REVIEW: Mauro Picotto - The Album

The first DJ to mix live on Top of The Pops released his first album in 2001. The album is very well produced and has a superbly thick, toned kick throughout. It’s filled with classics from the off such as Pulsar, Komodo, and Lizard. Starting with a more melodic, almost Uplifting Trance feel it develops into a rather dark Techno album. Probably the hardest track on the album is Baguette. Pumping a relentlessly unforgiving bass line, you’d be forgiven for thinking it couldn’t possibly have been produced by the same guy who released trance anthem, Komodo. If there’s one album to get you into progressive trance/techno, let this be it. 5/5.

Official MySpace / Buy

REVIEW: Podcast Kicks

Recently we received an email from a chap notifying us of a website he thought we may be interested in. Naturally, we checked it out and were pleasently surprised with what we found. So much so, we thought we'd review it for you!

Podcast Kicks is a great way to find new and established podcasts. Of course, we headed straight over to the music category to start our journey.

The site is entirely community driven. This means users can contribute by adding their own as well as other people's podcasts that they listen to. These can then be 'kicked' (or in other words, voted) by 'tuning in' to the 'cast. The idea is that the best podcasts head to the top of the list, essentially weeding out the trash and presenting you with the best material out there. But wait, here's the best bit.. For every podcast you submit, you share 50% of the profits made from Google's AdSense service on that page!

There are many other categories ranging from the arts to politics and technology. We found the music section full of content and will probably be adding some of our podcasts to the list!

Signing up takes just seconds so check it out. 5/5

REVIEW: Hed Kandi - Kandi Lounge

And relax.. The latest update to the legendary Hed Kandi's ever-expanding portfolio was released to the public earlier this year and is a welcome addition to the series. Encompassing the most chilled out tracks from a variety of genres (house, soul, and R&B) the mixing is very cleverly done, resulting in a smooth flowing journey from your sofa to your deck chair and back. Perfect for a lazy Sunday evening in or as a warmup to a metropolitan night out with friends, Kandi Lounge delivers. With such variation and far too many quality tracks to mention you can be assured this would be the perfect addition to anyone's album collection. Gaining no obvious faults it does exactly what it says on the tin. 5/5. Check out the opening track, Morning Child by 4 Hero below.


Official MySpace / Buy

REVIEW: Benny Benassi - Rock 'N' Rave

Released five years ago his first album, Hypnotica, isn’t such a far cry from this latest offering. Rock N Rave is still noticeably Benassi. The majority of tracks are still heavily structured around a repetitive synth hook, shouting the odd computerised vocal to remind us who we’re listening to. However, some effort has been made to get professional vocalists in on the act such as Christian Burns (heard on Tiesto’s ‘In The Dark’). The album is very electro, as we would expect, but it has moved with the times and tracks have featured on music channels such as MTV. Stand out tracks are Who’s Your Daddy?, Rock N Rave, Come Fly Away, and I Am Not Drunk which, just for it’s sheer originality is worth listening to alone. This is by no means a ‘must–buy’ and you would probably be better off previewing and buying just a few of the tunes. 3/5 at best.

Official MySpace / Buy