—

Get hot
Get too close to the flame
Wild open space
Talk like an open book
Sign me up
Got no time to take a picture
I’ll remember someday
all the chances we took–
were so close to something better left unknown
Were so close to something better left unknown

I can feel it in my bones
Gimme sympathy
After all of this is gone
who would you rather be?
The Beatles or the Rolling Stones?
Oh, seriously
You’re gonna make mistakes, you’re young
Come on, baby, play me something
like “Here Comes the Sun”
Come on, baby, play me something
like “Here Comes the Sun”

Don’t go, stay with the all-unknown
Stay away from the hooks
All the chances we took–
were so close to something better left unknown
Were so close to something better left unknown

I can feel it in my bones
Gimme sympathy
After all of this is gone
who would you rather be?
The Beatles or the Rolling Stones?
Oh, seriously
You’re gonna make mistakes, you’re young
Come on, baby, play me something
like “Here Comes the Sun”

Gimme sympathy
After all of this is gone
who would you rather be?
The Beatles or the Rolling Stones?
Oh, seriously
You’re gonna make mistakes, you’re young

Come on, baby, play me something
like “Here Comes the Sun” (x 4)

John O’Callaghan feat. Sarah Howells  – Find Yourself (Original Mix)

Drawn into the backdrop here
you could fade, you could fade away
bright lights on a starless night
burn a hole in the dying day

Looking at life through a loaded gun
Take your best shot, aim it at the sun
Looking at life through a loaded gun
You know you’ll find

You’ll find yourself, you’ll find yourself alone (x 3)
You’ll find yourself, you’ll find yourself

Drawn into the darkness here
with your eyes on the prize at stake
Faint hearts (?) on an endless path
letting go of the ones we break

Looking at life through a loaded gun
Take your best shot, aim it at the sun
Looking at life through a loaded gun
You know you’ll find

You’ll find yourself, you’ll find yourself alone (x 3)
You’ll find yourself, you’ll find yourself

Drawn into the backdrop here
you could fade, you could fade away
bright lights on a starless night
burn a hole in the dying day

Looking at life through a loaded gun
Take your best shot, aim it at the sun
Looking at life through a loaded gun
You know you’ll find

You’ll find yourself, you’ll find yourself alone (x 3)
You’ll find yourself, you’ll find yourself

Tritonal feat. Cristina Soto – Let Solitude  (Original Mix)

I wander into emptiness
a void of dreams and consciousness
though I only know your name
each day is just the same
Do you see me?

seeing people passing by
vanishing as I reach out
do you see me through the storm?
do you see me?
let solitude fade slowly into you

let solitude fade slowly into you
let solitude fade slowly into you (do you see me?)
(x 2)

let solitude fade slowly into you. (x 2)

just go on living blindly
the fight’s already come and gone
what went wrong?
don’t bother asking
you left it for so long
do you see me? (do you see me?)
do you see me?

You got to let it in
finding light is never easy
whatever it is that moves you
you’ve got to let it in
you’ve got to let it in
little loneliness is a long time
but don’t block it out
with every heartbeat
hear the truth
let solitude fade slowly into you
let solitude fade slowly into you (do you see me?)

let solitude fade slowly into you
let solitude fade slowly into you (do you see me?)
(x 2)

let solitude fade slowly into you
(x 2)

they say that time will heal but time takes so long
and timing is the key to every love’s success
just like a old man casts his line across the water
and waits as diamonds fade upon the darkened waves

I watch the saddest season change
from my side of the river
I know that nothing stays the same
and we will be together

now all around the trees turn green to brown to bare
across the smokestacks hangs a sorrow in the air
and as the night turns cold above the Brooklyn Bridge
I make one wish and cast it from the river’s edge

I watch the saddest season change
from my side of the river
I know that nothing stays the same
and we will be together

I know that nothing stays the same
and we will be together
we will be together
we will be together

…And my first thought was “…Portal?” But no, this is a different game with a dark-haired female protagonist trying not to get killed. And the song is completely serious.

It’s gotten massive remix support from the likes of Paul van Dyk and Junkie XL, probably seeking to try and break into the North American market. Surprisingly, I actually like the PvD remix. It doesn’t sound typical of him, which is good, because PvD was getting to sound extraordinarily one-dimensional these days. The rest of the remixes…are not so great. What the hell, Armand van Helden?

My problem is that a whole assortment of really badly transcribed lyrics has surfaced across the Internet. And upon listening a few times, I more or less picked through the lyrics until something sounded much more coherent.

