"Welcome to Lotus Land" compilation Map Records MAP201-2 1996 (73:58)
Cap'm Stargazer "Perspective" (6:38)
Dreamlogic "Minstral" <detour> (8:16)
Pilgrims of the Mind "Loosejaw" (8:33)
Mere Mortals "Gunjah" (5:45)
Landhip "Mad Cobalt" (9:34)
Mc2 & Erra "Neptunian Bliss" (6:04)
Pilgrims of the Mind "Who.is.that?" (7:42)
Cap'm Stargazer "Mourning" (6:14)
Mere Mortals "Shift" (7:40)
Dreamlogic "Sparce Greys" (7:32)
Cap'm Stargazer is Phil Western, Dreamlogic and Mere Mortals
is Dan Handrabur, Pilgrims of the Mind is Stephane Novak,
Landhip is Dan Handrabur and Phil Western, and Mc2 & Erra is Matteo
Caratozzolo and Erra (of Outersanctum).
Overall impression: good. This is the first release from the new Vancouver, Canada based Map Records. The goal of the label is to expose the world to the electronic music happenings of the Pacific west coast. The insert explains the contents pretty well: "diversity is the diet upon which these beat hedonists survive; house, dub, Detroit techno, global ambient, jazz, ethno experimentation and sounds yet to be defined". The music is generally laid back ethno-dub that swims in a bed of ambient sounds, mellow yet intriguing stuff. I seem to prefer the Phil Western and Dan Handrabur tracks, the others aren't quite as interesting. Don't take it from me though ... check out the 'releases' section of Map's homepage (url below) and listen to *all* of the tracks in *full* via real audio. Finally, a label that's figured out that people want to hear it all before they buy!
Map Records homepage