Electronic Music Critic

Indefinite Break

2010-06-27T13:22:00.000-07:00

I've another writing project I want to focus my spare time on, so I'm taking some time out of blabbering about music for a while, a few months at least. Ah, it's not like there's been a whole heck of a lot to talk about this year anyway. Been pretty lean for hot new releases thus far. I mean, there hasn't even been a front-running, WMC-pegged "Ibiza Anthem" yet! When was the last time that happened!?

Eh? You say I'm doing this just as I was due for a "2010 Update" of ASOT 2006? Yeah, how about that...

Vuvuzela House

2010-06-24T02:24:00.000-07:00

Because the accordion was so played out with Heater...

Random Mini-Reviews Mixtape 1: The Random Session

2010-06-15T12:20:00.000-07:00

I guess this was easily predicted upon, considering I mused it over and over on the last Random Mini-Review post. Seriously though, I wasn't sure if I'd go through with it. Do you know how hard it is to take such a random collection of songs and try to make them fit together? Well, sure, if I had a few months and professional studio gear to make do with, I might of turned out another Balance 014 or something. But nay, I've nothing more than a simple MP3 mixer, and a single week of time.

That said, the fun challenge of it is why I bring to you the first edition of Random Mini-Reviews Mixtapes. 50 tunes went in, only 20 made the cut. This isn't necessarily a collection of the best tracks I've mini-reviewed thus far, but rather what I feel makes for the most interesting - and yes, even 'random' - listening experience. The only limitation I placed upon myself was that it could not exceed 90 minutes in length. I cannot deny, there are a few rough crossfades and key clashes; however, there're also sections where it all comes together to form an entertaining set. Take a gander, if you're intrigued.

RANDOM MINI-REVIEW MIXTAPE 1: THE RANDOM SESSION

MegaUpload Download

Track List:
1. Guru - When You're Near
2. Method Man - Step By Step
3. Hieroglyphics - Love Flowin'
4. General Midi vs Lurch - Outa Orbit
5. Fear Factory - Cyberdyne
6. The Orb - More Gills Less Fishcakes
7. µ-Ziq - Mushroom Compost
8. Subreachers - Memories Of Better Times
9. Neil Young & Crazy Horse - Winterlong (Live)
10. Nirvana - Pennyroyal Tea
11. Nebula - Sky
12. Banco de Gaia - Shanti (Red With White Spots Edit)
13. Gas - Earthloop
14. LFO - LFO (Leeds Mix)
15. Robert Armani - Circus Bells (Hardfloor Mix)
16. LDC - Die Schwarze Zone (Razormaid Mix)
17. The Beatles - Michelle
18. Groove Armada - At The River
19. King Kooba - Static Society
20. Dogon - Fat Old Sun

Written by Sykonee, 2010. © All rights reserved.

Armin van Buuren featuring Nadia Ali - Who Is Watching (Remixes) (Original TC Review)

2010-06-13T13:25:00.001-07:00

Hit ‘N’ Hot Music: Cat. # H’N’H CDS 372
Released March 2006

Track List:
1. Who Is Watching (Mischa Daniëls Radio Edit) (3:46)
2. Who Is Watching (Mischa Daniëls Club Mix) (7:28)
3. Who Is Watching (DJ Remy & Roland Klinkenberg Remix) (7:54)
4. Who Is Watching (Oliver Moldan Remix) (7:48)
5. Who Is Watching (Tone Depth Remix) (11:18)

(2010 Update:
What else is there to say? Aside from the Tone Depth remix, no one really remembers this one. Erm, sorry I'm being brief here. Rough week...)

IN BRIEF: By the book remixing.

Y’know, as I sit down here at my lappy, set to type up my review, it occurs to me this is only the second release from this prominent trance personality to grace our archives (the first being A State Of Trance: 2004). Considering the two other DJs in the top three of DJ Mag’s annual poll get a fair deal of coverage, this might seem a bit odd, especially since AvB’s output this past year has been quite steady with a couple DJ compilations and an artist album.

Of course, who ever remembers consistent bronze medalists? Heh.

So, here is the most recent remix package of yet another track from Armin’s album Shivers, this one being the Nadia Ali featuring Who Is Watching. The original could kindly be described as... unassuming. On an album which did not have glowing praise showered upon it by many, this track was one of the apparent glaring problems some seemed to have with it. Consisting of nothing more than guitar-strums, pads, light percussion, and Nadia’s vocals, Who Is Watching came across as lightweight adult contemporary compilation fodder. It was a far cry from the sort of music Armin’s fans had come to expect from him.

But whether his fans enjoyed it or not seems to be irrelevant. Who Is Watching is the one that’s been given the remix treatment, so let’s see how the remixers treat it.

First up is Mischa Daniëls, a relative new house producer out of the lands that are Dutch. He doesn’t do much altering, making use of the original elements while adding some housey beats, bobbly bass, and an added riff playing off the main melody during the peaks. It isn’t terribly innovative, but would probably fit snuggly in a typical Hed Kandi compilation (or radiowaves, as the Radio Edit indicates).

DJ Remy and Roland Klinkenberg (though uncredited here for some reason), both stalwarts in the Dutch scene, provide a mellow progressive re-rub. To be honest, this is unexciting stuff. Sound effects and washes drone along for half the track, Nadia’s vocals every so often cropping up with plenty of trailing echo effects. Midway through, you get a harmonic bass drop to add some excitement at the peak of a minor build. It’s effective in the sense that everything’s been so monotonous leading up to it, any change of tone is welcome. Overall though, their remix would be best suited as an early warm-up track in a DJ set, and probably not much more.

German Oliver Moldan, fresh off releasing Second Session on the Armada sub-label Stoney Boy, does the house thing as well for his remix. It’s more groovy than Daniëls’ take, relying on additional guitars, a lightly distorted ‘rockin’ bassline (first one to call it electro gets a whuppin’), and builds to promote energy. While certainly playing to all the elements house music’s been filled with lately, it isn’t all that amazing either, merely making use of current, trendy sounds to complement Armin’s original work. In two words, perfectly adequate.

Finally, we have a whopping eleven minute remix from Tony Papadopoulos, under his Tone Depth alias here but more commonly known as The Greek. The first half of this track is pure Tony: warm pad work, pulsing synths, tranquil guitars, and mellow rhythms, all combining to conjure up Mediterranean vistas at dusk. It’s practically a separate song in itself, but then he seems to remember this is actually a remix, so, around the six minute mark, he breaks the song down, brings in the original’s elements under reverb effects, and essentially does what DJ Remy and Klinkenberg did with their remix, only some of the pulsing synths and basic percussion retained (and two minutes worth of lead-out). Yeah, the second half doesn’t live up to the first half’s atmosphere because Tony’s strengths are stilted by having to let Nadia’s vocals carry the remainder of the track. As such, it sounds like he’s just going through the prog motions.

In fact, that could be said for all of these remixes. I don’t know if the remixers just felt uninspired by Armin’s original, or if they were merely requested to make their re-rubs suitable for potential club scenes without losing much in the process. Whatever the case, all of these remixes of Who Is Watching are perfectly decent for supplying DJs with danceable versions but nothing more. Only the Tone Depth Remix sees any kind of innovation, and only for the sections when Armin’s track isn’t really a part of it. Why am I not surprised?

Written by Sykonee. Originally published 2006 for TranceCritic.com. © All rights reserved.

5 Song Weekly Mini-Review #10

2010-06-06T03:13:00.000-07:00

Woo’ee! Number ten of these things, eh? I’d feel like celebrating somehow, ‘cept this bloody flu I caught has gotten me all stuffed up in the head (or numbed up with the meds). I think I may be able to come up with something next week tho’. Also, since my finances are stable once again, it’s about time I start getting some new music to review. Expect to see a few fresh releases in the coming weeks (er, that weren’t free label compilations). Meanwhile, let’s see what random songs from my current collection will spring up this week.

1. Groove Armada - At The River
From the album Vertigo.

Their first single, for the record. It took a bit of a roundabout route to be re-released with their sophomore album above, riding the coattails of the big-beat phenomenon. It’s very laid back and sampledelic, a perfect summertime record, hinting at the potential everyone saw in the duo before the backlash of endlessly hearing I See You Baby soured everyone’s attitude towards them. At least, that’s what happened over on this side of the pond. I think they’re still big stars in the UK, and lord knows the tune continues to get recycled on “Best Chill-Out Ever” compilations from Ministry Of Sound.

2. The Orb - More Gills Less Fishcakes
From the album Pomme Fritz.

This was around the time Dr. Patterson was getting more experimental than many were willing to indulge. More of an EP of the title track, More Gills is one of the noodly sonic masturbation cuts, where dub tricks, tape splicing, and sample pieces cut in and out. Some semblance of a proper tune emerges in the middle, but it’s a garbled mess for the most part. I can’t think of enough weed to make this a worthwhile listen.

3. Subreachers - Memories Of Better Times
From the compilation Echodub Loves, Vol. 2.

I just reviewed this last week! Do I really have to talk about it again so soon? Um, well, the piano tones are still pleasant enough.

4. Astral Projection - Liquid Sun
From a personal compilation.

I think Astral Projection were one of the first groups to realize giving away free MP3s was very beneficial to one’s career. Way back in the MP3.com days, you could download a whole bunch of their tunes at no cost, and without having to go through dodgy back channels like Napster or Audio Galaxy. Or, wait… did I get their tunes off Audio Galaxy after all? Man, that was so long ago, I can’t remember. I think it was MP3.com I found this. I’m pretty sure a lot of other folks did too, hence their dedicated fanbase all these years later. This? Ah, typical mid-90s soaring goa trance. Mint, if you’re into that stuff. I like it.

5. Banco de Gaia - Shanti (Red With White Spots Edit)
From the album Maya.

Wow, must be a psychedelic week, huh? This isn’t as good as the Black Mountain Mix, but still pretty cool if you like noodly, dubby, experimental stuff. The core elements are lovely as ever. You can definitely hear The Orb influences though, but then The Orb had influenced tons of ambient house and dub producers in the early 90s. Which I guess makes that group’s dive into experimental wank like the track above around the same time all the more understandable.

That was a tidy little Mini-Review, I must say. Nothing too out of the ordinary, thematically consistent… I could probably even make a mini-mix out of those tracks were I so inclined. Hm, it has been a while since I did a mixtape, now that I think about it…

Written by Sykonee, 2010. © All rights reserved.

Perfect Stranger - Learning = Change (Original TC Review)

2010-06-05T22:21:00.001-07:00

Iboga Records: Cat. # IBOGACD38
Released February 28, 2006

Track List:
1. Starter (8:28)
2. Dr. Feelgood (8:31)
3. Morning Blues (8:03)
4. Those Days (9:08)
5. Hyperdrive (8:21)
6. Truth (8:39)
7. Nobody’s Perfect (Remix) (9:00)
8. Desert Session (10:39)
9. Bonus: Schatsi - Radio Schatsi (Perfect Stranger Remix) (6:50)

(2010 Update:
Ugh. Probably one of the driest reviews I ever wrote, and that's saying something, considering the material I was writing a year before. I can't even read this today. Fortunately, the album itself has held up quite well. In fact, I think Iboga was never quite as good as they were at this point in their life, but mind you I haven't checked anything out from them in over a year now. Maybe it's about time I rectify that?)

IN BRIEF: Definitely not “that hippie shit.”

Having been impressed by Flowjob’s album, it raised my curiosity as to what else the growing progressive scene in the psy camps had to offer. After all, the underground buzz surrounding it had to be there for a reason; however, it seems there’s still very little exposure outside its core niche. Either these labels just don’t have the necessary promotional power to expose their material to major outlets, or the majors still regard it as “that hippie shit.”

Undaunted, I decided to explore it the expensive way: buying a smattering of material for myself to check out. Of this splurge, I naturally picked up another release from the label responsible for Flowjob’s release, Iboga Records; much of this buzz seems to be centred around their output anyways. As for why I chose this particular release by Perfect Stranger, it was merely a random choice; more fun that way (heh).

The man behind Perfect Stranger, Yuli Fershtat, has been in the psy scene for a while now, mostly producing full-on styled stuff as BLT. I can’t say I’ve heard any of that material but perhaps that’s a good thing. This way, I’m getting the good ol’ fresh perspective on Yuli’s new project without drawing from previous work for comparison.

As for his Perfect Stranger material, it would seem Yuli has done his homework on what constitutes the progressive sound. The tracks on Learning = Change are not to be confused with the twinkly stuff produced by Andy Moor or Markus Schulz. Nor is it all that similar to the older prog house and trance that was popular in the mid-90s. Rather, the closest comparison would be the brooding style John Digweed was playing out at the turn of the century, with some psy styling sprinkled in here and there. If you aren’t familiar with Digweed’s darker sound, it had the distinction of being very minimal, very groove-centric, and highly un-melodic. So, if you need your hooks readily apparent in your music, you may want to pass on this release.

The remaining question then, is from which angle should I approach Learning = Change: psy going prog, or prog going psy? The aptly titled opener, Starter, is as clear as any indication on what Yuli is aiming for. The track is as proggy as prog gets, with rhythmic layers, dubby effects, synthy washes, and other assorted sounds gradually building upon one another. A definite hook emerges around the four minute mark -a pulsing synth melody- but don’t expect it to carry Starter for the duration; it’s more of a tantalizing tease before heading back into the groove again to take us out. Still, Starter is a decent track to, um, start the album on.

Dr. Feelgood takes us into deeper pastures. Don’t expect this track to lead you by the hand. Most of the dubby sounds and groovy rhythms tend to remain unassuming as things play out, letting the listener discover the musical nuances themself. Of course, that’s the optimist’s stance. A pessimist would probably write Dr. Feelgood off as boring, droning wank. Being the cheery guy I am, I’ll go with the former. It’s still your call though.

Retaining this atmosphere is Morning Blues, but this track brings in grittier sound effects, dubby synth pulses, and female samples. The subtle melodies are also easier to pick out thanks to the sparseness of everything at work, but again they won’t leap out at you, nor build to a big climax.

Having gotten the mellow groovers out of the way, Yuli gets the prog party started with Those Days. The rhythms are more punctual, the bassline more driving, and the sounds a bit fiercer. This track also makes ample use of simple, looping hooks layering on top of each other, effectively drawing you into a rhythmic trance. To counter the menacing sounds used, a little twinkly hook peaks its head every so often. It all sounds good, right? Well, there’s just one problem: the rhythms aren’t as gripping as Those Days’ elements seem to indicate they should be. Consequently, the listener may lose interest when the hooks aren’t in action (which happens all too frequently in the second half).

Hyperdrive fixes this problem. By establishing the main hook -a looping, brooding synthesized little number- right from the get-go, the focus tends to shift towards Yuli’s use of rhythms. Always layered and evolving throughout the track, it also helps they are catchier, sucking you into their tribal dance. With all the cards laid out early, Hyperdrive doesn’t create a sense of anxious anticipation for a big payoff, thus allowing you to just enjoy the trip.

The same can be said for Truth. A plinky arpeggio is established early on; although not settling for simple loops this time out, Yuli manages to embellish it with various effects and complementary hooks while the rhythms work and build around it. The silky smooth production on this track adds a touch of class found in many a typical Renaissance release. Er... not that Perfect Stranger hasn’t been classy thus far, but the psy trappings have been lurking in most of these tracks, which can frighten your average prog head. Anyhow, moving on.

Yuli seems to have realized he’s at his strongest when letting the rhythms dictate the direction of his songs, so for his final two tracks, he does just that. Nobody’s Perfect makes wonderful use of building percussion and groovin’ basslines. Stuttery sounds and effects only add to the tribal energy to be had. The song is structured around a ‘double-build’, where all the elements will peak out halfway through, recede for a bit, and build back up to finish out. Very infectious.

Similarly, Desert Session lays the tribal feel on thicker, allowing the rhythms to worm and wind their way through a dizzying dance of percussion and bass. A collaboration with Wouter Thomassen (aka Zen Mechanics), you get an added element during these rhythmic builds which is irresistible: acid. Specifically, it is of the chunky, hollow sort, but is there to serve the rhythms as needed. And serve them well they do indeed.

There’s also a bonus track here, a remix Yuli did for Yoni Oshrat, otherwise known as Schatsi. It certainly has a different feel to it than the rest of this album, in that Radio Schatsi is, dare I say it, old school trance. In fact, I’ll be so bold as to say it kind of reminds me of some DJ Dag material: stuttery synths, simple reverb on the percussion, ‘Speak ‘N’ Spell’ samples, etc. While not the most riveting example of this sound, it is still quality, and a worthy ‘add-on’ to max out the CD’s space.

The main attraction on this album is still Yuli’s own material though, and he has crafted a lovely little prog album here. With each track easily segueing into the next, the rhythmic flow of Learning = Change is on a constant climb, with Desert Session the definite peak of it. However, an apparent lack of accessible hooks does make this album a bit difficult to dive into without dedicated attention payed to it. Perhaps frustratingly, some of the synthy pulses that peak their head every so often hint at the potential for some killer hooks had Yuli decided to go that route.

Still, if this nitpick isn’t much of a concern to you, then Learning = Change will serve prog heads just fine. The underground continues to thrive.

Score: 7/10

ACE TRACKS:
Morning Blues
Hyperdrive
Desert Session

Written by Sykonee. Originally published 2006 for TranceCritic.com. © All rights reserved.

5 Song Weekly Mini-Review #9

2010-05-30T22:23:00.000-07:00

No, really, I have a legit excuse this time. Would you believe “bad back”? I developed a vicious knot underneath my right shoulder-blade, which made putting my right arm (aka: mouse hand) at keyboard level quite painful for any length of time. No, better to let it heal properly - and by properly, I mean taking a bunch of meds to muddle through. Yay legal drug trade! That said, let’s find out what five random songs I’m going to talk about this week.

1. Hypertrophy - Just Come Back To Me (Porn Kings X-Plicit Club Cut)
From the mixed compilation Trance Trippin’.

Oh man, Hypertrophy. Did these guys ever have a bunch of hits back in the day, eh? Um, actually, they only had a couple before disappearing, but they were classics for the burgeoning ‘club trance’ scene of the late 90s. Their shtick was the ‘bells riff’, something that was quite clearly style-bitten from Quench’s Dreams. Still, what they did with it was remains memorable, in that early epic-trance sort of way. This version is from a compilation that featured a whole bunch of trance of the time, going from floaty vocal stuff to hard acid psy. Yes, it can be done.

2. Willie Nelson - Georgia On My Mind
From the album Collections.

Yeah, Sony Music recycles these “greatest hits” collections every so often on the super cheap. I decided to pick a few up one time, as a decent primer on all these classic musicians should I ever dig further. Can’t say I’ve done so when it comes to Willie Nelson. There isn’t much more I can say about this song though. It’s a country ballad, so it’s charming, whimsical …there’s a harmonica. Seriously, you’ve heard this song a million times, even if not this particular one.

3. Daft Punk - Robot Rock/Oh Yeah
From the album Alive 2007.

Man, I wish I could have seen that pyramid live. As it stands though, I’ll just have to settle for enjoying that awesome bass resonance in the Sennheiser headphones. Mmm…..

4. Gas - Earthloop
From the album Gas 0095.

Hm, well not exactly obscure-obscure, but still quite an unknown tune. This is more of an ambient interlude on the album than a proper track, but for an album that was filled with such wibbling, this actually holds up quite nicely. Earthloop even hints at becoming a proper tune before it ends, which is a shame. Still, for what lasts, it remains pleasant enough; a definite look-see for ambient techno fans.

5. Method Man - Step By Step
From the album Tical 2000: Judgement Day.

Ol’ Cliff could rap about any damn thing and make it sound impossibly cool. Here, however, it’s simple “I’m da’ man” bravado over a laid-back Erick Sermon beat. You can’t dismiss it, yet you’re not exactly riveted by it either, which has been a major complaint of Meth’s solo projects over the years. Perfect fodder for your spliffed-out mixtape.

I do believe that is one of the most random selection of songs I’ve done yet. The inclusion of Willie F’n Nelson in there only confirms it as such!

Written by Sykonee, 2010. © All rights reserved.

Deep Forest - Boheme (Original TC Review)

2010-05-29T22:25:00.000-07:00

Sony Music Entertainment: Cat. # BK 67115
Released 1995

Track List:
1. Anasthasia (1:48)
2. Bohemian Ballet (5:15)
3. Marta’s Song (4:13)
4. Gathering (4:39)
5. Lament (3:09)
6. Bulgarian Melody (3:09)
7. Deep Folk Song (1:13)
8. Freedom Cry (3:17)
9. Twosome (4:06)
10. Cafe Europa (4:17)
11. Katharina (2:53)
12. Boheme (4:37)

(2010 Update:
When I think about it, this has become an unfairly slept on record. Boheme was so far ahead of its time, what with the rise of 'Chilean goat farmer' techno the last couple years. This is, like, The Man-Machine of the genre! Heh, okay, seriously Deep Forest's sophomore has held up in a funny sort of way. I've still yet to hear anyone else sound like this album, melding such disparate cultures into some rather fine songs.)

IN BRIEF: The birth of Bulgarian Folk EDM.

This may be hard to believe given what hindsight reveals, but Deep Forest was at one time considered just as high profile as Enigma. When the ‘ethno-pop’ craze of the early 90s had adult contemporary crowds all abuzz, Eric Mouquet and Michel Sanchez’ project offered a bit of variation to the formula: Cretu may have brought the Gregorian monks, but Deep Forest brought the African pygmies. I’m not certain if they were the very first to do this, but their hit Sweet Lullaby certainly made them the most popular. And, by being lumped into the world beat fold along with Enigma, their profile only grew, the two acts practically joined at the hip in the public eye even if their sounds really weren’t that similar.

When Cretu proved he could beat the sophomore slump with The Cross Of Changes, many wondered if Deep Forest would be able to accomplish the same. Unfortunately, Mouquet and Sanchez had two things working against them: first off, despite Enigma’s Return To Innocence sustaining the scene a little longer, ‘ethno-pop’ had all but fizzled out by the time Deep Forest did release a follow-up to their self-titled debut; secondly, their muses had drifted to a completely different continent from the one that earned them their initial fanbase.

Boheme starts unassumingly enough, mind. The opening intro track, Anasthasia, is a moody little number. Grumbling bass, bits of woodwinds, and synthy washes make up the bulk as some faint chants echo in the background. However, if you are coming into this release with their pygmy styling being your initial exposure (and I’d wager many do, considering it’s those songs that still get the most compilation duty even today), you’ll undoubtedly notice there’s a different feel here. Almost folkish rather than tribal, but the origins may not be apparent as of yet.

Bohemian Ballet will give you your answer, and probably set your impression of this album for good. It has a synthy start as handclaps bring the pace up. Very soon, you hear an emphatic “Babam!” chant, the ethnic source being... Hungarian!

Yes folks, Deep Forest had decided to wander the far east of Europe for their inspiration, a move leaving many confused. After all, what did gypsy music have in common with pygmy chants? Hardly anything, to be honest, and that’s kind of the point. Mouquet and Sanchez were far more interested in exploring other cultures instead of re-hashing the same ideas that made them popular. The bigger question is whether they succeeded in this regard.

Well, Bohemian Ballet is kind of a miss. I can hear what they were going for, using the gypsy songs to complement a decent bit of house music. The mysterious atmosphere generated by pads and woodwinds certainly lends itself to the nature of gypsy mysticism, but things don’t quite gel. The “Babam!” chants sound out of sync with the straight-forward 4/4 music going on.

Marta’s Song features the vocal talents of Marta Sebestyen, who’s traditional Transylvanian singing was what inspired Deep Forest to pursue this avenue in Boheme. It’s a quaint tune, and Marta certainly has a fine voice (even if I don’t understand the lyrics, but that’s never stopped folks from enjoying world music anyways), but the folkish nature of this track may be off-putting to some if you came looking for typical dance music.

Returning to the mysterious gypsy front is Gathering, which comes off far better than Bohemian Ballet for this sort of thing. Whereas the club beats in the former sounded out of place, the more lethargic pace of this track creates the feeling of an enchanted, um, gathering, er, deep in the forest. Okay, so Deep Forest managed to title this track so appropriately, I don’t need to describe it much further. What matters is the haunting vocal samples and musical backdrop provided for them work, even if you aren’t quite hip to that whole gypsy thing.

However, if this East Europe folk styling hasn’t interested you much, then you’ll probably find this next stretch of songs a drag. To be fair, Mouquet and Sanchez do provide some intriguing pieces of music. Bookended by ominous soundscapes, Bulgarian Melody is a charming vehicle for Marta to sing a little ditty with a piano; Deep Folk Song has a fun build of stomping percussion, chants and an accordion, of all things. Lament and Freedom Cry are overflowing with traditional flavour though, and, quite frankly, isn’t for everyone. Heck, I’m at a loss as to who exactly this is for. I know Deep Forest wished to share these themes with a more contemporary crowd, but there’s a reason most folk music remains relatively isolated in their respective regions: cultural significance. Pop crowds usually can’t comprehend folk music unless it’s wrapped in a familiar theme (kind of like Deep Forest’s first release, actually).

Still, the duo do manage to provide some songs towards the latter end of Boheme which folks of any walk of life can probably get into. Twosome, again featuring Marta, is a wonderful showcase in just why the Enigma comparisons were so frequent back in the early 90s. It has all the hallmarks of your typical ‘ethno-pop’ with lovely, memorable lyrics, groovy backing rhythms, and synthy ambience to fill in the gaps, all wrapped in Deep Forest’s unique styling. Meanwhile, Cafe Europa sees the duo having their hand at club beats again, this time with the chants of American Natives and assorted folkish instruments. It’s alright, but isn’t the strongest dance track Deep Forest have ever done, and seems a bit unfocused once it gets going.

To finish the album out, Deep Forest come full circle in their sojourn of the Slavic states. Katharina is another brief instrumental akin to Anasthasia, while title-track Boheme encompasses the album’s various themes into a whole: folk songs, traditional instruments, synthy backings, and a groovy rhythm are all combined into quite the unique sounding track.

