EA3 Review

Three is a number of great capabilities and its impact for symbolic value cannot be disputed. Not only we perceive our world in three dimensions but three also ‘represents’

a final chapter in a perfect sequential presentation - trilogy. Thus being a third of its kind brings a heavy burden of completeness and necessary self-satisfaction.

As a matter of fact it has been three years since the second edition of Solarstone’s highly acclaimed compilation series Electronic Architec-ture (EA) came out. The majority of trance<->EDM fans have left a great feedback on the first two editions and it wasn’t for naught. The key feature of EA is not the selection - it’s the craftsmanship in blend-ing its components. Even to this day it is hard to forget the unique radio-tuning-kind-of blend from Peace (Saints & Sinners Remix) to Wanna Feel What You Feel (Instrumental) and the echoing vocals from Later Summer Fields (Forerunners Remix) in both neighbour-ing tracks in EA1. The skills that Rich has shown in the first two edi-tions embodied the idea - the music meets the art.

Electronic Architecture 3 is ade-quately represented by three mix-es. While all three have technical-ly flawless coherent mixing, CD1 outshines the other two with its perfect progressive course from Platform Zero to Metal Jaws. In-cluding the sweetest release on Anjunadeep in 2014 - Beat Or-gan, the drone-dark reconstruc-tion of Seven Sages, the back-to-oldschool remix of Sin Ojos and the new work by Rich himself - out-of-Pure-Trance-movement Nothing But Chemistry Here. The first mix is loaded with mo-mentum and two turning points marking three sections in it - For What It’s Worth ends up the me-lodic progressive influences and pushes the mix towards dark-er, primal trance cohort. The second turnpoint is You’re OK (EA3 Reconstruction) - playful synths start dominating again while maintained on the same progressive trance base. All in all the whole 78 minute selection is what EA3 is about - a perfect blend of neatly chosen moods, well sorted and fused together. CD2 pertains two of the three points - the fusion and the moods. The full-on-trance selection will soothe the soul for the majority of trance fans and hopefully the

bigger crowd. There are many splendid tracks included which sound good on their own already - an absolutely freshly sounding refined Lifecycle, so long await-ed Allende’s remix of Phoenix as well as haunting-vocals threaded Etheral Glyph and monumental work by Steve Helstrip - This Is All We Have. For us probably the biggest work here is the sur-prising Solarstone’s rework of Dedication, Loyalty written by a German modern-classical pi-ano composer Nils Frahm. What once was an intimate piano-only freestyle - a very typical signa-ture of the first albums by Nils - here gets catalysed towards even stronger emotion by embedding it in a same key-progression synth line. The first time we heard it, the thought crossed our minds that it must have been a tough task to handle such a rework. The arrangement-wise the mix lacks in comparison with CD1. An attentive ear probably caught the repeated word ‘listen’ during Lifecycle and Dedication, Loy-alty which points towards Rich’s attention to details and fluency. However the issue here is not about the details - the tracks here are pretty much on the same level of ‘tonal-color’ lowering chances for a well pronounced progres-

sion. There is no clear peak or direction to point out like we could have in the first mix, but that does not reduce the overall pleasure of listening, just push-es us towards desire of a single track-listening and less repeating the same mix again.

CD3 is already in a very different dimension. With the exception of Rainfall, Swansong and Au-tumn Breeze the rest of the gang is redefined (majority of them by

Rich himself ) chilled versions of components from the first two mixes. Up to the Razorbeam the mix wanders in the lands of ambient-dominating moods while the next five tracks progress in the downtempo/slow-step moods. The closure rests on the shoulders of the ambi-ent return of the Canadian talent Alucard and the time-less piano work by Nils Frahm - Dedication, Loayalty. CD3 is indeed a very necessary ballast in what could have been an overdone trance compilation, making it a complete work of art rather than tiresome triad of ex-clusive selections.

While it is hard to judge the mixing skills without having an idea how do individ-ual tracks sound like it is with no doubts that we see how well-crafted EA3 is. The almost OCD like attention to details in this molecular mixing is something quite unique for Rich considering the plethora of trance artists releasing compilations on a yearly basis. With no intended efforts to showcase one label based releases, well manifested high level fusion skills, time invested for individual reworks of most of the components and exquisitely sequenced tracks, Solarstone and his Electronic Architecture 3 steps up as our favourite compilation of 2014 and the biggest star of the summer 2014. An update so needed and so pleasing our ears.

★★★★☆

First of all congratulations with the third installment in the highly ap-praised series of Electronic Architecture. It was a very pleasant surprise to see the first hint about the release.

