(psychedelic/psy ambient/psy-prog) 12 Moons 'Solid State' - 2004, APE (image+.cue)

The melodic trance-side of Mr. Andresen…
Most trance-artists also produce ambient… And often artist albums are equipped with one or two downbeat/ambient tracks at the end of the album… But seldom do trance-artists release both a trance album AND an ambient album simultaneously… But that’s just what Gothenburg-based Swedish producer Michael Andresen has done… Healer is his ambient moniker, and 12 Moons is his trance moniker…
Under the 12 Moons alias, Mr. Andresen has released an impressive 9 EPs and no less than 19 tracks on compilations on such respected labels as Dragonfly, Transient, Spiral Trax, Hadshot and Flying Rhino to name but a few… Now he’s out with his debut-album on Greek label Candyflip…
Let me take you thru the tracks…
#01: Aaah... Just listen to that smooth intro - Fluffy, light-as-a-feather, floating, twirling synth melodies… Whistles, bells… Prepare to enter the harmonic, melodic trance universe of 12 Moons… After the initial dream-like atmosphere, the track slowly starts to build and after a couple of minutes, a nice crisp proggy bassline is released…But proggy in the cleanest, most well-polished manner and with the floating melodies still playing along… Decent track…
#02: As the tracks on the CD are nicely mixed into each other, we seamlessly float straight into ‘Ovation’… This is as close to Balearic-euphoric-Ibiza trance as it gets… to be honest, sometimes I’m not sure if I’m listening to 12 Moons or ATB here… It’s fluffy, it’s melodic – and I’m afraid that parts of it are a little too boring for my taste…
#03: Alright, we’re starting to shake that clubby feeling now… First it continues in the same path as the predecessors, but soon a deeper, proggier sound is introduced… Nice… Very nice percussion work here and I especially like the overall fast-paced-tribal touch this track has – while still maintaining the album-theme: Uplifting, euphoric, melodic morning trance… Tasty!
#04: Very simple, but very atmospheric intro… The basis is just two synth cords… The pace has quickened now, and the groovy bassline is accompanied by some distant human choir… Again, the Ibiza-touch is very much present, but as long as it’s accompanied by some deep, progressive beats and a touch of psy I’m happy… And that extra touch comes through clever use of hi-hats and nifty little acid-twirls… Sweet track!
#05: And we go even deeper now… More talented use of percussion, reverbs and cut beats in this slooooowly building tune… I like the “underplayed” FX (sorry, not a sound-technician, so I can’t explain it better)… A progressive stomper, with just enough simple, old-school melodies to make it retro-cool…
#06: Electro-melody intro… Floating, organic soundscapes in the background… And a funky-ass bassline… I’m not sure I like the electro-bit, but I definitely dig the overall groove of this track… Reminds me of Saiko-Pod at certain places… However, it goes too much in circles and ends up too repetitive for my taste… Decent track…
#07: “Where are we? I’m not sure…” Percussion-based track here – snares, congas, claves… Kinda tribal progressive trance, spiced up by melodic synths and a tad lower b.p.m…. Very groovy, very laid-back… Delicious!
#08: Woow – holy smokes, what a cool intro… A very cool synth effect creates a wicked melody… Nice… Later we get a kinda “distorted” bassline and some basic grooves alongside it… This is the darkest track on the album for sure – but it still has melodic bits… Quite a few of them actually… Such a cool combo… I dig!
#09: A taste of Mr. Andresen’s skills as a chill-out producer… Way too short though for a review – good thing that we get a full album of ambient on the Healer-album (released simultaneously with this album – also on Candyflip… ~Review coming soon~)…
#10: The journey track… It’s time for some serious experimentation… Cicadas, roars from a lion… Oh, we’re definitely in the jungle now baby… Repetitive tribal congas – slowly becoming faster, and suddenly turning into a drum-machine… Straight from nature into the studio – clever! The beats are much faster now and somewhat colder – metallic even… More percussion and subtle acid lines are added to create a very energetic, techo’ish feel… Halfway through, the beats are going in a more tribal, yet still progressive direction and some of the well-known floating melodies are introduced again… And finally the track fades out to the sound of the jungle again… Wow, what a journey… Sweet, sweet track!
Phew, what a ride... A journey even… This is best enjoyed as a whole… What we get here are a bunch of diverse tracks – yet they are all bound together by a common denominator: the unique sound of 12 Moons… At times it’s super-light, melodic and fluffy – and later on it’s deep, darkish, progressive trance… This album was mastered by the talented Son Kite guys, and their progressive fingerprints are all over this baby… A sign of quality in my book… The cover-art by Micky Noise (Wizzy Noise) is also sweet, and appropriate for the music…
Also, it’s nice to listen to an album that isn’t riddled with voice-samples… The music speaks for itself here… There are a couple of tracks that are just too boring for my taste, but they are more than counter-balanced by the many wonderful tracks on this album… Recommended to anyone who likes uplifting, melodic trance – with a distinctive progressive edge!

Exact Audio Copy V0.99 prebeta 3 from 28. July 2007
EAC extraction logfile from 23. November 2007, 0:03
12 Moons / Solid State
Used drive : Optiarc DVD RW AD-5170A Adapter: 1 ID: 0
Read mode : Secure
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Read offset correction : 48
Overread into Lead-In and Lead-Out : No
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Delete leading and trailing silent blocks : No
Null samples used in CRC calculations : Yes
Used interface : Installed external ASPI interface
Used output format : Monkey's Audio Lossless Encoder v3.99 DLL
Sample format : High Lossless Compression
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Filename G:\WAV\12 Moons 'Solid State' 2004\12 Moons - Solid State.ape
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End of status report