Solar Fields – Random Friday

I'm quite disappointed with my copy of this record. Not because of the music being bad (it's a great album that I would generally recommend), but because this album as well as the other 2 I got from this label arrived in terrible condition. The vinyl is so noisy that it completely ruins the music, pops and clicks utterly kill ambient music like this. I think it's a disgrace to deliver a product in such a state, I've been trying to clean the records for a week and still can't get rid of all the noise.

This is a consistent experience I've had with all vinyl albums that I bought from this label. It's possible that I could potentially get rid of all the noise with a cleaning machine, but I don't think that the majority of consumers can easily afford something like that. I sure can't, and I think any pressing that can't be cleaned well enough by a regular person to be able to simply listen to it without clicks and pops throughout the entire album, is simply not acceptable. I really think that sidereal have to work on the quality control of their vinyl pressings, and I would NOT recommend anyone buying this unless they have a cleaning machine that can get rid of all the filth on the records.

Another fantastic Solar Fields pressing on Sidereal. I always thought this was one of the better mastered SF albums originally, so it sounds simply divine on vinyl. So tight and balanced, with plenty of low end oomph but also a soft sheen over everything from careful production and mastering. Agree with urqdan, it sounds magical.

That said I do have a couple very minor gripes - Sidereal didn't offer a gatefold jacket or poly-lined inner sleeves like previous SF releases. And the opaque vinyl is nice, but not as visually striking as their recent multi-colored vinyl. None of this takes away from the quality of the music, and the jacket design is beautiful. Just wish they had gone the extra mile like with the other SF albums.

A great album combined with a pressing that sounds phenomenal makes magic.

Solar Fields will be re-issued on CD, and finally available on vinyl!

https://sidereal.bigcartel.com/product/solar-fields-random-friday-2lp-preorder
https://sidereal.bigcartel.com/product/solar-fields-random-friday-digipak-cd-preorder

This album sometimes make me cry, cry for extreme happiness!
In this dark corona age, this album it's a must for elevate your mood

This album is my first with Solar Fields. I am surprised...First of all i was surprised by numbers of comments to Magnus albums here on Discogs. Second one..im surpised by quality of His music and now i can agree with all comments here. This is true musician with talent, great music imagination and wonderful flow....Thanks for work Bro....im sure other albums i will try will be great too. It, great day for me...;-)

I've been listening to this all day on my Sonos as I move about the house and down in the basement workshop; it's on its 6th or 7th cycle. The living room has the full Sonos 5.1 home theater setup with playbar, sub, and two rear satellites. Just standing in the middle of the room and absorbing this is awesome! Absolutely kickin'.

Good Christ this is fucking good. I'm in no condition to write a proper review right now and I also need to listen/dance to this a couple more times. In the meantime, for God's sake, listen and dance your forty-something, old-school ass OFF to this bomb-ass shit. I WILL be back to review this, in depth. But suffice it to say, my ass feels TWENTY-something old right now. Magnus Birgersson, I am in debt to you. Thank you for one of the best nights I've ever had.

Principally, Solar Fields is an ambient producer. His first attempt at beat-based progressive trance was 2007's EarthShine LP; an stunning effort which is classed by many as one of the best '00s trance albums, alongside things like Son Kite's "Colours" or Vibrasphere's "Archipelago". Not being incredibly interested in ambient, I -- and many others -- was therefore salivating when Random Friday, Birgersson's second stab at beats, was announced by Ultimae.

As you'd expect from something released five years later, there are key points of difference when compared to its predecessor. For one thing, Random Friday feels a lot more "new school", for lack of a better term; both compositionally and sound-design-wise. That's a somewhat nebulous term, of course. Let me explain: Birgersson clearly takes a lot of influence from the progressive psy-trance scene. Post 2005 (maybe a little earlier or later), there seemed a real shift in the way melodies were composed in the field. Rather than employing a single synth sound to create a single, coherent, evolving melody, a lot of producers began to use multiple synths or samples for their leads, skipping rapidly between these separate timbres with one-off note stabs to form a kind of ragged, incoherent patchwork. I'm not sure why this happened, but it seems likely that it was either due to a lack of song-writing ability, or else just because so many random sounds are felt to give a more "psychedelic" effect. This technique can be observed in the first few minutes of Random Friday's fourth track, "In Motion", and in some other parts of the album. In contrast, Earthshine was a far less erratic. It took single motifs and absolutely wrang them of all their potential. See "Spectral Nation", for example. As much as I dislike the aforementioned "patchwork" technique, in this instance I'm not pointing it out as a genuine criticism, only a difference. Bigersson is an incredible composer, and even with touches of this more "new school" method, his pieces barely suffer. The latter half of the album feels less afflicted than does the first half.

As mentioned, the other aspect which feels more new school is the sound design. Where Earthshine was laden with dense and powerful bass lines, such as that in "Spectral Nation", this new album's mixing feel a lot more expansive; hollow almost. Track one of Odiseo's 10 Years After demonstrates this newer type of sound adequately. Some -- and it's a small proportion -- of Random Friday's samples and timbres match this newer feel, such as the tinny snares/claps in "Daydreaming". Again, I'm not overly fond of these modern, slightly generic samples, but I'm not seeking to criticise; just draw attention. They don't detract too much.

After a considerable number of listens, I've concluded that Random Friday doesn't measure up to its predecessor. It's very close, but not quite there. However, not every release can be an artist's best, especially when the competition is something like the universally-ired Earthshine. Random Friday is still very much worth your time. It has all the same ingredients: beautiful, unique timbres, euphoric, patience-rewarding progressions, solid percussion and bass lines. In the world of shit that constitutes the current trance scene, it's a shining beacon of hope.

I am just sitting in my chair and listening ... and just stunning ... such a real jewel - when i am honest, i did not expect this deepness ... the tracks floating in real scandinavian high quality production and GROOVING - what should be more as just touching the heart? I some years ago (12) when i was listening the first time to an album called Headcleaner ... it was just BIG ... and now again - wow thank you so much Magnus.
Sorry this is not a real review of each track - i have to listen again and again ... and it is growing and growing