Solar Quest - Orgisms

[bomble]

Solar Quest - Orgisms

 

Artist: Solar Quest

Title: Orgisms

Label: Entropica

Date: 2000

 

Track listing:

 

CD 1

01. 06'06" Cherchez La Lumiere

02. 06'48" Dubblet

03. 07'22" Lucid Beauty

04. 10'03" Levitation

05. 05'53" Walking Tree

06. 05'53" Anchors In The Mist

07. 08'39" The Groove Merchant

08. 07'20" Switch Off Your Mind

09. 04'00" Misanthropy

10. 02'29" Seven Veils

11. 14'46" Ceremonial

 

CD 2

01. 11'45" The Belle of Atlantis

02. 06'39" Singtree

03. 07'06" Awaken Kundalini

04. 08'53" Liquid Sky

05. 08'43" The Open Path

06. 08'22" Save the Whale

07. 03'53" Requiem For A Lily

08. 16'58" Flying Spirals

 

Review:

 

I am not too sure why I have never heard people talking about SolarQuest when

the topic of chillout comes around in these forums. They are undoubtedly

masterful at making the stuff and rival many of the better known acts. Funnily

enough, that's almost exactly what I said when I first did a review of Makyo

for this site, and now he seems to be one of the most popular choices for

chillout ... so maybe it's SolarQuest's turn next!

Anyway ... what to expect ...? This is warm, subtle and smooth chillout. Hints

of psychedelic sounds thrown in and perhaps one of the closest sounding

productions to Makyo without being Makyo of course. SolarQuest is in fact

primarily George Saunders, though there are other artists involved playing the

plethora of 'real' instruments used in the tracks. This is by no means his

first release, but in my opinion this is the one to go for if you don't know

the SolarQuest sound. One other point that is worth a mention is that all the

SolarQuest recordings are made using power generated from the Greenpeace

portable solar generator 'Sparky'. The music that is produced is of the

'organic' sound with plenty of atmospheric natural noising, thoroughly chilled

and with a mixture of beat and beatless tracks. I think that the album only

comes as a double cd, which is great because you get the superb Orgship in the

bag too. This I believe was an earlier release (1994 maybe), but the pair

together form a fabulous ambient journey.

Orgisms:

There is not really much point dwelling on the tracks one at a time as they

are soft-mixed together (still extractable for dj-ing purposes, but without

any silences), and it is the overall effect that is so pleasant. Certain

tracks do stand out however - notably Anchors in the Mist which has a divine

flute swirling and wafting the ears downstream. Absolutely blissful. The flute

is back in Switch off your Mind and don't I just love it - this time with a

snare beat and plenty of weirdness. In fact the general intensity of the

Orgisms cd builds as the tracks go on with more beat structure until the

wonderful Ceremonial which just launches the imagination onto another plane.

This is the proper length for a chillout track in my mind, and you may still

be sorry when the cd comes to a stop.

Orgship:

If Orgisms was chilled then Orgship is even more so! This is one of the most

relaxing discs I have, some really gentle beats but mostly soft drifting

sounds and instrumentation. It is really beautiful stuff - not overproduced

and not too busy... just about right for me to keep me from being bored but

not interfere too much with my thoughts. Liquid Sky is magnificent - very much

like a Dakini tune with a perfect flow towards an emotional power that gets me

right here [bomble reaches for his chest]. The Open Path is also a splendid

trippy little number and the joy just builds! Save the whale keeps things

tasty, but I think that the Requiem for a Lily might have been better left out

- it doesn't add much for me. Then again, it leads into Flying Spirals which,

just as the final track in Orgisms, provides the soul with a magic carpet for

some serious interior voyaging.

The combination of the two discs (hopefully at ordinary album price if you have

an honest supplier) makes this album a real treasure. It won't infiltrate your

every waking moment like Shpongle can ... but I doubt you'll regret buying it

if you can find a copy. Lovely.

8.5/10

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

Finally someone makes a review of Solar Quest. I must say that i really love

Solar Quest, and by that i mean their acid style music such the track "I´m off

to goa".

And since i like ambient/chill plus that i like Solar Quest, this album is a

must have for me! Out of those few ambient tracks ive heard from Solar Quest

(The Belle of Atlantis and Awaken Kundalini) it really sounds like an

interesting album. Well im off to my local CD store now to check for this

album, cya. PS, ill post a review here when ive got the album. =)

[Guest [Anonymous]]

I agree with Lime Frog, finally someone has reviewed Solar Quest!! I've tried

to recommend Solar Quest - Orgship (CD #2) to people in the forum. I havn't

heard anything from CD #1 though, but CD #2 is the best chillout stuff I've

ever heard. Just awesome! Very dreamy and chilled with nice melodies, I used

to have this on while sleeping.

[Guest wouterspace[at]hotmail[dot]com]

Wow what a surprise to see some new SolarQuest stuff! Orgship has been one of

my all-time fave albums for a long time. After all these years it still sounds

really fresh and it simply knows no weak moments. BTW there's also an album of

Entropica which is SQ's side project.

The album is called Sonic Bloom and was released around the same time when

Orgship came out. Entropica is really REALLY deep minimal but beautiful

beatless ambient (or rather atmospheres). My plants love it!

[Guest outlaw[at]darker[dot]com]

As a newbie in ambient music, I can only say that this is the stuff I've been

searching for. Just sleep to The Belle of Atlantis and you'll feel what I

mean...