Infected Mushroom is an Israeli psychedelic trance and electronic music duo that uses additional musicians when playing live sets. Formed by Erez Eisen (also known as I.Zen) and Amit Duvdevani (also known as Duvdev) in the city of Haifa, in northern Israel, the duo has garnered a large international fanbase. Infected Mushroom is known for their consistent sonic evolution exemplified by the subsequent albums The Gathering (1999), Classical Mushroom (2000), B.P. Empire (2001), Converting Vegetarians (2003), IM the Supervisor (2004), Vicious Delicious (2007) and Legend of the Black Shawarma (2009). The group currently resides in Los Angeles.
Members
Erez Eisen
Erez Eisen Originally from Israel, Qiryat Yam. Was born on 7 September 1980 and had early musical training; learning to play the organ at age 4 and studying piano in the Haifa Conservatory from the age of 8. At age 11 he started toying with computerised music, first using Impulse Tracker and later moving to more advanced musical composition software. By the age of 18, Erez had collaborated with DJ J?rg and other notable psytrance artists, and had released three albums and a multitude of tracks under different psytrance acts (including Shidapu and Shiva Shidapu).
Amit Duvdevani
Amit Duvdevani was born on 7 November 1974 and had a similar musical background. He played the piano for 9 years, starting at the age of 7, before taking a turn towards heavy metal and punk rock. Amit played keyboard and wrote most of the material for a local Haifa punk rock band Enzyme. Amit went to his first trance party in 1991, a week before being conscripted into the Israeli army (where he was first nicknamed Duvdev). He has more than once described this experience as life changing - from then onwards all he could think of was trance music. After he finished his national service, Amit spent a year in India (primarily in Goa), and finally decided to make music himself. He collaborated with a member of Shidapu on four tracks, though they were never released.
Biography
In 1998, Eisen and Duvdevani began playing together. At first they released a few tracks as Shidapu & Duvdev. These tracks were 'happier' and of the simpler side of trance. Later on, they formed the duo Infected Mushroom and started working on their first album. The name Infected Mushroom was taken, without permission, from a disbanded (1989 to 1993) punk rock band named "Infected Mushroom" also of Israeli origin, which Duvdevani knew and saw perform at a concert in Israel.
1999's The Gathering was the breakthrough debut album for Infected Mushroom. The album featured a dark, rhythmic atmosphere exemplified in the song "Psycho", which gathered much acclaim and popularity. This album was one of the first albums to bring Israeli psytrance to more 'mainstream' audiences, and contributed to the gradually growing popularity of the genre world-wide. The following year (2000) the duo released one of their most well known albums, also being one of the most well known albums in the genre today, Classical Mushroom (2000). The album showcased a track often cited as their most popular track, 'Bust A Move'. This album is commonly referred to as the best example of the group's efforts.
Infected Mushroom's evolving style has also had its share of critics. 2001's BP Empire was well-received by many fans and critics alike. Especially renowned is the musical epic 'Dancing With Kadafi'; segueing numerous styles of music, most notably through the use of strong middle-eastern style melodies and a classical piece halfway through (which showcased Erez and Amit's piano and violin skills). However, the album was not as popular with mainstream audiences when compared with earlier releases, primarily due to the less accessible melodies in most of the tracks. The album was also seen as a break away from the more traditional styles of psytrance by many psytrance purists, who felt that the new territories explored went beyond the bounds of psytrance but not necessarily in a progressive sense.
The group's most controversial album proved to be 'Converting Vegetarians' (2003) which featured 2 discs (also known as 'sides'). The first of the 2 CDs is the inoffensive 'Trance Side', which contains mostly trance-like dancefloor material. The 'Trance Side' is a logical progression of their earlier work (although it is cited by some as less imaginative than their earlier work). The 2nd CD is entitled 'The Other Side', and it contains mostly genre-bending experimental music - ranging from the R&B inspired title track 'Converting Vegetarians' (which was the first true display of Duvdev's characteristic voice) to the more down-tempo laid-back Elation Station, and also from the electro-pop tracks 'Blink' and 'Illuminaughty' (with vocals by the well-known UK psytrance vocalist Michele Adamson) to the short and experimental Shakawkaw (later expanded to a full length track). The album also contained the track 'Ballerium', which was originally recorded as a soundtrack to an up-and-coming internet game and later scrapped by the game designers. The remainder of the CD went on to reveal other musical stylings, including 'I Wish', lead by a carefully vocoded vocal line.
The release of IM The Supervisor in 2004 (often incorrectly referred to as I'm The Supervisor), further surprised listeners with yet another mix of psytrance with other musical genres. The album was criticized as being too "commercial" by many fans, but became Infected Mushroom's best selling album up to that time.
Guitarists Tom Cunningham and Erez Netz joined in 2004 - Tom plays with Infected Mushroom in the United States, while Erez Netz plays the rest of their gigs. Netz is a famous Israeli guitarist and opens their live shows with some exhibition. In December of that year, Infected Mushroom have moved from their base in Haifa to a new studio in Los Angeles, California. Erez and Amit plan to produce their new album in this new studio, all the while maintaining their extensive world tour (one which is still running non-stop since 1999).
In 2007, Infected Mushroom brought in Brazilian percussionist Rog?rio Jardim to play drums and percussion during their shows. Also that year, Infected Mushroom rose to #9 in the influential DJmag Top 100 DJs poll, where they were the highest placed psytrance DJs. This was the first time the category had been created, reflecting psytrance's rising popularity around the world and the pioneering role Infected Mushroom have played in this.
B-sides
Eisen
With Miki Litvak (ex-Domestic), Oren Kislev and Roy Sasson: Shidapu
With Talamasca: Magic Mushrooms
With Shiva (DJ J?rg): Shiva Shidapu
Eisen and Duvdevani
With Space Cat: Cat On Mushroom
With PsySex: Sex On Mushroom
With DJ J?rg: J?rg On Mushroom
With Domestic: Domestic Mushroom
With Deedrah: Infected Deedrah
With Hallucinogen and Michele Adamson: Fly Agaric
With Astrix: Infected Astrix
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Original Wikipedia article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infected Mushroom
Original Wikipedia article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infected Mushroom
