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Ganja Beats "Paradise & Tranquility"
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Music reviews
Organic Records based in the UK mostly releases psychedelic trance, but has also given us some chilled music lately. Now they are out with a dub album by one of the true pioneers in the trance/ambient scene, Jake Stephenson, here called Ganja Beats. He is known for running the Kinetix label, but also for making music as Shamanic Tribes On Acid, Alien Mutation, Dr. Psychedelic, Mantra, Crystal Moon (together with Ishq), Bass Meditation, Mind Control, Eyetek, Whitestar and offcourse Optica and Optic Eye. Jake tragically died earlier this year at the age of 42, right after he had completed this album.
Ganja Beats "Paradise & Tranquility" Organic Records 2005 (ORGCD010)
1. Mystical Experience
2. Herbalised
3. Space Is High
4. The Sacred Dub Vibe
5. Utopia
6. Roots Of The Ganges
7. Herb Is Good
8. Rhythm Of Dub
9. Internal Energy
10. The Gift
11. The Lost Forest
12. Sister Bliss13
13. Deep Tranquility
This album starts with a really heavy reggae dub track. Here we get smoking reggae vocal samples, totally slow, dubby beats and tons of bass. Not my favourite kind of dub, but might be something for the rastamen out there. Track 2 continues a deep, dubby vibe. Very slow and relaxing. Here we get some more light melodies too, which makes it to a really pleasant, quite atmospheric listening experience. Track 3 is much more floating. Nice atmospheric ambient with some dubby beats in the background. Great track, and one of my favourite tracks on this album. Track 4 continues a beautiful, floating, relaxed vibe. Bubbling underwater sounds and dreamy soundscapes. Nice melodic track with some down tempo beats. Track 5 goes more melancholic. This one is not as dubby as some of the other tracks here, but has a beautiful floating ambient vibe. It reminds me of some old quality ambient tracks. Track 6 has some eastern vibes, just as the track title says. Indian sitar sounds mixed with dubby bass and beats. Very slow and relaxed, but I find this kind of dub easily a bit boring.
Track 7 goes back to the reggae dub style again. Totally smoked out reggae vocals, dubby beats and an organ melody. Not my cup of tea, but might be something when I’m totally exhausted. Track 8 continues the Jamaican vibes, but here we get a pretty nice melody. Reggae without vocals... Track 9 slows us even more down. Deep dub, with reggae voice samples and heavy bass. Track 10 is among my favourite tracks on this album. This one has some kind of break beat rhythms mixed with beautiful floating sounds. Track 11 starts with birds singing. This is among the most chilled tracks on this album. Pure summer vibes for the chill out area. Track 12 continues the slow vibes with one one of the most beautiful tracks I have heard by this artist. Flute sounds and beatiful floating soundscapes. The last track on this album is also a floating ambient track. Deep, beautiful track with the sound of running water, birds singing etc. Reminds me a lot of tracks by Ishq.
This album came as a surprise to me. I really like some old releases by Jake, especially the chilled ones, so it’s nice to see that he came up with more of that. On this album you get mostly dub with reggae influences, but also some really beautiful, floating ambient tracks. Personally I prefer the ambient part, but I’m sure there are some rastamen out there who will appreciate the dubby side too.
PKS (shivapks@hotmail.com)
