Dissolving Clouds – Interchill

Fuck. I couldn’t normally start a review of a chill album with a profanity, but this being interchill, I can fucking say what I fucking well fucking want to. This folks, is the mutt’s nuts, the cat’s whiskers, the bee’s knees, the skazi’s dentist’s tragic and accidental slip of the hand with a drill. Eat Static open with Ufo Over, a great bit of spacey dub with scifi samples in abundance, glitchy cornering on the drums and a seriously deep sound running all the way through it. Gaudi Vs Tripswitch’s Subdown is nothing short of orgasmic, as you’d probably expect from these two producers on the musical case together. It’s incredibly chilled, and downright pleasant music basically – emotive, reflective, intelligent and groovy all at once. I never quite got on with Kaya Project, and From Raag To Ragga fits in with their sound and vibe which I know everyone else likes except me. It’s unquestionably organic, and employs plenty of world music influences; but I for one prefer my chill to be just chilled, and not like a Rough Guide to majority world music. Once again I know I’m in the minority, but just as you’re trying to hit me with a frying pan, Alex Theory’s Voodoo Dub starts and it’s a masterpiece. End of. It coasts and breezes along like an old friend, and the production is so damn relaxed and mellow, you think your CD player’s about to fall asleep. Goes well with a sunset, as does Liquid Stranger’s Liquid Stranger On The Run, a wonderfully spacey bit of reggae’d-up chillage, sounding a little like a less hyperactive (and more musical) Dreadzone, with a stoned, slightly edgy groove and a haunting flute loop that makes me want to listen to that old Beastie Boys track, whatever it was called. Legion Of Green Men’s Blowbaq is wonderful – glitchy, farty sounds built into a sort-of-drum-n-bass setup, with unbelievable groove. Things then take a turn for the stellar with Eiji’s Digimunk – which you can tell from the very beginning is going to be a very special tune. A clean, chorused guitar kicks off and is accompanied by a warm bass. Then a chick sings breathlessly, over an upbeat reggae groove, and plenty of sounds come in to join the party – some smooth, some cheeky, all top notch. This is one of the best single chill tracks I think I’ve heard since Ott’s material first started to come to light. The deep and foreboding atmosphere of Peyote Sound System’s Aqua Dub makes a nice change before Mauxuam’s Ulezak – which is farken awesome. It sounds a little like Ott in places… do I stick my neck out here and suggest that he might have something to do with this project? There’s definitely snickers of him in there, and come to mention it I can smell Posford too. How’s that for starting a rumour. How’s that for starting a rumour. It’s untrue but you read it here first. Anyway it’s awesome this, deeper than Britney’s prayer for the victims of the hurricaine, it flows into itself. It keeps on coming with Its Not Buddha from Erik The Viking Vs Odo, a tongue-in-cheek fancy-a-raag skit with a great groove to it and a truly transporting vibe. Finally, Lunchbox bring the album to a fuddly, cuddly end with the gloriously psychedelic but bit-too-short Jellyfish Roll, a timestretched wonderland of reggae, old psychedelia, free jazz and dub. Right on. They seriously don’t come much better than this folks. Dissolving Clouds knocks spots off the competition, hides its car keys and makes obscene phone calls to its younger sister in the middle of the night. Oodles of respect and love for a CD I’m going to be addicted to for a long time yet.