Fitalic – Atomic Atmosphere (Tribal Vision Records)
Artist : Fitalic
Label : Tribal Vision
Format : CD Jewel Case w/ 8 page booklet + Dj sleeve insert
Cat : TVRcd011
Matering by : Willem Faber
Cover design by : Tomas Silny
Website : www.tribalvision.cz
Tracklisting :
Lost in Space………. ……..07:03 122BPM
Liquid Motion……………..09:28 130BPM (Featuring Andres Bink)
Atomic Atmosphere ………08:36 130BPM
The Way …………………..08:49 130BPM
Airflow ……………………08:23 130BPM
Manufactured Miracles …...09:10 130BPM
Into the Night ……………..10:05 130BPM
Twisted Difusion ………….08:14 130BPM (Vocal’s by Cagri Eralp)
Distructible ………………..09:25 130BPM
Tribal Vision is back with yet another one of there debut artist album releases. This time we have the honor to hear 9 massive progressive tunes from Robin Fitter a.k.a. FITALIC. Fitalic was one to always impress me on the TV releases with his more housie groove to things and butt rocking percussions. Lets see if he lives up to his expectations with this one.
The album starts off with something different, something more breakbeat and smooth. This opener is nothing too complicated, yet it seems so very appropriate at this given moment as the melodies quickly take control of the situation. Ever get that feeling that you are alone on an island, lying in the sand with your sunglasses while two very cute women wave oversized leaves to cool you down ? Well, this tune brings that to mind as it helps escape from reality and automatically regulates your breathing patterns. You can really feel the waves in this one as the water splash’s against your toes massaging the under of your feet.
Liquid Motion changes the groove a little and the kickbass starts to pound and those hats start whipping. This one defiantly gets your groove going early . but wait, what’s this ?? A melody that sounds familiar, yet very original at the same time, reminding me of the good ol “oakenfold” days. This track is straight out of Miami Beach, as what starts off to be a pretty heavy track, ends up being something with a lot of melodies. There is even another breakbeat breakdown near the middle as the song builds up. This fits in perfectly for those more progressive sets. Nice !
Next up is the album cover song obviously titled Atomic Atmosphere. You can right away notice a dramatic difference from the last track, this one containing a much more tribal house groove and really what I think the name Fitalic represents the most. Although I state it has a housier feel to it, we must not neglect the beautiful atmosphere’s that surround this track. The melodies are a little dryer that the previous track and they are also less colorful yet I seem to be attracted more to this one.. It must be the consistent hat smashing that drives this one.
The Way wastes no time with intro’s and gets serious from the start. This one has a lot less melodies and focuses more on the crashing hats and short melodic outbursts. This one somewhat reminds me of those grindy hats that Atmos uses sometimes in his better tracks. They add a lot of chunckyness to this one and pretty much stand out. This one isn’t very tribalish and it is rather straightforward as a whole.. its an ok tune, but Robin has done better !
Airflow is a little different than the previous tracks as this one is an entire breakbeat track, but it’s a little faster that the break’s he has shared with us so far in this journey. I have a hard time dancing to this one and the fact that it never really kicks in (literally) leaves me wanting more. This one could have been better placed IMO and for a track smack in the middle of your album, I was expecting the ceiling to crack and fall down from excessive bass. I still see myself playing out this one as a set opener because the structure is still standard stuff and it can blend in easily with something that has a straight out 4/4 kick. It’s a little long though.
Manufactured Miracles is nothing new to the diehard Tribal Vision fan, hearing it before on the latest compilation release by the aforementioned label. I still think it’s the nicest piece of music found on this CD so far as it has a happier vibe to it making me smile and bounce around. If you love Fitalic, you have to love this one !! could have been fun to have a remix for the album as appose to the original, but if you missed the VA, your defiantly served with this one.
Into the nigh brings us a dark, deep house feel, with close to no melodies, lots of echo effects and darker synths. I kind of wish the album started out with something like this and just continued in that same direction, because this is defiantly a standout track on the album. The percs in this one are simply mind blowing and hypnotic as hell. It gets slightly more melodic as it progresses but not enough to overwhelm the mind, yet just enough to give it some flavor. Defiantly some interesting grooves in this one.
This next one follows down the same path as the previous track did, with a strong and deep atmosphere. This tune is defiantly what makes progressive music so great as Robin takes more time in getting this to the peak levels than he normally does. I’m not too keen on those little vocals but they don’t last long enough to get annoying so I guess we can say that they are well placed. This one is defiantly calmer than most of the tunes we can find on this album but the groove factor meter peaks at its highest. Defiantly interesting.
If you are the type to believe that the more you wait, the better things are, or if you often say “save the best for last” then this track will fit in perfectly with your usual day. Distructible is simple, yet effective with some tam-tam tribalism at times. Without getting carried away, this track seems to have some drive to it along with a more laidback loungy feel to it. There aren’t many melodies in this one either; instead they are replaced with some short echoed synth notes which I can agree with. This track is well balanced compared to a few previous one’s and that’s what makes its charm.
All in all I am proud of Fitalic for releasing his album on Tribal Vision because I believe that his style fits the perfect direction this label has taken over the past year and a half. It is defiantly right there with Tegma’s album, yet not as crisp, but not as dull as Sonic Cube’s album either. I was expecting a lot more house and tribalism in this one, but instead we got something along the lines of Greed’s album with better sound production and cleaner atmospheres.. it’s a defiant must for all those home listening progressive freaks out there, yet it still has a few dancefloor starters.
My fav’s are : 2!, 3, 6!!!, 7!!, 8!!, 9
Tracks:
