pr0fane
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Posts posted by pr0fane
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I strongly disagree that it's only full on. My favourites are the "Invisible Moment" (135 BPM), "Listen To Light" (135 BPM) and "Only A Dream" (140 BPM), and I consider all those 3 tracks delicious, melodic morning treats with hints of both progressive and oldschool psytrance.
The quality is certainly not consistently high throughout the album, and the biggest disappointment is by far "International Intentional Tribal Community", which sounds like a blatant ripoff of Human Blues "Harmonix" - but it's by no means only full on. There are a few boring generic full on tracks (I was surprised that the collaboration with Abakus resulted in full on) of varying quality, but overall it's a very diverse album.
It's not an excellent album, but for me it's worth the money for the 3 tracks I mentioned in the beginning of my post.
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Being a (very) amateur producer myself, I can say that this album is very heavy on samples from various sample-CD's. And many of them I've heard in other productions as well. That doesn't mean it's bad though, I just had to reply to your comment
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Haven't heard this one yet, but despite contributing to the scene almost since the beginning, Seb Taylor is in my opinion one of the most underrated musicians on the psy-scene, with projects like Shakta, Digitalis and Kaya Project. This will surely be in my next order
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That is the worst thing I have ever seen.
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Sounds like you consider reviewing a competition
I do have a preformatted word-document, and honestly it enables me to write much better reviews. Using the same format for every review makes it a lot easier for the reader - if doesn't want to read the whole review, he can skip to the parts about the separate tracks, or just the conclusion or the grade.
And concerning freebies - promos are certainly a nice bonus (I guess you weren't complaining when Twisted sent you promos?), but the time I spend writing a review, I could instead spend working and buying at least buy a couple of CD's instead.
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Can't say that I come from a very musical background, yet I was hugely influenced by my mothers taste in music. When I grew up she was listening to all kinds of 80's synth-pop (Pet Shop Boys etc.), which I actually still like to this day.
My uncle was the first person who introduced me to real electronic music though, Kraftwerk and Jean Michel Jarre to be exact, and in the beginning of the 90's I really got hooked on the new wave of commercial electronic music. The Prodigy, Chemical Brothers, and all kinds of corny cheesy euro-house.
My first encounter with goa/psytrance was in 1996 or 97 (it was a mix-CD by Sid Shanti), and after that it went really quick, buying lots of the Goa Head and Destination Goa compilations and albums by Astral Projection, Shakta etc.
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I can honestly say that all the promos I've received so far, I've either found above average, good or really good. But ok, I don't receive 20 promos each month like DP, Damion, PKS, guy cohen etc - and so far I've only recieved promos from progressive labels.
It you can get me on the promo-list for Chemical Crew for instance, I'll be more than happy to write some very extensive reviews of their upcoming releases
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I put a lot of time into my reviews, so even though I agree that we need more negative in-depth reviews, I almost only make extensive track by track reviews of stuff that I like. It's just not that interesting to sit for hours listening to something you really don't like, and writing about it. To me it's only a small hobby.
I try to contribute to review-threads about most of the stuff I buy with shorter reviews though, regardless if I like it or not.
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Fresh album. Funky, great use of humour and with a very high level of production. My favourite track must be "Misinfotainment" with the phat, groovy bassline, but also "The Unknowns", "The Art Of Funk Shui" and the uplifting Zuloop remix of "It's Just A Ride" stand out.
... I do think the release is a bit too hyped up though - it's classy stuff, don't get me wrong, but it's by no means groundbreaking or a competitor for "album of the year" in my book. But it is of course a matter of taste. The cover-art was a special touch by the way, don't know how much I like it, but it's certainly not the standard fractal or random-3d-shapes cover - and thumbs up for the DJ-inlay as well.
Good album, and I can imagine it'll be great on a huge soundsystem.
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Artist: Various
Title: Grand Avenue - Compiled by Tony Comanti
Label: Moonflower Productions
Format: CD (Jewelcase with 4 page inlay)
Released: September, 2005
Review:
After starting out as a tech-trance label in 2004 with the compilation "Nocturnal Imprints", containing artists like Tetraktys, Opsis, Triac and PPS Project, followed by "Nocturnal Imprints" in 2005, containing artists like Midi Miliz, Spirallianz, Cybered and Triac, the Swedish label recently released a new compilation containing tracks by artists from the more club-oriented progressive circles on the psytrance scene. The title of the compilation is "Grand Avenue", and even though you should never judge a book by its cover, I had no hesitations ordering the CD after its release, after simply having looked at the tracklist. I mean: new tracks by Son Kite, Ticon, Human Blue and Tegma - it can't possibly fail.