At the end of this, Boheme as an album is quite odd, especially if you approach it from typical Western fronts. Despite sometimes producing tracks which may indicate otherwise, Deep Forest has never really been a group aiming to fill dancefloors or Top 40 radiowaves (even if they did a secure a Grammy for this album, but what are those worth, eh?). Their aim has always been to explore the musical diversity our world has to offer, and attempt to blend them together. However, this idea seemed to turn off a great number of people who enjoyed their previous work in Deep Forest (later titled World Mix), which contained more Western ideas than their follow-ups; they lost all but an ardent group of fans shortly after this release, their third album Comprasa seemingly sealing the deal for the “we don’t get it” crowd.
Still, Boheme is an incredibly unique album. Whereas many producers will make use of a far East sample if it’s harmonic attributes are familiar to their own, Mouquet and Sanchez will let that sample’s native traditionalism shine through as they work around it instead. If you listen to Boheme in this regard, you’ll probably get more out of it.

Score: 6/10

ACE TRACKS:
Gathering
Twosome

Written by Sykonee. Originally published 2006 for TranceCritic.com. © All rights reserved.

Various - Echodub Loves, Vol. 2

2010-05-27T21:49:00.000-07:00

Echodub: Cat. # ECHO003
Released April 2010

Track List:
1. Subreachers - Memories Of A Better Time (3:41)
2. Box Mouse - 5:37am Outside The Station (4:53)
3. Actraiser - Imaginarium (6:40)
4. Egoless - Back Home (6:37)
5. Svpreme Fiend - Prover (3:17)
6. Think - All Wet (5:06)
7. SimonOff - Trip To Luca (5:29)
8. Lurka - Cosmic (3:38)
9. Tribal - White Rain (5:47)
10. Vandera - India Joya (6:10)
11. Lojik - White Room (5:51)
12. Jas - In A Heartbeat (5:57)
13. Dminus - Ultramarine (6:39)

IN BRIEF: Chill-step, yes!

As quickly as dubstep’s rise to critical popularity seemed to go, so too has the critical backlash. Perhaps it was to be expected though, what with everyone hopping on the Hot New Genre bandwagon at a time when EDM was dying for such. Now, however, it seems the journals and blogs are almost afraid to cover anything that isn’t a high-profile release, and I don’t blame them. Admit it: the moment you saw ‘dubstep’ in that first sentence, your eyes glazed over with either trepidation or disinterest.

Such a backlash is inevitable when the genre has been flooded with an ocean of dreary half-step beats, glitch effects, and gimmick basslines. If you’ve put any faith in yours truly though, you’ll know I wouldn’t be talking about a dubstep release if it didn’t have some merit. And of course, if I’m talking about dubstep with merit, chances are it’s of the ‘atmospheric’ variety, right? Yeah, that’s about right.

This free compilation from Echodub certainly is that, a label which has skewed more favorably towards the blissy side of grimey beats. Not content to simply be a showcase of their own artists, Echodub has rather rounded up a bunch of unknowns and fresh faces to the table: Box Mouse, Lojik, Vandera, and more.

The music itself isn’t “all dubstep, all the time” either. Indeed, we open up with nothing more than gentle piano ambience and haunting machine breathing (Memories Of Better Times). This is followed by lush, ethereal synth washes over a more typical half-step beat in Outside The Station; and while I’ve grown quite tired of hearing that “seen things you wouldn’t believe” sample (seriously, guys, Bladerunner did have more dialog, y’know), it doesn’t detract from Box Mouse’s lovely tune.

We run through a number of chill-out varieties for a good chunk of this digi-comp’s middle, each tune offering something unique, if not exactly fresh. Back Home has a bit of an Ibizan flavor, Prover comes off like a b-side to Burial’s album Untrue, All Wet sounds like it could have also been featured on an Ultimae release, while Trip To Luca channels IDM wonk. These are all fine for the most part, perfect chill-out fodder for a compilation of this sort.

The tunes in the second half of Echodub Loves, however, get a little more creative, bringing forward some of dubstep’s more common tropes and giving them a fresh spin for the chill sect. An easy highlight out of this bunch is India Joya from Vandera: think some of the best atmospheric jungle from the 90s and instead given a half-step beat; lovely tune, this be. White Room follows suite with a little more aggression, and In A Hearbeat gets proper dubby on our asses, bringing the compilation to a strong close. Erm, well, aside from that clicky dub-techno cut at the very end, which is only interesting if you’re up for some sub-whoofer torture.

Frankly, this should be a no-brainer of a release if you’re up for some creative chill-out. It’s free, for crissakes! Even if you don’t like all the tracks, you can still cherry-pick the ones you prefer at no cost to yourself. Fortunately, there’s enough musical strength here such that even a casual consumer of the heady-side of dubstep and atmospheric glitch can get some enjoyment from a full play-through.

Score: 7/10

ACE TRACKS:
Box Mouse - 5:37am Outside The Station
Vandera - India Joya
Lojik - White Room

Written by Sykonee, 2010. © All rights reserved.

L.S.G. - The Black Album (Original TC Review)

2010-05-26T10:07:00.001-07:00

Superstition: Cat. # 82833-2
Released June 1998

Track List:
1. The Train Of Thought V. 0.9 (2:16)
2. The Train Of Thought V. 1.1 (6:58)
3. Go Fishing (8:25)
4. Cellular (9:21)
5. The Blaxone (7:43)
6. Rotation (7:40)
7. 88 (7:00)
8. Freakz (6:04)
9. Hellfire (7:14)
10. Deep Blue (9:28)

(2010 Update:
It undoubtedly shows, but I had a lot of fun writing this review. This was about the point I was realizing meticulously detailed track-by-track writing was quite dry to read, and knew there was no way I'd be able to get away with doing such with this release. So, I let the creative juices loose, turning in one of my more memorable pieces for TC. Wish I'd realized how much better this kind of review was earlier.)

IN BRIEF: The heart of Lieb’s darkness.

Oliver Lieb had done it! After half a decade of much critical but little commercial success, he’d finally produced a track that would get played out by trance DJs for years to come. Netherworld gave him the spotlight, won him a legion of new fans, and would earn him decent royalties as the track would go on to be featured on many DJ mix compilations and updated remix packages. It would be so easy for him to rest on those laurels, continue re-hashing Netherworld, and ride the burgeoning trance wave into the sunset. Except that’s not what happened.

Seeing the forthcoming commercialization of the genre he helped pioneer, Lieb gave the masses the finger and took his L.S.G. moniker in the completely opposite direction of epic anthems. His Black Series was not meant for those who’d just discovered trance as it was getting super-popular, but for those who’d stuck it out during the unforgiving underground years. It was his way of weeding out the L.S.G. bandwagoners, whom would come expecting more Netherworlds.

Well, that’s my theory, anyway.

Truthfully, that entire paragraph is just speculation. I think very few know exactly why Lieb took L.S.G. into unfriendly underground territories just as trance was blowing up all over Europe. Was it a knee-jerk reaction to the commercialization of the genre he fostered? Or perhaps he just decided to do a little experimenting? Probably only he knows for certain, but as a man who has always done exactly what he wants, I’m sure he had a very good reason for it. He’d probably quaintly answer you if you asked, although it is admittedly more fun to speculate.

Yes, The Black Album isn’t the most accessible CD. The tracks contained on here come from a string of vinyls known as The Black Series, and are arranged into a continuous mix. However, because the songs on those vinyls were strictly intended for the dancefloor, this creates a difficult album to sit back to.

What’s on it, then? Tech-trance, but only the most aggressive, unrelenting sort. This isn’t the kind of stuff you’d hear from guys like Marco V or Sander van Doorn; Lieb’s material eats their tracks as a midnight snack and takes a second helping without asking. You’ll find scant traces of any kind of melody, and usually only in a warped fashion. It’s primal, it’s feral, it’s predatory. To use a current cheesy yet popular internet meme, The Black Album is the Chuck Norris of tech-trance.

Wisely, Lieb opens the album up with The Train Of Thought, as it has the closest thing approaching a melody (the 0.9 version is just an ambient-ish intro). Amongst murky, mechanical rhythms, a pulse of spacey synth pierces the unsettling atmosphere every so often. Various effects tweak it throughout, distorting its resonance as the song progresses. There is no real conventional structure to The Train Of Thought, simply building upon layers of sound to raise the intensity of the track. It certainly is an entrancing bit of music but, if you find it not to your taste, you might want to seek other pastures; the tech influences only get stronger from here.

Go Fishing offers a clearer taste of what’s to come. Although the blasting distorted sirens, eerie effects, and synthetic pads could be construed as hooks, they don’t offer much in melody. Rather, they’re there to accentuate the driving mechanical rhythms as layer upon layer of loops keep building this track’s intensity. Yeah, it’s quite similar to Train Of Thought in structure, but far less benign in nature.

From here, any notion of detailing the rest of The Black Album in our usual method just flies out the window. Every track melds into each other, and, although you can usually tell when a different song is playing, it isn’t easy listening as there’s very little in terms of conventional hooks or melodies. And the sounds Lieb creates? Forget it. I don’t think there are any proper metaphors in my vocabulary to do them justice. The drone of a starship reactor; industrial strength clangs and clonks; brief bits of sputtering, distorted acid squelches; cyborg jembe drummers; splashes of bright synth; growling Imperial AT-ATs; demonic screams; radioactive chemicals boiling in huge factory vats; Unicron having a tummy ache; wraith-like wails; whatever else you may have. All this and more can be heard through tracks Cellular to Freakz, and it can be an unsettling experience if you succumb to the madness of it all.

The remarkable thing about all this is, despite the relative inaccessibility of these tracks, they are still amazingly seductive. Lieb has paid an incredible amount of attention to his rhythms, hooking you into their mesmerizing dance. All these menacing sound effects throughout are there to provide a primal backdrop, grabbing your primitive brain so the rhythms can overwhelm you. And with each successive track laying down the rhythms harder and fiercer, the intensity of this album just continuously escalates with no end in sight.

The final two tracks, Hellfire and Deep Blue, might trick you into thinking you’ll find some solace, as spacey synthy washes rather than menacing sounds provide the atmosphere. Alas for the weak at heart, Lieb shows no mercy, cranking his rhythms into overdrive in his rush to the finish. Hellfire is a hypnotizing cacophony of percussion while Deep Blue unleashes his fiercest kicks yet. You’ll only escape the madness of this once the droning, synthetic pads of Deep Blue finally recede.

Madness. Absolutely yes, The Black Album could cause madness if you let it. This is not something for throwing on while lounging about home enjoying tea and crumpets. The music on here is simply designed to pummel logic and reason into submission and let pure instinct take over. And this, my friends, can frighten many people. We do not readily enjoy losing control of our sensibilities, letting the animal within us to override our judgment. As such, the music on here will just come across as irritating noise if you merely play it in the background, your logic center uncaring towards what’s going on since the music defies what we typically expect out of trance, much less music in general. The entire middle section can easily pass you by without anything leaping out for your attention.

It may be a music journalistic cliché to say this, but The Black Album really is an album that demands your undivided attention, preferably while in the process of doing something active to get your adrenaline going (I recommend dancing, but working out, running, driving, or sexing can probably do in a pinch). I wouldn’t exactly say you’ll be rewarded for such attentiveness though, as you may not feel comfortable in where it’ll take you. Still, it will certainly not be a trip you’ll likely forget.

Score: 7/10

ACE TRACKS:
The Train Of Thought 1.1
Hellfire

Written by Sykonee. Originally published 2006 for TranceCritic.com. © All rights reserved.

Coldcut - Sound Mirros (Original TC Review)

2010-05-22T18:21:00.000-07:00

Ninja Tune: Cat. # ZEN CD 115
Released February 21, 2006

Track List:
1. Man In A Garage (3:27)
2. True Skool (3:34)
3. Just For The Kick (5:06)
4. Walk A Mile In My Shoes (5:08)
5. Mr. Nichols (5:46)
6. A Whistle And A Prayer (5:55)
7. Everything Is Under Control (3:36)
8. Boogie Man (3:49)
9. Aid Dealer (4:13)
10. This Island Earth (4:14)
11. Colours The Soul (4:19)
12. Sounds Mirrors (5:59)

(2010 Update:
As tediously bulky as this review is, it really isn't all that bad of a read. Could probably have shaved 1000 words off though, and still come out fine. Heh, I even realized how large it was getting midway through. The unfortunate thing is, though this album has held up quite well (musically anyway), I probably gave it more attention than most others did. By the end of 2006, few folks could even remember that Coldcut had a new album out. Quite a shame, really.)

IN BRIEF: Refresher in the Coldcut ethos, in case you missed it this past 20 years.

As a duo who’ve garnered many plaudits, you can be rest assured there would be a plethora of reviewers jumping at the chance to cover Coldcut’s latest full-length, Sound Mirrors. Every music critic with a not-so-humble opinion, after all, undoubtedly would love their word to be the first and final say regarding a new release from one of electronic music’s seminal tastemakers.

Since a couple months have passed since this was released, I decided to quickly scour the net for such reviews before I tackled it myself (for no better reason than to make sure I wouldn’t end up repeating what’d already been said). Unsurprisingly, good ol’ Google returned plenty of results. What struck me as odd, however, was the source of many of these reviews: a high percentage of them came from rock, indie, or mainstream outlets. Either the EDM media’s reviews were greatly overshadowed, or it just didn’t care as much.

Actually, I can see both reasons being somewhat related. Let’s face it: Coldcut are old... in EDM terms, anyway. Many of their original fans have grown into the establishment, and those who write about them have managed to worm their way into reputable rags. However, with the advent of more and more splinter scenes causing tunnel vision in the new cats, and the fact Coldcut really haven’t had a hit in years, their exposure seems to only be relegated to the oldest of old schoolers and Ninja Tune disciples... and boy do those reviews show it.

Ratings for Sound Mirrors thus far have been all over the map. Some have proclaimed this is the return of Coldcut everyone’s been waiting for. Others have stated the album sounds like Jonathon More and Matt Black have run out of innovative ideas, considering they had nearly a decade to produce something new. A few still don’t quite understand the big deal of over-indulgent ‘cut ‘n’ paste’ production, and still a few more seem to have just been exposed to it and think it’s genius. I’ve read a couple which seem to state more about the respect Coldcut deserve, giving the material just rewards for past achievements; oppositely, some believe the duo shouldn’t be given a bye for any missteps, letting the music speak for itself. And yet a couple-

Wait a minute! Am I here to review Sound Mirrors, or review other reviewers’ reviews of Sound Mirrors? I’ll stop now.

What we have here with Coldcut’s latest is More and Black bringing in a whole wack of collaborators, giving them each a unique musical backdrop, and, as is quite trendy right now, throwing political messages into the mix.

Okay, Coldcut have always had a few political songs in their prior releases, but normally mixed in with good ol’ party music to lighten the atmosphere. In Sound Mirrors though, even the fun tracks have messages in them (if at times minute) and are massively outnumbered by the melancholy numbers. All well and good to get some activism going in a generally apathetic crowd but with so many musicians doing this lately, it begs the question whether Coldcut’s messages will be poignant enough to get a few off their asses, or if it will just sound preachy and cliché. Let’s find out!

First up is Man In A Garage, a sort of folksy acoustic tune with electronic rhythms and effects burbling about. John Mattias provides the lyrics, an individual I only know as the butt end of jokes regarding khaki-sporting warblers. He doesn’t seem to have much to say in this case, repeating lines like “slide over” and “I just dialed this number, won’t you help me please?” It may be an allegory towards the repetitiveness of corporate operations but Mattias sounds too cryptic to be sure. Still, Man In A Garage is a decent, if odd, opener.

The always reliable Roots Manuva drops in for some speechifying with True Skool, essentially reminding us to keep shit real and not buy into false hype. I seem to hear this from him a lot but his Metaphor Well has yet to run dry, so it still sounds fresh. Musically, Coldcut don’t do much, keeping the arrangements sparse so Manuva can carry the song. Hand claps, 808 bass booms, a looping scratched-up sample, and Indian tablas and chants make up the bulk.

And with gaudy ‘electro’ house being all the rage these days, you just knew More and Black would have a go at it as well. Of course, they drop a message into the track, describing the very thing wrong with this music: its lack of musical ingenuity, settling for overly simple rhythms and hooks. Mind, they don’t blame the producers for this, but our complacent, self-absorbed society for being content with it and not demanding better. Yeah, it’s nothing original; we’ve heard Miss Kittin alone say the same thing for over half a decade now. Track’s alright though.

Walk A Mile In My Shoes brings house legend (and liquid funk favorite) Robert Owens in for a little soulful rendition over scattering rhythms and orchestral swells. The message? Try living a less privileged life, Mr. Well-Off! Heh, okay, it isn’t really that cynical. It’s more about getting the upper class to at least understand the situation of the poor rather than callously ignore them. And it helps that Owens’ passionate delivery gives this song honest-to-God sincerity.

Now we’ve arrived at the turning point of Sound Mirrors: Mr. Nichols. The album’s atmosphere totally changes from here: whereas the first few tracks were content to just be songs, Coldcut’s Big Messages begin to take larger precedent over the music with Mr. Nichols onward. The music in this track is practically non-existent, allowing Saul Williams’ spoken poetry to carry things over muted acoustic strums and jazzy noodlings. In addition, I’ve noticed opinions on this album tend to directly correspond with what you get out of Mr. Nichols. The storyline revolves around some Corporate McCorporateson, having been disillusioned by the capitalist system failing him, contemplates suicide. Saul’s spoken words offers Nichols an alternative, suggesting he let go of the corporate shackles and seek spiritual comfort. What does he decide? I don’t know. The song never seems to reveal that answer. Although there’s a specific story to this track, it’s just as much about the disillusionment many go through as the futures we dreamt of don’t quite pan out. As such, I can see how many could relate to this track, undoubtedly having gone through similar scenarios. Those who haven’t would probably interpret Mr. Nichols more literally, and be turned off by the pandering towards a corporate shill who never had the fortitude to break free before.

Shit, that was a big paragraph. Let’s get back to the album, eh?

As mentioned, the dynamic of Sound Mirrors does take a drastic change in tone with Mr. Nichols, and A Whistle And A Prayer carries on in similar fashion. This is an absolutely desolate track; I feel like I’m in the middle of some post-apocalyptic landscape, remnants of an ancient playground scattered about where the foundations are flaking off in the wind. The addition of a little folksy whistle tune only adds to the sense of innocence lost. It’s very cinematic, but quite dreary so be prepared.

In an attempt to lighten the mood again, Coldcut get all faux-cock-rock in Everything Is Under Control. It’s a cute novelty track, but nothing unique or enduring. The message in this one is every organization has control over each other and the world at large by means of corrupt manipulation and power-hungry overseers. No, really? What shocking news! I’m glad Coldcut is here to tell us this; I’d already forgotten since I last read it on an indie blog just two hours ago, much less in every post-9/11 liberal rant.

Boogie Man is a straight-forward ‘cut ‘n’ past’ dubby bit of broken beat. As usual, More and Black scrounge up some deliciously wicked ancient funk breaks and infuse them with a balanced mix of studio trickery. The lyrics could be interpreted as being spoken by a C.I.A. spook, but I’d rather just go with it being a guy who just likes to boogie. Why should everything have a political slant on here? It’s not like we don’t have enough of it already.

Like in Aid Dealer. This track opens with the title being repeated endlessly, and annoyingly gets stuck in your head. Then over one of those many sub-genres of UK garage (dubstep? grime? sublow? sub-grimestep??? I haven’t a clue), Sowento Kinch lays out the corruption in those charity organizations for Third World countries. Wait, even those seemingly nice people, who advertise on TV with several doe-eyed malnourished children and host mega charity concerts are just as slimy as capitalist pigs? My God, is there no decency left in this world!? Mind, this might have been shocking news to me had I not heard this rant from a sock puppet on Canada’s music station a few years before. Aid Dealer has a message to tell, but like these other highly political songs, it’s nothing we haven’t heard in the last five years from several other artists and activists. Music’s pretty good though.

This Island Earth also has a message to tell, this time about how we have to take care of our planet. Fortunately, Mpho Skeef’s diva delivery is quite nice for this track’s garagey backings, so it doesn’t come across as heavy-handed as some of the others. Oh, and that bass! It’ll definitely get the sub-whoofer fanboys’ pants wet.

Two instrumentals close the album out. Colours The Soul has some nice orchestral samples but is a pretty bland bit of acid jazz. However, Sound Mirrors uses a quirky looping sample of... um, I’m not sure what it is actually. My best guess is a strangled recording of a Japanese folk song, but given Coldcut’s intense music archiving, I could be way off base. Anyway, Sound Mirrors adds additional layers of a wide assortment of sources, each loop playing off the initial once. Eventually, big orchestral swells build into the peak of the track, then everything is cut back, letting the initial loop fade off. It’s actually quite the nifty sonic experiment, and dare I say the best thing on this whole album. Why? For that answer, check my closing thoughts below.

Let me first address my main gripe: the political nature of a number of these songs. I’m not against their messages but, unfortunately for Coldcut (whom are always sincere when it comes to politics), nothing new is added to the plate. Had this been released before or even shortly after 9/11, perhaps their words would hold more impact, but even Top 40 acts have managed to worm in similar activist slants. Besides, a great deal of Coldcut’s fanbase are already boned up on these issues anyways, so it just comes off as preaching to the choir if you’re a long-time fan.

All this wouldn’t be the problem with Sound Mirrors it is if it weren’t for the fact so many songs are vocal driven. It’s no surprise to me the better songs on this album are where we get to hear Coldcut do what they do best, namely produce music that creates a collage of disparate sounds. This just doesn’t happen enough though, and a number of songs are bland or uninteresting when the lyrics seems to be the focus. The end results sound like they could have been made by any number of artists.

I’m not saying Coldcut shouldn’t have done what they did with Sound Mirrors. They’ve been in the game for over two decades, and having nothing to prove; More and Black have earned the right to do whatever they want with their music. It’s just something of a letdown they instead decided to add yet another unnecessary voice to an already noisy activism crowd. We’ve always known where they stood on the political spectrum, so re-hashing the same speeches when everyone else is doing it now just sounds redundant.

Sound Mirrors is still an above average album though. Even if they don’t do as much as I’d have hoped, the music production is top notch, and you can’t beat the creativity or the variety to be had in the soundscapes Coldcut has crafted here. If you don’t mind a little (okay, a lot) of activism in your music, then do check this release out. There’s not much else out there that sounds quite like Sound Mirrors.

Score: 7/10

ACE TRACKS:
Walk A Mile In My Shoes
Boogie Man
Sound Mirrors

Written by Sykonee. Originally published 2006 for TranceCritic.com. © All rights reserved.

5 Song Weekly Mini-Review #8

2010-05-22T18:15:00.000-07:00

Yes. Yes yes yes! I’m going to finally get one of these posted on the day I kinda-sorta promised to post ‘em on: Saturday. The reason is because I know if I put this off, there’s no way in hell I’m going to get it posted any earlier than Tuesday. ‘Tis a long weekend, after all, so best to get typing late Friday night and fire it online. That said, let’s see what random music I get to talk about this week!

1. The Higher Intelligence Agency - Speedlearn (Empathy Mix)
From the album Colourform.

Ah, good ol’ H.I.A. You don’t hear techno of this sort much anymore. Blissy vibes, bleepy hooks, dubby ambience; trance without being trance. Most of Bobby Bird’s uptempo cuts were less experimental, often opting for simplicity for the dancefloor’s sake (even if that dancefloor was often the chill room, but that didn’t stop The Orb either), and this is no exception. Check it out if you want some nifty old-school, or have a hankering for ambient techno of any sort, though in this case the kind that’ll have you floating in space rather than a dub-techno dungeon.

2. Eurythmics - Sisters Are Doin’ It For Themselves
From the album Greatest Hits.

You can’t escape the 80s, ever! Actually a duet with soul legend Aretha Franklin, but my CD doesn’t list that in the credits, so it’s titled as such there. The song itself? Ah, you know how 80s stabs at funk goes: expertly produced, yet an undeniable stiffness to it. In a way, you’d expect that from Eurythmics since their biggest tunes were synth pop songs. Nothing synth-driven here though. What’s kind of amusing about this, however, is just how pro-feminism it is, despite the fact Annie Lennox was making her reputation as something of a sex symbol during this time; albeit an androgynous one.

3. Dissidenten - A Love Supreme (Club Mix)
From the compilation Planet Rave.

One of the earliest groups to start fusing world music with Western pop, way back in the 80s actually (I sense a trend here…). Once the 90s rolled around, they made their bed with euro dance and released a few memorable singles, probably most notably Jungle Book Part II on Eye Q (yes, there you go, trance lovers). This particular tune is more in line with what you’d expect from the group, being the featured single from the album Jungle Book and all, in this case taking New Jack Swing and Indian music, blending them in a big ol’ world beat bowl. It’s fine for what it is, but let’s face it: you’re more interested in that Jungle Book link, aren’t you.

4. Quirk - Dark Matter
From the compilation Goa Spirit 3.

Track #4, which means it’s time for the odd rarity cut. And sure enough, we have one twisted piece of psy served up. The duo’s comprised of Tim Healey and Mark Allen, the former of which has been in several groups over the years. Quirk itself only lasted half a decade, but arose during that time in psy’s history when melody began taking a backseat to warped acid squelches and rambly sequences. Dark Matter’s no different, with acid drops that are wicked awesome, but kind of a trudge to get to.

5. The Realm & V - One Chance (The Realm House Mix)
From the DJ Mix Get Salted Volume 1 by Miguel Migs.

V, as in Valvin Roane, but is a pretty typical ‘soulful house’ vocalist. Actually, this whole tune’s rather generic as it is. Not poor or anything - as I’ve said countless times, it’s pretty hard to fuck up funky soul music that has a bouncy 4/4 vibe. It’s just there are an endless, countless number of tunes like this out there, many of which are promptly forgotten a month after they’re enjoyed. Sad really, but such is the fate of most house singles.

Hm, well I don’t see any theme out of this week, do you? Yeah, it’s quite a random one. That #4 trend is starting to get creepy though. Guess you’ll have to check back next week to see if it’s maintained.

Written by Sykonee, 2010. © All rights reserved.

5 Song Weekly Mini-Review #7

2010-05-17T23:02:00.000-07:00

Now hold just a minute here. How can I keep calling these things weekend updates when I don’t even post ‘em when the weekend actually hits? Well, I must invoke the Law of Internet Blog Slack for this, which states for every promise a blogger attempts to make, he’ll increasingly fail to make it on account of getting easily distracted by other blogs. Actually, I don’t know if that’s a Law, but it might as well be since it seems to be the case. Can you tell I’m back in calculus courses again? How about we find out what random tracks I have for you this week instead.

