Level13 – Time – Finished by Level13 – TwistedFreq
Vocal-led freeform doesn’t tend to work that well, but here Level 13 has come up with a very catchy tune that gets the balance just about right. The trademark demented synths are in there (with one of the nicest pre-breakdown sequences I’ve heard for a while), but maybe more importantly the vocals themselves are really good quality.
Alchemiist – Aerobiosis by Thank You For The Horse
Sorry it’s been a while, but hopefully these new (and one not-so-new) tracks will have been worth the wait. Huge thanks to all the guys involved – I’m trying to keep a fairly consistent sound on the TYFTH SoundCloud so far, and once again we’ve got some really high quality stuff, all the way from Aryx’s excellent melodic hard trance up to TF’s nasty freeform.
Fall 4 You was actually released for free a long time ago by Twisted Freq, but it’s really deserving of being up somewhere more permanently, while Alchemiist and J-Mx’s tracks are up for the first time, and will hopefully get them some new listeners.
For one reason or another I can’t upgrade the SC account just at the moment, so the next group of tunes (which are already partly decided) will have to wait for a while. It also means that this new batch will be limited to 100 downloads for the time being. Most of the other tracks reached the download limit very quickly, so grab them while you can!
City of Solitude (GULD Remix) / Betwixt & Between by GULDJP
The final installment of tonight’s SoundCloud frenzy is Guld’s ferocious remix of Betwixt & Between’s classic (and just released) City of Solitude. I remember playing this at the final Hell’s Gate (pitched up to about 173bpm), and the breakdown does as much damage as you’d expect. It’s been a fixture in Guld’s sets for the last couple of years too, so it’ll be interesting to see how much play it gets elsewhere.
Technikal & Kim Ayres – Bad Girl (Substanced Bootleg Remix) by Substanced
Thanks to Substanced for letting me know about his newest bootleg remix – now online for free. I’m not familiar with the original tune, but this a very nice track with a rougher feel than some of the recent Hybridize/FINRG releases. Some nice acid and a couple of pacy melodies make this one a must-download.
LUCID (GULD Remix) / DJ MANIK by GULDJP
Guld has been working on a few quality remixes lately, including Lucid, a remix of a DJ Manik track. I love the breakdown to this one – the dark buildup works perfectly with that manic Guld lead. For the time being it’s non-downloadable, but take a listen via Guld’s SoundCloud.
Some people have already picked up on what must be the biggest news for a long time, but if this isn’t worth a full post I don’t know what is – Betwixt & Between’s first solo album. Titled Nanosecond Eternity, the CD includes 12 tracks, most of which are brand new material. The tracklist starts of with the now-classic Hesotarou Tankobu, finishes with Proteus’ new remix, and also includes City of Solitude and an extended mix of hydra.
It looks like the release is set for early next month, and will be available via Hardcore Tano*C’s webstore and even Amazon Japan. Massive congrats to Betwixt on what has been a long process to get this finished – make sure to show your support once it launches!
Time for a real blast from the past via a post on Guld’s new blog – this is a rare and very old tune called Madarosis (not Macarosis as the video title has it). Very dark and nasty, Guld came up with a few tunes in this style before the original Hannya was released. This reminds me that I’ve got a couple of them on CD somewhere…that might be enough of an excuse to play a ‘retro’ set on ustream soon..
Betwixt & Between – Hesotaro Proteus Remix – Preview by Proteus Official
Proteus is really on top form these days, and still manages to do more than anyone to support what goes on here in Japan. Here’s another example, a fantastic remix of Betwixt & Between’s Hesotarou Tankobu – atmospherics over heavy drums and filters are now a Proteus trademark, but it’s from the breakdown on that this one gets into its stride. Very different feel to the classic original, but I like this a lot.
Level 13 – Is That All by Level13
Level 13 is back again with a stormer of a track – only a preview up for the time being, but there could be some release information coming very soon. Is That All mixes trance and NRG, with plenty of vocals and some fantastic melodies being messed around with by those trademark filters. I was really impressed with this one, it’s definitely a tune to keep a look out for.
Rob.O.T.T – Sound & Fury by Thank You For The Horse
I’ve been meaning to do something a bit more productive with the ‘Tracks’ section for a while now, and thanks to the artists involved things are finally looking good for this brand new version. Instead of that messy collection of mediafire links, from now on the tracks will be up on their very own SoundCloud, which will make promoting/sharing tunes a lot easier. Hopefully this will make it a genuinely useful way of getting some of the newer guys some exposure – there will be links to it up on Facebook, among other things.
To kick off the revamp we have four fantastic tracks from Aquanox and Rob.O.T.T – how none of these have been signed up before I’m not too sure, but I’m incredibly grateful to both guys for making them public here. Aquanox’s Killer Loop will be familiar to a lot of people, a top quality tune with real pace to it and some brilliant acid lines. I was this close to playing at last month’s Romancer…
The other three tunes are from Hybridize’s Rob.O.T.T, but instead of his usual hard trance/hard dance, this time he’s taking on freeform! All three tunes nicely mix the UK and Finnish styles, and as you’d expect there are some great melodies, complete with plenty of freeform style filtering. My personal favourite is probably Sound & Fury, but don’t miss the haunted housecore of Creation or the awesome melodies of New Direction.
Thanks a million to both Aquanox and Rob once again. By the way, I’ve started ‘following’ a few fellow TYFTHers on SoundCloud, feel free to do the same if I haven’t found you yet!