01. Chris Pointdexter - My Baby [132 BPM]
First track is by the Swedish producer Chris Poindexter, who made his mark on the progressive house/psytrance circles last year with releases on Spiral Trax and ACDC, the biggest hit being "Darkness", getting remixed by Ticon with huge success. "My Baby" is a quite clubby tune - catchy and with some nice, tight grooves, but unfortunately failing to really a impression. Decent track, yet nothing spectacular.
02. Son Kite - Gazing At The Sun [136 BPM]
Intruducing Son Kite, the biggest name on the progressive psytrance scene, seems kind of pointless. "Gazing At The Sun" is one of the few newer Son Kite tunes after they started to focus their work on the Minilogue sideproject, and it's definitely oozing with their sense of quality and putting together a good tune. Crystal clear trance, sprinkled with delightful sunny melodies, giving slight associations to Der Dritte Raums "Hale Bopp". Surely a highlight.
03. Kalimax - Where Is The Party [138 BPM]
Next tune is from the new Swedish duo Kalimax, consisting of Tony Comanti (one of the guys behind Moonflower) and Magnus Forsberg from the Swedish trance-portal mandarin.nu. "Where Is The Party" is pretty close to their track "Demons" on Tribal Visions last compilation - sweet, naive melodies, and generally a very pleasant morning touch. The production seems a bit muddy, (not really that strange, following a track by Son Kite), and the melodies are in my opinion too much in the background. Generally it's a very good track though, and I'll definitely look out for new Kalimax releases in the future.
04. Tegma - Needafix [136 BPM]
Tegmas contribution, "Needafix", is so far the most intense on the compilation, and is - like "No Time" from the latest Tribal Vision compilation - to be found somewhere between the style of the somewhat techish sound "Encoded/Decoded" and the more full on "002: Avant Garde". A relentlessly pounding dance floor track, embellished by a corny but quite pleasing repeated sample saying "I need a fix". Not highly interesting, but solid dance floor material.
05. Ticon - We Are The Mammuth Hunters (Live Mix 2005) [138 BPM]
Ticons 3rd album "zero six after" is getting released in a matter of weeks, and as a taster for the new sound we get a live mix of "We Are The Mammoth Hunters" from their first album "Rewind" - possibly one of their biggest hits to date. The new version isn't quite as raw and harsh as the original, but instead with some new layers of melodies, and a generally much more uplifting attitude. A really good remix - not exceptional, but certainly with unmistakable dance floor potential.
06. Human Blue - Woup [138 BPM]
Human Blue is up next, and "Woup" really shines as a flashback to the beginning of the Scandinavian progressive trance wave. On one hand starting very dark and gloomy, but on the other hand slowly adding more brighter elements, before climaxing in the last 4 minutes as a storming morning tune with some fine, almost epic, melodies. Great tune to put some oldschool feel into a progressive set.
07. Perfect Stranger - It's All About [136 BPM]
After more or less closing down his BLT project, Yuli Fershtat has continued his contribution to the scene with his Perfect Stranger project, so far releasing a couple of tracks on Iboga. He follows in the same path as on his earlier releases, generally keeping the atmosphere quite organic, using very distinct and somewhat funky tribal percussion, and adding some subtle Israeli melodic influences. Good, bouncy track for the outdoors.
08. Cybertronic - Let Feel You [136 BPM]
"Let Feel You" by the greek duo Cybertronic is one of the more unique tunes on the album, being a quite interesting crossover-tune. The sound is quite techtrance-like, very metallic and pumping, but also using some very traditional trancy pads, housey grooves and some quite clubby male vocals. It does sound pretty special, but I'm not sure what exactly to think of it really. Certainly not bad though.
