Review of ‘ReGen: AtYyA Remixes’

Written by SoundScrybe – Christian Cortes


Breathing new light into visionary music project Liquid Bloom’s vibrant collection of soothing rhythms and naturalistic soundscapes, ReGen: AtYyA Remixes picks up where Liquid Bloom’s spring 2017 release, Re:Generations, left off and delves deeper into music’s power to enthrall, uplift and heal.


Asked to re-envision the album by Liquid Bloom producer Amani Friend in early 2017, Canadian bass producer AtYya invites us to slow down and fall into the space between beats, where a colorful realm teeming with holographic life awaits: nature sounds fuse with classical and ritual instrumentation, enchanting vocals dance in the firelight, and prismatic effects chime through the air.


Not wandering too far from the source material, but gaining a subtle organic bass element rarely present in Re:Generations’ ritual spaces, the remixes evoke a visceral sensation of being uprooted from the present and immersed in another land. In one moment, I walk barefoot across a jungle floor as light rain falls through the canopy, and in the next, I stand amidst a sweeping wilderness, the sky stained with color in the early morning twilight, wisps of pipe tobacco stirring in the breeze.


This music is not meant to turn on parties or trigger ecstatic moments of dance floor euphoria. Instead, it offers a rare opportunity to summon the sleeper from the depths into the present, where the unconscious can take the reigns of the imagination. Those who hear its call may find that it is the mind that dances rather than the body, with each track’s hypnotic rhythms, mystical vocals and calm percussion serving as a pleasant and unobtrusive soundtrack for inward-facing activities like art, writing, yoga and meditation. With field recordings of water sounds, bird calls and jungle life bookending each track, it is easy to get lost in the tranquil worlds that lie within.


It is in this experience that AtYyA’s Re:Gen remixes reveal their medicinal value. Much like the source material—conceived with the intention of inspiring mindful movement, meditation, healing and creation—the collection transports listeners into the expansive spaces that lie beyond the static-filled sensory fields of daily life. Propelled by contributions from a worldly spectrum of orchestral and vocal sound alchemists, including Porangui, Ixchel Prisma, Deya Dova, Rara Avis, Shaman’s Dream and many others, each track conjures memories and imaginings of worlds beyond borders, cultures and times. Even the boundaries separating language lose their meaning in the intertwining of musical energies presented in these compositions.


As the first producer to lay hands on the stems and samples that Amani Friend used to create Re:Generations—much of which was re-envisioned from older tracks in the Liquid Bloom discography—AtYyA kicks off what is to become an extensive series of remix albums from Liquid Bloom. Next in the line is the fall 2017 release of ReGen: Lucid Remixes, featuring tracks from Hedflux, Tribone, Kaminanda, Symbolico, Nanosphere and others. Uptempo, tribal house and downtempo remixes from the likes of Perfect Stranger, TreavorMoontribe, Mose Roberts, The Human Experience, Numatik and Yaima, as well as a guided meditation collection, are also in the works.


With ReGen: AtYyA Remixes being just the first in a fractal sequence of genre-hopping Liquid Bloom material to come, it is clear that this collaborative approach to music has the power to unite unlikely forces across space and time at virtually any energy level.


To experience ReGen: AtYyA Remixes now, head over to Liquid Bloom’s Bandcamp page. It will appear on all other music sites and be available as a CD on August 25th.