REVIEW: Various Artists, Trip To The Andes (ARK21)
- Joe Silva
There's probably not much virgin territory left in the world beat realm, but techno-mancers are bound to gravitate to that end of their palette as long as they can continue to spike their tracks with enough exotica to breed a bit of distinction into their work.
This collection, which focuses on samples lifted from the Inca Quena (TUMI) LP, lets loose a gang of remix artists into the pre-Spanish Peruvian terrain of pan pipes and other ancient gear. The challenge here being, of course, that those involved can make the trip and effectively re-transmit the vibe back to the listener. The question posed therefore, is twelve tracks later, do we see/feel the crumbling pyramids, thick rainforests, and the undisturbed groove of a lost people? Hmmmm...
T-Power's lead off bid, "The Inti Raymi Remix" offers up twittering bird noises and spooky flute flourishes, but the fretless bass drone employed throughout leaves you feeling blissed in a semi-sterile New Age fashion some eight minutes later. From there though, things brighten a touch.
The Bristol contingent, Hidden Chipsters, picks up the pace somewhat ("New Day"), but things don't quite begin to become engaging until Gavin King (aka Aphrodite) makes his spacey entrance with "Q-Flutes." Done up in regulation jungle-vision, King winds up turning in the first credible balance of modern rhythm and pagan resonance. But King's a virtual under-achiever alongside the crusty likes of Youth. His "Half Moon," with its head lodged in old world hedonism and its heart in classic house, quickly becomes one of the disc's high watermarks. From known previous efforts, The Trans-Global Underground contribution ("Cazares Mix") doesn't quite meet up to expectations by playing a bit too far on the more monotonous side of ambient. And although the majority of remaining names (Fun-da-mental, Astralasia, Finitribe) tend to lose themselves in the theme at hand, u-ZIQ's Mike Paradinas maintains the essential elements of his striking personality while he's off probing the essence of his assignment. While initially setting out in an organic mode like his other colleagues here, his eventual exchange of the mystic for the mechanized is an artfully executed and welcome deviation by disc's end.
While never truly approaching the primitive, this assortment provides a mildly intriguing mix of jungle-isms, ambient, and cosmic fiddling. But beyond the few key moments mentioned, the buyer may be submitting to the danger that of good number of these twelve "postcards" from the Andes might resemble one another a might too closely to warrant the expense.
