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artist : Mind Over Midi
title : Ice Acoustik
year : 1998
genre : Electronic
label : Beatservice (BSCD016)
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ripper : kay2
rls-date : 26-may-2001
encoder : fhg radium mp3 codec v1.263
quality : 192kbps/44,100hz
source : Compact Disc
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01 Can I Believe 6:19
02 It's Gonna Be Alright 6:36
03 Always With You 6:19
04 Emotional Consequences 3:48
05 A Cool Dry Place 5:09
06 This Island Earth 6:15
07 Our Invisible Sun 6:53
08 Psyhic Evaluation 7:16
09 Listen and You'll See 7:10
10 Words Come Later 5:16
10 tracks (01h 01m 01s)
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Mind over MIDI's debut album "Elektrical Aktivity", released spring
'96, has gained an underground classic status with it's mixture of
experimental electronica and minimalistic grooves. Helge
Toemmervaag aka Mind over MIDI has been making various forms of
electronic music since the early 80's.
After years of producing, reproducing, experimenting and refining,
he finally released his debut 12" on Beatservice Records in '95.
After the "Elektrical Aktivity" CD, two more EP's was licenced to
the UK Club Craft label. Both was very well recieved by a.o.
Laurent Garnier and Mark Bell (LFO).
The second Mind over MIDI album "ICE Acoustik" is finally here,
this time with a more minimalistic approach, inspired by a.o. Basic
Channel. The ten tracks moves from warm, analogue soundscapes and
icy ambience to minimalistic grooves and ghostly drums, with liquid
melodies and even some naivistic, post-new romantic lyrics.
Reviews:
Muzik (UK)
Those Scandinavians really seem to have a knack for producing
experimental electronica which is as accessible as it's deep.
Beautiful gentle spars, minimal grooves, mesmerizing lush
ambient-swirls, liquid grooves and even the odd smatlering of indie
vocals. Imagine Joy Division producer Martin Hannet locked in an
Arctic studio with John Beltran and Maurizio and you're nearly
there. Beautiful. 9/10 - Calvin Bush
On Magazine
More Norwegian bizniss from the fledgling Beatservice label,
operating out of Tromso in the Arctic Circle. Mind over MIDI is the
brainchild of Helge Toemmervaag, who has already licensed material
to the Club Craft label in the UK and has won critical acclaim from
the likes of LFO's Mark Bell and Laurent Garnier. This album,
inspired by Basic Channel, is pared down to the bone, and with deep
dubby undercurrents, should please fans of warm, analogue
soundscapes.
I/E (US)
Strip the suffocating surface-noise from the Basic Channel records;
the underlay is revealed as a lattice of glittering ice-sculpted
synth and palpitating 4/4 rhythms. The tradition descends from
Manuel Goettsching's proto-techno E2-E4, and this modest design is
the foundation for an entire school of minimalist Euro-bleep dance
music. Helge Toemmervaag is one graduate. Like many early Detroit
tracks, "Can I Believe?" and "Our Invisible Sun" would be E2-E4
redux were they criscrossed by guitar and not by soft, billowing
MIDI pads. "Always With You," deep and extremely sparse, is an
accurate emulation of the seminal Maurizio recordings. "This Island
Earth" approximates Aphex Twin's "On," substituting breathy vocals
and a steady Trance flicker for James' disruptive burps and
wheezes. Only after paying beat-service to his influences does
Toemmervaag exhibit a more individualistic voice. Liberal
breakbeats enliven the otherwise frigid "Emotional Consequences."
Toemmervaag toys tentatively with rhythmic interference, varying
the programming beneath a monotonously looped synth figure
("Psychic Evaluation"). He also inverts the process, underscoring
an unfolding melody with repetitive drum sequences ("Listen And
You'll See"). MOM's music, while accessible and pleasant, would
benefit greatly from a touch of the raw Funk energy which catalyzed
Detroit techno. An animated closer, "Words Come Later," comes
close.- Gil Gershman
Feedback Monitor (Canada)
Slightly cooler is Norway's Mind over MIDI, the musical alter ego
of Helge Toemmervaag that draws from the same idea pool as such
minimalist techno masters as the Basic Channel and Chain Reaction
crews, although a hint of warmth can be heard hovering around the
edges.
Top40 Scandinavia
The Norwegian label is pushing their 'arctic ambient' seal towards
a soft technoish vibe on this album from Helge Toemmervaag with a
keyboard icing. Having the last couple of quality Beatservice
releases linger in my mind, I find it hard not to be slightly
disappointed - not least with the rather tedious vocals.
MWL
--www.beatservice.no
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greetings to sweetbeats, quadrophenia, sour, mindscape, deephouse
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