Melancholyman

Nope, seems like it's not gonna come either, too bad..

Solar Fields – Mirror's Edge Original Videogame Score Label: E.A.R.S. (EA™ Recordings) Catalog#: B0026WJFOC Format: File, MP3, Album Country:US Released:19 May 2009 Genre: Electronic Style: IDM, Downtempo, Ambient Tracklisting: 1.Introduction (5:34) 2.Edge & Flight (6:55) 3.Jacknife (6:25) 4.Heat (7:01) 5.Ropeburn (7:15) 6.New Eden (7:52) 7.Pirandello Kruger (7:08) 8.Boat (7:30) 9.Kate (7:13) 10.Shard (7:16) 11.Lisa Miskovsky - Still Alive (4:34) 12.Lisa Miskovsky - Still Alive (Instrumental) (4:29) Is there a possibility to get enough Solar Fields? The answer is no. Deep down in all of us lives a little Solar Fields junkie just craving for the next fix. It wasn't long ago that this craving got it's satisfaction, namely when Movements was released. A tremendously great album praised among the community, and one would think that the wait for the next Solar Fields installment would be long. But no. What we get is not a typical Solar Fields album. This is in fact the game score for the critically acclaimed multiplatform game Mirror's Edge. A great game that any psyloving gamer should have played through at least once. It's a game developed by Swedish based game studio DICE. The game tries new ideas, taking the platform genre to first person perspective, but that's not only what's innovative, but also the whole artistic sense of the game. The game is placed in a futuristic city, where individual freedom has come to a minimum. You play as a runner, mainly delivering important illegal packages throughout the city by jumping and climbing over rooftops. The look of the game is very clean, with bright white, strong orange, blue, yellow and green makes it feel almost as a city placed in heaven. It surely is not. And who would be more perfect setting the ambiance in such a place than Magnus Birgersson? As said this is not you're normal music album. Magnus had to create ambient music that would fit into either designed areas of the game or dynamic to the situation assessed in the game. Comfortable music when wandering around a shiny white rooftop a sunny afternoon, and darker stressing music when being chased by the police for example. To me Solar Fields has always had that futuristic, clean, heavenly kind of sound which would be a perfect match to Mirror's Edge, and it obviously is. Having that said, the album doesen't have any real direction or storytelling, since the story was being told by the gamer playing the game in symbiosis with the music. But Magnus has managed to put the tracks together well to form a rather cohesive journey, and most tracks are great on their own. One the most Solar Fieldish track is to me Introduction, which is actually the music for the main title screen. It's a great track with perfect production skills, use of uplifting sounds to really create a feel of being in a pristine bright environment, just as the game setting. There's a little bit of Movements here, and surely has to do with the game score and the album being produced somewhat alongside each other. But overall the game score is much more uptempo and frantic. Since the game focusing on platforming action and chases rather than relaxed sightseeing around the city, there is almost no track without any uptempo parts in it. Somewhat it feels as a reincarnation of Reflective Frequencies and Blue Moon Station. Those of you who liked these albums will surely appreciate this more than the Leaving Home and Extended fanatics. Jacknife is also a favorite track, with some amazing sensations towards the end. It's amazing how much detail is put into the tracks, just as on Movements. It's funny, since when playing the game you could never be fully concentrated on the music and many who played it, might just have taken the music on a subconscious level. Magnus obviously takes his work seriously, wanting to make the best out of what he is currently doing, love for the art. Shard is one of those tracks that just feels to me pure Solar Fields, pure bliss. One can only wonder how it feels to be Magnus Birgersson. The last track still alive is a more pop oriented track, with singer Lisa Miskovsky. Kindly enough we get the instrumental version for those not keen on hearing singing. Recommendation: Magnus said that this was the biggest challenge he's done so far, and it's understandable when having to create music for a certain set of visual impressions and story, not having the freedom to just let the music go in the direction it pleases. The outcome is great, and this will please both more uptempo lovers as downtempo. Sure there is the lack of storytelling and there is a kind of repetitiveness in the overall sound, but all these things are minor issues. Even so, there are a few gems that solely makes the album worth for purchase. As of now it's only available on mp3 but might come out in flac/wav format, which should please everyone with a decent stereo/headphone set. If you are in big need for you're Solar Fields fix you know what to do! This is the unedited review originally posted at Isratrance

Well I dunno I'm excited, cause it's kinda a merging between psy and mainstream. There is no other music on mainstream media today that has this electronic touch, listen to smashing the opponent, the background is still typical infected sound. Somebody had to bring psy to the mainstream market. I mean, many will look up their earlier works if they like this, and say maybe 30% of them are converted to enjoy real psychedelic trance. That's great, our scene needs to grow!

