Shulman "Random Thoughts"
Top level Music reviews Chill out/ambient reviews

Author: Per Kristian Slagsvold

Publishing date: 05.03.2006 15:38

Review by PKS
Third album by Shulman out on Aleph Zero Records in Israel...

One of my absolute favourite artists, Israeli Shulman (Yaniv Shulman & Omri Harpaz), is out with their third album on Aleph Zero Records. Something I have really been looking forward to! This duo has shown better and better skills when it comes to the psychedelic side of chill out, ambient and downtempo music. This time we get some kind of compilation, where they have collected various tracks they have released on compilations, remixes and a few new unreleased tracks. With other words, the album title Random Thoughts fits it perfectly well.


Shulman “Random Thoughts” Aleph Zero Records 2006 (AlephZ06)

1. Shulman - OMG
2. Bluetech & Shulman – Midnight Bloom
3. Shulman – Zero Degrees
4. Sub6 Feat Michele Adamson – Ra He’Ya (Shulman Remix)
5. Entheogenic – Spaced (Shulman Remix)
6. Omar Faruk Tekbilek & Steve Shehan – Yo Bouy (Shulman Rmx)
7. Shulman – Look Honey It’s The Vitties!!!
8. Shulman Feat. Lee Triffon – I Dive
9. Shulman – Staring At The Abyss

Variation is something we get a lot of in this album. It starts off with my favourite track on this album. A deep, floating psychedelic ambient track with beautiful ethnic vocals. One of my all time favourite Shulman tracks for sure. This one is also previously unreleased. Track 2 is a nice collboration with Bluetech who has released his albums on Aleph Zero. Nice track, with typical Bluetech elements and deep Shulman ingredients. Track 3 is another unreleased track by Shulman. Slow, easy listening, with some ballearic vibes perfect for summer relaxation. Track 4 is originally a trance track done by Sub6, with vocals by Michele Adamson. Here in a Shulman remix. This track was also released on a Sub6 cd single. I didn’t really like the original, but Shulman brings it up to a high level of psychedelic chill. Still, there are some ingredients from the original that I could live without here. Track 5 is originally by another master duo in psychedelic electronic music, Entheogenic. Here we get a Shulman remix, also released on the remix album released on Chillcode Records last year. Deep, mystic, psychedelic and relaxing track. Fantastic!

Track 6 is a Shulman remix of a classic by two masters at arabic world music and jazz, Omar Faruk Tekbilek and Steve Shehan. This track is also released on the Natural Born Chillers compilation on Aleph Zero in 2004. Nice tribal vibes mixed with electronic music. Track 7 is a nice little surprise. Here they have tried out the jazzy side of lounge chill out. This one reminds me of Flexitones and Hi fi companions. I get some kind of 60-70’s jazz feeling by it. Interesting mix of jazz and electronic music. Perfect for an eclectic dj set. Track 8 is another favourite on this album. Totally floating track with really beautiful female vocals. A track that shows that Shulman can work really well with singers too. The last track we get here brings us into totally chilled ambient. Deep, mystic and floating vibes, which reminds me a little bit of Ishq. Nice finish on the album.

Personally, I have got several of these tracks on other compilations etc, but we also get several new unreleased masterpieces here. Pure, high quality chill from beginning to end. An album of random thoughts, showing several sides of chilled electronic music, ranging from deep psychedelic sounds to happy, jazzy vibes for your coffee break. Recommended!
PKS (shivapks@hotmail.com)


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Shulman - Random Thoughts
Death Posture 16.03.2006 13:19
Shulman re-animated…

Ever since the release of the debut album Soundscapes And Modern Tales in 2002, the Shulman project (Yaniv Shulman & Omri Harpaz) has been a fav’e of mine… The follow-up In Search Of A Meaningful Moment was almost as good and ever since I’ve followed everything coming out of the Shulman/AlephZero labs in Israel… Yaniv Shulman and his mates have yet to let me down with their hi-quality phat productions… Now it’s time for the third album which seems to have a couple of familiar tracks… Let’s find out what that’s all about…

Let me take you thru the tracks…

#01: Shulman – OMG
Oh… my … god! Well I’ll be damned if this isn’t the best damn Shulman track I’ve heard in ages… What we get here is floating chill-scapes seasoned with native chanting, Shponglesque sequencing and one trippy melody after the other… The long, floating organic pads are trademark Shulman and they represent everything I love about their sound… This is exactly why I’ll never get tired of psychedelic chill-out… Stellar track!

