Acid Rockers - Mind Set

[Guest Kindgok]

Acid Rockers - Mind Set

 

 

Artist: Acid Rockers

Title: Mind Set

Label: Blue Room

Date: 2001

 

Track listing:

 

01. 07'05" Weirdoworld

02. 05'33" Traveller

03. 08'27" Inside

04. 08'57" Messages From Jupiter

05. 09'38" Orion (Flashback Mix)

06. 08'09" Mindset

07. 07'59" Schitzoid

08. 08'00" Futures End

 

Review:

 

Folks, this album is worth buying for "Traveler" alone, but I found the whole

offering to be more imaginative and forward-thinking than your typical

psychedelic release. All the newer Blue Room stuff has been this way, Deviant

Electronics & Spectral being two more shining examples. They have just enough

trance flavor to hook the core audience with a little atypical influence to

keep them interested, as well as newcomers. -kingdok

 

P.S. -- And plus, I like breakbeats.

[Basilisk]

.

[Guest iNFiNiTi500]

It's Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger would Daftpunk say and with the Blueroom

tag u can be assured that the production is excellent and crystal clear. Yes

folks, this is another of those rare true Psy-DnB breeds as the tracks are

filled with spacey 303 sounds (acidddd...) backed up by strong and speedy DnB

percussions. "Mindset" is a chronologic singles collection and the psycedelica

is more evident in the first 4 tracks as the others could just as easily be

brainspins outta the dirtchambers of Liam Howlett(Prodigy). Nevertheless a

strong offerering from stubborn Blueroom that fortunately avoids any

boom-boom-boom monotones in their collection and keeps faithful to their own

private psy-evolution. Give it a healthy spin if you can tolerate the likes of

Deviant Electronics and Eat Static, U might really like it...

[krelmatrix]

This is an absolutely brilliant piece of work. Some of it is previously

released, but not all on CD. From the downtempo grooves of "Traveller" and

"Future's End" to the classic full on track "Weirdoworld" to the psy-d&b

offerings, every song on here is the hightest of quality. I personally love

the breakbeat offerings here...he seems to have taken the whole psy-d&b sound

to new heights. All are dark, brooding, heavy, deep, and intense, yet

wonderfully atmospheric - sort of like LTJ Bukem on a bad trip. I'd have to

say that "Inside" stands out as the top track on this album. The way it

slowly progresses from a minimalistic dark brooding groove to a fully layered

eerily melodic stomping jungle track is absolute brilliance. Every other

track on the album is damn fine too, so my favorite changes dependent on my

mood.

 

If you only like the classic goa sound, avoid at all costs. If you want to

hear an artist successfully experimenting and pushing the envelope in totally

new directions, do anything you can to get your hands on this. Eagerly

awaiting anything more from this guy. 10/10

[PKS]

This releases is very interesting, because there are a lot of drum`n`bass

tracks here! Blue Room has bin very good in the mix between psychedelic sounds

and drum`n`bass. It think it`s good that someone do something completly

different like Acid rockers, Deviant Electronics, Eat Static etc. I hope there

will be more releases like this in the future!

[Guest davidtolsn]

i really like messages from jupiter.. but this cd is mostly boring. good to

chill to, i guess. 5/10

[Guest [Anonymous]]

I just got to know abt this release recently .. and I gotta say .. its the most

amazing thing ive heard in a while!! .. all tracks except no. 1 are awesome ..

Best tracks are 2,3,4 .. and the best is 6!!

[Guest Visi()n]

Acid Rockers " Mind Set " is a typical release on Blue Room Rec. It means that

it should be of highest quality and consist of very innovative material. This

album is an ultimate mixture of psy-sounds and D'n'B precussions.

Tracks Mindset, Schitzoid, Inside contain a lot of darck industial sounds and

good rythmical structures. A sort of intelligent breakbeat or D'n'B.

Orion (Flashback Mix)is soft atmosferic breakbeat, quite nice, i think.

Weirdoworld, Messages From Jupiter are futuristic psy-trance tracks, that

also have interesting precussion.

Traveller is made specially for electronic freakz. Classical TR-808

percussion & TB-303 acid sounds back 2 bakc with lots of different effects

from fuckedelic guitar to choral voice singing. Deam, very experemental track.

Futures End is a good psy-dub track, very deep & spacy.

In conclussion i would like to remind about previous releases of Acid Rockers

on AAA Records:"Interform/There can be only Two (EP)", "Matrix/Orion (EP)".

Check them too, if you can find them.

P.L.U.R!

[AlieNed]

Acid Rockers is British electronic music producer Matthew Buggins, with frequent contributions by Steve Walker. There is something quintessentially British about the group’s upbringing in the trance world, as they made their first tentative releases on the obscure label AAA Recordings alongside ManMadeMan and The Light. These early efforts were traditional UK trance, mixing up acid and epic influences to create euphoric hits for the thriving warehouse scene. In 1997, Acid Rockers made a small impact in the psychedelic trance world with two remixes for TIP Records and a vinyl single release on the infamous Blue Room Released. Very little was heard from Acid Rockers in the next few years; a remix for Total Eclipse in 1999 and a compilation appearance in 2000 was the extent of his activities. Mind Set, an album rumored to be in the works for some time, emerged in the final year of Blue Room’s operation, in a time when the label began to engage in wild experimentations, releasing all kinds of electronic music only tentatively connected to trance. Albums from Spectral, Deviant Electronics, Juno Reactor, and Boris Blenn’s downtempo project Galaxy best express the diverse approach the label was taking in the final days. As one of Blue Room’s late experimental albums, Mind Set features trance, breaks, and drum ‘n bass all blended up into a mutable pastiche of electronic music.

