Reviews

Album Review: Vincent I. Watson / ‘Serene’ (Pyramids of Mars)

Matt Oliver Leave a Comment

Vincent I. Watson Serene

★★★★☆

Expert technologist Vincent I. Watson releases an exhibit of meditative textures tuned to maximize sensations of tingling invigoration and carefree, amorphous weightlessness. If that sounds arty for what’s essentially a high-spec chillout record, it’s because Serene can be defined as more than just a musical expo. Even if at times it sounds like a CD only available on infomercials.

With a gradual enveloping of surround sound going with a touch of the operatic (taken from the Scotsman’s classical training), “Celtic Beauty” borrows trance’s ability of empowerment as layered loops find their own way. Yet a tiny speckle of pessimism is in Watson’s psyche – maybe thinking that you have to have some negativity in order to sieve it from your system. “Sagitaria” suggests caution be taken and “Re-Contact” turns your inner happy place into something in need of de-fogging, giving way to digital vibrations that move the scenario to futuristic reaches, and sit on the album’s all-seeing, all-knowing hum and shimmer. “Out of Reach” sounds like a crystal castle fronted by armed guards, and with the slow-motion dive of “Abyss”, walls of sound are key to Watson’s entrancement, without, despite the latter’s iller omens, ever losing its feeling of looking down on the world.

Beatless so as to capitalize on the cloud-scaling experience, final track “Open Your Eyes” adds defined rhythm to allow warmer patterns to infiltrate your brainwaves. Like being invited into an igloo, yet finding a roaring fire in its midst.

File under: Steve Reich, Phillip Glass, Hans Zimmer

Album Review: Chris Carrier & Hector Moralez / ‘Lotus Seven’ (Apollonia)

Matt Oliver Leave a Comment

Chris Carrier Hector Moralez Lotus Seven

★★★★☆

Master blasters dealing in funk phenomena, straight talking partiers Chris Carrier and Hector Moralez go for the dance floor with on-the-money maker bumps packing bassy stubble and deep filtered disco loops that are hard to defend against. With barely a glory-seeking or shape-holding riff in earshot, the pair’s Lotus position is purely about house beats running deep ruts into the ground while the shuffle and sharpness of hi-hats provides the incision, picking up a hitchhiker of cool, occasionally zingy funk that’s slipped in to keep tastebuds moist.

Taking a little time to get into its stride – the premise is supposedly a road trip through ’90s San Francisco, so the two are obviously gassing up at the get-go – it becomes a party that you can join at any time without needing to play catch up, such is the no gimmicks, just good times and honest endeavor the duo advertise. A long in the tooth taste for an almost throwback US house sound ain’t coming off soft or bland, making it deep house not found fading, with “Disco Remodel” and “Island Breeze” kicking sand in faces with skippy disco redux.

The funk of “Phillies Titan” and “Mystery Streets” keep up the good spirits as well as slickening the attitude of B-boys playing hard-ball, and aren’t cause for any self-indulging interruption. When “Rise of the People” takes center stage, it firms Carrier and Moralez’s status as true old-school junkies showing newbies how it’s done.

File under: Ming & FS,; The Sharp Boys, Armand van Helden

Gear Review: Elysia Mpressor

Praxis Leave a Comment

mpressor
While having dedicated hardware units built for specific audio processing would be the idealistic approach for every project studio, the fiscal cliff we would have to plunge off in order to reach that goal may seem riddled in myth. However, with today’s software technology actually emulating hardware circuitry and not just audio I/O paths, engineers can come amazingly close to virtually creating the real thing. Stepping up to demonstrate their heavy hitting software fortitude, comes the brilliant engineers from Germany’s own Elysia. This group set forth to change the way high-end compression can be used throughout the recording process, and with all of the team being versed as both a musician and recording tech, there was a load of experience at work.

The Mpressor plug-in is a virtual version of the company’s famed hardware unit under the same name. This hardware unit has been hailed in the audio industry as one of the best compressors ever built. The same is true of the software version, just without the rack space and check book impact. What sets this compressor plug-in apart from the rest of the field is that not only can this marvelous device add that transparent shimmer to your master track, but this plug can pump and excite your tracks in a harmonically musical way that has never truly been achieved before.

Featuring actual emulation of the hardware circuits and a distinct oversampling component, this compressor can provide optimum function even when the host track is of a super low resolution. With an auto-fast setting for the compressor’s envelope, you can dial in your attack settings to truly slam your drums and staccato instrument tracks. External sidechain is also built into this unit and integrated with your host DAW, making gain ducking gate effects easy to set up.

For that classic dance floor pump that we call expect out of dance music, sidechain the kick to this compressor and go to town. Another interesting feature to this unit is the negative ratios settings. This allows the user to set negative compression ratios, and create an almost revered compression effect, great when pumping full drum loops. Famed for their Niveau filter unit as well, this handy musical audio filter is also included on this compressor. After a few minutes of figuring out the orientation of the settings, this unit was flawless in operation, and became instantly useful on every track in the recording session. What makes a plug-in better than a dedicated hardware unit in this case, is that with a virtual plug, you can launch as many instances of the device that your computer’s processor will let you, allotting you virtually a full rack of Mpressors! By far the best software compressor I have ever used, this unit will from here on out be used in every recording session moving forward. Drop the coin on this plug and take your productions to the next plane.

Compilation Review: ‘Bunny Tiger Selection Vol.01’ (Bunny Tiger)

Matt Oliver Leave a Comment

Bunny Tiger Selection Vol 01

★★☆☆☆

A peculiar mix, and a maker of decisions that in this day and age of the remix and the bootleg, comes off sub-par at best. Sharam Jey is trying to impress with alternative club versions of recognizable themes when a) the tracks they’re sourcing from aren’t in the least bit upfront and b) are not radical re-ups, just more or less a copy and paste of vocals. You understand that getting the party started is at the front of his mind, but the demeanor is of a budding first gig spinner who mixes pretty well or a house party hired hand rather than someone of experience and stature.

The rap sheet starts inauspiciously with SJ’s “Give It To Me” taking on Busta Rhymes’ “I Know What You Want” (utilizing Bus-a-Bus on the hook, rather than the more natural choice of Mariah Carey). A decent framing of the accompanying chords heads fair but rarely dynamic, ’80s-touched electro and disco flavors. The ensuing plod of artless pop-to-dance alterations become excruciatingly derivative, taking from Pharrell crooning on Snoop’s “Beautiful”, Timex Social Club, The Fugees (“Here I Come” is alarmingly uninventive), bygone guilty pleasures such as Cutting Crew’s “Died In Your Arms” and Tears for Fears’ “Shout” and samples best known to belong to King Bee and Truth Hurts. Jey loses the game of trying to appeal through the familiar, and this Bunny needs boiling.

File under: Tapesh, Phonique, Teenage Mutants