Tegma - Around The World In 80 Minutes

[DeathPosture]

Tegma - Around The World In 80 Minutes

 

 

Hi-res cover: front

 

Artist: Tegma (Sweden)

Title: Around The World In 80 Minutes

Format: CD (jewel case w/10 page color booklet + DJ slip)

Label: Tribal Vision Records (Czech Republic)

Cat. #: TVRCD008

Distribution: Psyshop.net

Date: 27 March 2006

 

Track listing:

 

01. 09’41” Our World

02. 08’08” Desert Tale

03. 09’08” El Mariachi

04. 09’26” Tribal Dancer

05. 02’09” Intermezzo

06. 09’11” Drums Of Africa

07. 09’38” A Night In Cairo

08. 10’13” I Wanna Be A Robostar

09. 11’06” Spooked

 

Review:

 

Multiple audio orgasms…

 

Omar Chelly and Jason Orfanidis from Malmø, Sweden have their third album out… The first one, Encoded/Decoded, was released in 2002 by Digital Structures – and despite repeated attempts I never really got into it… The second one though, 002: Avant.Garde, (released by Candyflip in 2005) was an absolute blast, and with its rich, versatile style of hybrid trance it was one of the best albums of 2005… So yeah, I’ve been looking VERY much forward to this, their third album, which is released by one of my fav’e proggy/crossover labels: Tribal Vision from the Czech Republic… This can *only* be good…

 

Let me take you thru the tracks…

 

#01: Our World [133 BPM]

“The world is changed, I feel it in the water, I feel it in the air, I smell it in the air!” The opening track was originally supposed to be an ambient intro but turned into a dance tune… What we get here is a typical Tegma hybrid of epic trance with female singing combined with sharp, metallic electro-hisses - rounded up by a very groovy rhythm section… The Galadriel samples from LOTR have been used before, but it doesn’t matter – they fit this gorgeous track perfectly… An amazing track!

 

#02: Desert Tale [134 BPM]

On a trip to Egypt the guys met a certain Paul El-Younani who introduced them to classic Arabic music and recorded some samples for them… They are used in this track, which is destined to kick up some dancefloor desert dust… Cruising at a comfortable speed, this is ethno-flavoured progressive trance not unlike recent Juno Reactor material… The melodic leads are simply gorgeous and the native chanting sends shivers down my spine… Brilliant!

 

#03: El Mariachi [134 BPM]

Continuing the trip around the world, the guys turn their focus to Mexico from where inspiration for this tune was found… This track is slightly deeper than its predecessors and the Mexican link isn’t as evident as the African was… In fact, this sounds more Middle Eastern… But who cares, this is more brilliant trance that fuses deep, hypnotic electro-ridden trance with lush world beats + strings and a couple of uplifting, Sasha-like melodic pads… Another distinct Tegma hybrid of VERY high quality… I’m amazed!

 

#04: Tribal Dancer [135 BPM]

This track is made from a loop which was originally made for a gig in Germany. It proved so nice that it was developed into a full track – and as the title suggest, this starts out as a tribal stomp-fest – and in keeping with the Tegma-dogma it eventually turns into a hard-hitting, fast-paced hybrid of different genres… Electro-soaked world beats with a technoid twist – or something like that! The bassline is maybe a little predictable at times, but generally this is another extremely well-produced piece of audio bliss… There’s never a dull moment and I’m so impressed by the sheer level of progression here. I mean those lyrics and the melancholy strings… Simply amazing! Versatility if there ever was versatility!

 

#05: Intermezzo

This short transition track was actually the intro to Desert Tale, but the guys decided it was time for a short break… Basically it’s lush tribal vibes and plush ethno world sounds… Very nice and deeply atmospheric… It’s a shame it’s so short though…

 

#06: Drums Of Africa [136 BPM]

“African music. Try to capture the spirit of African music. African music comes from a much deeper understanding of what music is!” This is a tribute to the ancient drummers of Africa and their impact on music worldwide… Not surprisingly this track has a very impressive array of percussion – it’s packed with drums! Etnoscope meets Safri Duo meets Juno Reactor meets Wizzy Noise meets The Chemical Brothers… The electro influences are still very evident and basically this is a tranced-up stomp-fest of gargantuan dimensions… I cannot even begin to count the layers here…Wow! Un-fucking-believable!

