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U-Recken - Aquatic Serenade


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Artist: U-RECKEN

Album: Aquatic Serenade

Label: Dooflex

CAT: DFXCD04

Sonic-Energy: http://www.sonic-energy.net/core/content/view/209/2/

 

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01. Lost Paradise [144]

02. Holly Waters [144]

03. Plastic [144]

04. Zoodoo [144]

05. Tania (2006 edit) [144]

06. Powerful [144]

07. The other Side [143]

08. Misery [143]

09. Pitch of mind [140]

10. Aquatic Serenade

 

 

What’s this About

 

Yaniv Ben-Ari an ex-dark head has been in part of the Doof family since 2003, blending styles in his musical quest to adapt Arabian deserts with gothic dungeons. The end result is very melodic conjuring of morning trance oriented by musicality and a lovey-dovey melodic doze of the Carmel Mountains, where Yaniv’s inspiration rests. Admittedly, this type of sound is not what passes through my speakers lately, i-recken good things might come from a little diversity.

 

 

Per-Track

 

(1* ) The Arabian Desert gets all the mileage possible in this paradise of well honed melodic full-on. The string instrument (which I’m not even going to attempt identifying) stands out for the most part alongside vocodic voices for satisfying end result.

 

(2) Holly Waters maintain the overall pace with a smile-inducing sample in Mandarin, or some Asian language that escapes my vocabulary. The stabbing kicks are soon abundant alongside spacey pads with enthralling zing for the genre. The drums for breaks work really effectively when it’s time to start thinking of another tune.

 

(3*) The title is a little deceiving, as there is nothing plastic about it to my ears. A lot of bare piano bits coupled with the mandatory gushing melodies and arpeggios galore, unraveling the very essence of over-stylized Goa. The piano obviously returns later and we close the shindig with a lot of musicality. It does get a bit too sweet-toothed for me, but we have to give Yaniv props on the end result… I can unashamedly call this music, without getting strange looks from other non-psy heads.

 

(4 ) Zoodoo is the prime example of adapted psychedelic full on for friendly dance floors, that figured the best thing that could happen to Sub6 was incorporating an MC for their live performances. Very uplifting, tiesto-type of progressive that no matter how well executed… it just does not grab my attention anymore.

 

(5) The abundance of breaks in Tania leaves me a little disoriented, as to when is this thing supposed to get going. In the meantime, the teases are well accompanied with effects & laughs, but no clear purpose. We continue gliding erratically in between breaks, confusing samples and shy lines. It is soon becomes apparent the purpose is just one big outburst with the girl peaking her voice high.

 

(6* ) Powerful takes us to a near sandbar close to the shoreline, where waves brake and effects wiggle. The intro is really convincing, just like Yaniv’s attempt at creating something less cheese-infused, backed by a nice groove (It reminds slightly of Hujaboy’s work). The synth lines work surprising well in the overall commotion of textures, placing itself as my favorite tune of the bunch.

 

(7 ) This one is slightly confusing as well, from the sound I seem to miss the other side of things altogether. Styled in the same melodic vein as the rest of the tracks with more arpeggios and several synths’s jabbed together with a good doze of Roquefort like it has been standard. Conveying nothing new from the tool box, enough elements manage to keep the ear entertained.

 

(8 ) Another group of voices scattered throughout a collection of different breaks without clear resolution, dragging on until the fourth minute. Solid rhythms and melancholic pads, but no really misery. When it gets going, the theme does manage to save something out from the convulsing sweetness as the ultimate mandate.

 

(9 ) The pitch in mind manages to spit out a pretty disjointed groove that reminds me at times of ‘Dear Daddy Drugs’, from Cujorius One. The synth action is painfully toned for my taste and when those vocals hit the speakers, it gets hard for me not start hating it. This is definitely not my type of trance.

 

(10* ) The final run of this Aquatic Serenade, displays all the water samples possible before the first minute breaks. The usual pace is altered with a sweet-natured piano piece that remains on the down-tempo side of things, with measured breaks and involving dub slices. Personally, if the whole thing would have been about this genre I would found myself a lot more attracted to the overall thing. Mainly, because I enjoy my chilled out beats a lot more than any attempt at morning full on. If u-recken the story is different for you, then you have a strong package here.

 

 

All and all

 

One on top of the other, layers of perfectly tuned melodies bind an album that refuses to part from the naïve, emotional full on with a number of new elements. Not too many, but enough to deem it passable for all those interested in sweet-toothed tracks that get your soul singing. Comparing it to similar works in my case might be a bit difficult, as I haven’t really heard anything in this genre for a good while now. There might be enough goodness to get dance-floors jumping ecstatically. Unfortunately, I’m not in that crowd anymore.

 

 

Where to Buy

 

http://www.saikosounds.com/english/display...ase.asp?id=5598

 

http://www.psyshop.com/shop/CDs/dfx/dfx1cd004.html

 

http://www.wirikuta.at/web66/product_detai...owDetail=120582

 

http://www.beatspace.com/dettagli/dettaglio.asp?id=2672

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  • 6 months later...

I bought this a while ago & it's one of my favourites of the year. I don't usually go in for the cheesy full on stuff but this is so well presented that I find myself listening to it over and over again. I like the melodies & the piano in plastic is very nice. Stand out track though is the downtempo track at the end which I've been loving since I heard it on Downbeat Liquid vol 1. I bought tthis album on the strength of that track & while it was not what I was expecting I definately wasn't dissapointed.

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  • 1 month later...

I can see why people don't like this!

I think it is quite fun though. It's nice too listen too but I probably wouldn't want to listen to it too often!

It's fun not amazing!

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  • 3 weeks later...
  • 1 year later...

I hadn't really paid attention to U-recken before his latest album Deeper Into Man. Since that album gets my vote for best of the year, I decided to give this a try. Yaniv is a master at over the top melodies and breaks. He weaves a tapestry with his sounds that can harken back to the good old days. While not as deep as his latest, the production here is stellar. This to me is miles above your generic full on. The singing I could do without, but none of the tracks are unlistenable, and I think if you put this on, you could take a nice journey all the way through.

 

As the reviewer said, the downtempo track is great, and I would love to see him do an ambient album.

 

Very pleased with this.

 

Mdk

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  • 4 years later...
  • 7 months later...

One of the best full on albums with some really nice melodies throughout.. Yaniv obviously is a production wizard, and that's his background but would love to see him take things even deeper melody and psychedelic wise..

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  • 2 years later...

Definitely the U-Recken's best and one of my favourite musical albums ever (including not only psytrance albums).

 

Each of the U-Recken's albums has something to offer to the listener but strangely, it seems that the quality of his music gradually decreases from album to album. Deeper Into Man was a bit worse than Aquatic Serenade, Light at the End of the World was a bit worse than DIM and Flames of Equilibrium is ... well, not bad at all, but not exactly the level of quality I expect from U-Recken.

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  • 6 years later...

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