1. Fear Factory - Cyberdyne
From the album Demanufacture.

Actually, from the double-CD reissue of that album, and tagged onto the Remanufacture remix disc. Cyberdyne didn’t make the initial cut, so became an added track to the Burn single. This is getting confusing, so here’s all you need to know. Junkie XL did this remix (I’m not sure of what original track though), which was one of his earliest production credits. There isn’t much to it, sounding like a fairly generic action movie big-beat backdrop. Mind, Junkie XL was mostly responsible for that sound, so I guess he gets a pass here.

2. Fear Factory - National Panel Beating
From the album Demanufacture.

What the hell? Another track from the same CD!? Holy shit, what are the odds of that happening? Yeah, maybe in the same 5-song sampling, but not right after another. What is different, at least, is who the remixer is, in this case Rhys Fulber. Ol’ Rhys had been hanging around Fear Factory during the recording of the album, and whom primarily gave Fear Factory their heavy industrial fusion. Here, he gives the track the Front Line Assembly treatment, with big sluggish beats complementing the thrashy guitar licks. Conjure One fans will be shocked.

3. Brian Wilson - Good Vibrations
From the album SMiLE.

Y’know, this doesn’t sound nearly as good as the original cut, and it isn’t just because Wilson’s not the same singer he was forty years prior. The production seems flatter, less vibrant, and The Not Beach Boys just can’t quite match that group’s wonderful harmonizing. That said, in context of the album Smile, it sounds awesome, a perfect capper to an already great body of music. I only recommend listening to this version as such. By the way, are we in for another ‘all rock’ week? Heh, guess who’s likely to show up then…

4. µ-Ziq - Mushroom Compost
From the album Lunatic Harness.

Oh, well, I guess you didn’t figure Michael Paradinas, did you. Neither did I, but then the #4 track in these lists always seem to be the oddball song, so at least that’s consistent. Mid-90s IDM wonk, so it’s either brilliant or gash, according to your preference for that sort of thing. In fact, you can really feel the SquareTwin (Aphex Pusher?) influence here, as it’s pretty much a pairing of those two’s styles - specifically Jenkinson’s drums and James’ melodies.

5. General Midi vs Lurch - Outa Orbit
From the DJ Mix Freebass Breakz And Sub Phunk Beats by Brock Landers.

Aww, yeah. Nu-skool breaks when they were still nu; spacey sound effects and street-level funk. I love this sound and was quite dismayed when it died off along with most of the breaks genre. This is actually an alternate alias of Starecase, whom have done various remixes of prominent trance producers over the years (Paul van Dyk, Der Dritte Raum, Tiësto, to namedrop just a few). Paul Crossman would go on to retain the General Midi alias to this day. This DJ mix is pretty good too, if you’re up for some good ol’ fashioned breaks bizzness; kind of rare these days though.

Well I’ll be damned. No Neil Young this time! The sorta-streak has ended. Heh, and here I was thinking it was a shoe-in this time, given those first few tunes. Still, it’s a curious clutch of compositions, but I’m going to wrap it up here, lest I continue to overindulge with alliteration.

Sandoz - Digital Lifeforms: Redux (Original TC Review)

2010-05-13T21:12:00.001-07:00

The Grey Area: Cat. # KIRK 07 CD
Released 2004

Track List:
Disc 1: Digital Lifeforms
1. Armed Response (7:43)
2. Chocolate Machine (7:34)
3. Digital Lifeforms (8:05)
4. Human Spirit (7:00)
5. Drum Meditation (7:01)
6. Limbo (8:47)
7. Zombie Astral (8:27)
8. Beam (6:47)
9. Steel Tabarnacle (7:52)
10. White Darkness (9:10)

Disc 2: Redux
1. Communicate (With The Future) (7:03)
2. Ocean Reflection (8:53)
3. Tribal Warfare (7:43)
4. White Tab/Steel Darkness (Tetrodotoxin Mix) (9:27)
5. Erzulie (7:27)
6. Human Spirit (Original Dub And Roll Mix) (6:59)
7. Zombi Savane (7:02)
8. Medium Cool (10:15)
9. Shanpwel (6:04)
10. Mirror (3:37)

(2010 Update:
I think I underrated this album at the time. Yeah, I enjoyed it when I first picked it up about a month before I wrote this review, but Digital Lifeforms has gone on to be one of my most heavily replayed CDs ever since. For all its dated attributes, I cannot deny the fact the music here is just so damned good. I hope this clunky review won't turn away other potential listeners.)

IN BRIEF: Malians and machinery melded.

It seems one thing you can count on in electronic music lately is re-issues. With so many rare, underground releases fetching high prices on eBay, you can be rest assured some producers and labels feel they’re missing a potential gravy train. Mind, it isn’t always their fault if they didn’t initially realize this. Many releases hardly make an impact during their first year or two. It’s usually through gradual exposure and word-of-mouth praise something garners ‘cult classic’ status. The scarcity of such releases only adds to its mystique and, before you know it, you’re paying a hundred bucks online for the chance to own an original copy.

Because of these inflated prices, it’s quite nice to see such ‘cult classics’ getting re-issues, often with added bonuses like B-Sides, rare remixes, and other assorted gobbledygook. Of course, I wouldn’t doubt collectors who own the originals moan and groan about this (mainly because if slightly de-values their own investment, despite whatever other excuse they tell you) but it is a great way for newer fans to catch up on old releases at a reasonable price.

Digital Lifeforms is easily one such release. Originally produced by Richard Kirk as a means to explore other musical avenues after a decade of industrial with Cabaret Voltaire, the album garnered many plaudits for its more ‘intelligent’ take on techno (remember, this was at a time when acts like The Prodigy and 2 Unlimited were tearing up the charts). While by no means the only individual to approach techno with a ‘not-just-party-music’ ethos, Kirk’s work as Sandoz certainly made a mark with his unique tribal fusion. Unfortunately, it was released on the UK indie ‘audiovisual’ label Touch, whom has a tendency to produce limited copies of their releases due to their artistic endeavors (their approach is similar to printing only a few paintings for an art gallery). As such, the album was doomed to obscurity by all but the most dedicated collector... until now (well, early 2004, to be specific).

The history out of the way, exactly what does this ‘cult classic’ sound like, and does it hold up in this day in age? Before I answer that, I should ask you, the reader, three questions:

1. Can you dig rhythms that sound like they come straight from Roland drum machines?
2. Do you like repetitive loops to some degree?
3. Does your taste in music allow for somewhat under-produced sound?

If you answered ‘no’ to any of these, and figure there will never be a ‘yes’ to them for all of your musical life, then you may as well hit that Back button in your web browser and forget Digital Lifeforms; this album is not for you; try something from Anjunabeats instead. I wouldn’t go so far as to say the sounds of Sandoz are dated (especially when gritty underproduction seems to actually be the current trend in EDM lately), but Kirk’s industrial roots are still present, as he seems to hold no qualms about dirtying some of his patches if it meshes with his ideas.

Opener Armed Response is as good an example of his production technique as any. His percussion is kind of grimy, his string samples blatant, and his bassline muddy. Strangely enough, it all works in Kirk’s own way. There is an undeniable tribal energy to be had, even if it is somewhat mellow. Granted, this track could hold more appeal were it cleaned up, but then it wouldn’t be Sandoz, now would it?

If you found Armed Response too abrasive for your liking, the good news is the rest of the tracks are tidier in arrangement, if not always in production. Chocolate Machine starts with looping samples of woodwinds before the machinery settles in. The rhythm is very crisp, sounding like some sort of factory; however, various samples and pleasant melodies give this track an organic quality that tends to lack in much techno. Every element has plenty of breathing room, letting the resonance drift from beat to beat without getting drowned out in effects. It may sound sparse but Chocolate Machine is still a nice little track.

Title track Digital Lifeforms has an effective yin/yang thing going for it, mixing it up with cute little melodies and ominous string pads. Admittedly, some of the sounds used could have come straight from a SNES game. Heck, I can even identify some of the more bubbly bass sounds as pre-sets form my father’s old Roland synths. Given how far sound production had come even by ‘92, you’d think this track shouldn’t have stood a chance. Yet, there’s something oddly entrancing about the sparseness in Kirk’s style. Chalk it up to the catchy melodies, however simple they may be.

Human Spirit sees Kirk starting to indulge in the more tribal aspects of the Sandoz project. Over a looping chant, sweeping sinewaves and simple echoing hooks snake around 4/4 rhythms. This track’s sparse repetitiveness is quite trancey, and probably would have appeared on some very early trance compilations had more known of it. Well, okay, this was probably closer to ambient techno than classic trance, but the two weren’t that far removed when you boil down to it. Oh, and what’s with that old funk sample tagged on at the end? I don’t know which I find more amusing: the fact it actually works, or that the ‘damn’ bit is bleeped out! Heh, crafty, that Kirk.

Diving into some groovy dubbed-out soundscapes is Drum Meditation. It’s a pretty lethargic track, casually bobbing along as oddball sounds pop in and out over synthetic and organic percussion. Yeah, there’s not much to it, but it's decent chill fodder in any event.

Building upon the template laid out in Human Spirit is Limbo, a track which structurally does the same thing but more vigorously. The sweeping synths are clearer, the rhythm far more energetic and punchy, and the tribal chants catchier. Of additional note is the bassline: while many of the Sandoz basslines have been deep, grumbly beasts, the one in Limbo is a serious groover. No more apparent is this than some two-thirds into the track; when it drops after a rhythmic build, you won’t be able to help but bob your head in time.

Using some tribal percussion to set the pace, Zombie Astral is even more brisk than Limbo. However, it’s far more interested in subtlety, as the only element beyond percussion that does more than loop is a bubbly bassline played at a very low frequency. The synth pads and horn riffs surrounding it are nice little add-ons but don’t draw much attention to themselves.

We’re now reaching the dubbed-out outro section of Digital Lifeforms, and the final three tracks are quite nice at what they do. Beam sounds like an ambient dub version of Limbo (indeed, the same tribal chants are used); Steel Tabarnacle’s paranoid soundscapes are griping, and has a bassline with wonderful resonance; and White Darkness, while probably the most disjointed track on this, has some interesting movements between tribal percussion, chants, and dubby melodies. These tracks are a great way to finish out the album, drawing you into a hypnotic trance as the slight sounds and warm pads envelop your ears. You probably won’t even notice that dated percussion anymore, even if it was a turn-off in the earlier portions of the disc.

The main attraction out of the way, I suppose you’re wondering what’s up with the second disc now. To sum it up, most of these bonus tracks don’t measure up to the first disc, which isn’t too surprising. They are, after all, tracks that for various reasons never made the cut. A couple of them have appeared elsewhere but mostly are all unreleased.

While Kirk has arranged the bonus tracks to form some sort of flow, the ideas tend to be disparate form track to track. Listening to it, I get the impression he had a lot of avenues to explore his own techno when Voltaire was winding down. In the process, he refined it into his own style, of which became the basis for Digital Lifeforms. And, despite the tracks not sounding quite as definitive as the first disc, there are definitely some intriguing moments to be had for even the casual Sandoz fan. Here’s a summary:

Communicate (With The Future) - Bit of a chipper slice of ambient techno, with digitized voices speaking the title; reminds me of Bobby Bird’s work of the same era.

Ocean Reflection - Loopy; spacey. Decent example of old school trance, though could just as easily be considered techno with repeating pads.

Tribal Warfare - Bassline sounds like it’s been lifted by many modern ‘electro’ house producers. Decent tribal techno workout with bleepy hooks.

White Tab/Steel Darkness (Tetrodotoxin Mix) - White Darkness spread over extra echo effects and slightly funkier rhythms.

Erzulie - This bares the closest resemblance to the Digital Lifeforms material, which makes sense as it was a B-Side to one of the singles. Warm pads, bumpin’ tribal grooves, horn hooks, but still a notch below the griping qualities of disc one.

Human Spirit (Original Dub And Roll Mix) - Could also be called the House Mix, as the rhythms get funkier, the funk sample gets looped quite often, and, um, that’s about it. Pretty fun.

Zombi Savane - Kirk has a try at some acid house, with a warbley bassline, tongue-in-cheek samples (“Get higher, baby”), and somewhat gritty hooks. Aside from some flutes though, nothing distinctively Sandozian.

Medium Cool - The first Sandoz track, and boy does it show. It’s basically most of the elements found in Drum Meditation looped to eternity, with various, unremarkable percussion fills to spice it up. The least interesting bonus to be had.

Shanpwel - The most interesting bonus to be had! Funky tribal breaks with chants overtop and quirky drum programming so it doesn’t just sound like loops. Heck, I’d say this is even better than some of the material on disc one, although it hardly fits the same theme.

Mirror - Noodly ambient track with ‘dark’ sounds setting the tone. It’s a shorty so at least it doesn’t drag.

Whew. What a long-winded review, eh? I suppose it can’t be helped. Digital Lifeforms is, after all, a highly recommended album by old school techno, IDM, and even dub fans. To try and wishy-wash around the details wouldn’t do this release justice (even if I did get a little brief in descriptions towards the end of it, heh).

Given the scarcity of the original Digital Lifeforms, this Redux edition is definitely worth your attention if you’ve been curious of the Sandoz project -you get all sorts of unique sounds which were new territory for its time. Amusingly enough, with the whole electro and minimal trend going on lately, this release has the benefit of still sounding relevant well over a decade since it first cropped up. Isn’t retro a grand thing?

Score: 8/10

ACE TRACKS:
Limbo
Steel Tabarnacle
Shanpwel

Written by Sykonee. Originally published 2006 for TranceCritic.com. © All rights reserved.

5 Song Weekly Mini-Review #6

2010-05-10T00:27:00.000-07:00

Maybe I should have mentioned I was taking a little vacation last week, huh. Well, it was still unconfirmed just how long I’d have off, but now that I’m back, let’s see what random songs cropped up for this Mini-Review.

1. Guru - When You’re Near
From the album Jazzmatazz: Volume 1.

Timely, this. Backing vocals are by N'Dea Davenport, with music doing the acid jazz thing well before acid jazz really caught on with Ninja Tune. It’s really more of an evolution of thoughtful hip-hop that was quite popular in the early 90s (the fabled Golden Age for many): in this case, Guru took the idea of sampling jazz records one step further, creating his own jazz beats and including several session musicians. This tune’s more stripped down than much of what appeared on the album, but classy just the same.

2. P.M. Dawn - Reality Used To Be A Friend Of Mine
From the album Of The Heart, Of The Soul And Of The Cross: The Utopian Experience.

Whoa, another Golden Age song? P.M. Dawn seems to have gone down as something of a joke lately regarding hip-hop white people like, which has some merit - the group’s always been one of the cleaner acts of the genre with their spiritual themes. This one’s about relationships or something’r other; very pleasant mood and groovy beat. Check it out if you like your rap, erm, hook friendly and unaggressive.

3. Banco de Gaia - Glove Puppet (Dreadzone Remix)
From the album 10 Years: Remixed.

I was wondering how long it’d take for Marks to make his way here. Aside from Neil Young, I have more BdG albums than any other artist. Heh, funny that it’d be a remix that finally does make it here though. It’s probably one of the better remixes of a Banco tune, with Dreadzone doing some kind of shuffling salsa to complement Folkner’s plaintive vocals. God, but does she ever sound tragic here. I love it!

4. Nordreform Sound System - Schlabberdance
From the DJ Mix Cosmic Trance 02 by DJ Heyoka.

There isn’t much to say here, as less than four minutes of the track was used in this mix. The shortlived duo was comprised of Ben Wierzoch and Sven Dohse (according to Discogs anyway). Dedicated psy heads undoubtedly know Ben from his Planet B.E.N. project, which has been around forever. As with a lot of mid-90s psy, this is really hard to describe, especially with so little amount here. There’s a weird, wet noise that’s quite cool though.

DJ Brace - Shades Of Red
From the compilation Northern Faction 3.

Meh. This sounds like it’s trying to do the IDM-hop thing, and coming off very stilted in the process. The beats are just too programmed to be interesting. I can imagine him sitting at the studio and meticulously pointing and clicking every little fill and hi-hat, making sure it’s all perfectly quantized. I’m probably wrong on that, mind, but that’s what this sounds like to me. No blame.

Well, that was an odd assortment of songs, and really short at that. I almost thought we’d get that “all hip-hop” Mini-Review finally. Maybe some other time. Until next week then, where the randomness of chance will bring us yet another unexpected bunch of tunes (except probably Young; it’s an odd week).

Written by Sykonee, 2010. © All rights reserved.

5-Song Weekly Mini-Review #5

2010-05-03T01:22:00.000-07:00

Loddi doddi, party’s rockin’. Or something. Maybe I’ll be rockin’ more soon, as I’m pretty much done with working graveyards, going onto evening shifts instead. So, instead of having to leave a party just as it’s getting warmed up, I’ll be able to arrive at the party just as it begins to wind down! In the meantime, here’s five more random songs to talk about.

1. Dogon - Fat Old Sun
From the album The Sirius Expeditions.

Obscure experimental duo comprising of Paul Godwin and Miguel Noya. They released a few albums back it he 90s that few heard before seemingly disappearing. This is one of their chilled-out tunes, covering Pink Floyd's song of the same name and turning it into the sort of thing you might expect from and Air or Röyksopp. Though it’s alright, those big synth pulses and spritely plucks seem at odds; still, it's nostalgic and melancholy, which suites the theme fine. I can imagine this being a perfect soundtrack to lazing under a tree in the summer time, especially the end - nothing but gentle ambience.

2. 808 State - Cubik
From the album 808:88:98.

Yah! Knocking y’all out of that pleasantry, here’s Eight-Oh F’n State’s big techno hit. Let’s kick out the jams with that guitar squeal, siren blasts, and big ugly synth hook. Everyone should know this, even if it’s the lesser Ferry Corsten cover (dude, what’d you do with the FUNK!?). What else is there to say?

3. Neil Young - Don’t Let It Bring You Down
From the album Live At Massey Hall 1971.

Hah! Called it last week, didn’t I? You know what is weird though? Every Young song that’s popped up has been a live version. And from the same period no less. This one then? Another typical folksy acoustic ditty, with some memorable lyrics such as “Cold wind ripping / down the allay at dawn / And the morning paper flies / Dead man lying / by the side of the road / With the daylight in his eyes.” The recording from which was taken is possibly one of the finest concerts Young put on in his early years, so it’s a great primer if you’re curious about his music.

4. Sven Väth - Ritual Of Life
From the album Accident In Paradise.

Goa! Well, not really, but Väth was inspired by the place and wound up writing this track along with Ralf Hildenbeutel way back. Like most old-school trance, it works the slow rhythmic build as spacey synths and ethnic samples weave about the background. Come to think of it, a lot of current techno does the same. I s’pose what separates this is the pseudo-spiritual vibes, but what can you expect from goa trance?

5. Original Rockers - Sexy Selector
From the compilation Ambient Dub Volume 1 - The Big Chill.

These guys would go on to bigger things as Rockers Hi-Fi, but from here an entire sub-genre of music was launched. Sure, ambient and reggae-dub had occasionally crossed paths over the years, yet it was Beyond’s series of compilations that solidified the music as something worth exploring further (mostly in the chill rooms). Here, laid-back beats groove as mellow tones and dubby effects bubble about. Kruder and Dorfmeister were definitely paying attention.

Well, that was a nice, rounded bunch - could even make a tidy mix-tape out of it. Perhaps I’ll do something like that one day, maybe as a special anniversary edition. How’s the 47th week sound?

Written by Sykonee, 2010. © All rights reserved.

Miami Dub Machine - Be Free With Your Love (Original TC Review)

2010-04-29T03:02:00.001-07:00

UMK: Cat. # 0694 PUMM
Released September 19, 2005

Track List:
A1. Be Free With Your Love (Deepgroove’s Big Love Mix) (7:07)
A2. Be Free With Your Love (Cube Guys Miami Mix) (6:00)
B1. Be Free With Your Love (Deepgroove’s Big Dirty Dub) (8:14)

(2010 Update:
Yeah, I totally missed the pun on this one. It's not like Mylo's mash-up with Miami Sound Machine hadn't been around either. *shrug* A momentary lapse in brain power. The tune's still pretty good, and even got a subsequent remix by Fonzerilli that was mildly popular. The Deepgroove dub's still my favorite though.)

IN BRIEF: Not dub, but still fun.

It’s safe to say any music fan has certain weaknesses for specific styles. You become so attached to a genre that if a release has its name on it, you instantly want to check it out. I’ve known folks who’re fans of, say, house, and will snatch up anything with the word ‘house’ in the title, irregardless of the content.

I’m no different. For a while, trance was the pet genre I adored but as more and more releases were filled with music I felt was less and less trance, I gave it up. Filling in its place was a form of music I’d grown quite fond of by that point: dub. Of course, such an ambiguous name can mean many things, anywhere from layered bass-heavy reggae to mere instrumental mixes. It can be a frustrating endeavor sifting through it all; for every Dub Trees (cool psychedelic ambience) I come across, there’s an Asian Dub Foundation (poor-man’s Rage Against The Machine) that finds its way into my racks. You’d think I’d learn to be more discriminating over time but, admittedly, half the fun in collecting music is the trial-and-error process; that sense of anticipation whether you’ve stumbled upon something incredible and new. So, I will continue to eagerly check out anything with the word ‘dub’ in it, logic be damned (it’s good to be human!).

Which finally, in the third paragraph of this review, leads me to this release by Miami Dub Machine. Having already provided you with my reasoning for wanting to check this out, perhaps I should tell you straight-up whether it met with my expectations of what I want out of a release with the word ‘dub’ somewhere in it. The short answer is no. For the long answer, keep reading.

Miami Dub Machine is an alternate name for Italian trio Cube Guys, relative newcomers to the scene who’ve done a few remixes- er, covers of 80s songs. This one is the same, as Be Free With Your Love was originally done by synth-poppers Spandau Ballet.

In this case, they lift the catchy chorus and guitars of the original wholesale and surround it with their own beats and effects. The elements of their own device are actually quite nifty. A hollow bassline (I refuse to call it ‘electro’) bobbles around as glitchy electronic noises grate and grind throughout. Sounds like an IDM noise-fest when I type it but, amazingly, it actually sounds quite funky, as the sounds on display weave and work with the musical template and morph through various effects to remain fresh throughout. Additionally, the original’s verse is now treated as a bit of somber spoken-dialogue, which adds immensely to the more synthetic nature of the Cube Guys’ treatment.

The additional remix here is done by Deepgroove, a DJing duo whom seem to be garnering some praise lately thanks to their live shows. By removing the spoken-dialogue bit and amping up the bassline so it’s a fiercer bleepy bit of funky freshness, their remix is dancefloor dynamite! They also add some sweeping pads during minor breakdowns, creating an ethereal vibe to the proceedings as the original chorus sings along. Deepgroove’s take on Be Free With Your Love is definitely a keeper to groove a clubbing crowd. And, if you feel the Spandau Ballet bits are inhibiting what their remix is fully capable of, they provide a ‘dub’ version, which is basically the same thing but without the sampled chorus and driven by chunkier rhythms.

So, while Miami Dub Machine may not have been what I was expecting, I still enjoyed Be Free With Your Love for entirely different reasons. It’s not going to score super-high marks, just due to the fact this is still more of a cover than an original piece of work, but both the Cube Guys and Deepgroove manage to throw their own dynamic wrinkle into this release. Definitely worth a look-see.

Score: 7/10

Written by Sykonee. Originally published 2006 for TranceCritic.com. © All rights reserved.

5-Song Weekly Mini-Review #4

2010-04-25T20:45:00.000-07:00

Oops. I'm off by a day. Well, I wanted to spend a bit of time writing an actual regular review this week, so that's my excuse for not making my arbitrary deadline. That said, let's see what this week's collection of random songs gives us.

1. King Kooba - Static Society
From the compilation Northern Faction 3.

These guys have been around, like, forever. Well, at least fifteen years anyway. Mostly on the Kruder & Dorfmeister tip, their funky soul approach to breakbeats had them appearing on all sorts of nu-jazz and atmospheric d’n’b comps before finding a home with OM records. This particular track is about as laid back as you’re likely to find in this genre, but remains very funky, soulful, ect., ect. If you like a few chill synthy washes with your street shuffle groove, check it out.

2. Mouse On Mars - Future Dub
From the soundtrack Deepwater Black: Inclonation Vol. 1.

This track again? Man, have I been hearing it a bunch lately, first when I did a Random Review of that soundtrack, and then when I used it for a mixtape. Hey, it’s a cool tune and all - it did get Ace Track honors - just a bit overplayed on my ears at the moment. If you still haven’t checked it out, Future Dub is also quite laid back, casually taking in dubby, bubbly psychedelia over a shuffling downbeat.

3. LDC - Die Schwarze Zone (Razormaid Mix)
From the compilation Radikal Techno.

What the…? Is this mini-review going to only consist of tracks I’ve covered before? Well, at least in this case it wasn’t also another Ace Track winner. Still, this is pretty good. That grumbling bassline never gets old, and fans of classic German trance will love all the ominous touches throughout. Alright, so I still haven’t a clue what the lyrics are on about, but there’s an extended instrumental of this called Wir Schicken Dich Ins All, which is pretty freakin’ cool if you ask me.

4. Reverse Pulse - Flexible
From a personal compilation.

Meaning, a track I downloaded back in the AudioGalaxy days and burned to CD. Hey, at least this means it’s not from another CD I’ve reviewed. There honestly isn’t much to say about this track though. Back in the mid-90s, Cleopatra started churning out A Tribute To… albums, rounding up several in-house trance producers to do covers of famous electronic acts: Kraftwerk, Tangerine Dream, and so on. This is from the Depeche Mode tribute, but Reverse Pulse don’t do much with Felixible, simply opting for a standard mid-90s German trance rub and distorting the lyrics some. As for why I even downloaded this, it’s an amusing story, but I’ve run out of space.

5. Flowjob - Change Everything
From the album Zentertainment.

Back again with the material I’ve already covered, it seems. *shrug* I honestly can’t explain it. For a Flowjob tune, this is alright. As usual, their backing synths are future-friendly and Tokyo-cool, the tone is chipper, and the rhythms are ridiculously groovy. They’ve done better, of course, but as a gateway track, it works perfectly fine.