That's a shame. But you have heard the album already? I had hoped for at least 3-4 non vocal tracks. On Vicious there was at least a few nice non vocal tracks that was pretty enjoyable.

So let's have another IM topic Tracklist: 1. Poquito Mas 2. Sa'eed 3. End of the Road 4. Smashing the Opponent *featuring Jonathan Davis (Korn) 5. Can't Stop 6. Herbert the Pervert 7. Killing Time *featuring Perry Farrell (Jane's Addiction) 8. Project 100 9. Franks 10. Slowly 11. Legend of the Black Shawarma So I've been listening to the single (Smashing the opponent), there's some nice electronica in the background, I rather enjoy the track but ofc it could be so much better. Hopefully there will at least be a few tracks sticking to older formulas. The cover art is great, I don't think anyone here would disagree. I'm sure it will be an enjoyable but "bad" album What are you're thoughts on this? Also props to the trackname "Herbert the pervert" lol!

Sure I'll do that

Think it was a great movie, though not that funny really. More like dark humour, great movie nonetheless.

I guess that makes you a happy gay...

Thx, always nice to get good feedback. Yeah, it's a shame that it hasn't been recieved better than it did. I'm working on an interview with Richard and hopefully, this review and the interview might hep to get some attention to it.

Tracklisting: 1 Dune Oscillator (7:50) 2 Blue Lotus (5:07) 3 Passage (7:05) 4 Departure (5:38) 5 Protostar (6:04) 6 Incense (3:45) 7 Dark Energy (8:11) 8 Expansions (4:37) 9 Lava Tubes (4:50) 10 Holographic Rain (6:08) 11 Sanctuarium (3:54) I was reading this topic the other day, about why there aren't more American psy-producers. We do have a few downtempo producers as Androcell, Bluetech and Mystical Sun. Which the latter seems to have surpassed most people. Mystical Sun aka Richard Plom. Richard released his first album Primordial Atmosphere's in 1994!! This was just at the dawn of psychedelic trance/downtempo as we know it today. A wonderful album in it's own respect, though the last 30 min track Journey To Samadhi is only for the real yoga freaks I would say. The album was reissued in 2005, and after having discovered Mystical Sun way after 94 I was glad to be able to pick up a copy of this tasteful rarity. My first contact with Richard Plom was when I was just going through all the downtempo music I could find, being new to the genre and wanting to listen to everything. I stumbled upon Deeper Worlds where the track Pure just blew my mind. The album was great, though it lacked a sense of cohesiveness, and this shouldn't come as a surprise since most of the tracks on it were put together from random compilation stuff. Some artists just have that very unique touch, you can hear it at once. It's not explainable but it's very hearable. This is just what Mystical Sun got. I immediately fell in love with the sound, the originality. When listening to his first album I always imagined how great it would be, with the sound of Deeper Worlds combined with the cohesiveness of Primordial Atmpshperes. Well, look no further because Richard was kind enough to give us Energy Mind Consciousness, his third full length album. You can't give him credit for releasing tremendous amounts of music, but the quality is top notch. My favorite track on the whole album is without a doubt Protostar. A throbbing, pulsating, slowly moving yet powerful and mellow track. Very beautiful stuff, when listening to this I get that unmistakable feeling of why I am so fond of this genre. Throughout the album I get periodically a great sense eastern cultures, India, Buddhism, traditions and religion. This somehow reproduces itself very strongly, just to move further into more futuristic and scientific type of places. It's a great feat and creates a journey where if you let it, will take you from the caressing nature of our planet, to deep deep space. What is also confusing in a good way, is how all these elements of nature, religion, space, technology just finally merges towards the end of the album. It is as a statement of our current state of mind from the big bang in the form of musical pleasure. Someone please bring out the champagne, we must celebrate! The album is very slow overall and never have any faster tracks, this is great because I often find myself being irritaded when an album starts of good preparing you for a deep emotional jorney just to crush it with some uptempo track in the middle of it. This is a pitfall that I am happy Richard evaded. The direction of the album is stated instantly, and never does it stray away from this path. It's obvious Richard must have put down alot of thought into this album, and worked very hard to finalize it. Actually I think this is one of the most cohesive musical jorneys that I've ever had. Recommendation: This is a great, slow, mellow journey from bliss to more darker areas. It's great stuff, anyone even slightly interested in the downtempo side of psy should give this a listen. It's calming, soothing and very powerful in a soft way. Don't miss out and be sure to check out Primordial Atmospheres aswell. This is the unedited review originally posted on Isratrance

