[i:Vibes] Oceanlab - Satelite [Anjunabeats]

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Oceanlab - Satelite [Anjunabeats]

02:06 - January 14, 2004

by Watts

Anjunabeats latest is the trance outing 'Satelite' by the well known Oceanlab with Justine Suissa providing vocals. Armin Van Buuren played this in his show two weeks running and Dave Pearce has played it numerous times on the UK's Radio 1. It has the support so there must be a reason for that...

You should all be able to recall Oceanlab's previous tracks - the dreamy 'Clear Blue Water', 'Sky Falls Down' and 'Beautiful Together'. All were hugely popular and rightly so. 'Satelite' works off of the same formula - gently melodic trance with a blend of vocals in the right places. The mixes on this record, which is set for a February 2nd release date, are the Original Above & Beyond Mix and the Markus Schultz Coldharbour Mix on the flip.

:: Oceanlab - Satelite
:: Anjunabeats
:: ANJ023

A: Original Above & Beyond Mix
Seeing that Above & Beyond are a major part of the Oceanlab project, it seems that they chose to put their name to the original. This also caused an interesting little debate on our forums. It begins swiftly with a sturdy yet not too heavy beat and a bassline is faded in from being a tinny backing chirp to a worthy force present in the background offering support for all of the other parts. For the first part of the tune, theres always something going on. Initially there are quiet, coarse sounding effects present in the background. This is huilt upon by the gradual introduction of a variety of synth instruments aiding subtly to the overall melody that the track conveys. For the main break and breakdown, everything is cut out aside from a softened beat and a fairly high pitched, highly reverberated instrument. This paves the way for the angelic voice of Justine Suissa as she sings out a beautiful vocal solo. Theres no denying it - her voice is marvellous. Its soft and trance-like and just blends wonderfully with the surrounding sound. Just as the vocals are ending, the main synth builds up and then plays out the melody in the main section when the tune kicks back in. Its a very polished synth - true to the Oceanlabs sound we all know and love - and it lifts the track up wonderfully. Coupled with the vocal, it the whole lot just sounds great. From here, there is a short break and then the track begins its wind down.

B: Markus Schulz Coldharbour Mix
Markus Schulz' name is popping up more and more recently - be it playing out, recording promo mixes or remixing tracks. Markus has produced quite a few Coldharbour remixes of tracks, the latest being the incredibly popular 'As The Rush Comes' by Motorcycle. Continuing in the trend of the Coldharbour mixes, this one too is mellow. Its very much like a chillout track, but with a constant 4/4 beat as opposed to constant ambience or breakbeat. It also steers in the progressive direction slightly because of the steady, driving feeling that it creates. Quite simply, its a pretty unique niche of production that Markus has found himself and it works very well. The first half of the track is rather minimal with a fairly snappy but sort of muffled sounding beat accompanied by a prominent hihat. There is a gradual build of background ambience and supporting instruments all adding their own little bit to the volume of sound being created. Now things start to get more interesting. The vocal kicks in - its even more subdued than before and is very relaxing. Next is a pseudo break with a bassline driven 'melody', if you like. Everything returns for a small repetition of the vocal section, and then the really nice bit happens. The breakdown features a quiet layer of synths in the background along with the vocals, which continue as the synths build into an absolutely sublime sound. Its one of those synths that work with the bass to produce a sound that seems to have an element of every pitch on the scale from high to low. Very chilled and relaxing but it also carries a kind of uplifting quality. These gradually fade away into the beat where after the track quite quickly winds down to a close.

Conclusion:
The Above & Beyond Original of Oceanlab's 'Satelite' is a wonderful trance track with lovely vocals - all of which stay true to what we have come to expect from them. Markus Schultz' Coldharbour Mix may not appeal to everyone but when given some time to establish itself produces something very pleasant to listen to indeed.