Leon Bolier – Streamlined 2011 – Tunis
Pin ItLeon Bolier is one of those DJs who has managed to maintain a vast amount of respect and popularity with both the underground and commercial scene, simply because he plays music he likes and doesn’t jump ship to gain a few extra Euros.
His latest compilation, ‘Streamlined 2011 – Tunis‘, is certainly nothing different to what we’re used to from Leon. Many of us are unlikly to know a lot the names featured on the compilation, but trust me when I say this, the music is certainly not that of any lesser quality than you’d expect from a ‘big name’.
A groovy house feel with a reletively slow BPM is the theme for the first half of Disc 1. So for the trance purist this may not be for you, but for those who love quality EDM in general then it’s perfect. Half way into the mix we hear Wojciech Tuszynski’s track "Delay", which can only be described as blissful. It has the most perfect trance sounds in the shape of some wonderful piano, lovely strings and nice usage of the synth too.
With the bar now raised, the music can only go in one direction, and that direction is up. A whole array of brilliant trance sounds greet the listeners’ ears; violins, heavy bass, both dark and pretty sounding melodies, the disc has it all. Every track is unique in its own way and is definitely a breath of fresh air for the scene.
We then have Disc 2 and there’s no fusion of house and trance now, it’s pure trance all the way. Kicking off a darker sound in that of Leon Bolier’s own remix of Sied van Riel’s "Rush", leading to Sander van Doorn pres. Purple Haze’s "Timezone", a track with eerie vocals and a euphoric break down, and that euphoric, old skool feeling is felt throughout. It sounds like what trance used to be. Not so much in what type of instruments and effects used, but in the sense that it’s great trance which pulls at every string, and that is what trance is meant to do.
There are two other tracks which have done especially well in capturing the true sound and feeling of trance. First there’s a vocal beauty by Mike Saint-Jules called "Moonlight", with magnificent vocals from Sandel; the soft, unique vocals blend perfectly with the mellow build up, until a big, ’90s sounding break down. Immediatly after that is an instrumental, peak time banger titled "Onixia" by Sensi & Damian Wasse. "Onixia" has a dark techy feeling, building up to a hands in the air moment, right before an absolutely huge drop consisting of fast synths and energy.
The album ends with Leon Bolier’s own track "Cape Town"; a typical "Bolier" sounding track that’s different from anything anyone else would make. "Cape Town" ends ‘Streamlined 2011‘ in a techy style.
Verdict
There are a lot of good mixes out at the moment and also a lot of bad ones too. ‘Streamlined 2011 – Tunis‘ doesn’t fit into either category, because it’s better than good, it’s great!
Where Leon has managed to find so much quality from I do not know, but he has done and for that, all trance fans should be grateful. Simply put, it’s two discs of very high quality music. There’s nothing cheesy or commercial about it, just pure quality.
9/10
For more info related to Leon Bolier check out the following links:
www.leonbolier.com
www.myspace.com/leonbolier
www.facebook.com/leonbolierofficial
www.twitter.com/leonbolier