“Still Alive” – Lisa Miskovsky

I have changed
I have changed
Just like you, just like you
For how long, for how long
Must I wait; I know there’s something wrong

Your concrete heart isn’t beating
And I’ve tried to make it come alive
No shadows, just red lights
Now I’m here to rescue you

Oh, I’m still alive
I’m still alive
I cannot apologize, no (x 2)

So silent, no violence
But inside my head
So loud and clear
You’re screaming, you’re screaming
Covered up with a smile I’ve learned to fear

Just sunshine
And blue sky
Is this all we get
For living here?
Come fire, come fire
Let it burn and love come racing through

Oh, I’m still alive
I’m still alive
I cannot apologize, no (x 2)

I’ve learned to lose
I’ve learned to win
I’ve turned my face against the wind

I will move fast
I will move slow
Take me where I have to go

Oh, I’m still alive
I’m still alive
I cannot apologize, no

We live separate lives, can’t even organise
One more meeting of minds ain’t gonna make it right, no
There’s more humanity in just letting it be now
‘Cause I can’t seem to justify when we’re living separate dreams

This is from “Parallel Lives”, a track from the fabulous new album Overpowered by UK songstress Roisin Murphy. Aside from describing my current outlook on a man who’s pursuing me, Roisin displays the same mix of near-insanity and innovation that so characterizes her unique electro-disco and experimental style. It is very much an acquired taste, and one that many people often never acquire; still, I think that this and her first album Ruby Blue are very much worth a listen. Give it a try.

Recommended tracks: “You Know Me Better”, “Let Me Know”, “Dear Miami”, “Overpowered”, “Parallel Lives”

Pros: Supremely unique; very refreshing lack of restraint

Cons: Some tracks are slightly repetitive and similar to one another; not the kind of album for someone close-minded at all

—

Random blurb:

Dear innovative musicians of the world;

Keep fearlessly making the music that you love regardless of convention. Regardless of the famegrubbing starstruck want-to-bes who end up making the limelight while you quietly keep doing what it is your soul tells you, not what the industry says, not what the media says, not what the executives direct you to do. Do it for the fans, the appreciation under the surface, the love from the underground, the notes cascading across your crafted melodic lines, but most of all for your spirit.

love,
a fan <3

Musician: ATB
Country/Region: Germany/Europe
Genre(s): Trance (vocal/ambient/club), ambient/new age, instrumental
Recommended songs: “Ecstacy” featuring Tiff Lacey, “Renegade” featuring Heather Nova, “Desperate Religion” featuring Karen Ires, “Here With Me” featuring Tiff Lacey, “Alcarda”, “Collides With Beauty” featuring Madelin Zero, “Let You Go” featuring Roberta Harrison (from 2002′s “Dedicated”); “Let You Go (reworked)” featuring Jan Lochel (from 2005′s “Seven Years”)
Recommended albums: 2004′s “No Silence”; 2007′s “Trilogy”

The genre of trance is abused by musicians and critics alike, and often the artists themselves; executed poorly, the same electronic beats layered over the same pulsing, hypnotic drum beat used by every producer alive to the point that one’s mind simply implodes from lack of variety. Bad dance music, bad mixing– bad everything, really.

But I think it is mostly due to the proliferation of uncreative “pioneers” of trance who have reached international success– DJ Tiesto comes to mind, who has indeed pioneered a certain style, but I personally am not fond of his music, which seems to me to be repetitive and can’t hold my attention for more than two minutes. It’s good, certainly, but it’s not re-playable.

Nor do vocals always improve a song– Ian Van Dahl’s “Castles in the Sky” was grating to hear, and despite its international success, it fixed the stereotype in the public’s mind that vocal trance consists of one or two phrases looped repeatedly. While this was indeed a common phenomenon in 1990′s trance, it requires quite the dose of drugs to genuinely enjoy this.

So here I present my unashamed bias towards DJ Andre Tanneberger, most commonly known as ATB; a pioneer of the trance genre in his own right as well as the artist who has appeared most commonly in my favorite songs list, he has managed to craft high-quality melodies that not only defy the restrictions of genre, but transcend them. Song descriptions for three of my favorite tracks are in the Songs page of this blog, but almost all of his work from 2002′s “Dedicated” album onward is gold, to me; through his seven albums, ATB has shown marked growth and development as a producer and musician. Indeed, his “Trilogy” double-album contains a disc composed entirely of ambient instrumentals without a single trance beat or vocal contribution, and has proven that producing trance does not mean breaking from traditional instrumentals and composition.

“Stronger” is an international hit, breaking #1s, sales, records, all sorts of lofty milestones that a million artist can only hope to have in their wildest dreams. And yet, listening to it, the song is only made up of a handful of components plopped on top of a sample of Daft Punk’s “Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger” cycling throughout:

-a drum beat
-occasional keyboard/synthesizer notes
-occasional electric guitar toward the end

and Kanye’s dubious rapping.

That’s it.

…

I mean, granted, most songs don’t have many layers, simplicity is an art not easily mastered, and too much clutter is auditory pain. But “Stronger” isn’t particularly innovative; everything’s on beat, minus some random synth bits, and it wouldn’t take too much to come up with it.

But he did come up with it, it’s a winning formula, and hey– whatever the reason, it’s a hit. It’s not particularly groundbreaking, or even that original, though most people haven’t had this much exposure to (a) Daft Punk’s genius and (b) the sharp, steady drum beat accent that sounds like a snare drum tap and is such a trademark of some types of Japanese and European techno.

All that I personally need to notice is that it’s a fantastic dance song.

Complete BBC article here.