So no hip-hop like I predicted either. I'm just going to stop making predictions on randoms altogether. Well, maybe I'll predict another Neil Young song will crop up next week. The pattern thus far seems to be every odd week.

Written by Sykonee, 2010. © All rights reserved.

Various - Balance 016: Agoria

2010-04-23T22:29:00.000-07:00

EQ Recordings: Cat.# EQGCD029
Released March 2010

Track List:
Disc 1: Aller Retour
01. Gregg Kowalsky - Ashes From Evermore
02. Alva Noto - Monophaser 2 / DJ Koze - Lords of Panama
03. Mark Pritchard - ?
04. Manvoy de Saint Sadrill - Soeheniona
05. ToscaM - Joe Si Ha
06. Emiliana Torrini - Gun
07. Agoria - Parasite 2
08. Arandel - inD#5
09. Messina - Columpnam
10. 19.454.18.5.25.5.18 - When I Think Of
11. Pom Pom - 10
12. Agoria - Altre Voci
13. Glimpse - Train in Austria Part 2
14. The Field - Over the Ice (Live mix)
15. Olibusta - La Pazz
16. Cubenx - Mis Dias Y Tus Noches
17. Felix Laband - Whisitling in Tongues (Todd Terje remix)
18. Jozif - Back 2 My Roots (Jozif's 5 o'clock Fabric Shadow edit)
19. Bibio - Jealous of Roses
20. LCD Soundystem - 45:33 (Trus'me remix)
21. Boozoo Bajou featuring Rumer - Same Sun (Prins Thomas Diskomiks) / Oxia - Less Time
22. Hatikvah - Synchronicty (Block Barley & Engin Ozturk Holmby Hills Remix)
23. Rio en Medio - The Last Child's Tear
24. Tipper - Just as the Sun Went Down
25. Gregg Kowalsky - Ashes from Evermore / Alva Noto - Monophaser

Disc 2: Rising Sine
01. Sylvain Chauveau - Hurlements En Faveur De Serge T.
02. Aphrodite's Child - Loud Loud Loud
03. Taron Trekka - Shirol / Suedmilch - We Were
04. The Same - Szarpiesz Minerwa
05. Ogris Debris - G-Thong (You and Me remix)
06. Francesco Tristano - Knee for Thought
07. Different Gear - One Thing More (Dub mix)
08. Michael Forzza - Abstractor 2.0
09. Chris Carrier and Jef K - Morning
10. DVS1 - Running
11. Drama Society & Vladislav Delay - Almodrama
12. Agoria - Libellules
13. Avril - French Kiss
14. Gadi Mizrahi - I Know
15. Jonny Greenwood - Tehellet
16. Avril - French Kiss
17. Mark Broom - Twenty Nine (Broom 09 mix)
18. Einmusik - Atlantis
19. Perc & Passarella Death Squad - Temperature's Rising
20. Aufgang - Sonar (Spitzer remix)
21. Shit Robot - Simple Things (Work it Out) (Serge Santiago remix)
22. Efdemin - Acid bells (Martyn remix)
23. 3 Chairs - No Drum Machine part 2
24. Kid A - Lonely
25. Sylvain Chauveau - Hurlements En Faveur De Serge T.

IN BRIEF: The series continues to mash things up.

I’m not certain when it started (Fortier’s 3-disc offering is my pick, although I’m sure many others would say Holden’s was the jump-point), but the Balance series has become synonymous with DJing Artistic Indulgence. For a while, that mostly entailed thematic sets rather than standard dubplate rinsing, the sort of sets undoubtedly inspired by Sasha and Digweed’s offerings from the 90s. Then Joris Voorn decided to take things one step further, using tracks as bits of samples to create a larger whole. It was an ambitious project and earned the man a ton of critical praise for the effort, even if the actual musical product was only - *gasp* - good. Now, subsequent Balance sets have followed his example, bringing crap-loads of disparate tunes into tracklists, growing ever more eclectic and quirky as we go. To be fair, this has more to do with the types of DJs now being featured. Whether it’s been EQ Recordings trying to recapture Voorn’s buzz or it was their intention to take the series down this road, I’m not sure. Whatever the case, we should expect to see more ‘kitchen-sink’ sets in the future.

Anyhow, getting to the task at hand: Agoria. Born Sébastien Devaud, the guy deejayed and released various singles throughout the 00s before getting a major break with At The Controls, a DJ mix series that grew in prominence at the same time as Balance did (again, thanks to James Holden), but folded shortly after Agoria’s offering. Uh oh… might this be an evil omen? Ah, heh, not likely, since it was due to the end of Resist that saw At The Controls’ demise. Still, early buzz on this release did have some red flags flaring up. After all, just how many of these ultra-eclectic sets can we sit through before someone overreaches?

These are two very odd CDs. Monsieur Devaud seems to have no qualm about mismatching genres and free-wheeling mixes. Unlike Voorn’s clinically perfect stitching, there are many rough transitions, quirky key mashings, and flow derailments, providing a very loose tone to the music. I actually rather prefer this approach, as the feeling of an intimate human touch becomes more prevalent, faults and all. And honestly, the faults seem to melt away once you give these CDs a couple listens. It’s quite like a mixtape, where such roughness makes sense once you realize the context of the song selection.

That said, the first CD really is a bit of a mess. Oh, it starts out fine, taking in some laidback vibes for a nice, chill start; however, if the vocal mash-up of Soeheniona with Tosca’s Joe Si Ha is off-putting for you, you may as well skip the rest, as there are rougher ones down the road. Before that though, we get a nice build-up of ominous minimal-tech, peaking out with an inspired mix of his own operatic Altre Voci, Glimpse’s Train To Austria, and The Field’s Over The Ice. And man, you gotta’ love the fact he uses a live recording of the latter, giving the peak just that extra bit of energy as you hear the crowd cheering.

Unfortunately, all forward momentum dies here, as Agoria opts to ease us back down to chill territory to end the CD out. All well and good, and he capably manages this for a few tracks. Things get wonky though, as he begins pitching tunes down so it sounds like we’re trudging through molasses. It sucks all energy out of the set, and we’re forced to amble through a collection of classy funk and soul songs that fail to mesh into an enjoyable flow.

The funny thing is the peak of this ‘home’ disc is more exciting than the peak of the ‘clubby’ CD2. After getting my trainspotter senses tingling with opener Loud Loud Loud by Aphrodite’s Child (the first verse was used in one of my favorite hip-hop tunes, and I never knew where it was from …until now!), Agoria takes us on yet another ominous minimal-tech build. Though it lags in a few places - because minimal-tech always lags when played for too long - there are enough creepy effects and melodic moments to keep your attention. During the big peak, however, it gets messy. The backbone is Avril’s take on the classic French Kiss, which is quite good, but thrown in there is the breathy vocal of I Know, which unfortunately comes saddled with a mismatched bassline; and then we have a breakdown detour for an eerie cello solo (Tehellet). Agoria tries to hold this breakdown for far too long, expecting us to sit through it as it somehow works in his mind while the audience can only uncomfortably cheer him on, hoping he’ll sort things out eventually. Instead, what was intended to be a riveting climax comes off forced and wincingly tedious.

After that, it’s back to the dark minimal-tech beats and trancey, blissed vibes. Sweet, and easily wipes away those cringe-inducing feelings from the peak of the CD. There’s perhaps a few obvious tunes here (Acid Bells, Twenty Nine), but also cool obscurities (Sonar) to keep things fresh. The fact the end of this CD plays out like a traditional DJ set probably also helps keep things on an even keel after the rocky middle-section.

Though there are problems to be had with Balance 16, I still give this a strong recommendation. Forced moments notwithstanding, I just prefer the rougher sound on display here, not to mention the wide range of music on hand. Agoria may not have matched any of the series’ highlights, but it’s still a set that’ll hold your attention.

Score: 7/10

ACE TRACKS:
Rather pointless highlighting tracks in sets like these.

Written by Sykonee, 2010. © All rights reserved.

Stephanie B - Sweetest Taboo (Original TC Review)

2010-04-22T20:11:00.001-07:00

Sound Division: Cat. # SD0152
Released April 2006

Track List:
A1: Sweetest Taboo (StoneBridge Future Retro Mix) (8:04)
B1: Sweetest Taboo ( Neil Nuff Club Vocal Mix)
B2: Sweetest Taboo (Robbie Rivera’s Juicylectro Mix)

(2010 Update:
So this apparently was just a one-off, as 'Stephanie B' was never heard from again, and this track never had much impact past the year it was released (although it did appear on a 5 Years Of Armada compilation, oddly enough). This review is perhaps a bit more significant for your's truly, as it inspired a rather spirited discussion over what is/isn't electro with some of the readers of TC. All because I refused to call Rivera's shit mix 'electro'. I think I technically won that arguement, mainly because the accuser apparently had never heard proper electro in the first place. It wasn't enough to claim victory over the long war, sadly.)

IN BRIEF: Sweet as Sade.

Sweetest Taboo was originally performed by 80s R&B/jazz outfit Sade, whom often made dreamy ballads that grew very popular with adult contemporary crowds. Fast forward twenty years later, and the chill-out single has been tapped to be covered by a new gal on the block, Stephanie B, for all your current clubbing needs. While this particular copy of Sweetest Taboo was released on Italian label Sound Division, the original is from Swedish producer Sten Hallström’s -aka StoneBridge- own Stoney Boy Music, a sub-label of Armada Music (founded by some guy named Armin van Buuren -perhaps you’ve heard of him?). With practically no info around as to who Stephanie B is even on the almighty Google, my best guess is she’s a vocal piece for Sten to make this radio-friendly, glossy house cover.

I’ll get this out of the way right off the bat, as I’m sure it’s the foremost question already in our readers’ heads. Stephanie B does a competent job in filling in Sade Adu’s soulful prowess. Although not straying in any significant way to give it her own unique spin, neither does Steph attempt to outdo the original, which is probably a smart idea considering Sade was a very smooth singer. Where Sweetest Taboo will ultimately fail or succeed then, is in how good the new house versions are treated.

Sten’s own Future Retro Mix is aptly titled. The production on it is quite shiny, with plenty of little dubby effects sprinkled about. It’s the main synth hook that distinguishes this mix though. Nice and smooth, they glitter while complementing Steph’s singing. However, the actual melody they play has a tendency to conjure up the more decadent disco days or yore, giving the mix a more retro feel than the sounds on display would normally indicate. Fortunately, it doesn’t get too bogged down in nostalgic feelings, allowing the mix to still remain firmly in the present. It’s a very nice bit of house music for the more soulful, classy minded.

Neil Nuff’s club mix is a much different beast. Opting for the funk rather than the soul, he lays the beats on thicker and adds a juicy bit of acidy bass. Along the way, he adds some distorted guitar licks for some punch, but wisely keeps them as merely an additional layer of bassy sound rather than a main feature. However, Steph’s lyrics aren’t given much to do here as Nuff seems more interested in the music doing the work. It’s decent enough dancefloor fodder, though probably works better in a warm-up environment than peak-time hours.

Finally, there’s the Juicylectro Mix from Robbie Rivera, an individual who’s been around the house scene for over a decade now. It comes with great disappoint that his mix of Sweetest Taboo is a lackluster affair into tech-house territory. He moves all of Steph’s vocals to the beginning (after your complementary intro beats, natch), having them play in a minor breakdown with a single synth note and filtered beats playing in the background. Once he brings the rhythm back, the beats just bob along with no passion. Complicating matters is the additional hooks he makes use of: they are anything but ‘hooky’, and suck the life out of the mix. There’s no funk, no soul, no nothing. Just useless bleeps droning along to boring rhythm. By the time things finally get interesting again, the song’s basically over as we’re already on our complementary outro beats. Such a waste of a mix.

Still, the other two are fine enough for the house-heads; Sten’s own mix may be strong enough to give Stephanie B some shelf-life for the near future. Sade’s Sweetest Taboo may not have needed a house cover but it’s done nicely enough here to satisfy the current generation of clubbers.

Score: 6/10

Written by Sykonee. Originally published 2006 for TranceCritic.com. © All rights reserved.

5 Song Weekly Mini-Review #3

2010-04-19T04:11:00.000-07:00

So I know I’ve intended for this to be a weekly thing, but it seems I keep getting pushed back a day, turning these into ‘8-day’ Mini-reviews. I’ve got to right this ship somehow, so, with luck, the next Mini-Review will be in only five days from now. Er, provided I don’t get too distracted by NHL and NBA playoffs in the meantime. That said, let’s see what this week’s group of Randoms brings us!

1. Neil Young - On The Way Home (Live At The Riverboat 1969)
From the box set Archives, Vol. 1.

Oh yes, Young again. Hey, I’ve got a lot of his music, so odds are he’ll be cropping up a fair bit in these. As for this particular tune, it’s quite typical of the singer-songwriter folksy stuff he was doing after the split-up of Buffalo Springfield - in fact, this was one of the last songs written for the group. Being that it's early in his solo career, Young got to perform a number of small, intimate venues while on tour. That vibe certainly comes through in this recording. I’m sure he’d love to go back to that sort of show at some point but it ain’t gonna happen these days.

2. LFO - LFO (Leeds Warehouse Mix)
From the compilation Tracks From The Best Dance Albums Of All Time.

Yeah, the name of the compilation’s kind of corny, but you couldn’t fault the track list (given away for free with one of Muzik Magazine’s issues). This really is a classic in many ways: bleep techno pioneer, bass-bin demolisher, Warp Records flag planter, Speak’n’Spell trendsetter …and on it goes. If you haven’t heard this yet, get on it, damn you. This is MF’n techno history, man!

3. Nirvana - Pennyroyal Tea
From the album In Utero.

I personally never got into the grunge movement - too busy getting into ‘techno’ at the time, y’see - but several peers were, so I was hearing tons of Nirvana and Pearl Jam whether I wanted to or not. Fortunately, Nirvana was good enough that I’d enjoy most of their songs whenever they came within earshot, and quite liked this album for its general rawness of feeling. Pennyroyal Tea is about the sort of grunge tune you’d expect to hear around the time: quiet part, loud part, etc. You can’t go wrong with some Cobain scraggly singin’ though.

4. Jonas Steur featuring Jennifer Rene - Fall To Pieces
From the DJ Mix Intuition Sessions Volume 1: South Africa by Menno de Jong.

Vocal trance, with Jennifer Rene. And as usual, she seems to breathily mumble the words about losing love or some other damn thing. Yet, this is actually quite a pleasant tune. Steur keeps things melodically simple and to the point, and Rene does sound nice complimenting the gentle touches in the track, like pianos and subtle synthy washes. This was actually a minor hit, appearing on a few high-profile mixes, and has held up quite well when compared to the bilge that gets passed off as vocal trance lately.

5. The Beatles - Michelle
From the album Rubber Soul.

W’ah…? Another rock song? Well, not really, but the third from a name folks associate with rock music. Hey, I swear I do have more EDM than rock in my music collection, but I can’t predict how these Randoms go. Anyhow, the song at hand. Um, what else can I say about it that hasn’t been said before? It’s the freakin’ Beatles, man! If you don’t know this song, it’s probably because it’s one of their lesser known ballads, mostly known for a few French lyrics. That’s all I have to say about it.

So, three songs from three icons of rock music, one classic techno cut, and a vocal trance tune. Heh, it reminds me of one of those “which of these things doesn’t belong” skits from Sesame Street. Not that Steur turned in a poor effort or something - it’s a very nice track, for vocal trance. I can’t help but wonder if my Randomizer had a bit of a rock bias this week though. Wouldn’t surprise me if next week I end up with a hip-hop bias, further confounding readers who come here looking for electronic music. But that’s what makes this fun, eh?

Written by Sykonee, 2010. © All rights reserved.

Vector Lovers - Vector Lovers (Original TC Review)

2010-04-16T22:04:00.000-07:00

Soma Quality Recordings: Cat. # SOMA CD037
Released 2004

Track List:
1. Girl + Robot (5:13)
2. Tokyo Glitterati (4:18)
3. Telecom Meltdown (4:32)
4. Electrobotik Disco (4:51)
5. Funk & Droid (5:10)
6. Electrosuite (7:46)
7. Yamonte Sundown (6:16)
8. Futures In Plastic (5:02)
9. Kissed You by The Fountain (2:34)
10. Lake Nocturne (3:31)
11. Metrolux Forever (4:39)
12. Solitare (4:17)

(2010 Update:
It was with this album that I firmly planted my "what is and isn't electro" flag, going on a many year, mostly futile, crusade to save the sanctity of the good name electro. Begrudgingly, I've since accepted electro has now come to encompass drunk-stomp fart abrasiveness, but if you want to hear some electro with class, check out these tunes. I still do.)

IN BRIEF: Robotic romance.

Vector Lovers is Martin Wheeler, a self-professed lover of things robotic and anime. You may remember his music on such compilations as Balance 007 - Chris Fortier or Soma Compilation 2005, and, um, very little else it would seem. Give it some time though, because Wheeler’s debut is potentially a slow burner (yes, he’s released another album since this one, but let’s just focus on the debut for now).

I suppose the thing that may have initially held Vector Lovers back is the fact it is electro. This normally wouldn’t be a problem but when anything with a dated, fuzzy, or analogue synth is branded electro these days, it’s not surprising someone would off-handedly mutter, “Oh, it’s just another ‘electro’ release.”

In this case though, Vector Lovers is 100% true-blue electro. This is robot music as Kraftwerk, um, crafted. Music for robots to disco dance to. Music for machines to tour neo-Tokyo to. Music for cute anime girls in mecha-suits to make love to. Well, maybe not quite that far, although given some of the cartoons that come out of Japan it wouldn’t surprise me.

Still, Wheeler fully intended manga-esque images to crop up while listening to Vector Lovers, as is evidenced by the anime artwork he drew himself for this album. Let’s see how it turns out here.

Girl + Robot is aptly titled, as it sounds like a robot serenading a girl. No, seriously! With underlying electro beats and backing synths, a robotic noise seemingly sings. Midway through, a lovely little melody on bells emerges, creating a touching atmosphere as the robot continues to sing. If Kraftwerk had ever collaborated with Kitaro, they’d probably produce something that sounds like this.

Keeping with the theme of ‘machines in love’ is Tokyo Glitterati. A delicate melody over sparse electro rhythms sets the tone of this track, allowing wintery pads to conjure up melancholy emotions as they play. The elements are fairly simple, and Glitterati is quite short for the themes it sets, but this is still a wonderfully touching song, once more proving you don’t need to over-produce electronic music to evoke emotions.

If the opening two tracks are where the robots met and fell in love, then this next segment is where they go out on the town. Telecom Meltdown brings the pace up a bit, settling into laid-back techno. Quite the minimal track, the simple subdued synth stabs and jazzy electro organs makes me feel as though I’m casually cruising through a Tokyo district filled with flashing neon lights, passing humans and androids bustling about on the sidewalks.

Elektrobotik Disco sounds much like how the title reads. The funk-fuel is injected but we’re still cruising along to zap stabs, synth sweeps, and robo-talk. I can’t understand what the robotic voices are saying, and I suspect that’s kind of the point. As techno always intended, Wheeler is creating music for droids, or at least the futuristic possibility of it. Luckily, us puny flesh creatures get to enjoy it in the here and now.

The vibes get more hectic as we move onto Funk & Droid. Perhaps the title is self-explanatory, but let me provide a little detail. It starts out as you might expect with house rhythms and squelchy hooks sounding like some sort of chunky R2-Unit. Some two minutes in though, this track will leap out at you with added beat rolls and subdued sweeping synths. From there, the squelchy hooks really let loose, bringing Funk & Droid to wicked heights. Can the funk get any better?

Hell yeah it can. Electrosuite takes elements we’ve heard from the last couple tracks, cranks the funk further, and throws in a robotic voice saying “Electrobotik disco beat; Always keep the electro sweet” in time to the rhythm. Wheeler even mixes the words up to keep things fresh. And those squelchy synths! My God are they ever funky! This is electro house done fucking proper, my friends. It’s utterly irresistible; you’ll be moving your body no matter how unfunky you be. Electrosuite is what Daft Punk’s latest would have sounded like if they’d given a damn. You’d be forgiven if you’ve forgotten there’s more to Vector Lovers than just super funky electro house.

In case you did forget, Wheeler brings us back to some of the themes established at the start with Yamonte Sundown. Similar in its yin/yang approach as Girl + Robot, it starts out with moody, dark sounds and simple breakbeats as robotic voices utter unintelligible things again (Electrosuite’s the only track on this album you’ll be able to understand the robo-talk). Halfway through, a nice bleepy melody joins the foreboding song, eventually taking over the track entirely as the former elements withdraw. Yamonte Sundown isn’t nearly as dynamic as some of the tracks that came before, but is still an engaging listen nonetheless.

As if to prove he isn’t just a two-trick pony (hey, that’s still more than most producers), Futures In Plastic has Wheeler flexing the electro muscle to the limit. This track is more in vein of the newer forms of electro acts like Drexciya and Jedi Knights are known for, and it fortunately remains distinctive enough to remain a part of the Vector Lovers theme. The beats sound pretty erratic, yet groovey enough to not get lost. Along with bubbly synths and spacey pads, Futures is quite fun to listen to as it never settles into standard loops.

Kissed You By The Fountain is a bit of charming electro with an innocent cuteness in the melody. It certainly plays to the whole anime feel more than the robotic feel, although there are enough quirky machine noises in the background to remind us they are still about. It’s not long though, so let’s move onto the next track.

With Lake Nocturne, Wheeler stumbles. Hey, it was a good run while it lasted but it’s rare to come across an album of all killer, even from producers that show some incredible talent in their chosen field. I can hear what he was shooting for with this track, a sort of melancholy, introspective piece with a synthetic flute-ish instrument carrying the bulk of the melody. Unfortunately, his use of rhythmic sounds are annoyingly garish, and there’s just not enough substance in the background elements to save this. At least it’s a shorter track, so we can quickly get back into something more engaging.

We’re on the chilled-out outro segment of this album now, as we move into the ambient techno domain that made Boards Of Canada such darlings of the musical elite. Metrolux Forever has some nice melodies to go along with the synthetic sounds but Solitare outshines it with the simple Ballerina-Box-like melody over sparse metronome clicks and warm backing pads. A very lovely little tune, Solitare is a perfect closer to this eclectic album.

As I understand it, Wheeler initially had Vector Lovers available only as a CDr through a custom website before Soma picked this up for wider distribution. I’m glad they did. For a label known more for its gritty tech house and techno, this is a bit of a quirky release to add to their catalogue. Still, Soma has been known to take chances in the past (who do you think released the first Daft Punk single?) and it pays off here.

This album is definitely worth checking out for everyone who enjoys electro, as the music is pulled off with stunning finesse for a debut album. Wheeler does funky electro house without a hitch but it's the wonderfully touching melodies in tracks such as Tokyo Glitterati and Solitare that manage to elevate this above many electro acts - proper and poseur - with his own unique style. Whereas most electro tends to be like Ghost In The Shell, Vector Lovers is more like Armitage: robots may one day live side by side with humans, but it will be as affectionate comrades rather than with the technology overwhelming our souls. In Wheeler’s mind, the future is an inviting place.

Score: 8/10

ACE TRACKS:
Tokyo Glitterati
Electrosuite
Futures In Plastic

Written by Sykonee. Originally published 2006 for TranceCritic.com. © All rights reserved.

DJ 3000 - Galactic Caravan

2010-04-12T11:19:00.001-07:00

Motech: Cat. # UGCDMT 004
Released March 2010

Track List:
1. Flamuri I Popullit (4:45)
2. Meridian (5:45)
3. Heritage featuring Esteban Adame (5:55)
4. Coat Of Arms (4:55)
5. Darjeeling Sun (5:03)
6. Yrwehear (5:54)
7. Emotional Sequence (5:34)
8. Meloudic Landscapes (6:10)
9. Seven Tribes Of Hoti (4:23)
10. Penny For Your Thoughts (4:11)
11. Midnight Express featuring Esteban Adame (5:02)
12. Her Smile (5:02)
13. Memory Almost Full (5:26)
14. Day Dreaming (2:43)

IN BRIEF: Makes me get my strut on.

House music. Just good ol’ fashioned house music. A smooth groove, a catchy hook, and turning a stiff nose away from gimmicks of the day. No drunk-dumb stomp, white noise wash, fart-squirt bass, skank-ass screech, navel-lint glitch, or anything else like that. Just good ol’ fashioned house music.

Alright, so perhaps that’s embellishing things a bit. Truthfully Frank Juncaj is lumped into the tech-house branch of things, but he’s something of a traditionalist in this field. His sound has that timeless quality to it the best tech-house does, of always being on the fringe of futuristic funk without getting bogged down in the scenery. It’s the backing soundtrack to many a late-night drive through neo-Tokyo in search of a 24-hour noodle shop after a hearty round of the clubs. He shares a sonic palette with the likes of Timewriter, Tripwire, and other similarly named tech-house producers starting with “T” (are there any others?).

And he’s good at what he does, even if he doesn’t get the same kind of recognition other Detroit natives do. Going by the name DJ 3000, he’s released numerous records on his own Motech label (a sub-label of Submerge, which is mostly famous for a couple Drexciya albums), and made a tidy career out of producing classy, (proper) electro-tinged tech-house over the past decade. Now with his third full-length album, the cool-groove vibes carry on as usual, with nary a misstep along the way.

Of course, an album of good tech-house can be dull if it’s only tech-house, thus Juncaj has spiced his album up with a few, er, spices of the Middle East. It’s about the closest to a currently-trendy jump he’s made, taking ‘ethno’ influences for a few tracks, most notably opener Flamuri I Popullit and follow-up Meridian; the former gives us an instantly catchy hook, while the latter mostly features chants complementing hypnotic rhythms. For an album titled Galactic Caravan, they make sense thematically, and it’s odd that Juncaj pretty much drops it for the rest of the album (track titles notwithstanding). By the time we do get another track of this sort - yet another catchy hook courtesy of Midnight Express - I’ve practically forgotten there was an attempt at a theme in the first place.

Such is the strength of the rest of the tech-house tunes though. Wisely, Juncaj also spaces his album out with a few diversions of the Detroit sound along the way: a bit of techno-stomp in Darjeeling Sun; the obligatory, classy mid-album downtempo cut with Yrwehear, a touch of deep groove with Her Smile, swagger funk in Penny For Your Thoughts, and even what appears to be a live recording for closer Day Dreaming. Yep, Galactic Caravan is an all-round solid album.

