By A3k on istrance forum
Organika is the latest release of Peak Records, and what a great pleasure it was to listen/review this CD. This release is another reason why Peak records is a label that needs no introduction and why it keeps being one of the strongest label releasing quality music around the world! Every release is treated like it should be: unique. The music is great and the artwork of the booklet very well conceived like always; in fact a trademark of Peak CD`s.
The Peaking Goddess Collective is formed by four musicians: Ajja S.F. Bleu (one of the members of YAB YUM), Daniel Symons, Moreno Antognini and Pearce Van Der Merwe.

Now to the music:
Track nr. º 1 is Hyperspace; it starts with some flute sounds, which will be a constant throughout the track, and of course always with electronic sounds in the background. Some percussion elements, very discrete, since this track is very smooth; this track flows like water from a fountain, always constant, without ups and downs. This track is amazing, it is excellent for opening this album. The flute sounds are psydelicious - like a leaf to the taste of the wind - and the guitar gives a great complement to the track. Both guitar and flute have their own paper in the track without overwhelming one another.

Love & Peak is track nr. º 2, and this one is a little bit tenser then the previous one, more psychecelic, not so melodical, but more trippy, it starts with some sounds of birds here and there, and some sounds of water hitting the shores of a river, or maybe it is the waves of the sea hitting the sand. At about 3:00 minutes we have an interruption and then when all the sounds appear again we get more dynamism on the music, some sounds of the guitar even remind me some Pink Floyd sounds. Basically this track gets a lot of trippy digital sounds combined together with the analogic instruments that create a nice deep atmosphere.

Star Peace is the 1st collaboration track – it is with Sandeep Kumar (Tablas, Dholak & Dhol), and this one starts with a melancholic atmosphere, the guitar gives more sad sounds and the leads always with that psychedelic sounds on the behind. We get flute sounds at about 3:40 minutes, and even its sounds are more random, once they appear and disappear very fast, other times they are very continuum. The last part of the track, the work on the percussion gives a lot of rhythm to the music; it makes me have the desire to get up of my chair and dance!

Now we are back to the happy sounds again with Secret Fire, a track with lots of groove. So far, the track with more “movement” in the CD. The 1st 2 minutes are the preparation, after this, one by one; the instruments start to appear till they get all combined. The psychedelic electronic sounds used by the quartet are always so great and so smooth that without being to notice they give such a great vibe to the music. Amazing. And to finalise the track we get once more sounds of water.
Rolling, is the “lady” that follows. A 132 BPM tune, that is a collaboration between Samy and the fantastic four quartet. In Rolling the electronic leads are more alive, and sure leave their mark in this track. The conjugation between the electronic filled with the analogical instruments make this an interesting track, either for a dance floor, a chill out, or to home. It makes it even more interesting, because it has the group sonority adapted into progressive sounds. I liked very much the final part were the guitar seems to appear distorted at the end of the riffs.

Track nr. º 6 – Ishtar – starts with some great didgeridoo sounds, an instrument that I love, I myself have already tried to play it, but you have to control very well the breathing exercise, but I feel fascinated with the sound that comes from it. Jovis makes his collaboration playing the Didgeridoo while Gaspard Besson (the other member of YAB YUM), makes his contribute with the electronics. This track revolves around some melodical parts, very smooth; with some paused moments. I really love the didgeridoo sounds, so this track is very special to me. One of my favourites.

Being Transformation is track n. º 7. It was made by the quartet and Gaspard who makes his second collaboration, while Alex Grey a psychedelic visionary gives his voice & poetry to the track. This tune is an accompaniment to Alex speaking, some wicked and twisted sounds make it awesome. I have found some tracks of this CD more intense and psychedelic than 150 BPM night tunes, you can really trip to this music, and this track is a clear case of it.

Arcana is the last track of this marvellous release. Tanina Munchkina gives voice & poetry in this one. It begins with some beautiful flute and guitar sounds. The percussive elements are also very nice. A simple music, to end this CD perfectly.

