DeathPosture Posted November 4, 2005 Share Posted November 4, 2005 V/A – Mountain High 2 Hi-res cover: front + back Artist: Various Title: Mountain High 2 Format: CD (digipack) Label: Candyflip Records (Greece) Cat. #: CFR CD16 Distribution: Arabesque Date: October 2005 Track listing: 01. 06’23” Cell – The Gate 02. 05’24” Max Maxwell & TKY - Twilight 03. 07’27” Kick Bong – Way Of Life 04. 06’23” Lideres Band feat. Bede – Close (Chill Mix) 05. 06’25” Max Maxwell - Isha 06. 05’38” Lideres Band – Secrets Of The Truth 07. 06’16” Kick Bong - Ballad 08. 07’17” I.X.Ω.P. - Forever 09. 04’24” Lideres Band feat. Bede - Duende 10. 08’09” Aes Dana – Bam 11. 07’22” Solar Fields – Good Times .m3u-playlist: http://tinyurl.com/9bnu8 (all tracks!) Review: Misty mountains of Greece re-visited! Candyflip Records from Greece is back with the long awaited follow-up to the 2003 chill-compilation Mountain High… The first one was an epic journey of high-quality chill-out – and by the looks of the track list, this one is too… Alex Candy has spent more than 18 months hand-picking these tracks and I feel pretty confident he knows what he’s doing… Let’s find out… Let me take you thru the tracks… #01: Cell – The Gate As on the first Mountain High compilation, we’re graced with a track by French sound-engineer Alex Scheffer… I find that the quality of his tracks often varies a great deal… Sometimes he creates amazing music, and other times mediocre stuff… But damn – this is good! Very chilled, laid-back tribal downbeat… Yeah, you’ll gather plenty of energy to climb the mountain with this ethno-lush and luxurious track! Very sweet! #02: Max Maxwell & TKY – Twilight A shorter version of this track was also released by Com.Pact Records earlier this year on the Unwind - A Journey Into Global Grooves compilation… Max Maxwell from New Zealand collaborates with Yaniv Zaidman on this dusky track… This is downbeat world-music relying heavily on sample-CDs, but with enough originality to keep me interested… Slow and poking – lukewarm and tasty… Reminds me of Asura… Pretty good, but not outstanding and a little too short… #03: Kick Bong – Way Of Life French producer Franck Jousselin was also on the first Mountain High with a very nice tribal track… And yeah, this is very tribal too… Complete with native chanting and rainforest showers…Add some dubby, slow-paced space stabs – and you’ve pretty much now what you’re dealing with… All in all a very nice, chilled hybrid track… I dig it! ;o) #04: Lideres Band feat. Bede – Close (Chill Mix) The Lideres Band was formed in Barcelona by Brazilian Rafael Mello (a.k.a. DJ Basbu) who was joined by percussionist and producer Jose España and bass player Juan Carlos… This is dubby ethno-electro-chill with emphasis on an enchanting flute line… Also the string-work is impressive here… Kinda reminds me of Gotan Project… A really, really nice tune! #05: Max Maxwell – Isha Max from Golden Bay, New Zealand is on his own on this track… Yeah, this is lush, plush world music… Ranging from laid-back dub to crossover downbeat… More flute-action + an impressive array of percussion… I really dig the heavily vocoded ethno-chants… They are probably from some sample CD, but they are very nicely put together here… Sounds like a tune straight out of a Macao Café compilation… Sweet! #06: Lideres Band – Secrets Of The Truth The Lideres posse again – with a strange Engrish track title!? This choon relies more on electro bits than the previous ones, and as such it seems less organic and peaceful to me… That being said, this is still a pretty decent track… Journey-wise it also fit in; it’s just not among the best here… #07: Kick Bong – Ballad Franck Jousselin makes his last appearance here – with a ballad! Well, it’s not really a ballad – more like intergalactic space chill… We’re approaching the top of the mounting coz this is pretty damn chilled… Icy cold actually… Lazy beats, dubby vibes, static background pads and slow bongos… Pretty nice but not as good as the previous Kick Bong track… #08: I.X.