Infected Mushroom

Amit Duvedevani (left) and Erez Aizen (right) Amit Duvedevani (left) and Erez Aizen (right) Infected Mushroom is an Israeli psychedelic trance duo which has attained significant popularity from the late 1990s to the present time (2004). Hailing from Tel Aviv , the group has retained the fanbase attracted by their earier releases, 1999's The Gathering through a consistent sonic evolution exemplified by the subsequent albums Classical Mushroom (2000), BP Empire (2001) and Converting Vegetarians (2003). The recently released IM The Supervisor (2004) contains one of Erez and Duvdev's greatest hits Cities Of The Future . Infected Mushroom are one of the most popular pioneers of the Psychedelic trance (or 'Psytrance') genre, this has been attributed to both their constantly evolving style of music and to their tendency to use catchier, more accessible melodies than the more eccentric 'tripped-out' melodies used in most other psytrance music. Both Erez and Amit (Duvdev) are classically trained musicians, and this may explain the difference in the melodies they construct. 'The Gathering' (1999) was the breakthrough debut album for the group. This album set the trend for modern Israeli Psytrance that has become increasingly popular with a more 'mainstream' audience and gradually gaining acceptability. The group's evolving style has also had its share of critics. 2001's B.P. Empire was well-recieved by many fans and critics alike. However the album was seen as a break away from the more traditional styles of the previous albums and was shunned by many psytrance purists who felt that the new territories explored went beyond the bounds of psytrance but not necessarily in a progressive sense. There was also some critisicm about the previous albums being very similar, and so Infected Mushroom sought to prove their musical versatility with the epic 'Dancing With Kadafi'; seguing numerous styles of music, most notably through the use of strong middle-eastern style melodies and a classial piece halfway through which showcased their piano and violin skills. However the groups most controversial album proved to be 2003's 'Converting Vegetarians' which featured 2 discs; an inoffensive 'Trance Side' containing mostly trance-like dancefloor material, and a disc entitled 'The Other Side' which displayed Infected's other musical skills, including the Hiphop and R&B inspired title track 'Converting Vegetarians' which was the first true display of Duvdev's characteristic voice. The track also went against the grain of the typical psytrance philosophy, that of their hippy forebearers by chanting about the music's capacity to wrestle their audience from their naive ideals in favour of Infected's own less New Age philosophy. The remainder of the CD went on to reveal other musical stylings, including 'I Wish', lead by a carefully vocoded vocal line. Also included were guest appearences from well-known UK psytrance vocalist Michele Adamson on tracks 'Blink', 'Illminaughty' and to a lesser extent on 'Ballerium', recorded as a soundtrack to an up-and-coming internet game. The release of the most eagerly anticipated album of their career, 'IM The Supervisor' in 2004 (Often incorrectly referred to as I'm The Supervisor), further surprised listeners with yet another cocktail of Trance beats and indeed many more commercial Trance sounds. Recently, Infected Mushroom have moved from their base in Tel Aviv to a new studio in LA, USA which they are using as the base in which to produce their new album after completing their extensive world tour (which has never stopped since 1999!).¹