V/A - Future Memories

[abasio]

Various Artists

Future Memories

Interchill Records

22 Feb 2008

Dubby Downtempo

 

Tracklist

 

1 Eat Static - Sands Of Time (8:42)

2 Ultimax - Noir (6:25)

3 Radiate - Witchkraft (6:36)

4 Phutureprimitive Ft. Alyssa Palmer - Deeper (7:22)

5 Mauxuam - After B4 (6:15)

6 Tripswitch - Lyra (7:57)

7 Solar Fields - Jeezlh (9:09)

8 Snakestyle - Neutral Buoyancy (6:56)

9 Carbon Based Lifeforms - Reaktion (5:55)

10 Cell - Spinning Whale (7:09)

 

 

Looking at the tracklist for this compilation I suddenly became very excited. With artists such as Solar Fields, Eat Static, Tripswitch and Cell expectations were high. So how did such a great tracklist work out in reality? I've been disappointed in the past by so many great artists on the one CD but still, it's hard not to get excited.

 

1. Eat Static - Sands of Time

Eat Static start us off with a typical Eat Static sound. That's not meant to say it's boring or uninspired but that it just has that delicious Eat Static stamp of other worldliness that they manage to put in even in their summery and loungey tracks. The track is in fact quite unique with a spine tingling middle eastern melody, phat beats non sci-fi samples that manage to still sound extra terrestrial. Pretty much like the whole track, non sci-fi but sci-fi. Go Eat Static

 

2. Ultimax - Noir

Ultimax, an artist completely unknown to me has produced one of the best tracks on a compilation full of very talented artists. They manage to get a nice blend of melody, glitch, beats and atmosphere. The whole feeling is warm and relaxed yet somewhat expectant as if something is about to happen. There is a break down with glitchy sounds, Japanese ramblings but with the English sample "It gets claustrophobic down here" everything kicks back in and all expectation has been reached. Interesting and enjoyable stuff.

 

3. Radiate - Witchkraft

Another artist unknown to me delivers a nice smooth bassline driven track. The style reminds me of a cross between Massive Attack and Off The Sky. Massive Attack's bass and the curious glitch that Off The Sky does to make it sound smooth and enjoyable get rough around the edges. Not too obvious samples don't really add anything for me but don't get in the way either. The track manages to pick up energy throughout with kicking off, venting the pressure just before it would have turned into non-chill.

 

4. Phutureprimitive ft. Alyssa Palmer - Deeper

The vocals of Alyssa Palmer add a kind off cheesy element but it's within my acceptable levels of cheese. The rest of the track is exactly what I want from dubby psychill, fat basslines, busy yet relaxed synths. Trippy beats and a near floating atmosphere. I'd prefer a vocal free track but this could be one to enjoy with non psy mates.

 

5. Mauxuam - After B4

An excellent if slightly forgettable track by Mauxuam. It's not the sort of track I think about if I'm creating a playlist or doing a mix but it's a really enjoyable track to listen to. It's got big bass and lots of glitch. I'd love to hear a whole album from this guy as I know I'd love the album without being able to pick out favourites. Another benefit is that whenever I listen to this compilation I'm always pleasantly surprised when I get to this little number. No melody, no hook so it stays fresh.

 

6. Tripswitch - Lyra

This was definitely one of the tracks I was anxious to hear. Tripswitch's tracks on compilations since his outstanding debut album Circuit Breaker have always left me wanting more and this track does not disappoint. The dark underlying bassline, smooth percussion and glitchy tech sounds give of the impression of an enormous machine seen and heard from the inside. When the melody comes in it's almost magical. So soft and seemingly comes out of nowhere but lays down the foundations so the piano can come in and feel integral. Lush track. I need a new Tripswitch album.

 

7. Solar Fields - Jeezlh

Solar Fields continues to amaze me not just with the quality of his music but also the variety of styles he makes so well. A lot of artists excel at sounding like themselves and sticking doggedly to one sound but while Solar Fields has a definite style of his own the variation in his tracks is great. This track has more of a vinyl static feel to it mixed with an odd tribal feel, mainly from the percussion, along with some spacey goodness and down to earth basslines. The melody sounds like it is played on a flute adding an ethereal quality to an already atmospheric track. Solar Fields manages to twist the sound though so sometimes it sounds more like a keyboard and others like a flute. Solar Fields never seems to disappoint and he hasn't disappointed here. Great track.

 

8. Snakestyle - Neutral Bouyancy

A much more relaxed track with minimal sporadic beats, long ambient synth drones and lots of random stuff going on. That is the first half, the second half however takes all there elements and weaves them into a more cohesive track. The melody comes in like glue and the beats become steady. Nothing mind blowing here but pleasant enough music.

 

9. Carbon Based Lifeforms - Reaktion

Melody right from the start. Short stabby acid synth melody followed by a lush melody that sounds serene and beautiful. The bassline plays a melody and there are little melodic blips all around. Under all that is a nice trippy beat creating another very nice CBL track.

