[bluespectralmonkey]

PITCH HIKERS
Twilight Zone
Nexus Media 2006
NEXUSCD006

1. Twilight Zone
2. Present Tense
3. Ice Queen
4. Sink In
5. Skyf
6. Colombia
7. Questions
8. Peaches
9. Game On

“PiTcH HiKeRs is the new side project of South African PsyTrance producers Shift and Slug. NeXuS MeDiA is proud to present their debut album together

“Twilight Zone”. Its difficult to describe the sound they present here. Somewhat psychedelic, but it wont make u mad. Its powerfully driving, but not for too

long. Its fat as hell, but has delicate touches too. Its got awesome groove, but doesnft get cheesy. Has sickeningly large and boisterous leads, but also

huge soundscapes and slow deep emotions. Its got melody, but cranking techno too, and an attitude. Its slightly aggressive, but entertaining and playful as

well. Its perfect for the transition from night to day. Its the Twilight Zone.”

From this promo blurb we might not know what to expect unless we are familiar with the artists involved. a bit of everything for sure… lets check it out!

1 from the start theres an atmosphere of playful menace. spooky laughing sfx set the tone over a stabbing leadline, soon joined by long keys and a nicely

tuned arpeggisynth… the bassline begins to roll and things get crunchy. spiralling inward we find tingles expanding while epic soundscapes flow. more long

pads lead us up and out of the break, the elements are fully in place and growing back into another stonking blastsegment. the pads create a storytelling

style that these two generate effortlessly.

2 an overdriven uprightbass sounding intro, and “501, oh we gotta stash it!” the low end is fat and round here, more space than the last, a creaky lead and a

couple synthy rave hits, next thing you know theres a wall of encompassing harmony and some real nice warmth flowing over you. a break comes early, with some

reverbed kicks, slowly re-entering groovespace. deepness inherent in this one, the overall melodic sound would blast any sunlit dancearea. some of the
key arrangements come off ravey, but the powerful and constantly morphing rest builds a strong movement that is undeniable. the “take me on a vision” sample

sounds lifted from underworld?

3 entering into a vast experience, this one has more what i might consider trademark sounds for these artists. bendy twisted lead and very deep ideas, theres

enough room to breathe, never being overbearing. huge warmth laid down by some tasty pads, and then – it teases a bit before reentering a straight ahead

groove, which seems to breathe. a tasteful use of a vocal sound, and were back into sizzley open-ended rolling funkyness. i wish i could type while dancing!

the shifts and changes keep it interesting and monster creativity is apparent as the song comes full circle.

4 another markable entry comes on strong, but with some aspects of reserve. “please take a moment to allow this information to sink in…” a twisty worm over

the top of the running rolling fun-funk leads us into a breakdown that keeps the ass bouncing, theres some definite shift and slug sounds in here go figure.

the main break comes with playful tune, sounding familiar perhaps, but as everything comes zooming back in, sounds cascading from multiple directions of

brainstorm. im happy with the way the track morphs and doesnt stay in one place too long. the little tune comes back to really start ripping now. great

streaky effects and accents combined with forceful production and mastering make this another solid jam.

5 power rolling is the order here, still with the playful energy and bouncyness seems to be ahead of the rest so far. full force edges and a fresh approach,

with a touch of grind thrown in to the middle to darken it up a bit, but somehow manages to stay lighthearted as it drives away into ovlivion.

6 a funky deep triplet and some snappy percussion get going into some spaced morning sounds, but still with drive and elements of the jamspace. a nice

diverse track, lots of stylistic exploration here, maintaining the epic sound and keeping you interested with builds that actually lead you into something

more instead of tickling you with kickrolls for days. real hands in the air stuff at the end here, will have you zooming around the dancefloor for sure, try

not to lose track of the ground!

7 a long intro build starts to tease and finally drops in around 1:05, the trained ear can tell its in for a trip. more triplets provide the framework for a

smoothly developing blastsequence. folding in on itself while simultaneously unfolding somehow, cool trick! i am wrapped up and twirled by the variation in

sounds that keep zooming by. after a short break, we are in rinse cycle, everything starts going faster, sounds harmonizing and zippers zapping and shiny

details just keep coming. just the right amount of tricks and plenty of substance keeps even the widest eyes on the prize.

8 slightly crunchier and more digital sound for this one, again providing a full range playground for the brain to climb around on, throbbing deepness

underneath it all. big rampy fx lift us up and into the segments as they move toward us, i get the feeling that we're on some sort of conveyor belt, with

many areas moving past, yet you can almost see and hear whats gone past in the reflections being laid down in the now. real thick layering and everything

dialed in to a sonic perfection. the last blast is the cake though, and youre being tossed around, quite nice!

9 the final track starts to form itself around a deep core. at about 2 minutes the bounciest funkyest rollyest bassline of the whole album comes out to play,

saving the best for last? the track stays fairly subdued for a while tho, not overwhelmingly anything, just right. huge progress and drive being cast out, a

full assault, only with a smile. and the epic saga slowly draws to a close, your legs are probably mush by now.

in summary – the side project of two very talented artists truly brings out the best in both. plenty of variation and constantly shifting movement keeps

every track fully active and listenable. fans of intelligent, grooving emotive, blasting morning sounds definitely do not miss this debut!

http://www.saikosounds.com/english/display_release.asp?id=5333
http://www.psyshop.com/shop/CDs/nex/nex1cd006.html
http://www.nexus-media.co.za/

[djgruv05]

Awesome CD! I'm glad I bought that CD when it 1st came out on psyshop.com  ;D

[Pauldo]

I bought this last night…hopefully it will sound wonderful.

[Psygomin]

I used Twilight Zone in my latest mix This is Normal

it can be downloaded here:
http://forum.chilluminati.org/index.php/topic,698.0.html

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