Customer Reviews

Mystics (Dig)

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

 

 

... because I can at least buy the one track that gives me what I expect from yet another craptacular Ursula 1000 release.

Following on the heels of the highly disappointing Here Comes Tomorrow, Mystics continues Ursula 1000's downward spiral of vocal driven genres of music from rap to rock all mishmashed together and it marks the end of my love affair with Ursula.

Ursula 1000 is like a hot, stylish model from the '60s who is no longer sexy or interesting or even desired. Instead she's just plain old and tired and needs to disappear from the scene.

Don't get me wrong. I'm all for artists branching out and experimenting with styles and sounds but this radical departure from Ursula 1000's original style that made me a fan at least warrants a new moniker, something like Ursula 2100, to warn of the new direction.

Heck, Harmonic 33 did it by changing their name to Harmonic 313 when they decided to branch out from their Moog driven space age lounge music into a more contemporary dance driven direction. At least I was given fair warning for that change. Even Luke Vibert has different monikers for his different styles: Plug for drum'n'bass; Wagonchrist for sample heavy chill out downtempo and Kerrier District for disco acid house.

A fair warning to the old school Ursula 1000 fans: don't expect to get any of that kitschy, cool, fun dance music from the past with Mystics because you will be disappointed....again.

Mystics sees Ursula 1000 phase-shifting & conjuring up a kind of tightly-wound groove-based essence, in contrast to the previous release Here Comes Tomorrow, which featured several mini-homages to various pet styles of the producer. Now the prevailing vibe is "tension," exemplified by the coiled, staccato feeling of the track of that name. There could just as well be tracks called "Darkness," "Horror," "Dread," and "Sturm und Drang," since the listener gets a big boiling cauldron of all of that. Some characteristic ingredients of the Mystics recipe are a big, often ominous-sounding groove & then some species of musical exotica bleeding out from the groove, or alternately, unpredictable effects shooting into it. In the case of "The Wizard" the big groove is rather Can-circa-1971, and out of it come shards of Yardbirdsian raga-rock guitar leads. "Rocket" introduces a little sub-bass in the foundation of its electro groove, chased with some charming vocoder vocals & a rock organ that turns into a growling monster by the song's climax. If low frequencies make you squeamish do not enter this CD, because your body will be receiving many unclassifiable, possibly mutant strains of bass throughout the journey. Other tracks to be wary of are a gonzo, squelchy horror-rap called "Zombies" and "This Magick," which drips with creepy Bauhaus-style guitar & echoes with spoken "incantations" that suggest a lost Shangri-Las 45. One of the tracks with the most dancefloor appeal, and there are many, is the sexy "Do It Right," which bumps along with some nice recurring syncopation & many little moments that tickle the pleasure spots. It's all a very heady potion, recommended to any adventurous night traveler.

Need to get a party started? Slap this baby on!
I'm a fan of the old Ursula but happy to see them evolve out of the lounge world and into newer territory. "Rocket" has that groovy hip shaking vibe for fans of Kinda Kinky, etc but other tracks like "Mystics" and "This Magick" take it somewhere out of this world! Still fun and with the same sense of humor that Ursula always dishes out!

Oh, so Magic! An abundance of psychedelic vibrations can be found here from the breakbeat master, Ursula 1000. On his latest release, Ursula 1000 (Alex Gimeno), proves that he is a musical mystic following his own transformational path. This path may mean discarding some of his earlier, lighter lounge sounds -- but Alex rewards us with a new level of musical consciousness. Working with him to share this evolving transcendence are many willing collaborators -- each adding their own unique influence to the album's tracks. With the fabulous vocals of Sistah Widey, Rochelle Vincente Von K and others, "Mystics" reaches a new peak of funky rhythms and dangerous beats. "Mystics" is the jumpstart needed to bring the party vibe back to this crazy stressed-out world.