Let's make new sections, General Psytrance, Goa Trance, Psychill, Downtempo, Ambient, Fullon. And then we can all argue which threads should be in which section.

Ok_!" You win

It's just about presentation, it should look nice. Makes it more interesting for the reader. Maybe that surpassed you're mind?

Are you sure? Maybe it was tracks that was more experimental, or more "Somnia" sounding. Did Evan say this? Where did you read it?

Since I couldn't post it in Interviews section I will post it here instead. Interview with H.U.V.A Network I got the chance to interview Vincent Villuis (Aes Dana) and Magnus Birgersson (Solar Fields) from H.U.V.A Network. This is what came out. Please introduce yourselves. Magnus: Hello my name is Magnus Birgersson, I compose music for a living and I like it. Vince: Hello my name is Vincent Villuis, I’m composer-sound designer and ultimae label co-owner. I am going to begin with asking you about the name you did choose for this collaboration. Most know what H.U.V.A stands for, Humans Under Visual Atmospheres. But how did you come up with this name and what does it signify for you. Does it have any religious reference as to ZenBuddishm? Or is it just some idea that you have developed yourselves? Please elaborate. Vince: Oki, we kill the myth. ”Huva” notion was a word we used always between us when we met us at the beginning to signify ”hello”, ”good”, ”superb”... a lot of meanings in fact. The term Huva is also a notion of secret, masked... It was like a mini contextual code. When we searched a name for our first musical collaboration, we were far from each other and Internet was the link for exchanging, sharing ideas and keeping in touch. The ”Huva Network” became evident. The work of meaning around the initials ”Human Under...” is more like a private joke but working well, isn’t it? Haha, yes it sure is. Could you tell us in short how you first came into contact with music and finally ended up working with Ultimae? Magnus: I’ve been in music since childhood. This is a family affair. I’m a multi instrumentalist and familiar with various musical genres in fact. About Ultimae, I don’t know, these guys have been following me in the streets and airports for 9 years now. I don’t know who they are!!! (hahaha) Vince: I started my affair with music as a teenager, bass guitar, singing, drums and worked with various hardcore, thrash metal, gothic bands. I was attracted by machines, especially sampling and drums programming and I concentrated on this aspect of music, working more and more in the background of some industrial and extreme music bands, sound design and post-production. The last band split tragically and I stayed alone with my machines and computer...electronic music was a normal way to follow, my axis. I set up Ultimae 10 years ago with Sunbeam for a total freedom of creation. Could you roughly explain how it works when you are making tracks together? Are you anytime sitting together composing or is it solely by sending ideas and half finished tracks to each other? Magnus: We travel Sweden-France to each others’ studios and compose together. We do quite long sessions each time we meet. Vince: The first album was made more with Internet exchanges, the second like Magnus said, was long electronic jam sessions, really intensive but the keyword is to keep the fun and be happy. At the last meeting, Magnus suggested another way to work together and I totally agreed with him. It will be more creative and also more adapted to our busy respective lives. We will explain in time :-) When listening to the Ephemeris I felt as if you had merged even better than on Distances, am I right? What are you're feelings about both albums? Vince: Personnaly, I like both, at the same level of pleasure. Ephemeris is 5 years younger than Distances, so yes, it sounds more fresh and connected with these present times. We added new treatments cause we search during our sessions ”new” sounds. But the initial spirit of doing something more trip-hopish, electronica jam is intact. It is hard for me to compare. In your music do you have any message you are trying to reach out with or a goal, or are you just doing it for play expressing yourselves? Magnus: I compose music ‘cause it’s vital, normal. It’s hard to find the words to explain why I do this and not that. I express myself for sure. Vince: It depends what you mean by “message”. I don’t like so much art expression which talks frontally about politics or religion. I prefer when art takes a subversive way. Paradoxically I feel a strong power of suggestion in the music creation, the fastest artistic way to give sensations, dreams to people. The leitmotiv