pr0fane Posted November 26, 2005 Share Posted November 26, 2005 Artist: POTS (Prisoners Of The Sun) Title: Creating Social Success Label: Tribal Vision Format: CD (Jewelcase with 8 page inlay and DJ-insert) Released: November, 2005 Review: After 3 progressive compilations and 1 part-album/part-remixes (Mellers "Rockable"), the hottest new label on the progressive scene, Czech Tribal Vision is ready with their 1st full length album (and their 5th release in just 1 year) - the 2nd album from POTS, perhaps better known to some as Prisoners Of The Sun. POTS is a german duo which consists of Archim Lüthje (also a part of the duo Expect) and Thomas Wilhelmy - they have been releasing music for over half a decade, and was one of the major players in the minimal/progressive wave around the millennium, resulting in releases on almost all the key players on the progressive scene, labels like Iboga, Spiral Trax, ZMA, Plastik Park, Flow, Tatsu, Medium and the late Sunset Records, where they also released their debut album "Are You Scientific Enough?" back in 2001. Apart from a few tracks on compilations here and there, not much has been heard from POTS in later years though - until now, where their new album "Creating Social Success" in on the street: 01. Crystal Cream [130 BPM] "Crystal Cream" gets straight to the point, with a very simple, yet quite positive melody, at first reminding me of some early german progressive, but slowly evolving, getting deeper and warmer, and at the end it feels like getting embraced by a nice, warm blanket. Super sweet opener. 02. Hello Kitty [132 BPM] The laidback "Hello Kitty" take the album in a groovier direction, and it's a wonderful progressive psytrance/progressive house crossover tune. Seriously funky but in a mellow, lazy way and constantly developing with lots of fine little twists and turns along the way. I'm not really into guitars in trance, but the guitars at the end here, are quite delicious, and are a nice touch to a very good tune. 03. Trance Popper [128 BPM] "Trance Popper" is one of the more distinct tunes on the album: it has a very heavy tribal house-oriented groove, lazy but still phat as hell. A gloomy and somewhat strange humming melody enters in the break after 3½ minutes - it feels a bit awkward at first, but as soon as those delicious retro-house and trance pads enter, it's all good. Really great track. 04. Bravo [132 BPM] Next up is the aptly named "Bravo", definitely the most melodic tune on the album, and by far one of my favourites. It has a very distinct wobbly groove with some energetic tribal percussion, and the melodies are simply beautiful on the verge on being epic - not in the increasingly popular cheesy "in-your-face" way, but more thoughtful and on the deep and subtle side. My favourite tune on the album, and the kind of tune that would fit perfectly into an early morning set at a small, intimate party. Bravo! 05. Botox Party [128 BPM] "Botox Party" feels like the logical followup to "Trance Popper", so the morning hymn "Bravo" breaks the flow a little in my opinion. "Botox Party" isn't a bad tune though, groovy progressive psytrance/tribal house crossover with a slightly darkish atmosphere - fine night-tune for the clubs, but not among my favourites. 06. Groove Garden [134 BPM] Tempo is raised with "Groove Garden", which despite the title, puts the house-influences in the background, and takes the album deeper into the progressive psytrance territory. A simple, naïve arpeggiator-melody grooves along totally unaffected while sweet, floating pads are in the background, with some marvellous reverbed tech'ish stabs flying back and forth. Marvelous tune. 07. Eifelgold [140 BPM] Things get a lot faster with "Eifelgold", a tune with a very pre-2002 progressive sound, putting the groove aside and focusing more on a quite static, pumping minimal bassline. Some electric guitar samples seem to be the highlighted theme of the track, with some shallow pads in the background, providing a hint of light. Good, but never really shines as one of the better tunes here. 08. Dandy Division [138 BPM] Although not as pumping and energetic as the previous track, "Dandy Division" almost maintain the relatively high tempo and somewhat oldschool-progressive sound. It's pleasant and dance-friendly morning progressive psytrance, but like the previous track I found it among the weaker tunes on the album - it simply doesn't impress as much as some of the slower tracks. 09. Tussy De Luxe [134 BPM] Last but not least "Tussy De Luxe" ends the compilation in style. Definitely a wonderful, laidback morning tune with nice, soothing pads and sweet guitar-samples, resulting in a very appealing, mellow vibe. After the last two, somewhat disappointing tracks, this is the perfect come-down from a truly great album. Bottom line: A few months ago POTS where featured on Tribal Visions "Inner Circle" compilation with the track "Pole Position Club", and to be honest I found that track very disappointing. Based on that my expectations for "Creating Social Success" where pretty low, but luckily I must say that the album came through as a very positive surprise, with a very sophisticated mixture of morning and night-time progressive psytrance of both the past and present, progressive- and tech-house and slight elements of