Various Artists / Celestial Mechanix
Album: Celestial Mechanix   Collection:General
Artist:Various Artists   Added:Aug 2004
Label:Thirsty Ear Recordings  

A-File Activity
Add Date: 2004-08-23 Pull Date: 2004-10-25 Charts: Electronic, Classical/Experimental
Week Ending: Oct 31 Oct 24 Oct 17 Oct 10 Oct 3 Sep 26 Sep 19 Sep 12
Airplays: 1 3 2 1 2 3 2 5

Recent Airplay
1. Nov 06, 2006: the back page
Shining Through
4. Aug 26, 2005: beat.net chapter 12.0: never enough time
Cd:Dir>Gesture><N<B*La Theo.
2. Oct 16, 2006: backpage
Bass Pressure Mix
5. Nov 21, 2004: Dancing in Outerspace
Travelogue 1 - Nyc to Hawaii
3. Jan 25, 2006: The Dub Space
Bass Pressure Mix
6. Nov 01, 2004: Trip Over Zero
Shining Through

Album Review
Michael Rosen
Reviewed 2004-08-21
Disc 1
Spooky puts out another fine CD of first rate dub experiments. His strength, as usual, is that he draws from many sources: Jazz, soul, ambient, dub, electronica, and even tech house. The result here is a sort of dark nuanced sound collage. Not every track is a gem, but he has some very bold and innovative combinations of styles. The album on the whole is very dark and downtempo. Play on a late night or ambient type show if possible.

Recommended Cuts: 5,6,7,*11 FCC: 4
1) 31 second intro of guy talking. Nothing too exciting; sets the mood. 2) Nice mellow dub cut. Accoustic jazz drumming layered with drum machines. Echo-ed out vox fade in and out over sea of ambient electronic noise and a cute little synth line ties it together. Chimes and bells are also in the distance. 3) Funky dub rhythms with tight little scratching and more echoy distant vox. Organs hit replace scratching and then are replaced by all forms of sampled ambient noise. 4) Spoken word about jazz with jazz drums and walking bass. FCC Violation: a “fuck” and 3 “shit”s. 5) Echoy howling saxophones over simple driving beat played on acoustic drums with little bits of mellow keys. Very ambient effect; mesmorizing 6) Ambient xylophone intro. Then hip-hop beat breaks with muted trumpets and looped vocal sample. Lots of sampled jazz horns as the track goes on. A really open space-y sound. Great cut. 7) Remix of Saul Williams poem. Deep earthy violins over fast snare beat create a very power backing to the fierce poem. 8) Another dub adventure with muted strings over echo-y drum pads and a couple of electronic melodies. 9) 2001-ish haunting “space” sounds with a swinging drum beat.
10) Bits of the spoken word on track 4 now with a more uptempo feel. Hard piano hooks looped with almost tech house styled backing. Somewhat harsh product, the jazz hooks don’t blend especially well with the techy aspects. 11) The album’s magnum opus; a stunning 9 minute ambient cut. Very open spacey horn sounds with just a high-hat and bass drum droning away and lots of baby scratches of indecipherable vocal samples. Has all those subtle little rhythm changes and other nuances that make or break ambient. Play this track!

Disc 2
An hour and 20 minute 35-track continuous mix of dub, spoken word, hiphop, and other styles, all ambient and dark. Most cuts are around 1-2 minutes and the overall CD is pretty homogeneous, so start anywhere and let it play.
FCC Violation: 2
Mike, i.e. The Professor

Track Listing
 ArtistTrack Name
1. Dj Spooky Stellar (Remix)
2. Dj Spooky Cd:Dir>Gesture><N<B*La Theo.
3. Dj Wally & Meat Beat Manifesto Travelogue 1 - Nyc to Hawaii
4. Dj Spooky Lingua Ex Machina Remix
5. Dj Spooky Nommos Ascending Remix
6. Dj Spooky Maldoror's Gambit Remix
7. Dj Spooky & Williams, Saul Not in Our Name Remix
8. Dj Spooky Bass Pressure Mix
9. Dj Spooky Anansi's Gambit Remix
10. Ibid/Asphalt Otikon Remix
11. Taborn, Craig Shining Through
12. Dj Spooky Unforgettable Journey
13. Dj Spooky & Shipp, Matthew Lingua Ex Machina Remix
14. Dj Wally & Meat Beat Manifesto Travelogue 1 - Nyc to Hawaii
15. Antipop Consortium Svp/Mad Professors Interlude
16. Ladd, Mike Untitled
17. Ladd, Mike Untitled
18. Shipp, Matthew & Parker, Will Nu Bop/Scrapbook
19. Shipp, Matthew Nu Bop
20. Dj Spooky & Williams, Saul Not in Our Name Remix
21. Dj Wally & Meat Beat Manifesto Travelogue Ii - Medley
22. Dj Spooky Nommos Ascending Remix
23. Dj Spooky Bass Pressure Mix
24. Ware, David S. Ananda Rotation (Spooky Mix)
25. Antipop Consortium Real Is Surreal
26. Dj Spooky Optometrix (Feat. J-Live)
27. Dj Spooky Alter Echo's Interlude
28. Dj Wally Out of the Blue
29. Perry, Lee "Scratch" Jungle Soldier
30. Dj Spooky Anansi's Gambit Remix
31. Antipop Consortium Slow Horn
32. Antipop Consortium Svp
33. Parker, William Scrapbook
34. Shipp, Matthew Quartet Visions
35. Blue Series Continuum Urban Shadows
36. Dj Spooky Dementia Absentia Remix
37. Dj Spooky Nebula Interlude
38. Dj Spooky Cd:Dir->Gesture><N<B*La Theo
39. Brown, Guillermo E. More and More
40. Dj Spooky Maldoror's Gambit Remix
41. Parker, William Quartet Song of Hope
42. Blue Series Continuum Mist
43. Dj Wally I Spy
44. Spring Heel Jack Double Cross
45. Taborn, Craig The Golden Age - Val-Inc Mix
46. Dj Spooky Cosmic World