It's a rare occassion that something in life "lives up to the expectations." Especially when those expectations have been building for well over a year. Last summer, I had the pleasure of hearing Emok and Jeppe do a live Phony Orphants set at the annual Omni-Dance festival in Upstate New York. It was there that I first heard Phony Orphants had started work on a brand new album. With the success of seemingly everything the duo has ever written - from early individual tracks like "Black Sheep" and "Driving in the Desert" to the smashing global ass-whooping supplied by "Sympony" - you can only imagine my excitement when I heard a new album was on the way.

The rest of 2004 came and went - the Red Sox won the World Series and tons of great music came flowing out of Northern Europe. Iboga released two of the most amazing albums in its history; Frogacult's "Something for Sundays" and a compilation called "Playground." Emok wrote a solo track for Tribal Vision Records called "Old Speckled Hen" (which remains one of my all time favorites), but still no new Phony Orphants album. Single tracks surfaced - "Pentanque" on a Sub-Machine Records compilation and "Going down" on Playground. But as far as I could find in extensive research, the new album was being withheld.

Knowing all too well what it takes to multi-task, I feared, with Iboga's growing popularity, Emok and Jeppe would have no chance to get back into the studio for a full length. Emok, being one of the heads of Iboga, a world-travelled DJ, and a guy responsible for the introduction of a long line of new artists who have shared amazing music with all of us, had too much on his plate to put forth the time it takes to write an album. Meanwhile, Jeppe was busy organizing and releasing tarcks on his own label - Nano-Beat Records; and travelling around the globe DJing and doing live-sets. How the two of those guys could do all that - and STILL find time for a full-length was beyond me.

2005 came around and Iboga continued to bombard the world with great music. Beat Bizzare released their third full length - a gem called "Somersault Industries." Then Antix blew us all away with "Twin Coast Discovery." Rumors surfaced about a possible second album from Frogacult. More about a possible Liquid Soul album, re-inforced by a smash 12" called "Go Reality." But still, no Phony Orphants full-length. Nano-Beat put out a few nice 12" singles - but still no Phony Orphants album. It seemed like the Danish Duo was just too busy promoting other artists, releasing other music, and improving all of our lives by introducing us to artists we may have otherwise not heard. A quick glance at their 2005 booking schedule made me more fearful - party after party, booking after booking. If these guys were going to find time for an album - it may not be for a long time!

Granted, with the surge in intense music coming out this year, there was certainly plenty to digest. Labels like Sprout Records, Polaroid, Digital Structures, Plusquam, Sinn-Tec, and Tribal Vision kept us all occupied while we waited for the Phony Orphants. Taking nothing away from those amazing releases, they just couldn't compare to what I imagined the new Phony Orphants sounded like. When the 12" teasers came out - and then another taste-test on Revolve Magazine Records, I began to find myself checking TWO websites every morning: www.redsox.com and www.psyshop.com.

Well, October 4th couldn't come quick enough once the news finally spread. And when October 12th finally came and the UPS guy showed up at my door, you can only imagine the excitement ripping open that "psy-shop.com" cardboard box and running up to my waiting sound system. Some people had already posted reviews and I tried not to read them too closely, but I just couldn't resist the temptation. Both bad news and good news were the earliest reports: "....not quite as good as "Symphony."" "...inconsistent." "....rushed and containing already-released tracks." The nay-sayers were met with opposition, though. "The best album in a long time." "Electro-influenced and slower than most of their older work." "Right on par with the new Antix album! Simply mind-blowing!" Either way, I wanted to hear it for myself.

Needless to say, it has been on non-stop play in both my home system, the system in my truck, and my "secret headphones" at work. And now, as if my opinion matters a hill of beans more or less than any of the folks who post here, I offer it to all of you.. Overall rating: 9 out of 10! (And it would have been even higher - but I was a little disappointed that "Going Down" was on the album even though it had been released a year ago on Playground.)

I think what sets this album apart from their previous work is the OBVIOUS influence of the electro sound and the much more pronounced usage of vocal samples in the tracks. The vocals in fact, all come at unexpected times, entering as filtered "noises" and then growing in clarity - or, better yet, not appearing until WELL into the track and then exploding into the audio field with a bang!

For years now, Iboga Records has been known primarily as a "progressive" and "deep progressive" trance label. Meanwhile, Nano-Beat has been putting out tracks that have been more electro-oriented. "Lush" not so much - but I only need to mention the Groovesniffers track (another of my all-time favorites.) on "A Token To Thrill" and you'll know what I mean.
"ETC" seems to represent the direction Iboga (and the rest of the "progressive" world) have been going lately. That is, towards an electro-house melding with progressive psy-trance. (try to say that three times fast.) :-)

Nowhere is this more prevalent than in the last track on the album - and, in my opinion, one of the best. "House For my Spouse." I could almost see Jeppe in the studio getting all excited as this one first played through my speakers! The track itself, if you heard it at a club and had no idea of the artist, would certainly be considered "house music." (hence the title, I assume.) It's deep, has the empty wood-on-wood percussion, but without the tribal rhythms to add accentuation. The hi-hats are dominant and the low kick drum coupling makes me think of people over here wearing classy armani suits, sipping on Martinis, and sitting on leather couches while an equally well-dressed DJ spins from turntables at the back of the room. Don't get me wrong, the track is VERY dance-friendly, but it has a certain smooth and relaxed feel that I haven't heard in many of PO's past work. Kind of reminds me of the old TV show "CHiPS."

