A Strong Entry, But As Usual, Es Vive Has Consistency Proble
W.C. | Houston, TX USA | 10/01/2008
(3 out of 5 stars)
"The Es Vive series has the reputation of being too broad for its own good. Not broad in the sense of being generic electro pop, but in that it's unlikely that any single person will enjoy all the distinct types of House featured. Anyone outside of the most open minded (yeah, right) or unquestioning label devotee will totally enjoy all discs. The best situation one could hope for was to really like a disc or two and find the remaining one to be tolerable. As such, these series have never reached the popularity of other seasonal releases. The goal of Es Vive is to basically convey a complete experience of Ibiza (pronounced with `th', not `zee'), or at least advertise the hotel of the same name. As noted by each disc's subtitle, each individual CD highlights an activity/location. While this may sound neat and all, the end results have never been all that successful for any such compilation by any label. It's no different for Es Vive Ibiza 2008, although it is more enjoyable than previous attempts. Many of the problems are due to some questionable track selections that are ill-fitting or feel like filler.
CD 1, subtitled "Poolside Chill," is much different from previous years. Fierce Angel readily admits this on their website, as they tried to make it more about relaxing than cool, melodic grooves. Predictably, this results in a rather boring mix. What's surprising though is that many of the songs can't even be considered House. They're more along the lines of acoustic or downbeat pop, which seem to be so popular nowadays in lazy American advertising (show the product, stick a fluffy song in, and bingo). If that's your kind of thing, more power to you. But those expecting a more traditional chill CD will be somewhat disappointed to say the least. That's if they can stay awake for the whole duration, as to say that this CD is sleep-inducing isn't an exaggeration or figure of speech. "Travel Through Time (Theme From Es Vive)", which features the saxophone stylings of one of this year's darlings of House, is truly excellent. "Reasons", "Someday" (The James Bright one), and "People" are also solid but not great songs. "Seventy Three" is an okay song, but it teeters on the edge of trying to be too cute and quirky. "Andromedan Dream of an Octaroon" isn't bad, but as the nonsensical title would suggest, it's a bit listless and directionless, even for the type of song that it's trying to be. About half of the songs are okay but tend to be forgettable and the other half is totally boring and annoyingly popish. "Club Thing" and "Sunlight Hits Your Eyes" are easily the worst songs on this disc, the former being a slightly offbeat but totally stupid track that sounds like it belongs on a boy band CD from six years ago, and the latter being one of those completely generic acoustic songs with nasally vocals that could be used in a crappy car ad. Others like "Someday" (the Camille Jones one), "Tell Me," and "Summertime" sound like sorry Blue Six clones. They feature neither the production nor vocal talent that make Blue Six so good. Camille Jones is especially unspectacular. While CD 1 has a one or two really good songs, the numerous bad ones are such downers that the disc can't recover. In trying to return to the roots of relaxing music, Fierce Angel forgot to include songs that are actually interesting, or at the very least, fit into the House genre.
CD 2, subtitled "Evening @ The Base Bar," is your typical disco club mix. Those that have read my previous reviews know that I'm not a fan of disco House. But I find it decent in certain situations, certain styles, or when I should fully expect it. I definitely won't go searching for Disco, but it only really annoys me when it comes out of nowhere (for example, if bombastic Disco appeared on a Winter chill CD). Admittedly, I'm more partial to those disco songs that rely upon a natural melody than those that feature someone screaming over a super synthesized beat. That being said, I find the best tracks on this disc to be "Never Let Go", "What Would We Do", and "21st Century Life" (funny at times, with a good enough melody). What I find to be the worst are "DJ" (totally generic with its borrowed beat) and "When You Touch Me" (too bombastic for me). But then again, take it all with a grain of salt. Someone who's a big fan of Disco will obviously be much more capable than I to comment on the relative quality. I'm not going to punish the collection for my specific tastes when it's obvious who the audience is supposed to be. The simple fact that I find a number of songs to be solid could be the equivalent of a ringing endorsement, but I'm not ready to make that jump either. But I'd confidently say that, if you love Disco House, you'll find truly bad songs are in the minority. A note though, that some of the songs on the last half of this CD drift towards the techno side, with dominating beats and slightly less funk, which I suppose serves as a transition towards the last disc.
CD 3 is labeled "Afterhours @ the Smirnoff Experience Bar." Apparently, Mark Doyle learned his lesson from last year's Es Vive Ibiza, as the 3rd disc is less of an atonal traffic jam, although it is still centered on tech house. It's definitely not as achingly bad as last year's equivalent. Most of the selections are more melodic while still maintaining the driving beats, voice samples, and repetition deep tech house is known for. Some songs resemble Trance anthems from the turn of the century, although not always to great effect. Overall, it's very well mixed (all the discs are actually, regardless of song quality) and excels at setting the intended mood and atmosphere throughout. Highlights of the disc include "Chime", "Europa", and "Solar Wind". "Insatiable" is a solid track that strikes a good balance between driving beat and funky vocals. On the flip side, the song "Nightwatcher" is a club track that likes to play with output and electronic sounds to create a trippy and energetic experience. It's one of those songs that doesn't do all that well outside of the frenetic dance floor, if at all. It's on the noisy side, and that's putting it kindly. Other really bad tracks are "So Strong", with its bland and unimpressive Trance anthem aspirations, and "Don't Hold Back", which sounds a bit like a techno remix of an 80's song. In fact, the CD ends rather weakly, with the last four selections being the sorriest of the bunch (I've never liked anything Dirty South has made though). Still, despite the drop off, it's a good disc due to the overall strength of the first nine tracks.
I usually favor the "chill" disc of each year's Es Vive, but this time, it's just so boring and popish that I can easily say that the other two discs are much better. Yes, even despite my general dislike of Disco. If it were not for CD 1, this set would easily be the best in the series. As it is, Es Vive Ibiza 2008 is a solid release with some predictable and disheartening faults. Each disc has a number of really bad tracks that slightly offset positives. The great news is, for really big fans of Disco and Tech House, Es Vive is on the verge of being great. They can easily go ahead and add another star to the rating. If you didn't really care for the chill CD in the first place, then you'll love this set. For others, it's still entertaining enough for a bit. If you absolutely hate disco and tech House, then obviously this isn't for you. It was a hard decision for me to give this only three stars, but the first disc is just so bad while the other two have enough faults that I couldn't bring myself to rate it higher. While good overall, when things get bad, it gets really, really bad.
For an easier to read track listing, go to the Fierce Angel website,
www.thefutureisfierce.com/releases.php
Favorite Tracks:
Travel Through Time
Chime
Europa
Least Favorite Tracks:
Sunlight Hits Your Eyes
Club Thing
Nightwatcher
Don't Hold Back
Happiness"
Track Listings (16) - Disc #1