DeathPosture Posted February 25, 2007 Share Posted February 25, 2007 Master Margherita – Mastura Hi-res cover: front + back Artist: Master Margherita (Switzerland) Title: Mastura Format: CD (digipack) Label: Electrik Dream Records (UK/France) Cat. #: ED002 Distribution: Arabesque Date: 12 January 2007 Track listing: 01. 07’18” Master Margherita - Paix 02. 09’06” Electrypnose vs. Master Margherita & Sandeep J - Nabuconodosor (Earth Vibes Remix) 03. 09’25” Cell vs. Master Margherita - Some Things (12 Inch Gold Remix) 04. 07’18” Flooting Grooves & Master Margherita - Ombra 05. 07’45” Morphonix & Master Margherita – Kim Dub (Phonic Mix) 06. 08’46” Tajmahal & Master Margherita – The Analog Point 07. 08’04” Master Margherita – Derbouka Part 1 08. 06’54” Kali Frogz & Master Margherita – Perfect On Sunday (Protect Mix) 09. 07’08” Master Margherita – O Sole Mio / Sunset 10. 07’25” Master Margherita - Sogno Stream: http://tinyurl.com/2vmue5 (all tracks!) Review: The Bright Side Of The Moog Three years ago Swiss downbeat juggler, DJ and label persona Master Margherita (Moreno Antognini) embarked on a journey to create his debut album. Moreno already has an impressive roster of chill-out projects and other musical explorations under his belt, but in the psytrance scene he is best known as Peak Record’s chill maestro and as a member of the Peaking Goddess Collective… Everything I’ve heard from Moreno has been top drawer downbeat and judging by the very impressive list of guest artists, Mastura looks like a very interesting acquaintance. Let’s find out. Let me take you thru the tracks… #01: Master Margherita – Paix [90 BPM] The album starts with a cunning, musical peace declaration…. Subtle and frozen glacier-beats are accompanied by warmer, analogue spacy synths creating the perfect alignment… The undecipherable Japanese voice-samples add a mystique vibe to the mix. All in all a very nice intro track. #02: Electrypnose vs. Master Margherita & Sandeep J - Nabuconodosor (Earth Vibes Remix) [80 BPM] Electrypnose’s Nabuconodosor was originally released on A Magical Journey 2 (Ajana Records/2006) and was a slow-burning, subtle piece of ethno-dub seasoned with simple, uplifting melodies and hypnotizing didgeridoos… And this remix pays homage to the original maintaining the didgeridoos, the main lead melody and the dubby parts, but it’s less uplifting than the original and has a more sinister feel… Let’s put it this way. This is what the original would sound like if it was left in the freezer over night… It’s still a very nice track, but I have to say that I prefer the original. #03: Cell vs. Master Margherita - Some Things (12 Inch Gold Remix) [80 BPM] On the next track Moreno is joined by French chill heavy-weight Alexandre Scheffer who has often sent my mind drifting to other worlds with his enchanting chill-out. This track is no exception in all its majestic glory… It’s epic, free-floating melodic ambient with wide-spanning harmonic pads and subtle strings… Lovely. #04: Flooting Grooves & Master Margherita – Ombra [96 BPM] The fourth track marks the beginning of the faster part of the album. Moreno is now joined by fellow Peaking Goddess Collective member Pearce van der Merwe. Flooting Groovers plays one hell of an enthralling flute, and it comes to great use in this old-school inspired piece of psychedelic tribal downbeat trance… Echoes of the past resonance with modern psychedelic influences, and this would mix well with both Enthogenic, Shpongle and the likes. Amazing track. #05: Morphonix & Master Margherita – Kim Dub (Phonic Mix) [100 BPM] Morphonix is the downbeat alter-ego of famous American producer and mastering technician Chromatone (Lawrence Hoffman) and he joins MM on a dubby, funky ride into futuristic, space jazz with assorted electronic quirks… Wobbly melodies and jungle-percussion add flavour to this nifty little track. #06: Tajmahal & Master Margherita – The Analog Point [100 BPM] On the next track Moreno is joined by Tajmahal (Stephan Gallay) - Electrik Dream Records label manager and a person who’ve been in the game since the Trans’Pact days. The wobbly futuristic electronica vibe continues, and as the title implies we get some analogue explorations here… Inverted sounds, synth vibes, psychedelic samples and dubby traits… Pretty nice without being overly impressive. #07: Master Margherita – Derbouka Part 1 [138 BPM] And here is the surprise of the album – and uptempo track running @ 138! Who would have thought? Not me for sure. Anyway, this fine tune is a testament to MMs diverse musical talent… Drenched in majestic greatness, this Juno Reactor’esque track is a tour de force of epic proportions… Orchestral instrumentation, solid guitar work, frantic percussion, galloping Eastern European melodies and a ton of other interesting elements all help shape this wonderful track. Kinda like Gotan Project really. Brilliant! One of the best tracks off the album. #08: Kali Frogz & Master Margherita – Perfect On Sunday (Protect Mix) [100 BPM] French downbeat duo Kali Frogz (Eric Brandy & Christophe Fabulet) join MM for a lazy sunday afternoon track… Smooth, soothing organic stuff is mixed with laid-back percussion and a very mellow bassline… A very lovely ambience here. I like it. #09: Master Margherita – O Sole Mio / Sunset [101 BPM] This double track is the last one with beats – and sees