Search - Lsg :: Best of Lsg: Singles Reworked

For Hardcore Scene-Swimmers.

Infinite Catalyst | Monument, CO | 03/15/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"For those of you who aren't bandwagoning this artist, LSG is known for it's mushroom/acid and hallucinogenic electronica -- not his trance. However, because of the style, this is what you can expect: lots and lots of space, with tons of echo, and some great digital remastering and elaborations by Oliver Lieb; lots of single note phasing between your speakers, lots of pitch modification, and loads of subtly changing musical themes and variations on a couple of notes.



Above all else, what really, really, seperates this CD into the great electronic mixes of 2004? Beat variation throughout the entire mix...not something anyone is use to getting these days or expect with really good hallucinogenic music.



Throughout this mix you will find yourself asking, "What is that sound? What does it represent?" And if you allow yourself to seep far enough, "Where am I?"



The first two tracks are a great downtempo intro, with harbinger bass drops and a couple high trills. By track, 3: a rework of "Shecan," the listener begins to feel the immanency and tempo of the cd begin to lift from the ground. Beat is a slow (maybe 126bpm) breakbeat with nice complimentary synth work on the lows AND mids. With track 4: a rework of "My Time is Yours," Lieb really cuts it loose around 5:00 ticks in, with some heavy, heavy, tonality and octave bending sounds. A drum and bass backbeat with hiss happy cymbals compliment the melodic movements to perfection.



After the smackup that happens in track 4, it settles a bit, but keeps a hyrid d&b/breakbeat percussive quality, with heavy phases. Listening to the songs as I write about them, I have to admit, the things that happen deep into these tracks get me really excited. It really reminds me of beeing deep, deep underwater, with only darkness around me, and then suddenly being suprised with an enormous reef or weird creature appearing clearly from the gloom.



***** Above all else, there is one reason to buy this CD. "Transmutation." This song is one of -- if not the sickest bigbeat echobreak track I've ever heard. Everything aligns in this track, the highs, mids, and lows, the echoing sounds, the aqueous cooing of who knows what, and most of all, heavy, dense, extraterrestrial bass hits. I'm talking about the kind of bass that makes top 40 hiphop remixes sound like children songs. Added to the frey of this track are a family of ominously quirked and echoed electonic sounds...giving the track a black, sinister quality. Then, when you think you've had enough, around 4 mins. deep what sounds like a violin chopped into 32nds punctures the soundscape, adding dark subterrean elements that make Hitchcocks horror music sound like the smurfs theme.



I am extremely satisfied with my purchase, and I feel that any self-respecting electronica fan will definitely appreciate this mix. Don't let all the downtempo elements scare you off. This isn't like boards of canada or buddha bar or something. It's epic, trust me, and you will not regret this purchase.



Five Stars. A must have electronic Album from 2004."

The king of Trance goes downbeat...

Paul Edwards | Brighton, UK | 03/10/2004

(3 out of 5 stars)

"I'm a huge fan of Oliver Lieb and in particular his L.S.G. project. The albums "Rendezvous in outer space" & "Volume 2" are two of my favourite Trance albums. That said Oliver suffers from the "too much, too quickly" syndrome that seems to affect many dance music producers, meaning that releasing loads of singles under various guises quite often can mean the "quality" often dips. He has arguably released some rubbish over the years and any self respecting dance music fan knows that too much experimentation can lead to some pretty unlistenable results. That said I was obviously looking forward to this as he is a master of modern electronic music and I was pleased to find out it also included some of the previous, hard to find, singles in their original form ("Heart", "Blueprint", "Netherworld" etc). Chill out albums sometimes have to be listened to in bits rather than as a whole because, let's face it, in general they can be a bit tedious. This album, i'm sad to say, is no different. Some of it works well: the mighty "Netherworld" still sounds good and the drum 'n' bass beat doesn't spoil it too much. "Risin" also works as a basic ambient track, as does "Blueprint" (nice to hear the bassline still in there). The new "Transmutation" is, I feel, better than the original (which suffered at the time because there were too many versions of it all sounding identical to each other) and the hard beat finally gives it some much needed kick. The opener, "Hearts" overstays it's welcome (clocking in at 10 minutes) and, like much of the rest, just plods along not doing much. What really disappointed me though was that one of my all time favourites "My time is yours", has now been reduced to a loud, over-the-top, noisy mess that just seems to go on forever! The new version of "Fragile" on disc 2 isn't bad but the remix of "Hearts" is just awful, particularly when you compare it to the still fantastic original. I'm sure that not all fans will agree, but this is a bit of a disappointment for me. Oliver Lieb has, can and will do so much better...I hope it won't be long before we get to hear it.Recommendations? L.S.G. The Hive & L.S.G. Volume 2. Both of them superb."

Good stuff

A. Bathurst | Idaho | 09/10/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The SHECAN remix is the really good. Oliver Lieb is a great producer. It is a shame some people write bad reviews, for things they may have only listened to once. This CD is worth the bucks. Plus it has a bonus CD of older classics. What more do you want?"