Mumbo Jumbo - Speaking In Tongues

[Insejn]

Mumbo Jumbo - Speaking In Tongues

 

 

Artist: Mumbo Jumbo

Title: Speaking In Tongues

Label: Turbo Trance

Date: 2003

 

Track listing:

 

01. Turtlehead

02. Brad

03. Techno Boom Boom (Rmx)

04. Jax Back

05. Dumb Ass Groovers

06. Mysteronz (Live Mix)

07. The Bongolians

08. Fishbone (Rmx)

09. Speaking In Tongues

 

Review:

 

woohoo...The Cosmosis sound is all over this one. This is like a Cosmosis

album, almost. The percussions are so typical. Oh yeah. This is much like

"Find you own divinity" track on Contact album. And I like that track which

means I like this one too. Actually, there isn't much more to say. This is a

solid release and it's has some very good moments that will blow you away.

Final Verdict: 8/10

[Guest Rx7style]

You write weird reviews Insejn. It's hard to understand what you're getting

at; whether you're being facetious or serious in your enthusiasm will remain a

mystery to me. Now as far as the predictability of the percussion, I think

Insejn is way off base saying it's "typical", especially in the track "The

Bongolians". I think there's enough variance and intricacies to keep even

minimal lovers contented – just the right amount of simplicity makes the sound

so smooth. If you play with the sounds too much and add layer after layer of

percussion, you risk not producing a steady rhythm, which can ruin the overall

consistency. What's obviously executed exceptionally well with this album are

the twisted sonic distortions: very tastefully integrated, and musically

executed. There are two things I don't like so much about this album; the

tracks are all mixed, and many tracks build too slowly, and I think the latter

is the explanation for the prior. All tracks have something unique to

proffer, so I won't pick favourites, but I will say that "Jax Back" had a very

Digitalis-like sound and bordered on annoying due to unpleasant harmonics.

With those minute detractions stated, this fantastic album still rates up

there with an 8.5/10

[Guest MG]

This is better than Contact. It is so hilarious, they do the famous collage of

d'oh from the Simpsons episode where homer is in a coma after a beercan

exploded one april fools day, they make beautiful use of Jack Nicholson from

Batman, and Dr Evil with his son, arguing. I expected this album to be more

progressive than Cosmosis, while it isn't similar to Cosmosis, it isn't

"progressive". It is fun, similar to Green Oms but not, that happy vibe most

of the time, good time trance. I think Bill of Cosmosis/Mumbo Jumbo should

make a mixed and unmixed CD as this is more Dance orientated than mind, unlike

Contact in my opinion anyhow...9/10 it so compliments Green Oms, although that

album is probably a little better in terms of variance, originality, etc.

[PKS]

Bill Halsey (Bilbo Bagginz) and Mitch Davies are out with their debut album as

Mumbo Jumbo on Turbo Trance Records. Bill is already well known as Cosmosis,

one of the most talented psytrance artists out there. He has released four

Cosmosis albums on Transient Records. Mumbo Jumbo has already released a few

tracks on various compilations. Cosmosis has always made totally twisted

psychedelic trance, with variation all the way. Mumbo Jumbo is more stumpy

music, still with a lot of crazy sounds and variation, but not as twisted as

Cosmosis tracks. The first track is very trancey with pleasant sounds and

drifting rhythms. Very enjoyable for dancing as always when Bill is involved.

This is funky psytrance! Not as varied as Cosmosis, but still a lot more

variation than most other psytrance acts come up with these days. Nice one!

Track 2 has some cool voice samples, very floor stumping rhythms and lots of

psychedelic sounds. Not as trancey as track one, but not bad for kicking up

some dust. Track 3 (Techno Boom Boom) is already released on Phantasm Records

in 2001, but here you get a remix. It doesn`t sound very much different from

the original, so it`s hard to decide which version is the best one, but this

track is not bad. Hard pumping rhythms with some tribal rhythms above and

floating weird sounds. Track 4 is my favourite track on this album. It sounds

a lot like Cosmosis. Fantastic melodic twisted trance, with pushing rhythms,

drifting melodies and scary sounds. Wonderful party track!

 

After all the energy in track four, things calm down a bit in track five. It

starts off with some nice tribal drums, before the pumping rhythms starts

again, but this time with pleasant tribal rhythms following all the way. It

builds up slowly. After a few stumping minutes, we get some really weird

voices which makes this track pretty funny. At least a lot of people will

start smiling at the dance floor when they hear this. Track 6 (Mysteronz) is

already released on Transient Records in 2000, but here you get a live

version. Not among my favourite Mumbo Jumbo tracks, but not bad. Funky vibe

with crazy sounds and melodies. Track 7 starts pumping from the first second.

A bit darker than the other tracks. It builds up with more and more floating

sounds and dark melodies. You also get those tribal drums you probably know

from the style of Shakta lately. I think that is what makes it so funky. Then

we get the Fishbone track, which is probably the most known Mumbo Jumbo track

out there. It is already released on Transient Records, but here you get a

remix. This track makes me jump! It sounds a bit like Shakta, but with more

crazy sounds. The last track is a chill out track. Beautiful floating sounds

together with chilled groovy bass and relaxing sounds. A very good finish for

a good album.

