"V/A - Having Fun"

[Trance2MoveU]

 

Artist: Various

Title: Having Fun

Label: Audioload Music

Date: February, 2011

 

1. Down Town - Osher

2. Dust and Colors- Aqualize & Vice

3. Lost Angels - Mental Force

4. Sweeping Up(Basic Remix) - Symphonix

5. Faruki - Double Click & Numb

6. Birds Must Be Heard - Hi Profil

7. Security Risk(Solaris Vibe Remix) - Aerospace

8. Scandonavian(Double Click Remix) - Gaudium

9. Time and Light(Hanzo Remix) - Clufe

 

Do you like having fun? Of course you do, everyone does. I know I do. Had fun today...went to the gym, ran a little bit then spent some quality time with my son in the pool. It was shaping up to be epic...until he blew chunks after eating a piece of orange candy. I mean, I think that's why he did it. Not fun. But to his credit, after it was all over there was no crying just a desire to get back into the pool.

 

So after that I decided it was time to pen a review of a compilation that is about having fun. But to begin, it seems like whoever came up with the cover for this digital release wasn't having any fun. Talk about generic. It's like seeing the word truck on the side of a commercial vehicle. C'mon people. This was released by Audioload music and is the first effort of theirs I am privileged to hear. Every time I read the word load I giggle a little. I'm such a child.

 

 

Down Town- This is Osher Swissa, one half of Ananda Shake. But forget that cheeseball project, because this is where his strength lay. When he switched to a progressive sound I felt the emotion in his music reach a new level. Check out his album Twilight...not to be confused with the gay vampire pedophiliacs. It is a mid tempo groover that is part growling beast and part drifting storyteller. It bounces along with a practiced ease and was a perfect choice for a quality opener.

 

Dust and Colors- Aqualize is a pair of Greeks and Vice is Martin Daltoft. The former has the distinction of being responsible for the greatest track name of all time "Wet Input." Vice, well he's a virtual mystery to me. But this track is glorious. So full and lush that it takes daydreaming to unreached heights. The break is a thing of beauty that shimmers with every quantum of energy the sun can provide. Complex and brilliant!

 

Lost Angels- Cool thing about compilations is that you get exposed to artists you have never heard of. Discogs tells me that this is the only release from Mental Force and what a way to break your cherry. Another floating piece of yummy. There are echoing synth riffs that just open things up so much. Very enjoyable.

 

Sweeping Up(Basic Remix)- I haven't heard form Benny Risher & Shahar Fahima in a minute and here they are remixing a Symphonix track. The original was strong (surprisingly) and this is sort of a minimalistic eerie groover. Not many melodies, but the ones you do hear are engaging. The part that stands out the most is the female vocal which harkens back to an Enya time. Not bad, but I felt it took too long to get going Not on the level of the previous 3.

 

Faruki- Never heard of these two projects but this is a nice effort. Takes a while to get going, but it flows in the same dreamy summer vibe as the rest of the tracks. The break is fresh and shiny but there isn't a melody to grab hold of so it sounds...lacking. You're on the right track gentlemen.

 

Birds Must Be Heard- "I'm at the bridge. It's evening. Almost no birds can be heard. The water is running without a sound."

 

If you said that there would be a bird sound in this track you must be psychic. I'm a pretty smart guy, you don't have to draw me a picture Mr. Hi Profil. You're missing an e by the way. The sweeping pads are very cavernous sounding with a breathy female sample. Good, but nothing to write home about.

 

Security Risk(Solaris Vibe Remix)- This has some punch to it. The opening sample was interesting and the cascading arpeggios are nice. Never heard of him, but this was a nice bit of quality. Reminded me of one of Nerso's productions. Same drifting style. What I didn't like was the last third where the synths just annoyed me. Maybe it's because I was thrown up on today.

 

Scandonavian (Double Click Remix)- Look at the click getting two tracks on the compilation! And I got news, I liked this better than the original, mainly due to that reverberating synth that carried a very spacious feeling. It's cold. Overall there are just more sounds to keep things interesting. Good stuff but not great. This was an opportunity to take a dull lifeless track and really rebrand it. Didn't happen.

 

Time and Light(Hanzo Remix)- This is called going out with a whimper; weakest track on the album. I don't know if I can blame the remixer here though because I haven't heard the original. Who the f*ck knows what Clufe left them to work with. Still, that's a window of opportunity in my eyes. There is a female vocal that is looped which reminds me of that song where the chick talked her way through it. You know the one I mean...dup dup dada dup dup dada. Anyway this can't compete with most of the other stuff here.

 

Well I had fun. The first 3 or 4 tracks were very enjoyable and I would easily recommend you give them a listen. After that though, it became rather thin. It is for this reason why digital releases are great where you can separate the wheat from the chaff.

 

 

Beatport

 

Mdk