With seven years of producing and nine years of dj-ing under his belt, Vartan Krikorian recently unleashed a scrap book of sound waves that encompasses three years of musical mayhem. In his "Select Works", Vartan explores emotionally-charged electronic landscapes through aquatic effects and hard hitting beats. "Trippy Snow", the CD’s first track, gently eases into a very ambient beat, accentuated by the soft use of chimes, creating a soft and airy atmosphere. The beat picks up from there, reverberating as if traveling through a never-ending tunnel, which spits the listener right into a catchy hip-hop beat. And this is just the beginning. Each track has its own original feel, as if morphing from one plain of space to another. There is a heavy aquatic theme throughout the CD, which is especially noticeable in "Water Walker" and "In the Dark". But these slower, more ambient tracks are accentuated by straight-up hard-house and penetrating beats, like tracks "Move Over" and, whereas "F.U. New England" has a more robotic, calculated sound. "How the Morning Is", which seems to guide you through the fuzzy and groggy morning hours, illustrating a sense of bored human repetition, which is aptly followed by "Warm Winter", creating a sense of comfort and warmth; the soundtrack of someone having an epiphany, like Kevin Spacey in American Beauty. This CD travels through various emotional planes with the mere use of knobs and buttons, offering up a little something for everyone. This CD makes me want to listen to techno again.
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