message is feeling-depth-emotions-inner journeys. But please don’t categorize us in the New Age genre for that (hahaha) The psy scene has been growing bigger and bigger, with both negative and positive consequences, but the downtempo side of it has not really been growing as fast, do you feel that you are reaching out to more people these days than you did a few years back, and have you're releases been getting more attention? Have you noticed anything negative following the growth of the scene? Vince: Sincerely, I don’t know how the psytrance scene is growing... I’m not a specialist at all. About down tempo-ambient, the problem in my opinion is that there is not a specific scene... It seems to be considered as a side thing by the psy scene and not given much credit. What I know though, is that more and more people buy the Ultimae releases and that’s positive. Can’t say about the other labels, we don’t tend to discuss figures. With track names like Dissolving time, Access to the long fields and Road to Nothingness. And while it's common in the psy scene using samples from known philosophers such as Terence McKenna, Alan Watts and also other pioneers within the psychedelic ”region” as Albert Hoffman. Even on Ultimaes official site it states ”Panoramic music for panoramic people” so you are clearly distinguishing yourself as a group. Would you say that the scene draws people with a different view on reality than you're ordinary rock, pop listener? Vince: I don’t know if we could claim to be like “a group”. This is a little bit pretentious. We used this notion of panoramic cause we are attached to create something dreamy, large soundscapes, a feeling of cinematic. The notion of panoramic people is attached to open-minded people and travellers- either “sofa travellers” or the real ones. A category of people who should be more interested by our kind of releases. That doesn’t mean that rock and pop listeners can’t feel panoramic too. One could argue that music in itself is self-fulfilling as a play or dance, but I believe that music can affect people in huge ways and that it is a kind of higher form of communication. What is you're take on that? Vince: I agree with you, there is something intangible in music listening, an invisible communication, skipping words, distances and languages. I can’t explain how and why, I just feel it everyday when I compose a track or play in live or DJ set. Magnus, you are also working solo under the alias Solar Fields where you're later albums have been praised among the community. I think I haven't read so many positive reviews and seen so much feedback on any of your albums as on Movements. My conclusion was that since you managed to stick your whole Leaving Home on one track Sol, why not play around a little bit instead. So this is little less hard digested and easier to enjoy than, for example Leaving Home, though also less rewarding to fully experience. Do you agree? And if so was the step towards a more, excuse the term, ”commercial” appealing sound a conscious choice or just a natural development? Magnus: I never plan how it should sound, this is how Solar Fields sounds in 2009, I can’t sit down and do another Leaving Home album or another Blue Moon Station one, this is in the past and I and always looking forward, trying out new ways and ideas. If you feel that it is more commercial I have no problem with that. For me it’s music. As I said this is how it sounds now, in the future Solar Fields maybe will go Drum n Bass, if you understand me... Magnus, you have produced an incredible amount of music in such a short period of time, and you're sound is always evolving drastically yet always keeping that unique touch. Are you ever afraid that this pool of creativeness is going to slow down and falter? Magnus: I’m not afraid at all, when I am in a creative period I just compose music. When I’m not in a creative period I don’t compose, it’s simple. If I’m not in the zone I know that it will not be any good. Maybe I just do some sound design instead, and suddenly I hear a sound and start to create a track around that very little sound. I would also want to ask you Magnus what you are currently working on and if you could give us any hint as to what direction you're current musical path is going. And do you think that you would ever produce an album again in the Leaving Home style with a more profound storytelling, long build-ups and massive peaks? Magnus: I have no idea how the next solar fields album will sound, I never plan that I will go in some direction or so, things just happen, it might be a reflection about the period of the life I’m living in at the moment I’m creating. Vincent, you