Album Review: Aspect One – Vibe Ready (2009)

Album Review: Aspect One – Vibe Ready (2009)
Rating: 3.5 out of 5 Potholes

Aspect One has been producing for quite some time now and has lent his soundscape across a lot of spectrums from Aceyalone to 2mex, ad in addition has lent his talents to one name as of current: Flying Lotus. Venturing on his own, he has put out Vibe Ready, his first instrumental effort.

One may think at first glance that a whopping 19 tracks may be a bit much, however it all clocks in barely at 40 minutes. The soundscapes are ethereal, not a single instrumental goes over 2 and a half minutes. As “Night” begins, you feel yourself taken in by the synths and pianos, as the snaps bring you back to reality. Meanwhile you have constant head nodding joints in “I’m Live”, the syncopated stuttering drum in “You”, and the hardcore sounds and stark pianos screaming on “Warzone”. Elsewhere you have some statements being made, such as the bells-and-whistles feel of “Stop Sampling”, however you can hear minimal sampling taking place in the brazen drums on “Baby”. And then you have ethereal beauty striking out of such tracks as the snare-tinged “Savage” and the sultry basslines in “Dance”.

Explosive snares strike on “Minefield”, while rusty-chain hi-hats and crashes blast with full force on “Mystic Brew”. Increasing tonal synths are existent in a remake of “Summertime”,  yet “Addams Family” strikes with the main chorus and hits you with tonal vibraphone sounding synths. “Chaos” is the star, with its Japanese strings and whirlwinds of minimalist kicks. If there is one gripe to be had when it is all said and done, its that it’s more of a project to be heard in full rather than individually due to each track sounding similar. For a majority of the project, you hit a three track stride where each beat sounds similar in structure to the last one, only the synth tones make it different. One would imagine what could have been done if just a little more sampling would’ve been inclusive, but it is steadily prevalent in the drums portion, just not as prevalent in the vocals portion. Vibe Ready creates quite a listening stimulation, something that is vibrant, comforting, and a constant neck breaker. It should be interesting to see where he goes next.