Voice Stealer-Evaluation

I don't listen to electro much. But even if I did, this would still probably be my favorite electro tune. Unusual form of electro in its harmonic, ambient-like construction, it was produced by Carl A. Finlow, this tune appeared on the critically acclaimed album "The All Electric House" back in 1997.

1 Giant Leap-My Culture

1 Giant Leap are 2 British music producers and filmmakers. Far from ever becoming a popular act, they did score a major hit with "My Culture" back in 2001, probably because it was a collaboration with Robbie Williams and Maxi Jazz of Faithless, names which drew the public's attention.
Oh yeah, the video is also very cool.

Tennishero-Midnight Love/Alone

Today I was going to feature Chris Coco's "Albatross", the wonderful closing track on his 2002 album, "Next Wave". However, due to its absence from Youtube I will not.
Instead, a double from Tennishero, a rather mysterious Swedish act that came to prominence with a couple of tracks released on Hed Kandi compilations. Listen & enjoy these interesting crossovers between deep house, chillout and nu disco.

Midnight Love:


Alone:

Christophe Goze-Some Day I Will

Back in business, not that anyone cares.
And what better way to get back than with a large chunk of summery chillout right in the heart of Winter. Christophe Goze warms up our homes with this great guitar chillout track, one of my favorites from his 2006 album "Turning Inside", which you can buy HERE for only $11.80.

The Diogenes Club - Tie Ourselves Around

Matthew Williams aka The Diogenes Club is a relatively new face in the electronic music scene. Although an experienced producer, with material released as far as 1999, Williams' breakthrough came recently (starting a couple of years ago), through a string of excellent original productions and remixes under his The Diogenes Club moniker.
I personally just discovered him a few months ago, browsing through the Urbantorque catalogue (which is downright amazing btw). Looking at his small, but strong discography, it's clear that great things are in store for Williams should he continue to release material of the same quality.

From the recently released "979 EP" (on Urbantorque), I have selected "Tie Ourselves Around", a mixture of vocal deep house, nu disco and downtempo that is representative of Williams' style.

Billie Holiday - Long Gone Blues (GXR Remix)

I won't even begin to introduce Billie Holiday, because chance are you have been living under a rock if you don't know who she is. And no one lives under rocks.

GXR is a British production duo that I previously featured on Musictronics under the Groovecatcher alias with their track "Intoxicated" (see HERE). As GXR they released the album "Skylines" in 2008 on Anything Goze Group (run by Christophe Goze) and made a couple of remixes, one of which is this one. A great modern interpretation of a jazz classic.

Samantha James - Rain / Right Now

Samantha James' album "Rise" (2007) has a very important place in my collection. Right from the first listen I knew I came across something special. 11 tracks and none short of great. Situating itself at the ever-thinning border between deep house and chillout, the album even boasts with a #1 US Billboard Dance chart position, achieved by the title track, "Rise".
"Rain" and "Right Now" respectively are the last 2 tracks of the album and they both feature a classy deep house reminiscence, coupled with soothing vocal harmonies and subtle piano touches from the jazzy side of the musical spectrum, to achieve truly wonderful and relaxing results.

You can listen and buy the entire album HERE.

Probspot - Obsession / God Shaped Hole

Everybody knows that the early to mid 2000s were the pinnacle of progressive trance. And Swedish producer Rikard Fredriksson, otherwise known as Probspot and Rico Soarez was at the pinnacle of the pinnacle. With releases such as "Foreplay EP", "Blueberry" or "TV Dinner/Timeless" it's easy to understand why. Held in high regard for his unique and multivalent style, Probspot has maintained a strong reputation throughout the years, both through original productions and also with some great remixes for acts like Insignia, Solarstone, Mike Shiver etc. Also, starting with 2007 Rikard has started releasing music under a third alias, Zinfandel, following the same progressive recipe, only with a slightly more electro-ish vibe.

