Mr Peculiar - Ritual

I´ve been a big fan of Mr Peculiar (Dustin Bint) since his psy-trance album Mind - Dala was released in 2005, (although I found his last cd-release on Hadra somewhat cheezy). His latest three releases are only available for download through his bandcamp. This album, entitled Ritual was released in June 2013, and is the first full-length chill album from this Australian musician. We are treated with 9 songs following the same formula - a dubby electronic vibe (sometimes bordering to lounge), nice melodies, quite a lot of singing (in what appears to be languages from the middle-eastern / asian part of the world) - but also a lot of atmosphere with floating pads and nice effectual sound-creations. Second song Sunrize quickly became on my favourites, with not too heavy dubby beats, nice pads, a floating flute and some beautiful vocals; also you are not too far from some quirky psychedelic sounds and melodies.

Song no.4 Moonbeams is a more groovy, loungy number - also with nice vocals and a very nice melodic part; I especially like the vocals in the end, intensifying and rooting the song. Next song Buddha Bounce starts out with a heavy dubby feel, a lot of rhythmic parts and even some nice acoustic elements. Closer to the end comes a part with a nice sitar-like instrument, and adding some more rhytms, closing it up with some vocals and a proper reggae vibe - electronic style. Listening to song no.8 Around the World, you can´t help but be reminded about a lot of what Shpongle does, it obviously has a smell of the work of Posford and Ram, build-up, vocal parts and also the increased tempo towards the end turning it into dance-explosion. Mr Peculiar finishes off this enjoyable ride with Wormholes, ending on a brighter, lighter side of chill, letting the listener floating towards the centre. All in all a very nice album, following a red thread never confusing the listener; and for 5 Euro it is a definite value for your money. Cheers, Dustin.

http://mrpeculiar.bandcamp.com/

matt-in-orbit 2013

Illustrator - Carnaval Designer

This new track by Illustrator appears on the new compilation from Purple Hexagon records entitled Quantum Animism. It is a hard, intense ride filled with quirky sound-effects and chewing sounds, topped with alienated patterns.

Illustrator is the solo project of Karim Khadiri from Casablanca (Morocco). His interest in Psytrance came while becoming part of the psy scene in Morocco during parties in 2004. In 2007 he started DJing, and simultaneously meeting other likeminded musicians prompted Karim to start his own journey through producing his own music and that’s when the Illustrator project was born. Illustrator is part of the Psynon Records roster and has recently released a 3-track EP available for free download HERE.

https://soundcloud.com/illustratorr 

http://www.purplehexagonrecords.com/ 

matt-in-orbit 2013

Hotep - Muddy Path

Nice driving psytrance with goa influences. Very little breaks. It just tramples on like a freight-train. Very nice jumping sounds and hits. I like it. This song appears on Mysteries of Psytrance Vol.3 released by Ovnimoon Records.

Hotep is Stjepan Hojan, a 24 years old psytrance producer from Croatia. His interest in music begun in 2003 while playing the keyboard in a band. As he discovered psytrance music, he got involved with the psychedelic scene. In 2009 he starts producing his own music, blending psychedelic trance with goa trance elements and constantly evolving with new ideas and sounds. He is connected to Digital Yonkis as well as having released loads of stuff on other labels.

https://soundcloud.com/psy_hotep

matt-in-orbit 2013