AR52 consist of Miika Kuisma, Luke Chen & DJ Tab, and were behind some of the most played tracks in 2003. Here they return early in 2004 with a storming double sided production, sure to be played by the usual suspects!
First up is Enigma which begins with a typical 4/4 beat and some cleverly induced hi-hats, and other percussion effects, to give us a nice buildup into the bassline, coming in at around the 90 second mark. Bringing us a clap as well, we start to get a melody, simply 3 notes repeating for now, but getting more intelligent and complex as we go on. A nice breakbeat follows us, and we're ready to go down into pad & lead heaven! Nicely filtered, we get a soft buildup, into the main melody, which works for me personally, euphoric and crisp sounding.
Later on the breakbeat returns, but is very cleverly built up, nothing too quick, and it definitely does a great job of moving us along. The lead returns in a slightly different melody pattern now, and the pad is soon back as the 4/4 kick returns, and there's some very good chord changes, hitting the spot just as you expect, before we get ready to fade out to the end of the track, nice work though!
The AA side here is Air Traffic and we get underway with the kicks & hats, probably catchier than in the previous song, and a soft pad comes in, as we lead to the bassline. The FX used again really make the track stand out, and definitely make a track rise in stature. Maybe moodier sounding than the previous track, the bassline isn't too deep or complex and with the vast array of fx & the likes, you don't need it to be. A gentle nice sounding lead synth makes an appearance, 4 simple notes helping to build us up for sweeping strings again giving a euphoric atmosphere.
The Synth again comes in, stabbing away over the top of the beautiful strings, before filtering out again and returning softly and slowly, and complimenting the strings perfectly it gives a feeling of floating, high in a blue sky as the world passes below, unaware of the intensity that you're feeling, with 8 minutes of blissful uplifting trance.
Conclusion:
Both tracks are sure to be played by all the usual suspects, and especially for Air Traffic you can see why! Enigma is also strong, but side by side doesn't quite match upto Air Traffic, still worthy of attention though!
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