A pleasantly convincing crossover between Trance, Drum n Bass and Breakbeat, "Obsession" comes from his 2005 album "Organic Waveforms" (as Probspot), released on the seminal (at that time) Lost Language label.



And from the same album, featuring Craig Evans on vocals, "God Shaped Hole":

Thievery Corporation - Amerimacka

Back in 2004 I came across "Kontor Sunset Chill Volume 5", a downtempo compilation that I consider, to this day, to be one of the most important steps I took in experiencing the many facets of electronic music. It was then that I made contact with artists such as Mint Royale, Caia, Wax Poetic and of course, Thievery Corporation, all who would later gradually become some of my favorite acts.

Thievery Corporation is one of the most well-known trip-hop bands out there, with a career spanning 15 years and 6 albums thus far. You can hit their wikipedia article to find out more about their history, I don't want to reinvent the wheel with this blog entry, since they are so famous.
It was hard to pick something from their discography (because it's so damn good), but I think the natural choice couldn't have been anything else but "Amerimacka", the track that started my love for the Corporation.

Machinarium - Bar Song/Pipe Wrench Dubstep

I've been playing adventure games since I was 12. I still remember that day in 1998 when I discovered Sierra's "Shivers" (demo version) and played it with my friends. That was one creepy game (managed to get it in full and finish it a few years ago). Of course, Shivers was just the first from a looong list of adventure games that I was going to play throughout the years. Each game, for better or for worse, left me something to remember it for. And Machinarium is certainly one of the games that gave me a LOT of reasons to remember it for, from its drop-dead gorgeous handmade graphics and supreme game design to its ingenious puzzles and lovable character (a lonely robot).
The biggest surprise however (considering Machinarium is a small-budget game) was its original soundtrack. It's one of the best game soundtracks I have ever heard in a video game. No joke. Composed by Tomáš Dvořák, it employs odd and ingenious music ranging from IDM (Intelligent Dance Music), downtempo, dubstep to even bossa nova to achieve a truly offbeat and refreshing whole result.
My advice would be to buy the game right now and start playing. It comes really cheap and as far as I'm concerned it's one of the best deals one can make as far as video games go. Machinarium is, simply put, food for your mind, eyes and ears too.

Oliver Smith - Sunday

Anjunadeep has been my favorite EDM label for the past 3 years. Their unique blend of house, trance and funkyness earned them a solid fanbase and the respect of the music industry for being utterly different than the norm. Launched in 2005 and currently on its 74th release, Anjunadeep is not only one of the best, but also one of the busiest labels around, having released one brilliant mix compilation in February("Anjunadeep:02") and 14 singles since the beginning of this year alone. It's the perfect exception from the "less is more" rule.
One of the most prominent artists on Anjunadeep's sister label, Anjunabeats (ran by producer/DJ trio Above & Beyond and mainly focusing on trance) is Oliver Smith, a man who's been at the forefront of trance music for the past 10 years with constant success. With "Sunday" (and with a previous track, "Pacific", for that matter), Smith demonstrates his production skills' range goes beyond the borders of trance and into the wonderful melodic house realm of the Anjunadeep sound.

Buy the Anjunadeep:02 compilation here: @trackitdown.net
Buy Oliver Smith 01 (the best of Oliver Smith) here: @iTunes

Boymerang - Soul Beat Runna

I have been mad about this track from the very first listen, somewhat 12 years ago. Heard it on EA Sports' FIFA World Cup 98 game soundtrack (along with a handful of other excellent songs btw) and it has been in my Winamp playlist ever since. Really, if I were to pick my favorite DnB track, this would probably be it.
The man behind Boymerang is Graham Sutton (leader of legendary post-rock band Bark Psychosis) and under this alias he released the highly-acclaimed Drum n Bass album "Balance Of The Force" in 1997.

