The long awaited return of Tripswitch sees this veteran of the chillout scene evolve into a producer of the finest deeply melodic, progressive house music. Nick Brennan has been focusing on exploring and developing a more dancefloor-orientated ethos recently, and his new “Vagabond” album project (out now on Iboga Records) is the culmination of his experiments in steadily upping the tempo of his renowned live performances. Having fulfilled this fresh challenge and taken a bold creative new direction after 10 years of establishing himself as one of the world’s premium chillout producers, we thought this was the perfect opportunity to find out about some of Tripswitch’s favourite tracks…
1. This Mortal Coil “Song To The Siren”
This one will always be in my Top 5 list. I was a proper indie kid back in the 80’s before I discovered DiY parties and my life was changed forever, and 4AD’s music was the soundtrack to my teens. This was as good as it got, one of those rare cover versions that are in a totally different league to the original.
2. William Orbit “Water From A Vine Leaf”
Possibly one of the most influential tracks in my musical development, certainly on the chillout side… I was totally obsessed with it for a while. The Spooky Remix destroyed the dancefloor, but this was the track I played back at mine each week after a big one. That Bass Station acid lead is a stroke of genius!
3. Dr Atomic “Schudelfloss”
Another Guerilla Records 12”, I’ve still got 3 or 4 copies … for me this is the epitome of the classic progressive house of the early 90’s. I’ll never get tired of listening to it, and I still drop it into my sets from time to time.
4. Bicep “Celeste”
This is so damn deep and beautiful, it stopped me in my tracks the first time I heard it – totally unique, hypnotic, unclassifiable and damn fine. Big respect!
5. Jam & Spoon “Stella”
Another 90’s classic (I know… I’m really showing my age here!). Understated structurally but it has everything it needs – that gated, airy lead with the super long filter sweeps is just awesome and a lot of what came after owes it some props. I’ve actually got a collaboration planned with Jam El Mar for later in the year, that’s gonna be quite an honour for me.
6. Twisted Air feat. Caroline Thorpe “Feels Like Forever”
This one is such a great comedown track, and the best track on GU’s “Electric Calm”, series in my opinion. Caroline Thorpe’s voice is so full of beauty and vulnerability, almost broken but so pure … I tried to track her down once to get her voice on one of my records but it seems like she only ever recorded 2 tracks. Waste of a talent if you ask me!
7. A Man Called Adam “Easter Song”
I was in the Maldives a couple of months ago … they only had 2 CDs in the hotel restaurant on constant rotation, and one of them was a Café Del Mar “Best of…” compilation, which included this track. Took me right back … by the end of the holiday we were totally sick of every track except this one, which says it all really…
8. Sasha “Wavy Gravy”
I’d always been a big Sasha fan since Renaissance days, but “Airdrawndagger” was next level. The whole progressive breaks thing was still quite strong at the time, and that album showed us all how it should be done. This track was at the gentler end, but it’s a masterpiece and the perfect example of the powerhouse production combo of Sasha and Charlie May.
![Sasha - Wavy Gravy [HD]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/ZI_zIM9mxYI/0.jpg)
9. Stephan Bodzin “Wir”
Bodzin has absolutely killed it with his latest album “Powers Of Ten”, it’s literally the best collection of tracks I’ve heard in years. This is the perfect ending to the album (and a long night).
10. Boards Of Canada “Dayvan Cowboy”
Boards Of Canada had a lot of fine moments, but this is their finest, for me. A stellar track with a stellar video. Watch and listen in full and enjoy!
Tripswitch ‘Vagabond’ LP is out now on Iboga Records (Denmark) and you can listen to the previews here: https://soundcloud.com/tripswitch/sets/tripswitch-vagabond-previews-iboga-records
Having locked himself in his studio for many months to develop this exciting new sound into something cohesive and uniquely ‘Tripswitch’, the resulting recordings proved irresistible for Denmark’s Iboga Records, a label with an exemplary record of breaking down barriers and blurring the boundaries between the progressive trance and house scenes.
“Vagabond” is an elegant and refined collection of truly progressive house music, impeccably produced and full of the musicality and emotion that has cemented Tripswitch’s reputation and high regard within the chillout scene throughout 15 years of releases. Previous highlights have included 2 critically acclaimed albums (‘Circuit Breaker’ and ‘Geometry’) and numerous singles, EPs and inclusions on compilations from the likes of Jose Padilla (Café del Mar), Claude Challe (Buddha Bar), Nick Warren (GU, Renaissance, Balance), and Gaudi (Iboga Records), among many others. Now, in 2016, with “Vagabond”, Nick has hit upon a magic musical formula that perfectly reflects his unique chillout sensibilities and also allows him to create euphoric dancefloor moments of the highest order.
From the incredibly atmospheric opening moments of the album’s first track, ‘The Way Home’, you know this is a release that is going to pick you up and take you places. It’s an album of big moments, laden with dancefloor bombs like ‘Glass Heart’, ‘Vagaries’, ‘Big Time Line’, ‘The Left Bank’, and the aforementioned ‘The Way Home’. There’s a creative nod to progressive trance through ‘Payola’ and ‘Hulahoop’, and calmer (but no less magical) moments in ‘Divine Falsehoods’ and ‘Zoetrope’. ‘Vagabond’ is a classy collection that is sure to please both fans of Nick’s earlier work and those who are switched on to deep, melody rich, highly creative, progressive house music.
With unique and beautiful artwork by British artist Jeremy Syros Troughton, the album will be released in a variety of stylish formats – double gatefold 12” vinyl, CD digipack, and digital – along with a number of exclusive offerings via the album’s Pledgemusic campaign (full details here: http://www.pledgemusic.com/projects/tripswitch-vagabond/). Already in the pipeline, is a
‘Vagabond’ remixes project that will follow later in the year with re-rubs from Nick Warren, Be Svendsen, Emok & Vice, Ticon, Geist, Thankyou City, GMJ and more. With talent and releases like this, 2016 is already shaping up to be an amazing year for electronic music!
Further Info:
https://www.facebook.com/nicktripswitch
Tweets by nicktripswitch
Iboga Records:
https://www.facebook.com/ibogarecords
http://www.iboga.dk
‘Vagabond LP’ Pledge Campaign:
http://www.pledgemusic.com/projects/tripswitch-vagabond/