tribal as well. I doubt it's capable of competing with some of the biggest progressive highlights of the year (Ticon, Antix and Jaïa) in dance floor "hit" potential though. Sure there are some fine dance floor tracks, and most progressive DJ's will probably buy this for their case, but generally I find it too laidback and doubt it's as easy-digestible as the average dancer is requesting. Don't let that fool you though: I love "Creating Social Success", and find the depth, subtleness and attention to detail a huge quality. For home-listening, I find this is one of the best progressive albums in 2005, and I can only recommend it. Favourites: 1, 2, 3, 4 (!!), 6 (!!), 9 (!!) Verdict: 8,5/10 Link: Tribal Vision Records: http://www.tribalvision.cz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stalker Posted November 27, 2005 Share Posted November 27, 2005 Tribals vision has done it again This label is a great news for the scene Always about quality releases. Reminds a litlle of Digital structures on the early ages About the album, i am sure it must be great. I have only listened the samples, but POTS is one of my favorite artists and most likely will not disapoint me at all Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tox Posted November 29, 2005 Share Posted November 29, 2005 Easily one of the most original albums this year! No polished psy-gressive here: overal dry & glitchy yet very emotional at times! This one needs several listenings, so no full review yet... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
krelmatrix Posted November 29, 2005 Share Posted November 29, 2005 Wow - it started off pretty unspectacularly for me, but it really picks up steam starting with track 4. I'm really enjoying this a lot right now. The tracks are rather epic in a minimal and non-cheesy sort of way. Very much trance music, in the technical sense of the word (ie, entrancing). But I'll have to agree with Tox that it will take me several listens to absorb the whole thing. More to come, hopefully after the weekend.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simon00 Posted November 30, 2005 Share Posted November 30, 2005 Im really loving this album, absolutely find the first two tracks stunning. Kind of need to have a better listen to the rest. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amphiton Posted December 1, 2005 Share Posted December 1, 2005 Few listens and I think this is the best TV has brought us so far - deep and trancy, no cheese, no electro. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tox Posted December 7, 2005 Share Posted December 7, 2005 OK here goes... I used to like to old POTS so when I found out they were still alive I was pretty curious what they were up to. After hearing "Pole Position Club", my fav track on V/A – “Inner Circle” my expectations were rather high. But no way I couldn’t have imagined that they would deliver such an innovative album! This is great stuff, the kind of music that really has to grow on a listener. POTS don’t abandon their minimal trance roots, they just updated them. It’s good to finally see that there is more to the progressive scene than the Son Kite/Ticon-sound or the FREq-a-likes. Think Atmos but with a less synthetic & clean sound, FREq without the crystal clear melodies, Jaïa in a depressed mood or AKD with more variation. Fluffy & housey structures combined with raw & uncompromising beats & kicks. Especially the beats sound totally different from what we’re used to these days. It’s like all the tracks were originally created to sound kind of soft & then filtered or rmx’ed to sound more harsh & square. They incorporate housy click’s & cut’s, mnml bleep & bops and techy hi-hats. There are dreamy pads as well, just not on the surface. Sometimes the beauty is wrapt in thick distortion. It’s a beautiful picture, but it’s drawn with a blunt pencil. At the same time there’s no lack of details, but these tiny sound-bytes only expose themselves after several listenings. Instead of going through the tracks one by one I would just like to mention my personal highlights: 04. Bravo: this really is THE bomb. Gently but constantly building & finally locking into endless repetition. Only great artists can paint such a big soundscape with so few elements! Made my eyes water… 05. Botox Party: from Minimal to mnml. Hidden melodic parts in the undertow that shine through the bleeps & clicks, never forgetting the groove. 07. Eifelgold: a faster floorburner that adds variety to the album. In conclusion, it’s very likely that this album will not get the recognition it deserves. This is a new, contemporary fusion of different elements from the past AND the future. & it sounds better every time you listen to it! Check this out, plz… Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeathPosture Posted December 15, 2005 Share Posted December 15, 2005 P.O.T.S. – Creating Social Success Hi-res cover: front + back Artist: Prisoners Of The Sun (Germany) Title: Creating Social Success Format: CD (jewel case) Label: Tribal Vision Records (Czech Republic) Cat. #: TVRCD005 Distribution: Psyshop.com Date: November 2005 Track listing: 01. 08’45” Crystal Cream 02. 09’45” Hello Kitty 03. 08’33” Trance Popper 04. 08’13” Bravo 05. 08’40” Botox Party 06. 07’47” Groove Garden 07. 08’19” Eifelgold 08. 