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Electric Universe- Higher Modes


Trance2MoveU

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Artist: Electric Universe

Title: Higher Modes

Label: Electric Universe Records

Date: March, 2011

 

 

1. Embracing the sun

2. The Point

3. Daft Robot

4. Rockers and Rollers

5. Lazerbass

6. Higher Modes

7. The Funkadelic Drummer

8. Gratified

9. Bodhysattva

10. Up

11. All is nothing

12. The Web

 

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See this guy? Approach him with extreme caution. Let me explain.

 

I saw a movie yesterday that really had an effect on me. And not in a good way. It was called Splice and it was about creating life by gene splicing and its ramifications. It was slightly ridiculous, but that could be overlooked because it was well shot and the acting wasn't bad. It did however take a turn for the worse. There was a scene where the "teenage" female alien was in the barn and well...Adrien Brody f*cked it. Yep, forget that he's got a girlfriend or that he created this alien in the lab or that it has a tail that can kill you. The funniest part is when his girlfriend catches him and he returns to seemingly apologize he utters the line "We f*cked up." Well, yeah cause you f*cked an alien.

 

For God's sake you can't make anything around this guy. Nothing is safe. Christmas time with the family, "Hey where's Adrien?" "Oh, he's in the front yard f*cking the snowman your kids just made."

 

"Wow, Johnny that is great science project...Damnit Adrien, get your dick outta the volcano."

 

"Oh for f*cks sake Adrien, I just made that sandwich."

 

The moral of this story is keep Adrien Brody far away from anything that you care for.

 

Which brings me to this release by all time master musician Boris Blenn. When you are an icon in your field you have a lot of leeway to experiment and make music that maybe is outside the box. People are very forgiving based on past experiences. Take the Rolling Stones. How often are they going to trot these fossils out. Sure they made great music but that was a grandpa ago. This is the guy who made One Love and Cosmic Universe. I even liked Sonic Ecstasy and Silence in Action. Not to mention the countless wonderful tracks he has made for compilations. But he also made one of the greatest psytrance tracks in history, Fully Awake. So yeah, in my mind this guy gets a pass on whatever he tries to create. So here he is with his latest effort Higher Modes and I cannot wait to see if he still has it or he f*cked the alien.

 

Embrace The Sun- Usually when I see a psy track that is under 6 minutes I'm already thinking it is a commercial piece of crap. Now that may be really wrong painting all of psy with a broad brush but that is just the way I feel. There is no question this is full on to the bone, but it is very well produced. The pads are really warm with scampering leads that rise and fall. He delivers a bouncy rhythm with sky reaching melodies and I felt it was pretty good. If you are looking for psychedelia however, this is going to be a looong ride for you.

 

The Point- Drifting pads and wavering synths bring in the beat with otherworldly effects. Like in the previous track his breakbeats are appealing and I like the way he breaks up tracks. A 303 drops in and it feels very comfortable like putting on an old shoe. The break has a flow killer though and that is the sample discussing points, lines and dimensions. It's like all the momentum you built up comes crashing down. Samples are supposed to enhance not dominate and I felt like that's what this did. You had me...and then you lost me.

 

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Stay outta my porn collection and that won't happen you nosy bastard!

 

 

Daft Robot- Ok where were we? Ah yes, more full on with cheesy samples. C'mon Boris...you're better than this. Terrible, just...awful.

 

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Rockers and Rollers- And you thought it couldn't get any worse did you? Someone decided to unearth S.U.N. Project and bring their sh*tty style of guitartrance back. But don't forget the drum solo that was apparently recorded live. It wasn't even that epic, kind of like a taste. I appreciate him trying something different, but that was...well, it wasn't very good.

 

Lazerbass- Hear that? That's me shuddering at what I am about to hear. The title gives it away as the bass is really big and ummm, lazery. But couple that with annoying lead sounds and some stops and starts and I gotta check and make sure I'm listening to the right disc. Good God this is bad. And I'm sorry, but it would take a lot more 303 to make up for this. The end is better, but....sheesh. It's like he sh*t on the sequencer and dared someone to put it on a disc.

 

Higher Modes- Ok, ok, let's take a breath. There are still 6 tracks left for you to save this thing. Dude, a rising synthline is just a disguise for an extended build up. You are not fooling me. The middle of the track however is like a shinning light smashing through the darkness as it recalls your glory days. The sample could've been better and the buildup out of the break hurts my ears, but believe it or not, this was the best track on the disc not named The Web.

 

The Funkadelic Drummer-

 

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Sir this is neither funky nor psychedelic...

 

 

Gratified- You're just making me angrier with these track titles. I want to be gratified, but I ain't gonna find it here. Again with the guitar. Really? What the f*ck Boris, this is sad. God, and the buildup is really painful. Brainwash just texted me...

 

yeah he said,"WTF dude?"

 

 

Bodhysattva- Man the sh*t parade just keeps on marching doesn't it? It's just over produced trance. Fluffier than a kitten. In all honesty this isn't that bad, but it is nowhere near what you would expect from Boris. I swear he lost a bet. Had to.

