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Among the main powers of music, I would undoubtedly mention its ability to make us escape from the everyday and project us towards "distant worlds" we never dreamed of exploring.
This evocative charm is so strong that it allows us to even glimpse nebulas and comets, in other words, the deepest space, which, like some alpine landscapes, evokes that feeling of the sublime not without a certain unease.
It is with these premises that we can board the spaceship of Transmograpfication and surrender to the discovery of the cosmos. Guiding us on this mission are commanders Dave Sims and Dev Pandya, or Noise & Paradox, two sound alchemists who, for the occasion, decide to join forces on a journey toward remote universes unknown to humankind.
But let us come to us.
Transmograpfication is an unusual album with a quirky title that harkens back to obscure scientific treatises and can be counted among those undervalued works that I always unearth with pleasure.
The record was released in 1998, right in the midst of that first wave of drum and bass inaugurated by works like Timeless by Goldie or Parallel Universe by 4Hero. From the start, however, its peculiarities are perceived, consisting of a decidedly successful attempt to blend the sounds of German cosmic music (I think of the Tangerine Dream) with the syncopated and offbeat rhythms, often clearly jazz/funk-inspired, typical of the genre born in the UK in the 1990s.
Noise & Paradox achieve this goal by opting for a dirty and massive sound (especially concerning the powerful drum patterns), yet not lacking in "three-dimensionality" that reflects the depth of intergalactic space, combined with that sensation of emptiness that has always accompanied it, at least in the collective imagination.
In most cases, the two producers manage to tame the psychedelic chaos on the devastating odd-time rhythms that entangle upon themselves and the dense basses that enrich them, somehow giving them structure. There are moments of pure abstraction, where the sounds do not organize into melodies, but simply delve into our minds, insinuating themselves into the folds of the subconscious (for instance, in "Nebulous Part 1"). And that’s not all, because they also allow themselves excellent forays into futuristic breakbeat and funk territories, showing a great desire to experiment and push beyond the confines of drum and bass (I refer to "Last Night on Earth", "Dimension No 9" and "Just Begun").
The album lasts about an hour and is certainly suitable for absorbed and demanding listening, although, to be honest, I found it more accessible than other contemporary works, such as the indecipherable Coded Language by Krust.
Sure, timid passengers may want to return to Earth, but I assure you that the bravest will remain firmly in their seats and let themselves be led by Noise & Paradox to the frontiers of the galaxy, beyond the Orion Belt and the Tannhäuser Gate.
After all, in those parts, there are those who have seen "things you humans wouldn’t believe"...
Enjoy the excursion.
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