Remembering the greats, Part Deux.

Extra points to anyone who picked out the movie reference in the title. But onto business, and believe me I have some hammers for you today. This first one is an amazing track. It might not be Proximus/Adiemus but I can guarantee you it's on that level.

Coming from around 1999/2000 (the best years of trance in my opinion), Finished Symphony was produced by Mike Truman and Chris Healings, a.k.a. Hybrid. The British duo had the Russian Federal Orchestra perform the symphony, blending it with progressive breakbeat, trance and house. I think it's a moving piece, and the chilled version without the breakbeat is just as effective.

The next one coming out from the same time, not really a moving track but it was one of the one's that got me into the genre. Actually I think the first dance/trance CD i ever owned was a compilation and this was one of the mixes. (Anyone remember the E.S.P. mixes? It was on the green one, forgot what volume or whatever, please let me know if you do). Some kicking bass and smooth piano, here's Limits by Marco V. and Benjamin.

I'm trying to work on a 5 per post system, so it's not stopping here. Something newer, and pretty massive by my favourite Trance/Dance group ever. Yes, it's Oceanlab. One year after Jono Grant, Tony McGuinness and Paavo Siljamäki (a.k.a. Above & Beyond) linked up with Justine Suissa, they released this massive track. I find the original to be pretty moving, but the remix by Ferry Corsten was also pretty big. I'd post both but I'm gonna favour the original. The video is pretty awesome itself.

Now this next one i first heard on the Deeper Shades of Euphoria mix cd in the form of Solarstones After Hours mix. Very chilled and laid back, with intriguing lyrics and vocals by Carla Werner. The original is not much different, but with a more breakbeat feel. Out of 2002, featured on DJ Tiesto's In Search Of Sunrise vol. 3: Panama, here is Paul Oakenfold's Southern Sun remixed by Tiesto. There's actually an interesting story to this track, listen and you'll get the idea...or just look a the Wikipedia page.

And last, but certainly not least, a bombshell from Blank & Jones. I KNOW you will love this one. A very uplifting energetic piece with a very chilled out break. The climax in this one (not that kind but has similar effects) is amazing. I get shivers everytime (see, I told you it's similar). From 2002, here's Watching The Waves, with a trippy video to double the effects.

Hope you loved this post and I'm sure there will be many more for you fanatics. If you didn't, too bad, I'm still gonna do this just for the enjoyment of digging up classics. I've got more lined up for tomorrow, so check back again. Just a teaser....does Solid Sessions ring a bell? ;)

I'm off on a major trip now seeing as that last one got me in the mood.

Remembering the greats.

OK so I've remodelled the blog just a little. I think the bright pink and purple and all that was getting a little tacky. And maybe the sidebar was full of junk too...i don't know. But my new logo (I use the term loosely because I've been using it everywhere else for quite a while) is up at the top now, and I think it looks better....but that's beside the point.

I've been surfing youtube and wikipedia-ing, etc etc for a couple weeks now and I'm stumbling upon some really old trance and it's all really good stuff. So I'm deciding to start a segment on here called "Remembering the Greats" or something....I will work on the name.

Basically the idea is to find the monster hits from back in the day, so you can also refresh the memory and have a listen. All will be posted here with their YouTube clips, maybe even some extra info behind the song. I find it interesting and I'm sure there's people who want to broaden their knowledge of the genre, some of the songs and the big artists.

Starting off with probably the most emotionally stimulating hit, Mauro Picotto's "Proximus"



This song uses a sample taken from Adiemus for those interested. I've found a video of the original which I embedded below. This piece was also covered by Enya for Lord Of The Rings, but here is a link to Wikipedia with more info on Adiemus.

"Discover" promotional edit online.

It's been too long since I managed to make any music, even though I've been dying to. But in the past two weeks I have managed to do some work and this is the first complete one. This is just a promotional version, I'm keeping the extended ones to myself for now unless I see some activity generated.

Player is embedded below. Download, listen, comment, but most importantly, ENJOY! :)

Discover (Promo ed...

Keeping up with the @Jonesessessss....

In my never ending quest for exposure and a larger fan base, I've decided to keep up with the times and get myself a Twitter account dedicated to Gigitsu. And why not? Rather than sign in to facebook to update my fan page, i can just tweet from my mobile when im out and about.

And in other news, in my never ending quest to bring you, the people, some fresh new progressive tracks, I've managed to come up with 2 (now 3) new tracks in one day. I can't wait for friday so i can start putting some production time in and working on these. Demos will be released once i'm happy with them....if that ever happens. As well as those three, i'll be going back a couple of years to when i was still going under the D-Livid alias. I'll be taking a few of those tracks and composing them from scratch with new instruments and effects. I've learned so much more in the past 2-3 years, lets see what i can change and improve.

yeah so i'm full of excitement. Don't forget to tell your friends.... your mom knows already ;)

Boulevard of Broken Dreams

Right well it's been a while since i wrote anything here and I can explain. I've been really busy travelling, working, sleeping, etc. But other than that, I just haven't felt that inspired lately. Until a couple of days ago.

