Matti Laamanen - Live / Obsession

The long-time most wanted release of mine, ‘Live’ is the definitive Matti Laamanen release from a period when the talented Finn predominantly applied his talents towards orthodox trance productions as opposed to his more recent ‘progressive’ efforts under the new ‘Wednesday Rolls’ alias and the more familiar ‘Sundawner’ one.

The ‘Dusk To Dawn Remix’ represents Laamanen at the top of his game; steadily building on the airy intro section, Laamanen infuses his trademark dreamy swathes of synths with a fizzing, darting melody and some crunchier sound elements, slotting them effortlessly into an orthodox trance framework. Furthermore, the track is perfectly paced, moving along briskly but not so rapidly so as to dilute the sparse atmospheres and melodies with a denser rhythm section as one sees so often with some of today’s more ‘beefed-up’ trance releases. Winding down in a smoky haze of jagged, tech-influenced synths, one really does get the feeling that they have listened to something of epic proportions as this mix draws to a close. Indeed, Laamanen’s intricately woven mixture of sounds, effortlessly laid out over close to ten minutes, are accentuated by tight production standards that keep the track sounding fresh and undated to this day. Laamanen may not be prolific by contemporary standards, but ‘Live’ single-handedly justifies his outlook with regards to the frequency of his releases. Essential listening throughout.