pr0fane Posted February 24, 2007 Share Posted February 24, 2007 Artist: AMD Title: Big Fish Label: Nano Records Format: CD Released: February 2007 Review: Take 2 well-respected psychedelic trance producers, one full on label on absolute top form, and you have "Big Fish", the first album from AMD. AMD is the project of Aphid Moon and Dickster (Dick Trevor) - the first being Jules Hamer who has already released 2 full-length albums as Aphid Moon on Dragonfly and Nano, and the other being Dick Trevor: more or less a legend on the psychedelic trance scene with involvement in projects like Green Nuns Of The Revolution, Infernal Machine, Bumbling Loons, Bisto Boys, Trickster, Tufaan, Jumanji and of course Dickster. AMD has already turned some heads with their performances around the world in the last year at festivals like Boom and Universo Paralello, so the general anticipation for this release in the scene is certainly up there - lets see if it can deliver. 01. Pretty Trippy [145 BPM] Starting things off is "Pretty Trippy" - it starts out fairly gloomy and very atmospheric, and the first kick arrives just around 2 minutes into the track. Using a progressive buildup, adding more and more elements along the way, it slowly gets pretty intense. Add to that a few distorted banjo-samples, some very well-thought voice-samples centred around the theme of crystals, and you have a nice theme-tune for the MDMA-lovers out there. Great opening track. 02. Morning Glory [142 BPM] The opener is followed by "Morning Glory", which, as the name suggests, is a bit more on the mellow side, and also the slowest track here, running at 142 BPM. It's not quite as phat and massive, but with a great amount of soft, gentle melodies, without ever getting too hands-in-the-air friendly and cheesy. A delicious, uplifting morning groover - another favourite. 03. Crash [145 BPM] "Crash" is a bit more on the funky side of things, shifting between broken beats and rolling basslines, which gives it a nice, groovy feel. The definite highlight is the part where the female voice-sample talks about your brain crashing like a computer-system before the track goes down into a giant breakdown. Very nicely done. 04. Don't Look In There [145 BPM] With "Don't Look In There" takes a turn towards the darker and gloomier realms, with a bit more of an oldschool UK psychedelic trance atmosphere and theme of sounds. Quite psychedelic, very pounding and highly infectious tune, which sounds like it could easily have been featured on the "Lucas Presents: God Save The Machine" compilation from TIP.World. Banging. 05. Funky Chicken [145 BPM] Bringing back the quirky grooves is "Funky Chicken" - the longest track on the album running for just over 10 minutes. It generally maintains most of the same high quality as the other tracks on the album, although it's not nearly as characteristic as some of the highlights. Good one, but not a standout. 06. Galactic Family [143 BPM] "We're all just one big galactic family" - with this quote I present to you "Galactic Family", and this is UK psychedelic trance of 2007 ladies and gentlemen. This is another highlight, high on intensity without ever getting too stressful, and with some delightful, otherworldly melodies, sparkling like fine champagne. Loving it. 07. Slightly Turbo [145 BPM] Up next is "Slightly Turbo" where the characteristic "Slightly turbo" voice-sample reminds me of something from the Saiko-Pod album. Generally it's another good tune with a happy carnival atmosphere, and the distorted acid arpeggiator-melody towards the end provides a nice psychedelic finale. 08. Big Dipper [146 BPM] "Big Dipper" is the fastest track here, running at 146 BPM and also packed with dancefloor goodness. Its bassline is big and rough, and just feels like a huge wall of sound - the breakdown has more crowdpleasing potential than Jenna Jameson doing double penetration live on stage, and the peak is just massive. In my opinion the biggest dancefloor monster on the album. 09. The Reckoning [145 BPM] Ending the journey is "The Reckoning", and it certainly doesn't drop the ball in quality compared to the previous 8 tracks. It starts out with a rather flat beat, but slowly evolves into a more hi-tech, crunchy sound with a lot of intelligent twists'n'turns, maintaining a high intensity all the way to the end, only disrupted by some very short, funky breaks. Very nice finish to a great album. Bottom line: "Big Fish" One of the most solid psychedelic full on albums lately, and it really shows that we're dealing with two of the most well-respected producers out there. It's massive outdoor trance of the best kind - powerful, yet funky and psychedelic, yet uplifting without ever getting over the top on either weirdness nor cheesiness. If you liked the last Aphid Moon album, this one is highly recommended, and in my opinion even better, due to the more phat and pounding sound. All in all, Nano Records has put out another great release - genre purists would probably put this into the morning or daytime full on category, but I could easily imagine most of these tracks do a very good track at night as well. Basically it's just high quality psychedelic full on. Enjoy. Favourites: 1, 2 (!!), 4, 6, 8 (!!), 9 Verdict: 8/10 Links: AMD: http://www.amd-trance.com Nano Records: http://www.nanorecords.co.uk AMD @ Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/amdtrance Dick Trevor @ Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/dicktrevor Aphid Moon @ Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/aphidmoon Nano Records @ Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/nanorecords Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
