Tumult – Inpsyde Media

Really uneasy listening. I think I’m a pussy, and/or getting old, because I couldn’t really handle this much; and when I could, it was in small doses. Apologies then for a disjointed review… but it’s not my fault. Derango are rated and respected producers, and we know this from their stuff on compilations. Think dissociated, think manic, think superlative headache-trance performed by a post-electro convulsive therapy Jack Nicholson in One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest. Deranged opens up the madess, with pummelling shitstepping vibes all over the place. The central break is quirky as hell, with sounds almost falling apart before mooching back in together. Plenty of changes as well, keeping things cerebral as well as darkly psychological. Confusion Is Next keeps those electrodes fully charged, with a couple of twists and changes that had me grinning at their ballsiness and execution – though it could be because of all the chemicals this album has been pumping into my brain. Made Out Of Vapour has one of the best trance bassline twists I can remember hearing, with this insane pounding BANGwhumBANGwhumBANGwhumBANGwhum going on… would scare even the most hardened group of ‘avin it pikeys. Masterdamnit has a cracking intro before going utterly mental, and All Channels Open makes Azax Syndrom sound like The Carpenters. The Poisonous Square is a cracker: it starts with a deliciously fucked up sample at the start, and then goes on a truly psychedelic journey. Artists such as Eskimo who have made the build/peak/drop/repeat formula so dominant this year would be well advised to check stuff like this. It reminds you that psytrance (yes, and Goatrance) used to take you on journeys throughout a track; it also reminds you that you can still get this, but you have to dig a little deeper than yer standard ten quid party. Lost Theory is truly bonkers, it made me feel seasick listening to it (especially on headphones) which is insanely clever to genuinely accomplish within the confines of dance music when you think about it. Fnatt is just a delight. Seriously wonderful stuff, and the closest to true Jazz I think I’ve ever heard in psytrance. The way the sound stretches out of the 4/4 is amazing: it really sounds like something inherently solid is being stretched. It all comes together, for me, on We’re All Mad Here, a hefty almost-nine-minutes that has more variation and dynamicism on its own than you get in most sets. Its genius, end of: a smooth opening progresses through increasing insanity into a crazy, one-too-many psychedelic midsection, then falls away into a brief (too brief) mulch of chilled jazz noodles that… well, just sort of fade out. This, make no mistake, is a fucking brilliant album. You might find however that, like me, solid or repeated listening is a bit awkward. Nighttime DJs should check this out, as well as fans of the whole Giiwa / Suomi thing, as well as anyone who is seriously interested in how dance music might next evolve.