Album Review: Moonbeam - Space Odyssey: Mars

“Space Odyssey: Mars” is an epic journey through the different realms of the Electronic Music universe...

Star date 2014, it’s been four years since the last Space Odyssey went on a mission. Cosmonauts Pavel and Vitaly Khavleev are prepping the Moonbeam spacecraft for the second leg of the journey. The mission - travel to no man has gone before - “Space Odyssey: Mars.”

The journey begins with Special Mars 2014 remix of “See The Difference Inside” featuring the lovely vocals of Julie B. Reaching space altitude, the brothers guaranteed smoothness towards the red planet with techy beats of their track “Mirrors” before groovy trance beats courtesy of Cosmic Gate’s “Wake Your Mind” and “Twilight Is Coming.”

The duo brought in the percussion and analogue distorts in Hells Kitchen’s “Close Your Eyes,” their celestial take on Andain’s “You Once Told Me” and the Tvardovsky remix of Progreg’s “Sing For You” featuring the sultry vocals of Cary Less. The journey progresses with deep beats and guitars riffs of “Long Journey Home” by Kiholm & Josh Money before bringing us back to techy vibes courtesy of “Born To Scream.”

We are on final approach...

Moonbeam gradually slow things down but kept it melodic with Andy Duguid’s “In This Moment” mixing celestial beats with piano riffs and the angelic voice of Audrey Gallagher. They followed with electro beats of Allesandro’s “Awake” before engulfing us with their acid take of “Lovethief” by Mars Needs Lovers & Mmadcatz filling the spacecraft with deep bass lines and great percussion - a signal for the us to wake up from their deep hibernation. As we descend to the red planet, Moonbeam ends the first part of the journey with tron-like indie beats of Fromance’s “Back To Earth.”

Second part of the journey begins with some smooth grooves of 2Fashion’s “Such a Shame” preceded by percussion and deep basslines of Indifferent Guy’s “Danger” which features the hypnotizing voice of Eva Pavlova and Joshi’s “Raging Blue.” Before switching to a mellower house beats of Myon & Shane 54’s “Outshine” and Da Fresh’s “Angel.”

The duo switched to hyper-drive with techy riffs and deep basslines courtesy of Orbik’s “If It’s Love” and Jaytech’s melodic remix of “Your Secret’s Safe” by Julie Thompson and Super8 & Tab. They brought in the percussion-filled techy track “Twisted Mind” by Mier before progressing to some trance chops and distortions in “Morevenin” by Matt Fax. Moonbeam slowed things down with qoob’s “Apollo 17” and Vian Pelez's "The Fountain." The sooner track is my favorite of the album - melodic beats filled with piano riffs throughout - its almost like a signal that the journey is about to end.

We are now entering Earth’s atmosphere with a banger in Kris O’Neil’s take on “Do It Over” by Tom Cloud and Antonia Lucas. The journey ends with some smooth melodic beats of “Fancy” by Marsbeing.

With seamless transition, brilliant track progression and the ever so gorgeous Moonbeam melody, "Space Odyssey: Mars" will be a great addition your Electronic Music collection.

Tracklist:

Disc 1.
01. Moonbeam ft. Julia B - See The Difference Inside (Special Mars 2014 Remix)
02. Moonbeam - Mirrors
03. Cosmic Gate & Cary Brothers - Wake Your Mind (Extended Mix)
04. Moonbeam ft. Avis Vox - Twilight Is Coming
05. Hells Kitchen - Close Your Eyes (Original Mix)
06. Andain - You Once Told Me (Moonbeam Remix)
07. Progreg ft. Cary Less - Sing For You (Tvardovsky Remix)
08. Kiholm ft. Josh Money - Long Journey Home (Original Mix)
09. Moonbeam & Jan Zyabovski - Born To Scream
10. Andy Duguid & Audrey Gallagher - In This Moment (Original Mix)
11. Allesandro - Awake (Original Mix)
12. Mars Needs Lovers & Mmadcatz - Lovethief (Moonbeam Remix)
13. Fromance - Back To Earth

