cd1 has some tracks that work quite well individually; however, as a cohesive whole, it feels rather repetitive, as there isn't much dynamic contrast. cd2, however, shines with its buttery-smooth transitions and boundless energy from all across the emotional spectrum. you can be repetitive as trance often is, i think, without being samey! i liked how 'UR', an emotive vocal track a nice little acoustic guitar, was back-to-back with the dark and sprawling 'evolution' ... read more

paavo siljamaki made me a weeb but for finland instead of japan

multiverse is an incredibly flawed album, as some tracks feel difficult to distinguish from one another (epsilon and rabbit raiders mainly) or tedious (looking at dr. device). that being said, it has such a unique character that i'm willing to overlook a lot of its little vices. some of the tedium is actually oddly therapeutic to me, so i often will loop this album at the end of a bad day. the standouts of the album are also quite strong; stranger is my top track on last.fm by like...200 ... read more

cowboy peakbop

as passionate as i am about music, it's not often that i notice the soundtrack in movies or shows as i am watching them. it's often just ambient noise to me. meanwhile, the soundtracks of both cowboy bebop (the 1998 show) and cowboy bebop (the 2001 movie) are so confident in their identities that i was absolutely determined to re-listen to them as soon as possible. i even sent 'gotta knock a little harder' to my father, whose conception of anime is limited to ... read more

tranquility base? based on what?

i absolutely LOVE parties are for losers as a story and i am fairly emotionally invested in its lore. the reason for such an 'eh' review on the album is because the storytelling done through the songs is very difficult to follow without help from ferry's google doc, and i'd prefer for more lyrics to illustrate characters' feelings about their places in the narrative instead of attempting to describe events. the prequel webcomic showcases ferry's ability as a ... read more

the album is very fun to listen to. however, as someone who really loves movement in still life (1999), i cannot exactly say i like emotional technology. the ideas in this album are similar to those in its predecessor - it picks out progtrance, breakbeat, and rock influences as if browsing through a big musical buffet - but their delivery is not nearly as effective. i don't know how to put my finger on it, but movement in still life was chock-full of *vibes*. the trance had a ... read more

edit: i was right that it'd grow on me it's peak

finally got around to listening to this~
absolutely gorgeous, clean production. poignant composition. sadly, very few stand-outs. i love the general vibe and conceit of the album, but most individual tracks are not compelling enough for active listening on their own. honestly, my feelings about the album reflect how i feel about a lot of solarstone's work: he clearly knows what he's doing as a producer, and he does an ... read more

waterflame was one of my very first inspirations as a(n amateur) composer back when i was a geometry dash-obsessed middle schooler who wanted to replicate music i liked. since then, i've branched out from strictly listening to songs of his included in familiar video games, and my appreciation for his catalogue has only grown as i've become a better musician and more consistent music consumer. surge is probably my favourite album of his, as it just sounds incredibly *waterflame*. ... read more

i've been following the boys on and off since 2018, and though the first i've heard of them was common ground, it was really the band's tastefully melancholy backlog that made me fall in love with them. when they announced a new album, i was terrified it'd be a horrible disappointment as i've found much of the material they had released prior to the announcement underwhelming ('heart of stone', some of the tranquility base tracks, etc). to my pleasant ... read more

a) this song apparently blew up on tiktok? which im happy that my boomer trance band got more rep BUT 2) it adds very little to the original track and the original blue monday is peak AND 3) i am really just not a big room enjoyer, so to me it's actually a major step down from the original which is a shame.
occasionally i re-listen to this track because it's fun to dance to, which is probably its purpose. yet another case of me not being the target audience, probably.

anybody who knows me knows that i really admire above & beyond, but WAAWN has to be my least favourite album of theirs. now, before i go into the rest of the review, i want to preface by saying that my feelings about this album are mostly (*mostly*) due to my own personal taste; many of the tracks *on their own* are solid pop EDM (more on that later).
i think the review by the guardian is horribly uncharitable. if anything, the idea that the titles are 'motivational corpo jargon' ... read more

dee-dee-dee-dee-dee-dee-dee-dee-dee-dee-dee-dee-dee-dee-dee-dee-dee-deep in my soul, yeah. dee-deep in my soul, yeah. dee-dee-dee-dee-dee-dee-dee-dee-dee-dee-dee-dee-dee-dee-dee-dee-dee-deep in my soul, yeah. dee-deep in my soul, yeah. dee-dee-dee-dee-dee-dee-dee-dee-dee-dee-dee-dee-dee-dee-dee-dee-dee-deep in my soul, yeah. dee-deep in my soul, yeah. dee-dee-dee-dee-dee-dee-dee-dee-dee-dee-dee-dee-dee-dee-dee-dee-dee-deep in my soul, yeah. dee-deep in my soul, yeah. ... read more

i recall armin saying that he wanted to make an album that was a balance between his old school and newer styles to meet both old gen and new gen fans in the middle. unfortunately, that philosophy lead balance to lack a cohesive vision - the trance-flavoured tracks don't go together with each other, and they all feel out of place among the pop songs. if you try to make everybody happy...nobody will be happy.

i also (subjectively) really dislike armin's poppier work. happy for him ... read more

absolute cinema. my favourite anjunabeats mix album. it showcases a wide range of sonic textures (from the smooth 'airwave' mix of 'air for life' to the pulsating, chugging bassline of 'sequential') while adhering incredibly consistently to a single aesthetic that's both frigidly intense and blissfully melodic. the mixing is incredible - the nigh-unnoticeable transition between eighties and larry mountains 54 still blows my mind - and the placement and ... read more

i love the underground orkidea sound but it was NOT made for an album. there is this issue with progressive trance music that you have a lot of absolutely banger mix albums because the djs are wonderful at track selection, but you have a lot of mid artist albums because the artists' output lends itself better to singles over long-players. this album feels more like A Playlist, especially since quite a few of the tracks honestly feel like they were made to fade into the background of a club ... read more

this album is 40% filler and suffers horribly from repetition at several points but i dont freakign care its my little baby. i might post a serious review at some point but my take is that the album, from a technical/compositional standpoint, is quite flawed, but it's regardless my favourite due to the uniqueness of the emotion it evokes. like, imagine a charming yet janky little indie game that is dear to your heart despite some of the dialogue being weird and the gameplay being poorly ... read more