Login
IsraTrance Full Member
Started Topics :
65
Posts :
1707
Posted : Apr 29, 2013 18:27:48
Psychedelic music, full of delicate and subtle emotions.
Minilogue seems to be in a quest to produce very long tracks lately (the album with the japanese has 1 hour track), this one 21 seems normal when one tracks goes on for 45 minutes.
The 4/4 side of the album is brilliant but the problem it faces is that most tracks need the context of very large sets (3-6 hours) which are a very rare thing these days.
The ambiente side IMHO is perfect to complement anything in your life, even work. Put the record and let it fill the silence, it catches your attention slowly but doesn't disrupt your attention. Perfect for painting, cooking or any other activity that drives your creativity.
Fav track: Atoms With Curiosity That Looks At Itself And Wonder Why It Wonders
(I wonder what would have been of psytrance is directions like this would have been explored more)"The dedication to repetition — the search for nirvana in a single held tone or an endlessly cycling rhythm — is one of electronic music's noblest gestures."
aje
IsraTrance Full Member
Started Topics :
99
Posts :
1145
Posted : May 1, 2013 20:18
Sometimes I envy my dad. Like myself he is a big music enthusiast, but unlike my favorite electronic music “acts” who appear out of nowhere and disappear into the long tail of irrelevance every time a new musical fad hits the scene, his favorite rock bands have shown amazing staying power and grown old together with him throughout the various stages of his life.
Unfortunately, there are only two artists who have grown together with me from my formative late teenager years until now and whose musical journey I am deeply invested in. One of them is Atmos. Atmos always sounds like Atmos, and whatever he does one of his best and most rewarding qualities is that Atmos always sounds like Atmos. The other is Minilogue aka Son Kite aka Seb Mullaert and Markus Henriksson. They are the polar opposite of Atmos, because their music is constantly evolving and they always seem to be on a hunt to find new ways of expressing themselves through music. Looking at their output from the helicopter perspective, however, a cyclical pattern emerges, which is why the cover of their current album “Blomma” (a rainbow in the form of a circle) could not have been chosen any better.
The reason I say this is because for me, Minilogue have come full circle with” Blomma”. When they started their careers as Son Kite, their first releases where beat-driven, percussive affairs that did not contain many melodies or emotive elements. That slowly changed, culminating in the aptly titled “Colours” album that was filled with emotions and yes, colours, and that is justly considered one of the absolute highlights of progressive (psy)trance. Then they hit the reset button with their Minilogue project. After a short foray into progressive house, they returned to a deep hypnotic sound with a vibe not unlike the beginnings of Son Kite, but 10 BPM slower and in the context of the minimal techno scene that was dominating electronic music at the time. And from there, they once again set-out on a journey into the light, culminating, or should I say blossoming with “Blomma”, a masterpiece filled with emotions and colours like its predecessor from the Son Kite era.
Don`t get me wrong, on the surface “Blomma” sounds nothing like “Colours”. During all those years, Minilogue has evolved into one of the most unique and idiosyncratic electronic music artists around. Tracks over 20 minutes are the norm, and they have developed a free-flowing, jamming style of music production that results in something that could best be described as “music as your stream of consciousness”. Tracks just seem to float along without a beginning or an end, new ideas entering and leaving without an apparent purpose, effortlessly taking the listener from one atmosphere to the next without a care in the world. They make it sound easy, but they can only do so because they have become true masters at their craft, jamming along on vintage analogue synthesizers that give all their tracks that special something that sometimes hurts a bit in the ears when playing it loud. But that’s all part of the charm, analogue resonance can be a bitch to control sometimes…
“Blomma” reminds me of “Colours” because its vibe is also unashamedly trancy and melodic, it just utilizes a totally different approach and sound palette to get there. The first Minilogue tracks that were produced in this new improvisational style always had kind of a jazzy element to them, and most of them featured those ploinky arpeggios that have become a Minilogue trademark. “Blomma” replaces the jazz and ploink with 70s psychedelia and early Frankfurt trance, or in other words, “Blomma” sounds exactly like what I would imagine Pink Floyd would sound like if they made electronic music. And that is quite spectacular! All tracks with a straight 4/4 beat (1,2 and 4) are perfect examples of this and are the highlights of this album. They are incredibly deep, musical, and trippy, and especially the second track “Atoms…” is something that really touches the heart and always leaves a smile on my face. The more chilled tracks are also great, and in the 45 minute-long opening track of the second CD Minilogue shows off their impressive synth collection with some awesome analogue filter sweeps that always give me and probably everyone else who is into that kind of thing goosebumps. But it would be wrong to go describe every single track in detail, “Blomma” is one journey to be enjoyed and be inspired by in its entirety.
To sum it up, “Blomma” is IMHO Minilogues best work to date, it is a very mature and musical album that shows that Seb and Markus are true musicians, and not just electronic music producers like 95% of everyone else active in this scene. I`m glad to have gone on this journey with them from their humble beginnings to reach this point of full-fledged sonic mastery, and I can`t wait to see where they will take me next. I know it will be someplace unexpected, but I know it will be good!
