This is the 6th release of Oxygen Records. My first contact with them was their last release, the Setherian album, which was very refreshing to me and is still recieving good reviews from top reviewers in this forum. This positive contact made me stay tuned for more Oxygen stuff, I checked the samples of this album at their page and liked it.
Sound Field is a project by Andy Yakovlev and Liron Atia. Unfortunately Liron suffered an snowboarding accident, and Andy had to finish the album alone. But Liron is still credited for 4 tracks here, 4 other tracks were made by Andy alone and the last track is a collaboration with Lars Knudsen.
Andy has been producing electronic music for a long time, but it was only a couple of years ago that he started releasing his tracks. Now he has four different psy-related projects (ProSect, Sonify, Sound Field and ICO). Mastering of this release was made by Schwa at ORM studio - Prague. The artcover was made by Jarin.
Inside the booklet you'll find a cool pic of Andy sleeping. There is also some nice interesting words inside the booklet, like a special thanking to our most well-known psy celebrity:
"...and of course to the new star in our small (and ironic) scene: DJ MegaRaver!"
And a positive educative message:
"Copy kill OUR music
Download with intelligence"
The music begins sending us back to the past, when the psychedelic vibes were of paramount importance in the music. Every time I listen to this Psychedelic Revival (T1) it stamps a smile on my face, because its oldshool psychedelic aspects contrasting with the up-to-date progressive approach makes me feel like it is possible to have the best from both worlds. The sample is also catches me: "My music, it started without me".
The second track, Technological Terror (T2), relies more on an hypnotic atmosphere with a drop of sadness that only reaches the surface few times. Behind this darkpsy track name (joke) a very emotional track is hiding, this is beautiful and recommended.
Midi Tales (T3) is a little more aggressive, good synth usage on top of a pounding beat. Some nice breaks and surprising ending, because to me it sounds like the end happens after the end.
Since it's the faster track in the album, at first I thought Return to the Field (T4) was a more full on track, but the track name misleads me. Weirdly enough this sounds to me very tech-trance influenced, I don't know if it is the elements themselves or the way they're employed. Interesting tune.
And now we have a rare gem, Crossbreed (T5) is the unquestionable proof that Andy has talent and good taste. No build ups, just relentless hypnotic beats and on top of them a symphony of elements, each one at the right time. Perfect, no more words.
Dub Vibration (T6) begins with real dub vibes, no beats, deep bass lines and elements melting into each other, I feel like I'm a huge chill space at some obscure festival, just relaxing and trippy. Five minutes later "BOOM!", a beat arrives at 120 bpm making me wake up and dance. Wow, he spares no effort to make this work, like they say: "what goes up must come down", so I lay down again, just waiting the next track.
There's no doubt that this 7th track is a progressive trance track, the soft melodies, the groovy bass lines and the 130 bpm made this clear. However, I feel a weird thing while listening to this music that reminds me of something else. Let's check the track name again: Funk Science (Southern rmx), uhmm... I don't think it's science or southern. Yes, it's funk!! What a funky track!
Did we have something epic up to now? No? That's perfect because "Second Step above the Sun" (T8) is one of those epic tracks, and taking into consideration the diversity of this album it's clear that there's no room for repeating the same thing twice in here. So this is our epic track... You know, that track with a special journey inside it, the one that plays with your mind gently, that picks you at some place and leaves you somewhere else. Worth mentioning that this track already has a released remix.
Closing this great debut is a collaboration with Lars Knudsen named Lifted Higher (T9). It's a beautiful progressive tune at 130 bpm, rich in atmosphere and little details, just a discrete build up with a nice sample and we're flying again. Happy ending.
I must say this Sound Field debut completely blows me away, and I don't say this for many albums out there. It contains such diversity and flow, the tracks are long and well structured, most of them developing until reaching its full potential. The style is continuous, not relying on breaks and build ups, providing a smooth flow for home listening. I think half of the album could be released through, for example, Tribal Vision or Iboga, so this album places Oxygen Records together with the best out there. |