Ferry Corsten & Shelley Harland - Holding On

I have introduced flying Dutchman Ferry Corsten in a previous post (HERE), with his track "In My Dreams".
From the same album, 2003's "Right Of Way" (which happens to be among my favorite EDM albums of all time), "Holding On" is a much more chilled track, featuring the vocals of Shelley Harland. Rather unique in its sound style, this is one of the most appreciated (but not very well known) Corsten tracks and I have personally met a lot of people outside EDM who thoroughly enjoyed it, so there has to be something special about it. But of course I wouldn't know, I just like it to bits.:)
PS: Yes, pretty gay video, haha.

Roger Sanchez - Another Chance

If one mentions House hero Roger Sanchez, 95% of people who ever heard of him will instantly think of this track. Released in 2001, "Another Chance" was an instant success, both in the underground house scene and in the mainstream media (#1 in the UK Top 40). Played at least once by virtually every speaker on Earth ever since, "Another Chance" also benefits from a very interesting video, which gathered highly positive reviews.
No more talk. Just open your window, grab a beverage, put this record on and relax.

Alex Gold-String Theory

Known primarily as the man behind the hugely successful label Xtravaganza Recordings (home to artists like Chicane, Airscape, Agnelli & Nelson), Alex Gold is an UK-based musician less noticed for his productions. However, his discography does contain two trance mixcompilations and an artist album, which points to the fact that he is to be taken seriously as a producer too and not just as a label manager.
In 2005 Alex Gold released "Back From A Break", his first (and thus far only) artist album. Hands down the best track on that album is "String Theory", a blissed-out trance/breaks/chillout tune that works great with pretty much any melodic electronic music style, from progressive and deep house to full-on trance. Simply wonderful.

Andain - You Once Told Me

Andain is a production trio consisting of Josh Gabriel (of Gabriel & Dresden fame), David Penner and vocalist Mavie Marcos. Although a primarily downtempo project, they became known when their early 2000s tracks "Summer Calling" and "Beautiful Things" (famously remixed by Gabriel & Dresden and Airwave among others) got massive support from all big trance and progressive DJs.
Although the project went on hiatus after their initial success, and despite their small discography, Andain still enjoys popularity within the trance scene, with their old classic tracks held in high regard and still being occasionally played.

"You Once Told Me" is somewhat of a dark horse, far from "Summer Calling"'s or "Beautiful Things"'s popularity, but considered by many to be Andain's best musical output.

Mat Zo-The Fractal Universe

Born in 1990 in London, Matan Zohar is one of the undisputed prodigies of today's EDM scene. At only 20 years of age, his discography contains releases on major labels such as Anjunabeats, Soundpiercing and Hospital and his list of remixed artists boasts with high-profile names like Tiesto, Andy Moor, Markus Schulz and Activa.
It was "Rush/Defined", his 2008 release on Anjunabeats, that caught my attention, with its overlapped layers of melodic fuzziness that reminded me of another young producer (Casey Keyworth aka Breakfast), but also had a very strong personal touch. In 2009 Matan was featured by Armin van Buuren on his yearly "A State Of Trance" compilation with the track "The Fractal Universe". It became an instant classic within the trance community and established Mat Zo as one of the most highly-regarded producers in the scene.

Air-La Femme D'Argent / All I Need

Air...you just gotta be cool with a name like that. Nicolas Godin and Jean-Benoit Dunckel can concur, because they happen to be, under that name, one of the coolest and most successful electronica bands ever. Hailing from France, this production duo have more followers than most can only dream about. And for no shallow reason, just a peek at their discography makes one's jaw drop. All the way to the floor.
From the critically acclaimed album "Moon Safari" (1998), I've selected "La Femme D'Argent" and "All I Need", two of Air's most recognizable songs.
I won't get into any more details, just hit Youtube and listen to these guys!

Crazy Penis - Bumcop

Something extremely special today: the awesomeness known as Crazy Penis (or just Crazy P). A live band that blends electronic elements and acoustic instruments in genre-defying music. I call it acoustic house. :) Though it's far from what's generally regarded as "house"...well, that's why they're hard to define.
I would fill an entire page if I were to write about Crazy P in detail, so I'm just gonna let you look details up. Also check all their stuff, because it's great.

