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Yotopia - "Connect the dots" (Iboga rec. march 09)

aden
IsraTrance Full Member

Started Topics :  81
Posts :  212
Posted : Mar 8, 2009 03:33:27
Artist : Yotopia
Title : Connecting The Dots
Label : Iboga rec.
Format : CD
Release date : march 2009

Tracklist:
1. Spunk (126 bpm)
2. Sheer Mayhem (128 bpm)
3. Sleepless Hippies (128 bpm)
4. Offset [Extended Mix] (130 bpm)
5. Mr. Brotherman (133 bpm)
6. Game On (130 bpm)
7. In My Hands (128 bpm)
8. Monitor (130 bpm)
9. No Way Out (130 bpm)

Yotopia are Yonatan Rimon & Tomer Dayan from Tel Aviv. Although their career was strongly associated with Flow records at the outset – with the release of their debut album in 2005 and two compilations at the Portuguese imprint – the duo has nonetheless never ceased to publish tracks at forefront progressive trance labels such as Blue Tunes and Spintwist etc. 2009 sees a new flurry of discographic activity with new releases at Tribal Vision and Phonokol, and another on the Ace’s upcoming compilation “New Order 2” at Hommega. As early as 2005, Iboga records became one of the very first labels to print Yotopia’s music in Mr. “wild eyed” Fershtat’s Set 4 compilation. Four years after their debut, Yotopia returns to the Danish label for the launch of their second album. With an Israeli scene brimming with talent and dominated by such totemic figures as Perfect Stranger, Ace Ventura and Lish, not to mention Ophir/Litvak’s unique contribution to the renewal of the Techno sound, or the emergence of confirmed acts like Astronivo, Alter Breed, Quantize and the rise of newcomers such as Mute or Blackout, this new album signed by Yotopia comes as an anticipated release of the new year.

1. Spunk
The album kicks off with a light and perky tune, delivering laid back groove with allusive techy resonance in the synth work. The break injects some vaporous pads and takes the lead into a transposed melody, crossing into more trancey territory at the end. Good intro with a clubby approach.

2. Sheer Mayhem
The following piece keeps the clubby foundation, exploring a rather electro-house register, and launching a playful, twisted and cascading melody. The coda after the last break unleashes a nice rhythmic build-up with good dance-floor appeal. It may not be as compelling or sultry as a piece from D-Nox & Beckers’ former style, but still a good track.

3. Sleepless Hyppies
The duo returns to a more trancey approach in this third piece with its throbbing bassline, even if some synth arrangements bear light traces of drippling minimal rolls. But overall it exudes trance, with the long break unfolding plenty of atmospheric pads conversing with the recurring voice sample. A classic, well-crafted, dance-floor minded tune.

4. Offset (Extended edit)
Next is an extended edit of a track featured on Tribal Vision’s latest offering. It settles squarely on a fat droning bassline in a techy sort of way and shaky filtered hi-hats backed with funky whirring synth lines. It peaks in the break with a classic crescendo which temporarily deconstructs and rebuilds the perky melody. Hot stuff and a highlight of this album!

5. Mr Brotherman
The fourth piece is another demonstration of the duo’s abilty to fuse genres and cross borders. While the blueprint borrows from the classic Prog-trance rhythmic combo with atmospheric pads, enticing filtered whispering vocal snippets, the rather run-of-the melody flirts with a more electro-house register until the break cleverly tweaks it and raises it to uplifting, sun-filled heights, with sweet harmonic tones which recalls the way Ticon combined tender moods with the electro repertoire.

6. Game on
“Game on” prolongs the clubby vein of the album. It starts as a serious prog-house banger with a charging bassline and pronounced kick drum beat, woven into floating fills and gritty additional lead lines. It soon evolves around an Electro-House tinged vocal sample which sings lyrics in the break. While still breathing & echoing à la Underworld, the male voice deftly introduces a transposed motif and stirs up the hands-in-the-air potential of the tune. Good track for that peak moment in a set.

7. In my hands
“In my hands” is another exploration of the emotional register, harking back to the former, recognisable signature sound of the duo, which has an affinity to Lish’s own sonic identity back in the day. The strong presence of the arpeggiated lead, distant piano notes and bulging siliconed bassline juggles progressive melodic pads with groove & energy, all bathed in a soft-hearted atmosphere. Not their most original piece here, but a good one nonetheless.

8. Monitor
“Monitor” demonstrates yet another blurring of genres and moods: while the throbbing bassline, the droning and squawking synths and the clatters of the brief theme make for a techy 1st half, these elements are swapped for trancey pads in the break which launches the atmospheric overtone of the last sequences. Another convincing, dancefloor-friendly fusion piece.

9. No way out
The concluding piece serves up another combination of a deep, fairytalesque atmosphere with the smooth groove of progressive rhythms. It features a nice build up of the melodic line, with the theme culminating in a compelling, reverb-laden crescendo in the break, unleashing the effective return of the rhythmic section. Well done!

