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FREq "Remixed", Iboga records, april 08
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aden
IsraTrance Full Member
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Posted : May 1, 2008 18:06:13
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Artist : FREq
Title : “Remixed”
Label: Iboga Records
Cat number: IbogaCD55
Format: CD
Release date: April 2008
Track list:
01 Freq – Away
02 Freq – Short Life Again / Ace Ventura Remix
03 Freq – Stone-Shaker / Protoculture Remix
04 Freq – Carbon Based Life-Form / Tristan Remix
05 Freq – Strange Attractors / Liquid Soul Remix
06 Freq – What A Feeling / Jerome Isma–Ae Remix
07 Freq – Return Of The Masters / RPO Remix
08 Freq – Brazil / Nyquist Remix
09 Freq – Dreambody / Atmos Remix
After a couple tracks released at the beginning of 2003, Aran Gallagher aka FREq won international recognition from the progressive mundillo with his instant hit “Short life again” released later that year in the memorable Plusquam “Revive” compilation. In 2004, his first solo artist album entitled “Return to the masters” became a milestone album in progressive trance circles, asserting his fat, pumping style, later confirmed by a string of top-notch releases and memorable rmx (of Antix notably). This success story got complicated in 2006 by the mitigated — to say the least — critical reception of his second album “Go sub 20”. Since then, things have been pretty quiet from the Melbourne base from where FREq releases his tracks, except for two pearls published in the New Order and the Set 7 compilations at Hommega and Iboga. In parrallel to that Aran Gallagher has joined forces with B. Hartley to form Nyquist and fuel dancefloors with high-octane prog-house, with an album due out later this year. The time has come for a rmx album with the remixers selected by the master himself. They give an accurate idea of where his music stands : between psyish, electrifying full-on and the motricity of demanding prog-house rhythms.
1. Freq – Away
“Away” starts with a long intro which initially obliquely features the main gritty motif which has been shredded to bits and sliced with distant percussions and zooming sounds. Then, a chunky trademark rhythmic combo is ushered in and built up almost solo for a few sequences. Around midterm, two additional melodic lines are added to give a more morning feeling. The track is now ready to unfold its fat, compelling groove until the first break, then a second short break takes up the main theme, underlaid by a tom roll and the “computer technology” voice sample, and stages theatrical effects. “Away” is clearly in the vein of the two scarce preceeding releases in the “New Order” and “Set 7” compilations: it oozes with a nice energy and signature orchestration, which is a gauge of its quality. You can be sure it’s going to be played a lot this summer as it will thrive in open air festivals.
2. Freq – Short Life Again / Ace Ventura Remix
Unsurprisingly, Ace Ventura is the first to open the series of remixers. Anyone acquainted with his music (especially with his track “Serenity Now”) and with Yoni Oshrat’s views on the progressive scene, will have noticed a strong affinity between the two producers. Ace Ventura takes on the most played and famous track “Return to the Masters” which earned Freq his top ranking. His intro distantly takes up elements of the original as they are inserted in a one mn atmospheric crescendo. Then he injects one of his trademark, low frequency rolling basslines and heavy kick combo. His interpretation of the classic tune consists in fragmenting the orignal’s thematic and orchestration elements and in deferring them, sometimes with delayed fx treatment, in the build up of the first half of the track. Hence the comfortable 9mn length of his rmx. The midterm break classicaly sprinkles floating motifs about the place until the heavy-weight rhythmic combo returns and unleashes the fully-fledged seminal theme, spurred by an extra atmospheric synth line for the rest of the rmx. Well done; only I would have liked a bassline as original as the cymbals are detailed. Another summer dancefloor stormer for sure.
3. Freq – Stone-Shaker / Protoculture Remix
Freq and Protoculture have experienced quite a common discographic trajectory. Both were highly acclaimed for a first album whereas their second was greeted by a much more controversial, not to say a much more critical, response. And another parallel can be drawn between their second albums as both have drawn on fool-on sources of inspiration: run of the mill, if not low end in the case of Go Sub 20, well exemplified by the track we’re dealing with; copy-and-pasting Israeli totemic figures like Astrix to name but a few, in the case of the South African morning master. This presentation should save me from giving a more detailed account of this child of the incestuous frolic between the two producers from Down Under. I would just add that their acquaintance on this terrain has reached here an epitome of syrupy ugliness, and mention that their brat does not even spare us the ugly voice sample from the original and features the inevitable melodic break that Astral Projection and generations of their followers have been delivering for the last ten years, at least. So there you have a pretty clear idea of the result. These kind of threadbare tricks definitely won’t work on an old dog. Yet I’m pretty sure that the average teenage trance fan will crave for this breed of music, and for this reason it’s going to be spun this summer. But that’s not where I wanna be.