 

The album opens with Weird World, which is sourced from the original Acid Rockers vinyl released on Blue Room in 1997. If you have heard the excellent Acid Rockers remix of The Infinity Project’s Hyperactive, then you should have an idea of what this sounds like. The groove has a tremendous amount of bounce to it, reflecting the producer’s UK origins. Analog sound particles spiral around in the early moments. After slightly more than two minutes have passed, the first hint of the breakbeat leaps into action. A subtle twist in the percussive strata soon unfolds into an intricate rhythmic fusion, uniting the 4×4 beats with the breakbeat loop. Deep into the heart of the track it breaks down into the massive bridge: a dirty set of bassy grooves that adeptly realizes the crossover potential of the song. The rest is a muddy assortment of dirty sounds and atmospheric textures, with no further surprises. Weird World is a song with some nostalgic value, but it isn’t as cleanly produced as it needs to be in order to qualify as an enduring classic.

 

Traveller is a cheeky piece of electro-breaks merged with funky guitar riffs, bubbling 303, and fat bass strike. It sounds very retro, predating trance entirely. With the short length and irreverent sample usage, I suspect this isn’t to be taken so seriously.

 

Inside, the surprise gem of the album, was originally released on Blue Room’s Freekstyle compilation. Distinctive sampling lifts a few phrases from the Hollywoord movie Event Horizon, including “the dark inside me, from the other place… I won’t go back there, I won’t!” After this the listener is treated to the deepest rhythms of the album. The bass is fantastic, slipping around in the low frequency range with grim determination. Broken beat structures begin to form as time passes, slowly accumulating added complexity as the story builds. Once the acid lines begin to take form in the third minute, the track is really rolling. Gorgeous psychedelic atmospheres take form, swooping in to provide timely embellishments. The mood takes form, expressing sadness, mystery, and a sense of wonder. The comedown is lovely, taking sweet time to return to Earth. This is, quite simply, the most intelligent track Acid Rockers ever released.

 

Messages From Jupiter is the flipside from the Weird World vinyl. This was a staple of all breakbeat-laden Goa sets for many years. Despite the distinct 4×4 rhythm, there is no shortage of wildly oscillating drum ‘n bass riffs in the mix. After a heady drive full of smashing percussion, the song drops into an extensive bridge in the very middle. From near-total silence the funky drum rhythm games begin again, accelerating towards the return of the throbbing bass line after the sixth minute. Back in the day, this sounded excellent, and a great deal of use was made of this record by many people I knew. Today, this sounds very dated, but may be of interest to fans of the breakbeat-Goa fusion nonetheless. There’s no denying this song has a place in trance history.

 

The next piece is the Flashback Mix of Orion, originally released on the Robot Pop EP in 1997. I’m one of the few that own this record, and I can attest to the fact that this sounds nothing like the original. No, this is a heavenly piece of soothing drum ‘n bass wrapped up in thick layers of entrancing atmospheres. It is not designed for the dance floor, so the arrangement tends to drift. This is a very nice piece for background listening but it doesn’t hold a candle to the power of the original.

 

The title track begins with the best sample work of the album, capturing a conversation between Bruce Lee and his teacher in Enter the Dragon. Beneath a shimmering atmosphere the speech peaks with the famous words: “When the opponent expands, I contract. When he contracts, I expand. And when there is an opportunity, I do not hit. It hits all by itself.” The rest of the track is very much like the last one, dropping muddy clattering beats beneath ethereal pads that swirl around, providing the psychedelic aspect of this drum ‘n bass tune. It’s another decent piece for sublime moments.

 

Schitzoid is a continuation of this style, with added crunch. There are hints of some of the other tracks in this rather direct sequence of chunky rhythms. Ultimately it gets rather boring, as the track shakes onward without any focus.

 

Futures End is the chilly finale, mumbling along with a stodgy off-kilter bass beat and a steadily increasing set of smooth pads and atmospheric effects. There is something inelegant about the rhythm in this one, but the trance sounds are nice enough. Nothing special.

 

Mind Set is a decent release, but it’s probably the weakest of the final Blue Room releases. Anyone with a special interest in the fusion of drum ‘n bass with trance is going to want to hear it, but I wouldn’t recommend it for most other listeners. If you want to hear breaks and trance mesh admirably, direct your attention to Deviant Electronics or Metal Spark. Aside from Inside, which is a wicked tune, the crossover tunes on this album don’t seem that serious. They dabble and drift, and frequently succeed at sounding pleasant, but fail to really energize, excite, or inspire awe. With a pair of re-releases from three years prior to the album release and only 64 minutes of sound, it actually seems as if Blue Room had a difficult time putting a full-length album together. Perhaps Acid Rockers were not yet artistically experienced enough to take on the task of a full-album. At any rate, the group can be appreciated and remembered for a few old songs, even if Mind Set is not an essential album. It could have been much better…

 

C und P - Basilisk

 

 

http://www.ektoplazm.com/reviews/acid-rockers-mind-set/

[AlieNed]

Acid Rockers - Wierd World promo teaser is here http://www.yousendit.com/transfer.php?acti...11E3C010AD8CF95

[Manuser]

It's a very remarkable album. High quality stuff: