Unusual Suspects 2

Various

Unusual Suspects 2

Twisted (UK)

The psytrance equivalent of The Phantom Menace, because people queued for weeks outside outlets just to get hold of a copy. Possibly. Famously available in Japan for six years before released on the rest of the planet, importers (try www.Juno.co.uk, who I mention here solely in the hope of securing a future discount) are already flush, and hopefully it’s not too long before the other stores get a look in too. Younger Brother kick off with Epic Hair, which delighted me immediately as it has a similar bassline to I Feel Love, so I got my acapella collection out and did something that made me feel very, very ashamed. Otherwise, it’s got that delightful Younger Brother swagger to it, the sounds are well balanced and Posford’s unmistakeable metallic tweakery is all over it. The problem I get with this though, is it seems to warm up at around the seven minute mark, and then it all ends rather abruptly. A ten minute opener would have been an utterly awesome start to this, and Epic Hair is sort of like some nutter you meet at a bar, who you expect to go on and have amazing adventures after its encounter with you is long over. Long Long Arms by Posford & Joti (Audio Chemistry) got a good airing on the latter’s Punktuator CD, and here it sounds like the most raw on the album… it works well, I’m assuming everyone knows this one, if not refer to a few psyreviews’ back. Hallucinogen & Tristan’s Stretch Tastic is getting a lot of rotation round these parts, thanks mostly to its wholly smashing vocal samples which have been fed into one side of Posford’s brain then out the other. Add a big Hallucinogen bassline, a possibly-a-jews-harp, then morph the bassline about… For me, this is the most Hallucinogen-y track he’s done since the Lone Deranger, if we ever see a 3rd album it’s gonna be a good’un. Prometheus’ Oscar has an interesting, shifting intro, but at the point where it goes 4-4 it sort of loses its way… maybe too many ideas at once? Tristan’s Lost & Profound is awesome, though it does my head in because it sounds to me a bit like Blondie’s Atomic. It’s an awesome intro, making you wait almost 2 minutes until it drops, but then it immediately sounds like Blondie. Maybe this is the idea, maybe it’s not. Maybe you like Blondie, maybe you don’t. I f*ing hate them, so this is awkward listening. Still, it’s an effective tune and has plenty of energy and plenty of changes, the way it all moves is really quite something. On then to Metal Sharon’s Balloon Dance, the collaboration between Posford and Merv out of Eat Static. Again, it’s got hallucinogen stamped all over it (Simon, clearly you’re having the ideas and you’ve got the confidence back, so give us the album and I’ll get a petition going on psyreviews to prove to you how many people will buy it.) At about the three minute mark it crunches into a delicious line, that’s incredibly metallic but still pulls off its organic funk. Then it gets a bit fucked up, and then it comes back with that line again. Kickin. Tristan & Prometheus’ Grow More Pot is a faster, more frantic tune and almost has a technoey, Jeff Mills busy bee about it, with some psychedelic twists down in the basement…as such, it doesn’t really work. Finally, it’s Hikikomori’s Black Ops. Who is Hikikomori? Anyone? Hikikomori? No? Well, the rumour mill says it’s Ott, and I would be inclined to agree, though to perhaps say that Posford had a hand in it as well. Ott’s sample CD of African singing sits neatly over a metallique kick, with immaculately-produced sounds in the middle. It energises itself in a pretty otherworldly style, the way the sounds sort of separate from each other as this track progresses has to be heard to be believed. Okay, so what are we looking at. Two tunes that are instantly forgettable, three that are classics, and three more that are basically average. It will however sell well, as it’s the only thing to come out of the Twisted stable in donkeys, and it may well deserve to – there’s a promise here that this label can still raise the bar for the others, while simultaneously doing something completely different.