09. James Benitez - Not Over Yet (Parham & Plaza Remix) [126 BPM]
Parham & Dominic Plaza finish the compilation with a remix of James Benitez's "Not Over Yet", released on Plastik Parks "Outsider" compilation earlier this year. I really like what P&P are doing at the moment, but this remix was slightly disappointing. Yes, the groove is solid, and the production is really good, but the deep atmosphere and the simple, melancholic melody from the original is all gone. Not bad in any way, but not as stunning as I had expected.
Bottom line:
With "Grand Avenue" Tony Comanti and the rest of the Moonflower crew prove that they are more than a techtrance label, and that they have a quite broad taste in the progressive spectrum. The compilation features a fine mix of the increasingly popular housey grooves, uplifting progressive trance, slightly oldschool progressive trance, a few techtrance influences, and the variety of sounds should assure that everyone should find something they like. There are no strictly bad tracks, yet some tracks are of course weaker than others - despite good production and some catchy grooves, Chris Pointdexters "My Baby" is probably my least favourite tune, while Son Kite once again shines as the highlight of a compilation, closely followed by the Human Blues flashback tune "Woup".
All in all 2005 brought us another solid progressive release, great work by Moonflower.
Favourites:
2 (!!), 3, 5, 6 (!!), 7
Verdict:
8/10
Link:
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Artist: Various
Title: Groove Control
Label: Nervine
Format: CD (Jewelcase with 4 page inlay)
Released: October, 2005
Review:
The Danish label Nervine Records launched back in 2003 with the "Stimulus" compilation, containing progressive psytrance acts like Lish, Frogacult, Genetic Spin and Psyless Groove. A compilation that was later followed by Genetic Spins second album "Backspin", released in 2004. The following two EP's, containing tracks by Marcello Castelli, Thomas Penton and The Funky Badgers, marked a new time for the label though, now focusing completely on the housey market, and this month we finally saw a new CD-release from the label, the new compilation "Groove Control", originally announced already in December last year, but hit by heavy delays somewhere in the process.
01. Beckers - Road Movie [132 BPM]
Opening the compilation is Frank Beckers, without a doubt one of the biggest players on the progressive house/progressive psytrance crossover scene at the moment, releasing one of the biggest hits the last year, "Switch". "Road Movie" is more laidback than most of his newer stuff though, with a tight, dance friendly groove and some well thought-out female vocals. "This is the road ... to hell". Solid opener.
02. The Funky Badgers - Funky Tramp [129 BPM]
Swedish duo The Funky Badgers is up next. It's my first encounter with their sound, but it's certainly quite impressive. There is massive emphasis on the tribal percussion, very heavy and with a simple yet lovely groove. The atmosphere is somewhat deep, with some uplifting (yet perhaps a bit over the top) male vocals, giving it a quite clubby touch. Very nice work overall.
03. Fitalic - Farscape [128 BPM]
Fitalic from the Netherlands, is a duo who have impressed me a lot in the last years, with releases on Plastik Park, Vapour and Sprout. "Farscape" was released on the Israeli label VP Records earlier this year, well produced and with a tight, precise groove. Perhaps lacking some more drive and more distinct characterises of Fitalics earlier work, but a fairly good tune though.
04. Conny G - Cliff Drum [129 BPM]
Conny G, one half of The Funky Badgers, make yet another good impression with "Cliff Drum". Starting slow with a simple kick and some distinct tribal percussion, before reaching a short breakdown around the 2 minute mark, followed by the addition of a seriously fat and pounding bassline. Deep and raw progressive house, with an obvious Scandinavian forest trance touch, embellished by some trendy, yet never over the top house stabs.
05. Gift - Please Dont Go [130 BPM]
Up next is another fairly unknown act in my book, Gift from the US of A. My only encounter with him before "Please Dont Go" was an EP on VapouRise, but judging from his releases so far, he's got a bright future ahead of him. "Please Dont Go" is pretty gloomy, with dark synth stabs and some quite haunting female voice-samples. Deep, atmospheric grooves and very high quality in this tune.
06. Space Safari - Groovy Time [130 BPM]
Frank Beckers' second contribution two the compilation is "Groovy Time" under his Space Safari project: A delicious, laidback groover, and like always from Space Safari, totally soaked in summer vibrations. Add to that a long, cheerful Austin Powers sample, and you get a tune bound to bring loads of afternoon-smiles on every outdoor dance floor. This is simply delicious.
