|
|
|
Man With No Name "Interstate Highway"
|
|
|
Top level
Music reviews
Review by PKS
Martin Freeland is back with his 4th album, this time on Dragonfly Records...
|
Finally we get a new album from Man With No Name! (Martin Freeland) He was one of the first UK artists to make psychedelic/goa trance in the beginning of the nineties, and has been one of the most well known psytrance acts out there. His first album Moment Of Truth (Concept In Dance 1996) made huge success, and he was signed over to the label of Paul Oakenfold, Perfecto Fluoro. He released an album on Perfecto called Earth Moving The Sun (1998), then he was signed over to Dragonfly Records and released an album of remixes and singles (Teleportation 2000). Now he is back with an album full of unreleased tracks!
Man With No Name "Interstate Highway" Dragonfly Records 2003 (BFLCD63)
1. Axis Flip
2. Space Juice
3. Lights Out
4. Cocoon
5. Visit The Moon
6. Reincarnation
7. Broken Promise
8. East 98 Street
9. Pipeline
One of the things I like with this guy, is that he makes trance so different from all other artists, so the minute you hear a track by him, you recognise that it is made by Man With No Name. A lot of people got their interest of psychedelic trance after listening to this guy many years ago. The first track is a really deep, groovy track, with a very drifting rhythm. This track automatically made me dance when I heard it. The psychedelic sounds come slowly into the track. It sounds almost scary! You will recognise some of the sounds, but in a different way. Man With No Name sure has changed style, but it is still different from everybody else, and in a much more modern way. This track will for sure do good as night time trance at several parties around the globe this fall. Track 2 is more pumping, more melodic and reminds me a bit more of his good old style. Especially one of the melodies sounds like real old school Goa trance, but with a modern twist. Track 3 starts atmospheric and floating, before a fast going rhythm hits in. This track is pretty heavy and fast going all the way, with dark and crazy melodies and sounds. Track 4 is a real stumper, with atmospheric floating sounds and a spacey guitar. Really trancey stuff.
Track 5 also goes pretty dark most of the way, but the typical MWNN melodies lightens up now and then. The rhythm goes really deep. Track 6 starts with some beautiful electronic sounds, before a nice drifting rhythm starts pumping. After a while we get some real old school goa melodies again, that almost sound too cheesy these days. But the rest of the track is really great. Track 7 starts with hammering rhythms from the first second. This one is really fast going and heavy. Hard trance with some psychedelic sounds added into it. Track 8 is a pumping track, with melodies coming slowly into the track. This is a bit more minimal than most of the other tracks on the album. He finishes the album with a track starting with some really psychedelic sounds. The whole track is really trippy, with beautiful spaced out melodies, a break with tribal drums and wonderful tripped out sounds all the way.
Martin Freeland has not forgotten the good old style, taken it with him, added a modern twist and it works really well! I saw him live at Samothraki Dance Festival 2003 last week, and I can tell you for sure that these tracks work well on the dance floor. I also have to admit that I used very long time writing this review, because I start dancing instead of writing when I listen to it… Recommended!
PK
|
Comment List
| Topic: |
Author: |
Time: |
|
|
Darc Angelo
|
24.11.2003 21:29
|
|
well, I don't share the same enthusiasm... first time I listened to this album I thought "FINALLY, someone making good oldschool, not some cheap "full-on" imitation!!!" but after a few more listens I realized that Man Named Martin limits himself to using fragments of oldschool elements in the tracks, which sound really good, but don't seem to go anywhere... good examples of this are Lights Out and Visit to the Moon. It's really sad that MWNN didn't put more structure in these tracks cause it would've been my album of the year. Instead it falls to a mere "average release". Only 2 tracks are really good IMO: Axis Flip which has this really freaky synthline that creeps behind your ears and nearly scares you (like PK mentioned too) and Pipeline which is a bit more structured than the other tracks and is really brilliant!! Too bad Martin only used his imagination fully on this track alone :-(
|
|
|
|
New album 
Get your 