 

#07: A Night In Cairo [132 BPM]

This is another track that was conceived from a live loop. This one was made for a gig in Russia and eventually turned into this track… After a lengthy intro we’re exposed to a subtle, yet totally kicking bassline that’s accompanied by tribal percussion + more ethnic chanting and acoustic guitars… This sounds like the lost track from Juno Reactor’s Shango album – and that’s meant as a compliment rather than an accusation of plagiarism… Another VERY lush track that sounds more like ‘music’ than ‘electronic music’… Sweet!

 

#08: I Wanna Be A Robostar [134 BPM]

This track is described as a tribute to the robots, and with Kraftwerk-inspired synth-exploration this is easily the most electric track off the album… Obviously we get a lot of technoid sequencing and electro bits here, but also a lot of organic sounding FX… Organic tech-trance? I think that’s the first time I’ve ever described a track like that, but then again, Tegma is very unique… Totally deep and totally pounding… Hell yeah – rocking out with the robots is a trippy adventure…Oh, and I wanna be a robostar too!

 

#09: Spooked [130 BPM]

The final tune is another piece that started out as a loop and eventually turned into a full track with the inclusion of 80es style drums… And yeah, this is retro-trance which will instantly teleport you 20 years back in time… Analogue Tegmafied synthpop! Edgy, daring and totally funky… Maybe not the best track here, but what it lacks in dance ability it makes up for in uniqueness… Audio wizardry! And before you know it, the journey is over – ending in exactly like it started… The album come full circle much like Son Kite’s Colours album… Lovely!

 

Holy fucking shanti on a pogo stick! The world is changed! Indeed it is! This magnificent, majestic, grandiose album is definitely going to stir up the trance world… Trust me on this one – this is going to be huuuuuuge!

 

This is easily the best progressive album I’ve heard in 2006! Every single track rocks my socks off and there are literally hundreds of goosebump-moments here… A magnificent journey of epic proportions! Musically it’s a VERY diverse and VERY mature album which proved to be the perfect platform for showcasing the endless talent of Omar and Jason. The production is among the best I’ve heard in years and both the cover art + the informative booklet will serve as benchmarks for future releases… Labels take notice – this is how it’s done! Once again Tribal Vision Records distance themselves from most other labels – this is quality all the way! Eat your hearts out mp3 pirates – this package is miles above the sastisfaction a downloaded version can ever bring… It’s simply amazing!

 

With the reduced BPMs and the added focus on non-trance elements, this album is a radical departure from 002: Avant.Garde and as such it’s more similar to Encoded/Decoded… I absolutely loved 002: Avant.Garde but this is even better… Wow! A very, very strong contender for album of the year! An instant classic and an essential purchase for any serious trance head… Get this, or get left out… Enjoy!

 

Favourites: 1(!!), 2(!), 3(!), 4(!), 6(!!), 7, 8(!)

 

DeathPosture

 

External links:

Tegma: http://www.tegmatekk.com

Tribal Vision: http://www.tribalvision.cz

Discogs: http://www.discogs.com/release/653829

Saiko Sounds: http://tinyurl.com/qxwj7

Beatspace: http://tinyurl.com/o8kr5

Psyshop: http://tinyurl.com/musgk

Wirikuta: http://tinyurl.com/rqbb9

Chaos: http://tinyurl.com/s7upq

[RTP]

I saw them live last week and they performed a lot of tracks from the new album ... and it sounded really, really good, in fact this was actually the best live set this year so far - and it won't be easy for other artists to top this

 

I can't say what the sound really is like on a home stereo though.

All that I know is that I listened to samples and what I heard did not knock my socks off compared to what I heard live unfortunately ... so hmmm, I dunno...

[supergroover]

Holy fucking shanti on a pogo stick! The world is changed! Indeed it is! This magnificent, majestic, grandiose album is definitely going to stir up the trance world… Trust me on this one – this is going to be huuuuuuge!

