Surreal Audio - "Open"

Top level

Music reviews

Author: Denis B

Publishing date: 12.08.2001 21:59

From the land of the lakes and millions of mosquitos comes this new compilation. Hitting our ears where least expected, Surreal Audio presents "Open", their second compilation so far.

The nice guys in Surreal Audio were kind enough to send a promo of this release. After having heard quite a few finnish tracks and their previous compilation "Beats and Beyond" I was wise enough to know not to know what to expect (!?)..

1. Big Green Pleasure Machine - Buggin' out (AB remix)
2. Kiwa - Fancy Medical Experience
3. Squaremeat - Do it Square
4. Pelinpala -Oota el oo
5. Overflow - Thingamajig
6. Texasfaggot - One King
7. Spaztech - Depression
8. Possible Apple - Dandy

The compilation kicks off with a groover from down under, the Big Green Pleasure Machine original of this track was a favourite pointed out to me by my friend Manos. The remix is even funkier, has lots of wah'ed guitar and generally grooves along nicely.

Next up is Kiwa having a Fancy medical experience (whatever that implies?).. More groovious stuff here, the track skips along to some warped noizes.. Nice synths and well done percussions here, even throws in some acoustic guitar for good measure. Kiwa shows that finnish trance is definitely weird enough for most of us!

Squaremeat, another "born in Finland" act, doesn't break the pattern set. They deliver more bouncy stuff with some warped melodies and plenty out there samples.

Next up is a nice melodic piece from Pelinpala. Organtrance ? Could be filed under "sleazy listening" along with some Quirk stuff. One of my favourites on this cd, definitely unconventional !

Overflow gives us thingamajig, a short track with lots of bleepy noises. It sounds like they let some animal loose in the studio also. (Maybe a tripping monkey ?) Weird!

Texasfaggot, porn stars from outer space, returns with "One King". What to expect from the unexpectables ? Don't ask me, but this 3.5 minute track has a groovy baseline coupled with some aggressive noises and distorted "guitar" ?
Possibly the weirdest track on this compilation (which says a lot really =)

Spaztech is one of Phil Thompsons aliases (Nam Shub of Enki among others). This should scare you kids away immediately, so for the hardcore weirdies still reading, yes it is as far out as ever ! Not for the faint of heart, but bleeping out from another world..

The award for the coolest artist name goes to Possible Apple. Hello Pineapple! Elektro start, then the guitar breaks in and the track gears up. We even get vocals, and it ends up sounding like a definite crossover between 60's rock and elektronika.

To sum it up, this is groovy funktechtrance at its best ! (?) ;) Expect nothing, demand everything, get anything ... If you like your music funky, and you liked previous stuff from Finland (possibly Australia too), give it a spin or five, you might be surprised !

- denis