Customer Reviews

Beautiful Things

5 star:		(28)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

All I can say is Wow!! These guys are blowing up in the European underground scene, its about time they release an album here in the states (since all the members are from SF) This single is quintessential Andain.. Josh Gabriel's masterful production weaving in Penner's use of instruments and tempering his raw musical genius.. And then Mavie's voice!! It's bewitching. I can't get the song out of my head, and that's a good thing. I only hope we get to buy more soon (Everything I found online seems to be taped from shows with shoddy equipment)

I think the lyrics are about a girl commiting suicide, and realizing after that she made a mistake -- that there were still "beautiful things" for her to see in life, had she not given up -- the lyrics "now what do I do -- can I change my mind" seem to reinforce this. It's just a thought, either way, it fits. Dreamy, angelic vocals, and if you like 4 strings, and melodic trance with female vocals that are a little haunting, you'll like this quite a bit. Beautiful, and it's a shame that this is the exact polar opposite of what "american" radio and MTV is about now...

Andain's smash hit Beautiful Things has firmly established itself as one of THE trance anthems of the past 6 years. Tiesto and many other DJ's picked this track up very quickly, especially after her previous song, Summer Calling, was so good. There was a recent new track on Gabriel & Dresden's Bloom CD called Here is the House, but it couldn't possibly come close to this one. Her only other track I know of is the pop/chill tune called You Once Told Me, found on Chillout '05, which is actually very good as well. Aside from her awful lip-syncing performance on Tiesto's In Concert DVD, Andain's voice has been perfect for trance.

Unfortunately, one of the best versions of this song is not on here: Markus Schulz's Shadows of Coldharbour remix. It's on his Coldharbour Sessions CD. On this CD single, the best version is clearly the Photon Project Remix, with it's long, driving, and ever changing pace and beats. The 1st track, radio edit, is the slower, original version of the song, which is divine in it's own right. Some of the other remixes on here are not up to snuff, but with the normal version, and the Photon Project Remix, you can't ever go wrong.

Beautiful song written and sung beautifully by Mavie Marcos, with lyrics that makes sense and stirs wonder. Then pulled off nicely by Josh Gabriel and David Penner. A trio that makes amazing tracks, that make up the wonderful group simply known as Andain. "Beautiful Things" is one of the VERY few electronic songs that have meaningful lyrics. And, a song that talks about something other than LOVE.

"Can I change my mind / did I think things through / It was once my life - / it was my life at one time"... "I forgot that I might see / So many beautiful things / I forgot that I might need / to find out what life could bring".

Gabriel & Dresden's remix of "Beautiful Things" is awesome. A great progressive track (G&D style), focusing on the vocals, and then building up with beautiful guitar melody, into strong string synth. A beautiful track that envisions the true meaning of the song.

The Photon Project Radio Mix is the shorter version of G&D's version (no clue why they call it the Photon Radio Mix, when it's obviously supposed to be G&D Radio Edit), just without the synth melody. It's probably just a mis-editing.

Photon Project's mixes on this single comprise of their remix and the dub, the dub which only uses one line of the acapella ("beautiful things..."). A great trance melody and song, but do not go well at all with the vocals.

Cor Fijneman is another trance remix with a somewhat interesting feel to it, but again, vocals do not go well at all. Fast beats with a lot of sounds do not go well with the chilled sounds of the vocals.

Josh Gabriel's remix is pulsating with beats and bass, progressive dance/funk... a great Gabriel track. But vocals for this track were just horrible...

Good songs, good re-mixes that didn't go too well with the vocals. Vocals are amazing but tricky to match with. Only Gabriel & Dresden's Unplugged Mix seemed to fit the vocals.

The vocals are beautiful in this song, but they are extremely difficult to match a trance beat to.

Still a worthwhile maxi-single worth getting. After all, you can never know for sure until you hear it for yourself. ;)

...combination of wonderful uplifting beats (check the Photon Project Remix, it is simply perfect) and dark, hauntingly beautiful lyrics. One of my favorite trance tunes of the year. I think I never will get tired of this song. It's definitely a must-have if you're into melodic, vocal trance, or just trance, anyway.

This is absolutely gorgeous and utterly enthralling from word one. It's one of those things you just come across by accident and are grateful that you did. Not only does "Beautiful Things" have an actual melody rather than a barrage of synthetic beats, it also boasts lyrics that are thought-provoking and artful. Refreshingly, the song seems to actually be about individuality and alienation instead of the usual bathetic warblings about love and empty joy that this type of music usually trades in. Perhaps best of all, we're blessed with a vocalist who's so compelling and sincere that you'll feel like she's singing you your own personal lullaby

Andain's Beautiful Things is one of those obscure tracks that you just happen to stumble upon if you're lucky one day.

For all who love this single, check out DJ Tiesto's version of it on Nyarna. That was the first version of the song I ever heard, and to this day it is still the most beautiful.

If you buy one CD this year, buy this one. This is the standard against which all dance singles will be judged... at least, it will be until Andain releases more. I can't wait.

This housecat has come full circle back to trance, thanks to Andain.

I got this album because it was recommended to me by Amazon.com's computerized recommendations system. Being adventurous, I bought it on a whim. I was very pleasantly surprised! Unlike many other popular trance anthems with female vocals, this one is not at all cheesy or monotonous. All of the tracks feature high-quality production and skillful mixing: no amateurish boom-tss filler anywhere on this single. Mavie Marcos has a gorgeously supple voice (reminds me of Kirsty Hawkshaw) and nice pronunciation (I know that it's not politically correct to say this, but it bugs me when the vocalist sounds like a chavette who has gone through accent-reduction training). I highly recommend this CD to anyone who has good taste! Even IDM snobs will appreciate the intricate layering of sound in these tracks.

I first heard this spun downstairs at Fula, in Tokyo. It grabbed me the moment it came on. This is a real gem of a trance tune.