pr0fane Posted January 18, 2006 Share Posted January 18, 2006 Artist: Antix Title: Twin Coast Remixes Label: Iboga Format: CD (Jewelcase with 4 page inlay) Released: November, 2005 Review: Take one of the most successful progressive albums of 2005, ask some of the most well-respected artists on the scene to remix it, and you have Antix's "Twin Coast Remixes": A highly anticipated remix-release with appearances by artists like FREq, Phony Orphants, D-Nox & Beckers, Vibrasphere and Sun Control Species. The original release is Antix's critically acclaimed 2nd album "Twin Coast Discovery", and behind the remix-album is Danish powerhouse Iboga Records – the most active progressive label in 2005, and widely a label widely considered as one of the most important on the progressive labels on the scene today. 01. Antix - Le Lascard (D-Nox & Beckers Remix) [130 BPM] First remix is from D-Nox & Beckers, the sizzling hot German duo with some truly stunning releases behind them the last year. As expected their remix of "Le Lascard" is groovier than the original, but isn't quite as dirty and funky as some of their later works. Their version never gets as euphoric as the thematic original, but is overall quite good - delicate and enjoyable. 02. Antix - Hiding Place (Phony Orphants Remix) [125 BPM] The danish duo Phony Orphants is up next with their remix of "Hiding Place" - a track that already was a remix Antix/Fiord made of Rhian Sheehan and Jess Chambers track by the same name. Like on the latest Phony Orphants album, the sound here is very oldschool-inspired, with a very distinct 80's touch. While it worked pretty good on the album, this remix feels slightly awkward to me though - the epic vocals doesn't seem to fit very well with the dirty electro synths. 03. Antix - Cold Nights (FREq Remix) [130 BPM] After the release of his monster-hit of an album, "Strange Attractors" back in 2004, FREq seemed to move towards the faster and faster progressive sound, but lately he has moved back in the groovier territory around the 130 BPM mark. In my opinion the slower tempo fit better with his sounds, and this remix of "Cold Night" is certainly no exception - laidback, but with a stunning big-room sound, big pads and delightful melodies. Excellent remix, and in my opinion FREq's best work for quite a while. 04. Antix - Little Honey (Fitalic Remix) [130 BPM] Up next is "Little Honey" remixed by Robbin Fitter from Holland, better known as Fitalic. The groove is - as always by Fitalic - bouncy and upbeat, and it works fine with the melancholic theme from the original. Not a very original remix overall though, but I can't say that I didn't find it enjoyable. 05. Antix - Forever Changing (Vibrasphere Remix) [133 BPM] "Forever Changing" was in my opinion one of the standout tracks on the original album, so a remix by one of my favourite acts, Vibrasphere was something I was looking very much forward to. Sadly the result was a disappointment: Vibrasphere left out their trademark; the big room reverbs and trancy pads, and instead the remix is rather flat and sterile - not necessarily bad, but not that noteworthy either. 06. Antix - Little Honey (Sun Control Species vs. Osiris Indriya Remix) [130 BPM] Sun Control Species team up with the, to me, unknown artist Osiris Indriya from USA on the remix of "Little Honey". Their version is very close to the melancholic original, yet with a deeper and slightly gloomier atmosphere and embellished with delicious tribal percussion. A very pleasant track, but as a remix I found it to be too close to the original, and not really that interesting. 07. Antix - Le Lascard (Ohrsten Nors Remix) [128 BPM] Ohrsten Nors from Germany isn't among the more well-known names on the progressive scene, but a few years ago he appeared on a few releases from labels like Tatsu, Nanobeat and Plastik Park. His remix of "Le Lascard" is certainly among the more daring on the CD - dark, rough and minimal, but despite the good intentions I didn't really connect to it. I especially didn't like what he did to the vocals. 08. Fiord - Hybrid [128 BPM] The Strom Brothers themselves finish the remix-CD with "Hybrid", made under their new alternative project Fiord. It's a really delicious trancy breakbeat tune, and as the name slightly suggests, it's a hybrid of some of the tracks from "Twin Coast Discovery", like the theme from "Le Lascard" and the melancholic female vocals from "Cold Nights", plus some entirely new melodies. Delicate track, and a fine way to end the CD. Bottom line: If you liked the Antix-album, I am certain you're going to like most of this as well, as the sound is pretty close to the one on the album. That is perhaps also the biggest problem though - the remixes are generally a bit too similar to the originals, and I would have preferred if the release had some more diversity. That being said, the overall quality of the remixes was pretty good - the only true disappointment was the Vibrasphere remix, which didn't live up to my expectations. So "Twin Coast Remixes" is a good package - it doesn't quite reach the same high level as the original album, but is certainly worth the money. Favourites: 1, 3 (!!), 4, 6, 8 Verdict: 7,5/10 Link: Iboga Records: http://www.iboga.dk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sherlockalien Posted January 19, 2006 Share Posted January 19, 2006 yep the freq remix is the best here imo too... I was very surprised with how it sounded 'hollow'... awesome change from his old usual stuff, that was already getting boring.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeathPosture Posted February 3, 2006 Share Posted February 3, 2006 Antix – Twin Coast Remixes Artist: Various Title: Twin Coast Remixes Format: CD (jewel case) Label: Iboga Records (Denmark) Cat. #: IBOGACD34 Distribution: twohandsdistribution.com Date: 05 November 2005 Track listing: 01. 08’02” Antix – Le Lascard (D-Nox & Beckers Remix) 02. 08’07” Rhian Sheehan feat. Jess Chambers - Hiding Place (Phony Orphants Remix) 03. 