[bluespectralmonkey]

BRETHREN
Legend of Cane
[Nexus Media 2006]

“Brethren are Brothers in DanceFloor Destruction. This album is

the electrifying collaboration between siblings Phyx and

Tickets. The Summs boys deliver a dynamite package of serious

power and a delicate musical touch; and combined with the

mastering of the Artifakt™ it’s an awesome listening and

dancefloor experience. This is the 3rd installment in the NeXuS

MeDiA Twilight Series, following on from the Source V/A and the

recent Pitch Hikers Album.

Evolve your listening with Brethren and The Legend of Cane”

after 4 strong releases on compilations: firewall, mass

distraction, midnight storm, and wildspirits strongmedicine

(which represent the some of the main forces in south african

psytrance) these two brothers create an undeniably powerful and

unique sound! Something about the title makes me think this may

have been a reggae album in a previous life… but definitely

not anymore, check it out!

1. the infidel
2. neo cells
3. mayhem
4. wolf part II
5. peking duck
6. cold fusion rmx
7. russian roulette
8. odyssey
9. shaka
10. ascendancy

1. a nice rolly hardprog tune unravels as it goes, bouncy as all

get. phyx leads the drive here as things become a step more

rolly and ravin'! single stabby notes punctuate a grooving

underbelly and several layers make for a full sounding

choonbeast. theres a playful edge to it, the last blast has all

the eq lights working fully, the lead arpeggio done up right

with a touch of sizzle, and building to a fine crescendo.

2. “oh my god whats the matter, who are you!?”, “1,507

systems…” samples seem a bit hasty, but overlooking those

first minute quirks, the tune does nicely to work itself into a

bit of a frenzy tho staying firmly in the same category as the

last. perhaps a bit more groove in the lead early on, developing

further into a shred of acid twistedness. nice. but, then the

sample comes back to stop the building dance. they quickly kick

back off hardstyle tho throwing a heavylead over the top of the

project. “this computer virus” visits for a second, and the

“systems” come back a couple more times. the acidswingin tune is

just enough to keep me interested despite the samples that seem

unrelated and distracting.

3. “the first 5 minutes nobodys gonna have a clue whats going

on” — “try to stay relaxed…” a deeper approach on this one

from the start. “dont do any thing to draw attention to

yourself…” slightly metallic edge, crisp percussion, and then

it just drops us tingling into a great lead, all at once sizzly

and uplifting. a tasty combination of sound, just the right

amount of distortion… round halfway point it shifts a bit,

getting deeper and more dancy in my ears. adding some high

accent notes make for a brief epic feel, very nice.

4. this one comes off from the jump as a bit more of a morning

track, hints of bouncing funk and horny stabs, winding up a grip

so tight. driving pounding zipping accents and a few yahoos in

there also. as things get more sizzly, the rotating floor starts

getting slippery also, your feet sliding on warm and warbling

texture. everything turns into a bigroom reverb before the lead

comes to restructure and the whole upward envelopment thing

happens, where all of a sudden youre back in the thick of it.

only now its got a shred more aggression. one more trick and we

get another bit on which to chew before it deepens to fade.

theres one arpeggio thats perhaps a bit repetitive, but fully

actualized nonetheless.

5. “sending you to kansas, wichitaw…you are the next courier”

the theme is set as a little sad tune shows you the feeling of

the tale that is about to be told. as we go deeper, bring your

snorkel. the almost menacing climbing filtersweeps bring us down

into a groove, with a few well tuned stabs playing thier part to

set the pace. your robotic octo-duck tourguide shows you the

depts of “the vault”. its octo-beak chirping away. i can see it

now…. the little sad song comes back and the throb begins

again. back to driving the submarine, phosphorescent jellyfish

twirl you in thier long tentacles, and silvery fish jet past,

racing the waves in an epic journey that aims you straight into

the setting sun. you can still hear the ol' octa-duck in the

distance…

6. again a deep pump starts us off, nicely in the thick of it.

“youre oll going to die down here” a girl says, catches me

offguard every time. very recognizeable sounding themes from

these artists resonate thier style powerfully. it spaces out to

a slowdown build, with streaky fx showing you how fast youre

about to go… the elevator goes up and up, youre looking out

the windows wondering wtf? and off you go!! wait, no, it catches

a couple times before it stops completely, perhaps a bit too

dramatic? gotta build it back from just a couple notes again…

when it does come back after a full minute plus, its got a great

lifting power, and you start to lift off again, thru the clouds,

triumphant and proud. and dancing into the day.

7. have you ever tried wobble crispy? yeah, thats what im talkin

about…its the new style. plenty of nutrition to keep you

going. vitamins and all that, spirulina even. your mitochondria

get funky. but wait, its down on the sly… “whats this chicken

scratch? its cuneiform, its about 4000 years old… “blah blah

“survive?” after that, its still undercover, but yeah, we got

the goods. “its cuneiform, its about 4000 years old, old old..”

well i guess they had it figured out. just the right amount of

digital edge, metallic circuitry forming organized forms

independently, youre driving thru tunnels that are being built

before you, and youre told, again, “its about 4000 years old,

old old..” this tune allllmost had me! but something about that

sample made me skip this one every time while waiting at

trafficlights.

8. now this is the one i kept going back to while listening to

this cd in my car for a week… the deep night, driving, lights

going past… spiralling outward from a centerpoint, and adding

warmth that moves the arms– extensions of the heart, vibrating,

emotion flows but comfortably, that feeling that the music is

supporting you on your journey. a bit of tasteful grindy crunch

in there after the first movement, the machine calls to us. then

the Music comes back, that Muuuusic. sweet and deep keyshift

rolling bassline that just throbs, the kind you want to hear

from over the field as you approach the dancefloor. when you get

there, the melody starts to blow wind up your shorts, and

everything falls into place, smiles flow, and your fingers and

toes flicking pumping multicolored waves of joy out. the over

the top winner on this disc, there's just something about it.

9. i feel like im running out of ways to say: stabby uplift

rolly jammer… having a hard time with this one, its a bit more

ravey than my fingers know what to type. there's just something

about it… strangely familiar,and while functional, theres

perhaps better. maybe someone else will lose marbles to this,

but i yearn more for whatever that something was about the epic

bounce of the last tune. but i gotta say, brother, see for

yourself…

10. slowing it down a notch, and “regret never, temptation

always, this is the essence of consciousness…” add 2 pinches

of glitch, and then go deeper. clappin it, and grooving with a

subdued microacid swing. spacing out for another buildup, this

one with a bit more openness on the top, sounds finding thier

niche, and spacing out again. “the choice between good and evil

which is the essence of temptation…” the final arpeggirun

phasing your stereo as the groove builds underneath. with a bit

of tasty grindistortion to finish us off.

After hearing this what must have been 10 times so far, parts of

it grab me and spin my brain, other parts sound like they were

trying hard to act more like the juice. theres moments of

brilliance in every track and a few just rule it completely. the

brothers have definitely found an enjoyable middleground to

create jams, perhaps with a result that they didnt take too many

risks stylistically. a solid first release, maybe further

exploration will show a shred more diversity?

favorites: 3, 5, 8!, 10

http://www.psyshop.com/shop/CDs/nex/nex1cd007.html
http://www.saikosounds.com/english/display_release.asp?id=5542
http://www.nexus-media.co.za/

[Author]

Posts