Ω.P. – Forever Behind the cryptic name above is Themis Xafis from Thessaloniki, Greece and he also had a track on the 2003 Iboga Records compilation Floating Point 01… This is a very rich, mature track – despite its peaceful appearance it’s packed to the rim with all kinds of advanced chill FX… I’m sure a lot of work went into this… And that paid off – this is a wonderful track! #09: Lideres Band feat. Bede – Duende Here’s the third track from the Spanish downbeat collective… Again the electro-influences are evident, and this doesn’t seem as peaceful as I would have liked it to be… Parts of this are actually pretty eerie and grim… I guess we’ve come across a dark cave on the way to the top of the mountain… A decent track… #10: Aes Dana – Bam Ahh – Ultimae exec Vincent Villuis… Never fails to impress me with his highly atmospheric chill-out… This is a perfect composition of ambient soundscapes evolving into progressive downbeat… Impressive to say the least! Viva la Bam! #11: Solar Fields – Good Times Who better to follow Aes Dana than Solar Fields? Magnus Birgersson is another chill heavy weight, and I really like his artic chill style… This is more pure ambient turning into intelligent downbeat… Floating, drifting, soothing – and eventually head-bopping! Nice track to finish the journey… So – how does this compare to the first Mountain High? Hard to say, but after some hardcore thinking I’ve come to the conclusion that this isn’t better – it’s equally good… There are some tracks here that don’t exactly rub me the right way – but then again, there are also a bunch of really awesome downbeat tracks… Also the cover art here is some of the most beautiful I’ve seen in a while… This compilation works pretty well both with and without headphones… And journey-wise I find it pretty good and varied… Lots of cross-over material here, which is a good thing! All in all, this is a solid downbeat compilation… Perhaps not essential, but still pretty damn good! A safe buy for hardened chillers though… Enjoy! Favourites: 1(!), 3, 4(!), 5(!), 8(!), 10(!), 11 DeathPosture External links: Candyflip Records: http://www.candyflip-records.com Discogs: http://www.discogs.com/release/548510 Saiko Sounds: http://tinyurl.com/7ornx TranceShop: http://tinyurl.com/dregb Amboworld: http://tinyurl.com/8lxjy Discobole: http://tinyurl.com/bd6jx Psyshop: http://tinyurl.com/8p3wd Wirikuta: http://tinyurl.com/8a2gd Wakyo: http://tinyurl.com/cgm5q Chaos: http://tinyurl.com/7l6b4 Cisco: http://tinyurl.com/8hc75 Juno: http://tinyurl.com/9h6f2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abasio Posted December 14, 2005 Share Posted December 14, 2005 I enjoyed the album a lot, especially the kick bong tracks. I never really got into the first one but I'll definately give it a few extra listens after I heard the quality of this release, very nice to relax too. The Kick Bong album itself is alright but my copy seems to be flawed and wont play one of the tracks. Damn. Mountain high two is definately worth a listen 7/10 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pr0fane Posted January 8, 2006 Share Posted January 8, 2006 Artist: Various Title: Mountain High 2 - compiled by Alex Candy Label: Candyflip Format: CD (Digipack) Released: October, 2005 Cover: http://217.160.138.169/pic_b/cfr1cd016_b.jpg Review: From one of Greece's most well-known labels Candyflip, mostly known for their releases in progressive circles, comes the 2nd compilation in the chilled out "Mountain High" series - compiled by the label-manager Alex Candy. The first chapter contained 11 tracks from artists like Vibrasphere, J.Viewz, Aes Dana, Nada, Solar Fields and Cell, and on the 2nd chapter Cell, Kick Bong, Aes Dana and Solar Field return - in addition to a bunch of newer artists. 01. Cell – The Gate French Alex Scheffer, better known as Cell, has in a few years established himself as one of the most sought after psychedelic chillout acts, with his easily digestible form of ethnic influenced chillout. "The Gate" is pretty close to his usual formula, and it works like a charm - very deep and engaging atmosphere, with a slightly mysterious touch to it. One of my favourite tracks from him. 02. Max Maxwell & TKY - Twilight Max Maxwell, known from releases on labels like Ceiba, Com.Pact and Zulu Lounge, team up with the Agitato-regular TKY on "Twilight". Another ethnic psychillout tune with fine male and female vocals, sweet piano melodies and some slightly shrill synths. Kind of nice but nothing more. 03. Kick Bong – Way Of Life The French Franck Jousselin, better know under his Kick Bong project, with releases on labels like Spirit Zone and Peak, as well as an album on Ultra Vista, is up next with "Way Of Life". A uplifting, yet kind of melancholic tune with a beautiful vocal heavy on fx. It's slowly paced, but has a very catchy and bassheavy groove that will surely get people dancing in the chillout. 