Hallucinogen - 2002 - In Dub

Quality: 4.25 out of 5
Trip-O-Meter: 4.5 out of 5

I suppose that this is technically Hallucinogen's remix album, but unlike most remix albums, this one really does stand on its own. All of the tracks were remixed by one man instead of by lots of random producers, and they are all going for a dub sound, which gives the disc a thematic consistency which is usually the antithesis of a remix album.

Behind the boards on In Dub, we find not Simon Posford, but a fellow named Ott. The title right away gives a fairly accurate impression of what kind of sounds you'll find here, but there are a few notable differences. Where classic dub is gritty and nasty sounding, Ott preferred to retain the clear shimmer of Posford's original tracks, substituting the beats and bass lines for the loping dub variety. In effect, In Dub is a one-trick-pony, but it's a damn fine trick and manages to sound fresh for the hour that the album lasts.

For Hallucinogen fans, there are a few tracks present ("Mi-Loony-Um!" "Spiritual Antiseptic," "Angelic Particals") here that are not on the two proper albums. I'd imagine that they sounded quite different in their original incarnations, but they work pretty well in this dub environment too. As far as album tracks go, I actually prefer the Ott version of "Gamma Goblins" and the remixed "LSD" holds its own pretty well in comparison with the great original.

The two proper Hallucinogen albums are adrenaline-pumping psy-trance dance floor slammers. In Dub is oriented more for the chill out room, and brings out the more melodic components of Posford's work. These are the subterranean twilight sounds of Hallucinogen and is the rare remix album that is absolutely essential for fans of the group.

Hallucinogen - 1999 - Twisted

Quality: 4.5 out of 5
Trip-O-Meter: 4.5 out of 5

Here we find Shpongle co-mastermind Simon Posford with his first recordings as Hallucinogen. Although released in 1999, most of these recordings apparently date from the first half of the decade. If you have any affinity for the electronic sub genre of psy-trance, I think you very well may agree that this is the best album that that particular niche had to offer.

What we find here is a totally cool, streamlined gliding sound. As good as the Lone Deranger was, it was a little loaded down with squiggles of noise, and it rarely took flight as amazingly as this one. Twisted manages to fit every note and sequence in the right place and is better fitted to induce a trance state of mind than pretty much any other music with a beat (we'll leave more ambient music out of this equation).

Twisted starts of with "LSD," which is a damn fine track whose concept Posford's Shpongle collaborator Raja Ram would later take to album length on the first 1200 Micrograms album. Then the sound plunges down for a a in flight canyon run on "Orphic Trench," which comes across like the Orb on steroids. Early centerpiece "Alpha Centauri" sonically takes us to that particular star system using an very different route than Tangerine Dream did on their Alpha Centauri album. Once again though, songs are not necessarily the key here as the album seemlessly flows through several top rate dance numbers like "Snarling Black Mabel" and the percolating "Fluoro Neuro Sponge." Make sure to fast forward through a few minutes of silence after "Solstice" to find a pretty cool ambient track that would have been a nice breather in the middle of the album.

This is a very upbeat album, but retains a psychedelic sense of mystery. I suppose this is best used for when you want your party to get wild and weird, blasting down a lost highway at night, or spinning around and around in a car with electric lights flashing very fast.

Hallucinogen - 1996 - The Lone Deranger

Quality: 4 out of 5
Trip-O-Meter: 4.5 out of 5

Hallucinogen is the project of Shpongle's Simon Posford. Where as Shpongle often focuses on electronic music with a world beat bent, Hallucinogen is more of a straight ahead psy-trance sound. As far as that particular genre of electronic music goes, I would say that this is the gold standard.

Although this was Hallucinogen's first release in the U.S., is in fact the second album. With insanity (or 'unsane' as the opening track would suggest) seemingly the binding concept here, The Lone Deranger is somewhat of a dark sounding album. Posford is a master of odd electronic noise. Many acts of this nature suffer because their digital sequencing and sound effects end up sounding thin and tinny. Here though, plenty of analog electronic sounds seem to mingle with the more digital portions and give the music a very full blooded sound. As a psy-trance act, Hallucinogen is also extremely danceable and contains plenty of inventive four-on-the-floor house style beats.

Albums like this aren't particularly song oriented and you just have to flow along with the rolling sounds. It's often necessary to check your player to tell when you've reached the next track. However, there are still a few tracks that stick out for me. The opening "Demention" is pretty awesome evershifting fractal of electronics, with the opening voice sample being particularly amusing. "Trancespotting" plows along at the speed of an out-of-control shinkansen (bullet train for those of you not living in Japan) with some totally groovy dirty sounding acid sequences lighting the way. "Gamma Goblins Part 2" (don't know where part 1 is) tends to get referenced often as the centerpiece of the album, which is due in no small part to the truly terrifying sounding synth tones that Posford rips out of his machines.

Fort those of you open to the types of sounds created after the psychedelic 60's and 70's, and have a soft spot for electronic dance music, Hallucinogen will be like manna from heaven. At any rate, you'll get the opportunity to hear psy-trance at the absolute peak of its form.