The New Year starts with the welcome news that The Cosmologist returns with episode three of the Cosmology series. Trip 1 started life as a tribute to 70's radical firebrand's The Last Poets and their 1977 clarion call to arms, 'It's a Trip'. A loose and ever changing collective, the initial line up was formed on May 19,1968 to mark Malcolm X's birthday, having all met at East Wind, a Harlem based writers work shop. They took their name from a revolutionary South African poet Keorapetse Kgositisile who rightly prophesized that the talking would soon give way to the persuasiveness of the gun. Continuing that thought, civil rights for African Americans was very much the beat of The Last Poets; a cause they would champion and indeed, were not afraid to back up their mighty words with direct action. However, the project was a long and laboured affair spanning many months, and try as they might, the original track just would not to be bent into shape for a modern dancefloor. It simply refused to yield to the editing process, to the extent that it led to Laurie (the musical genius, rhythm section & orchestra behind The Cosmologist) labelling it a 'problem child.' The message within that original 1978 track was so powerful and despite the advances made in racial parity in the ensuing decades, inequality remains stubbornly entrenched, leaving so much of the Last Poet's 35 year old sermon ringing as loud and true today as it did when it was first unleashed. In a Broken Britain that last year saw a massive rise in food banks on the one hand, whilst the other hand spent a staggering £6 billion at the Boxing day sales, 'the man' may have moved out of plain sight, but he is still running the same game. In the end, following the purchase of a Roland SH 1000 (fans of Imagination will instantly recognize the bass synth that gave Body Talk & Illusion those killer hooks) it then led the track somewhere altogether unexpected. Sometimes, you just have to let go of an idea and the beats take over to decide upon the final destination. The end result draws inspiration from' it's a Trip', where the faintest snatches of the vocal ghost in and out of the mix. From there, a slow and menacing chug builds into an epic journey that takes us to the very heart of Balearica that will we are sure, find favour amongst DJ's who opt for a more eclectic playlist . As with any problem child, perseverance, patience and a lot of love helped Trip 1 to flourish, and to finally find its true voice. Trip 2 is different beast altogether and can be traced back to the very dawn of the Cosmic movement, via Italian originator Daniele Baldelli. Mike Oldfield's Foreign Affair was a track he picked up on its 1983 release, as it fitted his hypnotic electronic sensibilities perfectly and many DJ's have since adopted it over the years as an ethereal end of night anthem. As with all The Cosmologist reconstructions, the track is reworked so as to grace a contemporary setting, whilst retaining the essence of the original. The influence of Jah Shaka hangs heavy in the air, with an authentic 70's style dub designed to rumble those speaker stacks. This is the sound of a popular holiday destination out of season and it warms the soul like late winter sunshine. A limited, hand stamped 12" on crystal clear vinyl, this next piece in the Cosmology jigsaw will be let loose in spring, for those who know where to look… Under the influence, and always under the radar…