Moreno raise the experimentation bar a couple of notches… This is a freestyle sonic sound collage in which not many synth chords are left untouched… Interesting for its uniqueness, but I’m not sure I’m getting the full picture here. #10: Master Margherita – Sogno The final track is a virtually beatless ambient tune and sees MM take the listeners by their hands and escort them into the dream world…This is floating, yet highly digital ambient music. Cold and clinical, but with a relaxed atmosphere not unlike the works of Klaus Schulze. Pretty nice, but I have to be in a very distinct sleep-walking state to fully appreciate this kind of mellow music. Confined within a framework of electronic downbeat, Master Margherita’s Mastura album is a pretty versatile collection of both dreamy ambient, mellow downbeat, percussion-driven ethno-tribal chill-out and upbeat world music – and everything in between. There are no bad tracks here, but a couple of the tracks seemed a little too bleak for my taste – or at least I have to be in a certain mood to fully appreciate them. But hey, luckily there’s a hand-full of really nice choons here – and a couple of surprises. Nicey nice. There’s no doubt that Moreno is a very skilled producer and his talent stretches into several genres. The mastering of this album is also spot-on and the artwork by Punkadelik is gorgeous. Despite all the good things I have to say about this album, it could have used a couple more stand-outs. So in that sense, this is not an essential album. It is however, a quality downbeat album that I’m sure will go down well with hardened chillers and fans of eclectic music in general. Enjoy. Favourites: 1, 3, 4(!!), 7(!!), 8 DeathPosture External links: Electrik Dream Records: http://www.electrikdream.com Master Margherita: http://www.myspace.com/MasterMargheritaMusic Discogs: http://www.discogs.com/release/889518 Ultimae E-shop: http://tinyurl.com/2l2psq Saiko Sounds: http://tinyurl.com/2tuzm3 HMV Japan: http://tinyurl.com/2qcs4w Beatspace: http://tinyurl.com/3dv83e Psyshop: http://tinyurl.com/37owv7 Cisco: http://tinyurl.com/2rgaop Juno: http://tinyurl.com/2ujerc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lauryn Posted March 21, 2007 Share Posted March 21, 2007 I agree...there has been some excellent chillout releases so far this year- this one being one of my favorites. I've been enjoying the album as a whole....spending many nights falling asleep to this... Will have to take another listen to remember which tracks I enjoyed the most...but Moreno's collaborated with many of my other favorite chillout artists - electrypnose, cell, kali frogz to name a few....and after having heard his dj mixes in the past, I expected nothing short of an excellent release from Master Margherita.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drosophila Posted March 23, 2007 Share Posted March 23, 2007 I'm very happy with this release , its funny but I really have hard time figuring which specific tracks I really like, for me its difficult to take them out of context and I have had it for more than three months already. I have listened to it a lot while studying and it has been perfect because its subtle and floating and does not necessarily need all my attention but if I want to give it to it then it can give enough back to keep me occupied, well done! But my favorite track here if I really have to chose one is Ombra... it just sounds amazing But a really nice downbeat release, worth checking out! and that goes to the other Electrik Dream Records release Cosmik Chill Red.... Both of them Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
psytimeofmylife Posted May 6, 2007 Share Posted May 6, 2007 i've only listened to the samples on saikosounds, and I have to say: it sounds freaking awesome. can't wait to order it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SeaFeel Posted May 27, 2007 Share Posted May 27, 2007 nice nice nice some lovely tracks here 7/10 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drosophila Posted June 13, 2007 Share Posted June 13, 2007 This release is getting better and better for me! A beautiful and diverse album, great work by MM and all the other artist featured on this! I would say its one of the best down-tempo releases of 07 so far.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FTP Posted September 10, 2007 Share Posted September 10, 2007 Very nice downtempo chill, each song has a lot to offer Whole complation is flowing very gentle from start to finish sets standard for all future ambients Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gnome Posted December 4, 2007 Share Posted December 4, 2007 That's sweet My favorite is Analog Point,fits perfectly the title of the album. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sawfly Posted December 5, 2007 Share Posted December 5, 2007 Very organic stuff and I love it. I didn't expect much from this album which is weird as I've heard many of his tracks and liked 'em but somehow the idea of an album turned me off Great stuff indeed 4/5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
metamorph Posted December 7, 2007 Share Posted December 7, 2007 Pretty good chill if you ask me. The mood is flowing well all through the album. 7.5/10 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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