Limburg's Oby Nine aka Jasper Spobeck takes his musical inspiration from the most far reaching corners and depths of his mind. His first EP 'Illusive Adventure' came as the product of a drug trip on magical mushrooms and now his second release 'Weightless' EP draws on his experiences whilst flying and feeling weightless within extremely lucid dreams.
Whether or not you are a fan of mind altering psychedelic drugs and dreams that blur the lines of fiction and reality, the depth of experience and passion that has gone into 'Weightless' is undoubtable.
While the majority of the tracks certainly hold and 'experimental' edge to them, they remain nonetheless accesible to casual listener, with the structure and overall tone of the tracks resembling the audio equivalent of something in between The Beatles and Gorillaz.
As the EP progresses, it takes the listener on a journey, inspired not just by lucid dreams but musical samples harking back toward previous decades of musical meditation upon the unconscious mind. Whether it's Jimmy Hendrix's 'Crosstown Traffic' (To Be Weightless) or The Beatles 'Come Together' (Got To Be Free), Oby Nine certainly pays homage to those that have come before him in his quest to understand the depths of his mind as well as the narcotics that can help him get there.
Moreover, as the EP progresses, so in turn do the more recent stylistic and musical influences start to drift closer to the surface. The EP quickly moves beyond the simple 80s style synths of 'Got To Be Free' towards the low frequency focus and dubstep rhythms of 'Float On', and beyond to 2step garage vibes of 'On Sound Waves'. Altogether the seamless progression of Oby Nine's varied tracks doesn't just serve to open the EP in terms of accessibility to fans of different genres, but also to enhance the 'journeying' aspect of the EP. The listener moves along with the music, with the over arching downtempo quality of the EP encouraging the listener to relax, close their eyes and journey inward into their sub-conscious, entering Oby Nine's audio soundscape and ultimately joining in his shared vision of a lucid dream experience.
At the end of the day then, the audio experience offered by Oby Nine, is a highly rewarding one, though requiring a bit of effort and submission on the part of the listener. However, since the album is available for FREE, there's really nothing to lose.
Check out the player below and decide for yourself and in the meantime, head on over to Soundcloud to show Oby Nine some love and check out his other EP 'Illusive Adventure'.
WANT MORE? Then follow The HotBox on Facebook and Twitter
