This article may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards. The specific problem is: POV style, long ref links.(March 2019) |
Perfect Stranger | |
---|---|
Origin | Yad Natan, Israel |
Genres | Psychedelic trance, electronica, Techno (music), Progressive Trance |
Years active | 2006–present |
Labels | Iboga Records, Digital Structures (owner) |
Website | perfectlystrange.com |
Perfect Stranger is the stage name of Yuli Fershtat, an Israeli musician, producer and DJ, born in 1970 in Moscow, Russia, moving to Israel at the age of 11. [1]
Fershtat has previously released music under guise of 'BLT'. Perfect Stranger is known for his own distinctive sound, characterised by beats and patiently built compositions. His music often defies genres, [2] bridging between progressive trance and techno [3] with a presence of tribal and psychedelic elements. [4] Fershtat released 8 albums, both as 'BLT' and as Perfect Stranger and a long list of 12”, EPs and compilation tracks and compiled few compilations. [5] He is also the owner of the 'Digital Structures' label, which he bought in 2011, and since then has been releasing music by himself and others on it. [6]
Fershtat was surrounded by music since his birth coming from a family of classical pianists, and studied piano from the age of four. [1] He stated as musical influences psychedelic progressive rock, such as King Crimson, Genesis (band), Jethro Tull (band) dipped in some hard rock, such as Led Zeppelin & Deep Purple and some Blues. [2]
He also mentioned Jean Michel Jarre’s Oxygène as critical to his musical development and interest in electronic music. [2] In 1992/93 he visited India and Goa and discovered Electronic Psychedelic music (which he hated till that time and greatly admired since). [2] Another visit to Goa in 1994/95 solidified his interest in Goa Trance and Psychedelic Trance. During these years, Fershtat did not write music but was traveling the world and playing guitar, jamming with other musicians he met on the road. [7]
Fershtat started producing after his friends bought him a synthesizer for his 27th birthday. [8] Intuitively he was drawn to produce psychedelic trance since he was very much involved with it at the time and felt close to the rhythms and the atmosphere that it produced, and believing that tribal music such as psychedelic trance is essential for people to unite. [9] He chose the name BLT, which stood for a favourite sandwich of his, to show a lack of ego in music, and that the name itself and what it says are not the important thing, as a kind of antithesis to blasting names, which a lot of groups use, especially in the trance scene. [9] The first BLT album Alchemic Anecdote was released on the Tel Aviv-based label 'Krembo Records' in 1999. His 2nd album, Presence was released on 'HOM-Mega Productions' in the following year. [10] BLT 3rd album, God is Love, featured more down-tempo music, with groovy and more complex rhythms, and was released in 2002, also on 'HOM-Mega Productions'. During that time period Fershtat started working with Danni Makov - former drummer of Nikmat HaTraktor, an Israeli rock band, and one of the most important drummers in Israeli Rock. [8] Together the two put on a live show, where the drummer play part of the set, that now felt more alive. Afterwards the duo extended their work and put out a 4th BLT album, Anything U Want on the label Tokyo Dance in 2004.
