Bomb The Bass
Clear

Particularly intrigued and fascinated by the track Empire, I decided to delve deeper into the Bomb The Bass project, known in the secular world as Tim Simenon. An eclectic craftsman of psychedelic electronic-trance rhythms, active since the distant Eighties. More than that. A bizarre creator of exhilarating sonic blends, a melting pot of a bit of everything. At least, this is what, upon a very first close encounter, it is possible to extract from "Clear", dated 1995, an era of great underground experimentation in the mainstream territory (Chemical Brothers, The Prodigy...), electronic-club refluxes from overseas and beyond.

With this album, Bomb The Bass deftly shapes, like a good demiurge, a unique mix of alternative sounds sharing a common denominator of synths and variably heavy and expansive electronic basses; an unrepeatable counterpoint of trip-hop, lounge, ambient, with a particular focus on ethnic-tribal sounds, notable companions of the album in question. And it is the presence of various, multiple sonic qualities that alleviate, although in the right measure, that "heaviness" typical of underground electro-trance aberrations.

The opening track Bug Powder Dust skillfully marries a bizarre electronic-trance sound flirting with rock alongside the classic Nineties Hip-Hop, One To One Religion introduces heterogeneous synths and semi-deafening basses in an ambient-lounge direction, If You Reach The Border adds some trip-hop/freestyle bursts to the electronic package, while Dark Heart distinguishes itself for a psychedelic/trance rock vibe, very close to the moody darkness of its counterpart Ultra, made by Depeche Mode (a studio work indeed produced by Simenon).

With the second batch of tracks, the album finally presents the aforementioned ambient-tribal sounds: the mysterious 5ml Barrel represents an authentic alliance of the best experimentation, as trance, lounge, ambient, and synth are mixed in a phase of constant and all-encompassing hyperbolization; however, it's with Somewhere that the artistic-experimental intentions dare more, forging a track totally unspoken, extremely rich in natural/ambient sounds for relaxation forcefully distributed over an electro-trance base, all developed into a futuristic ethnic-tribal beat. Romantic Eighties-inspired lounge conversely reserved for Sandcastles.

The gem Empire (featuring the prestigious Sinéad O'Connor and Benjamin Zephaniah), a magnificent tribal/trance creation, the magnum opus of the entire album, concludes a compact, rich, and eloquent work, a perfect representation of what the last years of the past century were capable of ensuring and offering (musically) to the ever more greedy and insatiable listener.

Bug Powder Dust (with Justin Warfield)

Sleepyhead (with Bim Sherman)

One To One Religion (with Carlton)

Dark Heart (with Spikey T)

If You Reach The Border (with Leslie Weiner)

Brain Dead (with Justin Warfield)

5ml Barrel (with Will Self)

Somewhere

Sandcastles (with Bernard Fowler)

Tidal Wave (with River)

Empire (with Benjamin Zephaniah & Sinéad O'Connor)