To conclude my review I just want to say that this CD is simply amazing! Like my friend Napo (Full_On) stated in his review on IsraTrance Forum, “…This is one of that releases that get stuck inside your CDJs, when it arrives at your mail box you can say goodbye to your CD collection for a couple of weeks…”and indeed it’s true, I just got addicted to this album, and my banging music got some rest. I recommend this CD to all you psychedelic spirits out there. The work on the music is really superb. My congratulations to all the musicians and artists that contributed with their work to this release. Master Margherita made his mix in this CD – all the 8 tracks are continuum, without any interruptions. The mastering was made by Jake Perrine; the graphics and artwork made by Ajja and Tanina Munchkina.
Like I have stated sometimes before: if you are a Peak fan, you shouldn’t miss this release, if you are not, but you like good music – go get it! This CD really transports you to another dimension.

By Fullon from isratrance forum

Peak Records is a worldwide famous psytrance label, based on Switzerland. I’ve been following their releases, and already reviewed some of them, which I still listen. Step by step Peak built a solid reputation, and nowadays it is almost impossible not have heard about some of their releases, particularly for the ones who appreciate night music. If I’m not mistaken this Peaking Goddess Collective debut is their 13th release, and their second attempt at releasing downtempo/chill out music (the first was Flooting Grooves - Upsyde Downe released in the end of March).

The Mastering was made by Jake Perrine @ RFI/CD.
Artwork, as with most Peak releases, was designed by Ajja & Tanina Munchkina. It’s clean and presents a light pink aura-like vibe, hehe not easy to describe, better for you to check it:
http://212.227.206.198/cgi-bin/zoom.cgi?pea1cd013_b.jpg:CDs/pea/pea1cd013.html:;
The CD itself has part of the artwork printed on it (the sort of tribal that looks like a sun rising in the CD cover), I found it nice when it sparks against the light.

The CD present 8 tunes, all of them performed by The Peaking Goddess Collective (PGC) crew (Ajja on guitars, Daniel Symons on percussion, Moreno Antognini on Bass and Pearce Van Der Merme on the flute, plus all of them tweaking the electronic knobs), and they brought a lot of guests into this project. The result is more than satisfactory, it is a journey that already propitiated blissful home listening experiences for me.

Instead of taking too long speaking about the unspeakable, I’ll recommend every reader to check the samples, because this is the best way to get your own ideas about this colorful and introspective music.

The album begins with Hyperspace, a lovely slow-motion tune. Its elements interact in a synergetic way, complementing each other and making it feels like if the sound is sliding smoothly instead of moving. Pearce’s flute also do its job here, making of this track is a great opener.

Love & Peak (T2) is another great chill tune, which present a deep repetitive bass line around its middle that manipulate the atmosphere creating a huge tension. It’s not bad, on the contrary, it serves perfectly its purpose, but when it’s gone I feel a relief. Good psychedelic stuff inside this one. One of my favorites.

Another comment about these first couple of tracks is that sometimes it sounds like they are psychedelic tunes with instrument solos over it. I don’t find it to be good or bad in itself, just making an observation.

Star Peace (T3) start with good samples:

“I can see lights around…
All the plants around me… there were spirits in the plants… And the small plants were children…”

“Get a better insight into the spirit world… Into the interior world…
Into the grace and madness of this medicine…”

This track presents us the first invited guest, Sandeep Kumar, which adds Tablas, Dholak and Dhol sounds to this track, and I must say he did a good work (as well as all of the PGC crew), some turns just raise my hair. Good track, another favorite.

We take a turn with Secret Fire (T4), starting in a chill way, soon it shows its 108 bpm and its experimental side. It has a good juice inside it; you just have to squeeze it for a while. In spite of being a nice tune, it is not around my favorite here, but fits well into the release making the bridge to the next track, Rolling (T5), which is a progressive tune clocking at 132 bpm. Rolling is not a landmark on the progressive scene, but since it is well fitted, its 132 bpm does not spoil the home listening experience and it sure has its moments. It has more psychedelic elements than a lot of progressive releases this days, nice solo parts, it is long enough to develop properly and present extra tweaking by Samy, another invited guest. The bass lines are well chosen, and along with the flute lines and background elements definitely shake the floor. A very positive addition to the release’s diversity.

Ishtar (T6) brings us back to the chill realms, here we have two special guests, Jovis playing his Didgeridoo and Gaspard Besson taking care of the electronic equipment. The track relies a lot on its bass and samples:

“This is inside, that is outside…
Everything in here is my idea, everything outside is your idea.”

