POTS - Social Success Remixes

pr0fane · June 28, 2006

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Artist: POTS

Title: Social Success Remixes

Label: Tribal Vision Records

Format: CD (Jewelcase with 12-page booklet and DJ-inlay)

Released: June, 2006

Cover: http://217.160.138.169/pic_b/tvr1cd009_b.jpg

Review:

The German progressive trance group POTS (Prisoners Of The Sun), was the first artist to release a full-length artist album on the Czech Tribal Vision Records, namely the duos 2nd album "Creating Social Success". The album was in my opinion a very strong release, with a sophisticated mix of progressive trance, progressive house and minimal trance, and now, roughly half a year after the release of the album, Tribal Vision Records have released the remix-CD, "Social Success Remixes". Looking at the tracklist, the list of acts behind the 9 remixes was very promising, so I had pretty big expectations for this one.

01. Crystal Cream (Rai Remix) [130 BPM]

Like on the album, we start out with "Crystal Cream" (actually all the remixes are in the same order as on the original album) remixed by the upcoming Czech producer Rai. I've been quite impressed with his first progressive house releases, but this time he's provided a smooth and delicious little breaks-tune. Sweet and naive, and surely an interesting way to open op the CD.

02. Hello Kitty (Fitalic Remix) [130 BPM]

Robin Fitter from Holland is up next with a remix of "Hello Kitty", and it's another solid tune from him, continuing in his well-known style. It's got that wonderful upbeat and bouncy tribal Fitalic-groove, but still with some hypnotic tech-house deepness and character. Great remix, and I'm definitely looking forward to the Fitalic album, coming out on Tribal Vision later this year.

03. Trance Popper (Greed vs. Sonic Cube Remix) [128 BPM]

"Trance Popper" is remixed by the Swiss acts Greed and Sonic Cube, a remix you can also find on their recent "Divine EP". It has a very catchy electro-groove, and generally the musical part of the track seems to work very well, but I must say that I really don't like those almost annoying vocals. Overall I found this remix rather corny, and the weakest one so far.

04. Bravo (Antix Remix) [132 BPM]

"Bravo" was by far my favourite on the original album, so I had huge expectations when it was announced that Antix was behind the remix of this particular track. Sadly they don't quite deliver the goods though - where are Antix' epic trademark sounds and more importantly: where are the sweet, thoughtful melodies that made the original such a great tune? A very odd and messy remix for my liking, and also the weakest track I've heard from Antix in quite a while.

05. Botox Party (Parrket Remix) [128 BPM]

Parrket has in a short time marked himself as one of Croatias most well-known psytrance artists, releasing both progressive trance and harder, more full on psychedelic sounds. His remix of "Botox Party" is more in the progressive house/trance realm though, adding a harder, techier groove to the original. Not a bad remix, but quite anonymous and doesn't really stand out.

06. Groove Garden (Human Blue Remix) [136 BPM]

After some slightly mediocre tracks, Human Blue brings the course of the remixes back on track with his remix to "Groove Garden". His second album "Electric Roundabout" is one of my alltime favourite morning albums, and if you liked that one, you'll undoubtedly be impressed with the remix of "Groove Garden", as it's a flashback to this album and the oldschool scando-trance sound. Epic, euphoric trance in its purest form - a wonderful, uplifting morning tune.

07. Eifelgold (Tegma Remix) [136 BPM]

The Swedish duo Tegma are up next with a remix for "Eifelgold". Tegma impressed a lot of people with their recent "Around The World In 80 Minutes" concept-album, and with that album in mind, this remix was somewhat a letdown for me personally. It has all the well-known Tegma-elements I could have hoped for, and all of it seems to be done right, but somehow I feel the end-result seems to be missing something. Can't really decide if I like it or not.

