ARNOL GARZA | SAN ANTONIO, TX United States | 10/04/2000
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Some say that Ambient Music reached its pinnacle in the early to mid 90's. Such artists as Global Communication,FSOL,Aphex Twin,Orb, to name a few, produced pieces of work which can be considered Ambient Music classics. However,after '95 it almost seemed like the Ambient Movement ran out of steam and only offered a handful of great music. Well, a new century gives birth to a new CD that is sure to be a classic. Simply put, "Prototype 2" by Zero-One is a masterpiece. Kevin Dooley, the mastermind behind Zero-One begins the CD with the track "Possibilities" which is layer upon layer of synth washes set to the trademark Zero-One subtle, yet groove-laced beats. This incredible song sets the tone for the rest of this work of art. Each song is so full of atmospheric soundscapes that you wish you were born with headphones permanently attached. Not since "Lifeforms" by FSOL has there been a CD that makes you thank the heavens for the invention of the headphone. The use of sampling and voice processing adds and ethereal human touch to every song. Some would say tht electronic music lacks emotion, but there is no way that can be said of this release. Mr. Dooley combines dark and moody atmospherics with lush and bright rythms and arrangments throughout which will leave you in awe. Every track on this CD is beautifully arranged and produced. This CD is the follow-up to the self titled debut which is also known as "Calculated Adventures in Electronica". It is an exceptional CD and would make it hard to believe that it could be topped. But, not only does Mr. Dooley top that one, he makes a masterpiece."
Yep...they're absolutely correct!
James R. Williams | 05/09/2003
(5 out of 5 stars)
"The other reviewers that's who! This is a great CD that gets better every time I listen. This music continues to delight me with surprises in perscussion and rythym. I've been an electronica fan since early Klaus Schulze and TD and Zero One is extending the tradition in marvelous ways. Without a doubt my favorite CD! 5 stars +"
More good space at last
James R. Williams | Cincinnati, OH USA | 08/20/2005
(4 out of 5 stars)
"The link at echoes.org was for a different CD, but I got this one instead, so I ordered it anyway. Well written tunes, full of shifts in tempo and rhythm, effects, etc. The rhythm synthesizers sound tinny or harsh at times. Thought I might blow a speaker, but didn't. A very good listen all-around, tho. Really enjoyed cooking while listening to it. You can listen to it for hours before you ask yourself if you've heard a particular song before. The true mark of good space music."
Beyond the Binary
Mark Eremite | Seoul, South Korea | 01/30/2008
(4 out of 5 stars)
"I'm a fan of Mystery Science Theater 3000, and whenever I pop in a new ambient-trance CD, I think back to a short bit from the Pod People episode of that show. A character named Joel is mocking the movie's spacey New Age soundtrack. Behind him is a wall of keyboards. "Here's how you make a New Age album," he tells his buddy Crow. "Hold down any key on the synthesizer." Crow does. "Now hold down another key." Crow does. "Now hold it down until you get a record deal from Windham Hill," Joel says.
New Age music is a comfy genre to undertake, is the point, a refuge for people with hydrogenated brain pans and the "skill" to find a handful of ethereal chords that can swim sleepily together. If you're talking about background noise for slowly sifting clouds or nebulous universal ballets, it doesn't take much to please people. Anyone with eight fingers can slow-step through a Casio keyboard and patch together a creeptastic theme song for the delicate waver of an incense stick's tangerine fume.
Kevin Dooley, mastermind behind ZerO One, seems to be aware of this. His music winks at the cheesy New Age genre that inspired it, without succumbing to anything other than the minimalist tribal rhythms and thought-scapes that help it transcend the great troughs of trance's wasteland. It's not easy to find, among the vast array of CDs with happy be-fluted hippies and Gaia-glorified album covers, something that's worth owning. I'll be the first to say that almost none of it is really bad; if you want music you can put on and then immediately ignore, most albums will do the trick. But how to find something that digs in? I'm reminded of an old Bugs Bunny cartoon where the gray aroma of a cooling carrot pie slinks through the air to Bugs' rabbit hole, reaches down with dangerously sexy fingers, and pulls him gently backwards through the air, toward its frangrant source. There you go. Don't you want music like that?
Sweet Nag Champa, here are a couple of albums for you, then.
"ProtOtype 2" is Dooley's sophomore effort, coming after his eponymous debut, and it's a slyly sublime stitching together of ambient funk with more aggressive psychedelic dub-work. Dooley doesn't let the rhythms waver into the insubstantial mists common to most dreamy chill-out mixes. Songs like "innEr spAce" and "seArch" sound like they're heading into the well-worn treads of trippy territory, but Dooley swings the melodic arc around at the last minute. It's an album that keeps you off your guard; it's good to spread your toes to, but it refuses to dwell in subconscious realms. The album is bookended by the best cuts: "pOssibilities" with its creepy cheeky congo-counter-rhythms, "memOry" with its nasty nascence (and a saxophone at its carmelized core; perhaps a nod to Dooley's first experience with a musical instrument), and "mOdule" with its funky come-hither come-down. There are some progressions that stretch out to breezy thinness, where the ambience wears itself to thread-bare dimensions, but Dooley doesn't wait long to fatten those moments up with his trademark turns in tone.
Psy-Fi is, for my money, a far more accomplished record, a melodic novel of dewy jungle jazziness melded to an aura that is laid-back without being lazy. Although most of the tracks on "ProtOtype" are great, they don't really measure up to the stellar equatorial warmth of "pSy-fI"s spiritually cerebral lankiness. "COntinuum" is as slow and expansive as a jet plane's vapor trail. "TransfOrmation" grinds through xylophonic chorales with a sexual flair. And "causalitY" (my favorite track), is a one-track snapshot of the entire album: a tribal shoulder-mover, a nimble neck massage, a solar story with fifteen chapters. Even better, "pSy-fI" contains animations (although some are a little low-rent and cheesy) and four mp3 bonus tracks, all of which are stellar additions to the rest of the disk.
Trance, New Age, Chillout ... call it what you will; "artists" for years have been using the label as an excuse to churn out passively pointless and unremarkable "music" for years. Do yourself a favor: grab some ZerO One and discover just what it means to be entranced, relearn the "new" in New Age, and see how warm and exciting even a "chillout" album can be."
Pleasurable Electronic Soundscapes
R. D. Waters | Newton, NC United States | 02/08/2008
(4 out of 5 stars)
"Shifting gears just slightly from the 1998 self-titled debut, Zero One (Kevin Dooley) released their second work in 2000. The same chilled sounds and beats are present, but the addition of voices and other organic sounds enriches the mix considerably.
The music is spare - lots of space as opposed to dense walls of sound - and the result is very pleasing to the ear. I find the music to be versatile. I can put it on as background - driving, making dinner, or cleaning house - or sit down and listen to it over headphones. Either way it works on a variety of levels.
I like the entire work, but I'm most fond of "Possibilities" and "Inner Space." I also like the crazy, warped sounds of "Think" - there's nothing out there that sounds exactly like it. If you're interested in keeping up with Dooley's latest and learning more, I suggest a visit to the Zero One page at MySpace or www.zero-one.org."
Track Listings (9) - Disc #1