08’16” Antix – Cold Nights (FREq Remix) 04. 08’52” Antix – Little Honey (Fitalic Remix) 05. 09’05” Antix – Forever Changing (Vibrasphere Remix) 06. 07’09” Antix – Little Honey (Sun Control Species vs. Osiris Indriya Remix) 07. 08’31” Antix – Le Lascard (Ohrsten Nors Remix) 08. 09’10” Fiord - Hybrid Review: Lush, plush, antics… Remixed! When the Kiwi production duo Antix (Barton & Hayden Strom) released their second album Twin Coast Discovery in April 2005 it was met with a landslide of positive comments coming from both progressive circles and from the crossover club crowd… And sure enough, it was a pretty solid album but I still felt it lacked a little ‘bite’… So how about pulling in some of biggest names in progressive trance and have the remix a few tracks? Sounds like a damn good idea to me… Let me take you thru the tracks… #01: Antix – Le Lascard (D-Nox & Beckers Remix) [130 BPM] With its massive wall-to-wall progressive soundscapes Le Lascard was my absolute fav’e track from TCD – and here’s a remix by some of the hottest progressive producers on the German scene… This remix pays a lot of homage to the original and quite frankly I could have wished for some more experimentation here… Don’t get me wrong, this is still a pretty damn solid track – it’s just too similar to the original… #02: Rhian Sheehan feat. Jess Chambers - Hiding Place (Phony Orphants Remix) [125 BPM] The Fiord-remix of Rhian Sheenan’s Hiding Place was among the most commercial tracks on TCD, so a remix by Danish production Phony Orphants (Mikkel Dahlgaard & Jeppe Ørnkilde) should be more interesting that the original… And sure enough, I find this much more appealing… Gone are the most obvious cheese-pitfalls and the guys have added a healthy dose of electro-edge… I’m still not the biggest fan of the vox, but this remix beats the crap out of the Fiord remix! Nice! #03: Antix – Cold Nights (FREq Remix) [130 BPM] Cold Nights is another fav’e from TCD and when I saw it was FREq (Aran Gallagher) remixing it, I immediately creamed my pants… Aran has taken the best parts of the groovy original and made it even groovier with a very mysterious, lazy touch… The FREq trademark wall-to-wall groove is very evident here – and I totally dig it… #04: Antix – Little Honey (Fitalic Remix) [130 BPM] Another fav’e from TCD – remixed by Dutch producer Robin Fitter… Despite his impressive release roster, I haven’t really listened to that much of his stuff… Anyway, what we get here is a more rhythm-based remix of the very uplifting original… The percussion section is right in the forefront of the sound picture, and basically this is a tribal trance-fest with epic melodies… Pretty nice, but I find myself mildly bored during the long epic middle run… #05: Antix – Forever Changing (Vibrasphere Remix) [133 BPM] The original track was not among my personal fav’es on TCD, so who better to make things right than the undisputed heavy weights of lush-plush Swedish progressive trance? Vibrasphere (Rickard Berglöf & Robert Elster) have seldom let me down and I’m happy to say that once again, the boys deliver an amazing track… Thick, warm, groovy progressive trance – riddled with huge reverbs and phat transitions… Oh yes, this is much, much better than the original track… Brilliant! #06: Antix – Little Honey (Sun Control Species vs. Osiris Indriya Remix) [130 BPM] I have no idea whatsoever who Osiris Indriya is, but what I’ve heard from Australian producer Sun Control Species (Andrew Davidson) has been pretty good… This is probably the remix on this disc which is closest to the original – and that’s a shame really… I mean, the original is nicey nice and so is this remix… But it doesn’t really contribute with much new stuff… A decent track… #07: Antix – Le Lascard (Ohrsten Nors Remix) [128 BPM] This is my first encounter with the works of German producer Ohrsten Nors and luckily this remix has balls compared to the D-Nox & Beckers remix… Make that A LOT of balls… Finally! Oh yes, this is a deeply experimental tune that besides from the cut up vocals + the occasional reverb bears very little resemblance to the original… Very refreshing! It’s not necessary a better track than the original, but I still like when remixers go all the way… Interesting track! #08: Fiord – Hybrid [128 BPM] Fiord is a commercial Antix alias, and this aptly named track contains various elements from a bunch of the remixed tracks… A hybrid so to speak! The old mega-mix concept is something that we see too rarely within our scene – and I’ve kinda missed that actually, so this is welcomed opportunity to sample the best parts of the TCD album in one little track! Sweeeeeet! So, how does the Twin Coast Remixes compare to Twin Coast Discovery? Well, both albums have their pros and cons (well d’uh!) but seeing as how I found large parts of TCD too commercial, and how TCR has more stand-out tracks, I’m ready to declare the winner: The Remixes! That’s right, this is the better album of the two – but I still have to recommend owning both as they complete each other nicely… Another high quality Iboga release that will appeal to most fans of smooth, groovy ear-candy… So yeah, this is recommended to fans of both the original album and to fans of progressive trance in general… It’s real tasty! … Enjoy! Favourites: 2, 3(!), 5(!), 7, 8(!) DeathPosture External links: Iboga Records: http://www.iboga.dk Discogs: http://www.discogs.com/release/555655 Saiko Sounds: http://tinyurl.com/8u3zc TranceShop: http://tinyurl.com/9q9ed Beatspace: http://tinyurl.com/dz9m9 E-Music: http://tinyurl.com/bbbfn Psyshop: http://tinyurl.com/78d56 Chaos: http://tinyurl.com/bclub Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Basilisk Posted February 3, 2006 Share Posted February 3, 2006 I gave it many chances, but ultimately I can't say I like this release all that much. The original is far superior imho. Lovely cover however! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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