abasio

I never heard about a survey, was it emailed to members?

Do you mean the section of the track that is really really quite? I thought that was part of the concept. Like in Pete Namlook & Richie Hawtin - From Within 2, the last track has a period of silence, not to hide a hidden track but to create silence so when the music comes back in, it sounds bigger & stronger. Either way I prefer this one as it's not total silence

You didn't even like the Tribal Matrix one? Ghey!!!!!

Indigo Egg - ixland

Khooman Artwork By Anna Ignatieva Sienis Artwork by Rolando Cyril TIP/TIP.World Some artwork by Brahma & Lahiri

Principles of Flight Artwork By Nicolas Delort Eat Static Art by Bozzy Dakini Artwork by Keiku, Edmund Colville (Jairamji - Kindred Spirits)

Ambivalent Artwork by Deviant Species & Scorb Sending Orbs Artwork by Jeroen Advocaat,

Ishq Art on Orchid by Keiku Flying Rhino Records Artwork by MArk Neal, Base Chakra, Marcus Sprigens, Marcus Sprigens & more

LSD Artwork by Mark Neal Ozric Tentacles Artwork by ???

Quasga www.quasga.info Ultimae www.ultimae.com

The only problem is you have to turn the volume right up for the speakers to kick in & then put them down to your desired level Still the sound is great. np

I have no idea who they are

It went with all the drugs that shut the brain down instead of open it up. Banging is easy to make & easy for morons to bang away on the dancefloor to. I liked the stuff you could dance to & sit quietly & enjoy

How much of that music is Alice's chav beats?

Some Onkyo ones. They had them in the local second hand store dirt cheap but they sound very nice. Wanted to turn my TV into a home cinema but they sound great with music too

Off topic is closed? When did that happen, I didn't notice We used to have something in the profile of percentage of posts in the most posted in sub-forum. Whatever happened to this? It was interesting.

Listening on my new home cinema speakers. Very nice

Planet B.E.N. - Silver Son Kite - Perspectives of... Minilogue - Animals Atmos - Headcleaner Gus Till - Best Of The Rhino Years I find a lot of prog like Atmos to be very minimal. The Circular Ruins - The Alchemy Concert Cymphonic - Strataradialis Evan Bartholomew - Caverns of Time Ishvara - Magik Square of the Sun Various - Collection 1 : Opening (Databloem)

