Tracks : 1 Club Aquarium 2 Gemini 3 The Twilight Bong 4 Irsi 5 Interstellar Rainbow Lung 6 Scultress Sublime
Review From Aural Innovations #16 (June 2001)
Founded in Portugal late 1996 by multi-instrumentalist Luis Simoes,
Saturnia are a fresh and inspiring duo who offer spacey organic
drenched atmospherics, mixed with sitar induced ambience and ethnic
drum and bass rhythms. They edge slightly towards the strange
dancetrance than they do towards spacerock, but don't let that put you
off because they offer their own brand of space on here that is
reminiscent of early Pompeii Pink Floyd meets Portishead meets Anubian
Lights meets Ravi Shanker. Certainly a new one on me.
On this, their first release, we have an interesting combination of
Luis Simoes: Guitar- Sitar-Lapsteel Guitar-Vocals-Theremin-Gong and
Loopings, and old time friend Eduardo Vasconcelos aka M.Strange:
Organ-Synthesizer-Theremin-Gong and Loopings. The first offering 'Club
Aquarium' is a six-minute trip through the doors of ambient Rick Wright
style Organs fused with modern day dance beats and haunting effected
Vocals. There is a great piece of Flute playing by Flapi Simoes on here
as well, I guess he is the brother of Luis. His flute sends out signals
as an ethnic vibe takes over, the flute sound is similar to Sphinx era
Nik Turner in its progression and it makes a promising change to the
song. It's a shame that this vibe is broke by the return of the Drum
Loop and Vocals. It's a bit too dance orientated for me in the Beat
department, but that did not stop me from enjoying the originality of
their approach to this genre. 'Gemini' is more mellow and easier in
pace; this four and half-minute track sound is very Portishead
musically with its dreamy floating tune encased inside a slow hypnotic
background beat. Vocally and Sound FX wise it has elements of early
Pink Floyd and we can sample the Guitar to great effect with it's
Gilmouresq picking patterns and its sublime textures. The Gong crashes
broaden the structure and offer depth as Joao Gomes's stunning Moog
leadline appears and takes you under its wing. Very ethereal due to the
Beat leaning more towards trance/trip hop than it does towards dance.
I wasn't disappointed by my next installment, the seven and a half
minute classic 'The Twilight Bong'. This is a very space induced
number. It has a certain sound that captures your mind and takes it
over. It is very eastern sounding with the beats and flavours; it is my
favourite so far. I love it and find myself encased in ethnic serenity
with the Gong and Sitar marking their territory with feeling and
precision. There are hints of 'Darkness' by Mr Quimby's Beard perhaps
in here, but this piece is more alive and it moves at a different pace
and velocity. It is the first instrumental of the album, and to me
Saturnia have touched upon a great spacey ethnic Sitar vibe that stirs
the perception when stoned. 'Iris' and 'Interstellar Rainbow Lung' are
both similar to 'Club Aquarium' in all aspects, but without the Flute
and moog solo's. These are great songs if you love a more mellow
approach to the in-your-face aspects of dance music. But as I said
about 'Club Aquarium', too dance orientated for me. I'll say no more.
'Sculptress Sublime' offers what could be this bands interpretation
of 'A Saucerful of Secrets'. It builds from a strange windy atmosphere
into something very profound. The Drum Loop in essence is mainly Drum
& Bass but sometimes it mimic's Nick Mason's manic style, and for
much of the six minutes we have a great sound here. This is another
totally instrumental piece and it stands out tall alongside 'The
Twilight Bong'. I can see a lot of potential here for Saturnia who are
most definitely talented musicians. All in all this album produces
Dance orientated structures of an ambient nature, but in my eyes the
best offerings are the instrumentals, and there are only two! But this
album is a must for those who like Drum Loops and Jungle type rhythms
worked into songs of a mellow vibe. Saturnia are very original and
definitely offer something different. I have heard their Second Album
from 2000/2001 and I would say that they have moved onto better places,
probably due to line up changes in between. An interesting combination
of old meets new.