 

hmm afraid i dont agree with you.. some nice tracks but in general this albums lacks dancefloor quality to me. 3 8 and 9 are decent but the rest is not for me.

 

i do like the album cover tho

[pr0fane]

Artist: Tegma

Title: Around The World In 80 Minutes

Label: Tribal Vision

Format: CD (Jewelcase with 10-page booklet and DJ-inlay)

Released: March, 2006

Cover: http://217.160.138.169/pic_b/tvr1cd008_b.jpg

 

 

Review:

 

The two Sweden-based producers Omar Chelly and Jason Orfanidis have been making music as Tegma for roughly six years. Their first release was on the "Folded View" compilation on CreamCrop back in 2001, and since then they have released tracks on practically all the biggest progressive labels on the scene, such as Digital Structures, Iboga, Flow, Plastik Park, Plusquam, ZMA and Tribal Vision. Along the way they have also released 2 albums - "Encoded/Decoded" was released back in 2002 on Digital Structures, and the general response was very positive. Last year, in 2005, they took a step towards the more popular full on sounds on their second album "002: Avant.Garde", which was released on Candyflip.

 

Now they're ready with a 3rd album - the title is "Around The World In 80 Minutes" and - like the title suggest - it's a completely different direction compared to "002: Avant.Garde". The album is released by the new powerhouse label Tribal Vision Records, and like always the packaging is superb - from the classy artwork to the fat booklet and the useful DJ-inlay. But anyways - let's take a look (listen) to the music inside.

 

 

01. Our World [132 BPM]

The album starts with a long and beautiful intro that really has a nice atmosphere with some sweet female choir-pads. After the fine, but slightly overused "The world is changed" voice-sample from "The Lord Of The Rings", we're introduced to a delicious, tribal groove and overall "Our World" has a very organic feel with sweet melodies that tingle the senses. Amazing, slightly laidback opener.

 

02. Desert Tale [134 BPM]

The journey around the world really begins here - according to the booklet, "Desert Tale" was produced in May 2005 with the help of an Egyptian musician, and the Arabic influences are very distinct. It's more pumping and dancefriendly than the opener, and with some Arabic chants and classical intruments, but overall I didn't really connect to it.

 

03. El Mariachi [134 BPM]

Next, "El Mariachi" flies us to Mexico, and the Spanish/Mexican influences on this track work really, really well. The Spanish voice-samples and especially the hypnotizing guitar are perfectly blending with a really hard-hitting and pumping groove, and the subtle melodies take the track to the next level. Possibly one of the biggest dancefloor hits on the album.

 

04. Tribal Dancer [135 BPM]

"Tribal Dancer" is the first trip to Africa on the album, and it's yet another organic sound-experience. There is some very distinct use of voice-samples about the use of a so-called "Flow-master", and the African elements with the tribal percussion does work rather well with the pumping electro-ish groove. Good stuff.

 

05. Intermezzo

"Intermezzo" is a short (just over 2 minutes) break from the dancefloor stuff - according to the booklet it was originally meant as an intro for "Desert Tale", and like in "Desert Tale", it's a heavily Arabic influenced track. A fine intermezzo.

 

06. Drums Of Africa [136 BPM]

We go back to Africa on "Drums Of Africa", and it's a very thoughtful track. "African music. Try to capture the spirit of African music. African music comes from a much deeper understanding of what music is - cause they invented it." - this dominant voice-sample is combined with African percussion, tribal chants and an underlying progressive trance sound that sounds like Tegma in their "Encoded/Decoded" days, and overall this track left a pretty strong impression on me.

 

07. A Night In Cairo [132 BPM]

"A Night In Cairo" is a trip back to the more oriental vibes, and I think the best way to describe it, is as a progressive version of Tikal. Generally it seems to have a quite similar vibe going on, but it also leaves the same impression as the last Tikal-album on me - it seems like they try too hard to get that oriental feeling, and thus it feels a bit over the top. Didn't like it.

