Yggdrasil - Prosse Edda

[Trance2MoveU]

 

 

Artist: Yggdrasil

Title: Prosse Edda

Label: Digital Psionics

Date: November, 2009

 

 

 

1. Don't feed the toadstools

2. Beyond the borders of sanity (Yggdrasil Remix)

3. Flying Sausage

4. Headfoam Jack

5. Everyone is looking (Yggdrasil Remix)

6. Meat your chops

7. Amazing Gnejs

 

 

I am going to be totally honest. I got this for the cover alone. I'm a sucker that way. I had no idea who this project was, but look at that cover. A translucent head where the skull is plainly visible. But instead of a brain, it is a image of a germinating tree. Genius. The background seems like a historic marble backsplash. What really stuns me is that this was released by Digital Psionics, a label more known for their twisted brand of Twilight full-on. So, we've got a kick ass cover, a label with a great track record with their releases, and I project I know absolutely nothing about. Sign me up!

 

Yggdrasil are a Swedish duo whose name means an immense tree in Norse mythology. Here is what wikipedia told me about the Prosse Edda. So what's the music like? First off let me say that psyshop's description of this as ambient or chill-out is WAAAAYYYY off. If you are looking to relax and get mellow, keep moving.

 

"Don't Feed the Toadstools"- What a title! It starts of slow and dark, but it generates power with a demented lead and thick, chunky beat. Eventually I lose interest though, as the tune starts a wind up that seems to go on to long. The acoustic guitars are a nice touch.

 

"Beyond The Borders of Sanity (Yggdrasil Remix)"- Remix of a Paul Harbor track whoever that is. This one moves slowly with caution. A nice melody with the bass and acoustic guitars settles in nicely, promptly turning into a cool reggae-like vibe. It becomes very psychedelic with the beat hitting like a sledgehammer but the cartoon samples didn't really fit in for me. Not bad.

 

"Flying Sausage"- They definitely have interesting track names. Big beat...a really big beat. I have to nod my head to this. The tempo almost predictably changes (maybe the style of this duo) and takes the track in a totally different direction. I didn't care for the mixing of styles here, it seemed kind of disjointed.

 

"Headfoam Jack"- What does that mean? Meh, another track that goes for a while. They have 4 out of 7 tracks that go for over 10.5 minutes. This one is more of a breakbeat number, melodic in places, but it is heavy on groove. It just goes on so long.

 

"Everyone is Looking (Yggdrasil Remix)"- Aha! There is the Finnish connection, as this is a remix of a M.E.E.O. track. Wait...that guy is from Sweden also? Man. Anyway, this starts of as a nice dub that I can lose myself in. Rich, swarming melodies fly through the air, making me think I am on the beach. This is what I was expecting! Marvelous!

 

"Meat Your Chops"- Clever. This one slowly moves with a glitchy backdrop almost hearkening back to a slight goa vibe. The beat is very insistent, a structured march forward. I am loving this, but all is not as it would seem. The beat becomes more aggressive as the tempo increases, raising the psychedelic stakes. Cue the guitars and you don't know what you are in store for.

 

"Amazing Gnejs"- I don't even know how to pronounce that second word. Who cares, as the spacey downtempo continues. This is the longest track on the CD so it has plenty of time to go through different permutations. And believe me, the weird sounds are not far behind. Curiosity killed the cat you know?

 

 

This release has given me mixed feelings. At times it can sound uber-melodic and groovy (especially the latter half of the CD), and at other times becomes a plodding noisy mess. There is definitely plenty here to keep the ear focused, and I wouldn't call any of the tracks bad or filler. Each one has entertaining parts, but I didn't find a track that floored me. There were some parts that seemed really experimental to me and that's good in small doses. The tracks seemed to combine so many styles that they lacked identity. Maybe the Swedes are like the Finns with this Suomi-lite style? Who knows, but with this release you get techno, downtempo, Big beat, experimental, psy....you name it. Not my cuppa, but I can see some out there might appreciate the diversity.

 

Psyshoppage

 

Mdk

[psycHiLLeR]

This is pretty good. Interesting music, has it's own distinctive personality. Kinda shpongley sounding with big beats.

[Procs]

Remix of a Paul Harbor track whoever that is.

 

as this is a remix of a M.E.E.O. track.

 

 

and it is those two dudes who is behind yggdrasil meeo and paul harbor

[Trance2MoveU]

and it is those two dudes who is behind yggdrasil meeo and paul harbor

 

That makes a lot of sense!

 

Mdk

[Insejn]

This was a suprise for me, especially coming from Digital Psionics. But wow! This might be one of the best chill albums I've heard. The Shpongle influences are there but with this one you don't have the annoying lyrics (which Shpongle never seems to get right. I am you, WTF?!), you have more noise, to my liking, and Yggdrasil even manage to pull off their 4x4 kick elements. No bad tracks for me on this album and Headfoam Jack is simply awesome. Get this now!

[Guest antic]

Yes, this one has really surprised me as well. I got interested with it thanks to the eye-catching cover, listened to the samples and ordered it immediately, even though I knew nothing about the artist nor was ever interested in stuff Digital Psionics has been releasing.

 

To my enjoyment, the whole thing is highly influenced with Shpongle / YB (which you could expect from M.E.E.O who's album from 2 years ago was by many hailed to be new Hallucinogen's "Twisted") with a hint of Ott, which was just what I needed 3 weeks before I could buy new Shpongle. Everything you'd expect from Simon's downtempo projects is there - mixture of heavy manipulated real instruments with analogous synth lines, trancey arpeggios and swirly soundscapes, stuttering voices, tempo changes, latino influences (scarce, luckily), dub, oriental chants, etc. Track #2 sounds like it was nicked from YB debut: it has similar atmosphere and sound like "Evil & Harm"; #3 sounds like it could well be featured on Shpongle's 1st or 3rd CD and #4 is in a way similar to Ott's "Billy The Kid". #5 is influenced by Ott's / Third Ear Audio more laid back dubby creations, while #6 ventures into Juno Reactor's territory from "Shango" era. Final track is a full circle return to YB/Shpongle stuff (that comedy bit really reminds me YB's "Weird On A Monday Night"), with beautiful nostalgic acid lines.

 

One thing that's worth underlining is that while it is heavily influenced by above mentioned artists, it somehow never sounds derivative or inferior - on contrary, I guess many of the ideas are developed in a better way than Shpongle/YB/Ott did and number of elements that are often irritating to some are left out (although I personally wouldn't mind more spoken samples that I love in Shpongle's music). The album is very, very musical, with interesting and never boring arrangement of ideas, tempos, moods and atmospheres; but it also has a lot of experimental moments, glitchy stuff, etc. Technically it's also first league.

 

All in all, together with Shpongle's "Ineffable...", HiD "Live" and Ocelot's "One", this is the best down-tempo album I heard this year.

 

5/5

[Squirsier]

I quite like this album. Reminds me of a mix of Shpongle and Entheogenic... Entheogle? Shpongenic?