ITP stands for Individual Thought Patterns, and it's a psychedelic trance project formed by Erez Yaffe and Sami Sabin, both from Israel. This is their debut album and was released by Sundance Records, a label that already released some exceptional stuff, like the Talpa debut album.
It's my first contact with their music, I heard the samples and find them funny, so I decided to check the whole release. The album does not follow the usual recipe, the slower track here has 146 bpm and the faster track clocks at 160 bpm, that's much more than I'm used to, and usually only explicit dark/night releases are so fast. Their music have unusual influences which I can't detect the real source, maybe some Latin or oriental characteristics, and for sure a lot of acoustic-like sounds. Overall the sound quality in nice, but the faster tracks sounded dirtier to my ears, this is a point to improve.
The Artwork was made by Farbo, the CD cover and the CD itself are composed by some psychedelic patterns.
The CD was mastered by Avi Elbaz at Elbaz Studios. This release comes with a stick showing the ITP symbol. I'm happy to find the bpm of the tracks in the back of the booklet.
The album begins at 148 bpm with "Stop killing the animals you stupid fucks II" (T1). It's the shortest dance floor track here, packed with many synth layers, funny samples and a good melody. This track was my first contact with ITP's music, and it caused me as good impression. The bass variations and the take over on the last minute are designed for the dance floor. Next we have Daylight Murder (T2), a track many synths, acoustic-like guitars and a good bass line. It's a nice track, but not among my favorites here.
Advertisment (T3) is more on my style, funky bass, funny samples and 146 bpm. The track name is written this way in the CD booklet, I’m not sure if it is a mistake or if it was written on purpose. This track is less aggressive, more delicate and funny. The samples by George Carlin make me laugh every time... And it's on this same vibe that Lose your Illusion part I (T4) begins, presenting great diversity and good taste of effects usage. It's great to new artists producing this kind of multi-influenced tracks. However I don't like the break: Life is hard...
Not Responding (T5) has a funny melody that makes me smile, it has a more direct full on style, but diversified and interesting. It's one of the tracks really I'd really like to hear at a party. I don't like the abrupt ending, but I can live with that. Then Knul Hfaf Bash (T6) arrives at 160 bpm bringing influences from I don't know where, these guys are crazy, such a track in the middle of the album. Curiously I found the quality of this track worse than the rest of the album, some breaks and turns are too noisy, but on the other side I admire their attitude.
Now my favorite track here: Guatemala (T7). I has everything, smooth atmospheres, nice percussion, pumping bass lines and an incredible melody with small pinches of psychedelic effects which I really enjoy. It also has another melody, kind of a sampled woman chanting, I don't know exactly how to describe it, but it has a powerful impact on the dance floor. Excellent job in mixing this up!
Happy Flight (T8) is another one that caught me by the samples. Another funny track, good bass in a interesting full on approach, but again too fast for me (150 bpm). The last dance floor track here is Gato Escaldado (T9), which translates from the Portuguese into something like "Washed Cat". Acoustic guitars, some chanting and excellent drive and diversity, including an acoustic solo: Interesting track. Closing the release there's a 2 minutes long acoustic outro named Lose your Illusion part II (T10). Good choice to close the album, beautiful and consistent with the album's ideas.
In a final note I must say that many people will disagree with my opinions, for example enjoying the faster tracks more. That's the price of diversity, and I think it's fair enough, so take the time to listen to the samples and reach your own conclusions. In my opinion is a positive debut, I hope these guys will keep improving their sounds, focusing on their weak points without leaving aside their strength. Some may call this a controversial review, but I always try to be honest and to write what I feel, and if I got the album and wrote a review it's because I think it got something worth checking. |
