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Alucidnation - Induction - Press Reviews
Future Music9/10 issue FM 162 June 2005 - Bruce Bickerton's Alucidnation have featured a couple of times in FUTURE MUSIC over the years. One of the track on this, the quirky and superb I'M NOT BAD, featured in our CHILL OUT SPECIAL in 2001 and on top of that there was the rather great BIG CHILL READY STEADY MIX in which Bickerton made a track in a day with label owner Pete Lawrence and Tom Middleton. Expectations were high for this then, but after the first couple of tracks, the mood is set to the obviously horizontal with the quality right up there if not exceeding, I'M NOT BAD. This is fabulously melodic, drifting material often underpinned with the most apologetic (but still workable) beats and always featuring that Bickerton vocal. It's not going to be everyones cup of tea by any means, but if you want mesmerising and simple stuff after a day of tearing up your own beats, this is it.
IDJ
June 2005 - With it's dreamy synths, half - strained vocals and calming music box chimes, I think it's safe to say that ‘Induction’ is an aquired taste. That's not to say it's a bad album, though, because it's actually really rather good. Managing to get just about the right balance between strangely lo-fi ambient singalongs ('Beautiful House" the wonderfully childlike 'I'm Not Bad'), swirly ambient fare ('Suspended On Air') and tripped out acoustic moments ('The Art Of Conversation'). "Induction' is late night downtempo music the way it used to be - deeply electronic and guaranteed to sound great at five in the morning. Of course, this sort of bleary eyed chillage is far from fashionable in this lounge obsessed day and age, and Bickerton's vocals are odd to say the least - kind of like a high pitched stoned Jamie Oliver singing for his supper - but there's still much to enjoy. Go on, try it, you might just like it.
THE IRISH TIMES
There is still a place out there where dreamy vocals and slow-motion horizontal beats produce a wave of nodding, blissed-out heads, and Alucidnation's Bruce Bickerton has obviously driven a camper van to that very place quite a few times. While reminiscent in part of those chillout albums from a couple of years ago, which had punters in raptures about spectacular sunset and Balearic cafe terraces, Bickerton is too much of a canny operator to rely sorely on cliches to fine-tune the moods he wishes to set. Instead, he layers each track with texture and reverb, ensuring the overall melancholic, hazy drift is never too far away. Tracks such as the finely poised I'm Bad and the balmy Quick Sketch burst with atmosphere, due largely to how Bickerton tunes the prevailing ambience. An album of subtle, un assuming drama.
WAVE
The Big Chill Festival now rivals Glastonbury as part of alternative folks 'summer season". As English as Silk Cut and fat as blue Rizlas, it’s what the Queen's annual garden party would be like if she suddenly decamped to Amsterdam and got Charles and the boys into Mr Scruff. This debut from Chill-affiliated musician and DJ Bruce Bickerton sounds like a typical festie afternoon. Warm, inviting synth chords hang in the air Angelo Badalamenti - style as blissed-out bass burbles along nicely underneath. Lyrics get multi-tracked like a less obsessive My Bloody Valentine and they add to the comforting, slightly nostalgic mood. Manna from heaven for the up-all-night types and a fantastic introduction to summer for the rest of us.
FLUX
Based on experience, it's not everyones cup of tea, but Bruce Bickerton brings a sweet bouyant soundtrack that's sure to be appreciated by advocates of 'chill'. Floaty and often folky, it's brimming with tasty intricacies and a charming human touch. Quite lovely.
STRONGER
Bruce Bickerton reflects the atmosphere of Pete Lawrence's Big Chill festival with a set of eased listening. Although opening with a rather grandiose sweep, the album soon turns to low gravity grooves, where beats are forsaken in favour of a sprinkle of sugary melody and lightly undulating guitar work.
Written: 17th Jun, 05
Read: 3103 times