In 2005 Fershtat decided to bring an end to the BLT project as he no longer citing lack of overseas bookings and his interest in Acupuncture and Chinese medicine as the main reasons. Then Michael Abel-Larsen, one of the owners of Iboga Records, suggested he produce music with slower BPM tempo. [8] He chose the name Perfect Stranger because of a Goa track by that name by Sandman and the Deep Purple song of the same name. [11] The first Perfect Stranger album, Learning = Change was released in the Danish record label Iboga Records, in 2006, and a remixes/collaborations album named Changed was released the year after and featured some of the most important artists in the progressive trance world at the time, [11] including Atmos, Vibrasphere, Ace Ventura and Antix, who remixed some of Perfect Stranger tracks, while he remixed some of theirs. [11] Free Cloud, the third Perfect Stranger's album, and Fershtat`s seventh album altogether, was released late in 2008, and is the album that brought him worldwide attention [12] that crossed genres and scenes and is considered by many to be his best album yet. [13] The inspiration for the album title was based on David Bowie`s song, as Fershtat claimed he " felt like that Wild Eyed Boy from Free Cloud, that David Bowie used to sing about 35 years ago". [14] Free Cloud was characterized by monotone, "technoidic feel", and cross over between genres [15] as Fershtat used the best parts in from the genres that inspired him, mostly techno. [14] [3] [16]
Perfect Stranger’s fourth album, Leap of Faith came out in 2012, also on Iboga Records. The album consists of 3 CDs. The 1st containing new compositions including collaborations with Eat Static, Liquid Soul & Loud; [3] the 2nd consists of new versions and live edits to already released tracks and the 3rd is a recording of a live set at the Indigo Festival, at the Sea of Galilee, Israel, in May 2012. [17] Throughout the years Perfect Stranger has performed live and as a DJ in many leading electronic music festivals worldwide. Thus, Perfect Stranger played Glade Festival UK in 2008 [18] and 2009, [19] Symbiosis Gathering in California at 2009, [20] 2012, [21] 2013. [22] Perfect Stranger played most of Europe`s trance festivals including Boom Festival in Portugal where he played in every edition since 2010, [23] Antaris Project in 2010 [24] and 2012, [25] Ozora Festival in 2012, [3] and many more. Perfect stranger is also very popular in Australia, [26] playing there at the Rainbow Serpent Festival in 2009, [27] 2011 [28] and 2015, [29] as well as in Maitreya Festival in 2010 [30] and 2014, [29] Strawberry Fields Festival 2011 and 2012, Subsonic Festival in 2011 [31] & 2013 [32] and the Eclipse Festival in 2012. [33] He also performed extensively in big festivals in Central and South America including Universo Paralello Festival in Brazil 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2013, [34] [2] as well as in festivals in South Africa, New Zealand, Canada and many more.
Perfect Stranger has released four full-length albums between 2006 and 2012, and twenty one singles and EPs in the same period. [35] His tracks have been released on a number of record labels including Iboga Records, Flow Records, Tribal Vision, Echoes, Digital Structures and more. [36]
Paul Mark Oakenfold, formerly known mononymously as Oakenfold, is an English record producer, remixer and trance DJ. He has provided over 100 remixes for over 100 artists including U2, Moby, Madonna, Britney Spears, Massive Attack, the Cure, New Order, the Rolling Stones, the Stone Roses and Michael Jackson. Oakenfold was voted the No. 1 DJ in the World twice in 1998 and 1999 by DJ Magazine.
Infected Mushroom is an Israeli musical duo formed in Haifa in 1996 by producers Erez Eisen and Amit Duvdevani. They produce and perform psytrance, electronica, dream trance and psychedelic music. They are one of the best-selling groups in Israeli music history in terms of both domestic and international sales.
In'R'Voice began his music career in Moscow, Russia. In the late 1980s, he was a fan of the classic industrial bands like Skinny Puppy, Front 242 and Nitzer Ebb. Driven by the innovative sound of industrial music, Kozlov began to experiment with analogue synthesizers. In 1992, he recorded his first tracks on a Studio “Tandem”, which recorded mainly pop musicians, but had very enthusiastic sound engineers. Together they developed the sound of Kozlov's project Inner Resonance Voice. In 1994, In’R’Voice became hugely popular on Moscow's main radio station Maximum and in nightclubs. A year later he received an award for innovations in music from the Ministry of Culture of Russia.
Martin Freeland is a British psytrance artist, record producer and DJ, who has performed under the pseudonym of Man With No Name since 1990. He is best known for the singles "Teleport" and "Floor-Essence", both of which appeared in the UK Singles Chart.
Deepsky is an electronic music act based in Los Angeles. Originally from Albuquerque, New Mexico, Deepsky was formed in 1995 by J. Scott G. and Jason Blum after the dissolution of their first band Q, active from 1992-1995. Its two founding members met originally at the University of New Mexico. Between 1995 and 1996 they concurrently comprised the Dayspring Collective with Shawn Parker, whom together released a CD on the Fragrant Music label titled Spark in 1997. Giaquinta left the band in November 2006 to focus on solo projects as well as start the group Summer Channel; Blum continues to produce and perform under the Deepsky name.
Interface is an electronic music group based on Long Island, New York. It was founded in 1993 by Eric Eldredge. Its career has been lined with a steady output of songs and dance remixes for other artists and several lineup shifts. Each of its three albums to date display a blend of various styles of electronic music, most notably trance, synthpop, electro-industrial and aggrotech, with a strong sense of melody and songwriting.
