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Ticon - I Love You, Who Are You?
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rumble pack / motion drive
Rumble Pack
Started Topics :
23
Posts :
270
Posted : Apr 7, 2011 18:26:08
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Ticon - I Love You, Who Are You?
Label Iboga Rec.
Style Progressive House
Released March 2011
Format Double CD, Compact Disc
The fifth album by the Swedish Duo Ticon arrived this week in my letterbox. This is my first review here on isratrance, but as this project is really my biggest inspiration and I loved every sound coming out of their studio, I had to write my thoughts about this new double album. I won't make a track by track review but rather write my general thoughts.
I guess everybody remarked their change towards techno and progressive house throughout the last 2-3 years. Already the last album "2am" had a much more clubby approach but with a more "electroish" sound overall. Still there where classic psyprogg tracks like "1987" or "less is more" which caught the Ticon sound they where known for and made them famous. Now on the new album there's really no reference to classic psyprogg at all anymore. It starts with the track "balkan tourist", a classic progg house track with a super groovy baseline and some cool samples. Theres a whole lot of groove and great production and im shure the track will make it into the "normal" club scene. The album continues in the same style with no exceptions. There's a overall analog feeling to this music and you can hear a lot of classic retro sounds. Especially "the programmer" catches this dark, kinda Depeche Mode feeling. The arrangments are more or less the standart, no re-invention of the weel here. My absolute favourite is "banking karma". Here you get the classic closing track of a Ticon album with emotions and more melodic approach. Still the sound is super retro and housy.
The rmx cd I didn't checked so far as I already know most of them as they where previously released.
Conclusion
Overall you can't deny that this is quality music. They changed again their style from the last album and its clearly music with more mainstream factor. Especially track 1 is made to be a club hit.
But I have to confess I'm disappointed. I like the album, but for me the special touch Ticon always had, is somehow gone. The album sounds often to me like a classic progg house album with no surprises. Maybe that's because im still much more into psyprogg and psytrance and I only enjoy from time to time this kind of music. But still it's a pitty to see that now the last ambassadors of the true Swedish psyprogg have gone for other types of music (like Son Kite, Vibrasphere, Atmos etc.)
I always loved this Swedish sound and Ticon where on the forefront of this movement with many classic releases. Now they sound good, but not unique anymore.
Don't get me wrong, I don't blame them for doing what they do, I'm shure the do it coz they love it. But still it's a pitty that many of the heavyweights in psyprogg have left now. All this is just my subjective point of view, so don't take it to serious 
  www.myspace.com/motiondrive
http://www.myspace.com/rumblepacknaturalflowmotiondrive |
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Anyer
IsraTrance Junior Member
Started Topics :
46
Posts :
696
Posted : Apr 9, 2011 14:06
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shahar
IsraTrance Team
Started Topics :
155
Posts :
2035
Posted : Apr 10, 2011 10:47
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Nice review.
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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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aje
IsraTrance Full Member
Started Topics :
99
Posts :
1145
Posted : Apr 11, 2011 10:53
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Indeed a great review, and I know exactly what you mean. That being said, there are some great tracks on here, mainly The Programmer, Return to Retro, Banking Karma, The Glue, but also some that are too overtly trying to cater to a certain sound. I would also say its my least favorite Ticon album, but not because its bad, but because it didnt really touch me emotionally like all the other ones. If you play all Ticon albums to someone who doesnt have his roots in the deep trance scene, I`m sure he would pick this one as his favorite.
One remark towards the development of all the big scandinavian psy-prog acts, who were just as influential on my musical taste as they were on yours, Rumble Pack. IMHO Son Kite made the best transition, Minilogue have really found their own sound and have gained huge respect in the techno scene because they really do not sound like anyone else, they are just Minilogue. Atmos kinda stayed true to himself, even though he really slowed his sound down and his Dominic Thomas project goes towards techno, but you can always tell immediately its Atmos underneath the hood. Vibrasphere went the melodic way, catering also towards the normal trance scene, but always in good taste without becoming cheesy, and the Lungs of life album even included some nice Acid-Trance influences. And Ticon went towards the more commercial club-sounds, first with 2a.m. in a more electro-direction, and now unfortunately towards that progresive house-tech sound that doesnt really set them apart from the majority of the Beatport Top Ten. To sum things up, for my personal taste their development is the one I like the least, but my best friend loves this album to death and totally loves their new sound, so I guess to each its own...
Check out my album: http://www.ektoplazm.com/free-music/gay-satanic-hippie-tiefenrausch |
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Login
IsraTrance Full Member
Started Topics :
65
Posts :
1707
Posted : Apr 11, 2011 18:13
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i just listened to the previews on psyshop and It sounds very very generic.
"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." |
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Nathan
IsraTrance Senior Member
Started Topics :
301
Posts :
3605
Posted : Apr 14, 2011 00:30
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aje
IsraTrance Full Member
Started Topics :
99
Posts :
1145
Posted : Apr 15, 2011 15:49
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Allow me to retract my opinion stated earlier:
There are actually some really awesome good tracks on here, the problem is that there are also some really aweful ones, at least IMHO. If you take the following tracks:
Loops of infinity
Retreat to Retro
The Glue
The Programmer
Banking Karma
Miss 11 PM
this is actually a really cool journey through deep retro soundscapes with awesome production and a looooooooooot of soul
However, if you listen to this album in order the following stinkbombs totally break the flow
Blow My Horn
Balkan Tourist
Smorgasbord
Bazinga
All of these are just annoying as shit and because they all seem so forced with fake-funkyness, they take you out of the deep contemplative feeling created by the the tracks mentioned above.
