Progressive House Reviews :: Brisker & Magitman

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Brisker & Magitman - Just Another Day (Tribal Vision)

Release Date: April 22nd, 2008

Reviewed: 4/5

User Rating: 4.0/5

Roman Brisker and Igor Magitman are a talented and prodigal duo from Israel, who came to fame with a first musical project named Elec 3, which caught attention by delivering original electro-scented fullon music. Almost simultaneously, the duo started another career, releasing over fifty tracks under their patronyms at forefront labels such as Baroque, AVA, Flow, Plastik Park, Audiotherapy, Candyflip, SOG, Babylon, Method, Twisted Frequency, Blue Tunes, Plusquam, and Dissident to name but a few, which earned them a strong reputation for their fat production and trademark sound in the Electro/Electro-House genre. They can boast the support of the most influencial DJs and have had their sound signed up by a wide range of music editors, from Sony Music to Hernan Cattaneo’s Renaissance compilation. Not to mention numerous appearances in the biggest clubs and events. They’ve decided not to remain in singlelandia, and so Tribal Vision is releasing their first artist album titled “Just another day”. Needless to say this is one of this year’s most anticipated albums.

1. Braniac
“Braniac” quickly opens onto the punchy rattle of the main lead which starts just as a rhythmic idea but then grows into a more panting motif enhanced by the snare / kick drum combo and underlaid by an undulating, subterranean bass. It serves as a nice backdrop for a wide array of gurgling flourishes, metallic snippets, and other arrangements evoking nocturnal sounds in a mysterious forest which evolve towards an overall ominous atmosphere. Good intro in a technoish vein.

2. Just another day
” Just another day” features another gritty signature bassline. The piece is constructed in order to progressively build up the thematic motif : elliptic in the first half of the track, more fully enunciated in the break, and then fully developped in the final sequences. It is more positive even though it is initially immersed in a misty and dreamy atmosphere and grows towards a distinct melody, orchestrated with a harpsychord sounding synth.

3. As the title indicates, “Discodelic” turns to B & M’s expertise in building a devastating, gritty, siliconed electro bassline which commands the whole track until a vocal snippet is woven into the rhythmic combo, and gradually occupies the whole stage in the break. If you’re seduced at first by the potential of this electro anthem, you might be bothered after a while by the “ah ah” reverberated sample which perhaps becomes too invasive and bogus in this context, especially with the harmonic support of the final pads.

4. “Cold summer” orchestrates discreet technoish arrangements at first, but finally turns out to be another demonstration of the duo’s chunky rollercoaster electro bass, introducing a more simple spooky theme later on. It explores pretty much the same territories as the previous track, but it is given a sharper and deeper edge. Has my preference in this respect.

5. “Six degrees” hinges on a plainer, more panting beat, only to serve up an old-school techno motif. The break displays an atmospheric interlude which vanishes with the coda of initial sequences that rather take up and highlight a short inital riff. Well done once again, but neither the melodic aspect, nor the general rhythmic combo is striking as a particularly original construction.

6. “Dinner out” blends electro influences, notably with another memorable bassline, but adds a distinct psychedelic touch with the introduction of a twisted brief arpeggiated motif, flavoured by distorsion and dissonances. This converses with a more moody melodic line, a combination that yields a strong, lysergic, late-party hour melancholy and weirdness. A successful, unique and compelling atmosphere.

7. Bad Ass
“Bad ass” features the deep, dark and filthy side of your favourite dirty electro : an elongated, twisted bassline à la Bill Laswell, playing with a brief, hissing arpeggiated snippet in which the “it is bad ass” voice sample is inserted in the final bars of the sequences. The breaks resound with an alleviating and more atmospheric synth line, although tempered by the snare and the ominous reverberated synth rolls. A very convincing, strong-impact interpretation of the electro vein which should leave casualties on the dance floor.

8. “Hot winter”
As the oxymoronic title suggests, the piece encompasses technoish elements such as tight clicky beats and rolling percussion while bathing it all in a trancey atmospheric mist. Yet the long transposed arpeggiated melody is run-of-the-mill and does not IMHO bring the emotional touch it is meant to trigger.

9.“On the hills”
This piece unfolds a more melodic, luminous, pastoral feeling as the title leads us to expect, slightly balanced by the trademark, gritty, chunky bassline. Again we find the same ingredients in the writing of the melody, bathing in heavy reverbs and distortion that will address sentimental hearts, but perhaps not those discerning ears requiring more complexity and depth.

10. “Hissing”
The concluding piece might owe its title to the distant flute-like synth which provides the melodic orientation and reverts to a more electro-house style, although strongly scented with an early 80’s retro touch. It uses a much more gentle rhythmic combo (compared to the more hard rocking previous ones) only to deliver a melodic, cheesy appeal displaying the same —overused— tricks. Not my cup of tea.

Bottom line
If you’ve been waiting for an evolution in the duo’s chunky Electro style, your expectations should be fulfilled and you sure will find that they’ve gone a step further by moderately spicing up their electro with techno arrangements, but only moderately. But you can count on these guys to deliver hard compelling dance-floor tools. In that respect, the strongest asset of this album is their idiomatic sense for driving and twisted basslines and the winners might be found in the well-crafted numbers 1, 4, 6, 7. Unsurprisingly, the album mostly addresses club-oriented dj sets, even though their expert level of production will surely give rise to strong results on open-air dance floors this summer. However, their attempts to explore a more melodic vein in the final numbers of “Just another day” are IMHO not convincing. But overall, this first artist album by talented producers deserves your close attention & if you get your kicks from hi-tech Electro, it is definitely worth purchasing.

1. Braniac (126 bpm)
2. Just Another Day (127 bpm)
3. Discodelic (127 bpm)
4. Cold Summer (126 bpm)
5. Six Degrees (126 bpm)
6. Dinner Out (126 bpm)
7. Bad Asss (125 bpm)
8. Hot Winter (126 bpm)
9. On Hills (127 bpm)
10. Whispering (128 bpm)

ADEN [30-Jun-2008]