Label: unsigned

Producer: Mike De Filette

Release Date: 2006

One of the things Mike De Filette (Mike D) is very good at, is knowing how and when to approach a musical project with absolute determination that is fed as strongly by his inspirations as much as it is by his very widely appreciated imagination. The result of this creative phenomenon manifests itself in albums such as 'Insight': the third in a trilogy of sensual delight that also includes 'Through my eyes' and 'Closer to the Heart'.

So to the review, the second in our 'Mike D Series' and one which we eagerly scheduled to follow a week after our soul embracing 'Through my eyes' experience.

The album begins with the title track - Insight - beautiful, intimate, sky-blueing sweeps and pads woven intricately across mesmerising piano work that calls to the percussions and rhythms located at the other half of the sky. It's an engaging piece; tantalizingly vivid and quite awe inspiring in it's delicacy. Mike has chosen a perfectly ambient instrumental to grace the air molecules with.. and folks... those air molecules have no other purpose in Mike's presence but to dance and metamorphose into golden specs of light.

So Long - sequenced Tangerine Dream style rhythms and Jarre-like breath-like sweeps are the order of the day. Mike's keyboard work is utterly enchanting and he very clearly loves this thing he does with sound because it's simply become his natural signature. Vocal inserts industrialize the mountain landscapes with clarity and harnessed skill. A nice little classic!

By the time we get to Giants - we're emotionally and spiritually uplifted to that place where Mike's creativity and musical indulgence reside. Giants is the one that, in a concert environment, would equal the pleasure and musical enlightenment that many of Jean Michel Jarre's followers have grown up with. The main difference however, is that, where Jarre may have been a primary influence, Mike De Filette is, without doubt, the guy under the lights.

Sunday 6am is the track that, within the first few bars, made my assistant director whail with delight 'this is an absolute classic till the end of time!' This rather uniquely arranged and skillfully produced piece of electronica delight is the kind of thing you'd love to have playing in busy traffic on a rainy day... no matter... it all goes the same way up anyway... the rain that is! Watch out for the guitar and bass sprinklings that guide the waves to where they want to go whether we expect them to or not. That's the stuff of excellence folks... unpredictability in electronic music is where it's at!

Iseeinu is an amalgamatory expedition of exhuberance. Laced with some remarkable rhythm and percussion work and graced with particles of pleasure in the form of bright sparkling string bits, Iseeinu is a magnificent piece of work from a magnificent musician. Kyoto meanwhile, is stunningly emotive. The piece provokes and prods the emotions with startling realism and expression. We already have the meaning identified in the title, and, like the rest of the planet with the reality of Kyoto, we're dependent upon action rather than words. Pointless words have no place in Kyoto the global accord nor do they have a place in Mike's audio visualisation. A superb track Mike... and one that really is.. quite wonderful!

Lhassa begins with some powerfully enchanting keyboard chords interspersed with 'fem vocale' inserts that add life to the passages while flute and pipe work flows up, down, around, and over whatever it is you have the album playing through. It's a delight to the senses and a kind of wholefood for the heart is Lhassa!

Through a Rainbow arrives with the kind of gentle ambience that accompanies a child's most colourful dreams. It's another testiment to Mike's ability to take a concept from thought and transpose it all the way and quite perfectly into the kind of sound scapes us adults need to dream by.

Aquarium provokes images, (immediately and with the aid of the title), of the enticement of water and the little colourful personalties that dwell in that world. This is the first electonically guided instrumental that I've heard that actually makes me want to swim.. probably in blue-lit water.. probably with some sense of never being alone. It's an imagination thing and something that Mike D has become quite a master of.

Before You Came is such a lovely piece of music. Light, almost feather-like playing of the notes on the keyboard is what this track demanded of it's author and engineer. I suggest you try listening to this wonderful audio journey on a rainy day where the raindrops against the window pane become a visual enterprise all to themselves. It's that kind of music.. from 'that kind' of musician.

Mindscapes (the end) emerges as the final track on this magnficent album. It's my favourite 'Mike De Filette' track so far becasue it simply is absolutely brilliant. Brilliantly conceived, brilliantly arranged, brilliantly performed! Watch out for the very smart industrials that arrive at around the three minute mark... feel the flow of grey memories drift away as they leave you renewed, refreshed, and thoroughly revitalized. You don't get this from a doctor or a drug store folks.. it's a heaven thing!

Insight from Mike D is one of the best electronically directed albums I have had the pleasure to hear since Virgin signed Tangerine Dream and Dreyfus signed Jarre. The thing is Ladies and Gentlement... this is Mike D and Mike's one hell of an artist in my eyes!

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