I'm sure you're familiar with the painting "Nighthawks" by Edward Hopper. If not, I can guarantee you've seen some sort of parody or pop culture reference to it. Google it and you will see. Do it now if you can, then read on after.

Right, so now we know what I'm talking about. Except that painting isn't the one I'll be referring to. A reinterpretation of it, probably almost as famous, named The Boulevard of Broken dreams, has been on my mind lately. In this piece, the characters are replaced by Marilyn Monroe, Humphrey Bogart, Elvis Presley and James Dean. All well known and loved celebrities who passed on tragically.

My interpretation is much the opposite. The original features the four celebrities, at least three out the four seem to be happy. They were all highly successful, although cut down in their prime as it were. The one i see in my head is a much gloomier feel about it. I'll try to describe it for you.

Imagine the diner. Now imagine it in Hollywood, except it's completely empty. Now one by one, I'll add more modern characters to it. Something we can relate to. Imagine a young girl, tall, skinny, blonde and wearing a leopard skin coat. She is holding a cigarette, seated at the counter with a cup of coffee. A very unsatisfied, depressed, confused look on her face. This is a model, unhappy because she sacrificed her health and body for a dream, and now she is bearing the consequences. Poor health, greed, and a life spent wasting time worrying about the superficial/material things.

The next character in the diner, a young man. His face almost identical to that of the young James Dean. Obviously a very good looking young man. He's behind the counter, busily serving the patrons as they come in. The look on his face makes it evident that he's deep in thought as he makes his way about his job. A young inspiring actor maybe, working the 9-5 shift just to get by while he tries to land a role in a low budget film. We all have to start off somewhere.

Character number 3 is seated at the counter on the side adjacent to that of the young lady. He is slightly askew on his stool, clothes somewhat tatty, large gold chains on his neck and wrists. A very wealthy man, however it's easy to see he has problems. His eyes are red and droopy. His face bears a scar just above the right cheek bone. From behind, the problem becomes clearer as one can see a mirror and a silver tin, just peeking out from one of his back pockets. Someone who made it in the industry, but somewhere along the line lost his way and started a journey down a very dark path.

Now the really sad parts. They might be too much for some people, but i have to be completely honest and open if i want to interpret this in a way that reflects our society as it is today.

Seated eerily close to the young lady, is an older man, probably late fifties to mid sixties. Another successful person, his suit is of a designer label, tailor made to fit his ageing body perfectly. He is the only one inside the diner with a smile on his face, albeit a cheeky one, as his eyes gaze at the blonde. I don't need to go into detail about his intentions, i think the man is fairly transparent enough for you to see them for yourself.

Across the road from the diner, in the background, a red light can be seen. A reference to the real Boulevard of broken dreams, Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood.

If i could paint, this is what i would paint :)

The Real Cost Of Second Hand Goods.

Right i know its been a while since i wrote on here but i've been really busy. So for a change, i've taken some time off to sit here and write about something i've been thinking about.

The hidden cost of second hand electronics has been on my mind. I was in the process of buying a new mobile but before i decided what i wanted, i checked out a few reviews and videos, the most noteable here being the "unboxing" videos on youtube.

Sure you may get the second hand mobile, mp3 player, laptop at a knockoff price, but you're not getting the full experience of the purchase. What exactly do i mean? I mean the actual unboxing of the device and seeing it in its raw, unscathed, untouched state, freshly wrapped in the packaging with all the extras that came with it.

A tech fundi like me would probably compare the experience of unboxing to that of child birth. Taking the device out of the box for the first time (i know what you're thinking, and no not that box, i'm talking about the phone and the packaging) and holding it in your hands, fresh, shiny and clean. Something like that new car smell.

With second hand goods, you don't really experience this. It's already been unpackaged, handled, most likely dropped and scratched a few times, and probably nowhere near in working order as it was when it was new. So your iPhone you bought for 300 bucks, might be a bargain, but you're missing out on a 300+ experience the original owner had.

The excitement when you first open the box and see it in absolute perfect condition for the first time is already gone and used on someone else. In this sense, i try to always go for a new device. This is probably why people like to take photos of the unboxing event and videos, so they can preserve that memory. Like a childs first words caught on film, or the first time he/she walked or got caught playing in the mud (i have a pretty memorable pic of a similar experience involving me and my brother haha. i just need to find it).

Really, what i'm trying to say is, theres a lot more that you pay for than the bargain price tag. And that, my friends, is what i believe to be the hidden cost of second hand goods.

Enclosed is a video of someone who just got his hands on the new Nintendo DSi. Have a look, you can almost feel the excitement and joy.

Nintendo DSi unboxing at CrunchGear.

Big F**KING HOUSE!

An old mix I dug up from Feb 2007.

Featuring, Pharell and Paul Oakenfold, Erick Morillo, Beatfreakz, Mr. Oizo and many more.

You can download or listen to it on eSnips or in the player below.

D-Livid - Big Fuxx...