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koan - two moon butterflies (trancexplorer, 2006)
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Voice of All
IsraTrance Junior Member
Started Topics :
48
Posts :
762
Posted : Oct 5, 2006 10:16
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bit of history
koan are two guys, daniel roeth and william grey, both based in Moscow, russia. daniel spinned vinyls since 1993 in local clubs acid and hard techno mainly. in 1995 he met william who allready had some experience in music making and sampler technologies. together they found two projects, koan for downtempo and vacuum stalkers for more progressive/tech stuff. daniel left the dj carier and gone with all he’s forces into the studio work, william takes on himself the producer’s stuff.
during 1995-2005 they made a lot of tracks, some of them dissapeared in time bubbles and some of them was released and had a lot of success in local moscow parties. the real success came after release their first album koan – talking stones (otium net label 2005) and the next one koan - the signs (otium net label 2005). some well known labels like iboga/sofa beats released their tracks, daniel resurrect he’s dj performances as chillout dj. their music in clubs and open air chill areas bring people a lot of joy. in the end of 2005 they have met trancexplorer crew and the result of this is here in this peace of work. two moon butterflies takes you deep down into the deepest places of your soul, makes you feel like a butterfly who need to go up, to the light, to the moon.
the history of koan project is close to the history of all russian electronic music. with the end of the soviet era the whole country found itself ruined and layed down have no forces to rebuild itself. after five years of 'nothing happens' there was realy huge gap between russian music and the music in the rest of the world. one thing that you learned after dealing with rare russian releases those years was that they are far not so qualitative and creative as european or isralien ones. and now release by release russian scene become a part of world electronic music movement and i hope that it is not for a year but forever.
year 2005 was a year of new birth for koan. they started together with otium net label and released there first three releases. here in the cd-review section you can find reviews on two of them (by profane and by me again): koan - talking stones and koan - when invisible becomes visible (ep). also there was a mixed album the signs that guys dedicated to native american culture. all of them you can download legally and for free from the site of otium net label: http://www.otium.ru
trancexplorer is new russian label that was created by dj roam and running to re-release european and isralien trance-releases for russian people. it is not a secret that in russia it is realy hard to buy original cds cause they are too expansive on one hand and not many shops do deliver their goods to russia on other. also there are bunch of troubles with russian credit cards and so on. trancexplorer nowaday is pioneer label in this 're-release politics' and they started their own production with koan's album. here the site of this label: http://www.trancexplorer.ru
two moon butterflies (trancexplorer, 2006)
cover: http://212.227.206.198/cgi-bin/zoom.cgi?tre1cd001_b.jpg:CDs/tre/tre1cd001.html:;
together with mai on fourth heaven
geisha secrets
pearl island
one day in winter garden
lady of the coco flower
sakura
ghosts in the pyramids
sweet dream
girl from heavens
two moon butterflies
first love
the whole disc is dedicated to japan. its fantasy or medivil japan that inspired so many creators of different arts before and im sure will do this in the future. koan has bold expirience of reflecting different cultural environments with their early releases so this attempt is very close to project's way of producing. and musicians succeed with this: disc is full color trip to imaginary japan that maybe not ever exists in 'realworld' but found its place at musical map of chill-out vibes.
lady of coco flower
the whole mood of the disc is turning to more uplifting and inspired way with this track. previous four tracks are sort of begining to something that starts here. it is a true peak of the release. saturated sounds of japan bongs mixed with rare vocals and subtle gentle melody. and beat itself turns here to more hard-edged variant. sense like music become more floor-oriented. like in many chill-out tracks it spins from the begining to the end unleashes itself with repeating of melody part with many various surroundings. great theme.
ghosts in the pyramids
one of the darkest tracks in the release. breakbeat-oriented base with orient sounding flute melody meet nice sequence that further played with sort of guitar-like instrument. in the middle of the track there is an ambient part but soon the beat and the melody takes their part again. it is sad and dusk track for me and when im listening to it i always have sort of sorrow that fills my chest. hard to explain what exactely do the thing for me - nice classical buildups or slow melody that create real touching atmosphere but it works for sure. maybe it was cry of a strange bird that you can hear in the middle and in the very end of the track... who knows... anyway great track again.
sweet dream
in the begining of the track sort of welcome in japanese - girl's singing that sounds from far away. i dont know what about this words but they are realy bring the feeling like something that going on when you dream. then starts a melody again with eastern taste. it has no exact core like in other tracks so it is again like something from a dream. flat string sound of it bring odd feeling that this melody has no start and will never ends. only rerurning of japanese girl from the begining shows that the track is over. also there is very nice use of sort of additional kick in the beatbase of the track: it helps you to dive deeply into that dream-like feeling. in general it is very nice relaxing tune.
this cd is first international and first commercial release of koan project. it is very well produced and has its own spirit. inspired by ethnic sounds and thoughts disc has whole atmosphere and very touching story. it is not cutting edge of today's chill-out and it is not trying to be. it is melodical harmonical and very easy listening. it is tremendous to listen when you stoned by a lot of mary jane and laying down on your bad. good try, koan! hope you have some other countries to represent with your music in next releases.
buy: http://www.psyshop.com/shop/CDs/tre/tre1cd001.html
  Spiritual guides are to practice and serve in ways that cultivate awareness, empathy, and wisdom. |
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the_dude
IsraTrance Junior Member
Started Topics :
23
Posts :
152
Posted : Oct 5, 2006 12:32
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nice one, heard their set with some fresh vibes
way to go to koan!)
and big ups to trancexplorer  |
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Lauge
Lauge
Started Topics :
69
Posts :
581
Posted : Oct 6, 2006 09:36
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Good luck to you....
just recently heard your stuff >:D I DIG IT 
hope to see you on a festival somewhere during the next years |
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ovnimoon
Ovnimoon
Started Topics :
63
Posts :
292
Posted : Oct 8, 2006 18:43
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Koan is one of the good chill experimental chill out for me
good vladimir !!!!!!
the best for you and you project koan!!
peace and love! |
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TaNimeD
Started Topics :
1
Posts :
51
Posted : Oct 8, 2006 23:23
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The best ambient/chill release for this year if you ask me. Such a good music. Fav tracks:
04 Koan - One Day In Winter Garden
05 Koan - Lady Of The Coco Flower
07 Koan - Ghost In The Piramids
08 Koan - Sweet Dream |
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Audiocrafting
IsraTrance Junior Member
Started Topics :
18
Posts :
60
Posted : Oct 11, 2006 23:26
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TranceChick
IsraTrance Junior Member
Started Topics :
20
Posts :
632
Posted : Oct 23, 2006 15:45
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Ah Koan... beautiful chill!
Sweet melodies, smooth and mind relaxing sounds with a Japanese flavour. 
Well done Vladimir & Daniel!
With Sidhartha mastering this, it's sure to be crisp and clear... no flaws!
Thanks Audiocrafting for posting the website.
Great samples there, too bad they're not longer. 
Cheers!
www.sinrecords.com
www.shakticollective.com
www.myspace.com/trancechick4life |
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Saiko Dreamer
Started Topics :
4
Posts :
62
Posted : Jan 14, 2007 04:33
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this album is beautiful,what a nice album to hear!!
with some songs that really catch the listener and put him into a relaxing time. |
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Electrip
IsraTrance Junior Member
Started Topics :
16
Posts :
138
Posted : Jan 14, 2007 20:52
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i find it bothring the fact that he uses some of the synths of fl studio (sytrus) without modifing them a little.. kinda unproffesional, sounds a bit unfinished.. raw if u like.
good production and cover though... |
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