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Antix - Twin Coast Discovery (Iboga)

aje
IsraTrance Full Member

Started Topics :  99
Posts :  1145
Posted : May 13, 2005 20:50
Finally, after delay and delay, and after my recordstore of choice getting it a week after the online shops, I hold in my hand and have thoroughly listened to on an endless loop the newest release from my most favoritest of labels,Iboga CD 30, Antix - Twin Coast Discovery. As far as I can remember back, this has been on of the musically most fulfilling week of my life. First Midi Miliz - NonStandards, and now this. What have I done to deserve such aural pleasures, I dont know, but I must have been a very nice boy I getting offtrack, so here"s the tracklist:

1 FreQ - Return to the masters (Antix rmx)
2 The inkling
3 Forever changing
4 Cold nights
5 Little honey
6 Le lascard
7 Quiet is the new loud
8 Hiding place

After 2003's release Lull that was widely acclaimed as one of the best progressive releases of all time, some say even the best, Antix left some very large footsteps for themselves to fill. For me personally, Lull has been the record that I played when I didnt know what else to play, the Status Quo so to speak. One masterpiece after the other, each track on Lull stood out with careless ease and sheer musical brilliance. Because Antix's style is so dependant on subtleties and little details, it is very easy to fall into a meaningless drivel, as many acts who tried to follow Antix has proven.

But Im happy to report that Antic have taken things a step further, TCD is a lot "fuller"than its predecessor, meaning more sounds and lush harmonies, the incorporation of vocals on some tracks, and, most importantly, on the majority of tracks they go away from the typical pumping progressive bassline and use instead basslines that could be described "Infusion Light". To sum it up, even though Antix new sound is a lot more melodic, it has developed away from the typical prog. psy scene and will find many avid followers in the crossover crowd.

Regardless of what category this record falls into and changes in style, the red line that connects TCD with Lull is the feeling Antix produce in the listener. It is a feeling of of lighthearted carefree joy, a feeling of just living the day as it is, "joie de vivre", so to speak, and exactly that makes Antix the fallback record to listen to at home in all situations. To sum it up in a few words, its just fun to listen to, wherever you are, whatever you are doing.

Now I will elaborate a bit more on each individual track:

1. Return to the Masters: a remix to a Freq song, I dont know why its on here actually because its already released on a comp. Also it is quite a disppointment by Antix standards, the original is better, methinks.

2. The Inkling: This track is the one that sounds most like Lull, but it is a real groover. Lush warm atmospheres, a long build up without a bassline, then a break and then: VOOOOOMMM! Such a smooth grooving takeoff, no one does it like Antix. It would have been the perfect start to the album, it shows you right away what Antix is all about. A song that makes you wanna stomp all the grass away from the floor! Cool!!!!

3. Forever Changing: Here we are introduced to the ""Infusion light" bassline I was talking about, but not in full effect. Some qurky riffs thrown on top, plus lush soundscapes and a nice groove make for a nice tack, but definitle not the highlight of this CD.

4.Cold Nights: The most ethereal piece on this album, it takes you to a really deep place. The kind of music where you stare against the wall for 8 minutes and dont even notice. Hypnotic soundscapes composed of chopped up and repeated female voice samples, long pads, "Ïnfusion Light" bassline, its like one warm comfortable velvet cushion. When the cello comes sneaking in at the end, it makes you just wanna float in the air like a hot air baloon and look down at the world below you.

5. Little Honey: To use one word, this song is intense. But not in the common sense of the word as in 150 bpm blow your head up style. So many smooth, long, drawn out sounds are layered on top of each other with such skill and precision. But unlike Cold Nights, this bad boy makes just wanna get up and dance. This is trance in its purest form, a instantly recognizable string melody keeps creeping up, putting the crown on an already magnificient track. Again, chopped up voice samples are used with great skill to create a hypnotic dream-like effect. WoW!!!

6. Le Lascard: Almost epic in one way, yet very subtle in another. All the energy comes from the "travelling" basslines that morphs into a hymn-like melody evey now and then and the distorted male vocal sample, the rest of the track is actually very laidback with tweedly sounds floating and a pretty slow speed. All the dynamic in this track comes from that disparity, at one moment you find youself grooving along nicely, then all of a sudden you wanna get up and scream. An amazing, outstanding track, right now my favorite from this album. Pure MDMA material.

7. Quiet is the new Loud: Apart from having the coolest trackname I have heard in a while, this track actually does its name justice. With a slow gentle groove that reminds a lot of Lull, this track goes very deep. There is not much happening really, except all those little details that make Antix the standout act that they are. There is not much else I can say about it, except that it is pure Antix. And that should be enough.

