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The Cloud Foundation (High Fidelity Productions)
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Acidhive
IsraTrance Full Member
Started Topics :
76
Posts :
2014
Posted : Jul 11, 2006 18:20
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Album: The Cloud Foundation
Label: High Fidelity Productions
Released: June 2006
Cover: http://www.psyshop.com/shop/CDs/hfp/hfp1cd001.html
Tracklist:
1. Fog - Wet & Cold (9:36)
2. Dousk - Streamer (10:27)
3. Chris Micali - Secret Weapon (9:01)
4. Fog - Extinguished Model (9:50)
5. OMB & Solomon - Witness (9:31)
6. Nicholas Bennisson - Fueled (8:57)
7. Mondayz Millionarez - Balaindo (9:25)
8. Eelke Klein - Deeper Depths (9:30)
The promotext: (somewhat altered by me here and there) Achilleas Dimitrakopoulos aka Fog aka Elastic is back with a compilation.
This is the first release of High Fidelity Productions, a new label established by Achilleas Dimitrakopoulos the mind behind Fog (ZMA rec) and Elastic (Y.S.E. Rec) in Athens, Greece.
DJ Achilleas, after 2 successful debut albums last year and after their big success, decided to get involved into this label in order to expose his tastes and interests upon the music he is into nowadays.
A motivation to spread and share his ideas about club music among the audiences drove him to look after and compile this cd.
My review: Ok with the promotalk out of the way let's do it track by track once more.
Track 1: Fog opens up in his laidback stylish way. Soft pads, percussions, some little melody simmers through the overall dubby atmosphere now and again and there you have it. A good track from him and a nice opener.
Track 2: Dousk should be no unknown man if you've heard his phenomal album from a while ago. He goes somewhat deeper and more moody here, not as uplifting as some of the songs on his own album. Moody as hell though, takes a long time to get going, but once it does it has this hypnotic kinda feeling over it. Nice work and it shows he can be quite diverse. Long track for him too, he mostly stays around the 7,8 minutes but here a whopping 10 minutes! 
Track 3: Starting off with a harder, more upfront clubby sound, Chris Micali gets things underway, slowly revealing his Secret Weapon. And what is this weapon you say? Well, to make you dance obviously. This is one for the floor. The harder clubby sound does have some room for smooth pads and melodies and that makes this one a straight out winner in my book. It has a kind of James Holden thingy going on, although not as sophisticated but more upfront, and that's no bad thing. Good track.
Track 4: Well, it's Fog again, so what do you expect? Laidback, groovy vibes, this time even deeper, with subtle percussion and pads. Nice dubby atmosphere overall. Nice track again, not too upfront and a good transition between track 3 and 5.
Track 5: This is what it's all about. For me the best track on this compilation. It sounds like something Markus Schulz would play in his Coldharbour Sessions. Deep, moody, melodic. Great. Guitar samples, deep melodylines and a fat beat underneath it all. Stellar effort by OMB & Solomon. Catchy melody too. Yeah, this is the stuff.
Track 6: Nicholas Bennisson at it on this next track. In sound it's a lot like Chris Micali's effort from before, but this is even more clubby in sound. Some female sample echoes in the beginning and the beat kicks hard. A groovy bassline starts to play underneath it all. A padsound comes in and some melody echoes around. Sounding quite clubby this, one to be played in the middle of a set when the crowd is moving. Gets deeper towards the end. Nice track.
Track 7: Mondayz Millionarez at it again. Their latest track on the Tabernanthe 2 compilation from Iboga had electro influences, this one is more on the normal proggy side. Kinda slow, a lot slower than some of the other tracks. Some nice percussion elements get it started. Some of the trademark high hi-hats from Emok again and the deeper groovy side of Antix get this one flowing along nicely. Gets kinda hypnotic towards the end. One downer: it ends abruptly. Shame, it's as if the full version is longer. The outro is missing here it seems. Oh well... nice track anyway.
