Basilisk Posted January 7, 2005 Share Posted January 7, 2005 Protoculture · Refractions Nano 2003 (CD Album) 01 :: Homeworld 02 :: Silicon Sunrise 03 :: Magnetik 04 :: Refractions 05 :: Hallusignorita 06 :: More Directions 07 :: Avalon 08 :: High Orbit 09 :: Melody Machine Bonus :: Peekaboo [...] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Punit Posted January 9, 2005 Share Posted January 9, 2005 Very nice review. sums up the album accurately. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pr0fane Posted January 9, 2005 Share Posted January 9, 2005 Nice review, but I don't agree with your rating. Actually I think it's one of the best morning full on albums since Astrix's almost legendary first album "Eye To Eye". Almost all tracks featured are of very high quality, and the extra track "Peekaboo" was also a very nice addition, and is of the same high level as the rest of the album. Only downside was probably "High Orbit" and "More Directions", where I prefered the original "New Directions". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pedro Posted January 9, 2005 Share Posted January 9, 2005 A very well written review that matches my experience. Thanks. Pedro Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tatsu Posted January 10, 2005 Share Posted January 10, 2005 I got the Protoculture album in my last stock of ordered CDs and I really like it. The style reminds me a bit of Blue Vortex and I think it is really nice morning music. And Basilisk's review is very good, not much to add. My rating is a bit higher: 7.5/10. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Basilisk Posted January 10, 2005 Author Share Posted January 10, 2005 On the topic of ratings, here's my schema: 10 incredible 9 excellent 8 great 7 good 6 above average 5 average 4 below average 3 bad 2 awful 1 terrible This is a bit different than usual I think, where most albums score 6 to 10 on personal rating scales... 6 isn't a bad rating - it's still better than average. Hope that clears that up Glad you ppl liked the review... it sure took a lot of listening to arrive at it Peace. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ritual om Posted January 12, 2005 Share Posted January 12, 2005 More Directions Avalon. u shoould have a listen to these tracks.very nice drift and very soothing atmosphere.lots of feeling in there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hayato Posted January 21, 2005 Share Posted January 21, 2005 avalon is a good track actually it is very sexy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frontier Psychiatrist Posted January 28, 2005 Share Posted January 28, 2005 More Direction is a classic. Perfect morning tune. Heard it first @ Boom and it did it's work very well. The rest is quite mediocre. Except the first tune that is quite nice and Avalon which is nice as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpawN Posted February 6, 2005 Share Posted February 6, 2005 More Directions Avalon. u shoould have a listen to these tracks.very nice drift and very soothing atmosphere.lots of feeling in there. 210816[/snapback] yaeah im not in the morning full on style but this is 1 of the best morning fulll on album ever relasd i prefer harder stuff but this is great album! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Manuser Posted February 23, 2005 Share Posted February 23, 2005 Listened to it 2 times, and this album doesn't catch my attention, generally i listen to albums doing something else, and the 2 listens i got don't remind me something amazing, it's a kind of soft full on, morning full on, some melodies, but nothing original... of course it's quite pleasant to hear this kind of music, but it's not memorable... : ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subsonik Posted April 12, 2005 Share Posted April 12, 2005 I luff dis album wid all me hearts! I got hooked on listening to it over and over for a week a year ago. I still listen to it very often and I too rank it up there with eye to eye. And it's not cos I'm Seauth Ifrikin. My favourite style of music, and a very rare addition to psytrance at that. 9/10 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maden Posted July 11, 2005 Share Posted July 11, 2005 I bought the cd few week ago cause i think this south african artist is a great talent, but i really think its music miss some power, some energy. All the track for me are some good ideas but there are all pretty empty, one exemple is the track refractions, its own some very nice melody (2 or 3 different ideas explained by different melodies), but it's not fully explored, at the end off this track i feel hungry, where is the power ... ? I read that a lot off people liked it a lot, and especially avalon 's track, but it doesn't kick my ass by the bassline, and don't blow my mind by the melody, don't make me voyage with the voice and transition between the ideas, what do you like in this track ? I feel a big potential