Chillbase

For the last half decade Alexandre Scheffer has traveled the globe sowing vivid audio landscapes in the minds of the inhabitants who have heard the allure of his morning siren song. Now deep within the mystery of the fog lies an expansive, enigmatic and enthralling new world of Hanging Masses. An experimental and unique experience, unlike any journey before, uncannily familiar, but still as illusive as trying to capture the Sunrises’ first mist… Welcome

Whispering ambient as soft as the breeze moves in through the darkness across you, gently drawing you forward. Suddenly, light. The energetic waves stretch with radiance, deep into you, ‘Calling’. Off in the distance, a glitch drone sounds like a machine hard at work while inaudible conversations take place. The talking subsides the main melody breaks the silence… when you hear the call. Reality flashes past you on galloping psychedelic rhythms. You gravitate towards the center of all that is. Ethereal ambient entities beckon, accented by thoughtfully complex IDM percussions; the kick drum marches around like a shaman. Everything lulls; “Raise your right hand please” is vaguely heard, the original melody merges back in. A gentle guitar line sings out as the dreamy world disappears like the heat mirage on a road inside your mind.

A warm reverberating bass bathes everything; the droning electrical field oscillates inside of the communicative scratches and clicks of electric impulses. The entire network begins to fire as more of the barriers ‘Switch Off’. Impulses evolving, twinkling bells slip in and out, all encompassing synth lines roll through like tidal waves. The interconnectivity escapes into a Downtempo nexus from the Ultimae “people of the arts”. Hearing the field fluctuations again the impulses slowly die out, sputtering and spitting as they do.

The core energy vibrations drone inside your head, everything in this place moves at different speeds, but with the motion of one existence; ‘Second Shape part I’. Through the surface there is a knocking followed by warm bass reverberating; gaseous ambient tendrils drifting off the object which breathes in sync with the rotating frequency. A forlorn cry erupts from the center. Pianos shed tears of energy down the façade. Turning and spiraling around, all of its parts moving, the shape slowly begins to break down, dissolving into thin air.

The fog retreating from your mind, your eyes begin to come into focus from a, ‘Risky Nap Under Blue Tree’. Inquisitive Rhodes whisper to you, the enticing bass moves an elegant interplay expressing for you to savor this tentative moment. Rising up, the gently filtered breaks spread like intoxicating pollen, surrounding you. The breaks continue to build as other worldly ambient apparitions move in and out of your field of vision. A funky Downtempo begins to drive as the audio narcotic pumps through your ears. You drift back held aloft by the wisps, close your eyes and ride the high till it slips away with you, into unconsciousness… there, under the tree.

Moving through the cloud line, ghostly forms creep into your field of vision as you look upon the ‘Hanging Masses’. The driving pulse of the piano skips and stutters across the atmosphere, sirens pulse out along the outlines. Gentle tribal drums morph with cymbals fluttering in and out of the clouds. The drums silence as you elevate through a second layer. Bursting through the other side you are greeted by the sun and a monument in the sky. Sweeping vistas roll out on all sides, rays of light flicker and reflect along its surfaces. A blanket of warm square waves and bass pours over you as the heavens sing of this mystic place. Bells ring out as the drums go into a break down jumping and bouncing off the geometry. The bass line frees itself and everything comes alive! Zero altitude flying along the masses. You move in and out as the light and shadow plays back and forth. Looking back as the world shrinks from your view you can still hear the pulse of its greatness, as you hurdle farther into the murky unknown.

Dreamy Wisps of reality drift and twirl in spirals around you. ‘Vapor’ floats along the ground making it appear liquid. Energetic tracers fluttering in the air like charged particles. Scratches of dust methodically build as the whole world draws into you. The unknown gently calls to you, pulsing. Lonely pianos and ambient elementals float to and fro, communicating softly with each other. Cyber organic, IDM/glitch-breaks, bounce and jitter through the mist rippling its surface. The hastened patter of muffled toms; gallop increasing with the pulse. A counter melody gives a sense of urgency, the vapor is loosing is grasp over consciousness. Everything draws into itself again as the galloping intensifies. The ebb and flow of the viscous existence push and pull at you for what seems like an eternity, until you hear the scream of consciousness returning. Fading away, the creatures of the air grasp out, with their final futile attempts to seduce you.

Sleek and slender the distant drone of ‘Second Shape part II’ pulsating the space around you with hypnotic bass. Delicate ambient tentacles sway in the wind. As the object beings to twinkle and resonate; in what is so familiar a shape, but so different. Incandescent beams of energy shoot out in every direction, piercing your mind with the brilliance. Electrons of smoke orbiting around the core cause the light to bend and sparkle. A heavenly choir sings the chorus of its fine lines and curves. As the night dies, the surface begins to rotate around ever so imperceptibly feeding out along its extremities and out into nothing.

Dark blues and grays give way to purples as the first hues of the ‘Universal Sunrise’ bleed over the horizon. As the last vestiges of the night are ravenously eaten by the encroaching dawn, you are bathed in the immersing glow of the morning sun. The crisp air stirred by the heat begins to dance like photonic pixies. Regaining composure from nocturnal slumber, the world begins to come alive. Ambient pianos echo off the cool morning air, rolling over the landscape. Gentle scraps and clicks dribble and drop along the kick and bass. Chirps and squelches jabber with each other like psychedelic aviary. A universe at one with itself harmonizes the rhythm of life. A synchronicity of experience for all beings, you are drawn into this moment. Every little detail of the moment vivid to your perceptions. As you reach out to grab it the audio hologram begins to dissipate back into mist, leaving you with the silence of the place still inside your mind.

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what a beautiful poetic review

MaJah , January 07, 2010

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Thanks Maj

iTranscendence , January 07, 2010

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I have always been awed by Cell's music. It's just something else.

I've been listening to this album a lot, and I really love it. The first couple of times I heard "Second Shape part I" I didn't like it at all. I thought it was in every way to predictable, but after hearing it some times I find it absolutely mesmerizing and hypnotic.

I think I have added every single track from this CD to my 'favorites' playlist.

Also as MaJah says, what a beautiful review, Evan. I got goosebumps from reading it. Keep up the awesome work.

joybringer , January 20, 2010

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Thanks Joy, that means a lot.. I also didn't like SSp1, but when I do a review like this I spend almost an hour on each track writing the paragraph and durning that time I definitely came to appreciate what Alex was trying to convey with it.

iTranscendence , January 21, 2010

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