08. Dandy Division (Side-A Remix) [138 BPM]

Following the release of the "Creating Social Success" album, Tribal Vision announced a remix-competetion where everyone could make a remix of the track "Dandy Division", and the winner turned out to be Side-A from France, known for his releases on labels like Groove Zone, Tatsu, Candyflip and Domo. I can understand why they picked his remix as the winner, as it's actually one of the stronger points of the compilation - a bit faster than his recent releases, but still with lots of his bright, trancy sounds and melodies. Great remix.

09. Tussy De Luxe (Elysium Remix)

Things get slowed down for the last 8½ minutes, when "Tussy De Luxe" is remixed by Elysium from Denmark, one of the longest active artists on the psytrance scene, and currently also a member of the house-duo Holm & Andersen. Here we have a chillout remix though, and it's a real beauty - very ethnic (without sounding like the majority of the psychill releases) and with a hypnotizing tribal groove. Very enjoyable.

Bottom line:

"Social Success Remixes" is a worthy follow-up for the "Creating Social Success" album. I didn't find the overall quality as consistently high as some of the best releases from Tribal Vision Records so far, but with a flow that stays true to the original album, some daring elements along the way and some true standout tunes, it doesn't disappoint overall. I am particularly glad that Tribal Vision didn't fall for the temptation of releasing 9 remixes in the same style, but chose to involve a wide variety of producers, that provided the release with some very diverse remixes, ranging from chillout over breaks, progressive-, electro- and tech-house to progressive psytrance.

Ultimately, I find that "Social Success Remixes" is a good release overall.

Favourites:

1, 2 (!!), 6 (!!), 8, 9

Verdict:

7/10

Link:

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

Tox · July 12, 2006

First of all I have to say : I’m not a big fan of RMX-albums.

My main problem with rmx-albums it that they break-up the consistent soundscape of the full album. Good albums establish a certain mood as they go on while a rmx album will always sound more like a patchwork, where every track has an atmosphere of its own…

We start & finish with 2 downtempo versions by a newcommer & a veteran: Crystal Cream (Rai Remix) & Tussy De Luxe (Elysium Remix) In particular Rai does a great job here: really cool chilled house in that typical fluffy Rai-style.

Now for the uptempo tracks:

2: Hello Kitty (Fitalic Remix): Great Dutch Housy progressive, Fitalic adds another gem to his repertoire. I’m very curious about the full album that’s due to come out on Tribal Vision later this year.

3: Trance Popper (Greed vs. Sonic Cube Remix): Musically not too bad, but then those horrible vocals kick in.

Don’t get me wrong, I don’t have anything against vocals but this is just a really annoying & cheesy vocoder sample that sounds like a third rate Daft Punk. Way below standard for these guys , imho.

4: Bravo (Antix Remix) “Bravo” was my personal highlight of the original album, so granted: that’s always hard to beat. But still this is pretty weak attempt by Antix, who recently had their own album rmx’ed… Where has all the magic gone? If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!

If you really like this track I can only advise you to check out the original masterpiece (again).

5: Botox Party (Parrket Remix) Although this one was also one of my fav tracks on the original, I really like this version as well. This is a pumping & moving track, with increasingly heavy but hypnotic parts. Maybe just a little too long?

6: Groove Garden (Human Blue Remix): Having firm roots in the Progressive Trance scene veteran producer shows off some of his skills. He stays pretty close to the original & delivers one of the most trancy tunes on here.

7: Eifelgold (Tegma Remix): This is pretty much along the lines of the style of trance Tegma developed on their brilliant album “Around the world in 80 min’s”. But here the Eastern influences have been replaced by a funny & funky sample (Dis-coo) on top of a solid groove.

8: Dandy Division (Side-A Remix) : Side-A is the (French): winner of the rmx-competition & judging by this track he got what he deserved. Focussing on different elements than in the original he still manages to maintain all the energy & quality of the original. Good Job!

So in conclusion, I generally prefer the tracks that don’t mess up the original flavour too much, with exception of the Rai & Parrket-rmx’s who really did something different ànd enjoyable.

