iD.045
Zengineers - The Return of Intelligence: Hikari
English: If you have a mission to fulfill, you might be well-advised to activate a network of supporters. In the case of Zengineers the mission is to revive a musical language written off by many with some new content.
A network, consisting of the netlabels iD.EOLOGY and musicartistry, is already there to back them up. And so their dichotomic approach to the question whether these days there still is anything left to say on the topic of drum’n’bass bestows upon us a netaudio-premiere in the shape of a double-album release divided upon two netlabels. "Hikari" and "Yamiyo" act complementary to one another in style and content and yet the two halves unite 24 tracks, on which Zengineers easily recombine genre characteristics of past and present days with stylistic tidbits from synthpop-vocals to world-music-vibes and jazz-elements.
"Hikari", published on iD.EOLOGY, casts one look forward and two looks back. Warm pads meet rattling swishbeats, the earthy sound of wood contrasts the crisp tone of metal, while LTJ Bukem and Roni Size shake hands in front our inner ear. Indications of far-eastern harmonies touch the tracks as lightly as a soft breeze and carry our thoughts off to mysterious places full of exotic beauty, just to transport them back to western culture with elegic pop-vocals the very next moment.
When this trip is about to end you notice how much inspiration for the inner cinema there still is to be found in drum’n’bass these days, while at the same time you wonder whether there might also be some new sides to the more physical qualities of the genre to discover. More on that on "Yamiyo".
Click here for album page:
Return of Intelligence - Hikari
ma042 Zengineers - The return of intelligence (Yamiyo)
"Yamiyo", published on musicartistry, has both its feet on the solid ground of the present. Harsh resonance-filters meet driving boldbeats, the massive sound of ferro-concrete contrasts the clanging of shattering glass while Photek and Eat Static are dancing the funky chicken in front of our inner ear. Indications of jazzy basses coolly groove into the action and put us into smokey subterranean bars, just to hunt us down white-tiled subway stations in a feverish electro-staccato the very next moment.
When the ride is about to come to an end you notice how many different ways drum’n’bass still has these days to make you feel your own physicality, while at the same time you wonder whether the same thing is true for the inner cinema-qualities of the genre. More on that on "Hikari".
Click here for album page:
Return of Intelligence - Hikari