in its album, but maybe not used like i would to be. I dunno, i feel alone now ... can i dance with you guys anymore ? plur Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Cocco Posted October 8, 2006 Share Posted October 8, 2006 PROTOCULTURE - REFRACTIONS200301. Homeworld ... B02. Silicon Sunrise ... B-03. Magnetik ... B04. Refractions ... B-05. Hallusignorita ... C+06. More Directions ... B-07. Avalon ... B08. High Orbit ... C+09. Melody Machine ... B-There is something very pleasent about good progressive / Full On. This is less progressive I think which always confused me because progressive in actuality seems to progress far less than psytrance...so why call it progressive? Why not just call it trance or full on trance here?Protoculture to me sounds like good club trance without pop influences. Like Antix for example, it's not that psychedelic. The music is generally peacefully and uplifting. The album is fairly predictable, which is why I am not a huge fan of Full On. The downside is that a few songs are don't stand out so much; they're generic, such as Halusignorita. None are bad though. Several introduce nice melodies that soon leave, never developing their full potential. Few times the song appears to build up, only to continue the same sound from before; this gives me the impression that the artist(s) cared more about speeding up the BPM as opposed to doing more with the music. Even AVALON would be somewhat average, standard Full On if not for the sexy female voice bits, followed by the short singing segment that saves it. In conclusion, this album has some very nice melodies, and there could have been more. Rarely am I held by a melody here for long. I often feel it's nice sounding and that's it. The more organic sounding instruments (Magnetik) and the short, occasional vocal effects (Avalon) are catchy. If the artist(s) added more of these colorful characteristics and melodies, and developed them more, this album could have been more engaging. The second half of AVALON is my favorite part here; it's catchy and unexpected; the sexy skipping vocals, etc. More unexpected catchy parts on the overall album would have been great. The sound after all is friendly throughout. The artist(s) have a good thing going. Why make less creative (generic) songs with it? Overall, Refractions is a pretty good album. You may find yourself coming back to it one day, forgetting about its smooth style that is quite enjoyable at times. Potential exists for a stronger more imaginative and infectious release yet.FAVE SONGS: 1, 3, 7, 9.B- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PRS Posted May 13, 2010 Share Posted May 13, 2010 I had this album at 6/10 a long time. But finally after a long pause, im now listening to it all the time! Great music really. I had to get used to the older sound, but a certain rawness it has to it makes it good. I would give it an 8.5/10 now at least. Still don't like the Circadians album that much though, and to be honest I don't expect anything from this artist anymore. The newer sound it will have will most certainly not cut it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trance2MoveU Posted September 6, 2013 Share Posted September 6, 2013 Artist: Protoculture Title: Refractions Label: Nano Records Date: October, 2003 1. Homeworld2. Silicon Sunrise3. Magnetik4. Refractions5. Halusignorita6. More directions7. Avalon8. High Orbit9. Melody Machine Wow is this already 10 years old? Hard to believe. I liked it then, but I really like it now. From the uplifting breakbeat of Homeworld to that infectious wobble of Silicon Sunrise this is an excellent release. It's very melodic and highly uplifting while leaving the cheese in the fridge. South African Nate Raubenheimer always straddled the progressive line and his debut is no different. Frequently lush and multi layered it doesn't travel large stretches with inactivity. Sure it ventures into commercial trance at times (a style he would explore on subsequent albums), but it's still an extremely well produced effort. This guy makes the melodic stuff look easy and it's persistent quality throughout. No lags or filler tracks, but a euphoric feeling that only brings smiles. If he was able to make good full on back in 03 it shows you the amount of talent he had and the lack thereof in many other full on producers. Classic full-on sounds like an oxymoron, but I would put this in that category. Mdk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trance2MoveU Posted January 14, 2015 Share Posted January 14, 2015 After listening to this again it's still good, deep psytrance. Especially for 2003. A little shine has come off the diamond so I cannot call it a classic, but I would still put it up there as one of the better full-on efforts. His later albums Circadians and LoveTechnology were superior to my ears. Mdk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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