8. Hiding Place: I can already hear people bitching about Hiding Place, because it uses a sample that is not unlike something Tiesto and friends would spin. But listen closely, and will find Antix use it so tastefully, it becomes part of the fabric of the track. There is an innocent, naive and playful vibe about this track that wont let you get mad at them for being so cheesy. The groove is so effortless and driving, the sounds tweedle around your head so gentle, it wont be long and you wanna know that girls phone number. Very well done!


To sum it up, a more than worthy follow up to Lull. Some tracks have almost symphonic character, everything fits so well in its place and everything sounds so effortless and easy. But like mentioned above, theres a lot more going on and the almost minimal character of Lull is mostly gone. But just like Lull, its music to listen to on every occasion, in the car, on the subway, on the couch, in short, its a universal weapon. I find it hard to admit, but its almost as good as Atmos "2nd Brigade" last year. If you liked Antix's first album, or if you like good music, get it, you wont be disappointed.

          Check out my album: http://www.ektoplazm.com/free-music/gay-satanic-hippie-tiefenrausch
Dai
IsraTrance Junior Member
Dai aka Amatti

Started Topics :  12
Posts :  553
Posted : May 13, 2005 22:24
Alex, great review as always. I agree each word of yours. Yes, tribal minimal lull style are gone, and When I put my cd to the player, first track disappointed me a bit even though I know Freq track is being played. Bad starter period. I just could not help thinking why, you know, yet beginnig to the end, it musically flows beautifuly. Very sophisticated, and ear pleasing. I love the cover art too. I just finished listening whole album first time, so thats all I can say, now. more to follow...
          Tell me what you listen, and I'll tell you what you are.
http://www.brainbusters.info
http://www.psytribe.com
Jingabé
IsraTrance Junior Member

Started Topics :  18
Posts :  387
Posted : May 14, 2005 14:44
Well, what can I say? It is definetly a great musical piece, with the trademark Antix atmosphere. Wasn't expecting it to be like Lull, mainly because I consider Antix (up there with Atmos) to be one of the most inovative artists in this scene, and this record would certainly be a step forward. I like very much all the tracks, even the first one, which I previously knew from Playground. But my favourites are #2 The Inkling, #3 Forever Changing, #4 Cold Night and, a true gem, #6 Le Lascard.

Best of 2005 so far!!

Cheers
Yuli
Retired

Started Topics :  40
Posts :  1660
Posted : May 14, 2005 17:57
Amazing CD full with quality psychedelic music.

The sound is indeed very 'Infusioned' in many tracks with the huge Pads-Basses and the arrangements themselves beautifully made. I specially want to metion the excellent voice sample work - in Trance lately a lot of vocals are used and 90% of them sound 0% psychedelic and uninteresting. In Antix case here, the samples are blended beautifully in the soundscapes, and the whole picture is so wide - I like it alot!

My favorites would be 2, 3, 4, 6 and 8

Good one!           A man with a "master plan" is often a woman
Lux
IsraTrance Junior Member

Started Topics :  10
Posts :  204
Posted : May 14, 2005 18:54
What can I say?

Lull for me is the best prog release ever. The kind of album that I still play every time I want to listen to good music, and I had high expectations about the second album too.

Although this album is not so minimal as Lull and gives you a more housey feeling, I wasn't disappointed. It's a masterpiece.

Antix have managed to do something really difficult yet once again. They have created an album which you can play on your stereo anytime, anywhere and it will still sound fresh. Whether it is in your living room chilling or in a dancefloor moving your ass rythmically to the soundscapes that are unfolded in front of you.

Just close your eyes and go with the flow...

Never aggressive, always progressive.           Don't hope 2 much 4 something cause u may end up getting it...
Dot Kite
IsraTrance Junior Member

Started Topics :  35
Posts :  431
Posted : May 16, 2005 11:38
Well, after listening to this album for almost a week now, I can surely say that is an excellent and outstanding production!

Antix's unique soundscapes and production once more make the difference! This duo can provoke amazing emotions with their music, and this album certainly does it!

I have the feeling that this release will set new standards in this scene! This album is aimed to a wider range of listeners.

But my surpise of this album was the GREAT rmx on "Hiding Place" ! Antix managed to take the most interesting parts of a nice track made by Rhian Sheehan (Tiny Blue Biosphere, album)and turn it to a masterpiece! Yes, a MASTERPIECE!

