|
Last updated 12/96 by Mark_H, HTML by Seth Some magazines have been kind enough to say the following about Cosmosis/Laughing Buddha. We thank you for your support. Cosmosis Live at the Melkweg (Dream Creation , Iss. 11) Yes indeed, those nice people at Transient invited Dream Creation along for their second trip (no pun intended) to Amsterdam in 2 weeks. It is worth mentioning Global Chillage coffee shop on the Kerkstraat that played host to the smoking revelry of the band, the label and the press who were all staying a comfortable staggering distance down the road in a hotel. The Dutch seemed to all be making mental preparations for the forthcoming Euro 96 on this hot sticky Friday night and the turnout was not spectacular although all present had a sizzlingly acid fried time at the hands of Jez & Bill who were splended as usual on stage. Their new track "Karma" (to be released on TIP under their alias, Laughing Buddha) was the standout track of their show and marks a deep and mature advancement displaying their talent and versatility in a new and slightly more twisted fluorescent light. Also, if you are going to Amsterdam this summer, check out the charas at Global Chillage and then check out the peach flavoured Yoki drink, it's bloody marvellous. Escape From Samsara - the Fridge 5.5.96 (Dream Creation , Iss. 11) Nothing like a surprise party being announced and a surpass 'impromptu' Samsara at the Fridge one Sunday is of dream proportions. The announced special live performance was exactly that, Cosmosis pounded and shook every ounce of psychedelic beauty from the heavens upon us, their stage presence and aura as powerful as their crazed dancer's warped motions and every set the DJs threw at us continued one of the best parties there will ever be... Impromptu Samsara, anyone? Stu's Review: Cosmosis: Cosmology (Dream Creation , Iss. 11) An excellent debut album from Cosmosis whose blissed out nutty on-stange antics make their live performance something a bit special. Here we find them doing the business on vinyl/CD. All the tunes drip melody from every pore with no obvious fillers in attendance. Tracks particularly worth noting are the sharded spine tingling and magnificently rattling classic Cannabanoid... Alien Disco, a pacey, bouncy building acidic gyrating dance floor elevator that noodles and screams with hydrolic proportion as well as Key to the Innerverse, a storming nibbly swather with the ever so lush melody that makes you feel like a piece of long grass in a light summer breeze that's just regained its composure after being trampled by chickens. Some of the tracks tend to drift together without jumping right out at you, due partly no doubt to the fact that the tracks on the CD have been mixed end to end. Ultimately a finely crafted selection that gets my foot tapping and my eyes rolling every time. LPs Reviews: Various: Transient 4 (DJ magazine pg. 72) "...Taking both [Order Odonata and Transient 4] together, cream of the crop has to be Cosmosis, whose acidic full-on grin-inducing 'Psychofunk' lights up the tail end of 'Transient 4.' Like 'Gift of the Gods' on 'Transient 3,' their track stands head and shoulders above the rest. For this reason alone, Transient have the edge over Dragonfly this time round, but only just." LPs Reviews: Cosmosis: Cosmology (DJ magazine pg. 70) For a while now certain people have been muttering in the press about how psychedelic trance is just for a bunch of old hippies who've taken too much acid on a beach in India. Well, last year's seminal 'Twisted' by Hallucinogen, or the recently released Astral Projection album 'Trust In Trance' should have been enough to silence the detractors. Just in case, along comes Cosmosis to well and truly put the boot in. The scene is global, with music being made and partied to all over the world: Israel, France, Germany, and the UK. Cosmosis are artists and producers Jeremy and Bill, who have been making music and partying for over two years, and are one of the most exciting and in demand acts on the psychedelic trance scene. A party is most definately the optimum setting to experience what this music is all about, but their debut album 'Cosmology' certainly does the trick. "How far can they control my mind?" a mystical voice asks as 'Cannabanoid' kick starts a turbo charged 70 minute journey, which spans over four sides of a DJ friendly vinyl or one mixed CD. 'Sanyacid' follow the spaced out 'Oceanic,' with a pounding bass, big build up and acid peaks. The multi-layered 'Alien Disco' completes the first lap, slowly building up into a blind trance techno stormer. They continue, firmly putting pressure on the accelerator, until they arrive at the launch pad. 