A Deeper View - Creamcrop

Creamcrop are one of the planet’s finest purveyors of the stripped-down trance sound, and this CD is full of immaculately-produced deep and distant slices of progressive bliss. Triplex’s Kavirna is low set and with an almost shuffled feel, very desolate and deep stuff... nightmare future sort of thing. The tempo is a little muddy but this adds to the overall fear factor. Igneous Sauria’s Thick Rubber is very busy with neat electro-twists on the percussion, the backend is typically sparse with the track’s energy coming from the well-layered snares, rims and hats. Impressive stuff. Front Minimale’s Bugs In My Acid is a quirky and grinning beast, the mechanical pop-pop keeping things bubbling along while some very creepy noises filter in and out over the top. Yumade’s Time Stress is quirky as anything, with distorted stabs sitting in the mix. There’s a lot going on in this one, and the effect is of vintage techno and really keeps the pace upbeat, jiggy and funky. Vaishiyas’ Icelander is another oddfellow, sort of a George Clinton vibe with seamless changes, twists at every corner, and a totally unique flavour, while Etnoscope’s Vattensorja has production that sounds like it’s playing a field and a half away at some black acid outdoor party. Navajo & Jens’ Dark Age is very in-ya-face, with cascading sounds building up the intensity then gently letting it subside, and again the stabs and analog swirls used are crazy stuff. Paps’ Electo Caution is a walk along the bad side of town, with filtered beats going crazy and gradually giving a disjointed, schizophrenic vibe and finally Navajo’s Dreamcatcher is a dark and angry boiler, sending shivers down the spine and having a very infectious groove. An impressive release from Creamcrop, showing that minimal doesn’t have to be all about stripped down trance that adds a snare every so often to keep things moving. This is genuinely different, innovative stuff that’s close to forming a new style all of its own.