THIS IS NOT PIRACY.

WASHED UP SCENESTERS 2oo6

Archetribe - Waterworks

Supplier .: Satan Claus
Packager .: Killer fairy
Str. Date : 00/00/0000
Rip. Date : 12/31/2006

Artist ...: Archetribe
Album ....: Waterworks
Language .: English
Genre ....: Ambient
Label ....: Stretta
Catalog # : n/a

Source ...: CDDA
Grabber...: EAC
Encoder...: LAME 3.96.1 APE
Bitrate ..: VBRkbps
Size .....: cd1: MBs

Web Site .: http://www.stretta.com

Very few recordings can be labeled as “monumental,”
but Waterworks from the quintet Archetribe might
qualify for the term. It’s not just that this 2-CD
set represents two totally disparate takes on
“ambient” music (the first disc features powerful
pulsing ethno-tribal/fusion at its finest while the
second disc contains spacious, drifting, and haunting
soundscapes), but how potent the music on both discs
is, how proficient and inspired the musicians play,
and how the overall impact is positively mesmerizing,
whether one seeks energetic and infectious
electro-acoustic grooves and melodies or mysterious
floating darkly tinted sonic portraits.

Graced with a stunningly beautiful cover featuring a
woman standing in ankle-deep water at dusk, holding a
candle over her head as if offering a beacon to ships
at sea (photo by David Mendelsohn), Waterworks simply
stuns the listener. Matthew Davidson (bass, gamelan,
guitar, keyboards, percussion, voice, war guitar),
Gunnard Doboze (clarinet, duduk), Philip Lampe
(sitar, touch guitar), Billy Miller (bouzouki,
flutes, guitar, harmonium, percussion, sitar,
tambura, whistles) and Grant Smith (percussion) weave
and wend their way through furious (and subtle)
explosions of rhythm, delicate threads of sensual
melodies, and layer upon layer of
cross-cultural/genre-blending music. There are
literally jaw-dropping moments scattered throughout
the CD, such as on the first track “From Birth to
Death” from whence amidst pulsing frenetic assorted
ethnic hand percussion an almost unearthly haunting
female wordless vocal arises. It sends chills down my
spine every time. The music then spirals into a rapid
tempo blend of electronica synthesizers and organic
percussive rhythms, with the mysterious fluid lines
of the duduk hovering above it all.

There’s the marriage of Gamelan, cello and duduk on
“Dissociative Fugue,” and the toe-tapping energy of
“Passages” which layers minor tonalities under
spirited beats alongside flitting flute work.
“Boundaries I” will appeal to fans of Tuu and o yuki
conjugate, as it slows down the percussion a bit and
adds multiple layers of swirling flutes and drones,
painting a portrait of a world drenched in shadow.
“Siew” employs state-of the-art electronics,
juxtaposed with Middle Eastern/Northern African
percussion and reverbed/echoed bell tones with the
duduk once again rising above it all. “Hubris”
represents another slowed-down less frenetic (but
still rhythmic) exploration of ethno-tribalism. The
ending cyber-pulses bring the first disc to a
memorable close.

The set’s second disc contains six tracks with the
longest being the fifteen-plus minute “Letting Go.”
As mentioned earlier in this review, the selections
here are drifting ambient music (with some occasional
sparse rhythms), usually leaning to the darker side
yet still very fluid and melodic, even melding with
spacemusic elements at times, such as on the opening
“Womb” which slowly undulates in washes of warm
synthesizers and lush synth strings. “Hope” allows
subtle electronic pulses into the mix and also
features muted duduk blended with the electronic
ambience. “Letting Go” contains the most overt
rhythms (played on hand percussion, such as water
drum) on this latter disc, but the piece is still
subdued when compared to the cuts on the first disc.
The song evolves through several stages over its
fifteen minutes, containing both shimmering “light”
synths and washes and also darker drone-like tones
and textures. “Barely Contained” belies its title at
the outset, as it starts off as perhaps the most
restrained ambient piece here, very beautiful yet
also haunting. Later in the cut, dramatic strings
impart a strong neo-classical feel to the music,
almost cinematic in impact, before submerging into an
ethereal solo wordless vocal and clock-like ticking
percussive effect. “Boundaries II” melds airy flute
with shadowy electronics, again drawing comparisons
to Tuu or similar artists. The disc concludes with
“Gyokuro,” with whispers of drones, washes, and wisps
of melody coalescing and breaking apart like
different colored inks in a pan of water.

Waterworks contains some of the best music in either
the ethno-tribal ambient (with more than a dash of
world fusion thrown in) or floating ambient subgenres
released in the last few years. That both discs come
from the same group of five musicians surely stands
as a testament to both their skills and their
artistic vision. I can’t recommend it highly enough.
It simply stands alone this year as a singular
achievement in ambient music.

This is *NOT* a substitute of the original.

01.  From Birth to Death                         07:19
02.  Dissociative Fugue                          02:47
03.  Surrender                                   07:40
04.  Passages                                    05:10
05.  Boundaries I                                06:56
06.  Perspective                                 04:32
07.  Glowing                                     03:39
08.  Siew                                        08:39
09.  While You Were Sleeping                     04:58
10.  1984                                        05:24
11.  Hubris                                      04:41

01.  Womb                                        07:31
02.  Hope                                        03:38
03.  Letting Go                                  15:42
04.  Barely Contained                            06:12
05.  Boundaries II                               08:20
06.  Gyokuro                                     06:54

110:02 min

To the involved artists : consider this release as a
free world wide promotion campaign and thanks us.
To the end (l)users : support the artist(s) or del!

Another great year passes through while your TRUE
pseudo-friends @WUS are still laying down the law both
"releasely" and verbally!

This year again we take the entire month of december to
dedicate it to the greatest of greats:  our supporters.

To all of those who believe, who help and who show your
true love to us, all of our effort (and all this great
music) goes out in YOUR honor.  Yes, it's because of
YOU that we are pushing!  And for the notoriety too, of
cuz :$.

Many blessings goes out to the beloved competition,
especially to the more mature fork of it.

And remember: in no matter how long you'll look back
into History books, no matter how hard and much your
group pushes, WASHED UP SCENESTERS does way greater.

Happy holidaze,

WUZZiES' iNK.

Thanks to our group, friends and supporters <3<3<3!

THIS IS NOT PIRACY.