Bottom line is: these rmx’s by big names could a nice second chance for those who missed out on the “Creating Social Success” when it came out. But people like me, who really appreciated it, might feel slightly disappointed that the unique POTS-sound was changed. So try before you buy…

DeathPosture · August 17, 2006

P.O.T.S. – Social Success Remixes

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Hi-res cover: front + back

Artist: Various

Title: Social Success Remixes

Format: CD (jewel case)

Label: Tribal Vision (Czech Republic)

Cat. #: TVRCD009

Distribution: Psyshop.net

Date: 16 June 2006

Track listing:

01. 05’33” P.O.T.S. – Crystal Cream (Rai Remix)

02. 08’18” P.O.T.S. – Hello Kitty (Fitalic Remix)

03. 07’11” P.O.T.S. – Trance Popper (Greed vs. Sonic Cube Remix)

04. 07’54” P.O.T.S. – Bravo (Antix Remix)

05. 09’31” P.O.T.S. – Botox Party (Parrket Remix)

06. 08’14” P.O.T.S. – Groove Garden (Human Blue Remix)

07. 08’50” P.O.T.S. – Eifelgold (Tegma Remix)

08. 08’33” P.O.T.S. – Dandy Division (Side-A Remix)

09. 08’32” P.O.T.S. – Tussy De Luxe (Elysium Remix)

.m3u-playlist: http://tinyurl.com/mqhjp (all tracks!)

Review:

Music for dancing, trancing and romancing… Remixed!

When German producers Thomas Wilhelmy & Joachim Lüthje released their second album Creating Social Success under their P.O.T.S. (Prisoners Of The Sun) moniker, they immediately went straight to the top on my cool-list… The album exceeded in diversity and it was both lush, plush and sexy… Smooth, groovy and funky… Epic, uplifting and immensely danceable!

Now all those (mostly) great tracks have been wrestled, revised and reconfigured by some of the top names within progressive trance. As usual with Tribal Vision, the artist roster is nothing short of impressive and I’ve been spinning this album a lot over the summer. In the following I’ll tell you why…

Let me take you thru the tracks…

#01: P.O.T.S. – Crystal Cream (Rai Remix) [130 BPM]

The first remix is by Czech producer Roman Horinek who’s a Tribal Vision regular… Usually his tracks are drenched in electro elements, and sure enough, this has some too… But they are subtle and not too frequent. Just like the original, this remix has a very pleasant, laid-back, smooth atmosphere… The still very sweet-sweet-sweet melodic pads are still tied up in some extremely pleasant grooves… Usually I get easily bored if progressive trance is too melodic, commercial and fluffy – and that’s exactly what this track is… But somehow this doesn’t bore me at all… It’s lush and really pleasant! Maybe not as good as the original, but it’s damn close!

#02: P.O.T.S. – Hello Kitty (Fitalic Remix) [130 BPM]

Next up is a remix by Dutch producer Robin Fitter who also appeared on another famous remix album, Twin Coast Remixes (Iboga Records 2005) which featured remixes of Antix’ album Twin Coast Discovery. Fitter’s remix was an absolute stand-out. And just like the original was rich in its bubbling, playful character this remix follows the same path and structure… It gets better as it progresses and especially the second half is über-funky! Nice!

#03: P.O.T.S. – Trance Popper (Greed vs. Sonic Cube Remix) [128 BPM]

This remix is made by Swiss acts Greed (Lesley Meguid & Tobias Wirz) and Sonic Cube (Daniel Müller & Ueli Schill aka. Sonnenvakuum). It’s no secret that I wasn’t particularly impressed by Sonic Cube’s 2006 album Filter which simply had too little progressive edge for my taste… And whilst this remix has some interesting electro-influenced moments, I miss some of the most hypnotizing elements from the original… And don’t even get me started on the cheesy vocals…

#04: P.O.T.S. – Bravo (Antix Remix) [132 BPM]

Bravo was my fav’e track off the original album, so when this remix project was announce I was thrilled to see that the heavy responsibly was given to none other than Kiwi heavyweight producers (Barton & Hayden Strom). Some of Antix’ recent stuff has been a little too fluffy for my taste, but luckily this remix sees a change for more edgy, underground stuff… Just what the doctor ordered! This track preserves selected, key elements from the original track, but features an equal amount of new, funky stuff… Both thrilling synth passages and subtle electro elements – tied up in a deep, progressive bundle of joy… Lovely!

