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Noble Savage - Freaks of Nature


Jason Pandanandi

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Artist: Noble Savage

Title: Freaks of Nature

Label: Liquid Tune Records (http://www.liquidtunerecords.tk/)

Released: 10 June 2011

Style: Goa, Forest Trance

http://www.ektoplazm.com/2011/noble-savage-freaks-of-nature

 

01 - Razzia (147 BPM)

02 - Secondary Protocol (147 BPM)

03 - 7th Seal (142 BPM)

04 - King Of Fools (145 BPM)

05 - 2012 (147 BPM)

 

I hadn't heard of Noble Savage prior to now, but I'm very grateful that Liquid Tune and Ektoplasm conspired to bring the project to our collective attentions...

I stumbled on this gem today and was caught by the description of the release. Forest goa? My mind immediately hearkened to (and hankered for) the style of Twin Sharkfins - a style which is hard to come by, especially in the present day climate of goa and psytrance. Intrigued, I downloaded and listened to the album. And I have to say... this is impressive.

 

The album brings to mind the early stylings of the Battle Buddhas, or perhaps something like the Tales from the Forest compilation. There's a WHOLE lot of melody and tonality. The screeching and squelching of the forest sound is still present, but is filled out with a strong melodic sensibility which is always tasteful and never fluffy. Some of the sounds used in these tracks are really mindbending... the patch that both opens and closes Razzia sounds like a marimba dosed with henbane.(That comparison makes no sense. Oh well. - Panda)

 

The comparisons to the Buddhas and other musicians are mostly just for benchmarks; for loose reference... Noble Savage has created something original, not a direct imitation of one style or another. My only complaint lies in the basslines - I'm a bit sick of galloping and rolling bass and miss the days in which goa basslines were submerged in the mix and treated as something to be compliment to the music, not a central focus of the music. That said, big rolling bass has always been a part of the forest sound, so I'm probably just being too picky. :)

 

Some of the regulars on this forum may recall a recent discussion about the present situation (and the future) of melodic goa trance. One of the most common complaints aired in that thread was that there's too much fluff in the goa trance genre and not enough darkness, weirdness, what have you. Noble Savage's rolling basslines may be a bit uncomfortable for anyone who has bad flashbacks to awful full on or darkpsy when they hear a rolling bassline, but looking past the bassline is a rewarding venture for the goa trance afficianado: Noble Savage has created goa which is both distinctive and dark while remaining true to the essence of the style and sound.

 

I hope for and expect great things from this project. All hail variety in the modern goa scene.

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  • 2 years later...

RPStFXO.jpg

 

Artist: Noble Savage

Title: Freaks of Nature

Label: Liquid Tune Records

Date: June, 2011

 

01 - Razzia (147 BPM)
02 - Secondary Protocol (147 BPM)
03 - 7th Seal (142 BPM)
04 - King Of Fools (145 BPM)
05 - 2012 (147 BPM)

 

"A significant event happened."

 

Forest and goa? Is it possible to create an even smellier hippie?

 

Yes. Yes it is.

 

But this guy from Sweden also created a nice fusion between the genres that should appeal to both. Pandanandi's review was spot on with sounds and darkness that should keep the forest crowd from kidnapping children and eating them as well as melodies for the sun worshiping goa lovers. Liking both I was curious to see what he came up with. My favorite? 7th Seal is a straight up goa track peppered with the evil sounds of the deep woods. Released two years ago I wonder if he's still making this type of music. Hope so, he's got the knack for this mixture and would probably only get better. There is promise in this young paduan.

 

Free at Ektoplazm

 

Mdk

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