TIME FOR MY REVIEW
www.planetfreestyleonline.comhttp://www.planetfreestyleonline.com
It is a great problem to have when the absolute majority of the tracks are superbly well produced and sound great; yet when they are in the same overall package, they have a bit of similarity hence the "Planet Freestyle" sound from Odeon Records.
To date, "The Return of Planet Freestyle" is the best freestyle music cd I have ever listened to. They appear to have spared no expense and no junk on this one; most of the tracks are of broadcast quality. A "mishmash" of all the current Canadian freestyle elements are presented: old school, planet rock,electro, breakbeat, 2 step along with snippets of familiar synth cues from the 80's era. For those who hesitate when hearing trance elements in Canadian freestyle remixes of branded international artists in the likes of Whigfield, Sonique, Gigi D'Agodstino or Lasgo, you will be content with local and new freestyle brands like Kathy Phillips, DRC Project Lucy Falcone, Elisa Gold and Zoé amongst others.
Out of all the great tracks, My favourites are:
1) Freda - See The Sun
2) Linda Furtado - Wait for me
3) Kathy Phillips - In and Out
4) DRC Project - And I
5) Desiré - Movin On
6) Zoé - It's Not Enough
7) Alexia Phillips - Give Me Love
8) Collage Feat. Alexia Phillips - Angel
9) ENC - Tell Me
9) Anthony Gitto - Back To You
10) Thiago Derucio - Next to you
I find
Freda-See The Sun to definitely be the star track from the cd. A 3 minute radio twirler with the right amount of stutters, catchy lyrics and hooks that definitely calls for an extended version.
If properly explored and marketed, Linda Furtado's great vocals along with her young age and great looks can be the key for putting freestyle back on the airewaves and dancefloors nationwide; she sounds like a young siren who can be no different in fame than early Debbie Gibson, Tiffany, Alanis Morrissette (the early disco days) or Lil Suzy. Let's not wait too long to market Linda in the malls, high schools, women's shows on tv, major sporting events and of course, YTV! IMO, With her, will come more demand for the sound.
I think the remake for Collage with Kathy Phillips is very well done; love the stutters, new melodies alongs with kathy's vocals and added hymns. Most people in Canada never new the original by Collage so this is a great and refreshing update.
I hope that the Alexia Phillips track does not go unnoticed. She is belting out some new vocal talent; her voice has improved a lot in the last few years and you can definitely hear the difference; this is one of her best tracks to date!
I expected a little more from the Dimi track, love the stutters but the song is so so imo. While ENC, DJ CSI feat. Alison, Thiago Derucio, Anthony Gitto, Lucy Falcone, Elisa Gold and Emanuel sound really good, The Traian and Remus could have been easily deleted from the line-up; being Zoé's dancers or winners of the talent search, they need some major work before they are ever presented with another recording opportunity.
The songs make great add ons to your own dance compilations, so sandwich them between eurodance and pop tunes to keep the flow of your playlist fresh.
On a side note, although the Clubfreestyle.com logo is featured on the cd inlay, I am puzzled by the lack of presence or promotion of the cd on the club freestyle mainpages and icons; why???
If you have not done so already; please take the time to support this great effort and purchase the cd from Canadian HMV or Sunrise outlets.
With international distribution deals in the works, Watch out America and Europe, Planet Freestyle is coming your way!
www.planetfreestyleonline.com
