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!

Max Melvin - Seaside

Max Melvin is not a person, as you might think. It's a group of two German producers (Andreas Bruhn & Stefan Rekittke). As many downtempo projects before and after them, they also released just one album, entitled "Seaside" (2002), after which the project went on hiatus.
"Seaside" is a totally sun-drenched album that, while not being a landmark of originality, still manages to deliver a nice, warm atmosphere. There are many tracks that I enjoyed from the album, notably "Magnolia" and "Flying High", but the homonymous "Seaside" is my favorite track. Moving at slow speed and featuring some great airy vocals, this is one track you'd rather listen at the beach. But since I like it so much, and for people who want to warm up their Winter, here it is, in all its Summer glory:

Bent -Sing Me / Now I Must Remember

Formed in 1997, British electronica duo Bent have gained over the years somewhat of an (electronic) pop culture icon status. As far as I'm concerned, they already secured their place in electronic music history. Known for their ethereal sound and heavy use of sampling (mostly on their first two albums), Bent have not once been compared to artists like Air or Moby.

I think the most remarkable thing Bent have ever achieved (until now) is their 2004 album "Ariels". Bent left their history of sampling other tracks behind for this project, everything on "Ariels" is their original work featuring original sounds. The result? One of the most beautifully crafted pieces of music I've ever heard. It's one of my favorite music albums of this decade! I would honestly post every single track from the album, each one is an extraordinary artistic achievment. But since I can only post a couple of them, here are "Now I Must Remember" and "Sing Me" (feat. Rachel Foster of the Weekend Players).
Trust me, this is one album you don't want to miss, a true musical masterpiece. One of those rare albums that once experienced, never leave your conscience.