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BUY + LISTEN |
SASHA - FUNDACION NYC (GLOBAL UNDERGROUND) |
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I’ve not always been able to get all the way into the really subdued ethereal trance-house thing, such as Sasha has on tap on “Fundacion NYC.” At the same time, I fully understand - even if I don’t fully appreciate - the appeal of such tunage. It’s sort of a double-edged sword. When you combine reserved, non-aggressive and unassuming dance beats with quiet, ethereal melodies, you can produce subtley engaging textures that have - on a much less aggressive scale -the psychedelic appeal of psytrance and the floataway feel of ambient and chillout, but sometimes that subtle approach can reduce the accessibility of the music, as well, and leave one feeling like the tunes are trying to straddle the fence between music that dances and music that chills. I’m torn, really, and quite often it’s a case of mood, too. But Sasha here has done a great job creating solid atmosphere out of pseudominimalist trance/house music, and his progressive approach is actually quite functional. The music slowly builds from extremely calm ethereal dance and slowly builds - never leaving etherea, mind you - with the music becoming a little more peaked and out front before it’s all said and done. The prog trance aspect of this disc spreads across all the tracks as a complete work rather than multiple climaxes within each piece, track from track. This isn’t - to use an analogy - a wild night of fucking, but rather a long, slow, building, smooth, tender bout of making love. It’s not the most energetic, rocketing sex, repeated until exhaustion sets in, but it is soft and gentle and ultimately satisfying. -- review by Kristofer Upjohn
The disc starts off fairly dramatically with computers talking and such. As the beat begins ever so gently, we're taken into "Four Squares". Having been to 3 Fundacion parties thus far in NYC & Philly, I can tell the Maven is going to work already. The mix is melodic and it is layered with a high level of complexity. "Another Way" brings a hammered key melody that's very whimsical and dreamy. There is an electro-type breakdown with some distant vocals that flows back into a heavier 4-4 beat. This song has a new school- dirty electro melody coupled with the hammered melody from earlier on. The beauty of Sasha's machine is clear. Elements of the first song continue on 5 minutes into the second. On into "Tides" There is a great delay effect that flows directly into Bajka's vocals, also delayed with precision timing. The ever-evolving mix carries on into "Innocent Thoughts", with a harder snare and a more piercing melody.
Not long until we're onto the next track, "All That Matters", with it's fantastic bass line and cool edits. One minute later, we're on into "One, Two, Three". It's dreamy, maintaining the previous bass line in the distance. More cool edits and sounds attend the segue into the quirky "99 & a Half". The drawn out synths accompany a recurring bell melody along with the outbreak of occasional old school video game sounds. 99.5 then breaks into a driving progressive saw like bass line accented with very housy snares and kicks. Back to the bell melody and into "Come to Me (Last Version). Some great synth work here along with the bell melody still holding on. All types of glitchy shearing sounds emerging as I observed @ the Parties in NYC. They are joined by a deep dark bass line. Heavenly Vocals become stuttered and a new snare fades in. Creeping synths lead us into the club mix of "Come To Me". Haunting melodies now invade the soundscape and a marching beat begins to emerge while a bouncy bass line brings the sound into full swing. The computeresque eerie melody is driving and creepy. The extended mix continues along with some great vocal edits. The bouncing melody is then accompanied by a low end, fat bass line. Twinkling notes dash about at random as this ever changing mix gets more and more deep and complex. The mix itself is full of buildups and breakdowns, truly exposing Sasha's freedom with the Maven.
Back to the mix:
"Jah" breaks into the mix with bubbling bass and flanged snares. Stuttered synths lead into more 4-4 goodness. Progressive synths filter on and off building in intensity and break into a fluid bass line. As I'm typing, I didn't even realize that I'm now into "Behind the Wheel". The melody is very familiar due to my frequenting the parties in NYC & Philly. "Behind The Wheel" now winding down, the simplicity returns. A new quirky bass line returns with Tiefschwaz's Dub of "Electromagnetic". Very electro, very good. He's beginning to re-layer, with great care. Sporadic bongos and electronic guitar and laser sounds barrage the listener. A great breakdown is followed by a re-edited version of the melody. Back into "One, Two, Three" Briefly before jumping into James Holden's "Safari" Really groovy, with some wicked electronic maracas. Glitchy goodness returns again as the layers build. Eerie vocal edits lead into a stabby bass line and some more freaky samples. More vocal edits stutter into a grooving 4-4 and we're on our way to "Backlight Fantasy" a good two minutes before the song technically begins, according to the track times. As Backlight begins, you get that peak hours slammin goodness. It won't be long now before you're jumping up and down in your cubicle like I am. It's only going to get better from here. "Strict Machine" begins with a slamming kick and snare, as anticipated. Distorted synths all around. More guitar synths and a hard rock feel really get the foot tapping. The bass line is orgasmic. Syncopated hi hats just add to growing urge to get up and dance in my office. Enter stage right: Some more eerie vocals in the breakdown, and the guitar is filtered to the dirtiest possible setting. On our way to "Don't Save Us From the Flames" and we're marching along kick snare kick snare. Mellow vocals are moved along with the whole electro package: dirty bass line, kick and extended high-pitched snare. I'm speechless. BUY THIS ALBUM!!!
-- review by Paul Agemian
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