Smith & Pledger - Forever (Aspekt Mixes, Anjuna Digital)



www.anjunabeats.com
www.smithandpledger.com

Now Availible on Anjuna-Digitial from the anjunabeats webstore (www.anjunabeats.com) for only £1.30.. yes £1.30 !! Unfortunately i dont think this will see a 12" release in the future- The Anjuna site says "another exclusive anjuna digital track" so wether that means upfront ahead of the 12" or solely a download i'm not sure. You can hear samples at the anjuna site along with the other remixes!

After first hearing the original vocal mix on ASOT back in november when Jono did the A&B special, i knew this was going to be in my playlist for a long time. I always thought the vocal could of done with a second verse rather than a repeated verse, but still thought the vocal was good, the lyrics themselves were very nice and meaningful and most importantly the production was tight as hell! It was so melodic and perfectly suited to my tastes that to be honest i never thought that a remix could do any justice on the original. several months later and after hearing the mark norman mix for the first time i was sure the original was the mix of choice for everyone (I have nothing against the MN mix, its just not my style particualrly, although i give it thumbs up for bringing a uniqe style compared to the original mix).

Then just a few days ago i find out Oli Smith (of smith and pleger) has conjured up a down beat interpretation of the original under his aspekt guise and to my amazement i actually think it is a fantastic piece of music! I was stupid enough to have my mind already made up before hearing it (thinking the original would superseed it), but after a minute of the aspekt vocal mix, my jaw dropped and i realised this was one hell of an alternative mix on offer.

There is both a vocal and a dub mix from aspekt, my favourite being the dub purely based on the fact i'm so used to hearing the vocal in the original mix, it didnt quite seem right (im sure the vocal version will grow on me however since i have it on repeat)

The dub is a calm relaxing melodic piece of progressive trance, and flutters seamlessly with a great array of sounds. It's the sort of track that could send me softly to sleep while i lie in bed (in the good way, its anything but boring) or would work well as a downtempo tune in a set. It keeps the amazing samples used in the original, also offering a host of new melodic sounds that make this and extremely trancey yet progressive piece of music. The best way of putting it is how it is described by the anjuna site: "At 135BPM, the Aspekt Mix is somewhere in that grey area between progressive and trance. We love this mix, it’s spacey and cool but gives the vocal just enough room to breathe and gets a great reaction on the dancefloor" (obviously commenting on the vocal version). Very soothing in my opinion.

Trust me when i say this is a track for everyone, wether you be a chillout enthusiast, a trance whore, or a prog lover. I would love to compare it to another tune for example sake, but this really stands on its own two feet. When you consider this is the debut solo single from two of the scene's rising stars, it makes you wonder about what they are going to be like at the peak! If you like previous smith and pledger material, the anjuna label as a whole or are just plain bored right now, get yourself over to the anjuna site now, take a listen and if you like it, buy one or both of the mixes for an extremely cheap £1.30 each!

If anjuna were asking for £5 or even £10 for this exclusive track, i would pay for it. This is comming to ibiza with me this summer and will stay in my wallet for another good few months at least, let alone my home stereo and on my PC!

Aspekt Mixes (I.M.O.) 8.5/10

-Nell