07. Thomas Penton - Distorted Reality [131 BPM]
One of Americas best exports, Floridays Thomas Penton, raise the intensity with "Distorted Reality", a peak time tune with a good, relentless drive and some quite catchy melodic structures. Unfortunately there's a bit too much autopilot - a bit too much of the same, and my impression is that we've heard it all before from Thomas Penton. Good dance floor material though.
08. Robert Elster - Random Reset Machine [128 BPM]
Final track is by Robert Elster, one half of the Swedish progressive trance duo Vibrasphere. "Random Reset Machine" is quite close to Vibraspheres last released track, "Bitter Deep", with a long atmospheric intro and a more housey touch than some of the duos earlier creations. The Vibrasphere sound is still there though, heavily reverbed and massive wide soundscapes - stunning progressive house/trance crossover.
Bottom line:
"Groove Control" really caught me by surprise. Yes, most of the material is quite formulaic, and it doesn't contain the most forward thinking and cutting-edge progressive house on the market - but after repeated listens the last couple of weeks, I must conclude that it just works. Really works. The flow is maybe a bit odd, but overall the quality throughout the compilation is very high, ranging from sunny outdoor tunes to deep grooves - and I could honestly imagine playing every track in a set.
Nervine continue a good trend, following in the footsteps on labels like SOG, Avalanche, Plastik Park, Tribal Vision, VP and others releasing progressive house unmixed on CD, and I can highly recommend progressive house CDJ's picking this one up.
Favourites:
1, 2, 4, 5, 6 (!!), 8 (!!)
Verdict:
8/10
Link:
Nervine Records: http://www.nervine-records.com
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Yep, as an album it doesn't work that well, but in small doses (like in a DJ set), it's really high quality stuff.
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Yes, it was released last year on Nanos "Natural Selection" compilation. Note that there is a mistake on the tracklist, where it has been mixed up with Protocultures remix of Silicon Sounds "Nexus 6".
Thanks for the positive words on my mix once again by the way. I'm really flattered. Every artist featured in the mix has released loads of great tracks, worth checking out.
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Artist: Digital Mystery Tour
Title: D.M.T Express
Label: Sofa Beats (Iboga sublabel)
Format: CD (Jewelcase with 4 page inlay)
Released: September, 2005
Review:
Digital Mystery Tour is a project with 5 members - the most influential on the album being Stephane Holweck, an old member of Total Eclipse and Juno Reactor, and still producing psytrance under the name The Antidote. Another old member of Total Eclipse, Loid Vanpoucke, is also involved in Digital Mystery Tour, and so is Florian Seriot from the Toires project and two quite unknown players on the psytrance scene, Michio Baba and Guillaume Thevenin.
In 2001 they released their first self titled album on Twisted Records, and now, 4 years later they're ready with their second album "D.M.T Express". The label behind the release is Sofa Beats - a new sublabel to Iboga, dedicated to downbeat, chillout and ambient releases. Iboga have previously released several downbeat compilations over the years ("Floating Point" 1+2, "New Entry").
01. DMT Express
The journey begins with the title-track "DMT Express" - a relatively short (5 minutes) track with a quite lovely atmosphere, and a nice, relaxed groove on top of a mellow 4/4 beat. The atmosphere is somewhere between the organic and the digital, with a delicious flowing pads on one side, and on the other side a slightly shrill synth and some heavily processed vocal-samples, some of which feels a bit out of place. Fine opener.
02. Rue Des Roses
Where the opener was good, but not really that interesting, things get much better with "Rue Des Roses". Much more organic, with focus on an utterly marvellous acoustic guitar, accompanied by the relaxing sounds of birds singing, divine harps and enchanting ethnic vocals. Really good tune, flows extremely well.
03. Caraibo Grove
Like the first 2 tracks, "Caraibo Grove" is produced by Stephane Holweck alone, and again the atmosphere is very nice - starting quite digital with a tight synth, and slowly getting more ethnic, with some tribal percussion. Quite good tune, although I would say some of the percussion seems a bit too mechanic, and not really dynamic enough.
04. Voodoo Love
"Voodoo Love" is the first track the entire Digital Mystery Tour crew, and for most parts it's really good and well-crafted. It's a lot less chilled than the first 3 tracks, with a groove running at 120 BPM, making it suitable for slow dancing in the chillout. What I don't like is the vocals though - I find them annoying, and they seem way too dominant in the acoustic image.
