Various Artists [Total Science - Drum & Bass]Well i guess officially here's my first Drum & Bass album for my Blog, over this last year, i've turned my ears towards acquiring more Electronic / Trance / Dance etc music, and i've been searching on Ebay for discs under £1, and this is one that i saw and liked the look of, 7 tracks on each disc, must be nearly ten minutes per track, in essence it's a shot in the dark somewhat, who knows what i'm going to get, but i feel i must overturn the strangest rocks to see what's underneath, a musically roving ear will find new and wonderful sounds, yep i might be a 'musical octopus', but i'm still trying to grow a ninth tentacle!, i was so excited about these discs today, this is what music is all about, falling in love with something you thought was beyond yourself.
There's an excitement in the air as i listened to this album, i was wowed by the rhythms and the beats, but especially the sounds of the drums, different drums, bass drums as well as treble drums, and cymbals too, though i'm sure a lot of it is electronic sounds, as well as samples of real drums, i found disc one to be superior to disc two, and the tracks that i really enjoyed were 2 & 5,
2 Salsa Flavour by Icons [Justice & Blame], lasting just over 6 minutes, as it's title suggests, it has a jungle flavour to it, it's opening is excellent, with some nice treble drums that die away in a superb way, as well as bongo's [0:00-0:22], and then some primate in the rainforest screams like Tarzan! [0:22+], that sample is excellent as it keeps coming back again and again, it's the best thing out of the tune, the whole thing really gets under your skin.
5 Subtropic by E-Z Rollers, one of the longer tracks at just over 10 minutes, starts off like a Jean Michel Jarre Oxygene track, but then the gorgeous hard woodblocks come in [0:22+], really stunning, so crystal clear and bright, again there's a jungle feel to it as the title suggests, with some high treble frog croaking, it really warms up nicely [about 1:50+], the beats deepen, and it creates a nice trance, cymbals start to ring in somewhere [say 2:42+], and it's certainly layered in a satisfying way, quite repetitive yet hypnotic, there's enough subtle change and variation to keep me entranced, halfway through there's a lull, synths sound like strings, it's a great respite [5:47-6:10], i must admit it does slightly outstay it's welcome towards the end, better if it was shortened to 8 minutes or something, the high drums and cymbal attack get quite frantic and hard driven, female whispering at the end, and the outro is machine gun drumming.
The final verdict is that this is really new to me, but i'm hearing new things that i like, my ears are excited by all the new possibilities, i'll certainly get into some more Drum & Bass in the future.
2 Salsa Flavour by Icons [Justice & Blame], lasting just over 6 minutes, as it's title suggests, it has a jungle flavour to it, it's opening is excellent, with some nice treble drums that die away in a superb way, as well as bongo's [0:00-0:22], and then some primate in the rainforest screams like Tarzan! [0:22+], that sample is excellent as it keeps coming back again and again, it's the best thing out of the tune, the whole thing really gets under your skin.
5 Subtropic by E-Z Rollers, one of the longer tracks at just over 10 minutes, starts off like a Jean Michel Jarre Oxygene track, but then the gorgeous hard woodblocks come in [0:22+], really stunning, so crystal clear and bright, again there's a jungle feel to it as the title suggests, with some high treble frog croaking, it really warms up nicely [about 1:50+], the beats deepen, and it creates a nice trance, cymbals start to ring in somewhere [say 2:42+], and it's certainly layered in a satisfying way, quite repetitive yet hypnotic, there's enough subtle change and variation to keep me entranced, halfway through there's a lull, synths sound like strings, it's a great respite [5:47-6:10], i must admit it does slightly outstay it's welcome towards the end, better if it was shortened to 8 minutes or something, the high drums and cymbal attack get quite frantic and hard driven, female whispering at the end, and the outro is machine gun drumming.
