Creative Commons may have made it easier for people to find a ton of legally downloadable music but the loose quality control of the movement has often meant that finding great tracks in popular genres is a challenge. Artists, who dabble in Creative Commons, often employ it as a testing ground for their more avant garde work. This, of course, sometimes doesn’t work very well in strict genres such as dance. There are a ton of people producing techno yet there are so few great techno tracks. If we move to genres such as trance, CC trance music is almost non-existent, most likely due to the fact that trance is, in my opinion, harder to produce than techno.

In my search for great CC trance music, I stumbled upon another promising house/techno label, Stratospherik. The releases on the label are mostly EPs with most releases clocking about 2 to 3 tracks at the standard 6 to 7 minutes a track. A quick listen to the tracks on the site, and I found some nice tunes that deserved a listen. One release caught my attention and that was the Enlighten EP by Uriel Asher. The album is simple enough, mainly focusing on a techno vibe with a house feel. It is lighter than most techno tracks and pretty melodically driven as with most things we review at Gratisvibes.

The first track I Don’t Know is definitely the catchier of the two tracks featuring chilled out cut up vocals, a nice diving bassline and a simple 4 note bass lead that just catches your attention. The title track Enlighten retains the same light feel of the EP but adds more filter sweeps and subtle elements. If you’re one for detail in your house/techno music, you’ll like this track. Somewhat melancholic and with some pretty drastic changes at different points in the track, this one may not fill the dance floor but it sure has its quirky moments that you will come to enjoy after repeated listens.

All in all, a nice release but I’m still looking for that CC trance album that will brighten up my day. If you happen to know any such release, do recommend it to us!

Netlabel: Stratospherik

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Posted on October 21st, 2007 by adrian · 5 comments