supergroover Posted March 28, 2007 Share Posted March 28, 2007 fed up with the steady stream of boring israeli fullon releases, but still want to be warped in a new dimension? then this release might be for you. AMD delivers good quality psychedelic trance. No cheesy stuff or horrible vocals. No nonsense good psychedelic stuff. all tracks are solid dancefloor stompers. Spacious groovy tunes with plenty of sounds to wrap around those little grey cells in your head. Their sound is anywhere in between israel and south africa.. which leaves you thinking it would be made in uganda or something.. But its the uk. Although the tracks do not differ alot in sound it doesnt get boring at all imho. I could easily listen to a 2 hour set from these guys. Only bad thing about the album is the fact that 'big dipper' has already been released a while ago.. They should have put another new song in its place i think. favourites: 4, 6, 7 & 9 8/10 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Riton Posted March 28, 2007 Share Posted March 28, 2007 You gotta love our community where people like different tracks, and some don't even like the album at all. I personally am very fond of it. 1,2,4,6,7,8,9... Unfortunately only 2 stands out really for me... and maybe 9. Oh and 4. Dav Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NEMO.BOFH Posted April 13, 2007 Share Posted April 13, 2007 For a long time I have been very very disappointed with Full On or Psy-Trance. When finally getting this fine release though, I can see light at the end of the tunnel for Psy-trance. This has to be THE best release so far in 2007 in its genre. I wont go through the individual tracks here, since its already done and it would just add extra spice to whatever has been written before. Other than that, I think you guys would say that I am way too enthusiastic! So, to keep things short, I can only say that this has been a blast to my ears. To tell you how good I think it is I will make the following Assumption/Statement: "This is full-on that even Radi would Enjoy!!" 10/10 for making full on sound like a blast again! Nemo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sideffect... Posted April 16, 2007 Share Posted April 16, 2007 for a first listen, lot's of variations, very intelligent... good sound, very good nice Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Time_Trap Posted April 17, 2007 Share Posted April 17, 2007 My impressions from my first listen: Indeed it's most psychedelic than the majority of mainstream full-on out there. Still it wasn't anything innovative and didn't manage to keep my interest. That would work on the dancefloor though. 6/10 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yerg Posted August 17, 2007 Share Posted August 17, 2007 NO, this is not cheesy (maybe a little bit) - but pretty Boring, i've heard much better Full-On Psy releases this year Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
draeke Posted August 17, 2007 Share Posted August 17, 2007 NO, this is not cheesy (maybe a little bit) - but pretty Boring, i've heard much better Full-On Psy releases this year please let me know which ones they are, as i liked this one very much so if there is something better let's hear it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yerg Posted August 18, 2007 Share Posted August 18, 2007 please let me know which ones they are, as i liked this one very much so if there is something better let's hear it! No problem, i sent you a PM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reger Posted August 19, 2007 Share Posted August 19, 2007 i wasnt impressed by this one after couple of first listens, some good parts, but overall i guess i should give it more listens and then give it a grade Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nexus Posted August 21, 2007 Share Posted August 21, 2007 Tried three times to go through the whole album, failed all three, I get bored quickly with this one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amphiton Posted September 18, 2007 Share Posted September 18, 2007 No problem, i sent you a PM post them here Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
faze Posted September 18, 2007 Share Posted September 18, 2007 post them here Yes, please do. We are always interested in recommendations of great music. Don't be shy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yerg Posted October 1, 2007 Share Posted October 1, 2007 The reviews are already at the forum, but you asked so --- V/A - Kaleidoscopic Vision and Deeper In Zen - Silence Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sideffect... Posted January 4, 2013 Share Posted January 4, 2013 for a first listen, lot's of variations, very intelligent... good sound, very good nice I thought I hadn't listened to this album before, but preciously I'm wrong... What the heck, here we go, AMD - BigFish (2007) This is very decent fullon. Not the typical morning fullon as we know it, but also not night fullon. It's in between. It's melodic but not morning melodic. Compared to other fullon it's not that intense and stressed. It floats very good.I could relax on this closing my eyes. There are no huge climaxes presented but it's more from one sound to another. That pattern makes it very psychedelic Don't except huge waves or fat layers but little squeakily sounds. I got interested in it because one of the member of Green nuns is involved and I'm a big fan of Green nuns so I couldn't resist. AMD keeps it varied. They put a lot off effort in changing their baseline each track. The further the release goes on, the harder the bass gets so it gives the experience of a travel/journey which is great. And I think considering fullon, a subgenre where the baseline is more at front it's almost a must to do that. Using the same baseline pattern each track is a bit lame imo. Sometimes they use 303 patterns very humble (green nuns, ofcourse what to expect ) and it's delightful... Non explosive as it is, it doesn't overload me at all. I could easily put this album on repeat without being bored. They also use samples that contain a little psycho touch like in 1997 and that's lovely. A good example off great fullon. Discogs: http://www.discogs.c.../release/923862 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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