I would recomend this release to everybody! This is not a "progressive trance" (or call it however you want) release! This is GREAT MUSIC! without labeling it, with no boundaries....

best regards
Tms
Mr.Hanky
Ace Ventura

Started Topics :  21
Posts :  1088
Posted : May 16, 2005 11:56
indeed it is stupid to label this release somehow,but i would still call it AN AMAZING PIECE OF TECHNO MUSIC(and by techno i mean electronic).
The structures of the tracks are so hipnotically and atmospherically built,it just pulls you in.

i definitly dig this album much more than LULL.well done Antix and Iboga!
russ
IsraTrance Junior Member

Started Topics :  35
Posts :  275
Posted : May 16, 2005 12:59
Another amazing release from the Antix brothers.

The biggest difference between this album and Lull is the basslines. Lull was great, but almost every track had the same bassline. With Twin Coast Discovery, every track has a unique bassline, and the basslines themselves are layered in a much more complex way: you can hear a separate subbass, and the main bass, and sometimes some growly bits on top. They've also moved to some sustained pad basslines (what aje nicely calls "Infusion Light") that work extremely well without overpowering the tracks.

I'm sure the move to set-up a top-notch recording studio with professional monitoring gave B+H the freedom to play around much more in the bass frequencies. (This album is a good advertisement to all artists to buy the best monitors you can afford!)

As mentioned by others above, the album in not nearly as stripped-down as Lull, which was very simple in places. Lull also relied perhaps too much on some of the same sounds: a few chord stabs, pads, and strings. The tracks here are much richer and have more variety, with particular good use of vocals and voice samples throughout. The voices are handled very professionally, and are an integral part of the tracks, not just throw in. I love the distorted mail vocal leads on one track (sorry, forgot the name!). The repeating female vocal loop (I think it's in Cold Nights) reminds me of one of the classic Son Kite tracks on "Perspective of" and is done so nicely.

The only place this album falls behind Lull is that it's not quite as mysterious or misty, but you can't do the same album twice! Also it probably would have been better to leave out the Freq rmx. It sounds a little strange to begin an Antix album with sounds that are so easy to identify with Freq. I think Antix fans just want 100% Antix. (Hint: If you don't want it, just burn yourself a copy without it.)

The Antix rmx of Rhian Sheehan is another story completely though. That track is just perfect--and the perfect way to end an album. It reminds me of the only other vocal trance track I like: "Don't Expect Me (To Forget You)" by Minilogue. I usually hate vocals in dance music, but this kind of melancholy singing and the antix sound work brilliantly together.

Excellent work guys!!!
Dot Kite
IsraTrance Junior Member

Started Topics :  35
Posts :  431
Posted : May 16, 2005 13:27
Quote:

On 2005-05-16 12:59, russ wrote:
(Hint: If you don't want it, just burn yourself a copy without it.)




I have listened to this CD more than 10 times till now, and none of them I listened to the Return to the masters Rmx. Not because this track is not enough good or something....is just that doesn't appeals me with the rest of the album.

best regards
Tms
olivier
Side-A

Started Topics :  40
Posts :  1303
Posted : May 16, 2005 20:13
fantastic album filled with wonderfull atmospheres...
i can't stop listening to the cd from the beginning 'till the end with a little preference for the tracks 5,7,8 wich are top class atmospheric trance
i think i even like this cd more than lull
i love the way they work on their rythmics and the sound they have is very "electro-accoustic"
thumbs up

blupeter


Started Topics :  6
Posts :  177
Posted : May 24, 2005 15:14
Antix rulezzzzzzzz.... Yes, this is MUSIC !!!!!
KuKulKan


Started Topics :  6
Posts :  153
Posted : May 24, 2005 20:52
This release is a master piece!
Hiding Place is incredible!!

Antix rulz!, the legacy of this duo continues.
          ::: Dance when you're broken up, Dance when you're perfectly free, Dance in your Blood :::
tom anteater
IsraTrance Full Member

Started Topics :  56
Posts :  1637
Posted : May 25, 2005 20:27
this album is the dogs.. best thing i heard so far this year.           >>love will tear us apart...<<
Zombi
IsraTrance Senior Member

Started Topics :  375
Posts :  5032
Posted : May 25, 2005 21:34
impressive musical and somehow magic cd, my fav are 6,7 and 8.. i like epic 80-th influenced songs !           Believe your soul !
pr0fane
Multiphase

Started Topics :  418
Posts :  3816
Posted : May 25, 2005 21:35
Artist: Antix
Title: Twin Coast Discovery
Label: Iboga
Format: CD (with 6 page inlay)
Released: May, 2005
Cover: http://217.160.138.169/pic_b/ibo1cd029_b.jpg


Review:

Two years ago, two brothers from New Zealand released an album that today stands as one of the best albums ever released on Iboga. The album I'm talking about is of course "Lull" from the Strom brothers - better known as Antix. Since then, not much has been released from the Strom studio, apart from a few remixes and collaborations –- until recently, where Iboga announced the long awaited 2nd album from Antix: "Twin Coast Discovery".

