Cosmosis Contact Transient (UK)

Cosmosis returns with his trademark brand of colourful, patchwork psychedelia. What got me here, and got us so excited over this summer’s 12", is Cosmosis’ progression across his four albums. The heady lysergic wisdom of Cosmology came of age with 1998’s Synergy, and then grew up into the more sophisticated Intergalactic. Now it’s like the music’s revisiting its mum’s house for the weekend, and getting stoned in the same trees it used to as a kid – there’s a full-circle, rediscovery vibe which is sort of represented in the (excellent) organic cover art from Alex Grey. Contact kicks things off in style – a dubby, laid back opener that starts out very bottom-heavy and sparse then edges up with more colour, picking up more and more depth. It unfolds rather than progresses, and reminds you just how deep cosmo can go. Recent single Find Your Own Divinity blasts straight in, a playful and textured bassline with clattering percussion and even a Tim Leary sample over the top. What more do you need? Holographic is like watching a planetarium light show – noises flying around everywhere, bunching together and creating their own melodies. The First Step has bags of energy, a killer couple of synth riffs, remarkable sounds over the top… it’s pure Cosmosis at his best, and you won’t get better for your psychedelic dollar. Hugely danceable, with an effortless groove and dubby breaks sliding effortlessly into the 4-4. Cheers! Inner Space is very instant trance – and likely to start many a fight in trainspotters’ corners with its borderline Ferry Corsten uplifting-fluffiness. At times, it feels like the tune’s a perfect slice of euphoric psychedelic waiting for the right moment – at other times it sounds like ATB’s been on the mushrooms. Supernatural is recorded with Shakta, and it’s meaty progressive stuff with a harder attitude and a semi-menacing vibe. A distinctive sample – "space, time and energy – do I sound a little cheesy?" will place this to a lot of you, and a cracking post-cosmosis melodic midsection followed by a break that’ll bring a tear to your eye makes this very special indeed. Weird, Strange, Sick, Twisted samples Homer Simpson, over a deep atonal bass and generally kick ass ballsy attitude – if you don’t know this one already, you should. Which brings us on to… Human Evolution. A psychedelic novelty tune that’s built around the theme to 2001: A Space Odyssey. Now either this is a brilliant pisstake, or a dreadful mistake. But it sort of interrupts the flow of an otherwise very fluid album. Anyway the down-set mellow out finale of Skankadelic is nice, though you’re left a little too confused at Human Evolution to really enjoy it. All in all a loveable, organic, 3-d-psychedelic album with more than its share of wicked moments. Mature, explosive, and with an enchanted warm feeling that’s difficult to shake.

More info: www.transient.com, www.innerverse.com/cosmosis