Forum Overview :: No Stairway to Heaven :: More Reviews for the Starved Masses

[quote name="mrs. johnson"]Zero 7 – Simple Things If this is acoustic or electronic, I couldn’t tell you, but the point is, Zero 7 have mastered the art of chill. Smooth, easy and relaxing, Simple Things makes me want to lie down and close my eyes. Some tracks are pure instrumental, about a third have vocals. Those are the questionable ones, in my opinion, because they are not nearly as complex and rich, but much more closer to R & B. Regardless, Zero 7 have received enough acclaim, and it is well deserved. Arovane – Tides Ah, the Germans, when they aren’t plotting world domination or repressing their sexual desires, they make great music. Be warned in advance, this album is the only one Arovane has released that I consider fantastic, as the others are rather generic glitchy affairs. A tide is unique because it uses obviously electronically generated beats with what sounds like an honest harpsichord. Not only that, but the melodies are not necessarily short and often repeated. There are times when the they sound like true compositions, and entirely appropriate ones too. With even an almost pure ambient track, this album seems to cover all its downtempo bases. I’ve listened to it quite a bit, and I can’t say that I’ve found a track I don’t like yet. Biosphere – Shenzhou This may be my favorite ambient album. Now before you skip to the next paragraph upon reading the word “ambient” give it a chance. Ambient generally means without beats, but with elongated sonic textures that allow for no pauses in noise. All of that is covered here. There is quite a bit of bass, though, and it is appropriate. To describe this album is difficult, but a typical track on it has slowly evolving bass lines that are incredibly thick and lengthy overlaid on top of an acoustic sample. The sample is lowfi, and repeated almost endlessly with an interesting hypnotic effect. The repetition is somehow not bothersome because it is not beat based, but carefully selected to lay down an interesting background. This album is perfect for those hot summer nights, when it is too difficult to do anything, or (my personal favorite), driving really slowly directly after a massive snow storm with the windows down and the bass cranked all the way up. The car seems almost to shake in strange phases. The overwhelmed expressions of the lingering snow shoveler just add to the music. Just give it a chance. Celtic Cross – Hicksville Complicated, unique and incredible, this album is the result of Simon Posford (Also know as Hallucinogen) and various other artists. Don’t worry, it isn’t trance. I’m not quite sure what it is, but I do know that it may be one of the reasons why the electronic genre is worth the time I’ve put into it. Most tracks have interesting aspects of dub and a lot of acoustic guitar. Highly recommended for absolutely anyone. Deltron 3030 - Deltron 3030 Hip hop of the highest order. Dan the Automator creates luscious, incredibly emotional sounding tracks, and some artists I’m not too familiar with rap over it. To be honest with you, I have the Instrumental version, which has no rapping, and I love it. It’s fantastic and everything I want from an instrumental hip hop album. It is not nearly as repetitive as others I’ve heard, but really has a life of its own outside of the rapping. In my opinion, the first track alone is worth it, entitled “3030”. Nobukazu Takemura He has plenty of albums. Pick one, and feel strange. This is weird stuff, and I won’t even review it. I just list this here for those pretentious assholes in the audience that evaluate their own intelligence by their obscure music tastes. It’s a rare moment, when I actually want to listen to this man, but he does satisfy that urge you might sometimes have to turn into a bloody waterfall. Just be careful around your friends. This isn’t dance music and this isn’t relaxing music. It’s just fucking strange. The Delta – Scizoeffective This could be called trance, I suppose, and it does the job. It sounds evil, minimalist and hypnotic. The Delta is one half of X-Dream, the evil half. Interspersed with cut up heavy guitar and populated by deep bass, you probably won’t find The Delta in any club. The progression is interesting and I suppose I just like this because my taste in trance is dark. Juno Reactor – Beyond the Infinite In my opinion, the best trance album of all time, but don’t be fooled by the tag. It’s beyond anything that could remotely be called trance. It’s much more imaginative and creative, with tons of things to discover with each listen. Juno Reactor’s Shango isn’t trance at all, but a whole different kind of beast. I love everything these guys have ever made, especially Luciana, their 60 minute ambient single-track album, that sounds like a rumbling volcano and a propeller mixed together. If you find these helpful, notify me and I will review some DnB, Electro and Techno. I can also do classical, jazz, blues and soundtracks if asked for. I also do Bar Mitzvahs. the mrs. [/quote]