Sundaze 1307

Hello, are you as bored with winter as i am? Watching those Brazilian Samba Schools parade by felt like why the hell am i not living there ? Wonderful country. So winter continuous here with unfortunately little sun.

Founder of Ultimae, composer, sound designer / audio mastering, Vincent Villuis aka AES Dana is also DJ for 20 years now.
 His marked liking for ambient music led him to mix in chill out all around the world (Ozora Festival, Glastonbury, Sonica, Fairy Tales, Synergy Project, Labyrinth, Boom Festival, Zoom, USA tour, No Man's Land, Cosmo Festival, Artmospheric Festival...)  Influenced by 70's floating music as well as deep Electronica & Trance, he offers two kind of dj sets: hypnotic and cinematic Ambient Music or Progressive Psy Techno. He always constructs his sets as stories, the chapters are opened and closed one by one. ..N'joy..

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AES Dana aka Vincent Villuis, composer and sound designer, Dj and co-owner of Ultimae records. Electronic activist since teenagehood, he was also one of the founding members of Asura. Bass player and singer in several coldwave and industrial bands, he then moved on to composing with machines. Specialised in sampling and layering of acoustic sounds digitally transmuted, Vincent Villuis creates a music which offers multiple listening possibilities. AES Dana brings a fusion between the British Progressive feel and the traditional American Space Music; with sounds anchored in the psychedelic realm freely flowing into a morning downtempo trance, IDM or smashed rhythms.

So far he has produced 5 solo albums, participated to about 3 dozen compilations and collaborated on three albums with Swedish artist Magnus Birgersson under moniker H.UV.A.Network.  After leaving Asura in 2001 Vincent released his debut Aes Dana album,Season 5 (02), followed by Aftermath (03) and Memory Shell (04) there was a twelve inch Manifold in 2007. He's been busy expanding his horizons and he's been rather busy these last years. He is the artistic director of Fahrenheit Project serie (Ultimae) In 2009, Vincent Villuis composed soundtracks for Science Fiction movie "The Passport" (Amund Lie) and "Atrophy Bank" (Sam Asaert) which should come out late 2009.

In June 2009 Aes Dana released Leylines which received many excellent feedbacks from the electronic scene. The album was ranked top 10 sales electronic music on Itunes USA and Top 5 on emusic. In 2009, Vincent Villuis becomes sponsored artist by TC Electronic. Vincent Villuis has been Official Resident for the Dominicains of Haute Alsace for 2009-2011 and currently works on compositions for a multi-diffusion installation. In 2011, he released Perimeters, rated as one of the best electronic music album of the year on various medias. Meanwhile his latest album, Pollen is out.

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Downtempo 'morning' trance with ambient passages and smooth textures among the beats. Packed with interesting ephemera such as ethnic hits, whales, whispering voices and electronic flutterings - Season 5 is at its best when straying farthest from its trance roots. Warbling analog cycles and bubbling sequences weave in and out among programmed grooves that are alternately as light as a feather and then throbbing with dance floor intensity.

Season 5, we are told is the "in-between season, the one which does not exist but can at times be perceived. It could be the Indian summer or the beginning of Spring, something contrasted and filled with unusual lights." Aes Dana evokes this 'season' with a fluid montage of waves slightly tribal beats and breezy atmospheres. Starting gently, this album grows slowly into a montage of mild pumping basses and downtempo sequences strung with samples and colourful seams until once again the tide ebbs away and the beats subside into a meandering ambience.

Aes Dana - Season 5 (flac  368mb)

01 Natti Natti 7:01
02 Peripherics 7:15
03 Season 5 8:46
04 Undertow 6:54
05 Gatewick (Vinyl Airport Delay) 7:37
06 Dew (Herbal Version) 6:18
07 Chrysalis 6:48
08 Onset Data (Ethereal Version) 7:23
09 Forest Fish 5:15
10 Suspended Grounds 5:37

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The expansive opening of the CD Aftermath - Archives of Peace (42'09") by AES Dana (aka Vincent Villuis) enshrouds the listener in a primordial atmosphere. With the air resonating from sustained synthetic choir, night sounds and the cloudlike drifting tones of native flute, the aural drama sets us up for the ensuing round of head bobbing and swaying as we happily keep in time with the distended and disconnected throbs of rhythm. And so goes this album, rising strongly and falling away easily - in a new tradition of tension and release. Throughout Aftermath, intelligent body beats yield to shifting synthscapes as commanding bass pulses ride beneath arpeggiated triads that twinkle on-and-off, in-and-out, like star's in the night sky and ultimately cascade back down to concentrated moments of sonic density where tonality speaks to a deeper intentionality. Loaded with arcane symbolism, intricate aural tricks and dense layers of meaning, Aftermath manages to retain a harmonic warmth and rhythmic sensibility. Unapologetically optimistic in parts, this album also leads the listener into more meditative and darker spaces as well - exploring the philosphical interplay between reality and artifice.

Aes Dana - Aftermath (flac 206mb)

1 Aftermath # 01 7:53
2 Aftermath # 02 6:32
3 Aftermath # 03 8:01
4 Aftermath # 04 4:04
5 Aftermath # 05 5:27
6 Aftermath # 06 6:12
7 Aftermath # 07 3:55

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Passionate, dreamy, ultra-modern, atmospheric downtempo. Memory Shell has a fragile beauty that is unmatched in this genre - delicate, relaxing ambience threaded through with organic warmth. Whispering voices tell enigmatic stories, heartbeats, shells, the sounds of the sea swirl like scented mists in the air, whilst gentle electronic structures breathe in and out alongside evolving beats and warbling synths. There is a cinematic space created across this album, unfolding imaginary landscapes that feel at the same time as intimate as your own body sounds yet hauntingly desolate and unfamiliar.

Light, breezy and ephemeral yet rooted and solid, Memory Shell has all the melancholy, wistfulness of a deserted beach. Undulating soundscapes and flickering, skittering beats are adorned with hanging shells, electronic hisses, radio interference and lonely voices. There are plenty of beatless interludes and chilled airy grooves among passages where pulsing basses and bright beats pump with occasional tribal hits and sampled noise.

This album was a year in the making – and it shows! Or sounds rather: Everything just oozes quality – from the rich, extremely well-polished production to the beautiful packaging and the very impressive booklet… Every track has its own page with credits and stunning, art-photo's… If you’re looking for some of the finest, most well-produced and soothing ambient and subtle downbeat morning trance – look no further… This is an ambient/downbeat journey, that will stick …

Aes Dana - Memory Shell (flac 384mb)

01 Chernozem  (Vc Mahiane) 3:24
02 Iris Rotation (Vc Mahiane) 6:20
03 Dusts 7:15
04 Opalin 7:12
05 Memory Shell (Vc Mahiane) (Lost Radio E-dit) 8:50
06 Haze 7:42
07 Shouting Valley 4:52
08 Cities Update 5:53
09 Sub Morphing 5:50
10 Grounds Around 4:10
11 Aural Planet - Exposure (Aes Dana Rmx) 6:28
12 Chernozem (Closing) 3:08

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