Album Review: Giuseppe Ottaviani - Magenta

Magenta is the color of summer 2013!

If you research “Magenta”, it will tell you that the color symbolizes universal harmony and emotional balance. And this is what Giuseppe Ottaviani intended to do with his second studio album. This 15-track album is filled with harmonious tracks produce with collaboration from fellow trance producers and vocalists. Let's take a journey into the sounds of “Magenta.”

"the colour Magenta represents universal love at its highest level. The album's concept is exactly that. Music intended to promote the very same essence the colour does." - Giuseppe Ottaviani

The album starts with “Rush”, a breakbeat filled uplifting track with hints of drum-n-bass vocalled by Lo-Fi Sugar. This was followed by “Love Will Bring It Around”, which features Eric Lumiere. The lead single of the album is filled with melodic percussion and piano melodies working harmoniously with Lumiere's amazing strong voice that would surely you put a smile in your face. “Stars” with Linnea Schössow brings in haunting vocals, dreamy melody and pulsing bass line - a forte of Ottaviani's production. He follows with “Illusion” with Stephen Pickup, a “GO!” alum, bringing in a more progressive sound.

Some electro comes into play in “Cold Flame”, the first non-vocal track of the album. The track is filled with distorted bass coupled with uplifting string melodies that borders the boundaries of trance and electro music. He then brings us back to uplifting and melodic vocal trance with “Gave Me” vocalled by Seri followed by “I Am Your Shadow” with Audio Cells and Shannon Hurley. This track is fast becoming one of my faves from the album due to its complete balance of spewing bass lines, uplifting melodies and the dynamic-haunting voice of Ms. Hurley. Ottaviani teams up with Faith once more for “Nothing Wrong”. This melodic track is a great follow up to “Angel”.

Ottaviani brought in some harder trance in “Feel The Music” and “Waterpark”. The build up on Feel The Music is amazing with high octane beats and techno riffs while Waterpark is filled with melodic synths and energetic bass line that would surely make you want to dance. He brought in his signature style in “Heal This Empty Heart” vocalled by Alana Aldea. While slowing things down in “Waiting On Someday” with features the voice of Vitamin B wrapped in melodic string riffs  and emotional chords. Haunting vocals courtesy of Audrey Gallagher came into play in the melodic track “Walk This World With Me”.

Ottaviani teamed up with two of the biggest producers in the latter part of Magenta. He collaborated with Egyptian duo Aly & Fila in producing “Brilliant People” which contains powerful bass line and a breakdown filled with beautiful piano melodies and haunting female chant. Then he teamed up with Ferry Corsten for “Magenta”, the title track to close out the album. This track has it all with symphonic strings, deep melodic grooves and synths and a melodic that you would surely get you humming.

The color magenta means universal harmony and balance. And Ottaviani surely shown that with this album. The Italian producer has provided us the tools to paint the summer... Magenta!

10/10

Tracklist:
01. Giuseppe Ottaviani ft. Lo-Fi Sugar - Rush
02. Giuseppe Ottaviani & Eric Lumiere - Love Will Bring It All Around
03. Giuseppe Ottaviani ft. Linnea Schössow - Stars
04. Giuseppe Ottaviani ft. Stephen Pickup - Illusion
05. Giuseppe Ottaviani - Cold Flame
06. Giuseppe Ottaviani ft. Seri - Gave Me
07. Giuseppe Ottaviani & Audio Cells ft. Shannon Hurley - I Am Your Shadow
08. Giuseppe Ottaviani ft. Faith - Nothing Wrong
09. Giuseppe Ottaviani - Feel The Music
10. Giuseppe Ottaviani ft. Alana Aldea - Heal This Empty Heart
11. Giuseppe Ottaviani - Waterpark
12. Giuseppe Ottaviani ft. Vitamin B - Waiting On Someday
13. Giuseppe Ottaviani with Aly&Fila - Brilliant People
14. Giuseppe Ottaviani ft. Audrey Gallagher - Walk This World With Me
15. Giuseppe Ottaviani & Ferry Corsten - Magenta

Release Date: May 27, 2013
Label: Black Hole Recordings

Listen:
Black Hole Recordings - http://www.blackholerecordings.com/music/albums/giuseppe-ottaviani-magenta-bonus-track-version/
SoundCloud - http://soundcloud.com/giuseppeottaviani/go-on-air-042
Spotify - http://open.spotify.com/album/6acEGvYOYZwVoMOpDcxEmO
YouTube - http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLq5R-Uwn0feUR9Z0DhaNHIovBGH8MU8Os

Where to Buy:
Amazon - http://amzn.com/B00CWTAR8W
Beatport - http://www.beatport.com/release/magenta/1089217
FineNight - http://www.finenight.com/Magenta.html
iTunes - https://itunes.apple.com/gb/album/magenta-bonus-track-version/id645829821

Album Review: Tenishia - Memory Of A Dream

Collaborating since 2005, Malta's finest producers Joven Grech and Cyprian Cassar, or better known as the group Tenishia has finally released their debut album 'Memory Of A Dream'. The 16-track album will showcase their own personality and sound, mixing with an array of different styles.

The album starts off with the title track "Memory Of A Dream", a track that begins with lovely guitar chords courtesy of Eller van Buuren before the beats and piano keys blends in for a melodic track. Chris Jones provide some stunning vocals to this track that would surely be one of the best tracks of 2012. Tenishia continues mixing piano chords with stunning synths and beats in "As It Should", the second single from the album. Jan Johnston provided the vocals for this lovely track.

