Buckle Up Vol. 2


Top level Music reviews Psytrance reviews


Review by PKS
Trancelucent Productions releases the second chapter of Buckle Up...

Trancelucent Productions in Israel is out with the second chapter in their Buckle Up series. This time we get the most kinky cover art I have seen on a psytrance cover. Actually quite vulgar.


Buckle Up Vol. 2 (Trancelucent Productions) 2005 (TPCDIL-012)

1. System Nipel – Russian Gangsters
2. Cosmic Tone – Element
3. Electro Sun – Demons Halo
4. Aquatica – Skydance (Rmx)
5. The Misted Muppet – Snarling Zraw
6. Noga – Accelaration
7. Etic – 1 Day
8. Systemic – Systec
9. Noga Vs. Solar System – Above The Ground

First out is System Nipel (Rubi Yacobov & Anton Lunev). They have released several tracks on various compilations lately. Here they give us a quite melodic track, with a massive bassline. Typical Israeli full on, but not too fluffy. The voice sample in this track saying DJ took pills... is used a little bit too many times before in my opinion. Track 2 is a new track by Cosmic Tone (Roei Nissan), who released his third album on Com.Pact Records earlier this year. Here we get a nice, melodic morning trance track. Typical Cosmic Tone sound, almost going over to the too fluffy side, but keeps a pretty good balance in this track, except for the cheesy voice sample in the middle of the track, which ruins a lot. Track 3 is by Electro Sun (Nadav Elkayam) who released his debut album (Pure Blue) on Trancelucent earlier this year. Here we get more typical intense Israeli full on, with smashing beats and quite nagging sounds. He has some nice things going on here, but for me this soundpicture is a little bit too messy. Track 4 is by Aquatica (Elad Asi) who is releasing music on many different compilations these days. A massive, drifting track that might fit well at sunrise. Track 5 is a new track by The Misted Muppet (Dagan Israeli) who is now only one person. The Misted Muppet released a successfull album (From The Legend) on Trancelucent last year. They usually go a different direction than most other Israeli full on artists. The track we get here goes the horror movie direction as usual. Pretty cool track with some nice, crazy melodies and interesting female vocals. I wish the bass line was a little bit more clear in this one.

Track 6 is by Noga (Noga Sudai) who is a pretty fresh Israeli artist. The track he gives us here is actually my favourite track on this compilation! Here we get a deep, drifting bassline, atmospheric morning vibes, a beautiful melody, not too much fluffy ingredients and a nice flow. Nice one! Track 7 is a new track by Etic (Etay Harari) who released his second album (Feedback) on Trancelucent this year. He keeps it on the progressive side of trance, with quite dark, mystic vibes. Not among the best tracks I have heard from this guy, but an okay track. Track 8 is by a quite fresh Israeli duo called Systemic (Dekel Maman & Itay Milgrom). Here we are jumping back to typical Israeli full on with some morning melodies. Jumpy sounds etc. reminding me a little bit of Sub6. The last track on this compilation is a collaboration between Noga and Solar System (Lior Lahav). They continues the melodic morning vibes, but here we get a little bit too much over on the fluffy side compared to the other Noga track on this compilation.

The second chapter of Buckle Up is definately much stronger than the first one. The cover art you get here is really, really ugly, but you will find a couple of pretty good tracks here.
PKS (shivapks@hotmail.com)


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Topic: Author:
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V/A - Buckle Up 2
Death Posture 29.08.2005 22:44
Safety first!

Trancelucent Productions from Israel is a funny label really – they’ve released some really, really cool CDs like the brilliant album From The Legend by The Misted Muppet + the two brilliant Etic albums Touch Ups and the recent Feedback… They are all cracking artist albums that I really enjoy – but unfortunately Trancelucent also has a tendency to release really crappy stuff… Like the Electro Sun album and the Cyberdelica compilation – and now this second Buckle Up compilation…The first one was released in 2003 and had a couple of good tracks – but the rest were forgettable… Now let’s hope this one is better…

Let me take you thru the tracks…

#01: System Nipel – Russian Gangsters
The compilation is kicked into gear by a couple of Russian gangsters in Israel: Ruby Yakubov & Anton Lunev… And this track is pretty much recycling… Boring neo full-on pads, ‘the DJs took pills to stay awake and play for seven days’ samples and predictable basslines… I have to give credit where credit is due though: I do like some of the melodic pads here – too bad it’s soaked in cheese… I mean – just listen to the breezy ‘I can feel it’ samples… Too much cheddar will make you… Puuuuuuke!

