Nice strong beginning, one of those ones where you wonder what's going to come of this. Then there is a pause when the track returns with a slight twist and plenty of additional layers to make it interesting for your ears. It is quite unique in places and this always appeals to me. Jazz jamming session. Interesting structure.
Holy Smoke is faster paced, predominantly a piano/vocal lead and piano/percussion breaks. Again another interesting fusion, but there was something slightly uncomfortable about it, perhaps pitch or something. Like sitting on a chair where the front legs are shorter than the back. I liked the variations with piano which help to make the track warmer.
Following that a familiar, much-missed crackle of vinyl and it's nifty use as part of the rhythm, with a nice easy pace. Made me think of Coldcut a bit, the way it uses sound and beat with such attitude. It's called The Hopeless Is Near, and it might be nearer than you think. The bass sounds add well to the overall ambience of the track and it managed to diversify enough to hold its own strong theme, under control.
Onyxodium fires and chants itself at you, sounds heated if not simply angry. I reminds me of gigs from many moons ago, which ended up being a hardcore punk acoustic sound in that particular phase of my musical education.
A mellow beginning, a mellow track with a nice twirl to it, a slow dance. This is Winni. Easy going, easy flowing. Curious vocal addition towards the end, used to refresh the track as it was plus flourishes of synthetic sound and that unusually well placed vocal loop.
Dancig Chan Chan is busy from the start and turns into a track that seems to move like a remote control toy at first, but soon the structure becomes evident and it's filled quite well with a collection of loops and samples of sounds.
Next we are treated to piano and strings, nice intro followed by drums. Again the pace is easy and a bit more powerful and assertive here. There seem to be some very subtle variations and also some very strong and obvious ones too. Then we have a percussive solo in the middle and the track rebuilds, with slight adjustments to its sonic sense of dress. That was Easy That Way.
I Need A Doctor is very biological sounding in a way, after all we are talking the soft machine, being examined by hard instruments of investigation, so the noise fits well together. The voice over sets the scene for you and works its musical away around that theme, with some nice variations and sidesteps. It's like Coldcut versus Massive Attack.
The final track explodes through your speakers at first, then settles itself down and becomes more reasonable. Then we have classical samples with a modern beat again. I quite like the track itself, and it's a more ready size to digest.
Overall, I liked the uniqueness that is evident here and there. I constantly felt like I was being thrown into a remaking of several old black and white films, with a modern interpretation, this musical form. Some of the tracks are a bit too long perhaps but nonetheless bearable certainly.
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