Pan Electric - Conscious Pilot

[abasio]

Pan Electric

Conscious Pilot

Absolute Ambient.com

2007

 

Tracklist

 

1 Orbital Overture (4:31)

2 Sheshamani Shuffle (4:41)

3 Rising Slowly (6:17)

4 Zumaware (7:24)

5 Sky Circles (1:23)

6 Always (0:38)

7 When You Are Loved (5:07)

8 A Winters Walk (4:08)

9 April (7:14)

10 Always A Way (0:32)

11 A Moment Of Grace (4:56)

12 Always A Way Back Up (5:17)

 

I think this album really swooped in under the radar of releases. I didn't know anything about it until I found it on discogs after looking through other releases on labels I have CDs I own. There seemed to be know hype, no buzz but there should have been. This is really good stuff, more people should know about it.

 

1. Orbital Overture

This starts off sounding like a William Orbit track. Each time I listen to it I expect a familiar sample to come in. Of course it never does, in it's place comes a hard dark synth & a funky little melody. When the voices & the acoustic guitar come in the darkness given by the synth fades away & we are left with a bright, warm track. Sounds like the coming of the dawn accentuated by the strings which manage to feel like the rays of light slowly & then more quickly covering everything with it's warmth. The even warmer melody at the end capping it off. Daytime has arrived.

 

2. Sheshamamnai Shuffle

Seamless into this track, it's really just a continuation so as you can imagine the mood is again a little warmer & there is more energy. The little electronic sounds jab at the senses like the awakening of life & the melody is an incredibly naive sounding one. Very simple, pure & with a child like joy to it. Very nice are the tribal chants at the end. The world has woken up.

 

3. Rising Slowly

A man's voice says Rising Slowly managing to sound like a documentary commentator. Electric guitars play a little riff before the warm bass & soft beats come in. It feels not just like you are flying through the sky but like you are tracking the Sun's ascent into the morning sky. Male chorus chants as it smoothly rises higher & higher. A very nice representation in my mind of a natural morning.

 

4. Zumaware

Tribal flutes give this a more mystical feel. Like the music is not just tracking the day but following it's progression west. We've seen the break of day over the furthest eastern islands of Polynesia & now we are headed into the continents. Asian probably as the feeling is hot but wet. The acoustic guitar is back to give it a very beach feel. Like sitting on the beach in Bali guitar in hand watching the day become hotter & hotter & no care in the world. People chant the title over & over in a very calming way & I really get the feeling of a summer holiday from this track. Very nice.

 

5. Sky Circles

A French woman speaks seductively (at least in my ears ) at the start. A light oriental melody plays on some rather tuneless instrument. Very short track.

 

6. Always

Not as short as this little vocal number. Always a way back up again, always a change of love again it's only 38 seconds & that's it.

 

7. When You Are Loved

The world is in full swing now. Lots of melodies, strong but gentle beats & lots of energy. Very warm beautiful music, like midday in early spring & all is right with the world. You know that someone must love you because how could a day be so beautiful. I'm really looking forward to spring coming here so I can listen to this outside with fantastic views. I'm sure this would be a great accompaniment.

 

8. A Winter's Walk

When it's summer somewhere it'll be winter elsewhere. Not that this track is particularly cold but it does have a chilly feel to it like a cold wind interrupting your warm spring day. As often happens with the seasons, it fools you into thinking you are in for warm weather from now on, you leave your jacket at home & it's bloody freezing. This track makes me feel like one of those moments

 

9. April

As usual here it's seamless into April. The cold wind has died down & it's got a warmer melody again. It's nice again but it errs a little too much on the poppish side for my liking. It puts me in mind too much off some Spanish lounge act. The piano, the shuffling beats and the other retro sounds all add to this feeling. It's not bad but it's the weakest on the album. Just a bit too cheesy although the ending with the strong bassline is pretty funky. Cheesy but funky.

 

10. Always a Way

The track title is a little longer than track 6. Always but it's the same vocal repeated for roughly the same time.

 

11. A Moment of Grace

This track is just fantastic. Best on the album & for me worth the purchase alone. Nicely led into by Always a Way. The same sample as rising slowly is touched upon a little more subtly. The guitars are soft & warm & beautiful, the melody soft a warm like a summers day. The vocals ethereal a love you don't want to ever leave. The samples feel like they are happy holiday voices and are always very far in the background. Very nice track.

 

12. Always a Way Back Up

A few of the short tracks earlier were just building up to this. It is a nice idea putting short snippets throughout the earlier parts of the album. It's almost like a tease. The track it's self is actually a song. The lyrics are very warm pop lyrics. The vocals are very well done & nice to listen to. The trick to the lyrics that makes them not annoying after hearing the track a few times is to make them interesting but ignorable. The vocals here are just another instrument if you want & easy to ignore the words. Well done. It's pretty pop like but I quite like it. A nice warm way to finish off the album.

 

 

When playing this people have told me it's nothing like what they think I like. I guess that means they like it more than the usual trance or abstract ambient I usually play. It is indeed a very accessible album. Your friends who don't really like all that techno & stuff will probably like it. But most importantly I think if you are a fan of electronic chill, the likes we've seen from the Psy scene you will probably like this. There are a lot of acoustic elements in it but the production is fantastic like you'd expect from Matt Coldrick & remember Matt Hillier of Ishq fame is here as a synthesist & ambient architect. Whatever that means but I know it's usually a good sign & this is a really good album.

[Helios909 (rx7style)]

I’ve owned this for years now and it still finds playtime on my system. One of my favorite little Easter eggs of this album is that there are several teases of the last track, Always a Way Back Up, at the end or start of several of the previous tracks. I still haven’t heard anything else out there that’s quite this style of music, and a talented producer Matt and his crew are indeed to make something so timeless.