2350.org - Otras 2

some ambient doodling, which seem to play around, but lack a home. A beat presents itself in track two. The melody mixes into the non 4/4 beat, and carries the track into a more hypnotic mode. Some interesting female vox samples are used. This is nice and melodic without truly breaking out into some techno beats...

Outworldly spacey ambience slides in, with track three. A sense of suspense, haunting throughout the track. Its lurking and waiting. Some bass tones are also present. The track remains dark, the samples circle the swampy pool of hell, mucky and drainy in some areas, and paranoia in others. Sill no real beat in this track, but the ramblings of what could explode into a beat. it tortures you, and holds you under. becomes very deep and dark at 8:30 into the track. again, nice bass and without a real beat. The ambience is superb and well layered. The transitions are also very effective.

track four uses some bass with some samples thrown in. Some rumblings, disjointed quirks and ambience seeping through the background. Mellow, yet grinding. There also seems to be a twinge of environmentalism in there. At times it does seem to get stuck, and I kept looking to see when it will end.

track five starts off more promising than the previous. Some light percussion mixed with an amazing sequence of melodies and samples. With a little over 3mins into the track, a nice non solid beat moves in. It keeps the tempo up, without un-chilling us so far. More spacey samples and some sci-fi sounding samples.

track six again starts off with some bass and some trembles. The track seems to drift along at a fast pace. Its a driving ambient track that is also highly mellow. The track then drifts into some more experimenting with the tones. There are enough layers to keep you brain happy however.

track seven slows the pace down with some refreshing breaths of some deep ambient. The ambient is good, but the track seems to be lacking something going on. The track stays stagnant after a few minutes, and becomes monotonous.

track eight uses some alien ambient melodies, and chords will the beat is quirky. The ambience in the background become dark and isolationist, but the beat keeps the track from going in that direction. A nice ending to a relatively strange cd.

this disc does nicely with the bass :-)

(review by jackthetab)

If "Otras" was the soundtrack to an evolving being, "Otras 2" is the tale of the aftermath, a sense of apartness and indecision as to what comes next; almost akin to that of Frankenstein's child. The overall mood of "Otras 2" is a bit more relaxed but quite a bit darker, and in places, even more intense than the its precursor. "Otras" was a very liberated and light-filled work, whereas "Otras 2" feels much more confined, brooding, emanating blacks and murky greens. Imperfect, mauled melodic garbles permeate this entire disc (as well as rhythms that have a habit of ceasing to be rhythmic), combining with tarnished but functional percussive textures, resulting in a more shadowy visitation to the experimental ideas of "Otras."

OH/IR- - -after a pause, pulsing, panning melodic drones float in off-time. Rusty embellishments whisper back and forth. A sense of repressed but very present beauty is soon achieved. The first plodding elements of percussion join in, and soon the track experiences a deconstruction of elements, replete with garbling echoes. If you own the Reeves disc "Narcos" you'll notice a melody used in it deep in the groundwork of this track. This ultra-subtle melody drone adds considerable depth to an otherwise shallow-depth composition. A nice starter and a good introduction of things to come...

Yuma- - -A shifting, soft and emotional melody vibrates outward. An odd vocal sample is used here. It's warbled, distorted, faded; a prehistoric oracle calls out a prophecy. This immediately injects this track with an 'ethnic' influence, and is simultaneously joined by some muddied neo-aboriginal beats. The track builds a gradual groove and the elements become more intense and confident-sounding. This leads into a calmly-placed break to a new, more powerful melodic pattern that sticks around for the whole track in one form or another. It's optimistic but evokes darkness rather than light, the oracle speaks a prayer into the ether to its uncertain destination. This track abstracts itself a bit into a drifting zone, and suddenly the melody and voice are brought back with force along with some structural tapping/clickings. The melodic mass vibrates along with a final appeal from some distorted synth and then quickly ends.

Skygod- - -This foreboding track opens with shuddering glitters and epic, pounding percussion and a cavernous echoing of the void. Howling space, random bass bursts, abstract squibbles and drones of melodic energy...staticy textures as well. This feels like a Venusian electrical storm. Deep in the structure lie abstract bass pulsings and an undulating Reeves-overlapper, while overhead bending tonal arcs traverse the atmosphere. The track evolves itself in this manner for several minutes and then dwindles down to the deep structure of volcanic pulsations...

Under the Radar- - -a frantic, muffled burst of note-patternings and hyperactive percussion form the regenerating theme to this track. This serves as the main body of the composition, under/overlaid with scratchy distorted samples and hissy texture throughout. The racing but ever-so-subtle and transparent pace of this track reminds me of the organic flow of electricity throughout the brain. One of Reeves' more psychedelic pieces, it evolves itself out into a mass of fluttering bass and bulging squarglers.

Astralbohrer- - -[lovely track title]- - -Poignant and epic overlapping note-repetitions start off a beauty of a piece. A rising and lonely 'melodic' sound makes several sustained appearances, and may confusingly touch at the heartstrings :) Tapping, thumping percussion is a part of this more sparse and spatial composition, and the beauty here lies in the simplicity, it sounds very subdued but surprisingly powerful. At the end the visiting melodic sound makes its final, most visible appearance, ushered out by some raw, scattered bits of percussion.

Undreamt- - -Low, muted chimes pattern out an abstract melody with some glisteny, watery synth echoes. Several musical lines overlap with odd syncopation and sound calmly beautiful, sounding alternatingly dark and light, but always mysterious.. The track continues its constant change, the focus shifting more from the melodies and onto tarnished embellishments. Reeves' real-time distortion work is particularly memorable on his more abstract pieces, and this is a perfect example. Compositional accents swerve this way and that, in a very random and organic fashion. Certain layers of sound merge momentarily into odd pools of acidic noise. The ending portion of this track contains a delightful combination of the oracle-voice reminiscent of "Yuma" and another voice, this one distorted and mangled beyond recognition. Both seem to be emanating some sort of message that is not being brought to light. It brings a very nice thematic tension to the track and disc in general.

Tremendum- - -100-million-year-old light particles finally end their search across the galaxy, giving the midnight-shrouded Earth only the faintest of illuminations...

Plebos- - -This odd ending track seems a relative to "Skygod," but there's a bit more going on here. A delicate tingling vestige of rhythm leads along another visitation by the void. Deep backing drones underlay one of the more directional tracks of the album. This sounds like life energy in purgatory. A sudden drop-off of the surging clouds gives a momentary glimpse of the secret meaning behind it all, the void begins to open, but is again calmly enveloped and repressed. Recurring melodic arcs from "Skygod" surge up, call out, and then fade off reluctantly into the distance, leaving a repetitive organic multi-chord membrane to lead out, the evolutionary journey continuing beyond our spectrum.

Somehow "Otras 2" manages to sound like compositions that are not of this reality. As far as I know, David Reeves does not even exist. These tracks were found in some extraterrestrial crypt!

(review by Auraphage)