once strayed away from you're general formula and did a complete ambient album, Aftermath, which was awesome. Do you have any plans on working on such a project again? Or maybe even trying other directions with you're music. Vince: Thank you for your consideration about Aftermath. I’ve been working on more ambient stuff for a movie and for unique sound design events. These last musics are ”ephemeral” in the sense that no CD will be released for these creations. I’m working actually on another album between ambient and ”classical music”, less downtempo, more ”sacral music” oriented. I will explore more the beatless and acoustic way, but I still want to keep a step in downtempo and morning electronica ’cause this is pure pleasure. The future will let me know. In fact, I can compose various musics, it is more a question of time and synchronicity. Vincent, can you tell us a little bit about your upcoming album. Will you surprise us listeners or are you sticking to a more ‘safe’ road? Vince: My next album, [Leylines ">, lived a certain story. Because the initial one was supposed to be released much earlier.... I had a disk crash after announcing the release date...and I needed to start from zero the creative process. So, after one month trying to start from the backups, I felt the soul of the tracks disappeared. It was more like trying wrongly to keep the tracks alive. I deleted all and started with new sound designs and architectures. About the final result… I think it will “surprise” but to be honest, I’m more in a search of sculpting fluid journeys than being surprising. There are 4/4 tracks, electronica ones, beatless ones. That’s not a safe road album but fans will let us know. By the way, for some people nothing is surprising... Vincent, I want to ask you as someone having a big role in the Ultimae staff. What are you're hopes for the label in the future? Becoming big or just being able to put out great music? Even if someone does something because of interest isn't always the money a little tempting? Vince: Become big and put out “great music” at the same time could be cool, don’t you think? We invested in the last 9 years a lot of time, energy and money in getting Ultimae to grow. 2009 will see a lot of evolutions (digital store, new website, quiet a lot of releases and e-releases, real music store...) We have the same passion since the beginning, we’ll see what the future holds, but in the meantime, we’ll carry on planting our seeds. The day the passion goes, so will we. If you had to pick one and only one favourite album that you have worked on which would it be, and why? Magnus: The Mirror’s Edge score, the biggest challenge ever. Vince: All the projects have their own importance in my mind, as they are relative to a certain period, mood, experiences. I don’t have a hierarchic brain. Of course Ephemeris and Leylines touch me more right now because they’re fresh, but older tracks can still open some doors... When can see the next H.U.V.A Network, Aes Dana or Solar Fields album?? Magnus: The next Solar Fields release will be the Mirror’s Edge soundtrack that will be out now in May 2009. 10 Solar Fields tracks will be out on that album. Vince: My next album Leylines is just finished and gone to the manufacturer. It will be available in the end of May 2009. For Huva Network, we need to wait a little bit. We want to take our time :-) Well that was all of my questions, thank you for taking the time to answer them. Is there anything you would like to add before we end this interview? Thank you for everything and hope we will give more and more pleasure in our next works. Originally posted on Isratrance

Is that i spanish? Why would they sing in spanish? e: I never saw that video before, hillarious!

Yeah, I don't like this cover at all

It's already released and I got a review coming up! It's great if you're acing for more Solar Fields!

Fluid Radio - Electro Acoustic Frequencies

No I don't get anything, and it's said that it's in the future they plan to do so. I do reviews anyways, been posting here. I felt as it just feels nice to be part of some review team, and also in the future maybe get something for it. But as of now it's just a hobby. But I mean, doing an interview with H.U.V.A Network is something that I'd never thought I would, so to me this is a big step forward already.

Jesus Christ

Yes I did it says also, by : Melancholyman

I got the opportunity to make an interview with Magnus and Vincent, turned out rather ok. I will be posting it in the interview section here later on, but now you can head over to Isratrance and read it! H.U.V.A Interview

Yeah I'm clueless aswell LYL

Yep I sure do