 

08. I Wanna Be A Robostar [134 BPM]

After the organic, world-music section of the album, the last two tracks are more in an urban technoish direction. "I Wanna Be A Robostar" is a strong, upbeat tune with only a hint of oriental vocals, but a very solid groove, smooth big pads and very funky grooves. A bit similar to Ticon, but funkier and with a bit more edge - a stand out tune for sure.

 

09. Spooked [130 BPM]

The last tune on the album is "Spooked", and it goes even more into the electro/progressive house/progressive trance realm. It starts with a cool breakish intro, and slowly goes into a solid big-room progressive house/trance sound with clear similarities to stuff like Luke Chable. A great final tune, and as a very nice touch, it ends with the same "The world is changed" voice-sample from "Lord Of The Rings" they also used in the opening track.

 

 

Bottom line:

 

In only few months we've been spoiled with two very organic and tribal progressive psytrance albums. First the Perfect Stranger album "Learning = Change", which was released on Iboga, and now the Tegma album "Around The World In 80 Minutes", released on Tribal Vision - comparing the two albums seems unfair though, as they have an entirely different approach. "Around The World In 80 Minutes" has a very strong concept with influences from all over the world, and for most part it's a great album, but there are times (track 2 and 7) where it, to me, feels like they took it a bit too far.

 

"Around The World In 80 Minutes" leaves a much better impression than the more full on influenced "002: Avant.Garde" though, and I consider it equally good as their 2002 debut "Encoded/Decoded". A very recommended album overall.

 

 

Favourites:

 

1 (!!), 3 (!!) 4, 6 (!!), 8 (!!), 9 (!!)

 

 

Verdict:

 

8,5/10

 

 

Links:

 

Tribal Vision Records: http://www.tribalvision.cz

Tegma: http://www.tegmatekk.com

[Tox]

Tegma’s latest album 002 Avant.garde was more uptempo & kinda melodic trance.

Right after their latest album was released, they spread the message that their new stuff would be more in the vein of their progressive roots.

So, have they gone back to the days of “Akabar” ???

 

Our World kicks of the jams with that familiar sounding LOTR-sample.

“The world is changed, I feel it in the water, I feel it in the air, I smell it in the air!”

The world has changed indeed because this is a pretty good taste of what’s to come: Progressive Tribal Trance to the max!

 

On the road in Egypt Temga met Paul El-Younani, an expert in Arabic music. They jammed together & their experiments were the basis for this track: Desert Tale. I just love these Eastern influences, combined with Scandinavian Progressive Trance. Especially the ethnic voices bring a special sound to this composition. A really nice blend of different styles & musical concepts. Briliant fusion!

 

As it’s title suggests, El Mariachi has a more Latin-American flavour to it. & spicy it is: synthetic rhythms fused with Spanish guitars into one organic composition that’s rocks the hell out of you. Catchy without being shallow, hypnotic without being boring.

 

Both Tribal Dancer & Drums Of Africa are heavily based of vocal samples that are looped into entrancing mantras. Tegma also used a lot of these on their previous album. It’s one of their trademarks so to speak & it’s a very effective way to build a certain atmosphere. It also distinguishes the tracks from each other, but they remain kinda similar, not that that’s a bad thing. Afrohouse but seriously tranced-up with percussive build-ups & a slightly melodic evolution throughout the tracks.

 

A Night In Cairo is one of the absolute highlights for me. One of the few tracks that establishes a truly dark mood, in particular through the superb & haunting chanting/singing. The fact that you won’t understand the lyrics only adds to the mysterious character. In the second half, the electronics come out to play & make this into a full-blown, up-tempo dance floor monster! You can tell this was originally designed to be played live, because over a big PA this is guaranteed to rattle your brain!

 

I Wanna Be A Robostar reminds me of Kraftwerk meets Ticon but that’s not a bad thing & with Spooked we end up exactly where we started of: “The world is changed!”

 

Finally an ORIGINAL trance release! If there ever was an album that has real “ Tribal Vision”, this is it. As Omar and Jason promised, this is “progression” in every sense of the word. Thinking outside the box, including musical influences from all styles of “world music”. If you check out Encoded/Decoded, you’ll realise that Tegma has been trying to do this for a long time, but never succeeded so well as this time. On the second album the relied a bit too much on movie-samples, but here they get inspiration from all over the place.