Various Artists Ease Division Spiral Trax Sep 2008 Downbeat Tracklist 1 James Murray - Last Man In The World (Instrumental) (6:01) 2 Amos - Street Lights (6:50) 3 I Awake - Life Cipher (6:14) 4 Carbon Based Lifeforms - Endospore (5:13) 5 Solar Fields - Feelings (8:00) 6 Vibrasphere Feat. Irina Mikhailova - Meander (8:19) 7 Xerxes - Early Morning Crystals (8:15) 8 Illuminus - Dem Cowboys (7:02) 9 Chromosome - Evens Heaven (8:59) 10 Blue Planet Corporation - A Foret(e)st Of Paradise (6:27) 11 Kritical Audio - Yellow Blend (5:13) Great cover, great tracklist, compiled by one of my favourite artists of all time Solar Fields. Of course my expectations were very high, which is always a dangerous thing and while many times in 2008 my expectations were met or even surpassed this compilation shows the flip side. Yes, expectations were not met for me here but still a worthwhile CD with some great tracks, the average tracks grew on me over time but I am afraid that the weak tracks have stayed poor and continued to be skipped when listening to this. There are some good tracks though, Amos - Street Lights has a vocal wail that initially bugged me but after some time undisturbed managed to sneak through my defenses and under my skin. I Awake - Life Cipher is better than anything on the I Awake album with a much more spine tingling atmosphere. Carbon Based Lifeforms & Solar Fields add tracks that are worthy of such great artists although CBL’s track is a little too short. Xerxes - Early Morning Crystals is a great track, the most minimal here but very entrancing and engaging. Finishing off the compilation is Kritical Audio – Yellow Blend half of which is Robert Elster from Vibrasphere is a real standout to finish with. The tracks I am disappointed in are the Vibrashpere offering which is a little too cheesy for me with Irina Mikhailova’s vocals and James Murray’s opener is solid but not so engaging. His album on Ultimae though was a treat I am very happy to own. The tracks I don’t like are Blue Planet Corporation - A Foret(e)st Of Paradise which is awful right through from boring melodies to a cringe worthy sample. Worse still though is Illuminus - Dem Cowboys which gets progressively worse throughout culminating in Native American Indian war cries. Overall I have to say I am a little disappointed with this release. With Solar Fields compiling it and what looked like such a strong tracklist built my expectations very high indeed. There are some great tracks here, some pleasant tracks but also some overly cheesy and even a couple of tracks I have to skip when playing. I get the feeling that this wasn't compiled as a journey but as a showcase for returning and upcoming artists. In this way it only half succeeds for me as there is too much I don't like. Definitely worth the money as the great tracks are great but it could have been a lot better. Track By Track Analysis 1. James Murray - Last Man In The World (Instrumental) A solid start to the compilation, a soft urban feel to the music created by melancholic tones and high pitch noises. I can picture a city passed its heyday, boarded up buildings and empty streets. The beats are nice and give an element of youthful hope. A good opening track. Will look forward to his album coming soon on Ultimae. 2. Amos - Street Lights I was very impressed with Amos' track on Oxycanta - Winter Blooms. It was one of the best tracks for me in 2007. Street Lights does not quite reach the height's of Fläktsystem as its style is very different. While the former was coldly beautiful with its melody, this track focuses on a female vocal wail which doesn't sit too well with me. It's used a little too much and starts to annoy me. Which is a shame as the rest of the track is really good. Nice random IDM beats. Trippy clicks and sharp stabs of light acid. But I just don't like the vocal. Still, this guy shows a lot of talent and I'm still looking forward to more work from him. 3. I Awake - Life Cipher I Awake's album released earlier this year took some getting into but turned out to be a great piece of work. This track, I got into more quickly. The atmosphere from the start tickles my spine and the vocal sample here is cut up and twisted in such an other worldly way that it never grates on my nerves no matter how many times I listen to it. The beats are cool, sounding heavy and soft at the same time while the slight melody chimes very pleasantly. All in all a solid track from I Awake. 4. Carbon Based Lifeforms - Endospore Carbon Based Lifeforms have been one of my favourite projects over the last few years. Just about everything I have heard from them, I've loved. This track is good, a little shorter than I'd have liked and it never really goes anywhere but it's a nice quick journey non the less. The beatless rhythm is relaxingly enjoyable and the slight melody is just ear candy but I would have liked to have seen it progress. Unfulfilled potential leaves such an unusual feeling. I enjoyed it but wanted more. 5. Solar Fields - Feelings For me this is the stand out on the compilation and alone made the money I spent on this money well spent. Big spacey atmospheres with quite a majestic feeling. Slow steady beats and big rushes of synth drone with little sharp and squelchy noises running down them. The beats coming off the break down seem to be building to something but just as you think they are leading nowhere the mood changes with much more glitch than I've heard from Solar Fields before. Blending the glitch into the lush melodies and spacey atmosphere works surprisingly well. Again I am left very impressed by Solar Fields' versatility as an artist. 6. Vibrasphere ft. Irian Mikhailova - Meander Sounds very much like the later tracks on Exploring The Tributaries but a little more pop accessible. The female vocal wailing is not unpleasant, it reminds me of Ibiza chill albums. It has that Island feel that goes very well with the cover but not so much with the rest of the music here. Without the vocal this would be quite a nice if forgettable track. The piano melody is nice, the water sounds add a nice relaxing feel and the beats are chilled but funky. I could do without the vocal though. It's a little to cheesy for my liking. 7. Xerxes - Early Morning Crystals Another stand out track for me. This has got me very excited about Xerxes and has me really looking forward to future releases. The beat is the strongest so far. Driving in a relaxed way, like a Sunday afternoon drive through the country. The atmosphere is only slightly dark like a cloudy day and the melody is subtle yet engrossing. More minimal than the other tracks and in ways this makes it better than most of the others. It's more entrancing and allows the mind to wander through the soundscape it creates. As mine does I experience rolling hills, cool breezes and the threat of a storm in the distance. Towards the end the beats kick up a gear, sealing the mind back into my car and driving down an empty road. Little melodic sounds rush passed me on each side as I go. Excellent track. 8. Illuminus - Dem Cowboys Another female vocal doesn't exactly fill me with hope for this track and the guitar sounds add to Ibiza island chill out feel. The bad flutes, weak reggae vocals and music hall sounds, the weird ethnic vocals and twangy strings add up to a track I find verges on excruciating. Too much has been crammed in and the thought of blending doesn't seem apparent. The icing on the cheese cake is the Native American Indian war cries. I really do not like this track. 9. Chromosome - Evens Heaven A better track by Chromosome, there are still vocals I'd rather not hear but they are within my acceptable limits. They sound like they want to be ethereal and mysterious but fail somewhat. I've heard it before. The rest of the track is better, brief Shpongle-esque vocals followed by a rather enjoyable bassline and a bright melody. High pitched vocals sound pleasantly trippy and slightly irritating at the same time. The beats, the trippy little noises both sharp and round are good but as with the last track there seems to have been too much put in. Unlike the last track, the single elements are quite good and there has been a good attempt at arranging them and blending them. It's a decent track that gets better towards the end. The melodies, synths, beats, bass and vocals blend much better in the final third. 10. Blue Planet Corporation - A Foret(e)st Of Paradise I have liked so much of Blue Planet Corporation's music from the lush trance on Blue Planet to the great downbeat tracks released on Dakini and Chill Tribe so it pains me to say that this track is not good. Or at least not to my liking. Pedestrian rhythms, boring melodies and a horrible Jazzy saxophone. A cringe worthy sample and unwelcome random percussive clicks don't help but the Jazzy saxophone makes me want to skip to the last track. I hope this is a one off failed experiment. 11. Kritical Audio - Yellow Blend A nice mellow track to end on. It has a nice warm summer feel without sounding like it's Ibiza. The beats are great, the cut up twisted melodies work well and the sharp stop and starts to the beat is something I really like. Definitely one of the best tracks on the album and Kritical Audio is on my watch list for the future.

Kino Oko - Alphabetically Divided Highway

Ultimae should be getting it soon. Or so Aes Dana & Cell said at Isra

It died for me when they made it really annoying to view my collection. Instead of having it how they used to, full screen & easy to browse. Now it's relegated into the side of the screen in a thin strip & unbrowsable. Maybe there is a setting I can unset like the email alerts but it's just not convenient anymore

Is this a review or promo talk? Sounds more like promotion.

Genetic - Trancemission