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Music reviews
Psytrance reviews
Review by PKS
Candyflip Records is out with a 12 Moons album...
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Michael Andresen from Sweden is out with a new album, this time with his trance project called 12 Moons. He has been releasing a lot of music on various labels, especially Dragonfly Records, but this time he is releasing his album on the Greek label Candyflip Records.
12 Moons "Solid State" Candyflip Records 2004 (CFCD12)
1. Analog Haste
2. Ovation
3. Pilot
4. The Collective
5. Without Within
6. Ananokki
7. Small Adventures
8. Halo
9. Interlude
10. Flair
First out is a melodic, really beautiful morning trance track. Sort of progressive trance in a bit harder way than usual. Totally trippy, drifting vibe, which reminds me a little bit of Blue Planet Corporation. Fantastic track and the best one on this album in my opinion. Track 2 goes darker, still with a mystic, floating vibe. Some how it reminds me a bit of that melancholic vibe we got in a lot of hard trance releases in the beginning of the 90’s. The beats we get here are really pumping. Very melodic, drifting, sort of old school trance. Track 3 goes really deep. It continues those floating, atmospheric soundscapes. This one is also really melodic, but goes deeper and more trippy. Track 4 starts slow and builds up. I really like the drift on this one. You also get some kind of electro sounds in there. Some of it might sound a bit too fluffy to some people, but I think it sounds pretty deep and trippy. Nice, hard, progressive trance. Track 5 is another deep, drifting progressive trance track. This sounds a bit slower and more stumping. Still quite melodic with atmospheric, fluffy sounds. This one builds up too, and becomes pretty massive after a while.
Track 6 has some kind of electro sounds again, in the beginning. This one sounds a bit like progressive house music, with some pretty fluffy, light melodies. To me this one goes a bit over the top and can easily sound a bit boring. Track 7 goes the same melodic direction, but much more trancey. Totally atmospheric, floating vibe all the way through. No rough sounds, just beautiful floating vibes and drifting beats. Track 8 starts really nice and melodic. This track goes a bit more relaxed. Totally melodic, but not in a cheesy way. Pretty groovy too, with a happy, slow, stumping vibe. Track 9 is a short track lasting for a couple of minutes. This is just a relaxing slow track, perfect for those who like his ambient project called Healer. The last track we get on this album sounds a bit more experimental. Here we get less of those atmospheric, fluffy vibes, and it goes over to a more hard pushing rough style. Pretty intense rhythms, which gives me some kind of techno feeling. It builds up, and after a while we are back in those totally melodic, floating soundscapes again.
On this album you will definitely find some of the best trance tracks 12 Moons has produced so far. In my ears, several of these tracks sounds better than most of the tracks he has released on various compilations. His sound is also pretty different from most other artists these days, so check it out if you are after some trippy, melodic trance.
PK (shivapks@hotmail.com)
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Death Posture
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28.07.2004 00:01
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12 Moons – Solid State
Cover: http://217.160.138.169/pic_b/cfr1cd012_b.jpg
Format: CD (digipack)
Artist: 12 Moons
Title: Solid State
Label: Candyflip Records, Greece
Distribution: Arabesque
Cat. #: CFCD12
Year: 2004
Track listing:
01. 09’49” Analog Haste
02. 07’51” Ovation
03. 08’41” Pilot
04. 08’26” The Collective
05. 08’39” Without Within
06. 08’17” Anonakki
07. 07’46” Small Adventures
08. 07’12” Halo
09. 02’50” Interlude
10. 10’12” Flair
Review:
The melodic trance-side of Mr. Andresen…
Most trance-artists also produce ambient… And often artist albums are equipped with one or two downbeat/ambient tracks at the end of the album… But seldom do trance-artists release both a trance album AND an ambient album simultaneously… But that’s just what Gothenburg-based Swedish producer Michael Andresen has done… Healer is his ambient moniker, and 12 Moons is his trance moniker…
Under the 12 Moons alias, Mr. Andresen has released an impressive 9 EPs and no less than 19 tracks on compilations on such respected labels as Dragonfly, Transient, Spiral Trax, Hadshot and Flying Rhino to name but a few… Now he’s out with his debut-album on Greek label Candyflip…
Let me take you thru the tracks…
#01: Aaah... Just listen to that smooth intro - Fluffy, light-as-a-feather, floating, twirling synth melodies… Whistles, bells… Prepare to enter the harmonic, melodic trance universe of 12 Moons… After the initial dream-like atmosphere, the track slowly starts to build and after a couple of minutes, a nice crisp proggy bassline is released…But proggy in the cleanest, most well-polished manner and with the floating melodies still playing along… Decent track…
#02: As the tracks on the CD are nicely mixed into each other, we seamlessly float straight into ‘Ovation’… This is as close to Balearic-euphoric-Ibiza trance as it gets… to be honest, sometimes I’m not sure if I’m listening to 12 Moons or ATB here… It’s fluffy, it’s melodic – and I’m afraid that parts of it are a little too boring for my taste…
#03: Alright, we’re starting to shake that clubby feeling now… First it continues in the same path as the predecessors, but soon a deeper, proggier sound is introduced… Nice… Very nice percussion work here and I especially like the overall fast-paced-tribal touch this track has – while still maintaining the album-theme: Uplifting, euphoric, melodic morning trance… Tasty!
