Cygnus X
Cygnus X (Matthias Hoffman aka A. C. Boutsen) are probably best known for the trance epics Orange Theme and Superstring, which have been available on the German based EyeQ record label for many years, but alas only on import.
Album : Hypermetrical
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Hypermetrical is the debut album from Cygnus X and
unfortunately could also be the last. Opening with Kinderlied which gets straight down to the business with a head to the floor stomper of a track. The title track, Hypermetrical, is a drum and bass little offering, which is a little disappointing to say the least, but Deliberation picks up the pace where Kinderlied left off. Turn Around whips up your spirits, flying and bouncing along at 150 BPM and making a refreshing change
with the more housey-trance beats than the harder trance beats of the previous tracks. Synchronism is a load of ambient
waffle.....sorry!....but it doesn't fit on this album.....but then we meet Indakasa, the true gem on this album. (It should be noted that the track listing and track lengths on the album is wrong, with Indakasa being track #7, not #8). The track drifts in, with samples from Deep Forest, and then bang....off it stomps. Massive build-ups in this track which I rate along side The Orange Theme and Superstring, both of which could have done with being on this album in their original format. The album closes with the RMX version of Orange Theme, which just does not compare to the original, but is still a wicked track. All in all a mighty fine serving of German Electro-Trance from Mr Hoffman.
Single: Turn Around
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This track was written by Earth Nation's Ralf Hildenbeutel.
The A.C.B. edit isn't up to much when compared to the original album version, but Tony De Vit gets the thumbs up, providing a housey mix to this rather short single. Not very often you encounter a CD with only two mixes on, and for the price I paid for it I felt a bit cheated.
CDS: SuperString
[4509-96413-2] | Track Listing:
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Released 1994 on Eye Q Records. This is the original CDS release of SuperString. Thanks to Brian Harris for this information.
Single: SuperString
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Released 1996. The original version of SS needs no explaining, but i will for the sake of those poor souls who have never heard this track before. Its a couple of years old now, but has just been re-released as part of the Eye-Q classics series. An uplifting melody bounces over a moderate paced beat, with the hands-in-the-air anthemic bits chucked in for good measure.
Both remixes of SS bring a welcome new angle to this classic track. The Speedlight mix, barely recognisable as SS until the end, is more upbeat than the original and is an equally good track as the original. Oliver Lieb's remix also gets the thumbs up.....I like it. Positron, which is thrown in as a bit of a bonus track, is a bit of a half-hearted effort, but is pleasant enough. An all round excellent single and worth getting your hands on before it is deleted and gone forever.
Single: The Orange Theme Rmx's (12")
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This stomping anthem of Cygnus X flies along at a storming pace and gets superb reworkings from Blu Peter and Red Jerry. Also available on CD single apparently.
12": Hypermetrical Rmx's
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The original mix remains the best, with both Secrets
Knowledges' and the Third Room remixes getting a little messy.
12": The Orange Theme '99 Remixes
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Released 5/99 on Free-For-All Records. Written and composed by A.C. Bousten. This trance gem has been dusted off and re-polished courtesy of Moonman (Ferry Corsten), Piet Bervoets & Benno de Goeij, and Mark van Dale with Enrik de Koning. Moonman stays faithful to the original with a slightly darker edged remix, but more or less the same structure of the track with the same overall sound. The biggest difference is the mid-track breakdown that sounds a little morbid with a full orchestra playing out the melody on its own. Piet Bervoets & Benno de Goeij put a new slant on the track with an odd sounding synth effect for the main melody, although again the structure of the track is retained. Hats off to Mark van Dale and Enrico for daring to break the foolproof formula and try something a little different. It's still trancey, but in places you'd struggle to recognise this German anthem. Overall, three superb new remixes of an ageless classic.
CD Single/12": The Orange Theme
[HOOJ88CD/HOOJ88CDX/HOOJ88/HOOJ88R]
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Released 3/2000 on Hooj Choons. Written and produced by A.C Boutsen. Yet again this old EyeQ gem has been revamped, this time round with remixes from Solar Stone, Bervoets & De Goeij (Rank1), Man with No Name and Moonman (Ferry Corsten). All of the remixes are along the same lines, i.e trance, and none really stray from the formula of the original. Personally I prefer the Solar Stone Remix where the BPM is slowed down a little.
12": SuperString
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Released 6/00 on Free For All. Published by Neue Welt Musikverlage / B. Reisig / Moonquake Music (adm. by BMG/UFA Musikverlage). All tracks written & composed by A.C. Boutsen and R. Hildenbeutel. Additional remix and production on track 2 by Piet Bervoets & Benno de Goeij. It was only a matter of time before Cygnus X' Superstring got a make-over, considering all the recent attention on The Orange Theme. Rank1 produce a rather predictable anthemic trancer, and whilst its worthy of a spin i'm not convinced it betters, or even equals, the original classic.
12": Cygnus X - Superstring Lmt. Ed.
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Released 11/00 on Free For All Records. Written and produced by A. C. Bousten and R. Hildenbeutel. Additional production by Benno de Goeij and Piet Bervoets. Rank1 dish up a second serving of this German oldtimer, this time round proving that they can do more than just anthems. The Deep Dub is, as the title suggests, quite moody, slightly dark, and somewhat deep. The anthemic tones of the original are far gone and this will probably appeal to a less mainstream dancefloor. An excellent remix nontheless, and its good to hear Rank 1 producing such tunes.
CDS: Cygnus X - Superstrings
[RAD 99102-2]
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Released 2001 on Radikal Records. Written and produced by A. C. Bousten and R. Hildenbeutel. Additional production on tracks 3 & 4 by Benno de Goeij and Piet Bervoets and on track 5 by Marcus Boehme, Martin Hensing & John Leonardo Lepore. Not sure why Radikal Records changed the title to plural (it used to be Superstring). Thanks to Brian Harris for this information.
Other Info:
See my reviews of the EyeQ compilation albums.
