777/ Fire /Water /Golden Section
System 7
(A-Wave Records)
Reported Thursday, May 29 2003
Courtesy of Jonty_Adderley @ www.skrufff.com
Ever since hooking up with Paul Oakenfold in 1990 (they performed at his first club chill-out room), System 7 have maintained a deserved reputation as pioneers and champions of both ambient and trance. Comprising original Ibiza hippy Miquette Giraudy and former Gong guitar hero Steve Hillage, the duo have consistently released imaginative, experimental, exquisitely beautiful music that matches and often excels the best work of superstar producers like Derrick May, Carl Craig and the Orb's Alex Patterson.
Which makes sense, since from the beginning of their career the pair have collaborated with the above listed stars as well as the likes of Laurent Garnier and acid house originator Marshall Jefferson, swapping ideas and mutual respect for experimentation and pushing boundaries.
10 years after their first album 777 appeared to deserved plaudits on Alex Patterson and Youth's label, the pair are just about to re-issue their first four albums, remastered and represented for a new army of fans.
Always firmly rooted in deeply melodic atmospheric mood music, System 7 possessed an equally keen interest in 80s Detroit techno and by merging the two styles created a surprisingly energetic though tuneful fusion of sound that came to be known as trance. Coinciding with the psychedelic techno much loved by Oakenfold and the Goa producers, the early 90s saw them headlining seminal events like Megadog and later Glastonbury (Hillage organised the festival's first ever dance tent). And the music carrying them so far appears on these four CDs, each one worthwhile as a listenable and highly tuneful selection of tracks.
Point 3 Fire and Water, the second and third, are the best (highlights including the magnificent ambient classic Sirenes (co-produced with Garnier) and Dr Livingstone I Presume (heavily assisted by Youth). Both albums also feature Alpha Wave, though not Plastikman's 18 minute acid house version which topped and peaked trance's genuinely innovative era.
A simple mark of genuine quality is whether an object or idea stands the test of time and System 7's back catalogue sounds both contemporary, listenable and impressively original, despite the waves of 'trance' and 'chill-out' that have smashed and almost drowned mainstream dance culture. All four records are available from May 26, and all four are highly recommended.
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