STORY OF A TRACK: NIKOLAUSS – Nidavellir [SUBCULTURE]
Nikolauss - Nidavellir is out with Subculture since March 8th. The track received till now some pretty good feedback and I have to admit is one of my favorites from Andrei (Ok. they are all my favorites. ;)) ).
When I first told the story of a track, I wrote about Lifdagar (his first release with Subculture) and beside me having fun, people also enjoyed it. So, I decided to tell one more, because this track has an interesting story too!
Nidavellir is one of the Nine Realms and the place where were forged the most powerful and horrific weapons to ever torment the universe. Nidavellir is strong, rough, but delicate in the same time. Name is inspired from the Marvel universe, but the roots are in the Norse mythology, to whom I am a big fan. - Nikolauss
All started right after Lifdagar when Andrei sent another track to Subculture. John liked and the feedback was nice. There were some suggestions involved and Andrei worked hard on them and sent an update as soon as possible. At that time we were not sure yet if the track found its home, though.
Busy, busy times, all was happening around Amsterdam Dance Event. That meant lots of events to attend, lots of meetings to make it to and few time to check emails. Planets aligned, the Universe was good again and we managed to get to the In Trance We Trust event. It had a pretty mint line-up split in 4 separate rooms. And of course, John. And Neal. And Cold Blue (this last one is for me <3). We said we have to meet up, and somehow, right at the party seemed a good idea at that time.
We were in the crowd, enjoying music so much, when John started playing. We were still in the crowd, still enjoying the music and the people when suddenly Andrei recognized his track. At first Andrei didn't even IDed the track correctly. But hey, when you have so many, it gets confusing (I guess. haha!).
Andrei: Baby, this is it!
Me: (totally deaf). Which one?
Andrei: ID1! (cannot name if for obvious reasons). John is playing it!
Me: Really? ... (listening).. Ohh yes! Let's do a small video of it being played here!
Andrei: Yes. Let's go up on those stairs.
Me: (unlocks phone. Hits record.)
Andrei: (couple of seconds later) Ohhh wait! It is not ID1. Not my track with ID artist. It's ID2.
Me: You silly! Can't recognize correctly your own tracks!
Andrei: Ohhh! And it's the version without the last edits. I guess John didn't check the updated one yet.
Me: Well. I think he is testing it. And maybe he'll have an answer after that. :D
Andrei: I guess so.
I did hit the record button. I did try to stand still and have something decent as a video. But the results are completely different. We ended up with shorter shaky videos and nothing good to post anywhere. So, we decided to have the talks and just enjoy the set. John's set is a very special memory to me. It was magical. When a set makes me enjoy it that much, that I do close my phone, close my eyes and just feel it, I know it will get a special place in my heart.
At that time, the track was still an ID. ID2 in this story. And has been identified as ID long after. Naming it is another journey. It's about asking for deadlines, start panicking (me, of course) and having the Eureka moment at the last moment.
Track was sent around end of September - beginning of October. Track was released on the 8th of March. And a lot of tracks have a similar journey. I would even say Nidavellir's journey till release is a short one :D . A lot of tracks are kept as IDs, tested and crowd teased. There is no magic recipe of releasing a track right after pressing the export button. It needs to sit, to (maybe) be updated and to make the listeners curious with each sound.
Nidavellir had a really nice path till now, reaching no. 21 on Beatport the other days, and still going strong! It is amazing how much support it has from the trance community. It is great to see it played on amazing stages like In Trance We Trust at ADE, Dreamstate Australia and everywhere else around the world!
Hope you grabbed your copy: https://subculture.choons.at/nidavellir and checked its journey through Andrei's socials: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Youtube.
Deep darkness: Joint Operations Centre released Behind the Silence with Kate Miles [Subculture]
This is something sooooo dark, but soooo damn good! Joint Operations Centre comes back with a bang! His new track with Kate Miles, Behind the Silence just got released with Subculture on August 3rd and it is definitely something to have in your playlist.
