Customer Reviews

Drystar

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Airlock is NOT just another electronic/trip-hop outfit with a female vocal! Airlock is a side project of a state of the art studio in Brussels named Musicom. They produce music for a living, scoring ads, shows, films, documentaries, and events. This explains both the STELLAR production quality and the diverse styles on Drystar. True, it is their debut, but half of the tracks (4, 6, 7, 10, 12, 13, and 14) were underscores pulled from other projects. They teamed up with vocalist/lyricist Esra Tasasiz for the remaining 7 tracks as "Airlock."
Esra is also not the typical lounge vocalist. This is her only work other than singing in her local church in Scotland. Her voice is not really anything amazing, but she sings well and into beautiful Neumann mic. What I appreciate most about her singing is the lyrics. She is a Christian and it comes through in some of her lyrics. (Oddly, the most christian-sounding lyrics were paired with the darkest-sounding instrumentations.)

Now for some listener notes:

The overall tone of this album is pretty grungy, yet the production quality is very transparent. This combo makes for some really crushing tracks!

Tracks 9-11 have absolutely killer intros that I always play to test new stereo equipment.

Tracks 1, 5, and 11 have truly lovely orchestral intros, thanks to their day job of scoring productions.

Tracks 7 and 10 are very slick chilled instrumentals, but the other five instrumentals are fairly bland, as they are underscores.

Even if you don't like the music, if you think you have a good system, you really ought to hear the noted tracks in full quality! :)

Airlock is NOT just another electronic/trip-hop outfit with a female vocal! Airlock is a side project of a state of the art studio in Brussels named Musicom. They produce music for a living, scoring ads, shows, films, documentaries, and events. This explains both the STELLAR production quality and the diverse styles on Drystar. True, it is their debut, but half of the tracks (4, 6, 7, 10, 12, 13, and 14) were underscores pulled from other projects. They teamed up with vocalist/lyricist Esra Tasasiz for the remaining 7 tracks as "Airlock."
Esra is also not the typical lounge vocalist. This is her only work other than singing in her local church in Scotland. Her voice is not really anything amazing, but she sings well and into beautiful Neumann mic. What I appreciate most about her singing is the lyrics. She is a Christian and it comes through in some of her lyrics. (Oddly, the most christian-sounding lyrics were paired with the darkest-sounding instrumentations.)

Now for some listener notes:

The overall tone of this album is pretty grungy, yet the production quality is very transparent. This combo makes for some really crushing tracks!

Tracks 9-11 have absolutely killer intros that I always play to test new stereo equipment.

Tracks 1, 5, and 11 have truly lovely orchestral intros, thanks to their day job of scoring productions.

Tracks 7 and 10 are very slick chilled instrumentals, but the other five instrumentals are fairly bland, as they are underscores.

Even if you don't like the music, if you think you have a good system, you really ought to hear the noted tracks in full quality! :)

A pinch of Hooverphonic, a dash of AIR, and the essence of early Sneaker Pimps makes one fine electronica brew known as Airlock. With its minor-key string arrangements, my favorite track is Slipinside, where Esra Tasasiz's voice evokes retro James Bond theme songs such as "You Only Live Twice." The song starts out as a dreamy love song then crushes you with the line "All I want... is to be your friend." Having your heart ripped out never felt so good.

After the first three songs, "Drama", "Slipnslide", and "Face Down", I thought I was in for a good ambient vocal trance mix. I was blown away when "DJ Risk Vs Airlock" came on with no vocals, hitting base beat, and some superb scratching. "Movement in the 2nd City" also relies heavily on scratching while songs like "On The 2nd Floor" use it as an accompaniment to a sweet jazz piano. "Quiet Hour" is the darkest of the vocal songs while others include "Esacpe" and "Alpha". Many songs, "Drama", have an orchestra accompanying the singer's, who is quite good, vocals. Good for chilling, background music, and long drives.

The lead singer of this band, despite what the other reviewers have written, sounds NOTHING like the nasal drone of Madonna. Nor, is the music exactly triphop.

What we have here is another Belgian electronica band that plays it a little safter than their country-folk, Hooverphonic. Airlock takes its lead from Bjork's cafeteria-style music experience, throws in a dash of Zero 7's laconic female vocals, takes a run around the instrumental-funk track of Thunderball, and mashes up Morcheeba's DJ spins and crunchy samples to reveal a shiny new disc of airy tunes and some surprisingly muscular techno-trance numbers!

Get it? Got it? Good!

One interesting note, the song "Alpha" sample the strings from the Neneh Cherry song, "Woman," the title song to Renny Harlin's action film, "The Long Kiss Goodnight." Talk about obscure!

I knew of this group from a few import downtempo collections I had purchased. So I decided to get the album since it was just released in the states. I was expecting a good album, but nothing like this. The female vocals over trip-hop esque beats drew me in like no othe chillout compilation I had heard. This is pure beauty at its best. A must have for any downtempo enthusiast!

I've read so many postive reviews for works not even close to the talent I hear on this cd. sweet vocals, intelligent electronica!
I would like to bring Madonna into this, because I'm tired of reading the review that compares this to Madonna. I have Madonna's cd American Life its nice pop and to me a little ugly at that but so is American Life... However, at night I prefer something unWINEding and relaxing for my experience... This cd is a wonderful night time bliss... Yours, Babbes...

Airlock's debut album _Drystar_ come on the heels of the whole downtempo craze, and it's pleasant, if not particularly memorable, trip-hop. The orchestral sweep of "Drama 73" or the swooning "Slipinside" bode well, even if the scratching at the start of "DJ Risk vs. Airlock" or the emotive textures of "Alpha" seem by-the-numbers. The title track is grittier and instrumental, which adds a nice contrast to the smoothness elsewhere. "In the Mouth of the Fish" also has a appealing folksy quality to it, and "Awakening" comes on like a bed of rose petals. "Dramatic" combines a deep bass with a gravelly beat and a light guitar line -- nothing groundbreaking, but enjoyable. Sort of like the album as a whole.

I have to give it up for this band. For this to be a debut it is Phenomenal! "Slipinside" is a beautiful song the Production is amazing! This group touches on everything from Hip Hop, To Ambient sounding tracks. The lead Vocalist can really sing without disrupting the music. There is little more I can say about this band the debut speaks for itself. The lead vocalist would put you in the mind of Madonna after she got vocal lessons. This is got to be the best Blend of Trip Hop since the departure of Mandalay. Definitley check out Mandalay's Empathy & Instinct..if you love this band. This band can only show promise, somethings get better with time like Vinegar!...

If this had come out, oh say, in '92, I would've given it a second listen. This is the kind of stuff people like Madonna are doing now (but with more sass, and better production), and this is the kind of stuff what infinitely better ensembles such as Goldfrapp are riling againt - trite coffee-table music for yuppies. Egghh...who still drinks coffee...?