 

This album is good as always when Bill is involved. I have to admit that I`m a

very big fan of Cosmosis, and that is one of the reasons I like this so much.

But don`t expect Cosmosis music. This is more hard pumping and not as varied

and crazy as Cosmosis, but you will for sure get some dance floor killers out

of this one too.

[damion]

www.psyreviews.com :

If you don?t know, Mumbo Jumbo is Mitch Davies and Bilbo Bagginz, aka Cosmosis;

and if you don?t know, Mumbo Jumbo produce a kind of funk-trance that?s more

like stand up comedy than anything else; there?s punchlines in the samples,

punchlines in the stop-start missed beats, even the squelches are veritable

psychedelic Dead Parrot Sketch. Turtlehead sets off one of the themes ? of

more movie samples than the trailers at your local Warner Village ? with not

one, not two (well possibly two, psyreviews lost count) Austin Powers samples,

laid and dropped over a seriously funky ass beat. Techno Boom Boom Remix is so

good for butt wobblin?, psyreviews politely suggests a Jennifer Lopez

collaboration, and Jack Bac chucks in samples of Mr Nicholson like it?s

popcorn whenever Jar Jar Binks is on the screen. Dumb Ass Groovers is

hilarious, and begs to be played on a big rig, with a thousand homer simpsons

all expressing anger and displeasure at something or other, over a smooth and

even chunky groove. The Live Mix of Mysteronz is wicked, known before on

Transient but still kicking here. The energy?s there for the taking and it?s

just rising and rising; one imagines Bilbo?s synths floating around the room

poltergeist stylee. Fishbone Remix (again known on Transient) is a nice,

positive groove shoulder roller, and finally the title track brings things

down with, yup, more movie samples. At the end of the day, this may not ignite

the peak hours on a dancefloor but it?s damn funny, damn fine, and damn

addictive stuff that might just leave Mitch and Bilbo typecast the psytrance

equivalent of Cheech and Chong. Which is a good thing.

 

www.psyreviews.com

[Lemmiwinks]

I don't care if Cosmosis was involved in this, it sucks!! There are only 3 good

tracks in here: Jax back, Fishbone and the last downtempo track, Speaking in

Tongues... the rest are just plain boring... 6/10

[Guest Antic]

Being a die hard Cosmosis fan I have to sadly admit that Moondancer is a little bit right... Knowing that Billy was involved I expected the same quality as with his latest Contact album, but instead I received uneven, not finished kind of product. While the sound-production of the CD is really outstanding, the tracks themselves lack something. 1st track is really promising, has nice melodic riffs in old-Cosmosis style, but the structure of this track is very messy - it starts and stops few times and doesn't really leads to climax. The end is too long, just like the track didn't knew whether to end itself or not. 2nd track builds up really nice, and after the great brake it speeds up but the "melodic" part is repeated only one time!!!... 3rd track also starts very promising, but after the wonderful second bassline comes it all looses direction. Some stupid trumpet sounds? Some off-tune blips? Are they mad?!? 4th track is Jax Bac and everyone seems to think it's the best one. I have to disagree, because I think it's the worst one, just because it's the most f*#^*d up... The first part is wonderful, maybe it all comes in too fast but it still is great and reminds me of Cosmosis' Reality Check. And after the break, when it supposed to explode, it babbles and bores for 4 next minutes. What is this melody? My 9 months old son could probably made something better just tapping on a keyboard!!! I'm so pissed about this track. I mean this guy made such tracks like Moonshine, Howling at The Moon or Spores From Space (and many other), he created some of the most wonderful tracks I ever heard and then he comes with something like this?!?! Where is the energy, where is the structure?!?! OK. Calm down Now starts the second part of the album, which luckily is much better. 5th track is very funny, with Homer Simpson's "Doh!" sampled all over. One the first look there is nothing in it - just drums, bass and some distorted and filtered swooshes and wobbles. And there is nothing more indeed, but having in mind their earlier "melodic" efforts I can say that it is a good thing. Next is live mix of Mysteronz which is simply brilliant - the opening, the singing background voices, the guitar-like synth, the ending acid line. 7th track is again very similar to 5th, which means it's more drum and bass oriented and very funky too. It also contains a little build-up with acid-bass line and is a bit similar to Supernatural from Contact CD. Great track. Fishbone remix (8th) is running slowly, has nice sounds and is again very drum and bass oriented, with little melodic elements. Very good drums in this one too. The last track is typical Cosmosis ambient track, but a little bit weaker than Contact, Skankadelic or Roswell.

 

So to sum it up. This album has some nice tracks (second half) and some _almost_ good tracks, that have some melodic and/or structural problems. There also is a problem with volume levels, because the last 3 tracks are twice as loud as the first one. On a good day though I really enjoy this CD - so finally I give it 7.5/10.