#02: Bluetech & Shulman – Midnight Bloom
Next up is another collaboration between Shulman and US-based producer Evan Bluetech who recently released his third album Sines And Singularities on AlephZero… And the melancholy Bluetech touch really shines thru on this track – with the added ethnic mysticism courtesy of Shulman… A pretty nice tune, but it doesn’t have quite the same momentum as the previous one did…

#03: Shulman – Zero Degrees
This is pure Shulman now – and on this track there are actually a lot of parallels to the aforementioned Bluetech… The intro is cold, static, numb and totally depressing, but eventually the track evolves into a much warmer, joyous downbeat excursion… Floating ambient with some refined rhythms and harmonic synths… A story telling track if there ever was one… The level of emotions in this one is simply impressive… A brilliant track!

#04: Sub6 feat. Michele Adamson – Ra He’ya (Shulman Remix)
“Bad, bad, bad, bad… Ra He’ya! How do you like it? Yeah! Take all the clothes off. I know you like it! … It goes something like this: Bad, bad, bad, bad boy, go to my room and twiddle your thumbs 'til I come. Don't have to think. Ohh, let's make some noise. I'll let you bring all your toys.” This track was first released in 2004 by HOMmega on the Sub6 CDM Ra He’ya and then again in 2005 by Nice Dreams Music on the Multiple Organisms compilation… Truth being, it was one of my fav’e remixes of the CDM, and when it’s stuff this good, I don’t mind owning it on CD again… This downbeat version is very different from the original and Michele Adamson’s + the dude’s vocals are filtered and vocoded almost beyond recognition… It’s still a great fucking tune… Sexy as hell too!

#05: Entheogenic – Spaced (Shulman Remix)
“And then I promise you you’ll dream a different story altogether…The imagination, the inside of our heads really is the most vast frontier!” This track was released on the Entheogenic album Dialogue Of The Speakers released by Chillcode Records in 2005 and with its deep, playful percussion and soothing atmosphere it was one of the many excellent tracks off that album… And yes, it’s still a brilliant track… Magical even!

#06: Omar Faruk Tekbilek & Steve Shehan – Ya Bouy (Shulman Remix)
This track was released back in 2004 on the AlephZero compilation Natural Born Chillers. Here’s my review from back then: AFAIK Turkish ney master Mr. Tekbilek is pretty well-know in the Arab world-music scene and has had tracks featured on well-known ambient compilations like Buddha Bar and Back To Mine… And now, here’s a Shulman remix – and what a track! This is ambient world music with thick, thick Eastern influences and an overall phat ethnic groove… Reminds me of Asura or Kaya Project at times… Very good! According to Shulman, the instrument played here is some kind of Turkish wind instrument similar to the Indian shenhai… Amazing track!

#07: Shulman – Look Honey It’s The Vitties!!!
And here’s the odd-ball track of the album… Both the title and the actually music, is far off the beaten path… The IDM intro with irregular beats must have the highest BPM rate ever in a Shulman track, and the rich jazzy influences are destined to crack a lot of smiles… Saxophone pads and Elvis-samples… What more could you wish for? A funny, yet totally mature downbeat tune… Sweet!

#08: Shulman feat. Lee Triffon – I Dive
“I dive in the ocean. What an emotion. I dive in the ocean. I see the man wanders all alone. You’re my inspiration. I dive in the ocean. You are everything I need. You are my creation. You are everything I need.” On this epic track Shulman is joined by singer Lee Triffon who has a gorgeous voice… Musically this is floating, melodic ambient with subtle percussion and the emphasis on the angelic vocals… Brilliant, soothing and totally relaxing music that you even your mother or grumpy neighbours will like… Pure Shulman magic!

#09: Shulman – Staring At The Abyss
To finish things off we get a virtually beatless ambient piece… So yeah, we’re reeeeeeally chilling out now although the track does have peak moments with more action… The liquid-link is evident and generally this is another one of those journey tracks that Shulman does so well… A sweet, relaxing tune, but not as captivating as some of the previous tracks… Still a nice way to finish the album though… ;o)

After the release of this third album, people were quick to condemn it because of the three previously released tracks… And in all fairness, I think everyone would have preferred all exclusive material… But when stuff this good is ‘re-cycled’ I can’t really get worked-up… All three tracks are wonderful and they deserve their place besides the new Shulman tunes that we also get here…

The new tunes seem more diverse musically than what we heard on the first two albums, but they are all very good and very Shulmanny! And when it all boils down to the most important factor, the music, I think most people would agree that this is a VERY fine collection of downbeat tunes… The quality level is impressive as always and I even like this better than the Bluetech album… I’m not sure how well I like the androgynous person of the cover, but hey, the fish rocks!

To conclude, this is a wonderful album that’s almost as good as the previous two… My respect and admiration for Shulman is greater than ever and I’ll recommend this album to all fans of eclectic, diverse, well-produced, psychedelic downbeat music… Enjoy!

Favourites: 1(!!), 3(!), 4(!), 5(!), 6(!), 7, 8(!)
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