Hit ‘N’ Hot Music: Cat. # H’N’H CDS 372
Released March 2006
Track List:
1. Who Is Watching (Mischa Daniëls Radio Edit) (3:46)
2. Who Is Watching (Mischa Daniëls Club Mix) (7:28)
3. Who Is Watching (DJ Remy & Roland Klinkenberg Remix) (7:54)
4. Who Is Watching (Oliver Moldan Remix) (7:48)
5. Who Is Watching (Tone Depth Remix) (11:18)
(2010 Update:
What else is there to say? Aside from the Tone Depth remix, no one really remembers this one. Erm, sorry I'm being brief here. Rough week...)
IN BRIEF: By the book remixing.
Y’know, as I sit down here at my lappy, set to type up my review, it occurs to me this is only the second release from this prominent trance personality to grace our archives (the first being A State Of Trance: 2004). Considering the two other DJs in the top three of DJ Mag’s annual poll get a fair deal of coverage, this might seem a bit odd, especially since AvB’s output this past year has been quite steady with a couple DJ compilations and an artist album.
Of course, who ever remembers consistent bronze medalists? Heh.
So, here is the most recent remix package of yet another track from Armin’s album Shivers, this one being the Nadia Ali featuring Who Is Watching. The original could kindly be described as... unassuming. On an album which did not have glowing praise showered upon it by many, this track was one of the apparent glaring problems some seemed to have with it. Consisting of nothing more than guitar-strums, pads, light percussion, and Nadia’s vocals, Who Is Watching came across as lightweight adult contemporary compilation fodder. It was a far cry from the sort of music Armin’s fans had come to expect from him.
But whether his fans enjoyed it or not seems to be irrelevant. Who Is Watching is the one that’s been given the remix treatment, so let’s see how the remixers treat it.
First up is Mischa Daniëls, a relative new house producer out of the lands that are Dutch. He doesn’t do much altering, making use of the original elements while adding some housey beats, bobbly bass, and an added riff playing off the main melody during the peaks. It isn’t terribly innovative, but would probably fit snuggly in a typical Hed Kandi compilation (or radiowaves, as the Radio Edit indicates).
DJ Remy and Roland Klinkenberg (though uncredited here for some reason), both stalwarts in the Dutch scene, provide a mellow progressive re-rub. To be honest, this is unexciting stuff. Sound effects and washes drone along for half the track, Nadia’s vocals every so often cropping up with plenty of trailing echo effects. Midway through, you get a harmonic bass drop to add some excitement at the peak of a minor build. It’s effective in the sense that everything’s been so monotonous leading up to it, any change of tone is welcome. Overall though, their remix would be best suited as an early warm-up track in a DJ set, and probably not much more.
German Oliver Moldan, fresh off releasing Second Session on the Armada sub-label Stoney Boy, does the house thing as well for his remix. It’s more groovy than Daniëls’ take, relying on additional guitars, a lightly distorted ‘rockin’ bassline (first one to call it electro gets a whuppin’), and builds to promote energy. While certainly playing to all the elements house music’s been filled with lately, it isn’t all that amazing either, merely making use of current, trendy sounds to complement Armin’s original work. In two words, perfectly adequate.
Finally, we have a whopping eleven minute remix from Tony Papadopoulos, under his Tone Depth alias here but more commonly known as The Greek. The first half of this track is pure Tony: warm pad work, pulsing synths, tranquil guitars, and mellow rhythms, all combining to conjure up Mediterranean vistas at dusk. It’s practically a separate song in itself, but then he seems to remember this is actually a remix, so, around the six minute mark, he breaks the song down, brings in the original’s elements under reverb effects, and essentially does what DJ Remy and Klinkenberg did with their remix, only some of the pulsing synths and basic percussion retained (and two minutes worth of lead-out). Yeah, the second half doesn’t live up to the first half’s atmosphere because Tony’s strengths are stilted by having to let Nadia’s vocals carry the remainder of the track. As such, it sounds like he’s just going through the prog motions.
In fact, that could be said for all of these remixes. I don’t know if the remixers just felt uninspired by Armin’s original, or if they were merely requested to make their re-rubs suitable for potential club scenes without losing much in the process. Whatever the case, all of these remixes of Who Is Watching are perfectly decent for supplying DJs with danceable versions but nothing more. Only the Tone Depth Remix sees any kind of innovation, and only for the sections when Armin’s track isn’t really a part of it. Why am I not surprised?
Written by Sykonee. Originally published 2006 for TranceCritic.com. © All rights reserved.
