Future Memories
ATB
This man made such a huge name for himself with his very first single in 1999, I’m always amazed that he’s able to continually create and innovate with material that rivals all that came before. Most remember “9 PM (Till I Come)” as “that wobbly guitar song with the chick whispering, ‘Till I Come” that was played in every gay club, straight club, frat party and radio station mix show well into the early 2000s. And while nothing he’s done since that has had the same American pop crossover behind it, ATB remains in a category alongside artists like Benny Benassi, Cascada and Darude to anyone who appreciates pop-accessible dance music. “Future Memories” continues with the format he established with 2000’s “Two Worlds”: a double disc release composed of a dance disc and a chill disc. ATB branches out with his vocalist usage on the album, deviating from the affair he’s had for years with Wild Strawberries singer Roberta Carter Harrison by also employing trance darlings like Betsie Larkin, Tiff Lacey, Aruna, Jan Löchel and Kaskade’s discovery Haley. The majority of the dance disc is vocal while the chill disc is entirely instrumental save for a downtempo cover of Everything But The Girl’s “Missing, which could have been disastrous without the beauty of Tiff’s vocals. That’s kind of a song you can’t cover without raising some heckles, but he gets away with it. Other gems on the first disc are “What About Us,” “Swept Away,” “A New Day,” “Gravity,” and “My Saving Grace.”