John Fleming is an English trance producer and DJ from Worthing, West Sussex. He has had releases on record labels such as Ministry of Sound, Deconstruction Records, Logic Records, and 3 Beat Music. He also owns and runs Joof Recordings. He has performed at many clubs including Cream, Gatecrasher, Ministry of Sound, and Godskitchen.
Ralph Barendse is a Dutch DJ and producer of electronic dance music, mainly trance, performing as Ralphie B and Midway. Barendse has also produced remixes for artists in the scene, among them Armin van Buuren, Tiësto, Solarstone, Dario G, and 4 Strings. Barendse's original releases have also been remixed by other artists, including Paul van Dyk, Ronski Speed, Filterheadz, and D. Ramirez.
Andrei Oliver Braşovean aka ATMA is a Romanian composer, performer and electronic music producer.
Tritonal is an American DJ and music production duo from Austin, Texas consisting of producers and DJs Chad Cisneros and David Reed. They are also known for hosting the Tritonia radio show, broadcasting from Sirius XM BPM channel 51.
Martin Johan Stääf, also known as Liquid Stranger, is a Swedish-born electronic musician, described by Generation Bass as "the epitome of Transnational Dubstep covering everything from Latin, Asian, Eastern European and Jamaican Dancehall dubs." Martin Stääf is known for his experimental approach to composition where he merges genres to create a unique style of music. Martin Woods of Chillbase describes Liquid Stranger's music as a "unique blend of Ambience, Big Band Jazz, Dubstep and Psychedelica drizzled over electronic Dub Reggae grooves." Stääf lives in Edmond, Oklahoma.
FM Radio Gods is the live electronica act of two artists: Andrew Hamilton and Tao-Nhan Nguyen, both from Montreal.
Alex Tronic is Scottish electronic musician, award winning DJ, producer and label owner Paul Croan, who is based in Leith, Edinburgh, Scotland. Croan works from his private recording studio also based in Edinburgh. MusicTech magazine describe the studio as a "Vintage Synth treasure trove. His debut album To Infinity was championed by Radio 1 and the track "Chiller" made iTunes top 20. The track "Smoke a Kipper" made number 17 in the top 100 Scottish songs of 2023 published by the Scottish Herald newspaper.The single "The Strangest Times" was championed by Guy Monnington on Amazing Radio who included the track in his `Against the grain playlist` The video for the track was shortlisted for video of the year by The Weekender magazine.
Astral Projection is an Israeli electronic musical group, producing psychedelic trance and Goa trance music. Its current members are Avi Nissim and Lior Perlmutter. Although the majority of their releases have been done through their own record company, Trust in Trance Records, they have also released records with other labels including Transient. In addition to an extensive discography, the group has an extensive worldwide touring schedule.
Jeff Montalvo, known professionally as Seven Lions, is an American DJ, record producer, instrumentalist and remixer from Santa Barbara, California. Active musically since 2010, his music combines styles as diverse as trance, melodic dubstep, drum and bass, glitch hop, and electro house. He has released eight EPs, multiple singles, and official remixes for record labels such as Casablanca Records, Owsla, Viper Recordings, Anjunabeats, Republic Records and Monstercat.
SynSUN is a Ukrainian psytrance group consisting of Andrey Vakhnenko and Vitaly Samolyga, known as Andi Vax and Willy, respectively. Since their inception in 1998, SynSUN has released 5 albums, 5 EPs, and 30 miscellaneous tracks, including remixes and collaborations with Infected Mushroom, Astral Projection, Skazi, Yahel, Talamasca, Eskimo and Vibe Tribe, among others.
Kenneth James Gibson is a musician, record producer, composer, singer, songwriter and a founding member of Bell Gardens, Furry Things, Eight Frozen Modules, and [a]pendics.shuffle.
Electrowavez is an Arab psychedelic trance group formed in 2008, comprising two members, the brothers Charlie Shaabi and Richard Savo.
The discography of Above & Beyond, a British progressive trance group, consists of five studio albums, three remix albums, two compilation albums, twenty-six mix albums, two extended plays and eighty-five singles.
The following is the discography of DJ Umek, including albums and singles.