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Phlibz review;
| quote: | PLUS ONE!!!!!
holy shit
i didnt realise casca was such a monster!!!!
omg
i dont think ive ever been this excited listening to something
im jumping up and down on the chair in my boxers and singlet!
lol im dancing around the dining room this is crazy
omg the bassline in 'only you'!!!
OMG TRONIKA!!!!!!!!!!1111OMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMG
wow concerto is good!
RITUAL PHWOAR ITS LIKE THE MAN WITH NO NAME OF OLD!!!!!
FARK RICKASHAY GOING GOA!!!
fark
its good shit!!!!!
MIDDLE EASTERN SAMPLES FTW!!!!!
well here we go! finally the digital blonde aka ricky smith has come out from hiding and given us this 10 track album on joof records. after laying ye olde atari to rest and entering the 21st century of music production its about time we have been able to see what this man can do in terms of an album of his own material.
i was a little bit scared that too many of the tracks would be the same but with different melodies because imo the signature blonde style can sometimes be too distinct in a way. each track here though retains a little bit of the blonde trademark but in different ways, meaning each track is different enough without sounding too much like the same thing. there is enough variety in styles to suit different times in a dj's set and different djs. however this is an artist album and each artist has their own style so it can be expected that some tracks will have similar sounds to them and in this case it certainly doesn't detract from the listening experience in any way!
the album certainly packs a big punch, every track just has this power to it, its hard to sit still! comparing these tunes to older ones like electra shows that even though the classic digital blonde sound is there like in 'cyan' so much has been added, the production is cleaner and there is a change of direction in a way to a deeper blonde like in 'rickashay' and a nastier, darker blonde as shown by 'ritual' and 'tronika'. most of these tunes have been heard in john '00' fleming's sets at one time or another and 'requia' was featured on the white label republic so to some keen listeners not all of this will be new. but having all these tracks in their full glory should be incentive enough to get this, instead of relying on occasional live set rips.
i was also a little apprehensive when i read that one of ricky's older tunes, 'legato', was getting an update for this album. in my opinon this is a worrying trend with so many old classic trance tunes being dusted off and sent round for another go. in some cases the tracks are only two years old before they are getting updated! 'legato' in fact was already re-intepreted in 2002 and personally i think it was a dissapointing effort. this time its a little bit different with the update staying closer to the original track's roots. and in this case it is more of an update, with a only a subtle touch up to some of the sounds. but you can't help but ask why? why this tune and not 'optica', 'antheum' or 'electra' which are all classic blonde tunes.
aside from that there is one other small dissapointment which others may disagree and thats fine. joof is one label pushing the digital side of things and from now on only limited vinyl pressings of certain tunes will be released, and cds it seems have been dropped completely. but why do you need cds anyway now when you can buy your downloads and burn them yourselves? because when one of the labels flagship artists puts out a new artist album, taking years of hard work and effort it surely merits more than just a button to click saying 'download' and a blank cd-r with some texta scribbled on it. the amount of passion that has no doubt been put into this deserves a proper release. it isn't all bad news though, with one track 'karma' originally not scheduled for this being included as a bonus after an outcry from the fans, which just goes to show that in the big bad music business world there are still people listening to their fans.
i think aside from those two minor criticisms there are only positive things you can say about this release. ricky smith has done a great job in puttting together these tracks, each one a small journey in its own right. this album defines what the joof records sound is about, good driving trance, that can be powerful but classy. well done ricky!
to sum it up: THIS IS TRANCE!
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lol lubchu longtimez mang ^_^
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