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Prometheus "Robot.O.Chan"

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Chill out/ambient reviews

Author: Kompressorkanonen

Publishing date: 06.12.2003 09:18

Finally: The first solo album from Benji Vaughan aka Prometheus on Twisted Records.

Prometheus "Robot.O.Chan" (Twisted Records, TWSCD25)

1. Robot-O-Chan 8:13
2. Mekong Delta 7:41
3. Number Cruncher 8:09
4. Snakes & Ladders 8:18
5. Samothraki 7:56
6. Universe 7:45
7. O.K. Computer 7:49
8. U.R. Beautiful 7:47
9. Long Wave 3:25

A recurring problem in today's psytrance scene is the fact that so many artists land album deals too early. The labels are well aware of the fact that EP releases are as expensive as albums, but yield lower returns; consequently, artists that simply aren't ready for it are allowed to release half-baked full-lengths, the end result being that they achieve little more than cluttering an already oversaturated market with even more mediocre music. This is a frustrating situation for everyone, and the labels must assume a big part of the responsibility, as they exercise a notoriously sloppy quality control.

Which is where Twisted Records come in, as it's a label that goes agains the grain by stressing quality and artist development and refusing to shell out album releases just for the sake of it. Benji Vaughan is a prime example. A figure on the scene for years, releasing the odd single under the Prometheus guise and collaborating with Sean Williams in the very excellent Process project and of course with Posford in Younger Brother (and by now you should all know that "A Flock Of Bleeps" is seriously good stuff), this is actually his first solo album. Ever. It's been a long wait, but has it been worth it? Well, yes. Although not consistently brilliant, "Robot.O.Chan" is an all-round cracking album that offers some excellent highlights, and it easily places itself on the top shelf in the genre.

The first impressions aren't promising, though – the opening of this album was initally a big disappointment for this reviewer, as the title cut is a downbeat track that at first listen sounded very aimless and noodly to me, with its loungy jazz keyboards, tweaked choir samples and smoking breakbeat trickery. I managed to get my head around it after a few spins, but I still think it get slightly over the top at the end, with a bit too much going on simultaneously. Definitely the weakest track on the album, methinks. However, this album ain't a homelistening affair, and "Mekong Delta" ups the ante and introduces the steady kick and the swirly atmospherics. And as is often the case with psy-producers, Benji's music makes a lot more impact when it drops the horisontal status quo and heads for the dancefloor pumpathon. There's not much new on offer here as the music follows a quite familiar blueprint (it's essentially THAT sound we all know from Younger Brother and various Unusual Suspects collaborations), but Benji's command over all the ranges of his sound is second to none; the beats are tough, the basslines are thankfully not the usually cliched muck, but stylish and hard-hitting, and the melodic and atmopsheric elements gel very well with the rest of the music. In short, the production is near-immaculate and chock full of elements to delight and surprise you even after several listens, and the music carries too much punch to fall into the trap of overproduced, pompous malarkey. So what about the tracks? Well, they have the much-desired feature that they grow with repeated listening; personally I found "Mekong Delta" a little bland the first time I heard it, as a faultlessly exercised, but ultimately unrewarding example of the Twisted school of psy. Well, I was wrong; it's really good. But the majority of the tunes you won't need to hear more than once to dig; they're good as soon as you put them on, but they still manage to improve after the first encounter. And unlike "progressive" psytrance, the tracks progress. No on-the-spot chugging here, but plenty of unexpected twists and turns.

"Number Cruncher" and "Snakes & Ladders" you should know already, and they're both wicked; the former with its voice sample that sounds like a fucked-up Daft Punk, the latter with its ethereal pads and infectious melodics that suddenly enter the track to round off what really is an unpredictable cut. "Samothraki" is named after a certain festival location that a lot of you have fond memories of, where Benji played a 3 hour live set (!) in 2002. And this is as good a tribute to the island as anything; after an intro of heavy breathing, in comes the beat, The Posford Hi-Hat, the twisted melodies and a guy saying "I feel much better now", aptly enough. Cool track. "Universe" opens with dislocated sounds that give way to funky beat patterns and tech-housey stabs before Benji gradually unfolds the copyrighted Prometheus Layers Of Sound, which, however, seems to work slightly less well in this track. Although certainly not boring by any stretch of imagination, it lacks the hooks of his best tracks and doesn't quite hit the mark as it seems to rely more on heard-it-all-before effect manipulation than on melodic content. The next two tracks, however, make up for any such shortcomings. "O.K. Computer" doesn't even have a passing resemblance to Thom Yorke's receding hairline as it pummels along with crunchy, splattered alien funk dynamics, a vocodered "insane, insane" catchphrase midway through and some sampled bloke occasionally reciting digits in sync with the rock-solid beat, and "U.R. Beautiful" overcomes its silly title by banging out a seriously hard-hitting groove of distorted sounds and a massive bass drum that melts down in an atmospheric breakdown in the middle, only to return in an even more monstrous fashion to deliver what truly is a blistering track. Closing ambo soundscape "Long Wave", however, is as short as it's forgettable and ends up in the space muzak department.

To conclude, this isn't a new "Radio" or "Beyond The Infinite"; it's a bit short on innovation to warrant such a cathegorization, as it offers few surprises and the material is very Of The Moment (i.e. when the record ends, so does the experience). But as a collection of half-a-dozen very good dance tracks, this is as solid as anything, and there is no doubt that this is a highly accomplisehd release that will easily be one of the best psytrance albums of 2004. In other words, you're obliged to check it out if you have any interest in this genre at all. Not a landmark album, but well and truly recommended.
(The album is released January 2004).
Kompressorkanonen

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