P.O.B. - Cloud [2013]

Artist(s)
POB
Release title
Cloud
Label name
Platipus
Release year
2013

dmgtz96

Elite Member
Jul 13, 2020
2,640 Posts
1,499 Thanked
From the video description:
'Cloud' is the first release by Paul Brogden's (one half of Union Jack) solo project POB in almost a decade. Crisp beats on the original underpin a bed of spangly arpeggios, bouncy waveforms, and interspersed 'Feeling' vocals by the man himself. Airwave widens the projectile with power-drums, driving the main riff to new plateaus. Terra Ferma delivers a quirky 3 time colmulonimbus experience that requires extreme volume levels to fully appreciate.

My explanation?
Cloud is one of the reasons I'm glad this "modern trance" section exists. It's such a fine, clean trance track and my favorite from 2013, but it's criminally underrated. The official Platipus upload of the original mix only has 2.8k views.
Ploud starts off with a mysterious atmosphere that doesn't really tell where the track will go. 15 seconds in you start hearing this tribal-like pattern, and 30 seconds in you get snippets of the bass. The track keeps making increments like that in ~15 second intervals, adding new elements relatively quickly.
Cloud is largely rhythm and ambiance-driven, and melody takes the back seat up until the breakdown. Even then, this track isn't trying to make you remember a catchy tune or have you jump in the air on the bass drop. It is proper, Platipus-styled trance devoid of elements common in the genre, and in 2013 that's a huge accomplishment. The strangest part? It still pulls off dark melancholy for a full minute as its main climax.
The closest ambiance I can think of is progressive psytrance, but Cloud ultimately feels more like an evolved version of the early '90s Platipus sound.

Original mix:

Airwave remix:
 

Rok

Member
Jul 13, 2020
160 Posts
97 Thanked
Slovenia
Oh yeah, the original mix is one of the more memorable tracks in the last 10 years for me as well.

Airwave remix was pretty good as well!
 
V

Vibrations808

Guest
The original is as you said above, underrated and melancholy. Has POB returned since?