05. Hikari Land
Here we get one of my favourites, the ultimate feel good tune on the album. "Hikari Land" builds on a really delicious groovy bassline, adding some very "tribal" male vocals - I don't know what they're saying (Moroccan maybe?), but they really suit the overall atmosphere of the track. Excellent tune, some way reminding me of the opener from Kaya Projects "Walking Through" album, but without the piano.
06. KIA (Toires Remix)
Florian Seriot is up next with "KIA", the first track without Stephane Holwecks influences, and the end result is pretty good. A lot of north African influences, and starting pretty dark in atmosphere, using some slightly melancholic vocals, but slowly getting more and more blissful.
07. Dematerializer
"Dematerializer" is the most gloomy tune on the album, with dark metallic synths giving flashbacks to the "Violent Relaxation" days of Total Eclipse. Unfortunately the overall impression is affected by a babbling female robotic voicesample used in both the beginning and the end of the track saying "… we got a special download for you that is irresistible. Free trial versions are available at dmt.com/download/kissmeplease/stopit". Fine track overall, but I have a hard time figuring out what the purpose was with that sample.
08. Pneumatic Bleeps
While the grooves in the previous tracks have been quite static, with the usual 4/4 beats, "Pneumatic Bleeps" is more breaks-inspired, using some heavily reverbed percussion, and continuing with the somewhat gloomy atmosphere from "Dematerializer", but perhaps going even deeper. Simple, yet very delicious and slightly funky.
09. Spirit Of The Deep
"Spirit Of The Deep" is more traditional beatless ambient, with nothing but long and huge atmospheric pads in the first 4 minutes, before picking up some heavy beats in the final part. Lush and slightly melancholic, but not highly original - and again a few minutes too short.
10. Sleeping Among Trees
"Sleeping Among Trees" conclude the journey, continuing the deep, nearly beatless ambient from "Spirit Of The Deep". Long whispery pads give associations of what the atmosphere must be like in and old forest, and the album comes to an end, unfortunately somewhat soon.
Bottom line:
Being released on an Iboga sidelabel, and with the reputation of the involved artists in mind, I was maybe expecting a bit more than the album did deliver. What especially bothered me was some of the vocals, which seemed terribly out of place, but also the playtime was slightly disappointing. Too many of the tracks were too short, and in total the album is only 60 minutes long - I would have preferred if it would have been at least 5-10 minutes longer.
That doesn't mean it's a bad release though - overall it's a very enjoyable album, and there are definitely some divine moments of pure bliss, where the talents of the people involved really shines through. Don't expect something very groundbreaking, but a pleasant journey into ethnic psychedelic chillout.
Recommended buy, yet not essential.
Favourites:
1, 2, 5 (!!), 7, 8, 10
Verdict:
7/10
Links:
Iboga Records: http://www.iboga.dk
Digital Mystery Tour: http://www.digital-mystery-tour.com
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Official releasedate is 4th of October - meaning this tuesday! I've even heard that it can already be bought at iTunes.
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Artist: Phony Orphants
Title: It'Cetra
Label: Iboga
Format: CD (Jewelcase with 6 page inlay)
Released: October, 2005
Review:
Phony Orphants is one of Ibogas most prominent local acts, consisting of Mikael Dahlgaard and Jeppe Ørnkilde. Mikael is also one of the founders of the biggest progressive trance label at the moment, Iboga records, and without a doubt better known as Emok, while Jeppe Ørnkilde is founder of the label Nanobeat Records, focusing on more house-oriented sounds. The first Phony Orphants album "Symphony" was released in 2003, and received amazing feedback from all parts of the world, making it one of the biggest releases on Iboga through the years, and now, little over 2 years later they're ready with their second album "It'Cetra".
01. Rise [135 BPM]
"Rise" opens the show with a very promising and truly epic intro. We get the first hint of the kick and bass after around 1½ minute, but it takes another minute before it really kicks in. The kick, bass and retro-ish lead is extremely tight and is in striking contrast to the huge, organic pads, giving the track a very special feel. Around halfway through we get a short breakdown, followed by the entry of some delightful melodies. Stunning melodic opener.
