As a fan of Anders Enger Jensen’s other releases I’ve been looking forward to Retro Grooves 3 for quite some time now. What I was not expecting at all was for him to release this on MiniDisc! When he emailed me to let me know it was coming out on this format I just had to get it, as well as the cassette version!
Both versions are really professionally presented with full colour inlays that unfold to reveal a lot of interesting information about each track. This is something you just don’t get with digital music. I loved being able to listen to each track for the first time whilst browsing Anders’ notes about what inspired him or the processes involved in creating a particular track.
He’s certainly pulled out all the stops for the MiniDisc release, the artwork on the disc has been printed directly onto the case itself – no cheap stick-on labels here. This is certainly the only MiniDisc in my collection that has been printed this way and it looks amazing! The cassette release still looks good too, coming in a transparent green case with the album details printed on it in contrasting white.
A lossless digital download of the whole album is included with both the Cassette and MiniDisc formats. Additionally the digital download includes an extra 16 bonus tracks not included on either the tape or disc releases. Alternatively, if you don’t mind missing out on the physical formats completely you can opt to just buy the album digitally if you prefer.
The entire Retro Grooves cassette collection to date…
Verdict
Regardless of which format you choose, if you enjoyed either of his previous Retro Groove albums, or even Troubled Hearts then I pretty much guarantee that you will also enjoy this. Anders’ signature style of upbeat ‘cheerful’ sounding synth music mixed with occasional samples is present and correct. My personal standout favourite track has to be ‘FM Love’ closely followed by ‘Isabella’s Dream’ which features some lovely harmonised female vocal samples.
MiniDisc version includes full track listings
There’s a couple of tracks with backing singers this time around that you may or may not enjoy depending on your taste. ‘Escape Your Fear’ sounds like it could have come straight from the Troubled Hearts album and I really enjoyed it. The other, entitled ‘Let’s Fly’, I didn’t like so much as the vocals are very processed and it just didn’t really click for me. It wasn’t bad enough that I’d want to skip it, but it’s definitely not something I’d want on repeat.
Anyway if you would like to get hold of a copy for yourself than head on over to EOX Studios website.