It's hard for me to decide about which song to feature, but "Bumcop" took the cake. Especially since I found a live performance video! Enjoy!

Blank & Jones - Breezin'

I'm not in the mood for much talk today, sorry...But I think it won't be necessary. Just listen & enjoy!

ATB - Autumn Leaves

Everybody knows ATB, so there's no point in introducing him. If you're older than 10 you surely heard his music.
I'm not the biggest ATB fan, although he had a strong influence on my musical taste in the 90s, when I was just discovering electronic dance music. Back then he was also involved in the Sequential One project (remember "Dreams" and "Angels" :D?), so he was pretty popular back then too, I think a lot of people owe him their introduction to electronic music. Anyway, he has some good tunes under his belt and all his albums are pretty good, considering they are mainly commercially-oriented. But while as a producer he may not excel, he is a very good DJ in my opinion. He's one of my favorites when it comes to track selection, often blending trance with a decent amount of progressive for really entertaining sets. His "ATB The DJ" series of mixalbums is quite strong too.

What I like most about ATB is that he's not afraid of downtempo. On every album he included respectable amounts of downtempo material and all I can say is that I hope he will continue to do so.
From 2004's "No Silence" (my favorite ATB album), I chose "Autumn Leaves" for today's feature, a vocal laid-back tune, reminiscent of Enigma at times. Cheesy stuff, but I like it!

Paradiso (Ian Ritchie) - Solaris

I believe everyone watched at least one episode of "Globe Trekker" (or "Lonely Planet" until a number of years ago) on Discovery Channel. Awesome show. Anyway, I also do believe many have noticed the show's soundtrack, a very interesting knitting of ethnic elements in electronic arrangements.
Composed by British musician Ian Ritchie in 1994-1995, that original soundtrack still runs in today's episodes of "Globe Trekker" (or is it called "Pilot Guides" now?). And to no wonder, it's bloody fantastic! That's not today's feature however, but we have something equally good in store: a jazz track from Ritchie's Paradiso project, entitled "Solaris". A smart blend of acoustic sound and electronic feeling (though it may be possible it was recorded with a live band, I really don't know; nevertheless, the feeling is electronic).

If you like this make sure to also check the soundtrack to "Globe Trekker" and visit www.ian-ritchie.com for a lot of free music from Mr. Ritchie.

Blank & Jones - Balearic Blue

This track is very special to me on a personal level, but even if it wasn't it would still be great. Hailing from Germany, Blank & Jones are a duo of electronic music producers who scored some pretty big trance hits at the end of the 90s/beginning of the 2000s. In 2003 they released their first chillout album, "Relax", which went on to gather many positive reviews and critiques. Two years later the duo released "Relax: Edition Two", another critically successful album, partly because it followed the same great recipe as the first one. The third installment of the "Relax" series however, failed to garner much praise, a change in style towards vocal tracks not appealing to everybody.
Currently the series is in its 4th volume, released last year. The producers took note of the objections related to the third volume and featured less vocal tunes this time. While not as successful as the first two volumes, Relax: Edition Four moved one step closer to the original Blank & Jones chilled sound, much to the joy of long-time fans such as myself.

From "Relax: Edition Two", we play "Balearic Blue", both Original and Sa Trincha mixes, two truely relaxing songs. Enjoy

Mark Otten - So Serene

As promised in the previous entry, today's feature is "So Serene" by Mark Otten, the follow-up to "Tranquility".
It's also worth listening to Armin van Buuren mash-up between this track and Carrie Skipper's "Time Goes By", which is pretty cool.

Mark Otten - Tranquility

I'll start by saying that 2004 was for me the best year in music so far. I won't go into details, but trust me, if you had experienced electronic music back then, you would probably say the same thing. Now that I've made a preamble, let's get on with today's selections.

