X-port

2015 release from the British ambient dance band led by former Gong members Steve Hillage and Miquette Giraudy. X-Port is the perfect blend of System 7's live dance floor energy with classy arrangements and Steve's unique guitar style. The album references many points of the musical compass visited by Steve and Miquette on the journey so far. New work with the Orb's Alex Paterson naturally conjour up thoughts of the very first System 7 album, but there are also Rovo reverberations and much more. Their collaboration with Alex Paterson (The Orb) on 'The Queen' is an spacey alien Detroit inspired instrumental and dubbed-out ambient techno on 'Angelico Presto'. James Monro returns S7 to edgy terrain on 'Infinity Boulevard' alongside the crispy percussive tech funk of 'Chic Psychedelic (X-Port Version)'. Flanked by the potent and raw 'The Colour of Love (X-Port version)', a throbbing 7 minute epic, and the techno tour de force 'Love for the Phoenix (X-Port Version)' (loosely based on the classic System 7 track 'Habibi' from the first System 7 album) which is their collaboration with Rovo, fusing chants, live violin and guitar over thumping beats. '5 Beat' picks up the pace with it's charged techno beats, metallic groove and early house feeling aided by a bouncy tech bassline, segued guitar 'n' snarly synth lines. 'Stovepipe' stands out for it's relentless unraveling beats epic that ignite and reconnects in hypnotic rhythm. 'Opal Flash', which includes a blistering Steve guitar solo, and System 7's remix of Rovo's 'Batis' showcase the side of System 7 that finds big success at major trance festivals such as Ozora and Boom.