Eternal Basement & Juno Reactor – Inside The Upside Down (EP – Blue Room Sounds)
Genre/Influences: Ambient-Techno, Cinematic.
Format: Digital.
Background/Info: This EP resulted from the common efforts between Michael Kohlbecker (Eternal Basement) and Ben Watkins (Juno Reactor).
Content: The work features 3 songs. With the exception of the second cut which sounds like a wink to Psy-Trance both cuts reveal a strong Cinematic appeal. The tracks have been progressively built up, revealing numerous effects while carried by low sound vibrations.
+ + + : I first of all salute the collaboration between 2 geniuses of the Electro/Trance scene. You clearly will recognize influences from both artists. “Beyond The Black Hole” is the ‘hardest cut from this collaboration and a perfect song for dancefloors. Both Cinematic songs have been meticulously built up and I especially like the final part of “Home” leading to an apotheosis.
– – – : The last song “Memory Vortex” is the single piece that couldn’t totally convince me and serves a bit as an antithesis after the brilliant “Beyond The Black Hole”.
Conclusion: A fascinating collaboration between two artists symbolizing the revival of Blue Room.
Best songs: “Beyond The Black Hole”, “Home”.
Rate: 8.
Artists: www.facebook.com/eternalbasement / www.ben-watkins.com / www.facebook.com/junoreactorofficial
Label: www.blueroomsounds.com / www.facebook.com/BlueRoomSounds
“Inside The Upside Down” was released on 16 March 2022 through Blue Room Sounds. The digital EP holds three tracks: “Home”, “Beyond The Black Hole” and “Memory Vortex”. Watkins and Michael Kohlbecker wrote the material, Kohlbecker mixed it, and Charles Michaud mastered the EP at Preference Mastering in Paris.
The release page on Juno Reactor’s Bandcamp sets out where the collaboration came from: “This E.P. ‘Inside the Upside Down’ a Spaced odyssey was one of the good things that happened during lockdown. Its ease of creation whilst Stylistically we are very different, what I liked in this unusual sonic landscape is that it doesn’t fit nicely into any one genre or style.”
The EP arrived a month after “Navras Remixes”, also on Blue Room Sounds.
Listen to “Inside The Upside Down”:
About Eternal Basement and Juno Reactor
Eternal Basement is the project of Frankfurt-based German producer Michael Kohlbecker. His first release appeared on Harthouse in 1994, and albums, EPs and maxi-singles followed on Harthouse, Blue Room Released, Blue Room Sounds and his own Eternal Basement Recordings. He has also remixed Joachim Witt, Jam & Spoon and Juno Reactor.
Juno Reactor is the project of British musician Ben Watkins, active since 1990 and long associated with the Blue Room Released and Blue Room Sounds labels. Side-Line has covered the project since the 1990s and reviewed “The Golden Sun… Remixed” in 2015, “The Mutant Theatre” in 2018 and the “Transmissions” reissue in 2023. Watkins also gave Side-Line a ’30 Years Of Journalism – Celebration Interview’ in 2021.
The two producers had crossed paths before this EP through Kohlbecker’s remix work for Juno Reactor. “Inside The Upside Down” is their first release credited to both projects.
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