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



Artist: AMD
Title: Big Fish
Label: Nano Records
Format: CD
Released: February 2007
Cover: http://217.160.138.169/pic_b/nar1cd016_b.jpg


Review:

Take 2 well-respected psychedelic trance producers, one full on label on absolute top form, and you have \"Big Fish\", the first album from AMD. AMD is the project of Aphid Moon and Dickster (Dick Trevor) - the first being Jules Hamer who has already released 2 full-length albums as Aphid Moon on Dragonfly and Nano, and the other being Dick Trevor: more or less a legend on the psychedelic trance scene with involvement in projects like Green Nuns Of The Revolution, Infernal Machine, Bumbling Loons, Bisto Boys, Trickster, Tufaan, Jumanji and of course Dickster.

AMD has already turned some heads with their performances around the world in the last year at festivals like Boom and Universo Paralello, so the general anticipation for this release in the scene is certainly up there - lets see if it can deliver.


01. Pretty Trippy [145 BPM]
Starting things off is \"Pretty Trippy\" - it starts out fairly gloomy and very atmospheric, and the first kick arrives just around 2 minutes into the track. Using a progressive buildup, adding more and more elements along the way, it slowly gets pretty intense. Add to that a few distorted banjo-samples, some very well-thought voice-samples centred around the theme of crystals, and you have a nice theme-tune for the MDMA-lovers out there. Great opening track.

02. Morning Glory [142 BPM]
The opener is followed by \"Morning Glory\", which, as the name suggests, is a bit more on the mellow side, and also the slowest track here, running at 142 BPM. It\'s not quite as phat and massive, but with a great amount of soft, gentle melodies, without ever getting too hands-in-the-air friendly and cheesy. A delicious, uplifting morning groover - another favourite.

03. Crash [145 BPM]
\"Crash\" is a bit more on the funky side of things, shifting between broken beats and rolling basslines, which gives it a nice, groovy feel. The definite highlight is the part where the female voice-sample talks about your brain crashing like a computer-system before the track goes down into a giant breakdown. Very nicely done.

04. Don\'t Look In There [145 BPM]
With \"Don\'t Look In There\" takes a turn towards the darker and gloomier realms, with a bit more of an oldschool UK psychedelic trance atmosphere and theme of sounds. Quite psychedelic, very pounding and highly infectious tune, which sounds like it could easily have been featured on the \"Lucas Presents: God Save The Machine\" compilation from TIP.World. Banging.

05. Funky Chicken [145 BPM]
Bringing back the quirky grooves is \"Funky Chicken\" - the longest track on the album running for just over 10 minutes. It generally maintains most of the same high quality as the other tracks on the album, although it\'s not nearly as characteristic as some of the highlights. Good one, but not a standout.

06. Galactic Family [143 BPM]
\"We\'re all just one big galactic family\" - with this quote I present to you \"Galactic Family\", and this is UK psychedelic trance of 2007 ladies and gentlemen. This is another highlight, high on intensity without ever getting too stressful, and with some delightful, otherworldly melodies, sparkling like fine champagne. Loving it.

07. Slightly Turbo [145 BPM]
Up next is \"Slightly Turbo\" where the characteristic \"Slightly turbo\" voice-sample reminds me of something from the Saiko-Pod album. Generally it\'s another good tune with a happy carnival atmosphere, and the distorted acid arpeggiator-melody towards the end provides a nice psychedelic finale.

08. Big Dipper [146 BPM]
\"Big Dipper\" is the fastest track here, running at 146 BPM and also packed with dancefloor goodness. Its bassline is big and rough, and just feels like a huge wall of sound - the breakdown has more crowdpleasing potential than Jenna Jameson doing double penetration live on stage, and the peak is just massive. In my opinion the biggest dancefloor monster on the album.

09. The Reckoning [145 BPM]
Ending the journey is \"The Reckoning\", and it certainly doesn\'t drop the ball in quality compared to the previous 8 tracks. It starts out with a rather flat beat, but slowly evolves into a more hi-tech, crunchy sound with a lot of intelligent twists\'n\'turns, maintaining a high intensity all the way to the end, only disrupted by some very short, funky breaks. Very nice finish to a great album.


Bottom line:

\"Big Fish\" One of the most solid psychedelic full on albums lately, and it really shows that we\'re dealing with two of the most well-respected producers out there. It\'s massive outdoor trance of the best kind - powerful, yet funky and psychedelic, yet uplifting without ever getting over the top on either weirdness nor cheesiness. If you liked the last Aphid Moon album, this one is highly recommended, and in my opinion even better, due to the more phat and pounding sound.

All in all, Nano Records has put out another great release - genre purists would probably put this into the morning or daytime full on category, but I could easily imagine most of these tracks do a very good track at night as well. Basically it\'s just high quality psychedelic full on. Enjoy.


Favourites:

1, 2 (!!), 4, 6, 8 (!!), 9


Verdict:

8/10


Links:

AMD: www.amd-trance.com
Nano Records: www.nanorecords.co.uk
AMD @ Myspace: www.myspace.com/amdtrance
Dick Trevor @ Myspace: www.myspace.com/dicktrevor
Aphid Moon @ Myspace: www.myspace.com/aphidmoon
Nano Records @ Myspace: www.myspace.com/nanorecords