Disc 2.
01. 2Fashion - Such a Shame (Moonbeam Remix)
02. Indifferent Guy ft. Eva Pavlova - Danger (Original Mix)
03. Joshi - Raging Blue (Original Mix)
04. Myon & Shane 54 with Natalie Peris - Outshine (Nigel Good Remix)
05. Da Fresh ft. Blackfeel Wite - Angel (Moonbeam Remix)
06. Orbik - If It's Love (Original Mix)
07. Julie Thompson with Super8 & Tab - Your Secret's Safe (Jaytech Remix)
08. Mier - Twisted Mind (Original Mix)
09. Matt Fax - Morevenin (Remode Mix)
10. qoob - Apollo-17
11. Vian Pelez - The Fountain (Extended Mix)
12. Tom Cloud & Antonia Lucas - Do It Over (Kris O'Neil Remix)
13. Marsbeing - Fancy

Release Date: March 17, 2014
Label: Black Hole Recordings
Catalog Number: BLHCD112

iTunes - https://itunes.apple.com/nl/album/space-odyssey-mars/id820249935
FineNight - http://www.finenight.com/space-odyssey-mars.html
Beatport - http://www.beatport.com/release/space-odyssey-mars/1248644

This review can also be found at http://trancehub.com/v3/reviews/moonbeam-space-odyssey-mars/

Movie Review: 300: Rise of an Empire

Warning: Spoiler Alert!

300: Rise of an Empire is the sequel to the 2006 hit 300. The film is based on the Frank Miller's graphic novel Xerxes which has not yet been released as of this post. The film is mostly set during the Battle of Artemisium and then the Battle of Salamis between the Persian Navy led by Artemisia (Eva Green) and Athenian Navy led by Themistocles (Sullivan Stapleton).

The film began with Queen Gorgo (Lena Heady) telling the story about the Battle of Marathon where Themistocles shot the arrow that led to the death of Persian King Darius I (Yigal Naor) and the eventual transformation of Xerxes (Rodrigo Santoro) to the "God-King" and set out to conquer Greece. The story then switches to Thermopylae where Themistocles meets with the council and convinces them to engage the Persian navy. The Greek Navy and Persian Navy battled for two days with the Greeks winning which led to Artemisia inviting Themistocles to her ship and offers him to be on her side. But he refuses which led her to seek revenge by destroying most of the Greek navy the following day and killing Scyllas (Callan Mulvey), Themistocles' friend. Thinking that she has killed Themistocles, Artemisia retreats. But Themistocles survives and learn of Leonidas and the 300 have been killed which led to a united Greece. He then leads a small fleet of Greek forces at Salamis and as he battle Artemisia. Queen Gorgo led Spartan Navy and and other allied armies surrounding the Persian navy forcing a retreat from Xerxes.

Is it a sequel?
300: Rise of an Empire is a sequel, well sort of. The film happen before and during the Battle of Salamis whereas the first movie was more of the exploits of Leonides and the 300 and what happen in Sparta.

Like:
The visual effects and the CGI is stunning with the film keeping its unique look of bringing a "comic-book" into life. This second film is definitely more gory with more bloods splattering and mangled body parts all throughout the film. The battle sequence are well choreographed and that "slow-mo" motion was well-placed on the sequence of the film. The storytelling was superb - giving viewers a quick but no-nonsense history of the main characters. Acting were excellent especially Eva Green and Sullivan Stapleton. Kudos to Lena Heady who transformed Gorgo from just being a queen to a warrior queen.

Dislike:
This film didn't have the "omph" like the first film. There were "huh" moments.

Overall:
The movie is great but not as great as the first film. But I would still highly recommend the film. Don't forget to watch it in 3D to make it more of a life-like experience.

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