Bottom line
While Yotopia’s first album was at times barely distinguishable from other strong contenders in the Israeli Progressive Trance scene, they seem to have found a new voice of their own in this polished, mature (i.e. slower album), and deeper album. They’ve put in a laudable effort in varying moods (you won’t hear the same bassline twice — and that’s to be praised), and genres. The Techno, or Electro-House influences are softly integrated, never overwhelming, and contribute to redefining the duo’s sonic identity. In that respect, it is not as daring and innovative as other recent attempts at crossing genres, but notwithstanding, Yotopia has come out with an updated sound palette. For these reasons, I can safely recommend this album.

Aden

Related links:
http://www.iboga.dk
http://www.myspace.com/ibogarecords
http://www.myspace.com/yotopia
J
IsraTrance Full Member

Started Topics :  193
Posts :  3858
Posted : Mar 8, 2009 06:24
I had the pleasure to listen to a couple of tracks.
And yes, it's as good as people told me.

Tech progressive trance, if you have to label it.
Big release for 2009, for sure.

Nice job guys!
system nipel
System Nipel

Started Topics :  11
Posts :  280
Posted : Mar 14, 2009 17:38
hello guys , an amasing album from Yoni and Tomer
we like it alot
from all our heart we wisih you best of luck
cheers !
hACKER


Started Topics :  2
Posts :  125
Posted : Mar 14, 2009 19:14
good luck with this massive one!!!

a big pleasure to your ears for 2009!
all the best guys!

Liran&Roy
Hellios


Started Topics :  1
Posts :  350
Posted : Mar 16, 2009 22:33
Quite disapointed for the fact that Yotopia chose to follow the trend...not psy progressive at all...
Djones
IsraTrance Senior Member

Started Topics :  267
Posts :  1766
Posted : Mar 17, 2009 14:58
Quote:

On 2009-03-16 22:33, Hellios wrote:
Quite disapointed for the fact that Yotopia chose to follow the trend...not psy progressive at all...



Agree.

Just about everyone follows this electro/minimal trend.

It's not like people come with totally different ideas, but rather stay safe and follow the rest.

But then, who am I to critize someone else's music, when I don't even contribute anything myself.

Maybe we should start our own 'Progressive Revival' movement:-)
om gansh

Started Topics :  2
Posts :  32
Posted : Mar 17, 2009 15:29
graet album tec &prog i love it
phasetech
Float

Started Topics :  58
Posts :  531
Posted : Mar 17, 2009 16:25
samples sounds nice. will check it out
i liked 'offset' from vanguard 2           www.soundcloud.com/float
GuyShanti
Aerospace

Started Topics :  112
Posts :  877
Posted : Mar 17, 2009 17:51
I count Tomer and Yoni as members in a very small "my best friends" group, i've been with them since the very beginnig and I feel some things must be said about this album and in general. Please dont expect me to be neutral or unbiosed or supportive for the sake of supportiveness - im too personaly involved and value these people to say anything but my total truth, things i said to them personaly on various occasions. lets just say that this album has caused some diturbance in the force and too much bullshit has been said about it, around it and behind it.

lets start by saying that I like this album. I like it not as much as i liked the first one but im a diffrent person now, Yotopia are diffrent ppl now and the music is a bit diffrent too.

Yotopia were umong the very first people in Israel to make prog trance and as such has made ALOT of prog trance over the years. in recent years we all went through the phase of searching for new inspiration in a musical world that has become a bit boring to be honest and we found this inspiration in the realms of techno, electro and prog house. i dont want to get into a "whats better" debate but the fact remains that its very hard not to be influenced by these genres when opening a new project and as time goes by to do more and more in that direction - slower, more minimal and using a slightly different set of tools and sounds to achieve the desired result.
i know for a fact that the Yotopias got totaly bored with doing the psy prog bass lines and the psy influenced sounds on a daily basis. Can u blame them? if youde be cooking soup every day, there will come the day you will want to cook a steak.... and if the steak is tasty and u enjoyed cooking it - youde probably do it again and again. and so - when the guys came to doing their 2nd album the question was - what album shall it be? the guys stayed true to their hearts and did the music that interest them to do.
they didnt do it cuz they think it will bring them more money or gigs or whatever... we all know the score and whos against who so that wasnt the reason for the sound/style change. it was a pure musical decision.
they worked very hard on this album and the high quality result is not hard to hear...

so now comes the question - why do ppl go against this album? ive spoken to a few ppl who love this album - they listened to it with a desire to hear something fresh and groovy from Yotopia and they got exactly that - fresh, groovy melodic music based on ideas which range from a huge veriety of origins. unfortunatly ive spoken to quite a few ppl who said they dont like this album. when i asked them why they dont like it, the responce was never "cuz the trax are not good" but always "cuz they changed their style".