Tarck 8: Starts off slow and gets a good melodic groove going, much like Chris Micali and Nicholas Bennisson, although a little less clubby maybe. Nice work on the bass and overall soundpicture. Great pad sounds a some nice guitar sampling. A good track to end this compilation for sure in a more relaxing, deep kinda way.
Overall: Hey, it's a nice deep set of proggy tracks here and since there are no real downers apart from track 7's abrupt ending, this one comes highly reccommended by me. If you're into Fog's sound and would like to hear what he plays as a DJ then this is the cd for you. I like it lots, he's got about the same taste in progressive as I do, so that's a good thing ofcourse in my opinion.
Listen to samples of it here:
http://www.psyshop.com/shop/CDs/hfp/hfp1cd001.html
http://saikosounds.com/english/display_release.asp?id=5831
  "Subconscious unravels at the point of death, and all time it has known erupts into a moment. As death extinguishes us, so we become it."
[Esoteric: Subconscious Dissolution Into The Continuum] |
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labyrinth
IsraTrance Junior Member
Started Topics :
37
Posts :
275
Posted : Jul 12, 2006 06:11
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excellent comp !!! high quality atmospheric grooves, which is now expected from anything coming out of greece. every track is strong, favorites would have to be the chris m. track and the new mondayz millionarez. think i will order another copy because these tracks all have the same vibe and would sound great mixed together.
Ovnimoon Records
http://soundcloud.com/labyr1nth
http://facebook.com/labyr1nth
http://labyr1nth.com |
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Pangea
IsraTrance Full Member
Started Topics :
72
Posts :
279
Posted : Jul 13, 2006 06:32
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probably the best progressive comp of the year, awesome flow, insane production,
worth every penny and more,
keep this up guys,
peace!
pureperceptionrecords.org
pangeaproductions.org
myspace.com/pureperceptionrecords |
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Sandoz
Started Topics :
5
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81
Posted : Sep 20, 2006 20:11
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Just bought today, so I should be receiving it by the end of the week. As soon as I get it, I'll post a review. Also got the Fog album, so I'll review it too. |
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Sandoz
Started Topics :
5
Posts :
81
Posted : Nov 20, 2006 19:27
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Ok, long time after. Really dig this album, the style of progressive I like to play, specially at clubs. Highlights for me are Fog's opener, Dousk (hours-concour for me, this guy is one of the most talented artists in the general progressive scene, no doubt about it), Micali, Bennison and Eelke. Even though all of them are good gems. Wish more progressive releases would follow this style - sometimes I find it hard to encounter with unusual names such as the ones in this compilation, so it comes highly recommended since there isn't much of this around. |
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Acidhive
IsraTrance Full Member
Started Topics :
76
Posts :
2014
Posted : Nov 21, 2006 00:01
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Quote:
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On 2006-11-20 19:27, Sandoz wrote:
Ok, long time after. Really dig this album, the style of progressive I like to play, specially at clubs. Highlights for me are Fog's opener, Dousk (hours-concour for me, this guy is one of the most talented artists in the general progressive scene, no doubt about it), Micali, Bennison and Eelke. Even though all of them are good gems. Wish more progressive releases would follow this style - sometimes I find it hard to encounter with unusual names such as the ones in this compilation, so it comes highly recommended since there isn't much of this around.
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Markus Schulz' Coldharbour Sessions provide great listening as well, kinda similar to this. You should check those out. Also try the Eye-Trance compilations (from part 6 and up) for this kind of more mainstream progressive.
"Subconscious unravels at the point of death, and all time it has known erupts into a moment. As death extinguishes us, so we become it."
[Esoteric: Subconscious Dissolution Into The Continuum] |
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Sandoz
Started Topics :
5
Posts :
81
Posted : Nov 21, 2006 00:53
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Nice, thanx for the tips.
When I mentioned the lack of releases in this style, I was referring to psy-related labels specifically. I feed my collection of progressive tunes through beatport nowadays, but miss buying the physical albums - and the ones that are released from our scene's labels are mostly tasty. I mean, Avalanche has some nice albums, but Vapour, Sprout and others will release either vinyls or digital, no room for albums in cd format. |
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