Any day, Joint Operations Centre released something new, it is a good day. It does not happens that often, so we these kind of news makes me happy. Love John O'Callaghan's alias and work, so I can never keep quiet about it. It's been quite a while since he last released "Pathological effect".
It is the first time the darker Joint Ops sound has quartered a vocal, and a pretty darn special one it is too. Kate Miles is the girl on point. Together, she and John have conspired something hypnotic and alchemic for ‘Silence’.
Track sounds perfect. It has that darkness that captures your soul, but it doesn't make it a prisoner. It sets it free. Free to a world of deep sounds. Free to a clearer mind. Free to a goosebumpy state of mind.
Production-wise, John warps up a storm, echoing ‘Behind’s vocal refrains, whilst catalysing its perc loops. Underlain by the finest resounds of doomy bass, he draws its darker parts into the FX banks, from which they emerge frayed, distorted, but charged.
While her sweetly sung tones initially veil the track’s darker heart, Kate’s song quickly stirs the waters deeper still. With John’s violin and pianoforte poignancies underpinning it, come the chorus, the Norwegian singer swings the emotional wrecking ball for a final time, laying its truth bare.
‘Behind The Silence’ dropped on August 3rd. Stream/download here: https://subculture.choons.at/behindthesilence
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Float. Breathe. Dream. John O'Callaghan & Stine Grove - Our Destiny is pure magic [Subculture]
Fire in his production belly, John O’Callaghan has already (per Mixmag) “explored his dark side” this year with ‘Next Stop Muddy Waters’ and fortified club floors further with the magnificent ‘Choice Of The Angels’. Into May - and again exhibiting his renowned flexibility to produce across trance’s broader span - the Irishman’s charting a vocal course.
For ‘Our Destiny’, John’s connected with Danish singer/songwriter Stine Grove to conceive a nothing-less-than-spellbinding new single.
This is pure magic. I am listening to it on repeat now and I feel so light. So airy. Everything is perfect in this track: From melody, to lyrics, to vocals. Everything. John can never disappoint and Stine Grove always sounded amazing! Ripe with illustrative song writing, her voice animates every word, lending each line more significance than the last. Touching, enrapturing and stirring, it adds yet another new dimension to John’s productions.
Naturally ‘Our Destiny’ carries all the hallmark studio punch and floor clout you’ve come to expect from JOC. Reflecting the refined nature of its vocal though, his underlying intricacies serve the track equally. Long, drawn filmic strings, unhurried piano and more measured bass movements underscore its midsection, before uniting with its drums & mainline to bring the post-break altitude.
A track that exists as much for subtlety as strength, you can experience John & Stine’s ‘Our Destiny’ here from May 25: subculture.choons.at/ourdestiny
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Subculture [Mixed by John O'Callaghan and Cold Blue]
You've seen this news on their socials. You've heard some tracks before. But I suppose, you never thought this will be the compilation of the year so far!
Call it a compilation, call it an album, call it whatever you like, this is a masterpiece! A masterpiece of handpicked tracks by John O'Callaghan and Cold Blue. Calling it simply Subculture, is just one of the things they "slap" up with. You already know how huge of a fan of this guys I am. You know already how this article's gonna be. Full of excitement, full of happiness and playful thoughts.
Compilation of the year? Yes. Alongside other great ones, I really believe this deserves to be in your cart, in your playlist and on repeat! The tracks are all of them, so greatly built and they, all, tell a story. A story that turns into a fairytale, once the get all together on this. Subculture is a fairytale of a compilation. It is a dream. A dream came true, thanks to these 2 amazing producers JoC and Cold Blue. They are in it to win it and I hope they will never stop. As long as they are present in the scene, there is no way the trance music will ever fade. These are 2 brilliant minds to hold on, and everything they release is pure gold.
Both have used its occasion to put their own production material on the frontline of its mixes. So often the mainstay of their sets, across its 29 tracks, no fewer than 19 first gleamed from the DJs’ own studios. In doing so, it offers not only the most authentic of representations of their sets, but also as producers in their own right.