Gaspard also helps in Being Transformation (T7), a track which is built upon the poetry and the electronically manipulated voice of Alex Grey. It is a very psychedelic track, and the sample is used in a way that directs the trip towards an introspective path (at least for me). This is one more favorite of mine.

Closing the album we have one more guest, Tanina Munchkina, who was also responsible for the artwork. It is a very chilling track with poetry inside it. Discrete and beautiful closer.

An interesting thing is that there is some conflicting information on the CD booklet about the guest performers. Tanina Munchkina is called Tanya Innocenti (maybe this is her artist name?) and the back of the booklet lacks information about Jovis, the Didgeridoo player on Ishtar. You know, these are small details that only those with the original stuff can stumble upon, but since it may sound like I’m complaining, let me finish the job: I miss the track times, and why not a nice stick with this awesome artwork on it?

This is one of that releases that get stuck inside your CDJs, when it arrives at your mail box you can say goodbye to your CD collection for a couple of weeks.

Please someone post the whole lyrics/poetry on the last two tracks.


Recommendation: I recommend this fine release for all sorts of home listeners, experienced with chill out music or not, this is first-class music to have as background in relaxing moments... Of course DJs will benefit for the diversity here, and some of them I know are already playing this stuff at Festivals here @ Brazil. Also some people will dig the progressive tune, it is really an unusual approach for the dance floor. My best recommendation is for you to check the samples, you’ll understand this review much better after this.

Favorites: 1, 2(!), 3(!), 5(!), 6(!), 7(!), 8.

By Morpheus Music
www.morpheusmusic.co.uk

STYLE
Deep downtempo atmospheres and lush progressive organic/synthetic colour. Organika brims with all manner of sonic ephemera - breezy flutes, didgeridoo, dreamy guitars and ethnic percussion - swirling, spiralling electronic effects and mangled voice samples- lapping water, birdsong, finger cymbals. A lot of work has been put into the percussive side of the music, smooth hand drums and clattering stick work interweave the downbeat dance grooves and imaginative bass lines that drive the music making for a rhythmically engrossing experience. The band's live approach beams clearly through the sharp programming and sparkling mix, performance elements smoothly complementing the digital aspects. Poetic words from artist Alex Grey and Peak’s own resident poet Tanina Munchkina highlight the collaborative vision that the project shares, drawing on the skills of a widely varied pool of talent.

MOOD
The Peaking Goddess Collective have put together a striking album of chillout mood music - blissful and floatational whilst at the same time heaving with some driving beats. The psychedelic side of the music is ever spattering and layering the tracks with peripheral detail, aural air movement and sonic turbulence. Music to brighten your dreams or to fuel the dance floor, the eclectic aesthetic that the band works toward establishes a timelessness and a trans-cultural sound that works to great effect.

ARTWORK
Artwork for the album brings together a similar blend of the synthetic and the organic as can be found in the music - circular mandala like patterns overlay or lurk within luminous photographic imagery. On the front cover half of a rising/setting disc hangs against a sky flushed with rainbow glows, within another disc echoes the shape of the CD. The track list can be found both outside and inside noting key contributors alongside. A full list of guest performers is found on the inside of the sleeve bathed in graphic light.

OVERALL
Advertised under the genre 'psychedelic chill' Organika comes as the debut album from The Peaking Goddess Collective. The band has contributed to a number of compilations and have self-released several of their live performances. Obviously released via Peak records - Organika benefits from the mixing skills of Master Margherita. The collective is described as a "four-piece live digital & organic band known for its outstanding and longstanding performances" comprised of guitarist Ajja S.F. Leu, bass-player Master Margherita and percussionist Dymons joined most recently by flutist Flooting Grooves. Like minded musicians bring digeridoo and tabla, dholak, dhol sounds to the mix as well as the afore mentioned poetic lines.

WHO WILL LIKE THIS ALBUM
Organika will doubtless delight the band's fans gathered via their live shows - maintaining something of the feel of improvisational performance whilst building in a carefully crafted studio sound. Organika is for chill lovers that enjoy some powerful rhythms and 'real' instruments against imaginative synth programming.