that made me think... this responce came from ppl who in many cases are techno lovers, ppl who told me on many occasions that they too are bored with psy prog and with trance in general... strange... i think the problem is that when someone changes something and all of a sudden its hard to categorise it in a familliar box, the reaction is usually negative. instead of actually listening to the music and judging it for what it is, ppl project their "knowledge" on the ppl/genre/label/whatever and dont listen to nothing but "what bpm is it in and whats the bassline like - tech or prog..."

well let me tell you thats its the wrong way to listen to music...

as a tech album it sux cuz it not techno, and as a psy prog album it sux too cuz its not a psy prog album either... its not progg house and not electro for sure... so what the fuck is it?

why do u need to care so much about that?? let the beatport ppl break their head about how to categorise it... you have to ask your self - do i think THE MUSIC is any good? and the answer is HELL YES. its good music, well produced, groovy and with a sense of humor...

so like George Michael said - listen without prejudice (eccidently the name of his 2nd album too) when u come to hear this album, and i promise you that if you dont think too much while listening to it you will love it.


have a groovy day
G


          http://www.myspace.com/aerospacemusic

Aerospace – Re Entry EP on beatport.com
https://www.beatport.com/en-US/html/content/release/detail/276014/Re%20Entry%20EP
full_on
IsraTrance Team

Started Topics :  279
Posts :  5475
Posted : Mar 17, 2009 19:49
I tried but it didn't manage to get me. IMO it sounds far from fresh, just to mention an thought that occurred me, a lot of the noises and effects here sound like they came right from Miki's & Ido's Shnorkel.
So, this average album was sort of a deception for me, because I was expecting more from these guys.
Edit: I have to make justice and say that the last track is my favorite here, having smooth atmospheres and good flow.
Respect!          .
...Be gentle with the earth...
...Dance like nobody's watching...
.
...I don't mind not going to Heaven, as long as they've got Coffee in Hell...
A.Rosengren
Solid Snake

Started Topics :  266
Posts :  4138
Posted : Mar 17, 2009 23:42
The discussion goin on in here actually got me intrested in listening to the album. I like psychadelicminimaltechnoishelectroprogressivetrancehousebreakbeatidmmusic (thank me later beatport)


Thumbs up for Guyshanti who sets the record straight.

A
Tula


Started Topics :  1
Posts :  603
Posted : Mar 19, 2009 13:48
well, I was really looking forward to get and listen this album.. but for me,it's interesting but nothing special what so ever, maybe I was expecting more... this album [for me] can not be compared with the last one.

anyway for this folks who like it - njoooy
          LIFE Is Just The Choice Between FEAR and LOVE.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z1fDq9LnzFk
duyoush
IsraTrance Full Member

Started Topics :  164
Posts :  2510
Posted : Mar 19, 2009 20:00
Nice blend of style's packed in one cd.

my fav's are: Spunk,Sheer Mayhem,Sleepless Hippies and Monitor.

nice and quality album


Thanks Y&T and Iboga


Cheers           "The external world became changed as in a dream and colors became more glowing.When the eyes were closed,colored pictures flashed past in a quickly changing kaleidoscope.what had caused this condition?"
Albert Hofmann Laboratory Notes (1943)
N-A-S-A
Nasa/The Gnome Effect

Started Topics :  23
Posts :  165
Posted : Mar 21, 2009 17:37
Certainly a cool album, from beginning and to the end. Pretty much not a single track I didnt like on it, and I was very impressed to hear they approach to the new age psy-tech style which is covering the dancefloors these days.

Well done, guys. Hope you will swing by Copenhagen sometime, with GOOD organisers behind the booking. If you do, I'll certainly be there.

Congratz!           http://www.facebook.com/nasa.tranceproject
http://www.psyshop.com/shop/CDs/inm/inm1cd036.html
http://www.junodownload.com/products/1537910-02.htm
https://www.beatport.com/en-US/html/content/release/detail/222773/unique#
Steve00
IsraTrance Junior Member

Started Topics :  16
Posts :  169
Posted : Mar 22, 2009 07:20
Quote:

On 2009-03-16 22:33, Hellios wrote:
Quite disapointed....



I am one of those as well, super disappointed, if I want a tech release I rather to go into beatport and see one of those categories that thanks to Guy to make the record straight and purchase a release, this album is really below of that genre, yeah is groovy but nothing really happen with the tracks after all, even when you put higher that expectations, "it was an anticipated release of the new year". nothing really compared with the PS which I founded more interesting, diverse and dynamic with really cool ideas as well. Anyway got luck to them, but for me is one of the most weakest albums of Iboga since two years to the date. :S

Trance Forum » » Forum  Music Reviews - Yotopia - "Connect the dots" (Iboga rec. march 09)

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