Alright, here is my review of an album I received yesterday.
Tritonal - Tritonia: Chapter 002
This is a mixed CD of various artists that was put together by Tritonal, an Austin, Texas duo comprised of Chad Cisneros and Dave Reed. They started out in trance and have since been producing tracks in multiple genres, seeing their star rise in the electronic scene as a result. There are only three songs from Tritonal on the album, and all of them are remixes (not originals).
Tracklist:
1. Tritonal feat. Skyler Stonestreet – Electric Glow (Arston Remix)
2. Noah Neiman feat. Mike Schmid – Follow (Original Mix)
3. Codeko – Trace (Original Mix)
4. Ryos feat. Allisa Rose – Eclipse (Original Mix)
5. Juventa – Winterborn (Original Mix)
6. Tritonal – Anchor (Club Mix)
7. AeroSoul feat. Christian Ferraro – 6AM (Original Mix)
8. Cuebrick – Demon (Original Mix)
9. Jus Jack & Speed Limits – All Falls Down (Tritonal Edit)
10. Disco Fries – Louder (Original Mix)
11. Years – Diamond (Instrumental Mix)
12. Speed Limits & DVN feat. Adam Duncan – Take My Breath Away (Original Mix)
13. Estiva & Skouners feat. Delaney Jane – Playing With Fire (Original Mix)
14. Jenaux feat. Pia Toscano – Renegades (Original Mix)
15. Mike Shiver & Oen Bearen – Ataraxia (Original Mix)
16. JAKKO, Steerner vs. Klaus & Turino feat. Paul Aiden – Lighthouse (Original Mix)
17. Tritonal feat. Jonathan Mendelsohn – Satellite (Kill The Buzz Remix)
18. Enzo Darren feat. Delaney Jane – Adonis (Original Mix)
20. Thomas Hayes – Alluvion (Original Mix)
19. Uforik – Scorpion (Original Mix)
21. Cuebrick – Save Me (Original Mix)
22. Noah Neiman feat. Anna Yvette – Eyes To The Sky (Original Mix)
*Tracks highlighted in blue are the ones I liked best (see review)
REVIEW
1 - "Electric Glow" does sound like a hit song to me. However, there's something about it that is annoying to me. It's probably the way the vocals are edited; they way it goes "electric gloooow, gloooow, gloooooooow, gloooow." I mean, I just don't need that. It's present in the original, and if I didn't prefer the original to begin with, then I'm not going to care about this remix. I do think, though, that it can be a good track for the casual listener.
2 - One of the stronger tracks on this album. Vocals from Mike Schmid who doesn't strain his voice when hitting the high notes. The drop is decent, but overall, it's not the best banger I've ever heard.
3 - This is a light euphoric track. Something to relax to but that won't make you fall asleep.
4 - This is the best track on the entire album. Great vocals, catchy instrumental. Nothing epic, but see first sentence. Vocalist is Allisa Rose, and she sort of has this accent to her voice that stands out. I've never heard of Ryos or Allisa Rose before, but it's a good start.
Ryos (ft. Allisa Rose) - "Eclipse"
5 - Big sound, but weak and repetitive. Has a few slow ambient breaks in between. More suitable as festival music.
6 - This song is very annoying. I like me some chopped vocals, but not the way they did it here.
7 - Boring. "Baby cause my heart's on fire" are the lyrics here. *shakes head* Nothing original to see here.
8 - Has potential, but I forgot I listened to it when my media player went to the next track. The vocals don't quite grab me.
9 - Big saw sound but very boring and generic. The male vocals just don't do it for me on this one.
10 - A little noisier and abrasive than some of the other tracks. Largely an instrumental with a generic "let's get louder" vocal sample thrown in. Not for me.
11 - What sounds like a progressive house instrumental. Nothing special, but not horrible. Only 1:30 long. Not sure what the point of such a short instrumental is. This isn't a teaser album or anything.
12 - *ugh* Some of the lyrics: "I still get butterflies when I see you start to smile. Every breath we take is the moments that take our breath away." Now, I am not a lyrics person, but come on? Can't we do better than this? Song isn't memorable anyway.
13 - Vocal track that tries to not be generic, but it can't help itself from being so.
14 - Vocal track with lyrics that seem to reference drug use, IMO, with instrumental parts that sound like "oooohoohohohohowowwwwwweeeoeoooooooo." I'll pass.
15 - Finally, our first non-generic track since we were on track #4. It sounds like it wants to be a deep house tune when it starts off, but then it goes all "progressive housey" on ya. Nothing I would go out of my way to play, but at least there's some originality here.
16 - Slow and forgettable. The whole song needs to move, not just the drops. Not feeling the vocals, either.
17 - I hear some hardstyle (an electronic genre) in here. Has some of that distorted vocal effect that I hate in this type of music. I'll pass.
18 - Same 'ol same 'ol. Standard prog house drop. Midway through, skipping to next track now...
19 - An instrumental with some vocal samples thrown in. Sounds like electro house. Still passing...
20 - This one is a bit lighter and chill, but it doesn't speak to me.
21 - A driving choon. Still mediocre, but not as much as some of the others.
22 - Most of the album is festival music, but this one is more of a club/dance track. Anna Yvette as a vocalist is hit or miss for me. Meh on this track.
There isn't anything here for seasoned electronic-music listeners, and since my compass on other people's tastes may not be all that accurate, it's hard to say how a casual listener would view this album. The only reason I bought it to begin with is because it came signed by Tritonal, direct from purchase (it also came with a bracelet). This makes it my first signed album, now that I think about it. Had it not been for that, the Ryos tune would've been a singles purchase, if anything.
signed album + bracelet