#04: Very simple, but very atmospheric intro… The basis is just two synth cords… The pace has quickened now, and the groovy bassline is accompanied by some distant human choir… Again, the Ibiza-touch is very much present, but as long as it’s accompanied by some deep, progressive beats and a touch of psy I’m happy… And that extra touch comes through clever use of hi-hats and nifty little acid-twirls… Sweet track!
#05: And we go even deeper now… More talented use of percussion, reverbs and cut beats in this slooooowly building tune… I like the “underplayed” FX (sorry, not a sound-technician, so I can’t explain it better)… A progressive stomper, with just enough simple, old-school melodies to make it retro-cool…
#06: Electro-melody intro… Floating, organic soundscapes in the background… And a funky-ass bassline… I’m not sure I like the electro-bit, but I definitely dig the overall groove of this track… Reminds me of Saiko-Pod at certain places… However, it goes too much in circles and ends up too repetitive for my taste… Decent track…
#07: “Where are we? I’m not sure…” Percussion-based track here – snares, congas, claves… Kinda tribal progressive trance, spiced up by melodic synths and a tad lower b.p.m…. Very groovy, very laid-back… Delicious!
#08: Woow – holy smokes, what a cool intro… A very cool synth effect creates a wicked melody… Nice… Later we get a kinda “distorted” bassline and some basic grooves alongside it… This is the darkest track on the album for sure – but it still has melodic bits… Quite a few of them actually… Such a cool combo… I dig!
#09: A taste of Mr. Andresen’s skills as a chill-out producer… Way too short though for a review – good thing that we get a full album of ambient on the Healer-album (released simultaneously with this album – also on Candyflip… ~Review coming soon~)…
#10: The journey track… It’s time for some serious experimentation… Cicadas, roars from a lion… Oh, we’re definitely in the jungle now baby… Repetitive tribal congas – slowly becoming faster, and suddenly turning into a drum-machine… Straight from nature into the studio – clever! The beats are much faster now and somewhat colder – metallic even… More percussion and subtle acid lines are added to create a very energetic, techo’ish feel… Halfway through, the beats are going in a more tribal, yet still progressive direction and some of the well-known floating melodies are introduced again… And finally the track fades out to the sound of the jungle again… Wow, what a journey… Sweet, sweet track!
Phew, what a ride... A journey even… This is best enjoyed as a whole… What we get here are a bunch of diverse tracks – yet they are all bound together by a common denominator: the unique sound of 12 Moons… At times it’s super-light, melodic and fluffy – and later on it’s deep, darkish, progressive trance… This album was mastered by the talented Son Kite guys, and their progressive fingerprints are all over this baby… A sign of quality in my book… The cover-art by Micky Noise (Wizzy Noise) is also sweet, and appropriate for the music…
Also, it’s nice to listen to an album that isn’t riddled with voice-samples… The music speaks for itself here… There are a couple of tracks that are just too boring for my taste, but they are more than counter-balanced by the many wonderful tracks on this album… Recommended to anyone who likes uplifting, melodic trance – with a distinctive progressive edge!
8/10
Favourites: 3, 4 (!), 7, 8 (!), 10 (!)
DeathPosture
External links:
12 Moons: http://www.12moons.net
Candyflip Records: http://www.candyflip-records.com
Psyshop: http://www.psyshop.com/shop/CDs/cfr/cfr1cd012.html (Audio samples available!)
Saiko Sounds: http://www.saikosounds.com/english/display_release.asp?id=4146
Chaos Unlimited: http://www.chaosunlimited.co.uk/cgi-bin/product.asp?LR=CFRCD12
Trance-shop: http://www.trance-shop.com/de/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=3815
Wirikuta: http://www.wirikuta.at/web66/product_detail.jsp?showDetail=56632
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