(Trance) Leon Bolier - Pictures - 2008, FLAC (image+.cue), lossless

Леон Болье (Leon Bolier) - один из самых ярких и, несомненно, самых талантливых представителей нового поколения голландских транс-музыкантов. Его неповторимый стиль, вобравший в себя жесткие ритмы и красивые мелодии, нашел свое место в сердцах многих фанатов танцевальной музыки. Музыка Леона звучит на клубных вечеринках и крупных фестивалях всех уголков мира благодаря постоянной поддержке топ-диджеев. Сам же Леон с трудом отбивается от регулярных просьб ведущих лейблов о написании ремиксов для других музыкантов.
Альбом "Pictures" появился на прилавках музыкальных магазинов уже в конце первого месяца осени. На каждом из двух дисков — по 12 музыкальных "картин". Первый диск — сольные произведения Леона, а также треки, написанные в сотрудничестве с вокалистами: Саймоном Бинкенборном (Simon Binkenbom), известного по композиции Bart Claessen "First Light", и Jady-Mayne. На второй, в основном, попали совместные работы Болье с друзьями и коллегами по музыкальному творчеству: Joop, Sied van Riel, Galen Behr, Cliff Coenraad & Thomas Hagenbeek, Daniel Wanrooy, DJ Astrid и Global Illumination aka Fine Taste.
26 сентября в голландском Утрехте в клубе Poema состоялась вечеринка, посвященная выпуску альбома, которая также ознаменовала начало тура в его поддержку. Кроме самого Леона, на ней отыграли и его друзья: Fine Taste, Joop, Sied van Riel и Orjan Nilsen. Цена билета на вечеринку в предварительно продаже была более чем доступна — всего 9,99 Евро без СD, и 17,50 Евро с подарочным экземпляром альбома.

Leon Bolier - Pictures
Dutchman Leon Bolier is here with his debut album. Two discs full of tunes from the future, present and a little bit from the past. Leon Bolier has proven to be a consistant producer and has released tracks on labels like Spinnin, ASOT, Bonzai and some more. He was recently interviewed on this site to spread his thoughts about the album, now we have the review as well.
CD 1
The opening of the album is brilliant, with a gorgeous latin-influenced ambient a great mood for the rest to come. First up we have the deep track Offshore, which builds smoothly into a nice mild breakdown. THe tune is deep and enchanting during the first part, but explodes into a classy, melancholic trancer after the breakdown. A tasteful start of the album.
Darling Harbour is the next in line, a nice little effort on minimaltrance with a little bite in the middle part. Dnipro is a little clubbier and is very well produced. At the first listen you might find it a bit flat, but it grows everytime you listen to it. Quality tune! Unfortunately I can't say this of the next track, I Finally Found, with quite horrible vocals that don't fit the track at all in my opinion. The melody sounds a litty cheesy as well.. not the best effort.
XD is a nice slice of neo-trance, an excellent sparkling but moody tune! Next up is a great interlude under the name Interludium, a fantastic piano part. AMAZING! The tracks are increasing in power, with Meditate as a good cross over track. Clubby, but atmospheric, although the development is a bit flat in my opinion. Could have been a little spicier maybey.
Y3 is the first hands in the air festival anthem trance style full on track on the album, and it's really good, the lead melody reminded me a bit of the old Sonic games (which is a good thing). Beyrouth is the number ten on disc one and strips down the energy again, a slow progressive edged trancetrack which flows out of your speakers smoothly.
The final tracks are Ocean Drive Boulevard (well known to Bolier fans) and Longing For. Personally i am not a big fan of the track, but personal opinions aside, this tune rocked alot of dancefloors.. The final track Longing For is an atmospheric downtempo tune with nice vox from Jady-Mayne (sounds like a pornstar doesnt it). Pretty nice closing tune in the style of bands like Frou Frou and Kate Havnevik!
CD 2
Disc two starts as atmospheric as the first one, with a brilliant classical opening of the track Singapore. The track morphs into a happy uplifting track, where, in my opinion, Leon better could have chosen a tad darker path after the great intro. Next up is the strong track Summernight Confessions, released last year. Classic piano meets a banging leadmelody and pouding beats, no wonder it was played by many big DJ's. We dive into deeper territory with Lust, a tune co-produced by Daniel Wanrooy. Solid progressive beats and mysterious floating sounds make this a good tune to relax after the violence of Summernight Confessions.
Another really good track, Crazy People with DJ Astrid, is blasting to the speakers. I really like this, because of the original approach and sounds, deep techtrance. Acapulco, co-produced by Dutchie Galen Behr, is a bit of a weaker track, that drags on too long and sounds a bit chaotic alltogether. Then we arrive at one of Leon's best tune ever in my opinion, Poseidon, released on ASOT two years ago. Somehow I missed it back then, but it's an ace melodic trancer! Awesome tune!
Lost Luggage, which Leon made together with Jonas Steur, is a deep electrance track with a happy melody. I personally found this one of weakest tracks on the album, because the track is really repetitive and doesn't add to the listening experience of the album. Dirtbiter is an interesting track with a huge breakdown that transforms into a minimal techno track, really nice work there. Also Portraits of Spain is really great with a Spanish guitar delivering a melody that catches the attention immediatly. Awesome! Another vocal tune, Exhibit, is coming up and again it is a bit of a disappointment. The vocals by Maria Georgiou are nice, but don't make the track stronger and sound a bit "lost" in the track.
Strike One is a tune produced together with Joop (a regular production mate of Leon) and wow, did they deliver! A wonderfull fusion of oldschool trance, deep beats and and a hint of techno. Sensational track! The closing track, Artefakt, is another piece of amazing ambient. If Leon ever decides to do an ambient or chill out album, I am sure he would produce an instant classic.
Conclusion
The first album by Leon Bolier is a good release. I can't say it is an instant classic or one of the best albums I have ever heard, because there are a couple of weak tracks. There are also some amazing gems on the album that really show the potential of Leon, also for the future. Maybey 24 tracks was a bit to much for a debut album. But Leon proves he has grown and evolved his sound and we can only hope he continues to do so, because his ideas and sounds have grown beyond the usual "talent pool". Check this album out for sure.