'Gift of the Gods' goes airborne in style. With more acid than Timothy Leary, more beats than a caffeine infused heart, and more peaks than the Himalayas, this live classic hovers majestically, head and shoulders above the rest. Coming back down to earth with the mellow finale 'Afterglow,' "How far can they control my mind?" asks that voice again, as the album reaches the end. With Cosmosis blasting out of your speakers, control of your mind is out of the question. 9/10 Album Reviews: Cosmosis: Cosmology (Wax magazine, pg. 61) Excellent album debut from deep psychedelic trancers, Cosmosis. Regulars on the Return to the Source/trance circuit, Cosmosis have put together a fine debut album full of tripped out spatial sounds, senses and surreal sights. Tracks such as the opening 'Cannabanoid,' although fairly light in texture and rhythm, has plenty of movement and substance. Who said trancers were all veggie hippies anyway!? Further gems include the extra-terrestrial 'Alien Disco,' 'Morphic Resonance' and 'Key to the Innerverse.' An album that upholds the trance tradition in all its triptastic glory, this is a plat du jour worth tasting anytime. Happiness is but a button away. Or something like that. 8/10 (Siobhan Sullivan). Trainspotting Trance: Cosmosis: Gift of the Gods/Emanations (Muzik pg. 136) This, the latest release from the London-based Transient label is full-on double A-side affair by Cosmosis, the trippy specialists and live performance maestros. The NRG-driven, acid-spiked and passion-infused confusion on both sides of the vinyl will reduce your dancefloor (or bedroom) to the kind of messy mayhem you will find on Anjuna Beach at 5am. Even if you've never been further east that Scarborough... 3.5/5 Trainspotting Trance: Cosmosis: Cosmology (Muzik pg. 136) The very first artist album on the Transient imprint is an amazing nine-track affair from Cosmosis, aka Jeremy Van Kampen and Bill Halsey. Featuring their top-selling twelves, "Morphic Resonance" and "Sanyacid," as well as a host of brand new tracks such as the in-yer-face "Alien Disco" and the reflective "Afterglow," this long-player is a set to cement Cosmosis' reputation as one of the leading acts on the psyche-scene. 4/5 Trainspotting Trance: Cosmosis: Morphic Resonance/Sanyacid (Muzik pg. 108) God only knows what this devastating twin-tracker sounds, sorry, feels like when someone puts liquid acid in your punch on the beach at Anjuna. For "Morphic Resonance," read five minutes of sublimely produced, medium-paced psychedelia. And if it sounds TIPesque, that's because Cosmosis (aka Jeremy van Kampen and Bill Halsey) also record for TIP as Laughing Buddha. Stepping up a gear, "Sanyacid" is almost a natural second movement, its initial moonlight charms soon yielding to a thudding bass and screaming acid storm that'll tear the leaves off the palm trees. "Consciousness altering music" is what Cosmosis call it. Wouldn't argue with that. 5/5 Wax Magazine, Issue 9 - Dec 96 COSMOSIS - Howling at the Moon EP (Transient Records) Bill and Jez have done it again with three more slick and groovy trance tunes. "Howling ...." is a fast and bouncy, cheeky epic with plenty of abstract squelches and wibbles to trip out on. "Atomic Funfare" is a doofesque, playful tune that skilfully weaves dreamy riffs and gorgeously rounded sounds in that way that Cosmosis do best. "Psychofunk" lives up to it's name by combining a happy, catchy riff with a pounding groove and a blistering closing filter fest. 9/10 Mark Allen. Wax Magazine, Issue 9 - Dec 96 LAUGHING BUDDHA - Karma EP (TIP Records) The tracks on this EP are three of my favourite tunes in recent months. Cosmosis alter ego Laughing Buddha continue to explore new ways to raise a cheeky smile on the dancefloor. "Karma" manages to be deep and thoughtful as well as uplifting, combining a pleasantly disorientating use of the word "Karma" with rounded, abstract percussion and exquisitely tweaked melodies. "Megamorphosis" and "Earth Medicine" are both fast, funky and playful and are guaranteed to produce dance floor delerium. 10/10 Mark Allen. Muzik Mag Jan 1997 COSMOSIS - Howling at the Moon - Transient Records Barking. Absolutely barking mad. Which you'll already know if you have ever visited the psychedelic nights at the Fridge on a Friday and heard this one dropped at five in the morning when jaws are going like Fido at the dogs bowl. Yup, this is pure unadulterated lunacy from another planet distilled by fish on bicycles in the company of pixies, gnomes and gamma goblins. Gaa-gaa and irredemably excellent at the same time. Cosmosis HomeSpace © 1996 Cosmosis & Innerverse |