Thanks! I was very nervous about the release of this one, as people clear-ly had very high expectations of it - also the fact that it is 3 years since Volume 2 did kind of ramp up the pressure and expectations a bit, but the response has been really positive and I’ve received some great feedback from people who’ve bought it.

When did you feel the need for the new edition of EA and when did you first start gathering the tracks for this compilation?

I’d been thinking about it seriously for the past 12 months, but it’s always been in the back of my mind since Vol. 2 and the Ambient Edition were released in 2011. I’ve been focusing solely on the Pure Trance movement for a couple of years and there simply wasn’t the ‘right moment’ for this until now. But I wanted to do something else for a little while - I have my various labels which release varying styles of trance and was receiving a lot of demos from artists in styles which didn’t fit in exactly to the ‘Pure Trance’ sound which I play in the clubs - for example the more progres-sive & deep stuff that I release on Molecule. I love the EA series for a few different reasons - one being the Art + Music angle, another being the freedom it gives me to do something different. The idea for Disc 3 was something I’d been thinking about for some time too - a 100BPM approach to trance music, so when I made the decision to start work on EA3 I also decided to make it a triple CD with each disc covering a slightly different angle of the music I love.

There are many special EA3 edits and retouches of the tracks on the compilation. How much time did you have to invest in all the reworks?

I couldn’t put an exact figure on it, but if I spent 6 weeks mixing it then I spent at least two thirds on that time working on the Retouches, Recon-structions & Edits - they are an intrinsic part of the process and I think they are part of what makes the albums a bit special - as opposed to being end-to-end blends which is the norm with dance compilations (for various reasons).

Any particular reworks/edits that you had the most fun or trouble with?

I didn’t have any particular troubles, although a couple of the artists might say differently! For example, I went back & forth with Allende for a few days asking him to re-key this and remove that - then add it in again - for his remix of Salt Tank ‘Phoenix’ - that was because I wanted it to blend in a particular place - but then I changed my mind... but he was very patient - thanks God! The Nils Frahm edit was quite hard work, because the original piano piece was played freestyle and I had to get it in time but not to sound ‘forced’ - my ‘edit’ was actually a complete production. Lots of the ‘Reconstructions’ are mainly removing things and working on the engineering side of the arrangements - a lot of artists really pack their tracks out - which works great sometimes, but in a mix there needs to be a bit more space between the notes, so that the mix has consistency throughout - if that makes sense!

We were surprised twice this summer by seeing Nils Frahm (for the readers - Nils is a modern-classical piano composer from Germany) fea-tured on an EDM compilation. First it was a new Fabric mix by Deetron and now he is also featured on EA3. How did you come across the idea of featuring him in this edition?

He is incredible - I was actually introduced to him by Paula my manager - incidentally she is often turning me on to things - and helps out with song titles sometimes too! I was actually surprised that we got permission to use ‘Dedication, Loyalty’ - I also requested another track of his called ‘Says’ but didn’t use it in the end. Coincidentally I contacted Tapio (Ork-idea) when I was scouting for material and he also suggested Nils Frahm, so I guess it was a natural selection. His music is very inspiring and beauti-ful.

For many listeners EA is not just about the selection, but also about the mix-ins and transitions between the tracks. Can you share with us an example or two how the process of this ‘molecular-level’ mixing work and what do you use for it?

Yes, thats what it is partly about for me, too. Firstly I request the full stems of each track from each artist - for anyone who isn’t familiar with this term the ‘stems’ are essentially each separate track or part of the recording bounced separately, so that I can play them all simultaneously in my sequencer and then choose which parts I want to change, remove or edit. This is very time consuming but it means I have limitless creative possibilities with the tracks. I can do basic things like change the key or the tempo much more naturally that way, or completely redesign the track so it sounds more how I want it, and ultimately knit it into the mix perfectly. Often with a mix compilation you get tracks that have one or two elements that either don’t fit or you want to repeat, or tease in & out over another track - there’s no end to what I can do with the stems. The EA albums are more like a ‘musical collage’ really.

At this very current moment, do you think we will see another edition of Electronic Architecture in the upcoming years?

Ha ha.. Probably, but don’t hold your breath, you may be waiting a while.

One last question outside EA3 topic: Maybe you could share with our listeners what albums this year do you find the most appealing so far?

Certainly.. well, Orkidea’s currently ‘work-in-pro-gress’ new album is astonishingly brilliant, Konektiv has an album forthcoming on Molecule (a track of which ‘Monoposto’ features on EA3) which is totally awesome too. All the Nils Frahm albums I’ve bought this year have been fabulous, Daniel Avery’s album ‘Drone Logic’ is weirdly wicked and I also loved ‘Incu-bation’ by Function. □