So why just a ‘mere’ 7/10 then? Oh, you know: nothing really fresh here, it’s still mostly just tech-house, etc. Obviously, fans of this genre are going to love the album, and even casual connoisseurs will enjoy it (*cough*). Yet dance music’s discography is filled with options for this genre, and though Juncaj brings undeniable quality, so do several others. Galactic Caravan is a fine pick-up if you are in need of a little more groove in your life, just not an immediately necessary one.

Score: 7/10

ACE TRACKS:
Heritage
Emotional Sequence
Midnight Express

Written by Sykonee, 2010, for Electronic Music Critic. © All rights reserved.

5-Song Weekly Mini-Review #2

2010-04-11T11:51:00.001-07:00

Here we go with Weekly Mini-Review number two. Yet another curious clutch of tunes, though oddly enough three of these I'd 'discovered' within a very short period of time of each other. Can you guess which three?

1. Quadrophonia - Quardrophonia (Remix)
From the album Cozmic Jam.

The original is something of a classic rave track, though incredibly dated these days. I was obsessed with the tune, having first heard it on a NBA Inside Stuff Jam Session video. I could never find the album though, and it remained one of those elusive ‘must haves’ for me. About fifteen years after hearing it, I find the album in a used shop, and now I see copies of the bloody CD everywhere. So it goes. Oh, and this remix isn’t anything special compared to the original - where’s the bass, man?

2. The Human League - These Are The Days
From the album Octopus.

Did you know The Human League carried on all the way through to the new millennium? I sure didn’t, until I noticed Octopus sitting in a bargain bin. Imagine my surprise to find it was released in the middle of the 90s, at a time when practically no one cared about synth-pop anymore. It’s rather bizarre that this ditty sounds more current in the here and now (I could easily see Tiga borrowing that catchy chorus), yet seemed totally dated in ’95. Did you also know Man With No Name did a remix for this too? Oh come on, there’s no way you’d have known that without Ogging.

3. Aphex Twin - Next Heap With
From the album …I Care Because You Do.

An example of the ‘new classical’ sub-genre of electronic music that all the IDM wonks started doing in the mid-90s. Orchestral swells, string plucks, and so on, mostly based on samples and such (I think?). You could count on at least one such track on any given IDM album. It’s quite nice to hear, as James always seems able to come up with a lush bit of melody whenever he calmed the fuck down.

4. 2 Unlimited - Twilight Zone (Rave Version Edit)
From the album Get Ready!.

What the…? Another old school rave anthem? Well, unlike Quadrophonia, everyone knows this one, whether you wanted to or not. It’s been played over and over and over since it was first released, and will undoubtedly continue to be played (most likely at a sports event). It’s a bonafide classic that way, like Sandstorm and Thunderstruck. This is the vocal-less version, so if you felt the raps and chorus were corny, you have no excuse for not diggin’ this cut. Well, unless you just hate old school rave regardless.

5. Yes - Make It Easy
From the album 90125.

Technically, this isn’t Yes. Former members Chris Squire, Tony Kaye, and Alan White hooked up with guitarist Trevor Rabin to form a group called Cinema, from which this song was recorded in their early sessions. Eventually they managed to rope Jon Anderson in to do vocals on later tunes, at which point they said, “Fuck it, let’s just be Yes again.” (paraphrased ) When Rhino Records was re-issuing all of Yes’ back catalog, they tagged this on 90125 as a bonus track. As for this song, it’s pretty darn cool, if you like yourself some good ol’ early 80s new wave rock. Rabin does some pretty fancy guitar work too.

Okay, so guessing two of 'em would probably be easy enough. Bet you can't guess the third tho'! Well, alright, probably you can. It's really obvious since it was the early 90s that I heard 'em anyway.

Written by Sykonee, 2010. © All rights reserved

Various - In Trance We Trust 11: Mixed by Phynn (Original TC Review)

2010-04-10T22:36:00.000-07:00

In Trance We Trust: Cat. # ITWT 011 CD
Released March 2006

Track List:
1. Supresa - Back In The Days (Intro Mix) (6:45)
2. Vincent de Moor - Mystique Colors (3:42)
3. Airbase - For The Fallen (5:13)
4. A Boy Called Joni - Green Astronauts (4:25)
5. Kay Stone - Alone (5:41)
6. Estuera - Flow (6:02)
7. Phynn - Close Encounter (6:14)
8. Ozone - Q (2:37)
9. Wippenberg - Earth (4:10)
10. First State - First State (5:54)
11. Thomas Bronzwaer - Shadow World (5:16)
12. Galen Behr & Robert Burns - Till We Meet Again (Galen Behr Remix) (4:55)
13. Mode Hookers - Breathe (Sander van Doorn Remix) (3:56)
14. Mark Norman - Brasilia (5:33)
15. Astralis - Solar Flare (5:50)
16. Purple Haze - Rush (3:30)

(2010 Update:
I think I overrated this. Aside from Shadow World and For The Fallen, I couldn't remember how any of these went. Yes, even the two other tracks I gave "ACE TRACK" status to. Part of it too was I never really felt compelled to listen to this mix again. It's such a dull set, with nothing given an opportunity to stand out. This was about the time in trance's history when every other damned track was trying to be an epic, OMG anthem, flooding the market with expertly produced, forgettable dross. Seriously, take a look at that track list and tell me how many you can instantly recall - yeah, no classics here, my friends (well, maybe Shadow World). I listened to this twice to refresh my memory, and I still don't recall most of it. Man, no wonder I derailed the review to play Street Fighter - it's the only thing that made this review memorable in the long run.

As for Phynn, he seems to still be stuck in third-tier trance jock purgatory. So much for that "promising potential.")

IN BRIEF: Promising potential.

In Trance We Trust has been around for quite a while but I can’t say I’ve payed the sub-label of Black Hole Recordings (founded by some guy named Tijs Verwest -perhaps you’ve heard of him?) much heed, much less their regular In Trance We Trust mix series. Starting out at a time when damned near every trance DJ mix was sounding identical to the next, I saw nothing about the compilations that would distinguish itself from the pack. Even the lovely scenery cover art seemed cliché by that point. Still, I have to give the label some respect for managing to stick around for this long. Even as trance continues its gradual demise from its glory years, In Trance We Trust keeps on chugging along. With their tapping of new-comer Phynn (real name Finne Jager, but typing his alias is easier) to take on the eleventh edition of this series, it would seem the label’s hoping an injection of fresh blood will give the ailing trance scene a much needed boost.

I’ve been keeping an eye on Phynn’s career for about a year now. Unlike nearly all of the current generation of trance producers, he seemed to actually grasp the concept of the need for energetic rhythms as well as catchy hooks to make your song a cut above the rest. Unfortunately, aside from a couple singles, Phynn’s been relatively quiet for this amount of time. When I heard he was tapped to mix this release, I was definitely intrigued. Let’s see if he’s got the chops to kick trance out of its funk.

Phynn doesn’t waste much time in getting this show on the road. Despite the blissy nature of Sepresa’s Back In The Days, the rhythm is fairly energetic for a track that makes ample use of seaside samples. However, the main melody introduced in your standard breakdown isn’t all that memorable so Back In The Days serves better as a mood setter for this mix, as any good intro track should.

With Vincent de Moor’s Mystique Colors, Phynn gets down to business. There are all your usual trance components but Moor’s track has a better-than-average hook, decent backing sounds, and, most importantly, a groovy bassline that’ll warm you up nicely for follow-up For The Fallen by Airbase.

Eh? What’s this? Breakbeats? In a trance mix? Done competently!? Hell yeah! The accompanying bassline in For the Fallen sounds great, and the rhythms don’t come off as just a novelty. It’s a shame Jesper has to get all self-indulgent in a minute-long breakdown to do some piano wankery, but all is forgiven once the rhythm comes back, so infectious it is.

However, Phynn doesn’t stick with the breakbeat vibe, heading right back into standard four-to-the-floor rhythms in Green Astronauts. More of a pure traditional trancer, a moody, pulsing synth morphs through various effects while the rhythm keeps things steadily grooving. An additional plinky arpeggio emerges from the background in the latter half of this track, but allows the main synth to keep the spotlight.

Having eased us into a trancey state with Green Astronauts, Phynn whips out some epic anthemage. Kay Stone’s Alone has everything an epic anthem should have: smart rhythms, lush soundscapes, catchy hooks, and a perfect blend of effects at all the right points. Shame tracks like these are a dime a dozen these days. Sure, had this been released seven or eight years ago, Alone would be deemed a classic, but this has been done numerous times since, and Kay Stone’s offering here has nothing unique enough about it to stand out from the pack.

Diving back into loopy territory is Flow by Esteura. The central hook repeats throughout the track, remaining a bit subtle for the most part as other stuff plays around it. Good God, but does that second breakdown ever drag though. And what’s with that brief bit of guitar? It plays for only a couple bars, and we never hear from it again. Utterly pointless. The build back to the action is ace though, with additional sounds harmonizing with the still-looping central hook. At the very peak of the build, there’s a half-second pause of dead silence, which has a nifty way of sounding like all the air has been sucked out of the track, only to rush forth again with everything at once. It’s quite effective in retaining that lost momentum from that overlong breakdown.

Phynn’s own Close Encounter is next, and it has all the hallmarks of yet another epic anthem: the riff’s punchy, the percussions’ energetic, the appropriate synths have been loaded, and the breakdowns and builds, um, breakdown and build. Yet, like Alone, Close Encounter is half a decade too late to make any kind of real impact. There’s just so many anthems like this out there; they’re twelve for ten cents. Also, having three tracks in a row featuring breakdowns and builds is wearing thin, especially since there’s not a whole heck of a lot to distinguish them from the ‘über-choon’ category. This next track had better be something different, otherwise this mix will start to look suspect.

Er, this isn’t what I had in mind. Q by Ozone (Airbase again) certainly has a different feel to it compared to previous tracks, in that it has an utterly happy-go-lucky hook that could make even Ferry Corsten wince. Well, okay, it is stupidly, silly fun but yet another breakdown kills the momentum with a few seconds of total silence. Admittedly, Phynn’s choice of tracks does manage to retain any lost momentum with good rhythms but if this next track has another breakdown, I’m going to get very irritated.

Oh, what’s this!? Another bloody breakdown! Argh! That’s it! Phynn, you have got to-

Wait a sec! Hey, that hook is actually pretty sweet. In fact, it totally kicks ass! Man, Wippenberg’s Earth has just grabbed all those mean and nasty things I was about to write and tossed them out a five-story window with an explosive fuel tanker waiting for their landing at the end. The synth is simple and aggressive, having no need to get overwrought with fancy effects and trickery to sound polished. It’s kind of how those old ravey rave tunes went, only brought into the 21st Century. Ace material, this is.

I’d kinda hoped Phynn might follow-up Earth’s vibes with similar tracks but it’s not to be, as we’re right back into epic anthem territory. First State is yet another wonderfully produced song but, as our resident Brit might say, tracks like this are ‘ten-a-penny’ in trancedom these days. And, on a mix where we’ve heard it twice already, First State isn’t standing out as well as it should.

In fact, judging by how this mix has gone thus far, I can pretty much guess how the rest of the songs will go: big epic anthems, good rhythms, and some sort of unique twist to them that’ll differentiate it from a previous track. As First State ends, there’s exactly another half hour left on this CD, of which I don’t feel like meticulously detailing since I’ll just be repeating myself. Instead, I’m going to play some Street Fighter Alpha 3 while this runs through, and if anything of note happens, I’ll let you know. My fighter of choice: Fei Long. Waa chaaaaaaaaaaa!

Two minutes, twenty-three seconds later - I know you’ve heard supersaws before, but the synths in Thomas Bronzwaer’s Shadow World are a notch above them. Decent hook, too.

Two minutes, seventeen seconds later - Yep, definitely bigger and bolder. These aren’t supersaws. They’re SUPREMESAWS.

Three minutes, forty-seven seconds later - Woah! That anthem in Till We Meet Again just blasted out of nowhere! Heh, it coincided nicely as I busted out a Super Combo Finish on mid-Boss Balrog.

Fifty-three seconds later - This is pretty epic, but in a good way! Even makes for a suitable soundtrack to Fei Long’s quest.

Three minutes, twenty-three seconds later - An unfunky farty bassline? It could only be a Caucasian producer, and probably Swedish no less.

One minute, four seconds later - DAMN YOU, DAN!!! I can’t BELIEVE he ended my unbeaten streak!

Two minutes, twenty-eight seconds later - Hmm. Mark Norman’s Brasilia is some seriously sinister sounding stuff. Makes for decent Final Boss music.

Two minutes, fifty-five seconds later - Ha! Eat it, Bison! Super Combo Finish up your mudder fuggin’ arse!

Three minutes later - I’m still here. Just enjoying the end credits.

Well, that was fun. And I still have some of the CD left playing too. However, because Astralis’ Solar Flare isn’t all that interesting, and Rush by Purple Haze was already detailed here (personally, I find it fine, if a bit unfocused), I’ll get to the wrap-up portion of this review.

For the most part, Phynn’s track selection and arrangement is decent enough, if perhaps dipping a little heavily into Black Hole’s catalogue; seven tracks between it and its sub-labels, but then I suppose Phynn’s got to please his overseers. Unfortunately, it’s also one of the main troubles with this mix. I get the impression Phynn’s restrained by not being allowed to flex his muse beyond his parent label more. It comes as little surprise to me the more intriguing tracks -songs where Phynn’s personality as a DJ crops up- are from other labels. If he were given more freedom, this might have shined brighter for a first official DJ mix.

As such though, he works with what he can within the Black Hole confines. The mix itself kind of peaks out halfway through before you realize there isn’t going to be much more diversity, and despite Phynn’s best efforts to keep the vibes climbing, the similarities between the songs wear thin. Get this is you’re after some energetic anthemic trance, but don’t expect anything more than what we’ve heard many times before.

Score: 6/10

ACE TRACKS:
Vincent de Moor - Mystique Colors
Airbase - For The Fallen
Wippenberg - Earth

Written by Sykonee. Originally published 2006 for TranceCritic.com. © All rights reserved.

Various - Unwind: A Journey Into Global Grooves (Original TC Review)

2010-04-06T17:43:00.001-07:00

Com.Pact Records: Cat. #CPCD-IL025
Released 2005

Track List:
1. Solarians - Spring Thing (4:53)
2. Tribalistic Society - Åarhus On A Sunday Afternoon (4:46)
3. T.K.Y - Long Before This Day (7:50)
4. U&K - Sähkövalo (5:26)
5. Lish - Blue (4:44)
6. Sunfire - Electronic (7:14)
7. Visual Paradox - GaYo (2005 Remake) (5:50)
8. T.K.Y. vs. Max Maxwell - Twilight (5:18)
9. Wilson Stout - Helpless (Dini Dub Mix) (5:05)
10. Sesto Sento - Slow Move (4:47)
11. Psionyx - Deimos Vista (7:53)
12. The Misted Muppet - Defender Of The Past (2:17)

(2010 Update:
The middle of this review if kind of forgettable, much like the middle of this CD, to be honest. There was actually a second Unwind compilation, featuring most of the same artists, though none of the better ones on here.

One of the fun things with these generic psy releases is I often got to try something different with my writing, in this case doing a 'Good, Bad, Ugly (Verdict)' summary at the end. Come to think of it, that could have been a practical reviewing method for everything. Well, if you were after capsule ones anyway.)

IN BRIEF: Pretty standard stuff.

Com.Pact Records is yet another in what seems to be a never-ending supply of psy trance labels coming out of Israel. Every time I poke my head into the psy scene again, there’s yet another label churning out a slew of mostly full-on trance. I honestly have no idea how some of the more dedicated psy fans can keep up with it all, much less want to. I’d be amazed if there’s enough diversity between the releases to warrant such dedication. Yet, the scene must be there, as the albums and compilations of Israeli psy just keep on trucking out.

Perhaps Com.Pact sensed there was too much of the same ol’, and decided to expand a little into other styles. The result is what we have here: Unwind, a collection of chilled-out global grooves featuring a bunch of names only the Israeli psy scene would have a passing familiarity with.

I’ve been wary of these sorts of compilations for a while now, as the Great Chill-Out Campaign of the new millennium saw a huge glut of ‘adequate’ downtempo releases when Moby’s Play suddenly made it commercially viable. The trouble, my friends, is the very nature of music like this. It isn’t designed to excite or inspire or infuriate, but merely provide a backing soundtrack to everyday situations. Perfectly fine when such situations call for it of course, but very drab when, as a paying listener, you’d rather have the music engage your consciousness rather than evaporate within it.

Still, I’ve heard some decent downtempo stuff from the psy camps in the past, and perhaps an underground label like Com.Pact won’t fall into the same ‘chilled-out muzak’ trap so many commercial labels do. Let’s find out, shall we?
Um, unfortunately, opener Spring Thing from Solarians doesn’t bode too well. You ever see those racks of easy listening music in New Age shops that read like Rainforest Rhythms or Sounds Of Sweet Savannah Showers? Yeah, they tend to look low-budget and hokey, and trust me they usually are. Spring Thing is the kind of track you’d probably hear on one of those: wispy synths, ‘organic’ sounds, and ‘inspirational’ melodies that are anything but. And what’s with that bass? It just grumbles along without harmonizing or leading. This track’s hardly the kind of first impression you want to make. It’s like someone attempting to make a grand entrance into your home, but trips and falls flat on their face.

And instead of quickly gathering himself to save some face, he follows up the trip with a mere shrug and wanders off to settle in. Or, to be rid of this clumsy metaphor, Unwind has a peculiar choice to follow-up Spring Thing with Tribalistic Society’s Åarhus On A Sunday Afternoon. This is a very loose track, borrowing mellow themes from across cultures to form a nice collage of disparate ideas, but little else. You’d think it’d be a better idea to try to grab your attention with something a little more focused, but it is not to be.

Long Before This Day by T.K.Y. carries on the loose musical ideas, seemingly unsure of what kind of track it wants to be. It starts a bit goofy but turns quite somber once some pads are added. Most of the sparse melodies that weave around aren’t terribly interesting, as the sounds used are a bit flat. Midway through, Long Before changes direction again with a weak bassline, some reggae organs, and an Arabic chant. I don’t know about anyone else, but these elements just don’t gel for me. It sounds like it’s trying to be dubby but the sounds don’t carry enough resonance to make it effective. I often find myself tuning this track out.

U&K’s Sähkövalo finally gives us something interesting. More on a trip-hop tip, funky loops and groovy rhythms set up the start. Eventually, moody subdued chords gradually emerge from the background, gently growing stronger as additional synth washes accentuate them. While nothing revolutionary, it is still an engaging bit of music.

Blue by Lish continues the trip-hop trend, though opts for something a little more upbeat. Although murky dubby sounds weave about in the background, the rhythm’s got more kick to it than Sähkövalo, and the added synth hook towards the end is quite effective along with squelchy sound effects that don’t annoy. Perhaps Unwind will be salvageable after all.

Hah, you know that last line is a set-up, so I won’t beat around the bush. Sunfire’s Electronic starts out fine enough with nice sweeping pads and gentle rhythms, creating a pleasant Ibizan atmosphere. It all goes south though, when for reasons that utterly escape me, Mr. Kosyvev introduces a harsh, tuneless synth noise. It’s abrasive, it’s ugly, and it’s completely unnecessary, knocking me out of my calm tranquility like a slap to the face.

What follows for a bit, while interesting in spots, falls into the ‘lounge’ trap of being content to remain unobtrusive. GaYo has a nifty bouncy bassline, but the assortment of xylophones, echoey synths, pianos and so on never bother to carry any kind of melody. Twilight benefits from a murky Arabic atmosphere but also doesn’t settle into any kind of gripping theme. And the Dini Dub of Wilson Stout’s Helpless, while a pleasant bit of Mediterranean chill, is just as hookless as the previous two. Of course, none of these tracks are bad by any means, but they are quite typical of lounge vibes, and probably won’t stand out much if you listen to a great deal of this sort of music.

Unwind seems about ready to move onto something new, though, and opts for the gradual transition. Slow Move by Sesto Sento is an intriguing slice of ambient breaks, making use of some spacey pads and acid squelches to complement the rhythms and hooks. The percussion is also quite good, never settling for simple loops.

With Slow Move easing us from the organic lounges to the synthetic sounds, we move into sci-fi territory... or psy-fi, as the case may be. If Com.Pact’s usual audience has been put off by all the laid-back, jazzy, dubby music thus far, Deimos Vista by Psionyx should be more their style. With spacey synths, stuttering soundscapes, and narrative melodies, this is also the most structured song to be hand on Unwind. The usual ‘psybient’ theme of benevolent alien ideologies should appeal to spaceheads as well.

We close with Defenders Of the Past by The Misted Muppet. Not a very long track, this serves as a decent enough ambient outro following in the theme of Deimos Vista. Eerie synth pads and piano melodies make up the bulk and, even for their short duration, they sound wonderful. This guy continues to impress me; maybe I should seek out that album of his all the psyheads were gushing over.

Now, for The Good: As far as chill albums go, there’s a decent amount of variety to be had. Additionally, the music flows nicely together despite the disparate downtempo styles. Credit should also be given to Com.Pact for daring to expand a little beyond their usual borders.

The Bad: There really isn’t much here that we haven’t heard from countless other chill compilations. Aside from some points where the quality of a track leaps or plummets, Unwind would have a hard time distinguishing itself from your usual chill fodder. Plus, this compilation has a pretty weak start, and first impressions go a long way in setting the mood for any CD.

And The Ugly... er, Verdict: If you see this in your shops and have very little chill music in your collection, you could do worse. However, like so many chill-out compilations these days, Unwind remains far too content to be ‘background’ music. I know the argument goes that’s the whole point of music like this, but with so many compilations of loungey music available, does it then matter which one you put your money down for? No, even chill music should be able to engage you when you’re actually listening to it.

An average score should suffice for Unwind. It would have been lower on account of the weak opening, but it finished strong; even-steven all the way.

Score: 5/10

ACE TRACKS:
Psionyx - Deimos Vista

Written by Sykonee. Originally published 2006 for TranceCritic.com. © All rights reserved.

5-Song Weekly Mini-Review #1

2010-04-03T22:04:00.000-07:00

Here's how this works. I'll select five tracks at random (or rather my Window Media Player will, heh) and write a paragraph about it. What's included in the paragraph will depend on what the track is, what album it's from, who it's by, and so on. If possible, I'll also include a link to either an Amazon.com or YouTube.com source so you can hear what the tune sounds like for yourself. Alright then, let's get this show on the road!

1. Neil Young & Crazy Horse - Winterlong
From the album Live At The Fillmore East.

Woo! Kickin’ the new feature off with Neil F’n Young! Winterlong has an odd history, as it never appeared on any official album until the three-record compilation Decade. Folks still knew of it though, as it’d been performed live since, well, at least this 1970s gig at the Fillmore East, and it gained a bit more popularity during the grunge era when the Pixies covered it. This version is kind of rough around the edges, as though Young and his Horse band were still working out the kinks. In fact, it’s a bit surprising to hear Young’s vocals so low in the mix; former Horse guitarist Danny Whitten really dominates. It’s a nice enough tune, so long as you like yourself some laid-back Southern rock. Of course, the group’s done better.

2. Nebula - Sky
From the album Gate To Infinity.

I figured a few obscurities would make their way into these lists - after all, that’s part of the allure of doing it randomly in the first place. On the second track though!? Anyhow, this is one of the earliest productions from Elvio Trampus, and quite removed from the hard trance he produces of late. Rather, we get a dubby, bouncy bit of blissed downtempo techno …or something. I’m hesitant to give it the IDM tag, even if it does sound similar to earlier forms of that sound. One of the better cuts from the album anyway.

3. Robert Armani - Circus Bells (Hardfloor Mix)
From the compilation Muzik Classics: Techno.

Holy cow! It’s an actual good compilation from Beechwood Music. In fact, for a collection of early techno, it’s excellent! Probably didn't hurt that the ace magazine Muzik was the sponsor for it, but I'll get into that some other time. As for Circus Bells, it’s about as you’d expect given the names involved above. Armani provides the basic stomp, Hardfloor adds extra acid tweakage, and the results are strictly awesome all the way.

4. Hieroglyphics - Love Flowin
From the album Full Circle.

One of the best underground hip-hop groups around, to be frank. Folks probably know more about member Del Tha Funkee Homosapien but the whole crew is filled with talented, diverse MCs, including here Opio, Pep Love, Casual, and A-Plus. And producers! Opio was behind the board for this one, dropping orchestral samples with some great thumpin’ beats into the track. Great stuff if you have a hankering for ‘backpack-hop’.

5. T. Power featuring Amaziree - Runnin’
From the DJ Mix The Stanton Sessions by Stanton Warriors.

Pretty typical example of UK 2-step garage from the turn of the century, here with extra nu-skool breaks wobble-bass! Amaziree’s soulful croon is fine enough. Erm, and there’s not much else to say with this cut. Hey, there’s gonna be a lot of ‘average’ songs down the road, so don’t go expecting brilliant write-ups every time.

And I suppose this is where I'm supposed to give a concluding paragraph? Um, I'm not sure what to say. It's not like there's a unifying theme to these tunes or anything. Or, is there...

Nope.

Written by Sykonee, 2010. © All rights reserved.

William Orbit - Hello Waveforms (Original TC Review)

2010-04-01T18:31:00.000-07:00

Sanctuary Records Group: Cat. # 06076-84772-2
Released February 2006

Track List:
1. Sea Green (6:23)
2. Humming Chorus (3:36)
3. Surfin (4:52)
4. You Know Too Much About Flying Saucers (4:59)
5. Spiral (4:57)
6. Who Owns The Octopus (5:01)
7. Bubble Universe (4:04)
8. Fragamosia (6:32)
9. Firebrand (6:16)
10. They Live In The Sky (4:57)
11. Colours From Nowhere (5:59)

(2010 Update:
So that follow-up album never materialized until 2009. Yikes, does that ever date this review, huh? Ah, this one's kind of sloppy anyway, an early case of me struggling to find ways of talking track-by-track with songs that really didn't have much to talk about, yet steadfast in believing all album reviews should be a minimum 1000 words long. I'll admit there's some really hilarious grammar gaffs here. As for the album, it's still a very, erm, pleasant listen.)

