About the News Archive
The News Archive contains Toucan Music news items from dating back to 27th December 1999, which is when our first MP3 track downloads went live. Please note that as these news items are not current, links have been deactivated. Toucan Music was known as Frantik Music before 1st January 2004.
2002
18 November 2002Dave Pearce plays 'Ascension'
Top UK DJ Dave Pearce has played Hyperterminal's 'Ascension' on his
Radio 1 show.
The Hyperterminal track is currently on promo, and will be released by
the Rough Diamond label from Cheeky Charas. It has featured in the Essential
Clubbing chart top five during November, and became the first Hyperterminal
track to be played by Radio 1 on Dance Anthems, Sunday 10th November
2002. Dave Pearce played the track again during his trance selection
on 17th November.
3 October 2002Redmann CD available online
Redmann has become the first Frantik artist to sell a CD on the Vitaminic
website.
His debut album Parallels is available both offline from us, or to buy
online at Vitaminic.co.uk - and the tracks on both versions are identical.
The album includes some of his best tracks - 'So Sublime', 'Turn The
Corner' and 'Zero Gravity' are all featured - as well as memorable remixes
such as Dave Kent's version of 'So Sublime'.
Andrew's also been busy preparing his first post-album track, 'Embrace'
which signals a change of direction. It's a melodic chilled out track
which is now available to download free online. 'Embrace' is not available
on Parallels, but is available on the latest Frantik compilation Not
Frantik : The Chilled CD, which also features the new Excelsior track
'Fire and Ice' and the summer success 'Night Beach' from PP.
30 June 2002Chill out with Frantik this summer
Chill out this summer with some of the very latest material from Frantik
artists!
It seems that chillout is the latest flavour in the ongoing search for
something new in the dance scene, and Frantik have once again joined
in the fun with both new tracks and laid back remixes of old favourites.
One of the surprise online successes this year so far has been Night
Beach - a chillout track from Psychadelik Pedestrian (PP) written for
the new album Purple due out this summer. Night Beach went online in
June and by June 29 it had reached number 1 on the Vitaminic UK Downtempo
/ Chillout chart, the first time Frantik have achieved pole position
in this particular chart.
Crossing the old and the new are two new chillout remixes - Chilled Nitrogen
is a chillout remix of Liquid Nitrogen 2002 by Psychadelik Pedestrian,
again lifted from the Purple album, and there's a new chillout mix of
Excelsior's 2001 trance cut Tranquillity Rising. Both are available to
download at www.vitaminic.co.uk.
30 May 2002Two new Silverknight vinyl releases
Two more Silverknight 12" vinyl releases are out now from Cheeky Charas.
Rough Diamond Light Blue 2 features Feel The Pressure / Techno Funk from
Silverknight, with top notch remixes from Marc O.D., Roland the Bastard
and Little Satan as well as Dean Chester.
Solid Choonz features two mixes of Heaven. For more information on both
releases contact Cheeky Charas. Also out now is the Phish Funk remix
of Project Ex's Buggin' Me on WannaB.
22 May 2002Psychadelik Pedestrian album 'Purple' complete
The PP mini-album / demo CD 'Purple' is out now and is to be made available
online shortly.
The album is 34 minutes long and includes 8 tracks, featuring brand new
tracks such as One Five Eight alongside recent online choons such as
Look to the Light.
The mini album is the first in a line of several to be produced in the
coming months from Frantik artists, and by the end of the year we're
hoping to get an online shop up on the site for you to get them direct.
Forthcoming mini albums are expected from Redmann and Space Invaderz
later this year.
14 March 2002Hyperterminal and Silverknight sign to Cheeky Charas
Hyperterminal and Silverknight have signed a three year contract with
Cheeky Charas for more releases on their UK 'Rough Diamond' labels. The
exclusive contract means new Hyperterminal and Silverknight material
will no longer be available free online, but it will mean new tunes will
have greater publicity.
Hyperterminal's first UK vinyl release was on Rough Diamond Pink in 2001.
Silverknight's first vinyl release was on Rough Diamond Light Blue in
2001. Cheeky Charas run several labels covering a wide spectrum of both
the underground and more commercial UK dance scene.
23 February 2002'So Sublime' is listeners favourite of 2001
Five years of writing tunes at Frantik finally paid off for Redmann
(Andrew Amery) in 2001 as 'So Sublime' has become the listener's favourite
track of the year.
Joining 'Seeking You' (1999) , 'Stranger In Paradise' (2000) and 'Voyage
To Pluto' (1997), 'So Sublime' is the sixth listener's top choon since
the chart started in 1996. Voting was closer than ever before in 2001
with 'So Sublime' and sixth placed 'Tranquillity Rising' seperated by
just a few points. You can view the 2001 listener's chart here.
Just missing out on top 10 placings were 'Neurotic 2001' (Hyperterminal & Redmann)
at 11, the Phish Funk remix of 'Buggin Me' (Project Ex) at 12, 'Sandstone'
(Hyperterminal) at 13 and 'Move Harder' (Redmann) at 14.
26 January 2001Frantik joins Javamusic and Soundclick
Frantik Music have extended their online presence to Javamusic and
Soundclick during January 2002.
Previously, we've concentrated very much on MP3.com (partly due to their
payback for playback scheme) and more recently Vitaminic. However, we've
decided on a much wider publicity policy for 2002, putting music by all
Frantik artists on as many sites as possible. During December 2001 and
early January 2002, a great deal more music was placed on Vitaminic,
and during January the focus has switched to Javamusic, which now hosts
a great deal of our artists' 2001 material. Soundclick is our next target.
The plan is to be able to link to all these locations from this site,
so users have a variety of sites to download from - and also to get visitors
here from other places.
23 January 2002Excelsior's 'Dipsomania' is surprise Vitaminic success!
Excelsior's original mix of 'Dipsomania' proved a surprise hit following
it's release on Vitaminic and Javamusic in January 2002.
The track, which has never been online before, reached the top spot on
the Vitaminic Happy Hardcore chart on 23 January, netting Excelsior his
first Vitaminic chart place.
'Dipsomania' was written in 1997, but the original piano-orientated mix
was overshadowed by the vocal Prism remix (Pink Album), and never made
it onto any Frantik albums. It was remastered in December 2001 and placed
on Vitaminic on 8th January.
Excelsior's 'Tranquillity Rising' also featured in the Vitaminic Trance
chart on 23 January, with the Hyperterminal remix at no. 5 and the original
mix at no. 6. Other January Vitaminic chart successes have included 'By
The Water' (Space Invaderz v PP) and 'Friction' (Silverknight). 'Liquid
Nitrogen 2002' (PP) has been featured in the breakbeat section and 'Losing
Control' (Dreamworld) in the happy hardcore section making January 2002
one of Frantik's most successful months on Vitaminic.