Hallucinogen In Dub Twisted (UK)

I’d expected this to be brilliant – but not this brilliant. Freelance producer and general sonic experimentalist Ott (read this week’s interview to find out how he put some of the sounds together) comes from a full-blown studio engineer background, working with the likes of Brian Eno, the Orb and even James. Freelancing for Youth, he met Simon Posford at London’s Butterfly Studios, and now lays down some seriously heavyweight remixes of Hallucinogen’s classic tuneage. Mi-Loony-Um opens with the same intro as the floormashing 4-4 original, and then buzzes right down to a slower, heavy dub tempo signalling that you’re about to be taken deeper than you’ve ever been before. It’s jaw-dropping, with the trademark hallucinogen sound more felt than heard. It’s pure dub, with hefty bass, plenty of topend splurge, a groove that’d melt butter and at eleven minutes plus it’s a perfect duration to get one on, light up, and float back. Solstice uses a more discernable skeleton of the original, and builds up some insanely gorgeous patterns, with rhythms shifting all over and melodies coming in and out of nowhere. It’s got a heavy druidic vibe, and a more complex set of atmospheres than you’ve ever heard before. Gamma Goblins and things get very, very good indeed. The pixielike main melody is underset by fat, red-eye rasta pure dub… and it’s a sheer fucking delight. You always had the suspicion that Hallucinogen’s stuff would lend itself well to dub – and this proves you right. It’s a dub circus with flecks of the original souping in and out, and the effect is truly psychedelic. Spiritual Antiseptic uses the original’s cutup vocals with a more traditional dub arrangement – melodica, clattering drums, and reverb to hell and back. Meanwhile LSD takes the intro and launches straight out into an insanely gorgeous bit of dub – the clatters and spaciness make this possibly the most shpongle-like on the album, and the new vibe and melodies Ott prescribes give it a trippy Celtic vibe. Twisting and turning, the way the main LSD melody surfaces is pure sonic poetry, and certainly gets those brain chemicals flowing. Finally Angelic Particles – with swirling vocals and sweet guitar (specially recorded by Simon Posford) creating a sort of timeless dub full of rich psychedelic harping back to Floyd, Gong and the Grateful Dead. This is an absolute triumph – it’s original, it’s brave, and the sounds are truly transporting making this a release that truly deserves the "psychedelic" tag. Not just an album to enjoy, but one to experience – and for a damn long time as well.