 

10. Cell - Spinning Whale

Steady beats and hints of atmosphere only for the first two minutes but after the first sample the melody kicks in and at the same time the atmosphere of the track gets much deeper. After an unassuming start it quickly turns into one of the best tracks and a great way to round off off the compilation.

 

 

This compilation is somewhere between good and great. There are some great tracks on it and even the not so great tracks are still pretty good. It doesn't flow brilliantly though. Whereas an artist album and well compiled compilations give me a sense of traveling on a musical journey, with this I just feel like listening to good music. I feel like the compiler has taken his favourite tracks and just slapped them down. The music in itself is all good but recent compilations on Ultimae, Aleph Zero and Chill Tribe seem to have been crafted into a journey that I just don't feel here.

Worth the money but not essential.

[Melancholyman]

Wouldn't you say the Tripswitch track sounds worryingly as a Solar Fields track? (I don't mind actually it's great)

[Oxycanta]

I rather liked this one, the CBL, Solar Fields and Radiate tracks (Seb Taylor) were most excellent, every other track besides Phutureprimitive was good. Phutureprimitive has done great work in the past but his pop track in this mix feels really out of place.

[MattMan]

Very nice compilation. Cell, Eat Static, Phutureprimitive, Solar Fields, Tripswitch are all 5/5 tracks.

 

Wahoo!

[Malevol3nt]

Awesome comp, I keep on spinning it I worry I might overplay it. It's perfect for early morning hours. Jeezlh by solar fields is awesome, and so are other tracks. Highly recommended.

[LLB]

1. Eat Static (Merv Pepler and Joie Hinton) - Sands of Time, contains a majority of sharp tones with a bucolic forest walk's feeling riding a horse at a walking pace ; it's something very calm, peaceful, bracing or yet climatic.

 

2. Ultimax (Max Kosenko from Israel) – Noir , consists in some Jazzy downtempo with some unpolished background sounds. After the middle break, the melody changes through a darker way which contrasts so much with the first part that you're wondering if you're still listening to the same thing. The answer is yes & i'm convinced that was the goal targeted by the artist here .

 

3. Radiate (Seb Taylor & Nick Edell) – Witchkraft, appears as a simple or minimalist tune if you don't really take care while listening. Indeed it's a very chiseled production , which is very deep, mental with soft sounds but also catchy & hypnotizin.

 

4. Phutureprimitive (Rain) - Deeper feat. Alyssa Palmer, I don't understand what the hell is doing this tune on this compilation, it's just some cheap pop-chill : a big error of casting according to me.

 

5. Mauxuam (Maurizio Liguori) - After B4 , for some experimental sounding, quite close to Jens Buchert soundscape. For those who don't know the previous quoted artist, let just precise the influences are eclectic & the content is mental.

 

6. Tripswitch (Nick Brennan) – Lyra , the discrete opening is murky soon accompanied with a slow motion rhythmic. Then there's the main pattern (the base of the tune) which is too much repetitive & gets quickly boring despite some efforts to make the track evolve with the piano thema for example from the break at 3"30; global result a lack of variation.

 

7. Solar Fields (Magnus Birgersson from Sweden) – Jeezlh , if there would be a single song to retain from this cd, it will be this one. Usually i'm not a big fan of Solar Fields but here it's different cause that's the best track i've ever heard from him mixing emotional, tripping, hypnotic, floating, fairish & unpolished parts.

 

8. Snakestyle (Matt Embleton from London)- Neutral Bouyancy , the music is weird, subtle, beatless tends to be minimalist too & results quite difficult to get in. To sum up the spirit of the track, i could say that at the same time it's a good one coz you can listen to it with absolutely no difficulties & on the other side when it finishes you don't remember anything of it like if it was never played. In a word: strange.

 

9. Carbon Based Lifeforms – Reaktion strongly reminds me Solar Quest's productions from 1994, the Orgship album. Actually i'd prefer CBL sounding like in their Hydroponic Garden album (even if it would be a bit warmed up) instead of Solar Quest , despite the undeniable quality of the tune...

 

10. Cell (Alex Scheffer from France) - Spinning Whale, sadness is all around here packed with deep, hypnotic production & a hint of ether which could makes turn your head. Unfortunately, my attention focuses on the snare sound which doesn't fit with the rest of the banktones employed that's a real pity cause i think it contributes to ruin the track.

 

 

I personally consider more difficult to conceive an ambient-chill compilation than a dancefloor one, because on the downtempo scene, the artists have more facilities to exploit their personality, their own musical universe. That's a bit the worry of Future memories : picking up the tunes one by one would be perfect to the condition of not considering an artistic coherence all along & here it seems to be only partly intended.

 

 

climax:7

 

Mark : 7/10

[pedro]

Respectable compilation from the reliable Interchill people. Nothing in "Future Memories" is amazing (extremely little in trance downtempo really is, anyway), but it does has several very good tracks and is one of the better trance downtempo releases in 2008 in my view.

 

Starts of with a boring Eat Static track but then improves. Favourite tracks were 3, 6, 7, 9, 10.

 

 

Recommended.

 

 

 

 

Pedro