Review by:
Jannick Andersen // DJ pr0fane (Dance N Dust Records)
www.sunrisesupplies.com



Artist: Setherian
Title: Postrancepose
Label: Oxygen Records
Format: CD (Jewelcase with standard 4-page inlay)
Released: November 2006
Cover: http://oxygenrecords.com/img/data/releases_setherian-front-b.jpg


Review:

Launched in 2005 by DJ\'s TV and Nem, Oxygen Records has already built a quite good reputation as a morning label, with so far 3 compilations (\"Satellite\", \"Parsec\" and \"Occurrence\") and a full length album by the Portuguese act Spectra. The labels 5th release is by the Brazilian act Setherian, also known as DJ Seth. Setherian has appeared on several compilations on labels like Com.Pact, Midijum, Aeon, Groove Zone, Kagdila, Yellow Sunshine Explosion and of course Oxygen, and 2 years ago he released his debut-album \"Multiverse\" on Glowing Flame Records. An album I, after listening to some of Setherians later releases, regret that I didn\'t buy back when it was released.

His 2nd album is called \"Postrancepose\" and with no less than 10 tracks ranging in BPM from 120 to 145 BPM, I had my hopes up for something special.


01. Klosterfunk [130 BPM]
The album starts with Klosterfunk - now I don\'t know if Kloster means anything in Portuguese, but in Danish it means Monastery, which gives the title (Monasteryfunk!?) a quite weird touch from my perspective. That being said, it\'s a really nice laidback opening track with big pads and droning bass that nicely sets the tone for the things to come. Definitely good stuff.

02. Fakin Nathex [127 BPM]
\"Fakin Nathex\" on the other hand is a completely different track, much more digital and rough than the opener. It has some quite funky grooves, a very sharp kick, lots of strange electro-effects and sadly also some very annoying voice-sample usage. Surely a different kind of tune from a psytrance-artists, but didn’t do much for me.

03. D-Fraktion [130 BPM]
The electro-craze is continued in \"D-Fraktion\", and this time with even with more edge and power, although still not with a lot of dancefloor appeal. There are some quite distinct acid-influences, and at times the pads provide some well-intentioned smoothness to the rugged base of the track, but overall I can\'t say that I really liked this one.

04. Diplik [136 BPM]
After a short but very beautiful intro, \"Diplik\" kicks the album into more straightforward progressive psytrance with a steady 4/4 beat. Sadly there are once again some slightly annoying voice-samples (this time a robotic voice saying \"Electricity\" a few too many times), but the rest of the tune is actually really good - funky and melodic progressive morning trance.

05. Trodden Fire [140 BPM]
In the 5th track, \"Trodden Fire\" we get into the 140-BPM territory - it starts out with a quite funky groove for the first half of the track, before escalating with a rolling more full on ish bassline in the last part where it reaches a quite Human Blue-ish peak, apart from the offbeat melodies and a bit more surprising twists and twisted effects. A really nice morning tune - uplifting, but without the cheese.

06. Moving Targets [144 BPM]
\"Moving Targets\" is a bit more easylistening than the previous tracks, relying not so much on twisted effects, but more on straightforward melodies, bass and pads - again quite much oldschool scando-sounding fused with some full on elements. The brightest track on the album, and another really suitable track for those magical sunrise hours.

07. Critical Overflow [145 BPM]
The intensity rises yet another notch with \"Critical Overflow\", starting with what sounds like an old movie-sample before introducing a pounding full on sounding bassline. I\'m guessing this will be the biggest dancefloor tune on the album - it\'s a bit more serious and hard-hitting than the rest, and not quite as naively uplifting. Another great track.

08. The Shining [140 BPM]
The last dancefloor track on the album is \"The Shining\", a deep and very melodic track that again gives some nice flashbacks to older Scandinavian trance. Think something along the lines of S>Range in the \"2001\"-days with the production-quality of today, and you have a winner of a very dreamy progressive morning-tune. Surely one of the biggest standouts on the album.

09. Reentrant Uperiodic [120 BPM]
The final part of the album starts with \"Reentrant Uperiodic\". It starts with a quite long beatless intro, which gives the impression of a very laidback ambient track, but surprise surprise - after around 2 minutes we\'re introduced to some rather squeaky bass and synths, and it does get quite intense along the way.

10. Aidiemist [120 BPM]
The album concludes with \"Aidiemist\", and this a real hidden gem. Think very laidback breakbeat fused with deep, minimal techno using some simple, but beautiful uplifting pads and stunning chord stabs. It\'s definitely not your everyday standard psychillout tune to fill out the last 7 minutes on the CD, and I consider this a real standout track on the album. Would love to hear more of this by Setherian in the future.



Bottom line:

Setherians 2nd album \" Postrancepose \" certainly stands out from the current giant mass of morning albums in many aspects - it\'s not an album consisting of only dance-floor tunes, but instead it provide something more and something different, with elements of both full on, progressive psytrance, electro and minimal. Different doesn\'t always mean good though, and I had a hard time connecting to some of the elements on the album (especially track 2 and 3), but when it works (and for most part it does) it works very, very well.

I\'m guessing this won\'t be an album you\'ll get at the first listen - some of it surely took some getting used to for me - but if you\'re really into the melodic morning sound (be it progressive or full on), but is looking for something more diverse and a bit away form the norm - still bright and uplifting, but without all the cheese, this is definitely one of the better releases this year.


Favourites:

1, 5, 6, 7, 8 (!), 10


Verdict:

7/10


Links:

Oxygen Records: www.oxygenrecords.com