quote:

Originally posted by n0bben My thoughts about this album: It doesn't sound like an album to me. It sounds like ten rather similar tracks put together on a cd. EP releases would be better. You can clearly tell that DB isn't very versatile as a producer..before i listened to this CD it felt like i heard it all before, and i wouldn't really consider myself as an experienced trance listener. The tracks sounds pretty mediocre to me, difference being that the sound is beefier but it still sounds like formulatic stuff to my ears. Im sure they go down well on the dancefloors (which perhaps is the most important thing) but for a non-clubber like me this release is rather useless. Summary: for me, this years most overhyped record. Doesn't come as a suprise really since Digital Blonde got so much unreleased stuff which until now could only be heard in livesets, and when the full tracks are finally avaliable people go crazy. It's always the same thing. Just look at Boards of Canada.

+1

A good CD overall but there is not enough variation in the tracks to warrant an album imo. A few really great tracks but by the end of the CD you are sick of hearing that same "style" of trance.

6.5/10 from me.

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Originally posted by DJ_Massive Would be cool to hear from Ricky himself why his music sounds the way it sounds, so distinctively different from polished albums like A&B's, like you mentioned. I can only think Digital Blonde's tracks sound like they do because he wants them to sound like this, as he's been doing this for many years. Perhaps he liked how his music came out of his Atari computer so he continued making them sound like that

Would be nice to see what Ricky has to say.

During my earlier listenings to the album, at times I did feel that the sound mastering (as a whole) was lacking a bit of oomph - especially when going from Casca to Only You - but then again, Only You would not have had that raw feel to it if it were a very crisp, even so far to say "artificial" sounding to it.

Prehaps the tracks were meant to have that "raw and dirty" sound - similar to that of Liebing's techno.

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" I have nothing to say and I am saying it and that is poetry as I need "
American composer John Cage on his aesthetic of silence

quote:

Originally posted by [ groovypants ] Would be nice to see what Ricky has to say. During my earlier listenings to the album, at times I did feel that the sound mastering (as a whole) was lacking a bit of oomph - especially when going from Casca to Only You - but then again, Only You would not have had that raw feel to it if it were a very crisp, even so far to say "artificial" sounding to it. Prehaps the tracks were meant to have that "raw and dirty" sound - similar to that of Liebing's techno.

Apples and Oranges. Like I mentioned earlier, if you are going for the 'raw and dirty' feel like Liebing does, then do it through proper mixing and careful sound sculpting. Oliver's tracks, despite being raw, still sound well mixed and mastered, which unfortunately I cannot say for Mr. Digital Blonde's tracks.

The foundation is there, it's just not polished.

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Arnej MySpace

quote:

Originally posted by 8Wonders Apples and Oranges. Like I mentioned earlier, if you are going for the 'raw and dirty' feel like Liebing does, then do it through proper mixing and careful sound sculpting. Oliver's tracks, despite being raw, still sound well mixed and mastered, which unfortunately I cannot say for Mr. Digital Blonde's tracks. The foundation is there, it's just not polished.

olver liebing


i can completely see where your coming from and can respect your view. i was actually expecting to write similar comments after i first flicked through the album and even contemplated starting a whole new thread discussion the importance of production standards. when i'm browsing through recordstores looking for stuff to buy, crisp & powerful sounding stuff is paramount, i can usually rule out dodgy sounding stuff in about a second of listening to the respective samples.

the thing with this though, is that i saw it as less of a collection of club tracks, more as an artistic product, and with the amazing work that's gone into the atmosphere in the tracks, i was able to forget about the dodgy production standards. long story short if these were all individual tracks i'd probably skip by most of them, with the possible exception of only you & concerto. just in the context of the album i think it works, in some cases like ritual it even benefits it

chicane's first album is similar in that respect, even tho it's older. but still the production sounds incredibly dated now, but it still works cos of the atmospheric journey the album takes you on

hey dooods...... soz you dont like my production but thats just how it is... i am as old school as it comes...i dont try to prove anithing with my tracks and i dont try to keep up with the times...the music i make is pure old school ilegle werehouse party filth .. this is the stuff i was dooin in 1986 and its the stuff i enjoy dooin now...us producers earn absolutly zero now due to computers and downloading so im dooin it for the love of playing with keyboards just like when i started .. we wernt called producers in them days we were called synthesists and most of the stuff on the album as been made on an atari st and an old spirit mixing desk .. most of the new tracks nowadays isent proper trancedance... tecnology has killed it its microwave music stick an idea in a pc for 3 minutes and its done you dont even have to leave your chair .. how many new producers have to move the studio about and take synths to bits just to get a sound thats guna shake a party .. well the answer is probably none of them they just rite click....music is produced now and isent made ..im sorry if have disapointed you and i will try and tidy production up on my new stuff but i will be dooin it for the source and not for the speices ..i hope oliver agrees with me cuz i think he might be on the same wavelength as me a real tranceaddict and not a techaddict.......

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t h e d i g i t a l b l o n d e digitalblonde@hotmail.co.uk

Cheers dood
Keep up that oldskool thing

Is the atari still running?

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Originally posted by DIJ hey dooods...... soz you dont like my production but thats just how it is... i am as old school as it comes...i dont try to prove anithing with my tracks and i dont try to keep up with the times...the music i make is pure old school ilegle werehouse party filth .. this is the stuff i was dooin in 1986 and its the stuff i enjoy dooin now...us producers earn absolutly zero now due to computers and downloading so im dooin it for the love of playing with keyboards just like when i started .. we wernt called producers in them days we were called synthesists and most of the stuff on the album as been made on an atari st and an old spirit mixing desk .. most of the new tracks nowadays isent proper trancedance... tecnology has killed it its microwave music stick an idea in a pc for 3 minutes and its done you dont even have to leave your chair .. how many new producers have to move the studio about and take synths to bits just to get a sound thats guna shake a party .. well the answer is probably none of them they just rite click....music is produced now and isent made ..im sorry if have disapointed you and i will try and tidy production up on my new stuff but i will be dooin it for the source and not for the speices ..i hope oliver agrees with me cuz i think he might be on the same wavelength as me a real tranceaddict and not a techaddict.......

thanx mate.......iv put the atari to rest ive still got it it sleeps between me and the missus now

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t h e d i g i t a l b l o n d e digitalblonde@hotmail.co.uk

quote:

Originally posted by isoterra olver liebing

Oliver



omg phuture tech schranz !!!

quote:

Originally posted by isoterra chicane's first album is similar in that respect, even tho it's older. but still the production sounds incredibly dated now, but it still works cos of the atmospheric journey the album takes you on

This is spot on.

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" I have nothing to say and I am saying it and that is poetry as I need "
American composer John Cage on his aesthetic of silence

Oliver Lieb or Chris Liebing?

I have the feeling a lot of trance producers nowadays are trying hard to get a clean, 'professional' sound because they know they can't innovate anymore in terms of creativity, originality.
It's actually the only way for them to prove they were sitting more than an hour behind Reason and that their sound is different than the 16 years old prototype.

The mastering on Synthology is really strange indeed. However, at the end of the day, when you play one of that tracks in your set, it doesn't sound rubbish compared to the rest of the set. (Some tracks need a bit of EQ tho).