4. Freq – Carbon Based Life-Form / Tristan Remix
UK Dj fame and producer Tristan has thankfully written quite a different story, as he has tastefully chosen “Carbon based lifeform” from the all time classic “Strange Attractors”. His rhythmic combo is clearly rooted in the full-on vein, but he’s kept large and clever bits from the original, flavoured by precise and punchy percussive synth, hence the progressive atmosphere that remains in this remix. This is much more my cup of tea.
5. Freq – Strange Attractors / Liquid Soul Remix
Liquid Soul’s perfect and now classic rmx here is taken up, already published in the Set 6 compilation by Aran Gallagher in 2005. The question is why Mr Capo did not find the time to make another rmx? If the answer is that he did not think he could do better, I guess it’s a very acceptable one. And I must add, that even though I know it by heart and have spun it quite a few times, it’s still great to give it another listen. |
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aden
IsraTrance Full Member
Started Topics :
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Posted : May 1, 2008 18:08
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6. Freq – What A Feeling / Jerome Isma-ae Remix
Munich-based Prog-House producer Jerome Isma-ae has now earned international recognition with a string of releases on the most important labels such as Hope, Baroque, Curve, Nervous, Flow, Tribal Vision etc. His take on “What a feeling” captures a few bits from the original such as the recognizable voice sample. His arrangements massively take up the ingredients in his trademark prog-house hit twins “Stars in you head” and the “Paradise” rmx. This is to say that as a rmx, this is a very nice one, with rapturous dance floor response guaranteed, but as an Isma-ae track it does not venture far from from the afore-mentioned mould.
7. Freq – Return Of The Masters / RPO Remix
Barcelona-based prog-house master Rick Pier O’Neil returns to Iboga and is next on rmx duty. He reduces the original to an effective hard-pounding motif above which float elements from the seminal piece. The two breaks give another occasion to listen to the idiosyncratic frequish synth and voice sample. Although the track shows little evolution, it is a great dj tool, tested and guaranteed dance floor stomper which sucessfuly blends trancey and prog-house genres. Well done Mr RPO!
8. Freq – Brazil / Nyquist Remix
Aran Gallagher himself and Ben Hartley, the duo behind the Nyquist moniker, give their rework of “Brazil” initially released on the successful “summer collection” V/A. The tempo dwindles to a 128 bpm cruise speed, and the first sequences initiate an interesting build-up of the rhythmic combo with filtered snare punctuation, topped by an original undulating bassline and spiced up by the right stabs to hook you into the dance, sometimes reminscent of his Frogacult’s “all season fat rmx”. After the break, the bassline switches to a more electro-house register which convincingly integrates the abbreviated and condensed melodic elements from the original track. Nice rmx, undergoing a strong evolution, although as a Nyquist track I would tend to prefer their recent output on Set 8 and the collab with Maelestrom, or the rmx of Antix, all recently published by Iboga, on the grounds that they have a stronger dance floor appeal, but that is not necessarily the most pertinent argument by which to judge it.
9. Freq – Dreambody / Atmos Remix
Progressive veteran and master Atmos closes the ball with a beautiful reinterpretation of “Dreambody”. His take is very much atuned to the meaning of title and the soft tone of the voice sample. It’s a prog-house/prog-trance cross over, featuring an enticing bassline, sweet floating harmonies hovering over claps until the gritty riffs from the original flare things up for a short while. The last mn are bathed in his signature, elliptic, reverb-laden atmospheric synth lines elegantly woven into the structure wherein bits of the original are still audible. Double thumbs up! A driving while beautiful piece. Probably my favourite here.
Bottom line:
Let’s put aside, for very opposing reasons, the Protoculture and Liquid Soul rmxs. The 1st one should have stayed in the 9th circle of a hard disc inferno while the second has already done a nice job sending dancers to paradise. There remain 7 tracks of the finest quality, which each in their own right make this album a recommanded release. The prize of elegance goes to Atmos, but the other prog-house contributors deserve honors. The new Freq and Ace Ventura are destined to be dance floor winners this festival season, just as the Tristan will for sure be heard in the introductory stages of full-on sets. All in all, it this diverse album contains a good amount of assets which should fulfil the demands of djs and listeners alike.
ADEN
Related links:
http://www.iboga.dk
http://www.progressivetunes.com
http://www.myspace.com/ibogarecords |
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Nathan
IsraTrance Senior Member
Started Topics :
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Posted : Jun 25, 2008 16:20
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Pure Perception Records
Pure Perception Records
Started Topics :
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Posts :
183
Posted : Jun 25, 2008 19:32
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RPO remix slams!! my favorite track off the comp.
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