Filling in further Subculture shades from their significantly broad palette, you’ll find music from many others from their cadre. Giuseppe Ottaviani, Temple One and Craig Connelly are just some of the Subculture-ists whose work features significantly. Further in you’ll also find music other attuned trance operators - David Forbes, Sied van Riel, Liam Wilson, Alex Di Stefano among them.
First to the decks is the Subculture kingpin himself, O’Callaghan. Included amongst are upcoming single ‘Choice of the Angels’, album-premiering ‘Permutations’ and Giuseppe Ottaviani’s freshly juiced spin on the classic ‘Out Of Nowhere’. Temple One’s made sizeable waves for the label over the past 12 months. Reflecting that in sharpest possible focus, John works Temple’s ‘Encounter’, ‘Sun After Rain’ and ‘Reaching For A Dream’ into the mix. Two of Craig Connelly’s productions strike in succession at the midpoint with ‘A Reality’ and his latest 'Lost Without You’. Sied van Riel and Giuseppe Ottaviani meanwhile edge the mix-needle ever closer to the red with (respectively) ‘Hold Me Close’ and ‘Till The Sunrise’. It’s John’s own production hand that deals the disc its final coup-de-grace. In convoy, you’ll find current single ‘Next Stop Muddy Waters’, built-for-the-album ‘Requiem For An Angel’ and Stine Grove’s seraphim toned ‘Our Destiny’ - collectively bringing it to its zenith.
Now, if all that isn’t a quite, quite enough of a concentrated artistic dose for you, just wait and see what see Tobias Schuh has in store. Since his debut a decade ago, Cold Blue has enjoyed ever-greater acclaim with each year that’s passed. Those still awaiting an album debut can take in-lieu-of solace with what the man from Mainz has lined up. He binds no less than fourteen of his tracks and mixes into a beautifully arranged and thrillingly structured dive into the Blue. Among them are recent singles ‘Speed of Life’, ‘The Clash’, ‘Once In Time’ and ‘On The Outside, as well as current hit ‘Learning To Live’. There’s also a raft of his most recent remixes, expanding the floor reach of Lowland, Alex Di Stefano, David Forbes and others. Premiere material abounds too, with hot-off-the-desk exclusives like ‘Before We Leave’, ‘The Wave’, ‘A New Spirit’ and ‘Daylights’.
You can order your copy of the compilation here: ‘Subculture - Mixed by John O'Callaghan & Cold Blue.
Mix 1 - John O'Callaghan 01. John O'Callaghan - Permutations (Intro Mix) 02. Liam Wilson - Always With Me 03. Temple One featuring Deidre McLaughlin - Reaching for A Dream 04. John O'Callaghan - Choice of the Angels 05. John O'Callaghan featuring Josie - Out Of Nowhere (Giuseppe Ottaviani Remix) 06. Temple One - Encounter 07. Activa – Meridian 08. Craig Connelly featuring Kate Miles - Lost Without You 09. Craig Connelly - A Reality 10. Temple One - Sun After Rain 11. Sied van Riel featuring Natalie Gioia - Hold Me Close 12. Giuseppe Ottaviani - Till The Sunrise 13. John O’Callaghan - Next Stop Muddy Waters 14. John O'Callaghan & Stine Grove - Our Destiny 15. John O'Callaghan - Requiem For An Angel Mix 2 - Cold Blue 01. Cold Blue - Before We Leave (Intro Mix) 02. Cold Blue - The Wave 03. Lowland - We've Been Here Before (Cold Blue Remix) 04. Cold Blue - A New Spirit 05. Cold Blue - Speed Of Life 06. Cold Blue – Daylights 07. Cold Blue - Learning To Live 08. Cold Blue - The Clash 09. Cold Blue - On The Outside (Original Mix) 10. Jeff Rona - Like Water (Cold Blue Remix) 11. Cold Blue - Before We Leave 12. Alex Di Stefano - Never Back Down (Cold Blue Remix) 13. David Forbes featuring Emma Gillespie - Shadows (Cold Blue Remix) 14. Cold Blue - Once In Time (Original Mix)
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