Many comparisons have already been made to describe their new sound, so I’ll give one too. Think Sphongle meets Jaïa: this is the kind of album Postford could have made if he wouldn’t still be stuck in the 90’s...

A truely GREAT piece of music that goes way beyond regular progressive trance & deserves an open-minded audience!

[supergroover]

overrated album imo, not going to elaborate about that but it isn't the majestic piece of prog some people claim it to be IMO!

It's definitely not bad though.. but not going to be on my buy list!

[furthur]

if the cairo you played live in montreal was a version of the cairo on this albu, i must agree that it works wonders on the dancefloor

was definitely the highlight of that set for me

[TranceChick]

OMG~osh… Tribal Vision has done it again!

My heart has been opened to the addictive Progressive sound!

(this coming from a Full On freak!)

 

Tegma have taken the scene by storm with this release!

 

My favorite tracks from this beautifully structured, brilliantly mastered, extremely well put together album!

“Audio Art” as I call it!!

 

*Desert Tale

*El Mariachi

*Tribal Dancer

*Drums Of Africa

*A Night In Cairo

*I Wanna Be A Robostar

*Spooked

 

This album went beyond any of my expectations!

Mind blowing waves of numbing euphoria is what I experience when listening to each track… over and over!

I can’t get enough!

 

The monstrous success of this album happened as soon as the idea for it was conceived!

“Around The World In 80 Minutes” is a true masterpiece, and I sense it will be best Progressive album of 2006!

 

Thank you Omar, Jason, Michal and the rest of the Tribal Vision crew!!

An absolutely fantastic job!

 

[Drosophila]

Great diversity! Nice to hear some ethnic-progress-mixture

 

Really like track 2,3,4,6,7

7 "A night In Cairo" has to by my fav! Great stuff

[abasio]

I really enjoyed this album. Vary varied so it sounds interseting all the way through and on repeated listens (so far).

I particularly like I wanna be a Robostar. Very cool and at the end they use a great telephone sample. It sounds like a Japanese customer service representative explaining to Jason what he must do. Customer service in Japan although often real people can sound very robotic when they stick to their Script!

Anyway cool album. Not sure about the cover or the pictures of the artists inside though

[simon00]

Love this album and can imagine playing it for a long time to come, there isnt a single ff moment on the cd.

[Ale]

Love this album and can imagine playing it for a long time to come, there isnt a single ff moment on the cd.

547722[/snapback]

This kind of house music have nothing to do with real psychedelic trance

[pr0fane]

This kind of house music have nothing to do with real psychedelic trance

550924[/snapback]

Troll.

[simon00]

This kind of house music have nothing to do with real psychedelic trance

550924[/snapback]

Seems lots of people disagree with you.

[DeathPosture]

Seems lots of people disagree with you. 

551257[/snapback]

Actually I do agree... This CD has nothing to do with real psychedelic trance... But that was never the intention in the first place...

[IAMbenjy]

second best live act of this year

shared second place with ticon

 

(nr1 cosmosis)

[alleycat]

This release solidified my love of progressive trance! I dont care if its house or what. I love it! Recently I got a copy of Tegma's previous albium, 002:avant garde, which is a perfect example of hybrid prog, they even use some fullon style basslines. Around the World is FAR better than the previous album. I love all the ethnic-world instruments and samples! Tegma sure likes to have concept albums it seems. Which seems to be a good thing!

[yohankiwi]

For me, this album stands alongside Son Kite's Colours as my all time favourite progressive album. So much variety, so many sounds, so much intricacy... Outstanding from start to finish. Not really much to add to all the great reviews above, so I'm just gonna go ahead and give this album an 11/10

 

Favourites:

2 (!), 3, 4 (!!), 6 (!!!), 7 (!!!), 8, 9 (!)

[DeathPosture]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7fAfsauXGk8

I've been on a nostalgia trip recently, reminiscing about the good old days.
Today it was time to revisit this classic Tegma-album. And naturally it still holds up really well today - this is timeless music and still sounds as fresh today, as it did back in 2006.
Sexy stuff for sure.