Sasha "Airdrawn Dagger"
Audio CD (5 August, 2002) <---I have the promo cd released a month or so ago in mp3 form.
Tracklisting is as follows (taken from a review on amazon.co.uk):
1. Dremples 1:23
A short burst of shimmering, bleepy, analogue soundscape clocking in at just under a minute and a half. A warm-up to get your ears attuned.
2. Mr Tiddles 4:53
As with much of the album, 'Mr Tiddles' seems to pay tribute to an era in the early Nineties when artists such as Spooky and The Drum Club were at their peak. A cool, understated five minute introduction that unfurls with all the production manners of Future Sound Of London circa 'Lifeforms', it's bass-heavy with loads of delay, like a Germanic minimalist cathedral of synthetic sound supplemented with massive, washing synth sounds.
3. Magnetic North 5:17
A bass pattern rises out of the darkness. A flurry of shuddering drums and shifting, haunting keys. This is where things move subtly up a gear with a glimmer of a nu-skool breaks rhythm track.
4. Cloud Cuckoo 8.26
A pure ethereal soundtrack with menacing keys is split by a tough West Coast drum pattern with an up-front snare sound. More deep, brooding, bass-heavy breakdowns with cascading synth patterns filtering down. Ends with a Jan Hammer/Miami Vice-style drum stab and melts directly into. . .
5. Immortal 4:54
A brooding, buzzing nu-skool bassline underpins this downbeat slice of breakbeat. Hovering around the 110 bpm mark, the track is covered in crisp, cut-up hi-hats (sounding like high-pitched scratching) with a rising and descending 'horror movie' hook line the creates a lot of tension. Includes another rippling bass breakdown. Wouldn't sound amiss in a Meat Katie DJ set.
6. Fundamental 9:13
Dark, robotic breakbeat atmospherics with a touch of the Timo Maas in the bassline and lots of twisted filters. Morse code bleeps play in the upper frequencies. Really kicks in round the six minute mark and rides the same dark riff for a further three minutes. A Mixmaster Morris-ish take on current fixations with all things electro.
7. Boileroom 7:04
A looped-backwards brassy sample cycles round before exploding into a classic Sasha breakbeat - lots of space and contrast between pounding low notes and trebly rhythm track. High bell notes play against twisted electronic noises further down. A BT-style crescendo around the two minute mark reminds of the days when Sasha used to cane 'Embracing The Sunshine'.
8. Bloodlock 7:53
The track that's most akin to 'Xpander'. A floor-shaking bass rumble growls along as more synth arpeggios cascade down. A hi-hat pattern plays left and right in the speakers and a marching pattern plays towards the end, rising in frequency. Very Orbital-ish and something of an updated tribute to the early sound of Sven Vath's Eye-Q imprint.
9. Requiem 6:08
Like incidental music from Bladerunner, this track betrays Sasha's love of movie soundtrack dynamics and looks to Vangelis for epic inspiration. Heavy delay cuts up an almost guitar-sound melody that descends into computer game bleeps that in turn fade to echo.
10. Golden Arm 5:45
A cute melody cycles round before the 4/4 bass kicks in with a very 'Euro' rhythm pattern. The bass and deep synth are linked in a rising and falling cycle while echoing noises play beneath. The closest thing to a pop song on the album.
11. Wavey Gravy 7:29
'Wavey Gravy' was previewed on Sasha's boat party at The Miami Winter Music Conference and is the album's most obvious contender for first single. Like Kevin Beber reworking one of Hybrid's more symphonic excursions, this seven-minute cut is built on a strong rim-shot rhythm pattern. Evoking images of sunshine falling through leaves, this is another track with a touch of Vangelis about it, with a blissful, swooping synth melody that plays to fade.
I'd have to agree with every track discription. This cd is a great cd for headphone listening.
It has so much going on in it. Tracks 1-4 really get you in a relaxed mood as it surrounds you in an ambient soundscape of wonderfull sounds. Tracks 5-7 showoff Sashas breakbeat abilities. Track 7 really explodes and is the highlight breakbeat track IMO! Track 8 starts to slow things back down a bit and then the gorgeous track 9 "requiem" takes you on an epic journey through space.
Its beautiful. Track 10 starts to get things moving again but it keeps things steady and doesn't get too fast and it bleeds nicely into track 11 "wavey gravy" which is probably going to be the most popular song from this album. All in all I can't think of a better all around album off the top of my head. Sasha at his best. I heard the album he and BT were working on is finished and looking to be released soon as well. Should be good.
However I must mention Sashas new upcoming album titled "Airdrawn Dagger". All I have to say is if you have the means then give this guy a listen. Then be sure to pre-order your copy asap. This cd is nothing short of amazing. This topic has been dead for a while. I'm new so hopefully I can breathe some new life back into it and see if any of you are still around and as much into trance as I am. Peace.
