Midimal - The Pursuit of Happiness

[Trance2MoveU]

 

Artist: Midimal

Title: The Pursuit of Happiness

Label: Echoes Records

Date: June, 2011

 

 

1. The Deepest Thing

2. Larger Than Life

3. How The Mind Works

4. From Zero To Hero

5. Jaron

6. In Between

7. Bitbox

8. Sweet September (Midimal rmx) - Vibrasphere

9. The Pursuit Of Happiness

10. Become 3

 

Ahh, the pursuit of happiness. One of the tenets on which my country was founded has long been a goal of the masses. Some think it's money and while having money makes life easier I think it was a great philosopher who said, "Mo Money, Mo Problems." Of course he is also responsible for such gems as "I treat you right, you talk slick, I beat you right" and "I wanna bitch that like to play celo, and craps." Just sayin' read up before you search for pearls of wisdom in his works. Hell, I don't need massive amounts of cash, just enough to live comfortably, travel, and provide for my offspring.

 

Not to be confused with the tearjerker of a movie starring Will Smith this is Christian Merkis with his 2nd release. The first was titled In Search of Water so he obviously is looking for things. His tracks are the deep, lush progressive that I am so fond of. Which is kinda weird because his name is one letter away from minimal. The cover is great with a guy (I assume that's him) looking for happiness. Nothing to do with him though, did you read the promo text on Psyshop? What generic drivel that I am sure has been used on many other albums. I bet whoever wrote it didn't even listen to the album. Don't make me break out the Ed Lover C'mon Son gif. Cause I'll do it.

 

 

The Deepest Thing- "Everyday...every breath is an opportunity to express the deepest thing in our heart. It is important when we're involved in some sort of spirituality. That we not become simply a consumer item. It's very very healthy for all of us, myself included..."

 

All right stop. Just stop hippie. This reminds me of every conversation that revolved around the bong in the middle of your drum circle. Grand plans that don't make it past a bag of Cheetohs at 3 in the morning. Did you know that I discovered a cure for cancer? Yeah, but I don't remember it. But ask me if I remember the trip to I-Hop and the chocolate chip pancake that smiled at me. His whipped cream smile knew what I was talkin' about.

 

 

Larger Than Life- Smooth. Groovy. This is how it's supposed to be. A galloping lead with the deep drone of the bass. It's constant as washes fly beneath the female voice. Total drifting piece of work that is epic.

 

How The Mind Works- "The complex structure of the mind is the subject. The mind is what the brain does. The mind is a system of organs of computation. It's key idea can be captured in a sentence."

 

How about this sentence..."Your sample is too f*cking long and kills the flow." Stop it. After the two minute mark he does and this is another drifting piece of music. That is until the glitchy, techno beat takes over and it is pretty inventive and well placed. Not bad if you can get paced the first bit.

 

From Zero To Hero- What are we, in the forest? What's with the birds? While I'm at it, why are you whispering? IF you don't like machine gun bass lines, this isn't for you. But give it time. It becomes fuller at 4 minutes when there is more than just effects and he is clever like a fox. He builds his track, slowly reeling you in like a like Chris Hansen does pedophiles. By the time the break happens, it's dripping with emotion. A nice long break, it ends with a positive melody and man it's cool. Good show old boy!

 

Jaron- "Tunes can act as a bridge between cultures when language fails us."

 

This was a nice progressive tune which even included a solo string in the middle. My favorite line from the sample would have to be,"It's not how many notes you have, but what you do with them." Which is a lie every girl tells you about penis size. The melody after the string is a nice shimmering piece of sunshine that really opens up. Score another one for you sir.

 

In Between- Do you get it? He put this in between the trance tracks. And the title is called in between. Pffft...Take another hit hippie. A soft piano melody unwinds and gently flows between sadness and hopefulness. As a piano player this appeals to me as it is really beautiful. Sounded great.

 

Bitbox- He seems to like long openings. Not intros, but it takes a while to get things going. Here he fulfills his almost name as this is leaning towards minimal. Galloping bass line and very little evolution. It grows, but into what? Just kinda churned along. Wake me when it's over. Meh.

 

 

Sweet September (Midimal rmx)- See what I mean? Almost 2 and a half minutes before the beat kicks in. I'm not sayin' it's a problem...I'm just sayin'. Hi-hat at almost 4 minutes. Break at 5. Bring that old guy back, this is boring the crap outta me.

 

The Pursuit of Happiness- The lead is quiet at first, but you can hear it searching out its target. Definitely a bounce to things here with an eerie feel. He does a lot with a little to make the track seem fuller. Marinating in the mantra? Coulda done without the hippie bullsh*t, but the groove is pretty tight...and I'm in a forgiving mood. The key change is very sweet and did you see that dance move I pulled off? No? Shame...I don't think I can do it again.

 

Become 3- Downtempo closer that puts one deep in thought and becomes a little break beaty. I like the part at 6 minutes where the beat drops out and adds the piano. I think he could've done more with this, as it sounds deeper and tells a better story without that beat. Just my opinion.

 

So there you go. For me the stars of the album were How the Mind Works and the piano interlude In Between. The tracks after that almost took on a simpler quality. As previously mentioned, his style is very deep and he likes to build his track, sometimes with really good results. I don't think it was as good as his debut, but by no means was it bad. Progressive trance that carries you away never is. But, as per usual, some tracks were more intricate and interesting than others. Good listen.

 

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