The next track, "Chords Of Life", is filled with ambient sounds with some wicked beats. This style continues with "Jaguar", but with more synthesized beats to make it a more livelier track. Next up is the vocal track "Crash & Burn", an upbeat track with deep bass line and pounding melodies mixed in with Aneym’s angelic voice that would surely be a hit on the dance floor. Tenishia continues with another vocal track, infusing house and trance melodies in "Broken Wings". Seems like the vocals of Elleah don’t gel well with this track, yet it’s still a melodic tune filled with piano chords and electro bass. "Attention" follows next with Kyler England providing vocals in this track with deep bass line and melodies.

The next three tracks will surely be a hit on DJ sets. "As We Speak" opens with a haunting chant before going into Tenishia’s style of pounding beats and uplifting melodies with emphasis on a wind instrument, guessing a flute. The duo continues this style in "Where Do We Begin" creating a melodramatic harmony – blending piano chords with amazing vocals – between synthesize bass lines and house beats. Blending in more house beats and uplifting melodies with a faster BPM, the track "Always Loved, Never Forgotten" has already caught us by a storm being the first single out of this album and garnering massive airplay in various radio shows and live sets and was included in Armin van Buuren’s ‘A State Of Trance 2012‘ compilation CD (Disc 1, track 9).

Next up is "Across The Border" a track they collaborated with Australian producer Ahmet Atasever. This track is filled with Balearic guitar-riffs blend with synthesized bass lines and treble. Tenishia brings back some vocals in "Ghost Of Love" with Ivan Grech. A dramatic track filled with string chords and melodic bass accompanied by Grech’s strong vocals. This is followed by "Face Your Fears", an uptempo, high energy track geared towards live set, though certain parts of the track is similar to a previous massive track.

Tenishia switches back to vocals with "Love Survives" collaborating with Ruben de Ronde on this upbeat melodic track with Shannon Hurley providing some lovely vocals. Up next is "Shores Of Eden", a track which was released last year. This stunning track is filled with amazing chant and uplifting trance beats that would surely bring bliss to your mind and dance to your feet. "Memory Of A Dream" ends with "Point Of No Return", a track with an operatic intro before bursting into a full bloom of sound with synthesized beats and uplifting melodies resulting into a blissful end of the journey into the sounds of Tenishia.

Though not a perfect album, Tenishia’s ‘Memory Of A Dream‘ is still filled with amazing tracks that would surely be a hit whether on the airwaves or on the dance floor.

9/10

This review can also be found on TranceHub's website - http://trancehub.com/reviews/albums/tenishia-memory-of-a-dream/

Tenishia - website | Facebook | MySpace | Youtube | Total Access International | @tenishiamusic

Album Review: Alex M.O.R.P.H. - Prime Mover

Prime Mover, one of the most anticipated albums of the year, is from legendary German DJ, producer and avid trucker hat fan Alex M.O.R.P.H. The album, his second, includes 17 melodic and energetic tracks that would surely make waves in the EDM scene.

The album kicks off with Eternal Flame, a track filled with breakbeats that develops into a harmonious melodic track filled with amazing piano keys and haunting vocal hums. This is followed by An Angel’s Love, a track that broke into the scene during the last quarter of 2011. This melodramatic track is filled with uplifting beats and riffs combined with the powerful and haunting voice of Sylvia Tosun. He switched things with Sucker Punch, a deep and highly energetic track with melodic riffs that would surely be a hit on the dancefloor and live sets.

M.O.R.P.H. brought back some vocals in Monday Morning Madness courtesy of singer/songwriter Shannon Hurley. This progressive track has deep basslines and melodic synths with a pop-ish groove to it. Up next is Waking Up The Stars, a track filled with ambient sounds and melodic beats, that he collaborated with South African producer Protoculture. This track burst out of the scene during the first quarter of this year as part of Armin van Buuren’s A State of Trance 2012 compilation. Jawa is the next track and Alex brought in the percussion while blending house beats into trance elements. He continued with the mixing of genres with Secret Universe, bringing some rock flavor into trance with strong and heartwarming vocals by Christian Burns. He slow things a little bit in Bay of Bengal, a chill track with soft bassline and melodic beats before bring in up with Connected, a track that contains a massive buildup and an amazing drop that would surely make you want for more. This is followed by Antara (The Circle), an emotion-filled track with melodic beats and uplifting riffs that blends well with Tosun’s melodic voice. The title track follows next and Prime Mover got the darker beats and big room riffs which reminds me of early M.O.R.P.H. productions.

Bringing us back to the lighter side of trance is From The Universe With Love, a track that features the voice of Sue McLaren. This track blends strong riffs and ambient sounds with Sue’s voice to transform the track into a melodic journey. This was followed by Sun of Ilena, a progressive track with synthesize-filled melodies and Tales Of The Black Panther Pt. 1, a chill upbeat melodic track that is ideal for those long rides. He introduced another vocal track in I See You, a nice collaboration he did with Woody van Eyden and Tiff Lacey. The deep melodic beats of this track blends perfectly well with the haunting vocals of Lacey. Up next is Exstatic Avenger, a track he collaborated with Claudia Cazacu which combines dark-deep trance elements with tribal sounds. He then ends Prime Mover almost the same as how he started. The melody he use for When I Close My Eyes is almost similar to Eternal Flame but this one features rolling piano keys blend with the sounds of the ocean and the amazing voice of Hannah.

Prime Mover shows you the production prowess of Alex M.O.R.P.H. He blends ambient, progressive and uplifting trance together with other genres and mix in his own of music to create quality tracks. Prime Mover will surely be in contention for the best album of 2012.

This review can also be found on TranceHub.com - http://trancehub.com/reviews/albums/alex-morph-prime-mover/

Alex M.O.R.P.H. - website | Facebook | Flowd | @alexmorph