02. Sex, Drugs.. [135 BPM]
Things get a lot dirtier and electro-inspired with "Sex, Drugs..", fuelled by an excellent vocal-sample, chopped up, looped and used to perfection. I remember this being played at Banel in his set at VooV Experience 2005, and it's a real crowdpleaser - not only is the vocal-sample cleverly used in the breakdowns, but the whole track is really loaded with energy, only downside being the only 6½ minutes of playtime!
03. I Want To Feel [135 BPM]
"I Want To Feel" was released a few months back on the Revolve magazine, and for most parts it works very well. For starters it has a very catchy melodic hook, and basically everything sounds fine until around 4 minutes, where we get the first hint of some really annoying vocals (to me it sounds like Keith Flint from The Prodigy) that seem way over the top for my taste - a real shame.
04. Got What It Takes [133 BPM]
The next track, "Got What It Takes", also has some vocals - fortunately they are less dominant than in the predecessor, and the cheeky "We got what it takes" sample fits fine with the rest of the track. Not as rolling and pumping as the previous tracks, but with a quite nice groove, a strong breakdown and some really delicious metallic sounds. Solid, yet perhaps not as distinctive as some of the other tracks.
05. Mi Corazon [126 BPM]
"Mi Corazon" (Spanish for "My Heart") is so far the most laidback tune, running at "only" 126 BPM, and with a really good and lazy feel to it. A sexy voice-sample (which Emok also used in his recent collaboration with Jokke on the track "More") on top of some delicious progressive house, and it really works to perfection - especially the 1 minute long breakdown with the super phat bassline is really something else.
06. I'll Promise You [135 BPM]
The tempo is kicked up a notch again with "I'll Promise You", not really that groovy, but with a tasty relentless bassline pounding like there's no tomorrow. Some delicious African chanting-samples sest the atmosphere, and all in this tune really took me right back to the german open air feeling. Pure festival-trance.
07. Going Down [135 BPM]
Time for another previously released track, "Going Down" initially released on Ibogas popular "Playground" compilation last winter. Keeping up the energetic pace from "I'll Promise You", but going a bit deeper and darker. Solid effor, once again with some more of the pumping Phony Orphants sound, yet without being one of the standout tracks.
08. Party [126 BPM]
And with "Party" things get a bit slower once again - a sleazy groover just oozing with retro-vibes. Electro is really getting more and more popular these days, and "Party" is indeed a very electro-ish tune; funky, dirty and with a very appealing collection of dirty lo-fi sounds on top of a very pleasant melody in the background. Probably won't be the most popular tune among progressive trance DJ's, but different and most of all fun.
09. House For My Spouse [130 BPM]
"House For My Spouse" marks the end on the album, and it's really filled with house-cliches; From the saxophone to the typical house-chords and the predictable "Yeah" samples - but it works. The least typical Phony Orphants track on the album, and perhaps feels a bit misplaced with its overpolished sound - but an enjoyable mellow groover, and a very pleasant landing after the first 8 tracks.
Bottom line:
In a time with a lot of similar-sounding progressive psytrance, Phony Orphants really shines as an act with their own distinct sound - they manage to fuse elements of progressive psytrance, progressive house and a lot of electro as well, and the result is overall very impressive. Tight and unique, but still groovy and very dance friendly. Overall one of the best progressive albums released in 2005 - not as pleasant and epic as Jaïas "Fiction" or Antix' "Twin Coast Discovery", but an album that really stands out in the crowd, and probably also will stand the test of time.
Yet another must-buy from Iboga!
Favourites:
1(!!), 2(!!), 5, 6, 8, 9
Verdict:
8/10
Link:
Iboga Records: http://www.iboga.dk
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#psytrance on undernet.
But its basically a little clique of friends that often talk amongst themselves about what they did the previous weekend or what they are going to do that evening or coming weekend. Occasionally someone will mention music but mostly it takes the form of derisive comments about various artists/styles. I remember back in the 2000 - 2002 era when many people were bashing on minimal/progressive they were right there on the bandwagon.
They are mostly scandinavian and western european.
Hehe, whats your nick on IRC mate? I'm asking because I've been a channel-regular in #psytrance on undernet basically since it was started. I agree about it being a small group of friends by the way
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Hypertrance???