 

Up- Man that title is really prophetic, as in "No where to go but up." I'm fed up. Please shut up. However right from the first vocoded vocal you are headed straight down to craptacular town. I'm really awestruck as to how bad this is. That sample just keeps going, ever so slowly. Excruciating.

 

All is Nothing- Running synths in a Paul Van Dyk style give way to a galloping bass line. It then...you know what? F*ck that. Where the hell did the PSY go? You know, PSY? Jesus tap dancing Christ...

 

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The Web- The final track on this merry go round of terrible is an area where I feel he should now concentrate his efforts. Downtempo. Eerie melodies and terrific layering make this one very deep. Lush pads and bubbling bass really give this a mysterious feel. Hey, man give credit where credit is due. He nailed it here.

 

 

First let me say that like most of you I have been a fan of his for a long time. He is legen...dary. That said, what the f*ck happened to you? I can hear some of your style here and how strong it can be, but it's almost lost beneath 10 tons of sh*t. I suppose we should've seen this coming, but I held out hope that you wouldn't succumb to this infectious disease of commercialism. Higher Modes (the track) had its moments where I thought, "Yeah, he's still got it." The Web also showed your talent and was thoroughly enjoyable. But too little too late I'm afraid. The best thing about this was the pretty colors on the cover. Avoid this sack of crap like the plague.

 

I'm not linking to this. You can't make me.

 

Mdk

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I just previewed all tracks a bit and it was immediately clear that this is shallow stuff. Loved most of Cosmic Experience, but this is nothing like it. Tracks are going nowhere and it never gets interesting. Pitty.

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TTMY: Your review sounds exactly like my review of Silence in Action which I thought was cheesy nastiness right through until the end when it had a nice downtempo track. That album was filled with nasty guitar riffs and urgh was just crap! Boris lost his uptempo touch a loooooong time ago. I wouldn't even have listened to the samples of this as I knew which direction Electric Universe has taken. I am amazed though that Galaxy has remained decent enough (even if it's not as good as it once was). I think you are right and Boris should stick to what he does best: not making trance music.

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Let's hope he reads the reviews ...

 

Yeah , but i wonder how many artists have the time and the inclination to come here and see what people feel about their albums.

 

BTW loving the review . your gifs make it all the more :lol:

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 3 weeks later...

Actually I take it back - this is a really really good album when you're tripping on liquid.

 

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I've listened to it two times.

Electric universe used to change a lot and always released good stuff according it's time period.

They made good goatrance, psychedelic trance, even fullon.

But they can't keep counting on the same formula and that is actually what they are doing right now.

 

This is nothing new and disappointing imo!

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  • 3 weeks later...

LOL Trance2MoveU, your review was so funny that it made me want to get out of my hibernation and review some stuff again ;)

 

OK so this is the new Electric Universe, which just like just about every EU album since Paradise Connection has a handfull of great tracks surrounded by fillers. I mean, the man's been doing this for countless years now so I guess this can hardly come as a surprise. Also, I guess you'd have to have been living in a cave not to know that he changed his style from oldschool to full-on a few years ago. I know, I know, purists like myself will shake their fists in the air saying "NOOOOO!!! Not him!" pretty much like those old zombie movies where the main carachter just discovered that his best friend just turned a zombie as well.

 

Anyway, so how does it sound? Well... remarkably good actually! I mean, once you get used to the idea that the oldschool years are over for him and start apreciating this album for what it is.

 

Rockers and Rollers is by far my favorite track here and I am sorry but anyone saying that he ripped off Sun Project is forgetting that Boris made a name for himself with guitar trance in Meteor... So yes, it's a bit commercial but in a good way IMO, that guitar riff is pretty catchy and I for one am glad that we finally got something else than Meteor (*insert the year of your choice* remix).

 

Lazerbass has some nice 303 lines, showing us that he still knows his roots ;)

 

Higher Mode is another stand-out, the tension-release is very energetic and I'm sure it will make many people go crazy on the dancefloors at festivals this summer.

 

Other than that, I'm pretty unimpressed by the other tracks, but again, let's not forget this is Electric Universe here, having lots of fillers on an album is only normal when you release a new album every year for more than a decade... 3/5 from me

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All the oldies who turned to mediocre fullon fluffy fan-boy music (and lets face it there are many who converted) need their gigs worshiped on big stages in Brazil and Mexico.

 

+1

 

At least Electric Universe actually managed to make a really good album, despite being full-on-ish (which is rare). I am talking about Cosmic Experience of course. Anything after that was a disappointment. Have you heard?

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+1

 

At least Electric Universe actually managed to make a really good album, despite being full-on-ish (which is rare). I am talking about Cosmic Experience of course. Anything after that was a disappointment. Have you heard?

 

Yes but since I really dislike the Full-on genre (just as much as i dislike Germain Schlager) I am not the right person to judge any full-on release :)

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