artist: Galaxy country of origin: Germany style(s): Ambient trance/electro/techno, psychedelia essential releases: Science Of Ecstasy (2004, Chillcode)

Many producers from global psy-trance communities dabble in downtempo, as Spiritzone Records' stellar compilation series Global Psychedelic Chill Out shows. Nowadays an increasing number (like Ooze, Grey Area, Shpongle) are also releasing their own full-length albums in the style. That's good news, because the best talents on the scene often show an instinct for imaginative, emotional, transportive sounds that clearly extends beyond the dancefloor.

The spellbinding Science Of Ecstasy is part of a continuing downtempo project by the softly-spoken German producer Boris Blenn, better know to some as popular psy-trance outfit Electric Universe. This all-instrumental opus is nothing less than one of the best electronic albums of its kind released in the past 40 years. This is a pure form of 21st century spacemusic, a psychedelic strand of electronica that can be traced to late-60's Pink Floyd and several of Berlin's Krautrock pioneers of the following decade. That sound has developed and morphed over the years, most recently absorbing some of the sounds of the dancefloor. Upon its release In 2004 this album put the style well and truly back in the limelight - it made number #1 on the Deutsche Chillout Chart within weeks of release.

Science of Ecstasy is well named. It's a rapturous, richly-textured melodic excursion where classic ambient landscapes are enriched with the sounds of trance, techno and electro. Think of it a kind a slow-mo space pop for armchair traveling. The opening "Castle In The Blue Sky" sets the tone for pretty much the whole album. It teases with a long ambient intro, adding layers of sound with delay and reverb and building a slowly spinning melody, finally cascading over into a tight mid-tempo groove and electro bassline. It's to Blenn's enormous credit that the sheer prettiness of this album never becomes saccharine. Perhaps its the bittersweet moments that balance it out. "Disidentifcation" marries its sad, lovely melody with a kind of bleak, futurist longing that wouldn't be out of place on a Detroit techno record...except that Detroit techno producers don't "do" psychedelia, do they? A puzzle for purists, a joy for the rest of us. The album closes with the beatless "Sunrise At Aguas Blancas", a drone-based piece of impressionism where short melodic phrases break the pristine surface like sunrays on dew. It's awe-inspiring, and the gentlest possible end to a journey that's worth taking many times over.

HOME