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REVIEW: ZION TRAIN - Passage to Indica (Universal Egg Records)

"Passage to Indica" is Zion Train's first album who now have been re-released and remastered. The first thing that hit me when listening to this album is how fresh it still sounds after fourteen years on the market. The production is quite sparse which isn't a bad thing in any way since the core of each song really gets through. There is a very harmonic and floating sound throughout the whole album which I find very soothing.

Apperently the concept for the album was places around the world were you can smoke marijuana without fear or stress of breaking a law. I must admit they did a very good job since I actually find this as a perfect chill out album. To either play in a dance or just as background music. Tunes like "Earthrush" and "Burning Indica" are just pure meditation which I just keep playing over and over again. Other tracks that really made it for me was "Power One" and "Power Two" which are the only two vocal tracks on the album. Sis K and Molara, who sings one tune each, cries out for basic human rights and for people to understand that themself holds the power to change. Following these tracks are their dub counterparts who are equally good ,if not better when I come to think of it. These two vocal tracks and their dubs were originally released as 7:inches and did not appear on the original playlist on the 1992 release.

Soundclip - Zion Train - Burning Indica

Zion Train did some works with the legendary Studio One singer Devon Russel in their early years. Most known of those are the 7:inch "Jah Holds The Key" which is a recut of a Devon Russel tune by the same name. On this album you can find a track called "Daybreak" which uses the same rhythm as "Jah Holds The Key" yet differently mixed and without vocals. Another track that seems to come out of these sessions are "Custom Check" were we can hear Devon Russel's voice in the beginning on the tune stating before the drums kick in: "Remember when we were in Africa..."

"Revival" is another track that really sticks. It mainly just consist of drum and bass with a simple yet very effective melody that grows on you. Actually the whole album kind of grows on you. First time I heard it there were a few tracks which I liked but after going through it a couple of times more and more tracks stood out.

If you like meditative digital dub that takes you places than this one is for you.

/Jakob Levi - 22/8-05