IN BRIEF: How many different ways can you type ‘pleasant’?

You have to hand it to older Orbit fans. Through his Madonna collaborations, his classical musings, and general seclusion since, they have patiently waited for a new full length of original material under his own name. It’s been quite some time since the last Strange Cargo was released, and the landscape of electronic music has seen some radical changes (or remained stagnent in some circles, but that’s another debate). With Hello Waveforms, fans finally have their new material. The burning question then, is whether this release lives up to the longing expectations.

Well, I’m not the guy to answer that. Aside from the obvious hits, I never gave much notice to Orbit’s older work. Probably like many, Ray Of Light and Pieces In A Modern Style was where I really exposed myself to his production. There’s nothing wrong with that either, as my perspective of this release isn’t weighed down by past accomplishments. As such, Hello Waveforms has the ‘blessing’ of being judged by the music it contains. Lucky guy, that Orbit.

First off, let me mention the booklet that comes with this album. This is, without a doubt, one of the glossiest booklets I’ve ever seen. Super slick and shiny, it just feels wrong to even muss it up with my breath, much less hold it in my greasy, grimy fingers. It’s the kind of booklet that makes it worth actually buying the release, just to show it off. Oh, I guess the additional artwork of the ‘Waveform Girls’, as Orbit calls them on his website (which includes some nifty videos of this artwork in motion) is nice to look at as well. Anyhow, let’s get into some actual music, shall we?

As we dive into Sea Green, it is immediately apparent Orbit still hasn’t changed his studio sounds much. Some’ll probably complain about him not moving with the times, but I don’t find it to be a big deal. Even if some of the synths he uses are a bit dated, they are still unmistakingly his alone. No one has managed to emulate Orbit’s sound and it makes his work all that more unique, effectively shielding him from sounding too dated.

Sea Green itself is quite warm and inviting. Several little benign melodies weave about on synths, pianos, and acoustic guitars, forming a calming bit of music that doesn’t really settle into any definite structure. Unlike a great deal of songs that wander about, Sea Green doesn’t fall apart at the seams as the melodies that come and go are quite catchy. There’s some muted rhythm as well, but it merely serves the melodies in crafting something of a chipper atmosphere.

With Humming Chorus, we see Orbit still not quite having gotten the classical bug out, as this song is from the Madame Butterfly opera. Strictly bleepy synths, strings, and other oddball sounds, the pleasant atmosphere to be had in this track is quite calming. I can’t help but feel I’m lounging about in some tranquil Victorian-era fairground as it plays.

An ethereal slide guitar emerges from the start of Surfin, melting into a tranquil bit of early evening tropical bliss. Like Sea Green, this track is quite content to meander about, allowing simple pleasant melodies to weave in and out. Similarily, You Know Too Much About Flying Saucers follows this same form. Despite bubbly bass and acoustic noodlings providing an eerier setting, Saucers is still quite calming to listen to. Even a rather psychedelic outro to the track doesn’t distort the calming music.

After this run of peaceful ambience, we move into the lead single, Spiral. With guest vocals by UK urban girl act Sugababes, this song wouldn’t sound out of place in a typical young woman’s clothing store. I wouldn’t go so far as to say Spiral ruins the flow of Waveforms - it’s actually quite the needed divergence after four tracks doing relatively the same thing. However, Spiral isn’t really a standout example of your typical modern R&B sound, and feels odd being on an album like this.

Who Own The Octopus marks the midway point of Waveforms, and also marks the best bit of music yet - molasses electro rhythms, synthy guitar musings, and nice sweeping synths create quite the engaging bit of chill. Towards the end though, we are treated to a stirring climax of fuzzed-out guitars and synthy harpsicord. Even if Octopus is overall mellow, it is by far the most riveting track.

From here, Waveforms begins a gentle slide to take us out. Bubble Universe is an interesting sonic experiment with distorted vocals and pixie-ish charm. While an intriguing listen, there really isn’t much to latch onto here between the various sounds weaving about.

Fragamosia features a violin, viola, and cello played in parallel with dubby electronics. It starts out promising, as the musical ideas featured in the beginning show promise [g’uh -2010 Syk]. However, much like most of the music we’ve heard thus far, Orbit instead seems content to allow things to merely noodle about. The only trouble with Fragamosia’s case is the melodies aren’t as engaging as those in the first half of Waveforms, and the song doesn’t stand out as a result.

Firebrand seems to share the same troubles as Fragamosia. Despite the use of an assortment of woodwinds and brass instruments, this track is far too much noodle without enough substance in the weaving melodies. This makes it a pleasant bit of background music but not much else.

We get some vocals with The Live In The Sky, but aside from plenty of oohs and aahs in the beginning, they aren’t as prominent as the ones in Spiral. Instead, this track, like so much else on the latter half of Waveforms, is a pleasant bit of music but hardly engaging.

Closing out the album is Colours From Nowhere, an eerie excursion into ambience that seems to borrow some Orbit-ish melodic ideas that have been sprinkled throughout Waveforms. All of this is linked together with pretty cool sounding synth pads. It’s about the mellowest track on this album, which is saying a lot considering just how mellow this whole CD has been.

And that’s probably the only real fault to be had on Waveforms. Aside from Octopus and perhaps Spiral, there isn’t really much that’ll leap out at you as it plays. Mind, the music is all very charming, and is perfectly suited for background ambience. The astute listener will also find a number of the brief melodies that come and go quite nice.

However, the overall atmosphere of Waveforms kind of leaves one wanting a little more than what we are given. Orbit does have plans to release another album later this year, so perhaps this one is merely the appetizer before the main course. Still, if you are in the market for some mellow music, this album will suit you fine.

Score: 6/10

ACE TRACKS:
Who Owns The Octopus

Written by Sykonee. Originally written 2006 for TranceCritic.com. © All rights reserved.

So, like, where's the music reviews, huh?

2010-03-31T01:01:00.000-07:00

Oh, you know how it goes. Distractions and stuff, right? Er, well, I guess that's not helpful.

Okay, so I admit I haven't done much in the way of new music reviews for a couple months now. Part of that has to do with a move to a new apartment, and another part of that has to do with needing to focus my writing efforts on scholastic endeavors. There is another factor though, and it unfortunately will impede my efforts to review new releases for a little while longer: finances.

Without getting too detailed into it, my current amount of debt is at a level I'm not comfortable with. Mind, I'm by no means deep in a hole, but I want to spend some time this year whittling it down to a more manageable amount so the interest doesn't kill me should my creditors decide to jack up the rates. This means cutting costs on other things, and I've decided to include my regular music purchases as a part of this - in other words, less 'risk' albums I know little about, and only personally anticipated releases instead. The drawback, of course, is less new material to review.

Still, I don't want to let this blog linger between such reviews, so to make up for this, I'm going to draw upon my current collection for material, though with a twist. Taking a cue from the Random Reviews I'd do from time to time at TranceCritic, I'll randomly select five songs each week and do a Mini-Review (about a paragraph long) of each. It shall be called: The Weekly 5 Song Mini-Review. (name can change if someone comes up with something catchier) And when I say five songs, I mean of any style of music - heck, it may even include a spoken-word skit! Whatever comes up in my random selection, I will included it. Keep in mind this will be mostly for fun, not at all serious like the seriously serious regular reviews that are serious.

Also, I've realized that it's taking a HELL of a lot longer to upload all those old TC reviews at a rate of one per week than I anticipated, so I'm doubling that time to do a rate of one every half-week. I should now finish it by, oh, 2012 or so.

Maxx - No More (I Can't Stand it) (Original TC Review)

2010-03-29T18:00:00.000-07:00

Quality Music: Cat. # QCDS 7062
Released 1994

Track List:
1. No More (I Can’t Stand It) (Airplay Mix) (3:44)
2. No More (I Can’t Stand It) (Club Mix) (6:09)
3. No More (I Can’t Stand It) (Overworked Mix) (4:28)
4. No More (I Can’t Stand It) (Welcome To The Terrordome Mix) (5:32)
5. No More (I Can’t Stand It) (Paradise Garage Mix) (5:33)
6. No More (I Can’t Stand It) (Mr. Gee’s Mix) (4:54)

(2010 Update:
I really don't know what it is, but every time spring rolls around, I get very, very fond of euro dance again. Must have something to do with all that sunshine coming back and stuff. Even this year I found myself pulling out all my old euro compilations at the beginning of March. I actually intended to have an honorary March Euro Review every year, but when a number of those CDs in my collection kept cropping up in Random Reviews, I saw little point in doing so.

I still don't know who "Hands Of Fate" are either...)

IN BRIEF: No no, no, no-no no... Oh, wait, wrong song.

Around this time last year I went on a euro dance kick and reviewed every 2 Unlimited single I own. In honor of that bit of zaniness, I’ve decided to do the same with every Maxx single I own.

Um... this is it. Don’t go breathing a sigh of relief all at once.

Really, Maxx only had two hits: No More and Get-A-Way. They might have had more but, like so many euro acts, only managed a single album before folding. Reasons for this remain a mystery.

Catching the peak of euro dance just as it was about to begin its slide, Maxx managed to stick out from the crowd with two main ingredients: ‘tinny’ production and a ragga rapper who was white (German specifically I hear). The latter was a quirky gimmick, probably done to catch some of the momentum of white ragga rappers Snow popularized, but really not the group’s calling card. Rather, the former of these attributes was a strange gimmick considering just how polished most euro was sounding in ‘94. Maxx, however, had a hollow, flat sound, allowing their fuzzy basslines to generate the momentum. It was pretty unique at the time, and would go on to be copied a great deal. Personally, I feel that sound kind of ruined the old euro style, as producers saw Maxx’s success as a way to cut corners and get away with flat rhythms. However, this group managed to pull it off on the strength of their melodies.

While Get-A-Way was the breakout, No More was a worthy follow-up and contains all the charm you’d expect from old euro. The bassline’s simple and effective, practically carrying the whole track since the main hook, a tuneless, bleepy thing, doesn’t quite have the muscle to stand out. And, as with all of the best euro, the chorus sung by Linda Meek is super catchy, never growing annoying. Even after six variations of No More on this single, the chorus never lost its charm. Plenty of additional elements - ranging from synths, strings, pianos, and assorted sounds - pad the song’s duration, remaining well in the background as to merely complement the main features.

Four remixes come on this single, most of which offer a variation of No More’s format to appeal to different crowds.

The Overworked Mix takes No More into more typical euro territory. With softer, stuttery synths carrying the lead, the bassline is relegated to support status instead. Everything plays out as before, although the rap is more audible.

Welcome To The Terrordome Mix attempts to give No More an edge with aggressive rhythms and a hook that sounds like sirens, and is even more tuneless than the original hook. Besides that, it’s the same song. Does it succeed in making No More edgier, though? Well, compared to most euro, sure, but the gabber kids would be laughing their asses off should they have heard this.

Probably the most intriguing mix on this single is the Paradise Garage Mix. Much like many of the tunes being played in that club around this time, the mix goes into more trancey territory with dreamy, airy melodies and backing arpeggios. Interspersed throughout the mix are low acid burbles that help generate some extra rhythmic momentum. By no means a classic, I could still see this mix finding its way into an old trance set as a worthy complement to the heavier hitters. The remix credits for this point to “Hands Of Fate”, and yes, they actually have quotations. Considering there’s no record of such a name other than this single, I wouldn’t be surprised if this mix was done by a prominent trance producer of the time, but decided to hide behind an untraceable psuedonym. It’d be interesting to find out who it was.

And finally, we have Mr. Gee’s Mix. Who is Mr. Gee? I don’t know. This is also the only place I’ve seen the name crop up, but since his remix isn’t all that interesting, I’m not too anxious to find out. It’s pretty much the same song, but with his own style thrown in. Two words: circus music.
That wraps up this review. If you are a fan of that classic euro style, this is still a worthy addition. Of course, that time is long since past. So, unless you’re an adamant collector of this kind of music, the only thing of extra interest would be the Paradise Garage Mix, as the other remixes stick to the original’s template far too much to warrant any non-fan’s attention.

Score: 6/10

Written by Sykonee. Originally published 2006 for TranceCritic.com. © All rights reserved.

Above & Beyond - Tri-State (Original TC Review)

2010-03-21T22:27:00.001-07:00

Anjunabeats: Cat. # ANJCD-004
Released March 6, 2006

Track List:
1. Tri-State (4:09)
2. Stealing Time (7:11)
3. World On Fire (4:44)
4. Air For Life (7:27) (with Andy Moor)
5. Can’t Sleep (7:23)
6. Hope (4:28)
7. Liquid Love (6:42)
8. In The Past (2:28)
9. Alone Tonight (6:23)
10. Good For Me (5:42)
11. For All I Care (5:50)
12. Indonesia (5:01)
13. Home (7:12)

(2010 Update:
I have a confession to make. Around the time I wrote this, I was going through something of a heavy weed phase. I think this may explain why this review rambles so much, even more so than many other previous ones. Not that I actually wrote this while stoned - I can't write worth shit in such a headspace. I did listen to this stoned, however, probably making it sound much better than it really was. Er, I dunno anymore, as I lost my copy of this album and haven't heard it since. Maybe it has held up after all.)

IN BRIEF: Some very familiar sounds here.

This can be a thankless task, reviewing a highly anticipated release such as Above & Beyond’s Tri-State. With a few years under their belt under various guises (including Oceanlab and Tranquility Base), Jonathan Grant, Paavo Siljamäki, and Tony McGuinness, have managed to build up quite the expectation for a full-length. Also, due to their light-weight, super-polished anthems, they’ve managed to polarize a great number of trance fans in the process: either you enjoy their easily accessible attributes, or you despise it. I’ve hardly seen any middle ground on prominent web-forums when it comes to Above & Beyond.

So, you can see my problem. Whichever way my opinion of this release goes, it will undoubtedly draw the ire of either camp: give it a good review, and get condemned by the old trance scensters for liking ‘cheese’ (what, my Drexciya review means nothing?); or, give it a poor review, and get condemned by fans of being a jaded elitist who bashes popular music just for the sake of it (what, my 2 Unlimited reviews mean nothing?); or, take the political route -be completely, drily objective, and be attacked by both camps for not swinging more in favor of their opinions. In the end, I suppose it’s best to do what I always do: dive into Tri-State from my own perspective, and judge it according to my musical background, other opinions be damned.

The good news is I barely have any prior Above & Beyond background, so I’m heading into Tri-State with very little pre-conceived expectations cobbled together from former hits. The bad news is where my Above & Beyond experience mainly lies: the remix of Satellite. I know this track has its fans but I’m not one of them. I felt it was a tired, cliché-ridden exercise in generic epic vocal trance. All the expert production on it couldn’t hide the fact there just wasn’t much substance behind all the shiny, stuttery synths. I remained disinterested in their output and all the debates raging around how the group was inspiring/destroying trance.

Which is a good thing! If the pre-release buzz is to be believed, Tri-State is a departure from their club trance fodder of yore. Instead, Above & Beyond are interested in crafting an album meant for home listening. So, without me going into this expecting nothing more than Satellite clones (which I’m sure a number of their old fans are), I get to do this review without previous artist bias. No blame.

Starting out, the title track opener is a pleasant little ambient intro making use of piano melodies, synthy melodies, and gentle pad work. Every element works nicely with each other, creating a warm atmosphere. As I listen to this, I can’t help but be reminded of Faithless during their very laid-back moments. Though this song is a little simpler than Faithless, it is still a good way to kick off Tri-State.

With a silky smooth transition, Stealing Time gives us our first beats of the album. Nothing highly energetic, mind you, as Above & Beyond opts to keep things nicely cruising along. As the song moves with simple spacey loops, backing strings, and understated hooks, Stealing Time has a very old school feel to it (as in, ‘96 era Sasha & Digweed school)... well, aside from those vocals but just ignore them. Compared to the music playing, they are insubstantial fluff (sorry, Richard).

The tempo picks up with World On Fire, a simple bit of epic trance making use of grooving rhythms and bleepy leads. Surprisingly, the track seems to understand the concept of ‘less is more’ when it comes to trance. In this age where everything shoots for the biggest, brightest, boldest sounds, those on display in World On Fire are more restrained, kind of how the epic format sounded during its humble beginnings nearly ten years ago. Think Sash!, only less goofy and with smarter production.

Hmm... That’s the third song in a row now where I’ve drawn reference to the music sounding like something else, a reviewing technique I tend to frown upon doing here at TranceCritic. Perhaps I’d better pause this review for a moment to explain myself. I can assure you this ‘other artist referencing’ is going to happen a few more times before I’m done with Tri-State. This isn’t meant to be a dig on Above & Beyond’s creativity, or some lame-brained attempt at claiming they ripped off other artists; the group does manage to put their own spin on these songs. However, as I listened to Tri-State, my first thoughts on many songs often consisted of, “This sounds like so-and-so,” and those mental notes have stuck. Such comparisons aren’t a bad thing though, especially considering some of the names that popped up. With that out of the way, let’s get back to the review.

The next track is Air For Life, and it sounds like something Andy Moor might produce. Haha, just kidding. I know he had a hand in this.

Actually, I’ve listened to this once before but it was amongst so many generic trancers it never stuck out, so I don’t remember how it went. Listening to it here, Air For Life is one half nice, and one half meh. First, the niceness: the peaks of this track contain some wonderful airy voices floating about (Carrie Skipper’s, for the record), forming a gripping melody which is impossible to resist. When the main melody is in play, this is a great song. As for the meh-ness, the rest of the track is carried by a bassline that is conceptually one step removed from speed garage. The low, chunky sawwave attributes of it initially sound cool but it doesn’t spark any kind of rhythmic momentum by relying on straight-ahead stabs. If it’s trying to be funky, it certainly failed in that regard and the sweeping voice pad work alongside the bassline isn’t enough to distract from its inadequacies. Great sounding strings on this track, though.

Can’t Sleep features vocals by Ashley Tomberlin which fail to engage after the first verse. They just aren’t as interesting as the music playing in the background, which is stunning considering the music on this track is incredibly sparse. Structurally, the song is epic trance but about as subtle an epic trancer as I’ve ever heard. It’s like Jonathan, Paavo, and Tony had a discussion, decided the epic trance sound had grown too overblown, and went to work on creating minimal epic trance. The backing sawwave pads are subdued, the main lead is nothing more than a few single echoing notes (sounding a bit like some of Oliver Lieb’s old L.S.G. works, I might add), and the typical build-ups are gentle rather than forceful. Musically, it’s far more interesting than whatever Ms. Tomberlin’s going on about (something about love-induced insomnia would be my first guess) and, much like the lyrics in Stealing Time, I always find myself tuning Ashely out.

We get a blissy bit of Ibizan trance with follow-up Hope. Piano melodies (don’t worry, no Robert Miles comparisons here), lush voice pads, pleasant strings, and tribal chants create an euphonious, organic track. It’s only four and a half minutes long though, and has the unfortunate feeling of being merely transitional.

With Liquid Love, Tri-State begins to take on a very grand feeling to it. Musically, this track is pretty much a generic, mellow epic trancer that doesn’t differentiate itself from much of the pack; however, the production quality on the sounds displayed here is stunning. Above & Beyond have already impressed me with some great sounding string arrangements but the resonance on the ones in this track, coupled with some nifty distortion techniques, makes Liquid Love sound far more grand than it really has any business being. Oh, yeah, there’s some vocals from Robert Bedford in this one as well, but they don’t add much either.

Picking up on the scope crafted by Liquid Love, In The Past continues the theme of grand strings, voice pads, and pianos. While nothing more than an ambient interlude, this Vangelis-like track nonetheless sets up the anticipation for the next song admirably.

And, hey, it’s Satellite that’s next! Haha, no, just kidding again. This one is Alone Tonight, which may as well be the big brother of Satellite since not only is it structurally and audibly identical to Satellite, it also features male vocals instead of female ones (Bedford’s again, though this time actually quite inspired). The production’s a bit more mature too, but that’s to be expected.

Since Alone Tonight is so high-profile, I suppose you want my personal opinion on its merit as well. Very well. Um, I kind of like it. Hey, I’m just as surprised as you, considering I didn’t like Satellite, but this track has one factor that saves it: context. The music leading to Alone Tonight has generally felt quite subdued, yet thematic, as if it’s building up to something big. Thanks to such expert track arrangement, Alone Tonight comes off as that long-awaited climax we’ve been anticipating while the album plays, and it sounds quite good as a result. Mark my words, though, if I’d heard this in a common trance set, you’d undoubtedly see me rolling my eyes, sarcastically muttering, “Well, that’s new”; this is still a very, very typical epic trancer that we’ve been hearing since the turn of the century.

Opening with Eno-esque pad work, Good For Me features vocals by Zoë Johnston surrounded by ambient textures. For some reason, I can’t help but picture this being sung in the middle of some Middle-Earth flower-field with butterflies and birds fluttering around Ms. Johnston singing in a big, flowing white gown. It’s a very picturesque bit of ambience, bordering on New Age (kind of like Enya at her more ethereal moments) and follows the thematic nature the last few tracks have managed to craft nicely. With that in mind, Good For Me would be a perfect capper on Tri-State.

...Only they decide to keep going. For All I Care starts promising, keeping the Eno pads, adding a catchy bassline (probably the best on this album), and throwing in a new wrinkle with guitar work. However, this track soon turns into a bit of meandering light-weight indie rock. Yes, you read that right. Indie rock, as in the kind of stuff tearing up the charts in the form of new wave bands as of late. It isn’t all that bad, to be honest, but it isn’t all together a standout either. It’s just kind of... there. And, it brings the thematic flow of Tri-State to a sudden halt, which is a shame considering how good it was doing before.

There’s two more tracks at the end, but neither are able to lift this album back up. Instrumental Indonesia has great sounding pad work but is stilted by weak rhythms that won’t have Hybrid quivering in their shoes anytime soon. And the effeminate Home would make for a decent closer in a romantic movie, but is lacking the emotional punch as the closer for Tri-State, especially when you consider some of the highs this album has been at. In all, we end on a very limp note.

I guess the final verdict on Tri-State is ‘decent’. There are some highs, there are some lows, and a lot of right-down-the-middle. Despite the standout production quality to be had, many of the songs don’t shoot far musically. This isn’t always a bad thing, of course, as an understated album can be quite the pleasant listen when you throw it on. However, when there’s a fair bit of this type of material available (as all that artist referencing can attest to), you tend to need to come up with something more innovative to stand out from the pack. Above & Beyond’s expert use of strings and pads are a definite plus, but slick production isn’t going to work all the time when the main elements, especially vocals, aren’t nearly as engaging as the background elements.

I’d say if you are still new to this whole trance thing, you will get a great deal of enjoyment out of Tri-State. There’s enough here to give you a tantalizing appetizer before the main course is offered by some of those other names I mentioned.

Score: 6/10

ACE TRACKS:
World On Fire
In The Past
Alone Tonight

Written by Sykonee. Originally published 2006 for TranceCritic.com. © All rights reserved.

Frankie Knuckles - His Greatest From Trax Records (Original TC Review)

2010-03-15T08:45:00.000-07:00

Trax Records: Cat. # CTX-CD-5007
Released 2004

Track List:
1. The Night Writers - Let The Music Use You (7:55)
2. Marshall Jefferson - Move Your Body (6:43)
3. Jamie Principle - Waiting On My Angel (4:01)
4. Kevin Irving - Children Of The Night (3:53)
5. Frankie Knuckles - Your Love (6:43)
6. Screamin’ Rachael - La Vie (3:56)
7. Frankie Knuckles - Baby Wants To Ride (8:34)
8. Dezz - Boom Boom (7:45)
9. Frankie Knuckles - It’s A Cold World (5:43)
10. Frankie Knuckles with Jamie Principle - Your Love (You Got The Love Remix) (6:26)
11. Frankie Knuckles - Bad Boy (6:15)

(2010 Update:
Timing can be everything. Just a couple weeks before writing this review, I'd finished reading the excellent book Last Night A DJ Saved My Life, which provided quite an insight in the 80s gay house scene. I can honestly say I'd not have understood the context of the music on this CD without reading that book first.

Also, this review features possibly one of the best concluding paragraphs I've ever written. At least, I think so!)

IN BRIEF: A soul thing, a spiritual thing... and sometimes even a gay thing.

I am not gay. The thought of another man in a sexual manner does nothing for me. While I don’t find the notion of two men being intimate with each other as something abnormal (to each their own, right?), neither do I find it arousing. The gay lifestyle is as foreign a concept to me as a woman’s. Simply put, I am way hetero.

That all said, after listening to Frankie Knuckles Presents, I have to admit the notion of being gay sure sounds a hell of a lot of fun.

In what should be a bit of unexpected info to no one, the Godfather of house music is indeed gay, played to predominately gay audiences (most of which were black as well), and produced music that would undoubtedly appeal to such a crowd. This compilation features nearly all the songs Knuckles had a hand in that were released on Trax Records, a label that gained acclaim for tons of house classics and notoriety for dodgy business practices.

Okay, a good chunk of the music on here could be construed as being ambiguous for its target audience twenty years on. However, when you envision this stuff playing to dancefloors filled with sweaty, gyrating gay men on uplifting drugs, it just makes more sense that way, especially when vocalist Jamie Principle is present (nearly half of this compilation).

The disc opens with a pair of tracks that many equate to the classic Chicago house sound: Let The Music Use You by The Night Writers (a Knuckles pseudonym) and Marshall Jefferson’s Move Your Body (which Knuckles produced). The production is fiercely raw and simple, yet there’s something irresistible about it nonetheless, and you couldn’t picture these tracks having the same hold on you if they were re-done with modern equipment, as many, many lukewarm ‘9x and ‘0x remixes can attest to. The vocal prowess of Ricky Dillard in Let The Music Use You lifts you up as Knuckles’ production accommodates him to keep building this track with soulful energy. And when the main rhythm and piano loop starts in Move Your Body, it is quite possibly one of the defining moments in house history. Even if the track does nothing more than alternate between various drum, string, piano, and vocal loops from there on out, the energy from that first drop carries over to the very end.