09’40“ Dandy Division 09. 09’42“ Tussy De Luxe .m3u-playlist: http://tinyurl.com/94shj (all tracks!) Review: Music for dancing, trancing and romancing! Prisoners Of The Sun are German producers Thomas Wilhelmy & Joachim Lüthje – and they’ve been in the game since 2000… 2001 saw the release of their debut album Are You Scientific Enough?… An album I purchased back then, but to be honest I got rid of it again as it kinda drowned in the minimal release craze… But now my taste buds have matured, and I’m ready to digest their second album released on visionary Czech label Tribal Vision… Take no prisoners! Let me take you thru the tracks… #01: Crystal Cream [130 BPM] Two sugars and plenty of cream! Oh yeah, this is indeed a nice cup of java… It starts out kinda minimal and reminiscent of their old loopy sound, but soon the track is embraced by some sweet-sweet-sweet melodic pads which are tied up in some extremely pleasant grooves… This is one sexy opening track… Smooth as a motherfucker! Music for dancing, trancing and romancing! A brilliant opener! #02: Hello Kitty [132 BPM] Hello crossover Kitty! The second track sees the Prisoners showcase their diverse production talents…On this track we get everything from dirty house music, over uplifting morning trance to rich progressive trance… And everything in between! Whereas the first couple of minutes might suffer a little from stand-still syndrome, the latter half easily compensates for that with its rich, bubbling playfulness… A text book example on how to create an evolving track… Maybe it’s a little too stretched out though – but as such, it’s perfect for opening a progressive DJ set… Nice, but not among the best tracks here… #03: Trance Popper [128 BPM] Despite the lower BPM count here, this track seems more in-ya-face and dirty – and the title is a dead give away… This track takes you by the hand, shakes you up and leaves you in a tranced-up state… Especially the last half of the track is something else – a deep, crawling, lazy groove makes up 90% of the sound spectre and just leaves you panting… Trancy indeed – and very hypnotizing! A very nice, unique track! #04: Bravo [132 BPM] The pace has quickened and we’re somewhere outdoors now… Nature sounds are mixed perfectly with the smooth percussion creating a very unique sounding rhythm section here… The uplifting, well-placed melodies alongside the phat reverb-groove are soooooo nicely done, and really make this track reach higher levels… I’m impressed – this is fine music! Progressive trance at it’s best! #05: Botox Party [128 BPM] Botox sees the return of the big, shiny synth leads from older POTS tunes – and despite its deeper, murkier nature this track has evident epic, even clubby, passages… I like the drive here – it’s like the Imperial March in a progressive trance version… A nice track for sure, but it lacks some of the jaw-drop qualities of some of the previous tracks… #06: Groove Garden [134 BPM] Whereas the previous track had epic qualities, this track goes down the tech-trance path… The bassline is meaner than ever and the electro-stabs are dominant. This is uplifting tech-trance mind you - we’re getting some solid melodic synth-action here too… A hybrid really, which crosses back and forth between melodic and techy trance… Hard-hitting at times and uplifting at others = a match made in prog-heaven! Sweet! #07: Eifelgold [140 BPM] The track with the weird title is also the fastest here… And I’m sorry to say so, but most parts of this are too fast… I mean, for progressive trance we’re in borderline territory now… Put pitched down a little, I’m sure this track will work wonders… My CD-player won’t let me adjust the pitch though… This is the ‘worst’ track on the CD – and that’s saying a lot, since this is still a pretty decent tune… It just seems oddly out of place here… What a shame! #08: Dandy Division [138 BPM] Do not despise – DD is here to save the day! Well, almost… This is still a little too fast for my progressive taste, but still better balanced than the previous track… The old trance-meter has been cranked up on this one, and we’re getting some serious synth excursions here… Luckily they are mixed well into a fast-paced, tightly-knit rhythm-section – creating a pumping dancefloor track… Nothing groundbreaking, but a nice ‘transition track’ nevertheless… #09: Tussy De Luxe [134 BPM] The closing track takes us back to a more familiar pace... Epic in structure, this is indeed uplifting progressive trance which reminds me of the work of some of the Swedish masters… Instantly groovy and lush as hell! I cannot think of a better, sexier way to end this magnificent album! Lush, plush and sexy… Smooth, groovy and funky… Epic, uplifting and immensely danceable! Need I go on? Thought not… This is indeed a very fine and diverse album… A big old melting pot ranging from fast-paced progressive dancefloor stompers – to laid-back beach groovers… The faster tracks were maybe a little too… Ehrm… Fast! But I still admire the diversity here – something that I often find lacking in progressive albums (Antix anyone? Gaudium?). I’m happy say, that that is NOT the case here… On the contrary! This is a rich, mature album – and the production quality is among the best I’ve heard this year! As always with Tribal Vision we get a very