The hugely talented Manu Riga joins forces with the wonderfully gifted vocalist Fe Malefiz on their track, Forgotten which comes backed up with a top notch remix from Mark Found. Over the last several months we have seen Manu collaborate with various other artists, from which some stunning results have flourished. This time around is no different as Fe is clearly the right voice for this sound. Manu is a Bonzai Progressive stalwart and an all out work horse, his attention to detail and quality is second to none and the proof is in his works. Fe is no stranger to these shores, she has worked with Dark Soul Project and Mathov on a number of occasions with great support coming in from all angles. But, we'll let the music do the talking here and remember to keep an eye on Manu as he will have much more coming in the months ahead which we are very excited about.

The Original Mix intros with a real smooth progressive sound as nice punchy kicks are met with an array of subtle percussions that add lots of weight to the groove. A deep reverberating bass sits on the low end with a menacing tease as the percussions become much more prominent. We get the first taste of Fe's vocal and right away we become mesmerized by the subtlety and richness of her voice. On the break, accompanying the beautiful vocal lies a melancholic narrative as rich strings swell up and take us back into the main groove where a cool, more jagged bass comes through. The track takes us on an intriguing journey that throws up many twists and turns filled with melody and emotion. An epic slice of prog that will definitely appeal to many.

The Dub Version picks up the track without the main vocal from the Original. A captivating sound filled with deep, dark and emotional elements with subtle melodic phrases that caress your soul. Manu has left in little snippets of the vocal which really give the Dub its own characteristic. Superb stuff yet again from this guy.

Mark Found steps up to the remix desk with his Red Heart Remix. Very much on form, Mark is fresh off the back of his remix for Blufeld's A World Less Ordinary which charted well across many sites. Prior to this he had a run of appearances on many compilations with the most recent being Bonzai's WMC 2015 package. We hope to see more from this guy in the future so stay tuned for more. The remix intros with a surreal sequence as strange voices are joined by eerie sounds and a cool rising arp that dominates the sound. Chunky kicks and crispy hats deliver a solid groove as a deep bass probes its way through. Big stabby synths litter the groove and are soon joined by more menacing, distorted synths that build a wall of sound. At the midway point the break unleashes a myriad of sounds that raid the senses before we get thrust right back into the thick of it for the duration. Top notch from Mark yet again.

Manu Riga & Fe Malefiz -Forgotten

Bonzai Progressive  exclusive producer.
Born in 1979, Adriaan Baussens fell in love with music at a young age. Growing up with his grandparents he was exposed to his grandfather’s huge collection of instrumental music including Vangelis, Jean-Michel Jarre,  and many more. At the Age of 12 a teacher discovered that Adriaan had the ability to play the melodies of songs he heard instantly on a recorder flute but when his grandfather bought him his first Casio keyboard things started to happen.  A Adriaan's obsession for synthesizers led him to learn all he could about sound design and production and there wasn't a day that went by without him being in his homemade studio, absorbing the multitude of possibilities from synthesis. He has a great love for Enigma which made him create chill out music and became the building blocks for the 2012 album "Sad in Joy" on Bonzai Elemental under the moniker Twins in Mind.
 
In 2005 a friend challenged him to make a House track. . "Good Feeling" was the result which became a hugely successful track and was remixed by Dr Kucho! The track went on to sell out in no time and ended up in the Belgian Dance Charts . Manu Riga was born.
 
The name Manu Riga originated from shuffling the letters of Gary Numan, another of his idols, and whilst he enjoyed success with 'Good Feeling' under this guise he felt this was not the music he should making. After struggling to write a successor to 'Good Feeling' he looked for inspiration in order to create the commercial sound he was looking for. At this time music by Pole folder & CP, DJ Shadow and Sasha & Digweed was opening him up to a new world of sound, much closer to the sound he wanted to create. In 2005 the track Taï Chi Girl, was refused by record labels which led Adriaan to put Manu Riga to rest for a while.  During this time Adriaan composed several soundtracks for movies and continued to create the smooth, chilled vibes of the Twins in Mind sound.
 
Almost 5 years later in 2009, after a talk with Laurent Veronnez (Airwave), he decided to send Tai Chi Girl to Bonzai Records. The track still sounded fresh and Bonzai was happy to sign it to their flagship label Bonzai Progressive giving Manu Riga a new home. In 2010 an artist deal was signed and since then a huge amount of releases and remixes followed.
 
Original tracks such as "No Matter What", "The Darkness Within" and the successful “Cimmerian" made the Manu Riga sound well known in the underground scene. Remixes for the late great Quadran (Philip Van Mullem), Gai Barone, Art of Trance, Moshic and many others, put the Manu Riga sound into many sets across the world and marked him as a highly respected producer. With over 40 remixes and 14 original EP’s it has been quite a productive 5 years for Manu Riga. 
 
in 2015 Manu Riga started a collaboration project with Matt Holliday (as Matt & Manu), releasing two very well received EP's, "You are Contagious" and "Submerged Needs", alongside remixes for Dark soul Project,  Phi Phi and Matan Caspi. On 25th of July the duo performed a back to back set on the Bonzai Stage at Europe's biggest festival, Tomorrowland. Every month they host their own radio show Ethnoscience on progressive.beats.org which is where Manu Riga also has his well received podcast Escape.
 
Another collaboration, this time with his close friend Alex Vidal, is already promising to be a big hit with the release of their first EP, When Worlds Collide - which will be followed up soon as they continue to work together.
 Currently (Summer 2015), Adriaan is working on his first Manu Riga album which is planned for the first half of 2016 but in the meantime he will continue to work on more collaborations as well as nurturing his Twins In Mind and Long Garden Avenue guises.
 Keep up to date with all the latest info over at the news section of the site, see you there.