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Ethereal - Anima Mundi [Tranceform 2003] CD
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DeathPosture
IsraTrance Full Member
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Posted : Nov 24, 2003 18:37
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Artist: Ethereal
Title: Anima Mundi
Label: Tranceform Records
Cat. #: TFMCD002
Year: 2003
Cover: http://www.wirikuta.de/media/TFMCD002g.jpg
Track listing:
01: 11’50” All Systems Are Go (Expand The System Mix)
02: 08’08” Cosmic Lobster
03: 12’02” Distant Lights (2003 Mix)
04: 08’14” Cosmic Lobster (Dreamweaver's Infinite Space Remix)
05: 11’47” Flamedancer
06: 09’53” Radiator
07: 10’35” Elysian Fields
Review:
Back to the old school!
Break out your ganeshas, glow sticks & other weekend-Hindu artefacts and light up some incense - this new release from Tranceform will take you right back to 1996… And that’s a good thing! ;o)
Ethereal are Carl Larsson & Fredrik Haglund from Sweden. They had two great tracks on the Blissfull Moments compilation released by Tranceform earlier this year. Now they are ready with a full album of highly melodic, infectious old school melodic goa-trance…
Anima Mundi is Latin for ‘Soul of the World’… “A pure ethereal spirit diffused throughout all nature” as stated in the promotional material… Woow… Sounds fancy indeed! ;o)
#1: Full on from the get-go… Highly melodic, fast paced, multi-layered, complex… Pure old school bliss! Towards the end there are some subtle voice-samples… Reminds me a lot of AP’s “Searching for UFOs”… Come to think of it, that same voice sample was on the Ethereal-track “Fireflies (Remix)” on the Blissfull Moments compilation released earlier this year… Well, a good sample is a good sample I guess… If you put a gun to my head, and force me to find flaws, perhaps this tracks is just a little too long… But hey, when it’s good, it’s not a problem… What a fine first track!
#2: ‘Are you free?’ If you like seafood and psychedelic trance you’re in luck: Cosmic Lobster is on the menu! Darker, more distorted than the previous track, but the melodies are still intact… This track has a kind of hypnotizing feel to it… I can’t really describe it, but damn this is good… The “Searching for UFO-samples” are still there… What gives Carl & Fredrik? We’ve heard it already! Hehe… Nah, it doesn’t spoil the track at all…They are well-put, and by no means cheesy! Fine track!
#3: Holy smokes, it gets even better now… We go even faster now… I don’t have a bpm-counter, but this must be above 150 bpm’s… Smashing bass line on top of no-nonsense straight-forward melodies with twirling acid synths thrown on top… Does it get any better?… Crank up the volume on this baby and let the memories fly… Instant classic! Amazing track! Best so far, hands down!
#4: A remix to #2 … How do you remix a lobster? Well, Dreamweaver did it… This actually bears very little resemblance to the original… The sound seems more mature, more modern but unfortunately also slightly more boring! Well, this is not a bad track; it’s just not as good as the rest… Decent track!
#5: Flamedancer… Yeah, one of those guys you see at festivals looking cool, dancing with fire-sticks… The tempo is slower, but the melodies are strong and the bass kicking hard… This track is very old school Israeli-like in structure… This could easily have been on one of the early Trust In Trance compilations… This is as old school as it gets… Good stuff, though tends to become just a little bit boring towards the last couple of minutes… This could easily have been 2 minutes shorter… The ending itself is great though – Is that a pitched down Twin Peaks theme I hear? Sounds good! Nice track!
#6: Woow, this is one tripped out radiator… Once again the melodies are in focus, tangled in between twirling synths, kicking bass lines and random, yet structured psychedelia…This is where it’s at… So damn tasty… Amazing track!
#7: In keeping with tradition the last track of an album is slower, and this is also the case here… It is not an ambient track as such … It’s just slower than the rest of the album… Ethereal also did the last chilled track for the Blissfull Moments-compilation which I liked very much. This track is pretty good… Dub-elements here and there, bouncy relaxed bass line atop simple melodies… Very nice ending indeed!