The vocals - as mentioned - are an amazing addition to the album - especially in tracks 3,4, and 5. "Sex Drugs and Rock n' Roll," "I want to feel," and "Got what it takes" respectively. Track 3 contains a rythmic high-pitched filtered sound that you'd assume was a synth line when you first hear it. It slowly increases in volume and the effects are lifted from it. Within a few measures, it becomes clear that the line is actually a human voice. A few measures later, it is clear that it is a female voice speaking english. And finally, a few measures later, you can hear the voice saying "Hips, dips, chains, whips - hips dips chains whips." Though this is nothing that ground-breaking in trance as a whole, PO seemed to pull it off just as good as other artists in the past have - if not better. The opening of the track also foreshadows later vocals before the super groovy electro line comes crashing in with the deep and gritty Phony Orphants samples for accompaniment.

In track four, more creative vocal usage - similar to track 3 - and in track 5, one of the best vocal entries on the album. "Got what it takes" starts with one of the most boring kick/hi-hat patterns you could possibly ask for. A horrid 4/4 kick followed on the off beat with a hi-hat. Those two sounds play alone for what seems to be an ETERNITY (though its more like 16 measures or so). I found myself asking "did I put in the Black Dog CD? Maybe some old Kraftwerk?" I was tempted to just press "track skip" when I first heard it. But then, without warning, the track starts to acquire depth. A sub-bass is added along with some hi-pitched synth stabs and a little nintendo-sounding sample. The elements all enter their respective places and, all of a sudden, the LAST thing you want to do is skip the track. It unfolds and unfolds seemingly endlessly - only stopping for a few short breaks and then slamming back in to keep the groove going. Then - 6 minutes or more into the track - the bassline stops, the track becomes docile, and then builds to another entry. This time, though, the entry has the vocals all packed up and ready to go.. As the bassline hits, so too does a male voice saying "GOT... what it TAKES takes takes takes..." Simply an awesome moment. And with so much time already gone in the track, who would have expected it? Simply a great track on a great album. Nine tracks (8 previously unreleased in digital format) - all representing the Phony Orphants sounds of the past blended nicely with the sounds that tell us where they're going.

One of the criticisms about the album I heard in more than one place was that it seems "underproduced" and has a rushed feel to it. In my ears, this not the case. (Or, at least the word "underproduction" is poorly used.) For arguments sake, let's say that it does sound that way to some. (I have NO IDEA how it sounds through ANY ears but my own.) Wouldn't you kind of expect it? One of the things that makes Phony Orphants so pleasurable to my ears is the fact that their music is not over produced to the point of sounding dynamically perfect. It doesn't sound like it was made on millions of dollars worth of equipment and then mastered by a crack-team of computer audio geeks. Music snobs and audiophiles can always pick out spots where certain sounds create a gritty and grimey sound that one would never hear in the work of artists like Son Kite or Antix. In my opinion, this is exactly what makes Phony Orphants so genuine. The sound literally DEFINES them as Phony Orphants. It's almost like they're speaking through music directly from their subconscious. Copenhagen is not your posh, rich, and luxurious city with a long history of noble men and kings. No, it's a port city whose populous spent long difficult hours working on the docks, loading and unloading ships, and preparing for long harrowing sea journeys. The very fact that PO's music sounds "gritty" is simply their authentic (to steal from Heidegger) nature bearing through in the music.

Here in the United States, we have a similar ethos we like to call "blue-collar" music. Some also call it DIY music. For me, the west coast punk scene has always been on the cutting edge of this sound. Structurally and compositionally the music is perfect, but the overall sound and feel of the music is somewhat dirty and grimey. Your typical audiophile would call this "under-production." I would call it authenticity. My friend, Ammon, coined the term "working man's trance." And if you think about what Emok and Jeppe do for a living and the city that they grew up in, it's very easy to see why the PO album may sound this way to some. Ammon works long difficult hours as a finish carpenter and has an affinity for both progressive music and rough and rugged hip hop. I work similar hours in a machine shop and have an affinity for progressive and west coast punk. Artists in both those genres (well, some of them anyway) scream of a certain "do-it-yourself" ethic, a worth ethic that comes directly from the earliest puritan settlers and was driven home into the collective unconscious through years of industrial revolution and constant war. You write, produce, master, sell, promote, and distrubute all your own music. You don't hire different people to do all the different steps. Every artist is a "do-it-all" type and the sound of the finished product speaks of that whole process. Personally, I've never lived more than a week in Copenhagen, but what I know of the city through study is that it has a similar "get your hands dirty and work" kind of ethic about it.

Either way, it's music - new music - and we all have our opinions on it. I happen to LOVE the new Phony Orphants album and HIGHLY reccomend it for purchase by anyone who likes prog and anyone who wants a taste of where it looks like the sound is officially heading. My favorite tracks on the album right now are "Got What it Takes" (the BOMB!!!), "Party," and "House for My Spouse." But I'm pleased to say they're all great tracks and the album easily surpasses the expectations I had of it!

IBOGA RECORDS HAS DONE IT YET AGAIN!!