ManMadeMan - Free To Listen

Album: Free To Listen
Artist: ManMadeMan
Label: http://www.ektoplazm.com
Genre: Psytrance
Release Date: 17 July 2007
Download

Review:

ManMadeMan brings us a Psytrance mix set thats really top shelf stuff. Its a fantastic selection of dancefloor burning tracks that will get all Goa / Psytrance fanatics going nuts. They've apparently been published by a couple of labels (including Flying Rhino and Turbo Trance) and this album is a testament of their awesome talent.

Its a solid mix set packed with a lot of solid beats and this is one of those "why is this free?" albums that i would gladly pay money for.

Somewhere out there is a unmixed version of the album with all the source tracks. I was unable to locate it for the review, but its out there!

Christoph Schindling - One of these Days [kreislauf021]

Album: One of these Days
Artist: Christoph Schindling
Label: http://kreislauf.org
Genre: Minimal/Ambient Techno
Release Date: July 2007
Download

Review:

Great 5 track album from Kreislauf, and its of the same quality from all their previously albums.
The tracks on the album are all pretty laid back, dance floor opening sort of stuff. Its great to listen to on a Sunday evening after a busy weekend and its got a great vibe to it. As with most techno the vibe is created through repetition, but this one really has some great ambient elements in it.

If you want some really mellow, trippy techno with a small bit of funkiness in it, download this one.

Mr. Moods – In Love We Trust... And We Hate [DBR004]

Album: In Love We Trust... And We Hate
Artist: Mr. Moods
Label: dirtybirdrexx
Genre: Acid Jazz / Downtempo / Soundtrack
Release Date: Jul 2007
Download

Review:
Ok, here we have some intense, dark and melancholic downtempo. Something akin to some of the tracks on the "Ninja Tune" record label. Very slow, extremely atmospheric, horns, scratches and a lot of thick textures all over the place.

Great jazz percussion, fat jazz chords and gorgeous soundscapes flow from one track to the next and its an absolute masterpiece in terms of style! Its brilliant stuff if Acid jazz / turntablism is your thing (I love the stuff)

If you are into Ninja Tune, this is a must download, you wont be disappointed!!

Think Amon Tobin, DJ Food, Nightmares on Wax and Coldcut! (a blend of all of them)

(I'm keeping it)

Hiroshi Oki vs Dessben - Puente Aereo [Antiritmo020]

Album: Puente Aereo
Artist: Hiroshi Oki vs Dessben
Label: www.antiritmo.com
Genre: Techno / Ambient Techno
Release Date: Jul 2007
Download

Review:

Some stunning Techno from Spain this time. The guys at Antiritmo have a knack for releasing full bodied dance floor friendly dance music with an abstract edge to it. This release is one of their best this year and I really enjoyed listening to it.

Its definitely aimed at the dance floor and has some serious "bang" in it that wont disappoint you if thats what you desire. Its only 4 tracks, but packs a serious amount of energy into it. It literally makes me want to dance. The slow variations in sound keep on building from start to finish and when the track ends you are left waiting for the next one to carry on! It does not disappoint in that respect at all.

So DJ's take note, you got some seriously banging techno tracks that will set your dance floor alight (or at least your CD players if your a bedroom DJ). And if you are just a iPod'der that enjoys some energetic techno ... you know the drill. (Get it)

Phasen - Yesterday Was Tomorrow (EP) [io023]

Album: Yesterday Was Tomorrow EP
Artist: Phasen
Label: www.ionetlabel.com/
Genre: Ambient / Downtempo / Trip hop / Lo-fi
Release Date: Jul 2007
Download

Review:

Phasen released an album just over a month ago. It was his Debut album and I was rather impressed with his skills and the overall quality of the album. (Full review here)

This release reminds me of some of the work from Bill Laswell, Ambient with a deep rooted guitar / stringed instrument influence. Sometimes i (once again) find my head in the clouds almost as if I was listening to Boards of Canada. Its very laid back and a bit funky but maybe not quite as weird as BoC.