informative, high-quality booklet with DJ case insert… The cover-art could use some spark, but who the hell cares when the music speaks for itself like this does!? A sweet album and a no-brainer purchase for any fan of diverse progressive trance. Enjoy! Favourites: 1(!), 3, 4(!!), 6, 9 DeathPosture External links: Tribal Vision Records: http://www.tribalvision.cz Discogs: http://www.discogs.com/release/570070 Saiko Sounds: http://tinyurl.com/8jko6 Beatspace: http://tinyurl.com/7w3nc Psyshop: http://tinyurl.com/85y9m Wakyo: http://tinyurl.com/c6bjm Chaos: http://tinyurl.com/72urb Juno: http://tinyurl.com/8cbxe Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GaySatanicHippie Posted December 15, 2005 Share Posted December 15, 2005 Ï pretty much agree with evryone above, the fast tracks are just too fast, but the slow tracks are :wub: , especailly the first 5 and the last. The standout is of course no.4, that goes without saying. What strikes me the most however, are the melodies. They are so epic without trying to be epic. Its like you are listening to those songs on the side, but then, right after, you are like "goddamn, that was so intense, what was that???!!!" The good tracks are the kind that get better the more you listen to them, at first unspectacular, but then the real beauty unfolds. I wish i could dance to them during a nice festival at daytime. So, 6 out of 9 aint bad, recomended!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freak51 Posted December 16, 2005 Share Posted December 16, 2005 Creative and nuanced throughout. Most tracks are worthy successors of the excellent "Candy from the Strange Side" that graced 2000's 'Are You Scientific Enough?'. I approve! 8.5/10. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ProSect Posted December 24, 2005 Share Posted December 24, 2005 Wasn't amazed by their previous album back in the days, so this CD would be my real introduction of their work. Crystal Cream is something deeply hypnotizing, something you can smoothly dance to or even dive in your sofa. Hello Kitty got a good and an easy progression, slightly funky and electronic. Shake your ass carefully to the Trance Popper beats - it's something deep and lazy, no overheat. Bravo is something to navigate with far from the urban place, tribal parts and some small light signs within. With Botox Party we're getting even deeper. Dark shades of sound remind me of a ride on a train through the night. Groove Garden by the first part of it leaves you clueless, on the second part of it you're getting more towards the discovering of the paradox. Eifelgold is like a cube full of spirals. metallic percussion and weird noises. Dandy Division tries to be clear but the noises and muddy pads scrambling on the light sources. The jounrey ends with Tussy De Luxe, a good sound simulation of electronic streaming information, futuristic vibes. Creating Social Success didn't set any new standarts, but it definitely a step for a success. No stress in this album, feels totally relaxed, you may move on your own, smooth. Cover art is enjoyable as well, with lot of philosophy! ND www.prosectorium.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Basilisk Posted February 8, 2006 Share Posted February 8, 2006 Review: http://www.ektoplazm.com/reviews/prisoners...social-success/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amphiton Posted February 9, 2006 Share Posted February 9, 2006 Only 7/10, Basilisk? Interesting what psygressive releases from 05 received a better rating from you I still enjoy this one... listen to it pretty often and I think it's one of the best from 05, imo. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Basilisk Posted February 9, 2006 Share Posted February 9, 2006 Careful with my ratings - 6/10 is above average and 7/10 very good. I'm careful to keep it somewhat coherent. In 2005 the only progressive releases which rated higher were Inner Circle and Refresh. That's it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pedro Posted February 12, 2006 Share Posted February 12, 2006 The album starts off with a great track (Crystal Cream) and the quality is sustained throughout the CD. Plenty of groove and quite funky at times, this is a very likeable release. It is smooth, but not over-sugary. Strong recommendation. Pedro Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yerg Posted June 10, 2009 Share Posted June 10, 2009 OMFG!! This is sheer gold. Definitely one of the most creative albums i've heard in this genre. This kind of prog-minimal trance touches you deeply. Tracks like Botox Party, Eifelgold and Tussy de Luxe make this whole genre essential - deep, hypnotising, thought-provoking, underground, cosmic, spiritual etc. I could gather these words eternally - you just better go and listen to it for youself. 9/10 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Manuser Posted March 20, 2014 Share Posted March 20, 2014 awesome CD Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dolmot Posted March 20, 2014 Share Posted March 20, 2014 Artist: POTS (Prisoners Of The Sun) Hey, I learned something today! I always thought it was Plain Old Telephone Service. (Well, maybe not, but never bothered to find out...) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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