What's This About? 

Psyfactor (Dimitry Korablin), the Russian spawn released his debut last year Evil Inside showing his primeval face as a night-time trancer with mixed reactions from the public. That same year Ajana records caught up to the idea of releasing chill out tunes from artists normally bent on assaulting the speakers with hectic beats. In the roster Psyfactor showed another side of the coin and so we learned, perhaps it wasn’t such a great idea to corner producers in little boxes and genre’s, since inspiration and creativity is after all shapeless and transient. Endless Universe retakes that ideal with new tunes from someone who would normally be cranking it up at 150, by crossing over to the chill out room.

Per-Track

( 1 ) Enchanted loopy loops hang in the periphery, stretching effortlessly through the bars without concern for time. Could be a good indication of why people refer to this genre as ‘spacey’. In the interim a fair share of swooshy action and a lot of introspection, that is about the only thing that can be gathered from Eyes Reflecting Universe and not a whole lot more. Despite the minimal approach to the production -which at this point is going to be making or breaking this CD for you- unfolds calmly & completely beatless. *

( 2 ) The second chapter conveys a dimming IDM appearance with really familiar pads and a sputtering excuse for a beat that calls out Aes Dana at times. Here we sink with the interplay of two or three recurrent elements arming a melodic chain that knots through, while the underbelly adds up with a generous amount of bass. Yes, it is simple and at this point the Walk on the Milky Way could use a few interesting turns to surprise us. But when things are this calm, I can’t help but thinking of it as great music to carry out personal endeavors: writing a paper, cranking out Photoshop, passing out for a nap… either way. *

( 3 ) In Synergy any peaceful attempts we might be having of dozing out are abruptly interrupted by a scrumptious undertones in the form of breaks and tuneful pads, with long winded synths in the vein of old-schooler Humate. The synergy is then, a convection of the frequency ranges in one sonic doze. So, the beat definitely a good addition to spice things up.*

( 4 ) Hard to pin down a specific genre to define Freefalling Upwards which in essence carries a bit of that melodic strand we would expect from Aphex Twin, circa his Selected Ambient works volume one. The beat once again gives it some movement but throughout eight minutes, it turns a bit droning without much change. It is nevertheless strangely touching.

( 5 ) We are close to the sunrise and the waves of light, progressively give life to an otherwise dark and drab existence… And so it’s Early Morning and the beginning -like most tunes- instantly grabs me but the attention does not last long on this one. The tune could have been a great homage to Sasha’s Airdrawndagger but we are nowhere near it. It’s very emotional and I get it, in a lump-of-cheese-stuck-in-my-throat kind of way and no gulp of wine is big enough to sink it in.

( 6 ) Underwater comes with drops of squeky-screetchy drops, gently gliding down as the pads do their sweet love affair to the toned down rhythm. It is nothing overly original and is not surprising if you pair it up with the rest of the tunes here. The fact the album is already deluged with external influences does not lend much to originality, but I can’t help liking what I hear. Can’t help wondering how a little more work and interaction would have made something memorable either.

( 7 ) The idea of calling a track Molecular Design might imply a level of detail to entail such name, it could be the blip-ie pads or simply an abstract implication. The percussion present is another doze of familiar breaks and heart-aching lines that explode well by the end, as every element is conjured into place. *

( 8 ) Yet another doze of winded melodies and spacey padding that gives way to a beat that never leaves the initial break. Like is standard the output is pleasing by all means, leaving what seems to me like a carcass of something greater to eventually develop. By itself it does work and the melodic side shows proficiency, I don’t know if Venus Seven was meant to be much more.

( 9 ) The space ride ends in a special dedication to countrymen Zolod in his Steps Leaving, without making much fanfare. A sweet piece with intricate water-dropping samples passed through a filter as if the particles had been pixilated. There is a seed for magnificence here in the sentimentality that develops in timely fashion.

All in All Coming from a notorious dark head this CD is a surprise in many ways. Despite the fact we are drifting to very straightforward ambient wholly inspired by the Old Guard of chill, it unearths familiar territory in my book. Some of these tracks might end up a dead alley with bland content, but for someone who started listening to electronic music because of acts like old Aphex Twin, Global Communication and perhaps Tangerine Dream, the kinship in Dimitry’s work spells out nostalgia and certainly glee in the simplicity of his work. Some people will define it as underachieving… I think that if Ishq could get away with something like Orchid, there should be room for something like this in your repertoire. At the end, Endless Planets is going to be saved mostly for those nights when all I want is to float in my bed late at night, accompanied by my headphones before I pass out to dreamland – hopefully I will remember to load this one up.