Luckily we live in the days of Itunes playlists and dont have to listen to Albums in order anymore
Anyways, I have come to the conclusion that this is once again a great album by Ticon, you just have to pick your cherries out of it.
Check out my album: http://www.ektoplazm.com/free-music/gay-satanic-hippie-tiefenrausch |
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onoma
Started Topics :
3
Posts :
83
Posted : Apr 18, 2011 19:39
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I don't really enjoy the way they did go. I <3 the older 'rechtdoor' progressive more.
Tracks like: we are the mammoth hunters, there is no plan, etc.
But can't say that the new album is really bad. Some tracks remind me of gui boratto. |
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Beat Agency
IsraTrance Full Member
Started Topics :
53
Posts :
1752
Posted : Apr 19, 2011 14:13
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I agree with Aje. Some good tunes (If you are into progressive house- I am sometimes) and some really obnoxious annoying ones like that Balkan cheesy Club tune...wtf? 
And wtf to the fact they ask people to pay money to remix their tunes on Beatport... no no no!!!!! Iboga/Ticon 
Point is why this is still being promoted in a psytrance scene/forum? I know they are connected by their history in the scene but this got absolutely nothing to do with trance or psy. I see no benefit in this music being pushed into the psytrance scene for many reasons. At worse it's false marketing guys.
You'll probably do OK in the progressive house scene. Good luck
www.beatagency.dk |
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Jacynth
Inactive User
Started Topics :
20
Posts :
451
Posted : Apr 21, 2011 00:40
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Quote:
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On 2011-04-19 14:13, Beat Agency wrote:
I agree with Aje. Some good tunes (If you are into progressive house- I am sometimes) and some really obnoxious annoying ones like that Balkan cheesy Club tune...wtf?
And wtf to the fact they ask people to pay money to remix their tunes on Beatport... no no no!!!!! Iboga/Ticon
Point is why this is still being promoted in a psytrance scene/forum? I know they are connected by their history in the scene but this got absolutely nothing to do with trance or psy. I see no benefit in this music being pushed into the psytrance scene for many reasons. At worse it's false marketing guys.
You'll probably do OK in the progressive house scene. Good luck
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you sugeste they should abandon the scene now? |
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truesun
Started Topics :
0
Posts :
1
Posted : Apr 28, 2011 18:13
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They have already abandoned the scene... years ago. |
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Djones
IsraTrance Senior Member
Started Topics :
267
Posts :
1766
Posted : May 1, 2011 20:48
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I think this music is very unfortunate for people with dreadlocks. |
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Edward X
Started Topics :
0
Posts :
37
Posted : May 2, 2011 01:36
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Excellent Work in Lisbon Saturday Morning is all I can say.
Congratulations Ticon.
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V3NOM
Inactive User
Started Topics :
131
Posts :
2234
Posted : May 3, 2011 14:09
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reasonably good stuff, def. not psy anymore thought. Surprised to see them still promoted in this scene as there is little left in their sound that is psychedelic trance. They should use their skill to grab a hold of the commercial deep & tech house scene where there is more money for sure!
I hate you, you hate me, we are all so hap hap happy! |
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aden
IsraTrance Full Member
Started Topics :
81
Posts :
212
Posted : May 9, 2011 14:08
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Interesting to have a review by a fellow composer.
Ticon, from their "Mammoth Hunters" beginnings, followed a path dotted with gems like "Waiting for the knights" and "The clown smells like gasoline", culminating in their 2005 masterpiece "Zero six after" with its unique sound.
After being second to none, they're now exploring a repertoire where their originality is lost, and I can detect in many of the tracks of this new album which other influences have weighed in. That's a bit annoying. Especially when you use already well-worn samples in Bazinga for ex. (Paperboy).
I don't know why they felt the need to conform to the fashion of trendy genres especially if, after playing exclusively in the champions' league, their sound now encounters the risk of dissolving into the shady zones of the supporting roles of Tech House or Techno.
Especially years after many of the prominent prog djs and producers have embarked on Techno, or Tech House. For me, that's the reason why 2am misfired in 2008. Electro house was not so hype anymore, and guys like D-Nox and Beckers had turned that page already: "Left Behind" was released in 07...
That being said, it's even more annoying to read here and there the constant association of "commercial" with "club" music. The clubs I go to play the most cutting edge, creative and undergound music. Something I don't find so often on the trance scene, to say the least. "Balkan tourist" will never be heard in a demanding Techno club. And to be honest, I've never found Ticon "psy". Which, coming from me, is far from being a handicap.
And, relistening to Ticon's early masterpieces, it's strikingly evident how much their rhythmic combo has been shaped by House music.
This can be heard in the opening bars of "Retreat to retro".
What remains though: their live set should still kick some ass, as someone from Portugal testified, and I'm pretty sure that even today it still features some of their timeless classics, always retinterpreted in a stunning way.
And, yes there are some finely produced tracks in this new opus.
http://myspace.com/adenbeatersweet
http://www.flow-records.com |
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