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Mind.In.A.Box
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Artist Listing: A - F G - R S - Z
Line up:
Stephan Poiss (Stev): music, programming, vocals, production
Markus Hadwiger: lyrics

"Stev used his knowledge of electronic music to create a thematic project that would destroy all boundaries between the realms of techno-pop, new wave, dance, and trance music. He called this project Mind.In.A.Box. Mind.In.A.Box is a metaphor for everything that prevents our minds from truly being free. His conceptual debut, Lost Alone, is a collection of stories where the common theme is the fundamental aloneness of human beings, which most of us try to overcome with the help of like-minded individuals."
-- metropolis-records

 Mind.In.A.Box Discography - Album / CD Reviews


***½ 2004: Lost Aloneaudio

"Mind In A Box’s debut album 'Lost Alone' is comprised of complex songs about getting outside the rules we set for ourselves. It is presented with flawless production, crafty beats, seductive bass lines and delightful synth lines in the shape of Future Pop, Eurodance, and Trance arrangements. Processed vocals perform lyrics that are succinct, leaving a largely atmospheric place of contemplation for the listening. Images are not spelled out, but rather suggested. Stev, the largely mysterious performer and songwriter of Mind.In.A.Box borrowed skillfully from his experience as a longtime video game music composer. The result yields a tender longing upheld by a beautiful set of trance compositions. Perfect for use as a soundtrack for long driving explorations into the middle of nowhere while you contemplate the self. If his task was to create a conceptual story, he succeeded only marginally. While songs share similar sounds thematically, the unity of lyrics seems rather amorphous at best. Suggested tracks are Light and Dark, Falling, Walking, and Take My Soul. 'Lost Alone' is an excellent debut for an artist with great promise for artistic growth.
-- Wa, authorsden.com

***2005: Dreamweb

Tracklisting: 01. Tape Evidence 02. Certainty 03. Lament for Lost Dreams 04. Machine Run 05. Loyalty 06. Sun and Storm 07. Out of Time 08. Dead End 09. The Dream 10. Reflections 11. Between Worlds 12. Escape
"Mind.In.A.Box is that rare species of band who create music as a catalyst of expression, a storytelling medium, a means of getting the listener to reflect or, put quite simple : who make music for music's sake. The electronic duo belong without a doubt to a category all of their own - having awed listeners with their unique vision of the future with their stunning 2004 debut 'Lost Alone'. For many a light at the end of the tunnel, 'Lost Alone' rose like a phoenix from the ashes of the splintered electro scene (and was justifiably heaped with praise from both press and fans alike,. spending weeks at the top of the DAC charts and winning countless 'album of the month' awards). Returning with their long-awaited sophomore album 'Dream Web' - they deliver an album that places multifaceted electronics, diversity, and harmonized vocals squarely in the foreground. However, behind the fragile mix of techno, electro, and ambient lies a wealth of expressive power and emotion that reveals itself only through careful, multiple listenings, like a fine painting that leaves room for interpretation, divulging its beauty piece by piece. Like its predecessor 'Lost Alone', 'Dream Web' is an exciting, genre-bending journey into other worlds that must be expierienced to be believed."
-- musicnonstop.co.uk

***¼ 2007: Crossroads

Tracklisting: 01.Introspection 02.Amnesia 03.Into the Night 04.Identity 05.Lucid Dreams 1 06.Fear 07.Stalkers 08.What Used to Be 09.The Place 10.Redefined 11.Lucid Dreams 2 12.Crossroads 13.Run for Your Life

"'Crossroads' is once again a hard-to-figure-out journey for the short-haired 4/4-on-the-floor addicts, since it integrates influences taken out of different music styles. This, of course, is the trademark and for sure one winning point for MIAB. Like on both predecessors, 'Crossroads' offers Electro, Techno-impressions, mixes sonic synth-layers with at times effected, at times high-pitched, and at times natural sounding male vocals. Their style can be surely called authentic, and even if this duo has never entered any stages to perform their stuff live, their encouragement is still unbroken. Tracks Amnesia, Identity or Stalkers can be compared with the last years’ SI-CD release 'Certainty' with danceable, nearly Futurepop-inspired textures, but with special and at times nonlinear percussion elements. (...) MIND.IN.A.BOX somehow personify the ideal of the German Dependent-label – not always on the hunt to sign and to release the easiest and trendiest kind of music, but to have some open ears and minds for the real innovation, even if this ends in a loss."
-- Marc Tater, Chain D.L.K.com, 9/07

***½ 2010: R.E.T.R.O

Tracklisting: 01 - Last Ninja 3 02 - Lightforce 03 - The Last V8 04 - Supremacy 05 - Shades 06 - 8 Bits 07 - Mindkiller 08 - The Last Ninja 09 - I Love 64 10 - We Cannot Go Back To The Past 11 - Whatever Mattered

"[Mind.in.a.box] have created an excellent album and quite possibly even built an entirely new sound I've never heard from them before. R.E.T.R.O explodes with it's epic openner, The Last Ninja III, and it really never lets you go until the subtle and calmingly slow closer, Whatever Mattered. Experiencing the album is something you need to do with a good set of headphones, as like any of their other albums. The production and attention to detail here is astounding. One thing worth mentioning and it shows is, they have brought back old audio systems from the past and integrated them with todays technology. Never in my life have I heard music like this. It's perfectly blended nostalgia, making you think back to the commodore 64 days, the cloak and dagger days, sweeping synths and keyboards making you feel like you are actually going back into the past.. Now, take that and infuse what they've been doing the past decade and you have a completely new sound that is commanding and epic, yet somehow melancholy and heart wrenching. A lot of the tracks here are completely instrumental, and they've turned out to be my favorite tracks."
-- Dal, amazon customer review, 3/10

2012: Revelations

Tracklisting: 01. Remember 02. Cause and Effect 03. Transition 04. Doubt 05. Control 06. Fragments 07. Unknown 08. Not Afraid 09. Second Reality 10. Sanctuary

Release date: January 24, 2012
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Recommended Links:

Mind.In.a.Box: official site
 
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Diary of Dreams | Seabound | Pride and Fall | Rammstein | Neuroticfish | VNV Nation | Syntax

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