However, these two tracks aren’t a good indication of what to expect on this release. Rather, Waiting For My Angel is more indicative of the Knuckles sound on Trax. With its bubbly bass, analogue synths, tinny percussion and vocals washed in reverb, the sound is unmistakingly 80s. It conjures up that seedy, decadently sinful inner city neon flavor that was the decade’s clubbing calling card. Of interesting note on this particular track is Jamie Principle’s performance: save a few breathy moans and effeminate giggles late in the track, he sings far more ‘straight’ than we will hear later on.

Kevin Irving’s Children Of The Night is one of the few tracks here that stretches the Knuckles association a bit thin; he’s merely credited as the mixer, certainly an integral part of the studio process but hardly one that normally goes recognized. While having this slice of housey-italo blend is nice, it unfortunately does showcase one of the big problems Trax Records was known for: sketchy producing. Granted, everything on here does contain some really rough sound but we tend to overlook that much in the same way we overlook the rough sound quality of 60s rock music -the music manages to still move you in spite of this. However, Children Of The Night is poor even for Trax Records. There’s just no resonance to be had, and the song comes out sounding incredibly flat. It’s not I.F.O.R. piss-poor, but glaringly obvious in this case.

Moving on, we come to Your Love. You may know this track as the original backing to You Got The Love (also included on this disc, though under a different name). The lush pad work, catchy bassline and arpeggio hook are all here, though in far rawer incarnations. Also, Jamie Principle has the vocal duties on this one, elegantly crooning between heavy sighs. Your Love, above all else, is incredibly stirring, especially at the apex of the track when the backing pads rise to their highest note with the female chorus. As the track ends with a bit of choir backing and Jamie erotically moans, “I can’t let go”, the lush, tender nature of Your Love will fully embrace you, even if the sexual orientation seems ambiguous.

Screamin’ Rachael’s La Vie is another song merely mixed by the Knuckler, and it shows as this track doesn’t hold much similarity to the ones bearing his name alone on here. Rather, La Vie is more italo in nature, although it does contain some funky slap bass guitar to complement the stuttery synths.

Baby Wants To Ride. Hoo, boy. You may want to hold onto your hats if Jamie’s moans and giggles in the earlier tracks were too gay for you. Here, he breathily speaks about various things while Frankie’s funky bass and sinister synths drone in the background. What starts out as some sort of commune with God turns into a reflection of a sexual encounter with some gal, playfully delivered with all the sexy slyness Prince was known for; prudes’ll probably blush at some of his moaning, heh. When some extra percussion is added mid-way through (the rhythm is pretty sparse), Jamie goes into some odd political tangents. Ultimately, the general gist of it is America’s double-standard of claiming to be a free country, yet discriminating gays. All in all, it’s a pretty cool sounding track but seems to wander aimlessly at points.

Boom Boom from Dezz (Knuckles again only credited as the mixer) is an example of early acid house: big, cavernous rhythms, some associated lyrics, and the TB-303 getting a simple workout. While nowhere near as complex as the little acid box would later get, there are some interesting tricks pulled on Boom Boom, especially when it gets a bit distorted near the end. Nothing sequenced here, just raw, improvised knob-tweaking over a backing beat. It is even more aimless than Baby Wants To Ride, though, and at nearly eight minutes in length, you may lose interest since Boom Boom really is sparse. Pretty much one of those songs that makes better sense on a dancefloor.

Another Frankie & Jamie collaboration is next in the form of It’s A Cold World, a somber, reflective song that probably spoke to several gays coming to grips with their sexuality. Knuckles doesn’t miss a chance to play off of Principle’s lyrics, making use of an eerie synth pad towards the end to complement the song’s themes. Sadly, the mastering of It’s A Cold World isn’t the best, as you do hear some unfortunate frapping of the bass and distortion of the lyrics at points.

I guess when the original bootleg of You Got The Love first cropped up, Frankie took it upon himself to make an ‘official remix’ and release it commercially legit. That’s what we get here, although I wonder why Jamie Principle is credited but not Candi Staton on this CD’s tracklist? He only provides a bit of backing vocals here. Oh, how is the song? Well, my associate critic J’ already covered all the details in his review of the latest re-release of You Got The Love, so you can check that one out if you want. As for my personal opinion, this is a decent bit of diva house, and probably the ‘cleanest’ sounding track to be had here (mainly because it was produced a few years later than the others). And you still can’t beat the moment when the backing pads hit that high note, even if they aren’t as prominent here as they are in the original Your Love.

And finally, at the end, we get the absolutely unabashedly gay song Bad Boy. Very happy, very fey, and very quirky, it’s a cute track, but I wouldn’t dare play it to a homophobic frat party. The track list credits this to Knuckles, but this is a Jamie Principle song. Every single vinyl that has had Bad Boy on it has had Principle’s name on it. Why credit it to Knuckles and Knuckles alone here? Hnn... it seems the sketchy labeling of Trax Records continues, even in retrospectives such as these.

For that matter, despite the choice tracks to be had on Frankie Knuckles Presents, the overall presentation leaves a bit to be desired. This is hardly the entire Frankie story, as we’re only getting a slice of his discography. Mind, that’s to be expected since this is only the material that came out on Trax but those seeking a more comprehensive collection may have to wait a little longer. The other gripe I have is the sound quality on some of these. Yes, I know house veterans would be screaming ‘sacrilege’ if anyone tampered with the original masters, but let’s be fair here. Many of them were kind of shoddy to begin with and, in this day of digital marvels, wouldn’t it be nice to perhaps give these classics a proper sound treatment so we can enjoy them in their full glory? I’m not asking for a “Greedo shoots first” kind of change, just an “eliminate that pink blob under the landspeeder” kind of change.

Still, this release is a decent enough introduction to the house sound of the mid-80s. A vibrant, hedonistic, sexual energy runs through these songs, capturing the carefree days when a gay man could escape the torment of prejudice in the world and lose himself in house music. The tragic breakout of AIDS sadly cut short those years, and, like any scene that sprouts from innocent intents, it will never occur again. This is the soundtrack to those times and, no matter your sexual orientation, you can’t help but get lost in the moment as well.

Score: 7/10

ACE TRACKS:
Marshall Jefferson - Move Your Body
Jamie Principle - Waiting On My Angel
Frankie Knuckles - Your Love

Written by Sykonee. Originally published 2006 for TranceCritic.com. © All rights reserved.

BT - These Hopeful Machines

2010-03-09T13:20:00.000-08:00

Nettwerk: Cat. # 0 6700 30849 2 5
Released February 2010

Track List:
Disc 1:
1. Suddenly (8:06)
2. The Emergency (10:53)
3. Every Other Way (11:07)
4. The Light Of Things (10:47)
5. The Rose Of Jericho (7:43)
6. Forget Me (9:38)

Disc 2:
1. A Million Stars (12:25)
2. Love Can Kill You (5:22)
3. Always (6:12)
4. Le Nocturne De Lumiere (11:38)
5. The Unbreakable (10:25)
6. The Ghosts In You (7:57)

IN BRIEF: These songs, I wish.

I’m not going to proclaim to be anything of a BT expert. I sporadically enjoyed a number of his tunes from the 90s, was ready to proclaim him an incredible producer after hearing Fibonacci Sequence on Sasha’s GU: 13 mix compilation, then was mightily disappointed in the album Movement In Still Life. It sounded like an overcooked attempt at ‘electronica’, fully three years too late to be relevant; mind, it probably didn’t help I was exposed to the busted American version either. None of Mr. Transeau’s output interested me since that time (well, aside from the perverse curiosity of what an N’Sync collaboration would sound like …it sucked). Apparently I’ve missed out on some dizzying highs (This Binary Universe) and dilapidated lows (Emotional Technology), which I’m sure would affect my thoughts on this latest album to some degree. As it stands, however, perhaps going into These Hopeful Machines without hearing those may be a benefit, as I won’t be weighed down by those expectations, good and bad.

Actually, that’s not entirely truthful. There’s already some expectation here, most of which derived from pre-release buzz, and a good deal of which was rather… sketchy. Word had it that BT was going the pop route again, and considering his last foray down that road - Emotional Technology - has been hailed as his worst album, a number of folks were leery about how this one was going to turn out. Well, pop is indeed what we get here, more than you’re likely to ever want.

Look, I’ve got little problem with much of pop music, whether it’s bonafide classics (The Beatles, Abba, The Police, etc.) or cheesy dance (2 Unlimited, Snap!, just about any early-90s euro dance really); a good tune’s a good tune. And BT does know how to write a good tune. There are loads of catchy choruses on this album - Suddenly, The Light Of Things, and The Unbreakable all get lodged in my noggin, such that I’ve no problem falling sway to, plus enjoyable nuggets of music scattered throughout the rest of both CDs. The trouble is BT fills his music with so many gratuitous, pointless effects and wayward tangents, it dilutes and ruins any charm the hooks have. The word “restraint” seems to be a totally alien construct to Mr. Transeau.

Let’s put it another way. Normally, someone would write a sentence thus: “The sky is blue.” Now, here’s the way BT would write it:

“The- let me pause for a moment, as I wish to present to you a theory of the cosmic significance of the word ‘the’, as it relates to the number pi.”

Three paragraphs later…

“…anyhow, the firmament above, where the heavens so grand exist beyond a fragile veil of nitrogen, oxygen, carbon dioxide…” (every atmospheric element is listed at this point) “…contains a deep azure melding with various shades of cerulean, aquamarine, and blue, which is a color I love, you love, and we all must love, like a dove, for love is the grandest of loving feelings, a feeling of pure emotional nurturing sentiment, this love we love.”

That’s what it’s like to listen to this album. It grows so tedious that anytime an effects-laden ‘solo’ emerges, I completely tune out until it finishes. I simply don’t care.

Another thing that struck me is how BT seems to be playing catch-up with contemporary club music, including rounding up regular ‘trance’ vocalists like Christian “Will Shed Tears For Sunrise” Burns and Jes “You Still Remember ‘As The Rush Comes,’ Right?” Brieden. Perhaps most shocking is The Emergency, a collaboration with Anjunabeats regular Boom Jinx. It features side-chaining, thunk-clap rhythms, and very little point beyond trying to fit in with the current generation of mau5 clones. Elsewhere, The Rose Of Jericho style-bites old-school McProg beats and plinky-plonk hooks, turning in a track that works at the peaks but pointlessly piddles about to get there (Le Nocturne De Lumiere suffers for much of the same reason). The Light Of Things, perhaps one of the least offensive tracks in the overwrought-effects department, is basically your standard vocal trance outing - though I must admit it’s quite good compared to many other dismal attempts of the same type; there’s fun energy to be had here (the fact it’s a collaboration with Laurent Véronnez of Airwave fame probably helps). I’ll also add The Unbreakable works in this regard as well, although whenever I imagine the scene in which it’s likely to be played at - super lasers and smug superstar DJs urging a ravenous crowd to enthusiastically hop in one spot with a fist in the air - I get a cold chill down the back of my neck for some reason. It’s a very obvious, manipulative, calculated anthem, that one.

There’s also a bunch of ‘rocktronica’ tunes and downtempo moments, most of which are quite derivative of the sound (Every Other Way? Meh, needlessly long). Aside from Suddenly (one of the few tunes that works provided you first edit out the effects wonk that bookends the track), the only one that stood out for me was the final track, The Ghost In You, for the simple reason that it’s one of the most restrained songs on the whole album. While I was first listening to These Hopeful Machines, a couldn’t help but wonder what a BT song would sound like if he stripped away all the production trickery and simply played acoustically. Well, I got my answer here and despite being a cover of 80s band The Psychedelic Furs, it still comes off as generic as many BT tunes goes these days, especially for a singer-songwriter ballad.

I’ve no doubt there will be plenty of new fans loving this album, as it seems to be mostly geared towards a fresher crop of party kids who aren’t much aware of BT’s 90s output but are dazzled by superfluous special-effects (or those who simply enjoy unoriginal radio-ready melodies). If such is the case, so be it. I may throw Suddenly and The Light Of Things on as a guilty pleasure on occasion but the rest of These Hopeful Machines is quite forgettable. I’ll stick to the 90s BT, thank you very much. He at least had a better grasp of the word “restraint” back then.

Score: 4/10

ACE TRACKS:
The Light Of Things

Written by Sykonee, 2010. © All rights reserved.

Flowjob - Support Normality (Original TC Review)

2010-03-08T11:17:00.001-08:00

Iboga Records: Cat. # IBOGACD36
Released January 15, 2006

Track List:
1. Run, Baby, Run (The Big Escape Version) (10:13)
2. Everland Airport (7:45)
3. Flangers In The Night (8:19)
4. Have Fun & Survive (9:00)
5. Wannafrisbee (9:03)
6. They Are Not Alone (8:17)
7. Mood Food (7:56)
8. Wadley (9:32)
9. Glitter (7:47)

(2010 Update:
More wordy than it needed to be, but I think my enthusiasm still came through on this review. Unfortunately, Flowjob didn't quite break out in a way I thought they might have, especially since their follow-up wasn't quite as good as this. I still give this album a high recommendation though. It's insanely infectious and loads of fun!)

IN BRIEF: Gold where you least expect it.

The most common answer to the burning question “Where’s all the good music?” these days is “Underground. Deep underground.” No matter how much the lazy wish the best material was easily accessible, it is seldom the case anymore; folks yearning for material with more substance than typically overused structures and sounds have to put in far more effort to discover unique material since it seems label politics is making it tougher for DJs to be the outlet (especially when said DJs own the labels).

So, the remaining question is just how far underground you have to dig to find choice tunes. In the case of prog house, it seems all the way to different camps altogether.

Whispers and rumors abound lately that the psy scene, of all places, is seeing a resurgence of prog music which is daring to innovate. This doesn’t come of much surprise to me as there’s always been a bit of a tie between psy and prog -Oliver Lieb probably said it best when he quipped most prog sounds like slowed-down minimal psy. In general, both like to start from a basic premise, then build around it with various embellishments along the way before peaking out with some sort of climax or conclusion to the flow of the song -the difference being one’s more concerned with rhythm while the other on atmosphere.

Iboga Records appears to be quite interested in promoting this fusion of prog structures with psy aesthetics, and have earned themselves a decent reputation because of it. However, no label can sustain itself on just one form of EDM (unless your name is Anjunabeats, apparently) and Flowjob’s debut sees the label branching out from its usual psy trappings.

Eh? But isn’t Support Normality being distributed by psy shops like Psyshop and Saiko-Sounds? I suppose, but the material on here is hardly psy in any form; but that’s the trouble with underground niche labels: they rarely get the promotion outside their core scenes despite the music having a chance at big sales in others. In fact, for a good chunk of this album, I’d call it tech house with prog ideals (no, not progressive tech house, you ninnies -such a thing doesn’t exist).

Well, maybe not opener Run, Baby, Run. This song opens up with a dreamy ambient intro that lasts over three minutes. It’s not just noodly synth washes and echo-y effects, though; there’s a definite, meticulous path being followed, gradually building tension to when the first kick hits. When it finally does, all that nicely built tension is wonderfully released despite the laid-back house rhythms. While there are some hooks to be had later on, the focus of Run, Baby, Run is clearly on blissed-out atmosphere, and here it certainly excels.

Moving onto Everland Airport is where we start to see some of that tech house I mentioned two paragraphs ago. Ah, I can see that nervous glance forming on your face at the very mention of tech house. I don’t blame you. It’s one of those forms of music that, more often than not, makes good sense on a dancefloor but is mind-numbingly boring to listen to at home.

Indeed, for the first minute or so of Everland Airport, it appears the song’s just going to be a simple tech house workout, and my mind wandered on the first listen. Along the way, though, something managed to catch my ear and I tuned back in. When I did, my first thought was, “Wait a minute. When did this track get so good!?”

Well, there’s the bassline, a fun groover that’ll get your head bobbing no problem, but that was there from the onset; besides, a catchy rhythm isn’t enough to sustain interest for the nearly eight minutes this track runs. No, the real strength of this track is its refusal to settle into predictable loops. Percussion, effects, fills, minor hooks, and other assorted trickery keep Everland Airport constantly shifting and morphing throughout with the main rhythm tying it all together. Great stuff.

Staying on the tech house tip, Flangers In The Night gets more dubby with it. Once again, a groovy bassline ties the whole track together, and is introduced early on. And, once again, you’d be forgiven for writing this track off early on as another excursion into mediocre tech house. Yet, just like Everland Airport, you’ll probably find yourself suddenly turning your attention back thanks to the ever-changing elements.

The tech house groovers out of the way, Flowjob move into something a little more punctual. Have Fun & Survive relies on minute stuttery hooks and flowing synths rather than groovy basslines to propel it forward. Not to say this is without its fair share of catchy rhythm, but it isn’t quite as prominent as those that came before once the song gets going. As such, Have Fun & Survive also gets away with a minor breakdown and build near the end without disruption the flow. While it’s not as intuitive as the tracks before, it’s still effective in adding some variety to the album.

Wannafrisbee brings us back to tech house territory, and it’s here I’m fully convinced Flowjob are definitely in a higher league than many others. It’s one thing to produce good tracks, but quite another to craft an album full of material that can actually keep your attention, or at the very least keep drawing you back should you stray, especially when it comes to tech house.

Like Everland, this starts out driven mostly by rhythm and is carried by an infectious bassline. The beauty of this one, though, is once you pay attention to it for just a bar or two, you are instantly hooked, and are unable to escape the rhythm’s clutches. How? Simply put, Flowjob keep the energy of Wannafrisbee continuously building by adding various elements as the song progresses. Just when you think the rhythm couldn’t get any groovier, the next measure turns it up yet another notch. Then when you think it can’t get any more energetic, here are some minor hooks to keep you going. Even when the track briefly pauses at a peak to start this gradual build again, none of the momentum is lost as you’re already pumped to keep going. Wannafrisbee is dynamite on a dancefloor.

If there’s been a common theme apparent on Support Normality thus far, it’s each successive song manages to outdo the previous in some manner, and They Are Not Alone easily continues this trend with the best bassline yet. Surrounded by plenty of dubby atmospherics weaving throughout, this sees us leaving the funkier tech house vibes behind and moving into typical prog as hinted in the opener. The main hook is still carried by the rhythms, but the contributing pads, synths, and effects harmonize wonderfully, easily building anticipation for the main hook whenever it leaves for a bit. Mind, They Are Not Alone may not quite go for the jugular, but even in its understated presentation, the song is very effective in wrapping you in sonic bliss.

Mood Food takes us on a turn again, this time finally, yes finally, letting the hooks dictate the track’s path rather than the rhythm. There’s a few of them, mind, but they don’t compete against each other for prominence. Rather they each get a chance to shine before the next takes over. How do they sound? Well, the first one is pretty straight-forward synth stabs, and doesn’t last too long. A mellow gleaming melody accompanied by spacey pads takes over in a brief, unobtrusive breakdown, where it floats along with the rhythm for a while before the third hook emerges from the background. This one’s more aggressive, designed to get you charged up for the peak of the track, and it certainly does this when it has a chance to play out on its own with an accompanied bit of dialogue. It’s just a shame the payoff doesn’t take it to bigger heights. This is one of those times I really wouldn’t have minded an overblown climax, as Mood Food almost begs for one.

We come full circle with Wadley, as this track re-visits the atmospheric soundscapes as done in Run, Baby, Run. While more punctual than the former, there aren’t any major hooks or leads to be had in Wadley in the melody nor the rhythm. There are some subdued, stuttery minor ones, but nothing that leaps out at you quite like most of the other tracks did. The dubby, trancey atmosphere of it is still a pleasant listen, though, so no beef there.

And at the end of Support Normality, we have Glitter, a definite odd-man out. With its very simple growling bassline, twinkly hooks, and female vocals (yes, actual vocals!), this sounds like something that might make the rounds on McProg DJ circuits. While inoffensive enough as it is, Glitter certainly comes off sounding far less musically innovative compared to the rest of the material on this album. Is this an intentional try for a little chart action? Or perhaps a sly rib on the dumbed-down approach of most McProg by contrasting it with some of the best prog I’ve heard in a long time? We may never know, but don’t let this put you off on this song. For what it is, Glitter works just as fine as any other in this field

I suppose you’re wondering why, despite most of the glowing praise I bestowed on this album, it ‘only’ got four stars (since when is that bad?). Well, as good as these songs are, and as expertly they are arranged, they do all stick to a relatively narrow tech-and-prog sound, which does inhibit the scope of the music in general. Additionally, I’m hesitant to give something higher because these guys show excellent potential, and could really push the boundaries of prog house should they desire so.

Whether they do or not may depend on if they get the push this album deserves. Support Normality could get a number of prog heads turning, should such heads take that gamble and explore outside their core scenes. Otherwise, this may end up being one of those underground classics that gets slept on during its time, only to be re-discovered later on (at insanely inflated prices on eBay, natch). The choice is yours. Just don’t complain later on that you weren’t recommended it.

Score: 8/10

ACE TRACKS:
Everland Airport
They Are Not Alone
Mood Food

Written by Sykonee. Originally published 2006 for TranceCritic.com. © All rights reserved.

Benny Benassi - Who's Your Daddy? (Original TC Review)

2010-03-01T07:29:00.000-08:00

Universal Licensing Music: Cat. # 983 624-8
Released December 2005

Track List:
A1. Who’s Your Daddy? (Original Extended) (6:27)
A2. Who’s Your Daddy? (David Guetta & Joachim Garraud Remix) (7:15)
B1. Who’s Your Daddy? (Electro Extended Mix) (5:51)
B2. Who’s Your Daddy? (Fuzzy Hair Remix) (6:32)

(2010 Update:
Oh man, lots of dated stuff here. Guetta doing trance? Okay, yeah, I admit I hadn't a clue who he was at this point, but his star was still a few months off from properly blowing up. Then there's that whole predicting the electro-house fad would die out by 2008. *sigh* Wishful thinking there, Syk'. As for Benassi, he's fallen off a bit since, Guetta having now become the premiere electro-dance-pop DJ and producer. You can still catch Benny on tour, though I dunno if he'd play this single. Maybe if you ask him nicely.)

IN BRIEF: Do the Daddy Dance.

You kind of have to feel sorry for Benny. Sure, he successfully produced a monster hit that made him a critical darling and mainstream star overnight. Unfortunately, in doing so his career could only follow one of two paths: continue recycling the formula of Satisfaction, keeping his mainstream fans but alienating the critics for ‘rehashing the same ideas’; or use his newfound stardom to stretch his musicianship, winning him continued critical praise but losing his mainstream audience for not providing ‘more of the same’. With Who’s Your Daddy?, it would appear Benny’s settled with the former.

Milking a winning formula isn’t necessarily a bad thing -hell, 2 Unlimited alone did it successfully for numerous singles. They are more of an exception than a rule, though, as all too often the perfect storm of circumstances that can make a dance hit massive across the board rarely works twice; just ask Darude.

But odds be damned, says Benassi. He’s made his bed with stupidly simply, dirty rockin’ house music, and he’s determined to give his fans more of it, whether we want it or not.

Fortunately for him, the style hasn’t worn out its welcome just yet (I predict two more years, tops) so Who’s Your Daddy? is an effective bit of rowdy dancefloor business. Looping guitars thrash as not-so-innocent dialogue spoken with innocent voices will undoubtedly get the ladies randy, inciting them to get drrrty in a club should they have consumed enough liquor -it encourages girls to play the innocent tease, and the guys to act on it. This is more of a novelty song, though, so your post-club enjoyment will only last for as long as those lyrics keep from annoying you. Personally, they overstayed their welcome by the third remix of this track on here, but party gals usually have a higher tolerance for skanky, shrieky words in music.

Ah, yes, the remixes. Not a whole heck of a lot to talk about regarding these, as they are fairly straight-forward exercises in making Who’s Your Daddy? suitable for certain scenes. It doesn’t quite work, though, as Benassi’s original trashy version invites wild antics while the others don’t. David Guetta and Joachim Garraud provide a bit of a trancey re-rub, which works decently enough until those slutty, screaming lyrics pop up, as they hardly mesh with the music on hand; anyone not familiar with the original will cast plenty of ‘what the fuck?’ looks in the direction of the trance DJ foolish enough to play it. The Electro mix cleans the sounds of the song up somewhat so it’ll fit better in electro house sets but the rowdy spirit of the original is slightly lost in the process (they’ve yet to make a synth sound that’s quite as wild as a good ol’ distorted guitar, though they are getting closer). And the Fuzzy Hair remix is only notable for an anti-climatic build, as the rest of it is funkless bumping electro house; very skippable.

Still, the original mix is a keeper for the time being, and Benassi should be able to maintain his career off of its strength for a little while longer. It doesn’t have nearly the accessability of Satisfaction but as a clone of the formula, Who’s Your Daddy? works fine and randy... er, dandy.

Score: 6/10

Written by Sykonee. Originally published 2006, for TranceCritic.com. © All rights reserved.

King Cannibal - Let The Night Roar

2010-02-26T11:13:00.001-08:00

Ninja Tune: Cat. # ZENCD151
Released October 2009

Track List:
1. Intro (0:59)
2. Aragami Style (6:14)
3. Murder Us featuring Jahcoozi (6:16)
4. Virgo featuring Face-A-Face (5:03)
5. So… Embrace The Minimum (5:48)
6. Dirt featuring Daddy Freddy (4:58)
7. Colder Still (6:07)
8. A Shining Force (6:12)
9. The Untitled (5:40)
10. Onwards Vultures (5:32)
11. Flower Of Flesh And Blood (6:40)

IN BRIEF: Grit, gunk, and grime.

For the longest time, Ninja Tune was regarded as one of - if not the - premiere labels for streetwise EDM. Cultivating trip-hop, abstract-hop, jazz-hop, jungle-hop, and all that rot, the Coldcut crew brought several future funky head-beat stars to the forefront. Oh yes, there’s a few that need name-droppin’: The Herbaliser, Mr. Scruff, DJ Food, Amon Tobin… I’ll stop now. Yet, as seemed to happen to a number of big 90s labels, this previous decade saw Ninja Tune struggle to break form. The quality was never in question but was the buying public really all that interested in buying yet another collection of spliffed-out hip-hop jazz? Supposedly not, as the newer generation of ‘heads started flocking to upstart grime and dubstep labels like Hyperdub and Tempa while Ninja Tune pursued interests in stuff like post rock instead.