#02: Cosmic Tone – Element
“Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the tunnel. I’m your DJ! And I’m gonna take you on a tour of the twelve inch. We’re gonna start here with the kick and the bass. Are you with me? Here we go! There are many elements of a track – I like it all!” It’s been a while since I’ve last heard anything from Israeli producer Roei Nissan – he’s a productive guy and has been involved in loads of releases already… As you might have guessed, this is very much uplifting morning trance… Full-on in nature, but not as fluffy as the previous track… Well, don’t get me wrong – we’re still very much on the lighter side of the spectre here, and the lengthy Music Instructor-like sample in the middle of the track totally ruins it for me… I would have absolutely loved this track when I was 13 – but I’m twice that now, and kiddie stuff like this doesn’t do it for me any more… Avoid!

#03: Electro Sun – Demons Halo
Here’s a new track by the young producer Nadav Elkayam… He released his debut album Pure Blue earlier this year and I only liked a few tracks from there… This is more full-on, but with a little more edge this time… Finally! The offbeat experimentation is this track is reminiscent of old Infected Mushroom and its pretty good – without being revolutionary… This is an ‘ok’ track… But ok doesn’t cut it in my book I’m afraid…

#04: Aquatica – Skydance (Rmx)
My last encounter with Aquatica (Elad Asi) was on the Cyberdelica compilation released by Trancelucent last year… That track was edgy full-on and was actually pretty good… And sure enough, this is pretty good too… We’re still in Israeli full-on world, but this isn’t as fluffy as some of the previous tracks… I’m guessing this is a remix to an older Aquatica track – whatever it is it’s the best track on this compilation so far… And that’s not saying much!

#05: The Misted Muppet – Snarling Zraw
Ahh – the muppets! Or rather just one muppet now, as Tal Hassidi left the band and it’s Dagan Israeli on his own… But the MM touch is indeed intact here – from the very first second the trademark sound is present – medieval intro complete with cembalo and the works… Very similar to the sound of the brilliant debut album From The Legend released last year – and yeah, that formula still works for me, and this is a stand-out track here… Multi-layered, darkish medieval full-on… Also the what-the-fuck-happened-to-my-speakers FX used towards the end of the track is sweet… A delicious track!

#06: Noga – Acceleration
The stuff I’ve heard from Noga Sudai has been in the better end of the full-on scale – I like his Etic-like progressive approach to full-on… And sure enough – this is pretty good too… That being said, this is still pretty fluffy, but hey – fluffy in a good way… This is very melodic, simple morning trance… The little kicks here are groovy and the general feel is enjoyable… Nice, but forgettable…

#07: Etic – 1 Day
“Why would I lie to you?... If that’s what you wanna do, you should do it!” When I looked at the tracklist of this compilation, I was only excited about the MM and the Etic tracks… Etay Harari has released two brilliant albums on Trancelucent and I really like his hybrid between progressive and full-on… This is just that – a funky number somewhere in between… Long, atmospheric, murky pads in the background – and a progressive rhythm-section with all kinds of spacy FX sprinkled all over the place… Another job well done by Etay… Another stand-out track!

#08: SystemiC – Systec
Dekel Maman (SystemiC) & Itay Milgrom (Synth Tec) also had a track on the Afula On compilation released by Com.Pact in 2004 – however this is the first time I hear their work… This is groovy full-on… Reminiscent of Sub6 and older Infected Mushroom – and it actually sounds pretty nice, though not particularly original… And that’s sad really, as these guys clearly have talent… The break-down bit is sweet indeed – fits the track perfectly… But still…

#09: Noga vs. Solar System – Above The Ground
“Why do I have to be humiliated in front of my guests by one of my own servants? The more license I allow you the more you take! If his grace is not satisfied with me he can dismiss me!” Noga Sudai is back for the last track – now in cahoots with Lior Lahav… They open up the track with a voice sample from some flick about Mozart – and they launch straight into a melodic, full-on piece… I like the harmonies here and the percussion with hints of progressive rhythms… Yeah, this is not a bad way to end this compilation at all, but I could have been without the cheesy female singing or moaning or whatever it is…*Sigh*

Well, IMO there’s only two stand-out tracks – the rest is simply too generic for my tastes… And two out of 9 is simply not enough for me to validate a purchase of a compilation… Of course this is a matter of taste and fans of the new Israeli full-on sound will have a field trip with this one… Others should probably take a listen before buying it… But enough common sense lessons for now!

A lot has been said about the controversial cover-art here – most people seem to dislike it… Again, I tend to disagree… Frankly I can’t get worked up about this – it’s obviously a piss-take on behalf of the Trancelucent crew – and I smiled the first time I saw it… I like it much more than say the cover of the newest Etic album… At least this one doesn’t try to hide anything…

Anyway, I didn’t really like this one – but I haven’t given up on Trancelucent… How could I with the amazing Etic album released simultaneously with this one? Enjoy!

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