#05: P.O.T.S. – Botox Party (Parrket Remix) [128 BPM]

Croation producer Mladen Glavinic is another Tribal Vision regular… The stuff I’ve heard from him has been nice, without being overly impressive… And neither is this remix… The original also had it moments, but there’s that much extra flavour added in the remix… It’s ok, nothing more…

#06: P.O.T.S. – Groove Garden (Human Blue Remix) [136 BPM]

Next up is a remix by Swedish producer Dag Wallin who has been in the progressive game for close to 10 years… His release roster is very impressive with 4 albums, 10 x 12” and over 60 (sixty!) compilation tracks! He still knows his shit, and I really like what he’s doing these days. I really liked the original track which was mellow at times, and hard-hitting at others with it’s very nice blend of melodic and techy trance – and Wallin stays true to that format on this bombastic remix! Hell yes, this is a HUUUUUGE track – perfectly crafted with the most amazing flow, drive, direction and PUNCH! Awesome!

#07: P.O.T.S. – Eifelgold (Tegma Remix) [136 BPM]

We all know that Sweden is home to a very impressive number of the all-time best progressive producers… And the Tegma duo (Omar Chelly & Jason Orfanidis) is among my fav’e progressive/trance cross-over producers… Their 2005 Candyflip album 002: Avant.Garde on Candyflip was an absolute corker and the amazing concept album Around The World In 80 Minutes (Tribal Vision/2006) was even better… I didn’t really like the original version of this track, which seemed oddly misplaced – but who better to remix it, than these guys with their diverse production talent… And yes, they’ve managed to improve the original greatly… As we’ve come to expect from these guys, this track is a big old melting pot of various styles within electronica… We get everything from reverb-soaked progressive trance, over melodic and climactic morning trance to down-right dirty electro-soaked muzak… And what a winning combo that is! Another jaw-dropping quality track! Brilliant!

#08: P.O.T.S. – Dandy Division (Side-A Remix) [138 BPM]

The next remix is conjured by French producer Olivier Cambier. When I first got acquainted with his music I wasn’t all that impressed, but recently, he’s been catching my attention again – especially after compiling the excellent 2006 Groove Zone compilation Afterhourz… The original track was somewhat a ‘transition track’ on the album. Cambier has managed to lift the track a little with added trance bits and pieces… It’s a track in its own right now, but as the original large parts of it are a little too commercial to fully fit my taste… It’s better than the original though…

#09: P.O.T.S. – Tussy De Luxe (Elysium Remix)

The final remix is made by none other, than legendary Danish producer Kristian Thinning. He has released countless albums, singles and compilation tracks under his many aliases… This time, it’s a chilled, laid-back remix show casing exactly why this guy has been in the biz for so long… This is an epic adventure into chilled, ethno-tribal sleekness… The ambience is a mix of futuristic electronica and percussion-rich downbeat… Very nice indeed!

Creating Social Success was one of the best progressive artist albums of 2005. I was really impressed by the production quality and the diversity within the album… This remix album is more like a compilation (well, d’uh!) and in that sense the diversity here doesn’t surprise as much… But it’s still a pretty impressive collection of tracks… Not all the remixes are up to par with the original tracks, but in most cases they complement each other nicely… So if you’ve got one of them, you’ll need the other – and vice versa! .. Right on!

As usual with Tribal Vision the cover + booklet and everything reeks quality… The artwork is subtle and sends a friendly nod back to the original. All in all pretty nice, very diverse CD that Tribal Vision fans would not want to be without… Fans of crossover progressive trance can also start here… It’s good, wholesome stuff! Enjoy!

Favourites: 2, 4(!), 6(!!), 7(!!), 9(!)

DeathPosture

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