Mark Otten probably doesn't ring a bell to many of you, but he's a respected trance producer who has released a couple of absolute classics in the mid-2000s. One of them is this track: "Tranquility" (2004, on Armin van Buuren's flagship label, Armind). It's a very original track in both sound and approach, distinguishing itself from pretty much everything else. Instantly recognizable by any seasoned trance aficionado, "Tranquility" is perhaps Otten's best production to date and a landmark (though often overlooked) in progressive trance.
The charming thing about it is that it didn't spawn legions of imitators, as many other successful songs usually do. Instead, it somehow managed to keep its unique character and 6 years later I can say without a shadow of a doubt that there's nothing else quite like it. (well, maybe just Otten's follow-up to "Tranquility", "So Serene", which I will feature tomorrow).

Enjoy! I have selected 2 mixes for you: the Radio Edit of the original track and the Lightscape Lounge Mix. I strongly encourage you to listen to both of them!

Lightscape Lounge Mix:


Original mix:

John O'Callaghan feat. Lo-Fi Sugar - Never Fade Away

If you're into the trance scene, it's impossible never to have heard of John O'Callaghan. For the past years he has been very much in demand, both as a producer and as a DJ. 2009 saw the release of his debut artist album, entitled "Never Fade Away", featuring mostly vocal trance tracks.
The first single off the album was, as expected, "Never Fade Away", a collaboration of JOC with Lo-Fi Sugar (singer/songwriter from the US), which was released along with remixes from Giuseppe Ottaviani and Andy Duguid (both received well critically). But it's the album version that makes our interest today, a beatless vocal ballad that, while not extraordinary profound in lyrics, sounds very very good in my opinion.

CDM - Many Rivers To Cross

"Many rivers to cross, but I can't seem to find my way over." So true in so many ways.

"Many Rivers To Cross" is a track with a long history. Written by Jamaica's own Jimmy Cliff all the way back in 1969, it has been covered and remixed by a plethora of artists like UB40, Cher, Lenny Kravitz or U2. The last notable artist to cover it was Annie Lennox in 2008.
However, my favourite version is (expectedly) this chillout track by CDM. It features the vocals of Jimmy Cliff himself, with Javier Losada as the producer.
From my knowledge you can find this track exclusively on "Cafe del Mar - Volume 9" (2002).
Enjoy!

Way Out West - Mindcircus / Surrender

Who hasn't heard about "Way Out West"? Since the mid 90s they have been responsible for some of the most memorable genre-blending moments in electronic music history and they were (and still are) so good that they even had some mainstream commercial success at certain points.
Everything started in 1992, when British producers Jody Wisternoff and Nick Warren joined forces in a collaboration under the name Echo. However, it was not long until they decided to change their style and name. In 1994 they released the instant progressive house/breaks classic "Ajare" as "Way Out West". It was both a club hit and a mainstream chart success and skyrocketed the duo to international fame. Since then, the legend added up with every album (4) and single (19) they released, cementing their reputation as game-changers in the industry.

From their second album, 2001's "Intensify", here is "Mindcircus", one of Way Out West's best-known and beloved songs. Also famously remixed by progressive house/trance duo Gabriel & Dresden in 2002.



And from their last album, "We Love Machine" (2009), here's some progressive breaks goodness: "Surrender". ;)

Parallel - Interstellar

Happy New Year everyone!!!

Following on the (hopefully) awesome NYE party I hope everyone had, let's chill a little today with a beautiful laid-back tune, courtesy of "Interstellar". I honestly confess that I have absolutely no idea on who is behind this project. I looked everywhere, but no luck. I'll probably write an e-mail to the label that released this track (Park Lane Recordings), maybe they will shed some light on this.
Anyway, you can find "Interstellar" on "Cafe Ibiza-The Cream Of Balearic Cuisine" (a VERY good compilation), out 2006 on the aforementioned label.
www.parklanerecordings.com