Check out my album: http://www.ektoplazm.com/free-music/gay-satanic-hippie-tiefenrausch
Login
IsraTrance Full Member
Started Topics :
65
Posts :
1707
Posted : May 1, 2013 20:33
Quite intresting aje, for me blooma is more near the first Son kite album "Minilogue" than Colours, in the way that it's much more basic, but also full details.
Colours in perspective is now the middle of their carreer, and the tracks of Minilogue at that time as you say it were much more melodic. In a away Son kite tranformed in to minilogue and now minilogue has come to the roots from where Son kite parted.
"The dedication to repetition — the search for nirvana in a single held tone or an endlessly cycling rhythm — is one of electronic music's noblest gestures."
aje
IsraTrance Full Member
Started Topics :
99
Posts :
1145
Posted : May 1, 2013 20:44
Quote:
On 2013-05-01 20:33, Login wrote:
Quite intresting aje, for me blooma is more near the first Son kite album "Minilogue" than Colours, in the way that it's much more basic, but also full details.
Colours in perspective is now the middle of their carreer, and the tracks of Minilogue at that time as you say it were much more melodic. In a away Son kite tranformed in to minilogue and now minilogue has come to the roots from where Son kite parted.
Also very interesting point, I get what you are saying. In terms of style and sounds it is certainly true that it sounds the most like the Minilogue album, but in terms of emotional punch and vibe it reminds me of Colours. However you wanna define it, Blomma certainly puts an umbrella over Son Kite and Minilogue and unites them into one.
Check out my album: http://www.ektoplazm.com/free-music/gay-satanic-hippie-tiefenrausch
shahar
IsraTrance Team
Started Topics :
155
Posts :
2035
Posted : May 1, 2013 22:58
I'm still digesting. Hope it does not turn into one of those albums I find so much things in that I cannot write about
The bottom line of my first listen was: The Pink Floyd of EDM.
A must listen album if you like electronic music, psychedelic music, actually if you like music. And don't expect anything from it, just accept it.
---------------------------------------------
"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
OzMike
IsraTrance Full Member
Started Topics :
148
Posts :
1681
Posted : May 2, 2013 05:12
Is there a link someone can give to find there albums on CD to buy at a reasonable price? Have meant to check them out for years but always end up buying other stuff. I'm sure I'd love there work from clips I've heard on soundcloud etc.
Cuntus Maximus.
Login
IsraTrance Full Member
Started Topics :
65
Posts :
1707
Posted : May 2, 2013 18:48
and digital at beatport.
"The dedication to repetition — the search for nirvana in a single held tone or an endlessly cycling rhythm — is one of electronic music's noblest gestures."
klippel
Stereofeld
Started Topics :
91
Posts :
1153
Posted : May 3, 2013 10:35
first: great reviews on a great, great album
yes, minilogue is back to their own trance roots! in a mature, down to earth, straight 808 driven techno version of what psychedelic trance should be..
funny enough, they close the circle for themselves as much as for sven väth and his cocoon label.
listen to some work from väth´s from 1995
reminds you of the minilogue vibe? it sure does. this is what made väth big. the timeless and puristic techno sounds of his early carrier.
pure, deep, psychedelic techno that makes you feel like everything makes sense the way it is.
thank you for closing the loop guys http://www.ektoplazm.com/free-music/stereofeld-frequenzwechsel "I've always been a believer in musical repetition to draw in the listener and make the music hypnotic. Another thing I believe in is repetition." Alan Parsons
aje
IsraTrance Full Member
Started Topics :
99
Posts :
1145
Posted : May 3, 2013 11:27
Quote:
On 2013-05-03 10:35, klippel wrote:
first: great reviews on a great, great album
yes, minilogue is back to their own trance roots! in a mature, down to earth, straight 808 driven techno version of what psychedelic trance should be..
funny enough, they close the circle for themselves as much as for sven väth and his cocoon label.
reminds you of the minilogue vibe? it sure does. this is what made väth big. the timeless and puristic techno sounds of his early carrier.
pure, deep, psychedelic techno that makes you feel like everything makes sense the way it is.
shahar
IsraTrance Team
Started Topics :
155
Posts :
2035
Posted : May 4, 2013 20:06
work indeed. Thanks for the reminder and connection. Makes so much sense.
---------------------------------------------
"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
Outolintu
IsraTrance Full Member
Started Topics :
63
Posts :
1477
Posted : May 7, 2013 14:40
early 90's harthouse
blomma is one of the few trance albums i've bought lately.
i've described it as trance for adults
btw. "blomma" is swedish and means "flower" or "to bloom""no one ever sweats on a plug-in" -moby
Nidopsog
Started Topics :
8
Posts :
248
Posted : May 22, 2013 00:47
Pure, lovely techno simplicity in minimalistic format... not to mention the long extended ambient blossoms!!! ) Well done good job, Minilogue!
" No bird soars too high if he soars with his own wings "
