

of very soft spacey journey through sunrise (Liquid Dub Connection, T3).

Amazing diversity of sounds, electronic and non. Those who know Twin Peaks,

will have a flashback here. The most unbelievable thing about this amazing

creation is that it was waiting 3 years until finally it was released here

(but it turned out for the better). Mental Orange in a preview from his

upcoming album hosts sampled Ravi Shankar in a Shpongley piece of

electro-Indian downtempo. You can really dance with this one. The combination

of Indian and electronic music produces a real psychedelic outmosphere. Dr.

Jackyl and Mr. Hide (T5), the second BLT & Realistic cooperation here, is also

my favorite track of the compilation, and just what the name suggests. This is

a real mind twist, with technoey feel to it and leaves at some point the

overall relaxing feel of the compilation into some undefined and definitely

dark realms. But that's how life is... Uplifting us after the dark dive is

Oforia's Walk on Water (T6) with a caressing sound and feel to it, very

relaxing in an optimistic atmosphere, but not as interesting as the rest of

the compilation. Violet Vision are a new discovery from Haifa. Sense (T7) is a

magical journey starting just where Walk on Water ends and soaring into higher

levels of consciousness. Aural Morph from Liquid Metal is the finishing track,

the name just fits the track, that morphs in and out, up and down, to and

from, and just keeps changing volume in space in a mysterious hazy

environment. It has a very 80's electro moody feel to it, and leaves me calm

and usually ready to press the play button again.

Recomendation: : This is a great CD, very wholesome and very much together

(music wise and production wise), it tells a story, with different chapters

and twisting plot. A must for psychedelic electronic music lovers, and highly

recommended for any music lover. Thanks Eyal. Oh, and great cover. Nothing

more to add.

[Guest goa[at]c4[dot]com]

Great CD, a wonderful journey to another world- I really like this. Favorites:

Sandman, Dr. Jakyl & Mr. Hide, Violet Vision, Oforia. Lovely stuff a good

introduction to ambient for tranceheads.

 

PS

Y R all this beautiful souls that write in this site- this is shit and that

sucks always do it anonimously???

[Guest shatshalomleaba[at]daytona[dot]c]

i never really gave much to ambient/trance.

listening to this cd makes it a whole new expieriance-

violet visions opened my eyes to the beuty of ambient-

i predict a graet future to these guys.

i thought the rest of the cd was quite good too- but if it wasnt for violet

visions it was another ambient cd's you can find anywhere.

t-7 makes a new life to the concept of new age trance and ambient.

space cat was also good.

[Guest theoremdesign[at]hotmail[dot]com]

When I ordered this CD, I thought it would be Full-On floor-stomping Psy, but

to my dismay (which only lasted momentarly) it was downtempo... I think it

took me about two listens to the first track (by my hero Izak) before I was

hooked! I think I listened to this one for like, 5 or 6 hours continously one

long strange night. Probably one of the better downtempo collections that I

have heard. Good job Eyal and all at HoMega. Something new from you guys is

always appreciated!

[Guest Lime_Frog[at]RaveWorld[dot]net]

OMG! Mental Orange - Elements is the most beautiful song i´ve ever heard. I´ll

have to say that this album climbs up to the third place in my collection

(Yeti is on place 1 & 2). So what are you waiting for, buy it!

[traveller]

OMG YOU MISSED THE MOST BEAUTIFUL SONG ON THIS COMPL..

it's the space cat & elysium song with out any doubt..

ps. at first i downloaded this compl from audiogalaxy..

and then bought it from a store.. that's how good cd it is

[Guest 001]

...A "conversation" with the Gods and the Angels...!!!...

[Guest BlueSpectralMonkey]

some is verynice some sounds like deep forest IMO... good to dj with, cant play

the whole disc. too stoned to know which ones arent top notch, but it gets new

agey and played out quick if you listen to it twice in a row.

good for having though if you play ambient. overall its a 6.5 or 7 up to 8 at

its best. at its cheezy worst i give it a 4.

[Guest Joker]

A Piece of Art !!! My favorites are Sandman, Space Cat & Elysium and Violet

Vision !!! Dont miss this one.