Favourites: 1, 2, 3(!!), 6(!!), 7
To sum up, this album is a breath of old air… But that’s a good thing! Melodies are too often forgotten in most releases nowadays… But on this, they are in focus… Anyone, who likes old stuff like Astral Projection, Dimension 5, Pleiadians, Chi-a.d. and the likes should appreciate this… It’s great to get some variation from the norm these days… Even the coverart is old-school with beautiful multicolored, trippy fractal-psychedelic art… This will look great on your shelf! Some of the tracks are just a bit too long and Carl & Fredrik need to update their sample CDs, but besides that, this is album is a real gem…
Recommended for anyone who misses the good old days! ;o)
8/10
DeathPosture
External links: (Soundclips available!)
http://www.tranceformrecords.com
http://www.wirikuta.at
  On really romantic evenings of self, I go salsa dancing with my confusion... |
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shahar
IsraTrance Team
Started Topics :
155
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2035
Posted : Nov 25, 2003 07:54
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Judging by the tracks on Blissful Moments, it's sure worth a check.
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"Be the change you want to see in the world!"
M.K. Gandhi
"There is only one corner of the universe you can be certain of improving, and that's your own self."
Aldous Huxley
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KakoOlalaJwal
IsraTrance Full Member
Started Topics :
116
Posts :
2565
Posted : Dec 1, 2003 19:02
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Nice review DeathPosture, thank U, here are if U don't mind a few words about what I'm thinking of this album after a few listenings..
°~01 : Ethereal plunges us immediately, without complex and inhibition in the old school in the first track. DeathPosture is right, and it's much faster than what I use to listen to, but some atmospheric waves create a nice contrast. A more than 10 minutes track more and more melodic that will fill the 1996 Nostalgics Minds perfectly.
°~02 : Agreed with DeathPosture about the more the darker ambience of this track, which is nice. And I like the rhythmic work, its combination with the hypnotic soundz and waves is very effective. This track holds the listener in breath until its end. A nice one indeed.
°~03 : Very "TIP-good-old-days" tinted track, the rhythmic structure reminds me a bit Total Eclipse's "Waiting for a New Life" ... It's very complex and the twirling acid synths will have strong effects on the freakers who'll enjoy this kind of soundz.
°~04 : The shortest track of the album starts indeed in a softer way, which is not bad after the storm of Distant Lights. I just LOVE the way Jim Granlund set up his rhythmics, the hihats are just perfect. However, it is true that the melodies are less multi-layered in this track. And I'm sorry, but the melody starting after the big break at 04.20 is far less my cup of tea... it's a bit a pity, as I liked the beginning a lot.
°~05 : Great opening in FlameDancer, visions of magic outdoOr places and landscapes, with the dust raised by the step of the dancers, come in my mind. The bit lower tempo is just perfect in my opinion, as I used to believe that melodic and textured EDM are better on low tempos for a long time. After that it is true that the track lasts a little bit too much.
°~06 : Again a nice opening in this track and a quite atmospheric ambience. This one will be perfect for late deejay-sets, U know what I mean ? A puff of fresh air after long hours spent to dance... even if the ending is a bit too much melodic in my opinion (not really my "usual" vibration).
°~07 : Well well well, if U remember my words about FlameDancer, this is the perfect exemple.... I can't really explain why... I'm far less "disturbed" by melodies and multi-layered waves when the whole stuff is more deep and slow... The kind of stuff perfect to have a walk on the dancefloOr and reply to people' smilings.. The most Etherealistic track of the album, I think.. really nice. And don't worry DeathPosture, it's not ambient but it will pass very well in the Backroom Beats nevertheless !
Fav's are n°2 and 7 (!!!).
DeathPosture's conclusion is nice and I can only confirm what he has written. This Neo'ld SchOol album is a perfect Christmas present for all (younger ?) freaks who know and frequent some old nostalgic warriors and have to support their complaints with length of festivals...
Kiddin' of course but U would have understand that not everybody will enjoy this style...Anyways it is some real good work, and it's really nice to discover people who are not using the efficient and easier recipes of most of nowadays released stuff.
Highly recomanded to people knowing what they're looking for ! 
Cheers and thanx for reading.
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"Get your dose of BoOgie !"
http://www.bunkum-records.com
http://www.myspace.com/zekakoo |
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Trip-
IsraTrance Team
Started Topics :
101
Posts :
3239
Posted : Dec 2, 2003 07:31
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From your words it sounds like something I will want to have for sure...
thanx for the reviews.
Crackling universes dive into their own neverending crackle...
AgalactiA |
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soulsphere
IsraTrance Junior Member
Started Topics :
21
Posts :
216
Posted : Sep 8, 2007 15:34
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amazing album... a true hidden gem...
perhaps the one that started the so called "neo goa" movement (filteria,khetzal..)
all the goa freaks out there, get it u won't regret. |
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