V/A 
269136
CD
SPACESHIPS OF THE IMAGINATION (TIP LABEL)

CHILL-OUT (AMBIENT)

Held in a beautifully crafted and extremely colourful digi-pak this CD is filled with a vast array of chilled sounds and effects, exotic textures, hot rhythms and sampled voices. Mixed by Raja Ram, the album initially crosses straight over the realms of ‘Chill-Out Ambient’ and ‘Atmospheric Synth Music’ with just the slightest touch of ‘Eastern Promise’ in some parts. As you move through the 11 captivating tracks that are spread over the album’s generous seventy-eight minutes playing time, you start to realize that you are in for one hell of a enthralling musical experience. You glide through a fine selection of chill-out cuts and techno-trance tracks that are totally thrilling and brilliantly mixed. The music never does anything weird, and it resides in a space and time that allows a wide variety of synth music fans to enjoy its pleasures. Each track stays well on the straight and narrow from start to finish, providing a different mood with each new piece, all of which are assembled in such a way as to offer maximum enjoyment and variation of sounds and atmospheres to the listener. It starts out chilled and atmospheric, and develops into an adrenaline-fuelled workout that makes you feel like you just can’t sit still. Get up and boogie – it’s that simple a task - there’s nothing too taxing for you, and for any budding kitchen boogier, it’s manna from heaven!

This album is on a relatively new label to CDS, but if this CD is anything to go by, we have a real biggie one on our hands! The music in very colourful with a wide variety of instrumental and voice-over sounds being used to help paint some truly exotic sound pictures that are a real joy to listen to. The earlier tracks tend to keep to a more laid back, decelerated trance format, but as the album progresses, the rhythms break out into a stronger, more pulsating style and the approach becomes much more geared to the dance-floor, with underlying melodies and all manner of effects flowing underneath, making for a style of trance that just makes you want to get to your feet and move to the vibes. The effect is genuinely hypnotic and addictive with all sorts of sounds and samples arriving on to the soundstage and taking a turn. The extremely cleverly produced voice sampling effect add interest all the way through and there are even little flute samples that made me think of parts of early Moody Blues (‘Tuesday Afternoon’), King Crimson (‘I talk To The Wind’) or Traffic (’40,000 Headmen’) tracks!  The second last track is a real stormer; with rhythms set on stun, and the likes of The Orb coming to mind as the track builds, it develops a rearing synth theme that makes for something that sounds like a trance version of that alien synth line out of ‘War Of The Worlds’ - Ooowee – it’s Jeff Wayne on speed folks! So, to sum up - If you want a well balanced set of tracks that mix chill-out with adrenaline fired crystalline sequencer beats and electronic drum rhythms, with layer upon layer of synth rhythms, melodies, space swoops and effects, then look no further than this gem.

Weight: 150.00 g