04. Lideres Band – Close (Chill Mix feat. Bede) Lideres Band is a quite new trio from Barcelona, Spain (actually this is their first release), but it shines as a really impressive piece of work, and certainly not as something coming from newcomers. It has a laidback, funky feel, and with a nice dynamic touch with real instruments like strings and flutes. Very positive track. 05. Max Maxwell - Isha The Kiwi Max Maxwell continue with his 2nd track on the compilation, "Isha", and once again it's a very ethnic tune with male and female vocals (which, in this case did get slightly on my nerves), although this time more energetic. Fine track, although it doesn't really stand out. 06. Lideres Band – Secrets Of The Truth "Secrets Of The Truth" is the 2nd contribution by the Spanish trio Lideres Band, and it's quite different compared to the first one. Not quite as organic and chilled, but with a more upbeat feel, and sweet piano-melodies. Good tune, but doesn't quite live up to the first one. 07. Kick Bong - Ballad "Ballad" continue where Kick Bongs first track "Way Of Life" left of - in danceable 4/4 chillout territory. "Ballad" has some distinct samba-influences, and the mood is uplifting, yet with quite mysterious undertones in forms of dark pads and gloomy vocals. Not quite as good as "Way Of Life", but a good tune overall. 08. I.X.Ω.P. - Forever I don't know much about I.X.Ω.P., apart from the fact that it's a one-man project from Greece, and that he also appeared on Ibogas first "Floating Point" compilation a few years back. "Forever" is a quite enjoyable tune, with an atmosphere reminding me of walking through an oriental market, yet with a quite digital touch. The "Lord Of The Ring" sample seemed misplaced though. 09. Lideres Band – Duende (feat. Bede) With 3 appearances the new Spanish trio Lideres Band certainly made a huge impact on this release. "Duende" is darker and more jazzy than their first two inputs though, but still, mainly use to the dominant use of real instruments, with a very organic touch. Not up there with "Close", but certainly has it's place on this release. 10. Aes Dana - Bam Frances Aes Dana is one of the most well-respected acts in the psychedelic chillout-scene today, and "Bam" is indeed another great creation from him. It has a dark and mysterious atmosphere, and slowly raises in intensity, peaking with some amazing drones and deep 4/4 beats. Exquisite track. 11. Solar Fields – Good Times Last but not least Swedens Magnus Birgersson close the compilation as Solar Fields with the track "Good Times". The sound is very ambient-trance'ish with absolutely beautiful yet simple guitar-melodies and stunning uplifting pads. A marvellous end to the compilation, and the kind of tune you'll wish to hear in the chillout when the sun is rising. Bottom line: First things first: "Mountain High 2" is a good release, containing mostly the delightful ethnic psychillout you hear at all festivals nowadays, and gloomier and deeper soundscapes. The flow is really nice, and it's obvious that a lot of thought went into it. It doesn't quite live up to its predecessor though - where the 1st chapter had a very high overall quality, and some truly amazing tracks in the bunch, this CD is more on the average, good-but-not-great side, with only a couple of tracks of spectacular quality. So overall a chillout compilation well above the average standard - not a classic release, but certainly well worth the money. Favourites: 1 (!!), 3, 4, 10 (!!) 11 (!!) Verdict: 7/10 Link: Candyflip Records: http://www.candyflip-records.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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