Santiago Nino / MIND CREATES MEANING
Plasma Torus head honcho, the Columbian born Santiago Nino steps up to the plate for the fourth album on the label titled 'Mind Creates Meaning'. Stepping further away from his eclectic trance roots for labels such as Lost Language, Cohagen and Dub Tech, Nino showcases his ability to convey eccentric musical narratives with this cracking 19 track album.
The music sits somewhere between contemporary Trance, golden-era Electronica and the nuances of the LA Beat scene, paired with eerie transitions and plenty of semi-organic sounding oddities. 'No Mission' utilises spooky air traffic control recordings laced over sporadic proto-garage beats and trance pads. 'The Good Things Are' starts with synthesised guitar plucks before it dives head first into some woozy electro.
The majority of tracks are wonderful 2-3 minute bursts of energy, like the glitched out 'Starseeder' or the experimental house templates on 'Una Palmera Flotando En El Espacio'. Tracks like 'Traps' come at you a little harder with distorted bass and pounding kicks, but before they get too carried away, Nino feathers them out, eventually mutated into another form.
The collaboration with label mate Alex Hentze showcases both of their styles well. Hentze's more relaxed, melodic style is evident here. The looping main phrase rolls around in glorious reverb whilst the skittering beats accentuate the tempo. The album winds down to a close with the melancholic 'Friends', a collage of micro-edited guitars and thin rhythms. On teh digital album only, we round off with the trip-hop beats of 'Nothing Without You'.
The music sits somewhere between contemporary Trance, golden-era Electronica and the nuances of the LA Beat scene, paired with eerie transitions and plenty of semi-organic sounding oddities. 'No Mission' utilises spooky air traffic control recordings laced over sporadic proto-garage beats and trance pads. 'The Good Things Are' starts with synthesised guitar plucks before it dives head first into some woozy electro.
The majority of tracks are wonderful 2-3 minute bursts of energy, like the glitched out 'Starseeder' or the experimental house templates on 'Una Palmera Flotando En El Espacio'. Tracks like 'Traps' come at you a little harder with distorted bass and pounding kicks, but before they get too carried away, Nino feathers them out, eventually mutated into another form.
The collaboration with label mate Alex Hentze showcases both of their styles well. Hentze's more relaxed, melodic style is evident here. The looping main phrase rolls around in glorious reverb whilst the skittering beats accentuate the tempo. The album winds down to a close with the melancholic 'Friends', a collage of micro-edited guitars and thin rhythms. On teh digital album only, we round off with the trip-hop beats of 'Nothing Without You'.