The album gets two thumbs up from me and it goes down really well with a good quality headset.I hope Phasen can keep on producing tunes like these. Its a pleasure to listen to.

Glander - Vate [1bit 026]

Album: Vate
Artist: Glander
Label: http://www.1bit-wonder.com/
Genre: Minimal / Ambient Techno
Release Date: Jul 2007
Download

Review:

Its been a while since ive reviewed anything by 1Bit-wonder and this album seems to have an element that struck a chord with me. (no pun intended)

Its definite minimal techno but with a spaced out ambiance to it. It does get a little monotonous but i suppose it adds to the overall effect of the music. The music really does stretch out a lot at times and it wont be a liked album by all. So be sure you want something along the lines of "repetitive sounds that swirl on forever and after 4 minutes it gets a beat and rhythm ..."

If you have a love for ambient techno you might like this but if you are not one for intensity by repition, you should give this one a miss.

Think of "Eno" meets "Jeff Mills" ...

General Fuzz - Cool Aberrations

Album: Cool Aberrations
Artist: General Fuzz
Label: http://www.generalfuzz.net
Genre: Easy listening / Acoustic
Release Date:
Download

Review:

With me being out of touch with the netlabel scene for a few weeks I was contacted by many people about releases they came across. I have so much music to go through and sometimes appreciate the guidance. Especially when i stumble across albums like this one.

This album is the work of James Kirsch, every song on the album is a collaboration with a different artist. This album took a while to create and it is obvious in the quality and versatility that the time and effort spent on assembling it has been a great success.

The album contains mainly "real" instruments. Piano, flute, organ, guitar, voice and a whole whack of others.

On the website you will find an in depth review of the artists and efforts that went into every single track. (See the making of cool Aberrations). The amount of heart and soul that has gone into this album is nothing short of phenomenal and deserves a listen by all music lovers.

If you can, read through the description of the track while you listen to the release. It gives it context and it will make you realize the depth of expression of the album.

Really top of the range music.

FeldFunker - Beyond The Moon [Kreislauf 020]

Album: Beyond The Moon
Artist: FeldFunker
Label: http://kreislauf.org
Genre: IDM / Minimal / Electro / Minimal / Ambient Techno
Release Date: 1 July 2007
Download (155Mb)

Review:

a Serious synthesizer based composition containing a lot of quality tracks. The range is from mellow, almost ambient, tracks to a some more dance oriented tracks. The dance tracks all tend to keep an element of ambient creating some trance inducing dance music. Arpeggios fill some of the tracks creating flowing and cascading audio landscapes. The track Venus Rising is a prime example of this.

The album does venture into the more dance floor DJ friendly area with some of the tracks, but still manages to keep some chill / psy / trance-inducing structures. Hell, some of the tracks (silhouette) even travels into the so called "electro house" style.

This is really a stand out album covering a range of genre's and keeping that in mind the artist still maintains a cohesive structure to the album.

It's well worth the download.

a Single Track

This just came up at the right moment ... mellow and still sort of funky.

m.telemann - mars (florian kunze rmx)

I hope to have more reviews up soon...

DJ Kirill Sergeew - Joke Or Not, But Here Is The Best Of

Album: Joke Or Not, But Here Is The Best Of
Artist: DJ Kirill Sergeew
Label: www.bumpfoot.net
Genre: Downtempo /Jazz / Lounge / Lo-fi
Release Date: 17 Jun 2007
Download

Review:

Im trying to catch up with all that i have missed and I found this album to be fresh and entertaining. I am a piano man and listening to lazy beats with nice piano melodies just gives me a smile. That sort of chillin out on a Sunday afternoon vibe. The first track oozes disco! (where is my afro?) Its pretty cool though, so give that a listen.

Some of the tracks had a very dark feel to it which i quite enjoyed. Overall its very jazz influenced and i only found one or two of the tracks a little too jazz for my taste. It should appeal to Jazz fans though, so give it a listen if you are in the mood for a chillin experience.