Chicane - Giants

[Mr. Brightside]

Just got the new Chicane album entited Giants, Its not earth shatteringly different from previous albums (Trancey club classics, chill out and pop) but there are some great tracks on it and its well worth checking out.

My favorite on the album at this moment is a track called Were do I start which is classic Chicane.

A soundtrack for the rest of my ever decreasing summer

This is a is a preview of the album



A review from Armada

Some names seem to have been there from the very moment you fell in love with dance music. Chicane is one of them. For nearly 15 years, UK producer Nick Bracegirdle has been part of the scene, hitting high peaks with ‘Offshore’, ‘Saltwater’, ‘Don’t Give Up’, ‘Stoned In Love’ and the more recent ‘Poppiholla’ and ‘Hiding All The Stars’. After three successful artist albums, 2009 saw the release of Chicane’s ‘Best of’ album, a prelude to his new one: ‘Giants’.

When it comes to great heights, Chicane’s been there alright . Working with A-class artists such as Bryan Adams, Tom Jones, Maire Brennan from Clannad and Keane, made his music attract a wide audience. ‘Giants’ displays that diversity, from the ambient opening track ‘Barefoot’ to the housy radio-hit ‘Come Back’, warm progressive ‘Middledistancerunner’ in collaboration with Owl City singer Adam Young and enthralling classic interlude called ‘Titles’. Chicane has crossed all boundaries and shows that those 15 years have only made him more creative.

On ‘Giants’, Chicane returns with a new dose of energy for the crowds, intimate home-listening moments and timeless, gigantic highlights.

1. Barefoot
2. Middledistancerunner
3. Come Back
4. What am I doing here? Prt 1
5. Giants
6. Poppiholla (5am)
7. So far out to sea
8. Where do I start?
9. From where I stand
10. Hiding all the Stars
11. What am I doing here? Prt 2
12. Titles

[Samael]

You said it, classic Chicane.. I sow this some time ago, thought to check it out, but I totally forgot until now.. I can't wait for Armin van Buuren 's Mirage album

[BlueStar]

I'm enjoying the Chicane album, there are some really good tracks like Sean says. I'm liking 'Giants', 'From where I stand', 'Where do I start' and 'Middledistancerunner' especially.

It's almost enough to make me forgive him for raping Sigur Ros's 'Hoppipolla'...! In itself, 'Poppiholla' is a decent track for the genre, but it totally strips the original of its beauty and soul. It would be like Cascada covering 'Gravity of Love'. Or, as one reviewer jokingly stated, like 'smearing faeces on a da vinci original'. LOL, bit drastic, but I still wish SR had never given him permission to 'cover' it. I'm also shocked at 'What am I doing here? Part One' which seems to blatantly plaigarise Imogen Heap's 'Hide & Seek'. But I guess pop tends to recycle and cannibalise itself all the time.

Still, I am enjoying with these exceptions. Chicane won't win awards for innovation or originality, but it's an undemanding, fun album on the whole, with a few standout tracks.

My favourite album of this genre in years still remains BT's 'These Hopeful Machines' - have you guys heard it? It's epic and I still play it regularly!

[Mr. Brightside]

I like Poppiholla its pretty catchy but thats probably because im not that familiar with the original.

Love this video for Come Back



Wonder whatever happened to Paul Young

Heard a few tracks from These Hopeful Machines, I love Always "A million stars" and Ghosts in you, not heard the album as a whole, will have to check it out..

A mixture of the 2

[BlueStar]

Cool! Thanks for the vids Sean! Def have a listen to the complete album of These Hopeful Machines, it's a terrific mix of trance, pop, rock and ambient influences. Even though its 2 discs with an average song length of about 9 minutes, it never drags or seems excessively long. I love it! Other great songs on it include Every Other Way, Forget Me, Suddenly, The Light in Things and Unbreakable.

I guess I wouldn't mind Poppiholla if I didn't love the original so much. I will never forget when I first heard Hoppipolla in 2005, I do believe it's one of the most beautiful, joyous and uplifting songs ever recorded, an absolute masterpiece. Chicane took the basic melody and turned it into a straightforward dance track, which was OK i guess, but it's in a different universe to the original. Still, I kind of wish they'd stop using Hoppipolla on TV so much, if I hear it used on another horrible reality show or trailer I think I'll cry. Sometimes overexposure is not a good thing :P