“9980 is a very nice album where the cosmos is tenderly jostled by one of the most rhythmic albums in Ultimae Records' catalogue”
1 Evolution 1:1 8:32 2 Snow Park 9:05 3 9980 8:14 4 Mol 9:09 5 Fossil 11:14 6 Take Off (album edit) 6:54 7 Gentle Perception 5:14 8 Time to Time by Time 7:55 9 Winter Sorrows 7:14 Ultimae Records| inre054.2
(CD 73:52) (V.F.) (EDM & Ambient Down-tempos)
At the time that I reviewed 9980 I was barely starting my intrusion into the world of psybient and the psychedelic-sonic boundaries of the Lyons label Ultimae Records. So, I was far from being a connoisseur! Especially in the lunar down-tempos structures of the Connect. Ohm duo which is composed of Hybrid Leisureland (Hidetoshi Koizumi) and Cell (Alexandre Scheffer). Since then, my ears have been attached to this style to the very point where I receive and listen to more and more this music of which the anchor point is related to the ambient music of the 70's and to the structures of Manuel Göttsching as well as Klaus Schulze and Jean-Michel Jarre when their styles deviated to electronic dance music. It's therefore with enthusiasm that I accepted the invitation of Sandrine to dip again my eardrums in this new version of 9980. Aside from a new cover, still in digipack format, this remastered reissue is offered in a high-quality 24-bit recording. We thus rediscover a more detailed sound fauna with an accentuation in the electronic effects and for some percussive elements.
The rhythmic panorama is always so enchanting. From Evolution 1:1 to Winter Sorrows, 9980 reconnects 74 minutes of atmospheres and slow rhythms in an impressive mosaic of lunar ballads and morphic down-tempo which are waved in interstellar sonic textures. The pinnacle of the album, to my tastes, is still Fossil and Take Off. And like a soundtrack which arises in crescendo, it returns to its cradle with delicacy, I still love the very ambient and morphic Time to Time by Time with its glass beads that tinkle and fall into oblivion ... A very nice album where the cosmos is tenderly jostled by one of the most rhythmic albums in Ultimae Records' catalogue.
Sylvain Lupari (July 26th, 2018) *****
Available on Ultimae Records