Released March 2006
Track List:
1. Who Is Watching (Mischa Daniëls Radio Edit) (3:46)
2. Who Is Watching (Mischa Daniëls Club Mix) (7:28)
3. Who Is Watching (DJ Remy & Roland Klinkenberg Remix) (7:54)
4. Who Is Watching (Oliver Moldan Remix) (7:48)
5. Who Is Watching (Tone Depth Remix) (11:18)
(2010 Update:
What else is there to say? Aside from the Tone Depth remix, no one really remembers this one. Erm, sorry I'm being brief here. Rough week...)
IN BRIEF: By the book remixing.
Y’know, as I sit down here at my lappy, set to type up my review, it occurs to me this is only the second release from this prominent trance personality to grace our archives (the first being A State Of Trance: 2004). Considering the two other DJs in the top three of DJ Mag’s annual poll get a fair deal of coverage, this might seem a bit odd, especially since AvB’s output this past year has been quite steady with a couple DJ compilations and an artist album.
Of course, who ever remembers consistent bronze medalists? Heh.
So, here is the most recent remix package of yet another track from Armin’s album Shivers, this one being the Nadia Ali featuring Who Is Watching. The original could kindly be described as... unassuming. On an album which did not have glowing praise showered upon it by many, this track was one of the apparent glaring problems some seemed to have with it. Consisting of nothing more than guitar-strums, pads, light percussion, and Nadia’s vocals, Who Is Watching came across as lightweight adult contemporary compilation fodder. It was a far cry from the sort of music Armin’s fans had come to expect from him.
But whether his fans enjoyed it or not seems to be irrelevant. Who Is Watching is the one that’s been given the remix treatment, so let’s see how the remixers treat it.
First up is Mischa Daniëls, a relative new house producer out of the lands that are Dutch. He doesn’t do much altering, making use of the original elements while adding some housey beats, bobbly bass, and an added riff playing off the main melody during the peaks. It isn’t terribly innovative, but would probably fit snuggly in a typical Hed Kandi compilation (or radiowaves, as the Radio Edit indicates).
DJ Remy and Roland Klinkenberg (though uncredited here for some reason), both stalwarts in the Dutch scene, provide a mellow progressive re-rub. To be honest, this is unexciting stuff. Sound effects and washes drone along for half the track, Nadia’s vocals every so often cropping up with plenty of trailing echo effects. Midway through, you get a harmonic bass drop to add some excitement at the peak of a minor build. It’s effective in the sense that everything’s been so monotonous leading up to it, any change of tone is welcome. Overall though, their remix would be best suited as an early warm-up track in a DJ set, and probably not much more.
German Oliver Moldan, fresh off releasing Second Session on the Armada sub-label Stoney Boy, does the house thing as well for his remix. It’s more groovy than Daniëls’ take, relying on additional guitars, a lightly distorted ‘rockin’ bassline (first one to call it electro gets a whuppin’), and builds to promote energy. While certainly playing to all the elements house music’s been filled with lately, it isn’t all that amazing either, merely making use of current, trendy sounds to complement Armin’s original work. In two words, perfectly adequate.
Finally, we have a whopping eleven minute remix from Tony Papadopoulos, under his Tone Depth alias here but more commonly known as The Greek. The first half of this track is pure Tony: warm pad work, pulsing synths, tranquil guitars, and mellow rhythms, all combining to conjure up Mediterranean vistas at dusk. It’s practically a separate song in itself, but then he seems to remember this is actually a remix, so, around the six minute mark, he breaks the song down, brings in the original’s elements under reverb effects, and essentially does what DJ Remy and Klinkenberg did with their remix, only some of the pulsing synths and basic percussion retained (and two minutes worth of lead-out). Yeah, the second half doesn’t live up to the first half’s atmosphere because Tony’s strengths are stilted by having to let Nadia’s vocals carry the remainder of the track. As such, it sounds like he’s just going through the prog motions.
In fact, that could be said for all of these remixes. I don’t know if the remixers just felt uninspired by Armin’s original, or if they were merely requested to make their re-rubs suitable for potential club scenes without losing much in the process. Whatever the case, all of these remixes of Who Is Watching are perfectly decent for supplying DJs with danceable versions but nothing more. Only the Tone Depth Remix sees any kind of innovation, and only for the sections when Armin’s track isn’t really a part of it. Why am I not surprised?
Written by Sykonee. Originally published 2006 for TranceCritic.com. © All rights reserved.
