Sunday, January 27, 2013

Album Review: John O'Callaghan - Subculture 2013


Start the year with a bang with Subculture 2013!

It has been a great year for John O'Callaghan with numerous releases and gigs. And what a way to end 2012 and welcome 2013 with a new 2-disc compilation album, "Subculture 2013."

JOC begins our journey in disc 1 with a melodic "Bella Monaco" by Rex Mundi before increasing the beats courtesy of "Lightning" by MaRLo. In comes the vocals of Katrina Noorbergen in "Letting Go" by Full Tilt with emphasis on the bassline courtesy of Jorn van Deynhoven. The journey continues with the lovely strums and melodic beats of "Fireisland" by Solarstone and Aly & Fila.

Enter his remix of "Foolish Boy" by Emma Hewitt maintaining the melody while emphasizing deeper bassline and melodic breaks. This was also predominant in the next three tracks - Luke Terry's "No Control" in James Dymond remix; Jase Thirlwall's "Gobstopper" in Indecent Noise remix; and John's own track "Boban." These tracks will just make you dance until your legs get wobbly. He slow things with his mashup of "Whatever Happened To Puzzle Piece." This is one of the mashups I really like due to its flawless blending of two tracks.

Journey continues with his remix of "Falcons" by Solarstone and Giuseppe Ottaviani followed by the Aly & Fila remix of "When I Close My Eyes" by Alex M.O.R.P.H. This pure trance track featuring Hannah's voice will surely induce goosebumps. JOC increased the tempo with "Jackknife" by Sneijder before bringing in his remix of "I Don't Deserve You" by Paul van Dyk, adding his signature bassline to the melodic beats and the strong vocals of Plumb. He ends our journey with darker beats of "Airport" by Photographer.

CD 2 kicks off with the amazing MaRLo remix of "Pure" by Solarstone, combining pure trance with melodic bass. JOC kicks it up with "Crispy Duck," a track he collaborated with Orjan Nilsen. Funny name for a high energy track. He continues with Protoculture's "Perpetual Motion" before bringing in his remix of "I'll Listen" by Armin van Buuren and Ana Criado adding bass to a melodic track.

Deeper bassline and melodic rhythms come into play with Ottaviani's "Earthbeat" followed by JOC's "Earth2Self." This two tracks would surely get you dancing. This journey continues with a remix of "What Do You Feel" by Aeris and Jess Morgan before a touch of techy-trance comes into play in "Power Trip" by Chris Metcalfe and "Get The Edge" by Bryan Kearney.

He continues with his remix of the melodic track "Everything" by The Thrillseekers and Stine Grove before taking us higher with "Vaporize" by himself and Aly & Fila. Combining his signature bassline with the Egyptian duo's signature melodic riffs to produce this flawless track. He continues with "Muriwai" by Akira Kayosa and Hugh Tolland. The melodic break on this track would induce goosebumps. Then comes in his track with Kathryn Gallagher - "Mess Of A Machine" with emphasis on deeper bassline courtesy of Kearney.

In comes Deynhoven's goosebump-inducing "Headliner," before ending our journey with his remix of Gareth Emery's "Concrete Angel." His bassline and synths blends well with Gareth's melodic rhythms and Christina Novelli's strong vocals.

John O'Callaghan has surely given us another reason to keep us listening to trance. With it's flawless transition and high-energy beats, Subculture 2013 is sure way to start the new year with a bang!

10/10

Released Date: January 18, 2013
Label: Subculture Recordings, Armada Music

Pre-order:
iTunes - https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/subculture-2013/id58690396
Armada Shop - https://www.armadamusicshop.com/Subculture-2013-John-OCallaghan-Arma343-AC184584.htm#

Tracklist:

CD1
01 Rex Mundi - Bella Monaco (Intro Mix)
02 MaRLo - Lightning
03 Full Tilt ft. Katrina Noorbergen - Letting Go (Jorn van Deynhoven Remix)
04 Solarstone with Aly & Fila - Fireisland (Aly & Fila Uplifting Mix)
05 Emma Hewitt - Foolish Boy (John O'Callaghan Remix)
06 Luke Terry - No Control (James Dymond Remix)
07 Jase Thirlwall - Gobstopper (Indecent Noise Remix)
08 John O'Callaghan - Boban
09 Mark Leanings vs. Space Rockerz & Tania Zygar - Whatever Happened To Puzzle Piece (John O'Callaghan Mashup)
10 Solarstone with Giuseppe Ottaviani - Falcons (John O'Callaghan Remix)
11 Alex M.O.R.P.H. with Hannah - When I Close My Eyes (Aly & Fila Remix)
12 Sneijder - Jackknife
13 Paul van Dyk ft. Plumb - I Don't Deserve You (John O'Callaghan Remix)
14 Photographer - Airport

CD2
01 Solarstone - Pure (MaRLo Intro Mix)
02 Orjan Nilsen & John O'Callaghan - Crispy Duck
03 Protoculture - Perpetual Motion
04 Armin van Buuren ft. Ana Criado - I'll Listen (John O'Callaghan Dark Mix)
05 Giuseppe Ottaviani - Earthbeat
06 John O'Callaghan - Earth2Self
07 Aeris ft. Jess Morgan - What Do You Feel? (Re:Locate vs Robert Nickson Banging Remix)
08 Chris Metcalfe - Power Trip
09 Bryan Kearney - Get The Edge
10 The Thrillseekers ft. Stine Grove - Everything (John O'Callaghan Remix)
11 Aly & Fila vs. John O'Callaghan - Vaporize
12 Akira Kayosa & Hugh Tolland - Muriwai
13 John O'Callaghan & Kathryn Gallagher - Mess Of A Machine (Bryan Kearney Remix)
14 Jorn van Deynhoven - Headliner
15 Gareth Emery ft. Christina Novelli - Concrete Angel (John O'Callaghan Remix)

This review can also be found on TranceHub - http://trancehub.com/reviews/albums/john-ocallaghan-subculture-2013/

John O'Callaghan - website | Facebook | G+ | MixCloud | SoundCloud | YouTube | @JOCofficial

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