Title: Discretionary Divination
Artist: One Tasty Morsel
Release Date: 2014 May 23
Genre: PsyTrance
License: CC BY-NC-SA
Pricing: $10 AUD (or more)
Label: No Qualms Records

Introduction

Did I mention that I’ve somehow found my way into musical prankster territory this week? Well, this one tasty discretionary divination just adds to the fun pranks of the week. When I reviewed last year’s Vintage Variables I said:

I bet you find the charm, the humor, light psychedelic touches and the attitude that comes through in most of the tracks are quite attractive. Even the more progressive tracks still have that unmistakable touch to them, and make for a really fun release.

So, how does this release stack up against the early works of Paul van Morsel? Let’s say there’s a few things about this release.

One Tasty Discretionary Divination

In my previous review I tried to explain that I wasn’t the biggest fan of trance music, but I feel that I wasn’t very clear about why it’s not one of my favorite styles. Basically, the idea of trance music is to lull the listener into an almost meditative state through a solid, consistent rhythm. Basically a flat beating bass that is primarily unchanging. That is the major thing that I find annoying about a lot of House and Techno music as well.

However, what makes trance, or at least One Tasty Morsel style PsyTrance enjoyable is that he weaves multiple rhythmic counterpoint lines around the beat. That element is as strong on Discretionary Divination as it was on the previous Vintage Variables release.

Another element that is still found in this release, although not at quite the same level as the previous release, is the humor in the pieces. For example, on ‘That’s All We Know’ the humor is provided by a voice sample saying “His name is Dr. Rockzo. He’s known as the Rock-n-Roll Clown. He does cocaine. And I’m afraid that’s all we know.’ Which is a reference to Metalocalyse – an animated series about a death metal band.

But, that’s about the most humorous thing on the release. The remaining five tracks on the release don’t quite have the same level of playfulness found on the last release. Also it doesn’t seem to have some of the same interesting juxtapositions of instruments, such as the Indian percussion and saxophone of the last release.

And, there’s one more thing about this release: it doesn’t have the same crisp feeling to the engineering / production that the previous release had. It just seems like this release squashes the sounds together into the same space, whereas on the previous release you had a sense of space around the instruments — almost like the existed in a three-dimensional space.

Conclusion

I do like this release. Paul van Morsel is still one of the few PsyTrance artists that I find compelling and enjoyable to listen to. However, this release is a bit of a let down: it’s not quite as psychedelic, it’s not quite as playful, and the engineering / production sounds a bit more flat.

For those that are looking for more of a straight-on Psytrance style release, they might enjoy this better than Vintage Variables. For me, however, it was Paul van Morsel’s unique take on Psychedelic Trance that made his work wonderful to listen to.