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Looking good
So glad that the Minilogue-remix of "Orchestra 2.0" is finally released. Heard Son Kite live in a very intimate club this spring, and the first 45 minutes or so was a lot of their new electro-ish Minilogue-stuff - including the remix of Jaïa they told me. Their last releases as Son Kite hasn't been bad, but compared to the more freestyle Minilogue-productions, I think it's obvious where they are focusing the most of their creative energy at the moment.
Is that D.Sens track from VP a new release? He had a track on "Inspirazzia", but not by the title your referring too - I really like the sound of both D.Sens and Lunaspice, so I'm very interested in new stuff
Also a good call with some Kompakt + sublabels releases in your top - Michael Mayer and the rest of the posse have really done an outstanding job, making it one of the most influential labels in all genres of electronic music.
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This is copy/paste of what I wrote at isratrance about the album:
I am not a big fan of the so-called "dark psy" wave, and I can't even say that I was very impressed by what I heard of Pentas set at VooV this summer, but there is something really good about this album - mostly it's the excellent use of voice-samples, but musically I also found it a lot more interesting than most of the "killlllaaaaaah" stuff I've heard.
The opening track is a refreshing mix of "dark psy" and progressive. Almost all progressive trance at the moment is extremely morning oriented, and "It Is Done" is maybe a taster of an upcoming wave of truly dark progressive trance like in the early days of Creamcrop etc - who knows? It's certainly a very nice track, relentless in attitude and with a lot of twists and turns to make it interesting.
Next highlight is "Past Holidays" - extremely twisted and disharmonic melodies, lots of funny and corny samples and a very surprising, yet hilarious solo by Homer Simpson. Last but not least I just love "Eater Of Worlds" - extremely haunting, twisted stormer of a track with an excellent, vicious sample from everybody's favourite clown, Pennywise (I guess you've all seen "It"
) before it turns even more chaotic with some great, hi-tech riffs. Stunning track. I didn't like everything on the disc, but overall I consider the quality really, really good compared to a lot of other releases on the market. I recommend giving it a try - even if you're normally not into "dark psy".
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Artist: Various
Title: Inner Circle
Label: Tribal Vision
Format: CD (Jewelcase with 12 page inlay and DJ-inlay)
Released: September, 2005
Cover: http://quapim.sinfin.cz/ot/inner_circle_800.jpg
Review:
Czech-based progressive label Tribal Vision have already made huge impact on the scene with their first 2 releases "Urban Legends" and "Lime Light". With a mix of progressive trance and progressive house of sensationally high quality they impressed a lot of people, and therefore the expectations for the labels 3rd compilation "Inner Circle" have been enormous. But where the first 2 maybe where on the fluffy and melodic side, "Inner Circle" has more focus on the forgotten side of progressive trance - the dark side. Let's check out the result.
01. Intro by Mladen Glavinic [110 BPM]
The compilations starts with an intro by Mladen Glavinic from Croatia, also known as Parrket. A short, organic piece of tribal chillout with some very sweet piano-melodies - fine intro.
02. Beat Bizarre - Corrosive Juices (Shaman Remix) [136 BPM]
After the intro Shaman provide a remix of Beat Bizarres "Corrosive Juices", featured on the Danish duos 2nd album "Pandoras Groovebox". I personally consider the original one of the only highlights from an otherwise disappointing album, and Shaman does an ok job on the remix but without impressing at all. The track feels a bit more polished and there's more emphasis on the melodies, but can't say that I really liked it.
03. POTS - Pole Position Club [136 BPM]
POTS, short for Prisoners Of The Sun, was one of the biggest German minimal projects some years ago, but haven't since then received nearly as much attention as back then."Pole Position Club" is a taster for their upcoming album on Tribal Vision, but unfortunately proves to be a disappointment - fine production, but extremely dull in atmosphere and doesn't seem to really go anywhere. I didn't connect to it at all.
04. Parrket - Science In My Mind [134 BPM]
Mladen Glavinic appears once again as Parrket - maybe not my favourite project, but still I find him quite interesting, due to the variety of his productions - from the 130 BPM laidback groover "Through The Never" on Candyflips "Levitation" compilation to the almost darkpsyish 145 BPM stomper " Harlequin’s Guard " on Pukkas "Trancelvania" compilation. "Science In My Mind" is somewhere in between, mainly with quite techish elements, but also a sweet melodic synthline. Best track so far on the compilation, though without really impressing.
