Airwave - Venus of My Dreams [1998]

Artist(s)
Airwave
Release title
Venus of My Dreams
Label name
Bonzai Trance Progressive
Release year
1998

Archon

Gagi
TranceFix Crew
Jun 27, 2020
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More and more I've been loving this as much as I love Ladyblue. Incredible track.
 

Electronlyman

Senior Member
Jul 14, 2020
470 Posts
282 Thanked
I most enjoy the Michael Dow remix. Wouldn't happen without the original, delightful!
 

Narel

Member
Aug 4, 2020
185 Posts
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Tasmania
Website
m.facebook.com
I prefer the Narel Remake. A bit more modern.
I prefer the original too LOOOL! My remake/remix was a bit of a mess around that I only finished so Facade could use in a set some years ago as he really liked it. Then I binned that version and forgot about it. When the Airwave 20th Anniversary releases came up and Laurent asked me to choose a classic to remix, I did 'People Just Don't Care' but sent Bonzai the VoMd remix/remake too, fully expecting them to turn it down but they accepted it. And here we are.
 

Archon

Gagi
TranceFix Crew
Jun 27, 2020
3,913 Posts
2,809 Thanked
The more I listen to it, the more it becomes my absolute favourite Laurent Veronnez production.

It just seems so, so simple, the melodies especially. When deconstructed to its core components, it just shouldn't work! Harmonically, it consists of mostly riffs, without much progression. The arpeggiated piano you could call a melody; the plucks have too simple a progression. Contrasted with that simplicity, the beautiful, beautiful pads in the background provide the only proper melody, and add the dreaminess and warmth to the entire track...

But there's the sound design, which gives it that depth, that mood, and makes the entire thing one of the most beautiful trance tracks ever. The arrangement is just spot on. Just calms down at a perfect time, in a perfect way, builds up when it should, how it should... Lulls you to sleep, then plays with your heart strings.

FX? Doesn't need much. Those subtle mid-high-range filter sweeps add the sense of subtle, slow movement and a spacey undertone. Drums? As simple as possible, yet everything sounds very cohesive. Bassline? Just one. And it almost seems like a crossover between a bass, melodic sound and a percussion. Full of colour.

It just fits the title perfectly. Dreams and love.

And the more I think about it, Ladyblue is the direct follow-up to this one. Simple complexity, with a focus on sound design, beautiful pads in the background, and a seemingly complex arpeggiated melody. It's a bit less chaotic element-wise, and more focused, which is just a byproduct of its time. Maybe why I prefer Venus Of My Dreams is because it seems like it wasn't as planned, sort of spontaneous, but from the heart just as much, if not more. Venus Of My Dreams feels like Laurent expressed his raw emotions, whereas with Ladyblue it almost seems like he processed them before, if that makes sense (and if it's actually the case).
 

Propeller

Senior Member
Jul 20, 2020
686 Posts
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UK
Early Airwave was hot, from 98 - 99. Venus, I want to believe, Division Bell. All had a nice proggy feel and different from the sound at the time. Only criticism is that it tended to be slightly repetitive in that he used a similar formula in a lot of the tracks.
 
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dmgtz96

Elite Member
Jul 13, 2020
2,640 Posts
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Lol that bassline/synth starting at 2:49 is very '90s
The shift from melodies to tech at 5:30 is precisely what you would see in later Airwave productions, especially in Planisphere. It truly foreshadows his future style.
 
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Progrez

Elite Member
Jun 17, 2022
1,698 Posts
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Gorgeous track. I want to know how to recreate those pads and those hi hats sound