Bill Posted February 27, 2015 Share Posted February 27, 2015 VA - Mo:Dem Festival Vol. 3 MoDem Records Tracklist: 1 - Master Margherita - Mo.Dem Log (Hanfstengel Mix)2 - Electrypnose - Vanille Et Chocolat (Florian MSK Remix)3 - Paracozm - Cyber Nugget4 - Kained & Able - Eyes And Ears5 - HypoGeo - Anti-Muzak6 - SourOne - Parasomnia7 - Tijah - Balba Proggy8 - Shaolin Shuffle - Midnight Sorcerer9 - Liquid Level - Rollon The third installment, one for each of the past three years, of compilations for artists that have appeared at Croatian festival Momento Demento. Departing the twilight and full-on focus of the previous two collections the focus here is on dark progressive and Zenon styles. The results are not nearly as compelling. While definitely interesting, Paracozm and Kained & Able employ the Sensient blueprint for Zenon-style tracks, where the first half is a veritable wonderland of effects and sound flows and the push-forward is intensified beyond the halfway point. The results, though, are no where close to the Zenon master, the first half of each track is slow, sludgy, pessimistic and while the second half of each are good you have to muck through quite a bit of not-good to get the pay-offs. SourOne gets the same grade for his offering but his work is separated from the above by the anger expressed in his sound. Master Margherita offers up a good, albeit slow, opener dripping with dark progressive vibes and a steady, if somewhat boring, stream of techno beats. The follow-up fares better as Florian MSK tech-trances Electrypnose's "Vanille Et Chocolat" into something more compelling, where the energy flow is friendlier to dancers and the techno grooves quite nicely. Surprisingly, the album closer contains nary a trace of psychedelic music as Liquid Level offers a pure tech-house track on "Rollon." Gorgeous morning music, to be sure, as picturing early-day sunlight streaming through the treetops is easily evoked by these sounds. "Balba Proggy" is extremely talky and the music by Tijah is fairly uninteresting. I'm not sure where this speech is from as I stopped watching Sylvester Stallone movies when I was in high school. The great HypoGeo nails it on "Anti-Muzak" and, unlike SourOne, turns his anger into something compelling and fascinating. Every awesome HypoGeo-ism is utilized perfectly - his distinctive effects, invigorating bass growls, his ability to turn a mental wonderland of sound schemes into high-octane energy itself. Shaolin Shuffle gets top prize here, though. For 12 minutes progressive psytrance is turned into a masterful display of art and creativity. Despite its length the track avoids ever becoming dull. In fact, this long play gets more impressive the more times it is heard. At the halfway mark of the track listen for the organ interlude, it is yummy stuff! Kudos to the Momento Demento promoters for a comprehensive look at what they have to offer. For "Volume 3" they offer up Friday night-type sounds but it merely whets the appetite for all the compelling madness that one knows is coming with a Saturday night party. For those Saturday night sounds, look to Volume One, also on Ektoplazm, where the likes of Chris Rich, Southwild and Dust offer up some great twilight and full-on sounds. Available for free play or download at: http://www.ektoplazm.com/free-music/modem-festival-vol-3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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