First, let me start of with a small comment about the artwork - It's exquisite! In a scene where the vast majority of covers are overused cliché fractals or random 3d-shapes it's liberating with a very stylish and beautiful cover, that almost looks like a piece of art. Hinge (who also made the covers for the previous Antix album, the FREq album and many many more) really outdone himself.


1. FREq - Return Of The Master (Antix Remix)
First track is a remix of "Return To The Masters" - the creation of FREq, who must be considered one of the other great exports from down under. The track was also featured on the magnificent "Playground" compilation, and definitely has a harder and gloomier edge than the ever popular original. Hard, progressive stomper, but still maintaining the catchy elements from the original - I don't think it really fits as a first track for the Antix album though... It's just ... well, too much FREq.

2. The Inkling
The first "real" track from the Strom brothers is "The Inkling" - starting really simple, hard and techish, but slowly evolves, adding lots of heavily reverbed effects and subtle melodic structures. The atmosphere is quite gloomy in the beginning, but eventually gets very uplifting with epic choir-pads, that sends chills down the spine. Awesome!

3. Forever Changing
"Forever Changing" starts in somewhat the same way as "The Inkling" - really rough and techish, but also slowly evolves, seamlessly adding more and more elements. Around the 4 minute mark there's an amazing breakdown, and from there on it gets really interesting - building up the tension before the long, atmospheric peak around 2 minutes later. Splendid trancey track – one of my biggest favourites on the entire album.

4. Cold Night
"Cold Nights" is a bit more laidback and housey than the first 3 tracks, and it's the first track on the album where they really start to use voice-samples as an integrated part of the music. A chopped up female sample is looped to form a melodic element, and the mood is beautiful and blissful, yet with a slightly melancholic touch.

5. Little Honey
With "Little Honey" the album is again taken into more trancey territory, and again using distorted voice-samples and subtle melodic work. Very deep, and perhaps not that great at first, but it really grows on you with time (like the rest of the album actually) - the small details really shines through after some listens, and the result is very good and hypnotic.

6. Le Lascard
Next up is "Le Lascard", which will probably be one of the biggest hits of the album with its beautiful, intoxicating soundscapes - I get a headrush simply listening to it. The atmosphere is so wide, and it can really fill up a room. Stunning piece of music with an epic voice-sample - this incredibly uplifting tune will surely be played everywhere this summer.

7. Quiet Is The New Loud
Trackname of the year? "Quiet Is The New Loud" fits the track perfectly - a dark, very "Lull"-like track with an atmosphere that can easily be associated with being in an underground cave. Although the atmosphere is really intriguing, not much is happening and I think I would have preferred it with a more distinct peak. I consider it one of the weaker tracks here, but still it's clearly very suitable for the opening hours of a party.

8. Rhian Sheehan featuring Jess Chambers - Hiding Place (Fiord Remix)
The grand finale is the remix of Rhian Sheehan and Jess Chambers "Hiding Place" - a very blissful remix credited to the Strom brothers' clubbier Fiord sideproject, and previously released last year. As the only track on the album they also go all the way with the vocals here, and use the extremely sweet female as in a song. It never gets over the top cheesy though, but blends perfectly with the other elements, and with the right amount of luck I think it could receive a lot attention outside the progressive psytrance circles. A beautiful closure to the album, and one that certainly has me craving for more Fiord releases.


Bottom line:

"Twin Coast Discovery" is by far the most interesting progressive album released this year - so deep and with incredible sense of detail. I received the album Friday, and have been spinning it all weekend, but reviewing the album hasn't been an easy task. It's not easy to classify - progressive trance? Progressive house? Well, it certainly has elements of both, but putting it in a box would simply not do it justice - it's simply an amazing piece of music, and we're lucky to have talents like the Strom Brothers making music in our small scene.

No rose without thorns though - although "Return To The Masters" is a great track on its own, I feel it doesn't fit the overall theme of the album. That's just nitpicking though - all tracks are good, and as a complete album "Twin Coast Discovery" is simply stunning. Excellent for home listening, smashing on the dance floors - basically first-class music for every occasion.


Favourites:

2, 3 (!!), 6 (!!), 8


Verdict:

9/10 – Highly recommended!


Links:

Iboga: http://www.iboga.dk          DJ pr0fane (Iboga Records) | Multiphase
www.sunrisesupplies.com | www.iboga.dk | www.soundcloud.com/pr0fane
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