DeathPosture Posted July 15, 2004 Share Posted July 15, 2004 V/A – Gemstones vol. 1: Amber Format: CD Artist: Various Title: Gemstones Vol. 1: Amber Label: Maia Records, Mexico Cat. #: MRCD04 Date: June 11th Year: 2004 Track listing: 01. 06’55” The Melovskys – Killing Floor Building 02. 06’26” D-Tek vs. Mexican Trance Mafia - Mochiro 03. 07’54” Domestic vs. Pixel vs. Wrecked Machines – Any Sense (Remix) 04. 08’54” Psysex – Space Quest 05. 06’54” Deedrah – Strike Sonic Gold 06. 06’18” Sesto Sento – I’m In And Out 07. 06’34” Electro Body – Test Drive 08. 07’05” Elixer – Logic Exploration 09. 07’18” Gataka vs. System Nipple – Night Shift 10. 08’01” Aquatica – Escape to Heaven Review: Amber: A hard translucent yellow, orange, or brownish-yellow fossil resin… And now: A psy-trance compilation! Mexican label Maia Records is on a trance-mission: ‘Amber’ is the first in a series of 3 psy-trance compilations called ‘gemstones’… Don’t know what that has to with trance, but who cares… What we get here are 10 previously unreleased tracks from mostly Mexican and Israeli artists… It’s a good old blend of newcomers, rookies and hardened psy veterans – compiled by DJ Arturo & DJ Messie… Let’s see what they have in stock for us… Let me take you thru the tracks… #01: TIP Records residents and native Mexicans ‘The Melovskys’ kick off with their own little gem… I’m still trying to figure out what significance the title has!?... Anyhow – if you liked their remake of Hendrix’ Purple Haze with all the guitars, you know what to expect here… It’s full on, it’s fast-paced; it’s guitar-riffs and hard-core knob-tweaking… And there are even some tribal influences and small melodies hidden in-between everything… Ok track! #02: Up next is a Mexican collaboration… After a short organic intro, it’s time for some ripping acid lines seasoned with brutal basslines and of course all kinds of twisted effects… I really dig the many changes in pace and pitch, which kinda reminds me of Rinkadink… Not bad at all! #03: Mexico meets Israel in this trance manage-a-trois… This track is hard to describe, as it has lots of elements: Full-on in structure – with a horror-atmosphere that pops up now and again… as with the previous track there are many changes in tempo … A couple of nice build-ups … And much more... And it would fit in both day/night sets… Nicey nice! #04: Ahh, good old Psysex – taking us on a space quest… Luckily this is the longest track here, ‘cause it’s very tasty… A fast-paced, full-on track with a banging bass, space-samples, infectious bridges, and sweet, sweet acid melodies. Hands down, the best track so far! #05: Ahh, good old Deedrah – taking us on a space quest… Woow – dejavú! Well, in fact this isn’t as spacey as the Psysex track… In fact, Holyszewski’s track starts out with an INSANE bass line – seriously, for a minute there I thought I had put on a gabba-CD by accident!?… But it soon disappears, and is replaced by a more dance friendly bass and your usual full-on elements… Unfortunately, it also gets kinda boring and predictable… And just when it’s about to get interesting, it stops… Bummer! So this track doesn’t really *do* it for me… #06: Wonder kids Sesto Sento are up next… Wicked Shpongle-like voice sample in the intro and sweet use of twisted stereo-effects… A subtle, morning track with clever use of digital drops and acid belches… The production is flawless, and this is pure saccharine for you ears! #07: Electro Body is D-Tek and Mexican electro DJ Paul Habif… So there you have it, electro trance! But I’d say its more trance than electro… Very fast and sorta unorganized… It’s experimental to say the least, but hey – that’s a good thing… Very trippy! #08: Amsterdam resident Elixer is half of Digital Bandits – but this is his solo debut… Above 150 BPM, this is one fast-paced, full-on, tribal stomper… I like the eerie melodies, the tribal drums and the organic feel… Unfortunately that doesn’t quite cut it, as this track never reaches the very sought-after trance-state peak… But for a debut, it’s not bad… Decent track! #09: Gataka is the solo-side-project of one of the Sesto Sento guys, and on this track he collaborates with System Nipple – but I have no idea who that is!? But this is aptly named, Night Shift – and this is for sure a night track… Very, very nice intro which almost reaches Spiritual Healing heights… Damn, what a sweet melody… Oh yes, well-produced, melodic full-on… That build-up/break part @ 5’00 rawks! It’s not revolutionary in any way, it’s just good… ‘Nuff said! #10: This is also my first encounter with newcomer Aquatica… But I hope it’s not the last – this is very interesting… The intro is highly melodic – in fact, it’s been a while since I’ve heard so fluffy melodies – but they are accompanied by a mean-ass bassline and darkish percussion… Hats off to that combo… Nice track! So, is this another boring compilation in the endless stream of full-on releases? Well, no! Yes, there are mediocre tracks here, but also a number of really interesting tracks! Actually, what saves this compilation is the diversity in the tracks – there are some pretty wicked stuff going on in some of the tracks – and I like that… That being said, I could have wished for a more coherent flow – and why are most of the tracks so short? A few more top-range track instead of fillers and this would have scored higher in my cool-book… Anyway, I’m looking forward to the next gemstone which will be ‘Obsidian’… If you like your fast-paced, modern Mexican full-on this is definitely a compilation you want to check out… 7.5/10 Favourites: 3, 4(!!), 6, 7, 9, 10 DeathPosture External links: Maia Records: www.maia.com.mx Psyshop: www.psyshop.com (Audio samples available!) Saiko Sounds: www.saikosounds.com Chaos Unlimited: www.chaosunlimited.co.uk Trance-shop: www.trance-shop.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest FrozenRealm Posted July 17, 2004 Share Posted July 17, 2004 hehe always a pleasure to read your reviews! I share the oppinion.... it's not great but not bad either Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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