Review: Sula Bassana & Modulfix - Brain Wash

Regular readers of this blog will need no introduction to Sula Bassana, the doyen of all things psychedelic, spacey and kosmische. He is a man of many faces and many, many projects, and his hookup with Modulfix (aka Martin Schorn, German synth master) is possibly one of his most interesting. 'Brain Wash' is a coming together of worlds - the world of synth driven beats and the world of spacey psychedelia and the results are innovative, creative and very much worthy of attention. As ever the groovy artwork is by Komet Lulu (who also gets to play didgeridoo!). Instruments-wise Sula and Modulfix both take responsibilty for keyboards and guitars, with Sula also playing bass and drums. Eroc brings his genius to the mastering desk.

'Svensven Der Froschfrosch' starts proceedings with the sound of robotic crickets before a very dubstep wobble bassline (yes, you read that right) kicks in, shortly followed by some tribal sounding drums and some very trancey synths and effects. It veers close to EBM at times but the structure and the kosmische synth washes keep it the 'right' side of dance music. Title track 'Brain Wash' follows and is the longest track of the album at more or less 13 minutes. It is more familiar Sula Bassana territory with some ace space rock guitars and a metronomic motorik rhythm all aided and abetted by some groovy synths and sound effects; a wonderfully hypnotic psychedelic excursion. 'Horta' changes the mood yet again, beginning with some bells and spacey effects before a gently plucked acoustic guitar takes over, playing an almost flamenco refrain over a simple rhythm and synths. It has a haunted, almost melancholy feel about it, especially when the electric guitar joins the fray - really atmospheric stuff, bordering on ambient. 'Marshmellow' sees the duo returning to the trance arena; some more cool synth work over an hypnotic beat. 'Fortschritt' is an electronic space rock track, it has all the trademark flourishes of effects and washes of sound...it's pretty damn cool! 'Rossos Traum' brings an end to proceedings; another long track with a definite darker edge than the preceeding tracks. There are some wonderful drones over a simple drum rhythm and some synths and loops that almost border on the 'dark ambient' As a track it leaves the listener with a sense of dread and awe.

'Brain Wash' is most definitely an album of ideas - two craftsmen at the top of their game coming together to cross pollinate the world of electronica with the world of psychedelia. The result is a piece of work that is constantly changing and evolving and keeps the listener rapt from start to finish; an album that smashes preconceived ideas. The album was originally released as a CDr by Sulatron but in 2013 Norway's Pancromatic Records gave it a well deserved vinyl release, and a quick check on the Sulatron Records site shows they still have some up for grabs, so if you want your head expanded and preconceptions challenged....go get one.