RealityGrid - Reality Check FLAC

Back in 2005 the then-unknown UK label WildThings Records released their debut V/A "Wild Rumpus". Just few listens of the samples in internet shops made me realise that this is the sound I was looking for, the sound I thought we'll never hear again, the true back-to-the-roots kind of thing. Two of the tracks on that compilation were written & produced by RealityGrid - a duo consisting of Alex Diplock and Leon Kane.

"Reality Check", their debut album and 5th release from WildThings Records features an artwork from none other, but Alex Diplock himself. The guy's multi talented it seems, because apart from writing great music, he created a unique and eye-catching inlays for their debut. The theme for it is based around a graphical representation of the reality grid - "the interconnected DNA matrix of the physical plane, the structure that contains the holographic blueprints of our micro / macro-cosmic fractal dimension". Pretty far out, eh? Well, I wouldn't expect anything else from two skinny, long-haired hippies freaking out on stage behind their mixing console! Suffice to say, the artwork pretty much accurately reflects the mood of the tunes. Also the greenish colours might attract a confused Matrix fan, which is a plus for labels and artists fighting for each dollar with Internet these days...

I was planning to make a track-by-track review, but it proved impossible in this case. It is beyond my vocabulary and imagination to describe some of the sounds they use! The full-on bass line is probably the only typical thing here, but even in this area they try to be innovative - their rhythmic section is always funky and playful; the changes in pitch and velocity make it much more interesting than those overused 16-notes machine gun bass lines. The drum loops - despite being quite simple in construction for the most part - give that extra power and punch to the tracks. But what is really interesting, are the lead sounds. They start with a simple waveform in a plain few-notes sequence, which doesn't sound very exciting at first, but as the track progresses they add more and more effects to the sound and mangle it beyond recognition. Adding layers of noise from the whole range of sonic spectrum they manage to create unique, rhythmic and musical patterns, even though there's not much music in a traditional, melody-on-a-scale meaning in there. What I particularly liked is that rare feeling that it is not a loop-based music. Hard to explain it really, because obviously it is created from loops, but all this tweaking and modulations make the impression of listening to live, improvised music... You can almost see those two twisting the knobs like crazy, tranced-out shamans of sound! The variety of effects they use - filters (low-pass, hi-pass, ban-pass and notch), distortions, flangers, ring modulations, delays & reverbs - adds to the richness of the music. One moment you listen to a high-pitched hi-pass filtered melodic sequence, then suddenly few bars after that sequence turns into bassy and crunchy background noises. The way all those tracks are arranged and are interacting with each other creates a feeling as if you were transported back to the good old heydays of goa-trance, but instead of eastern scale uplifting melodies and Shiva statues you're thrown in front of a wall of up- and down-spiralling alien acid sounds. They succeeded at producing that sharp, metallic and squelchy sound that we expect of today's psytrance, but at the same time they stayed away of all those cheap dark-trance sounds and cliche tricks on one side and cheesy plastic production techniques on the other. They've struck a balance somewhere in between, creating a niche of their own; a modern day psychedelic trance in its purest form. If you add to that the impeccable, crisp and meaty production, then you can be sure that any of those tracks can go through the dance floor like a hurricane.

But, there's always a 'but'. In case of the album at hand, it is the problem of sameness. Most of the tracks follow the same pattern - there's an atmospheric background at the beginning, a more or less full-on(ish) beat and pushing waves of spiralling, screechy & squelchy sounds. Then, at around 2:30-3:30 mark there's a break when all the rhythmic activity stops and the ambient noises are re-introduced with occasional spoken sample thrown for a variety in couple of tracks. Few seconds after the music strikes back in full force, pushing and pushing even further until the final run, sometimes interrupted for tension with a short wind-down at around 4:30-5:00 mark. No doubt it works a treat on the dance floor, but in the context of home listening it makes the whole listening experience a tad bit less enjoyable. It is a collection of storming dance floor tunes, rather than an album with a concept or journey. But I'm sure - or at least hope - with talents like theirs, we'll see that sooner or later.

Interesting thing is that after days of listening to it in various conditions (home, car, work etc.) I still can't pick my favourite tracks - they all seem to be equally good! If I'd had to choose, I'd say that the tracks that stray away of or add to the above mentioned formula are a bit more interesting, for example "Daylight Safari" for being slightly more melodic then others, "Rehabit" for its hilarious drugs addicts samples, "Starting Grid" for its heavy beat and crunchy leads ripped off of Alienated's "Fluff factory" or "Extra Terrestrial Integration" for incredible final run, juicy mid-section and beautiful helium-poisoned congas.

If you're looking for a truly underground, intelligent and powerful psychedelic trance music, that will bring back the memories of the past whilst still sounding up-to-date, then you can't miss this CD. Even though the sound is pretty much similar throughout the album, it still is very unique and individual in the context of the whole scene - they do not copy anyone, which is good enough a reason to give it a try in those times, when following a trend to cash in on a tested formula is a norm.

5 / 5