05. Kalimax - Demons [140 BPM]
Kalimax is a new Swedish act consisting of Tony Comanti (from Moonflower Records) and Magnus Forsberg behind the successful Swedish portal mandarin.nu. "Demons" is a very pleasing tune, but maybe feels a bit out of place on this mainly night-oriented CD - very uplifting progressive trance with soft pads-a-plenty, perhaps not with the best production on the CD, but the ideas are definitely there, and I find it quite enjoyable. My favourite so far.
06. ProSect - Sonified [138 BPM]
One of the hottest names at the moment is Andy Yakovlev, involved in several different projects like Sonify, Sound Field, ICO and, probably the most well-known, ProSect. "Sonified" is one of his better tracks, mainly building on some very funky percussion. The Israeli influences become apparent after approximately 3 minutes with some epic melodies, building up to a crowd-pleasing break around the 5 minute mark. Great track.
07. NASA - Sloppy Noodle [137 BPM]
Mikkel Rasmussen from Denmark, old member of Gnome Effect, but now working on his own as NASA has been quite busy lately, releasing on Iboga, DOMO, Moonstone, Psytropic and Sinn Tec in the last year alone. "Sloppy Noodle" starts with a very promising dark intro (possibly the best I've heard by him), very atmospheric and with some delicious wet percussion. The rest of the track works pretty good as well, with lush soundscapes and a quite psychedelic sound to it.
08. Human Blue - Screwdriver [140 BPM]
To me Human Blue stands as one of the pioneers of the Scandinavian sound, having no less than 3 albums and numerous singles and compilation-appearances in his discography, and with "Screwdriver" he deliver yet another storming tune. The overall theme is a Swedish sample (I'm almost ashamed to say I don't understand what it means) and some subtly sexy samples, which in some ways reminds me of some of the tracks from the album by the German duo New Age Hippies.
09. Etnoscope - Fast Licking [142 BPM]
Etnoscope are probably some of the most talented artists in our scene when it comes to percussion, and their mix of natural percussion and deep, progressive forest trance led to the release of the "Drums From The Dawn Of Time" album on Digital Structures a few years ago. Since then they haven't released an awful lot, but when they do release something, it oozes with quality - "Fast Licking" is no exception, again with massive emphasis on a heavy, tribal kick and of course the percussion, which constantly raises in intensity before unfortunately finishing way too early. Great forest trance.
10. Tegma - No Time [140 BPM]
To finish the compilation we have a truly floor breaking track by Tegma from Sweden. "No Time" is somewhere between their 2 albums - the techish, relentless sound from "Encoded/Decoded" combined with the more full on oriented sound from their last album "002: Avant Garde". But where "002: Avant Garde" maybe was a bit fluffy for some of the older Tegma-fans, "No Time" is a lot darker and harder - a heavy, pumping progressive peak time stomper.
Bottom line:
"Inner Circle" doesn't fully live up to its predecessors "Urban Legends" and "Lime Light". Where it especially fails compared to those two is on the fillers - a few of the tracks where simply way too dull for my liking. That said, "Inner Circle" is not a bad release - It's especially noteworthy that Tribal Vision tries to vary their releases, and where the vast majority of progressive trance at the moment is overly fluffy, "Inner Circle" generally has some quite good night-oriented progressive trance - especially the last 3 tracks.
Overall a good release, but maybe my expectations where a bit too high.
Favourites:
5, 6, 7, 8, 9 (!!), 10 (!!)
Verdict:
7,5/10
Link:
Tribal Vision Records: http://www.tribalvision.cz
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My choice would be Tsunami Benefit - 3 CD's with a lot of high quality trance and ambient of the price of 1. Yes, there's a lot of full on, but a lot of it is actually quite good. Plus the profit goes for a good cause.
I never really got the hype surrounding Apsara. If you want old school goa trance, for christ sake, buy a REAL old school goa trance compilation and not some new imitation.
Critique my music order
in General Psytrance
Posted
12 Moons - Solid State is certainly a good buy. One of the highlights of 2004.