Aux-In

I'm not exactly in a writey-write mood right now, so here's the Wikipedia on this British DJ and producer: Lange.


(1) "We Are Lucky People" (Album Intro): Not a super-subtle opener, but like a lighthearted family-flick opener, instead; an orchestral, happy, overarching theme, but not bombastic. Imagine starting off in the sky with panning shots of city life to follow, and there it is.

(2) "Imagineer" (Album Mix): Smooth transition into track #2, which is more glitchy and/or techno-like than the opener. "We are the music makers. We are the dreamers of the dreams" is a sampled bit that repeats throughout the track. "Imagineer" follows a steady path of slow builds before going more all-out in the latter half. The tempo is middle of the road & light.

My take on the title is that it is Lange saying that electronic producers (imagineers) are to electronic music as an engineer is to city planning.

(3) "Risk Worth Taking" (with Susana) [Acoustic Mix]: Has some guitar strums in it. Lyrically, it's more of an emotional appeal/warning/acceptance from a woman to herself about letting down her guard as she seeks a man's affections:

Lay down the gun
Drop my armour down
Shed my skin
I'm giving in

etc., etc., etc.

Not my kind of thing. It also has what sounds like a backing chorus that is chant-like, in a sense.

(4) "Fireflies" (with Cate Kanell) [Under The Moon Mix]: Starts off with some piano riffs interlaced with samples of insect sounds, then the heavenly voice of Cate Kanell comes in. This is the first standout song, so far. As for the video, trance is always best with time-lapse photography, and that's what we have here:


While the Under The Moon Mix is more orchestral, softer and soothing, I actually prefer the original mix of "Fireflies" because it has that bigger sound that I tend to like, although it's not present on either disc. Grab the original here if you want it: "Fireflies" [Original Mix]

The differences between the remixes of "Fireflies" are very mynoot (sic), so it's up to you if you want to bother sifting through them, save if you want to test your ultimate ear, or you have the time to do so.

(5) "Superstars" (with Shannon Hurley) [Album Mix]: We're going back-to-back, as this is the second heavy-hitter on Disc 1.


It starts off kind of okay, but it's the turn @ 2:15 that brings things full-gear. The part that starts @ 3:15 is the epic part, and the part I like best, making me feel lowercase godlike, especially at full volume. <--- That's three "parts" in one sentence, so it must be good. The only beef I have is that the "Superstars" title is cheesier than the song warrants.

(6) "Insatiable" (with Betsie Larkin) [Album Mix]: Decent effort from Larkin, some distinctive piano notes here and there, but otherwise nothing memorable.

(7) "A Different Shade of Crazy" [We Are All Mix]: I was fooled by the slow, long-ass intro, then around the 0:50 mark, Lange lets loose with abrasive electro beats. This is an instrumental. Overall, a lower to midtempo song with some experimental notes in it.

(8) "Unfamiliar Truth" (with Hysteria!) [Simple Truth Mix]: Vocal track. Again, the vocals are okay, I guess, but they don't do anything for me, and neither does the song. "The unfamiliar truth" gets repeated a few times throughout the track. Songs like this work better in mixes than they do as standalone tracks.

(9) "Our Brief Time in the Sun" [Album Mix]: #8 I had not heard before, and it is, in fact, #9 that sounds familiar to me. I'm not sure where I've heard it, probably on Pandora. Actually, come to think of it, it sounds like the album opener and might just be an extension of that. @ 3:35 it would differ, however, as it incorporates a more beat-driven tempo.

(10) "Violin's Revenge" (with Ilseviolin) [Light Mix]: Song type: instrumental. Nice play on a name, there. Obviously it has some violins, and that's coupled with more aggressive sounds that align better with my tastes. Not bad at all.

(11) "Destination Anywhere" (Piano Mix): Some watery, wind-like sounds at the beginning, as to give off the vibe of being on a journey in life. Techno sounds now @ 1:15. The whole thing is a light back and forth between electro beats, piano sounds and dream-like vibes, although it's too downbeat for me in its feel, and I find it boring.

(12) "Crossroads" (with Stine Grove) [Percussive Mix]: This vocalist sounds similar to Mariah Carey. I flipped through it, though, as the song's tempo is way too slow.

(13) "We Are Lucky People" [Album Mix]: Well, I was bored by #9, which sounded most like the intro, so let's see what's going on with this album mix. I had to flip through this one, too. No movement? Then it's no mas for Aux-In roughly 80% of the time.


Disc 2 tracklist here.

Disc 2 includes different mixes of the same songs, so I'm not going to review it in full because there's so little difference between them. I briefed over the songs, and I think "Crossroads" was the most-improved song.


I had to import this CD, and the only copy I could find was a used one off eBay from the UK. The album artwork includes several photos with scenes of nature, and I'm sure I could draw more conclusions from those themes, but I wasn't compelled enough to spend that much time with the album. I knew about #4 and #5 going in, but #10, "Violin's Revenge," was a surprise. If you're wantin' to get lucky, pick up all three tracks -- or the entire album if you're feelin' spruce.

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*the use of "techno" and "electro" in this review are general uses and have no relation to those two genres or their subgenres.

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