Still, Ninja Tune never forgot its UK street roots, and though it had a bit of catching up to do, the label managed to drop one of the best damned dubstep albums the genre has seen: The Bug’s London Zoo. Though they continued to flirt with genres since, there was a bit of curiosity whether Ninja Tune could match that release with whatever dubstep follow-up came out. A couple years later, the debut album of newcomer King Cannibal, Let The Night Roar dropped. And, well, doesn’t quite reach The Bug’s lofty peak. Not that we should have expected it, mind.

Dylan Richards has opted for a collection of tunes that’s quite straight-forward where EDM is concerned. Dubstep being his chosen domain, you have a few standard half-step numbers with ample wobble bass effects, a few grimy dancehall efforts, a couple flirtations into minimal techno, and even an experimental drone ambient offering (Onwards Vultures). It’s all finely produced, with a murky atmosphere that will appeal to those who prefer their dubstep sinister rather than gimmicky.

In fact, it’s this consistent atmosphere that makes Let The Night Roar work better than it probably should. There’s no denying Richards is a capable producer but he jumps between styles of music so much that the album’s flow always seems to be in danger of derailing. For instance, second track proper Murder Us is a sludgy bit of techno which, some nifty melodic-glitch near the end notwithstanding, feels totally out of sync with the surrounding tunes. It’s as though Richards took one of dubstep’s more annoying attributes - herky-jerky rhythms - and applied it to minimal techno (the cut-up vocal effects don’t help either); yet, there’s something about Murder Us that works in spite of that, such that you’re not really tempted to skip by (probably that melodic section).

His diversity will also undoubtedly split opinions on this album for most listeners. I quite love the dubby techno of Embrace The Minimum (even if the tune includes a pointless growling bass noise in the middle), but others may prefer the pure dancehall bedlam of Dirt. Or more obviously, straight-up atmospheric dubstep cuts like Aragami Style and Flower Of Flesh And Blood (which is some excellently sinister!) will get the party kids excited, whereas beat-heads will get their funky-feet on with A Shining Force. If anything, Richards has hedged his bets, even if it created a disjointed album in the process.

Again, it’s the overriding murky tone that keeps things flowing as well as it does. I’ll grant if you don’t like murk’n’grime in your music, then Let The Night Roar won’t be getting much rotation in your player any time soon. It is a fine debut from King Cannibal, however, and one of the better dubstep albums you’re likely to find these days. Here’s hoping for more from Ninja Tune in the future.

Score: 7/10

ACE TRACKS:
So… Embrace The Minimum
A Shining Force
Flower Of Flesh And Blood

Written by Sykonee, 2010. © All rights reserved.

Felix da Housecat - Kittenz And Thee Glitz (Original TC Review)

2010-02-20T08:43:00.000-08:00

Emperor Norton: Cat. # ENR 70472
Released June 2001

Track List:
1. Harlot (intro) (3:10)
2. Walk With Me (4:10)
3. Voicemail w/Miss Kittin (0:47)
4. Madame Hollywood (2:51)
5. Silver Screen Shower Scene (4:40)
6. Control Freaq (5:11)
7. What Does it Feel Like? (2:36)
8. Happy Hour (5:02)
9. The Enter View (1:14)
10. Glitz Rock (3:40)
11. Analog City (1:18)
12. Pray For A Star (3:54)
13. Sequel2Sub (3:50)
14. Magic Fly (3:00)
15. She Lives (3:03)
16. Runaway Dreamer (3:22)
17. What Does It Feel Like? (Röyksopp Return To The Sun Remix) (6:59)
18. Silver Screen Shower Scene (Thin White Duke Mix) (8:34)

(2010 Update:
Possibly one of the breeziest reviews I wrote. I honestly didn't anticipate it turning out the way it did. This was a case of me writing everything that immediately came to mind, and even if the idea was wacky, I ran with it. Not exactly a 'gonzo' review but definitely unconventional for us at the time. Hey, it's fun to read, ain'it? Oh, and the album still holds up excellently, as its inclusion in so many 'Best Of The 00s' EDM lists can attest to.)

IN BRIEF: If the mods had an 808...

It's time again for another edition of Trendsetting Albums: Do They Hold Up?, folks. This time, our glorious host, the straight-edged, gives-any-music-a-chance-provided-it's-not-CJ-Stone host Sykonee takes a look at yet another of the electro house movement's pioneers. Up to the plate is the album that practically set in stone the template for the genre we still hear today: Felix da Housecats Kittenz & Thee Glitz.

Hard to believe it's been half a decade since this was released. It doesn't feel that long ago all the underground hipsters were going apeshit over the raw, rocking analogue sounds coming from Felix and his compatriots (Electrikboy, Dave The Hustler, Miss Kittin, Junior Sanchez, Tommie Sunshine, Melistar, and Harrison Crump all lent their talents to this project). Yet here we are, five years later, and this music has been given the official stamp of mass-popularity approval thanks to Madonna's latest album. Now even your mothers can discover that awesome wicked cool sound you were gushing over in trendy clubs just after the turn of the century.

For no better reason than my electroclash camp was firmly with Tiga's Turbo label (and by association International Deejay Gigolos as well), I initially never jumped on the Felix bandwagon until after the hype died down. Of course, I'd heard some of the big singles but hadn't felt it necessary to pursue his material when I'd had The Hacker, Vitalic, DJ Hell, and so on to fill my needs. As such, I'm diving into Kittenz & Thee Glitz fresh. Let's see if time has been kind to the Muzik Magazine 2001 Album Of The Year.

And Harlot, billing itself as an intro track, is an encouraging sign of things to come. The mood is slinky, the synths are stuttery, and the rhythm is energetic. Only trouble is these elements rarely line-up together to form a standard song. Okay, fine, it isn't really trouble since this is an intro track (why blow your load all at once, right?), but it is a substantial tease, making you beg for more like it. With that in mind, Harlot is probably one of the most effective intros I’ve heard in a long time. Can't wait to see what's next.

Deep house, it would seem. Only... it's not. Structurally, Walk With Me has all the trappings of deep house -laid back rhythms, soulful lyrics, unobtrusive backing hooks and pads- but the sound patches are in a completely different world. The pads are a warm analogue synth, the percussion is perfectly suited for techno, and the lyrics are finely filtered into robo-land. Of course, at the time this was produced, these tricks had already been in use in numerous other styles of EDM. But deep house? Felix would have to be quite cheeky to tamper with that sacred genre.

Following a voice message from Miss Kittin, we're thrust into the two huge singles from this album. Since everyone's undoubtedly heard them by now, I'll just move along. Eh? You want some commentary from me anyways? How about I never really cared for these much. Sure, they're undeniably catchy, and Silver Screen’s march-a-long rabble rousing nature is irresistible on a dancefloor, but I personally feel it was done better on this album.

Happy Hour -now that's the one (yes, I know I'm going out of sequence; bear with me on this). It's structurally similar to Silver Screen but is a lot more fun. The fuzzed-out bass has some actual melody to it, there's great analogue synths, and the lyrics are a hoot! C'mon, I dare you to resist singing along to "808s, gives you power" as that beat throbs in the background. Happy Hour should have been an even bigger hit than Silver Screen. Why wasn't it? Probably the Miss Kittin factor had something to do with it. She was the rising starlett at the time, so her collaborations would get more attention. It's a shame, too, because I actually kind of prefer Melistar's sultry voice to Ms. Herves deadpan delivery (dammit, did it again!).

As we go further into Thee Glitz, I'm beginning to wonder where all the '80s revival theme' music journalists at the time were proclaiming made up the bulk of this album. Yes, there's plenty of 808 drum machines and analogue synths being used but only as a sound source. The musical styling, however, feels more like mod than synth-pop.

Another thing that strikes me is the diversity of all these songs: house, techno, soul, rock, italo. Every track borrows from a different style and is given an electro gloss-over without abandoning the substance of their attributes. With this much variety on hand, I can see why the music media was so quick to lump Thee Glitz into the electroclash camp -there's just no easy way to shuffle this into a tidy genre.

And that, my friends, is the mark of a great album (yes, I also know I’m not detailing all the songs anymore; just continue to bear with me). When a producer or team of them can craft an album that defies easy genre-fication, spawns tons of imitators, and still manages to sound fresh after the fact, you do indeed have something special on hand. By leaping across all sorts of scenes, Kittenz & The Glitz has created its own little bubble that exists outside of the trends of time. It sounds just as relevant being a part of the electroclash movement as it would have were it part of the mod rock movement or synth-pop movement. And it will undoubtedly be required listening for whatever the next post-modern hipster movement will be. Pick this up to be ahead of trends before they even start up again!

...Or better yet, just pick this up because it is a great collection of songs that, barring any production miracles in the electro house scene this spawned, will probably never be matched again.

Hmm. That kind of wraps up this review nice and tidily, doesn't it. It'd be redundant of me to go back now and detail all the songs like we normally do so I'll introduce my patent pending Interactive Review here. It's quite simple: I'll give you a selection of words, and you can arrange them however you see fit to help me describe my reactions to the songs on this album.

Step 1:
Choose from one of the following styles of music:
House
Techno
Soul
Mod Rock
Italo

Step 2:
Add Electro as the prefix.

Step 3:
Choose from one of the following words I felt describes what I heard in this release:
Awesome
Sweet
Rocking
Smooth

Step 4:
Add Fucking as the prefix.

Have fun!

Score: 9/10

ACE TRACKS:
Happy Hour
Glitz Rock
She Lives

Written by Sykonee. Originally published 2006 for TranceCritic.com. © All rights reserved.

Every trance cliche in one fell swoop.

2010-02-17T16:43:00.000-08:00

Well, maybe not every one, but there sure is quite a few here. Then again, that's the point! Though not as funny as the classic "Tiesto played my record" spoof (dut dut dut!!!), this is a pretty good send-up of generic A State Of Global Harbors Around The World stuff. Heck, this sounds like something Richard Durand would have seriously produced, naff vocals exempt of course. The full title is I Believe In Miracles In The Ocean Underneath The Sky (Magic Miracle Tayle Vocal Mix).

Oh, and here's the lyrics. Now you can sing along!

Do you want to see forever
In the ocean
Beneath the white sky
In the dreamz

Can you believe in trance
Can you see the lazerbeam
Shining
Shining for you

You are the one for trance
Can you dance?
With the lazer

I believe in miracles
In the ocean
Underneath the sky

Goodbye
Goodbye
Hello
Goodbye
La la la la la
AAA
OOOOOOhhh

And here's another, called The Alienz Came For Me (Tech Mix).

Sky0cean, I tip my hat to you.

Yes - Yes: Remixes (Original TC Review)

2010-02-14T09:10:00.001-08:00

Rhino Entertainment Company: Cat. # R2 73872
Released 2003

Track List:
1. Tempus Fugit (5:07)
2. Arriving UFO (5:52)
3. Heart Of The Sunrise (5:57)
4. Starship Trooper (7:33)
5. Awaken (7:47)
6. Sound Chaser (5:23)
7. Ritual (6:19)
8. Siberian Khatru (5:26)
9. 5 Per Cent For Nothing (4:40)
10. No Opportunity Necessary, No Experience Needed (4:44)
11. No Clowns (3:15)

(2010 Update:
One of my early cases of finding ways to worm unconventional EDM music into TranceCritic's archives. I don't think this was a terribly popular review, simply for the fact no one really knew who Yes is, or cared about a remix album from a classic prog rock group anyway. Shame, as my writing had definitely improved by this point, though a little over-anecdotal at times. Oh, and I think this was also the first time I took a blatant swipe at another website. Good times!)

IN BRIEF: This ain't your daddy's Yes.

Don't give me that look. I know what you're thinking: “Great, these guys at TranceCritic.com aren't even reviewing proper EDM like Special D. or DJ Sammy anymore. They're getting all pretentious with that rock crap with the guitars and stuff. That's it, I'm going back to Trance.nu.”

Burns aside, it may seem a bit odd to see a release by Yes in the review archives here. Most famous for twenty minute epic, noodly prog rock-athons and Jon Anderson's choirboy vocals, it could be argued their lengthy songs resulted in the whole punk movement. Well, you'd win that argument because their music really was lengthy, complicated, and quite difficult to dance to for a long time. That is, until they had their 80s make-over, where suddenly it was quite cool to like Yes again as a retro band, but that's not where the focus of this remix album lies.

Yes: Remixes isn't a cobbled collection of DJ friendly four-to-the-floor updates. And thank God for that, I say. While Max Graham's remix of Owner Of A Lonely Heart wasn't too bad, I could see its success spurring on plenty of crappy imitations hoping to milk a very brief 'Yes is cool' revival.

Rather, this release is something of a concept album. There is only one remixer to be had here, by the name of Virgil Howe. Haven't heard of him? Doesn't surprise me. He's Steve Howe’s son. What? You haven't heard of Steve Howe? Why, he's the guitarist for the classic Yes lineup. The guy could absolutely shred like few others. There was a reason all the new kids jumped to punk music when they couldn't emulate Steve Howe: the man was phenomenal with the ol' six stringer. Anyhow, back to his son.

As is detailed in the incredibly difficult-to-read liner notes, Virgil Howe took it upon himself to do a remix of the old Yes classic Heart Of Sunrise using nothing more but the original LPs and an Akai MPC2000XL sampler. It was more of a test of the hardware's capabilities than any real attempt at making a release but, when he showed the results to his old man, The Verge was encouraged to do more of them.

I can't say I was a huge Yes fan growing up, but my father was so that influence was bound to rub off on me. Of course, I enjoyed the 80s styled version of the group but the 70s versions often flew well over my head. A kid like I would have a hell of a time sitting still for twenty minutes to comprehend what was going on in, say, The Revealing Science Of God, much less a 'shorter' nine minute track like And You And I. Slowly but surely, though, I warmed up to the big ones, and have gradually grown to enjoy those older epics. So, seeing a remix album like this was intriguing and I gave it a shot. I'm here to tell you, now, that unless you have a very open mind about little projects like these, you aren't going to get much out of this release.

These are not simple “clutch a verse and chorus, loop them over, and add a house beat” remixes. Aside from rhythms and effects, there are scant few new electronic elements added to the songs; rather, all the songs have been sampled and re-sampled from their original vinyls and re-arranged into new interpretations.

Opener Tempus Fugit, the only track here to not feature Jon Anderson on lyrics (although his replacement certainly did a close interpretation) could originally be described as the bridge between 70s and 80s Yes. Here, it is given a jungle rhythm to complement those oh so catchy guitar licks. The more prominent bits get looped to build tension, as is pretty standard to do in EDM, and the results are a fun, energetic romp. Plus, you've got to love Virgil's cheekiness in taking the "yes" bit from the verses and looping it during the peaks of this song. Arriving UFO works too, getting a funky workout to go with the original's happy-go-lucky theme.

Unfortunately, Heart Of Sunrise can't quite manage to match pace. It starts out promising enough, as Steve Howe's original fierce guitar playing in the original intro works fine with the added jungle rhythms. Once the track settles into the quiet parts though (heh, folks who aren't familiar with the original song probably haven't a clue what I'm talking about), it kind of just bumbles about without much focus. The piano bits sound nice, of course, but Virgil really needed to tighten this remix up to make it more engaging.

Starship Trooper fixes those problems up. I'm amazed at what Virgil managed to craft here, as the original's willful pace jumping wouldn't really make it conducive to EDM's more straight-forward approach. The ending's a blast, too, as he takes the final guitar sequence, a fairly laid-back bit from the original, and uses it as the backdrop to some energetic rhythms and a Moog synth solo that wouldn't sound out of place at a Yes concert (actually, I wonder if it was). Just as inspired is his take on Awaken, seemingly reversing the sections so the riveting opening serves as a climax to the gentle ambience that surrounds it.

From here, though, this album seems to run out of ideas. I get the impression Virgil had no clue how to approach a number of these given the original songs’ dynamic nature. It doesn't help he's using very little equipment to do this project, of course. As a result, tracks like Sound Chaser, No Opportunity Necessary, and Siberian Khatru don’t sound much different from the original, sans all the same sorts of effects and rhythms already displayed. The songs themselves are still great, of course, but as remixes they leave a bit to be desired. It's especially apparent when Virgil does show some clever tricks by taking the super short 5 Per Cent For Nothing and turning it into a five minute funk-fest, or condensing the super-long Ritual into an easily digestible ambient dub outing. It begs the question, though, why would you want to listen to some of these when you can just as easily listen to the originals and not lose much in the process.

Apparently, this album was given a severe backlash from many, many, many old time Yes fans, which isn't too surprising -most of them aren't hip to all this new fangled computer noise called techno, so any electronic element that isn't a Rick Wakeman synth solo is un-welcomed. Their idea of a remix ends at live show interpretations.

Likewise, many EDM fans probably never gave this much notice, mainly for the fact that this is a Yes album, something you find in the rock section of your music stores, not the dance/electronica section way off in the corner. You'd have to be a fan of both Yes and EDM to even know this album exists. Enter yours truly, I suppose.

And, as such a fan, I do admit I enjoy what I hear on Yes: Remixes. However, most of that enjoyment is due to the originals still outshining the electronic elements. Virgil may have been faithful to the Yes legacy almost to a fault by not taking the concept of remixing to further extremes but the lack of more equipment (extra hardware, master tapes, etc.) doesn't leave much room for experimentation. The score I give here reflects that aspect more than the strength of the songs themselves, as I expect more from remix albums. In general, though, if you're an EDM-only fan and want to see what the big deal about Yes was without having odd glances thrown your way for having Tales From Topographic Oceans in your collection, by all means do check this out. Just don't expect to be able to copy that Steve Howe solo in Sound Chaser... ever!

Score: 5/10

ACE TRACKS:
Tempus Fugit
Awaken

Written by Sykonee. Originally published 2006 for TranceCritic.com. © All rights reserved.

Setrise vs Kay Wilder - Poetry Clash

2010-02-09T21:08:00.000-08:00

SPX Digital: SPX007
Released January 2010

Track List:
1. Poetry Clash (Original Mix) (7:15)
2. Poetry Clash (Ron Van Den Beuken Remix) (8:19)
3. Poetry Clash (Steve Birch Remix) (6:46)
4. Poetry Clash (John Gibbons & Scimon Tist Remix) (7:33)
5. Poetry Clash (Julius Beat & Eddy Karmona Remix) (7:42)

IN BRIEF: Routine.

It’s not every day some teenager gets playlisted by a top trance jock like Ferry Corsten, yet that’s what one Melle Bakker managed to do with an early digital single of his, Sunny Canon. Though it wasn’t much more than a typical melodic trance cover of Pachelbel’s Canon (you know, with the pleasant sweeping string arrangement that most associate with weddings or New Age meditation sessions these days), it was enough for the youngin’ to get his online label, Sunset To Sunrise Recordings, going. He’s since produced several singles for other labels like Redux and Infrasonic and Phoenix. Oh, and now also SPX.

Tagging along with him in this case is DJ Kay Wilder, who’s eight years Bakker’s senior. Together, they’ve produced a track called Poetry Clash, a title that doesn’t make much sense since there aren’t any lyrics involved but then what is in a name, oh pithy thee (or… something)? Anyhow, the track honestly isn’t much to get fussed over. Taking a page from Sander van Doorn, the rhythm is a deep, plodding rumble that’ll undoubtedly sound great on a large sound-system but lacks energy to get you excited for. The main hook is serviceable, though not terribly memorable, such that the duo feed it through pointless effects towards the end in an effort to somehow make it distinctive. Trancey synth washes and a brief squirt of hilariously constipated electro-fart round out the extras. That’s about it. Meh, expect this one to be lost in the annual glut quite rapidly.

Unfortunately, the remixes lack anything to recommend either. It’s not their fault, mind, as they don’t exactly have much to work with here. Rob van den Bueken offers the most intriguing of the bunch, giving a deep, spacey trance rub to the original, not to mention some vital rhythmic energy. Steve Birch ups the energy more as well but drowns the hook in effects. Meanwhile, the final two remixes are fairly typical trance rubs and almost identical in structure, with the John Gibbons & Scimon Tist Remix sounding a little clubbier and the Julius Beat & Eddy Karmona Remix sounding a little chunkier. In the end, these remixes are perfectly functional but, aside from Bueken, even less memorable than the original.

There isn’t much more for me to say here. If you hear the hook and it does something for you, then you’ll probably get more out of this single. For yours truly, however, Poetry Clash is just another drop in the sea of adequate, unremarkable trance.

Score: 4/10

Written by Sykonee, 2010. © All rights reserved.

Azuli Presents John Digweed: Choice - A Collection Of Classics (Original TC Review)

2010-02-07T21:21:00.001-08:00

Azuli Records: Cat. # AZCD35X
Released March 28/2005

Track List:
CD 1
1. Voices Of Africa - Hoomba Hoomba (4:33)
2. The Grid - Floatation (3:17)
3. T Tauri - Joy To The World (No Felt) (4:35)
4. Hypnotone - Dreambeam (Ben Chapman 12" Remix) (3:55)
5. Smith & Mighty - Dark House (4:00)
6. Peech Boys - Don’t Make Me Wait (5:05)
7. Propaganda - Your Wildlife (Red Zone Mix) (4:45)
8. The Beat Club - Security 88 (Midnight Club Mix) (5:06)
9. Sheertaft - Cascades (Hypnotone Mix) (5:08)
10. Euphoria - Mecurial (Euphoric Original Mix) (4:29)
11. One Dove - White Love (Scott Hardkiss’ Psychic Masturbation Mix) (5:23)
12. Dance 2 Trance - We Came In Peace (John Digweed Re-edit) (4:57)
13. Desert Storm - Desert Storm (6:06)
14. Abfarht - Alone, It’s Me (Alley Cat Edit) (5:40)
15. Underworld - Mmm... Skyscraper, I Love You (Jamscraper Mix) (6:46)

CD 2
1. Babble - Beautiful (Blue Mix) (6:38)
2. Waterlillies - Tempted (Spooky Mix) (5:18)
3. INXS - Disappear (Morales 12" Mix) (5:03)
4. Megatonk - Belgium (Nintendotone Mix) (3:52)
5. DSK - What Would You Do (8 Minutes Of Madness Mix) (5:14)
6. Reese & Santonio - Back To The Beat (With The Sound) (3:34)
7. Jody Watley - I’m The One (Def Dub Version; John Digweed Re-edit) (4:39)
8. Saint Etienne - Cool Kids Of Death (Underworld Mix) (6:16)
9. Hi-Bias - Drive It Home (4:47)
10. Young American Primitive - Young American Primitive? (4:26)
11. DJ H. featuring Steffy - Come On Boy (Larry Levan Remix) (5:29)
12. Secret Knowledge - Sugar Daddy (7:27)
13. The Cure - A Forest (Mark Saunders Mix) (6:46)

(2010 Update:
Man, I wish I'd spent "only" two paragraphs on the first disc too. Then I wouldn't have ended up with a cumbersome 2000+ word review. Still a fun compilation to throw on once and a while, certainly more so than some of Digweed's more recent forays into dry minimal-tech house. Bring back the classics, Diggers!)

IN BRIEF: A history of Digweed untouched upon by the media.

In this era of placing DJs on unreachable pedestals for their fans to idolize, it’s grown increasingly difficult for them to do what they do best - namely bring the listeners a variety of diverse music strung together into a cohesive flow. To quote from the liner notes of this release written by Sean Cusick: “A DJ’s fanbase can have very weighty expectations...invisible limits placed on diversity and the potential creativity that distinct music encourages. A dedicated fan-base comes to expect ‘more of the same’ from their hero and sometimes very little else.”

While not all EDM scenes are quite this picky, the trance scene, for the most part, can be very guilty of this. How many fans of, say, Oakenfold, abandoned him when he stopped playing tracks from his Tranceport compilation (and don’t give me that ‘his DJing got worse’ excuse -it was always like that; you just didn’t notice it because you liked the tunes he played). For DJs whom grew up exposed to music long before their fan-base’s niche even existed, I’d imagine this can be a very frustrating thing.

Let’s face it. Good DJs, of any style, have exposed themselves to a lot of music. Their music collections tend to be ridiculously large, even if they only get to play out a fraction of it. Labels realized this and figured out a way to not only introduce a new form of compilation, but also give these DJs a chance to do what every music collector loves: show off their records.

So maybe you could argue these sorts of compilations are just stroking a DJ’s ego, or are redundant because there’s nothing but old tracks that any connoisseur will already have. Fair arguments, but I tend to take a less cynical route with this. Compilations like Back To Mine, Life:Styles, and Choice serve as a chance for DJs to create a sort of mix-tape for their audience. No scrutiny placed on them to only have the latest tracks, no critical analyzing of their technical skill -just one music lover sharing their tastes and influences with others.

Prog house legend John Digweed was tapped for this particular edition of Azuli Records’ Choice series (which has featured mostly house legends like Frankie Knuckles and Danny Tenaglia). There’s no need to get into the history of the man, as I’m sure many already know about his raise to super-stardom from the Renaissance days on. Besides, most of that is moot here, as Digweed takes us on a little trip to an era before that. Most of the music on display here dates back to a time when the man was just a fledgling DJ, working from the ground up. As such, much of the music that tells the tale here is a far cry from what his more recent fans have come to expect of him, even if the elements that would come to define the Digweed sound are scattered about.

Indeed, who’d have ever thought a song like Hoomba Hoomba by Voices Of Africa - a world beat group more akin to Enigma than Banco de Gaia - would ever find its way on a Digweed compilation? Yet here it is, right out of the gate. The first disc is littered with willful genre jumping so don’t expect any kind of typical DJ mix here. Digweed’s aim is to showcase songs, sometimes in their entirety, that have a personal connection to his young DJing career. It also gives his newer fans a chance to hear music they may have overlooked.

Second song, The Grid’s Floatation, is a prime example. Everyone knows the groups’ ‘spaghetti western’ tunes like Texas Cowboy but who knows they did blissy, downtempo tracks like this? Not many, I’d imagine.

A good chunk of the opening act of the first disc dwells on groovey, laid back tunes. It is definitely not a sound Digweed’s newer fans are likely to connect with him but they may stick around to see where he’s going with this. With Smith & Mighty’s Dark House, it’s straight into the old Chicago clubs. Rest assured, these are some old songs on display, and folks weaned on the pristinely produced cuts of the 21st Century will probably be a bit put off -provided that infectious bassline doesn’t hook them in regardless.

Or, hey! How about some classic disco to make his new fans run for the hills? Despite being made in ‘82, Don’t Make me Wait by Peech Boys (a Larry Levan production) sounds as though it could have come straight from the glory years of disco’s birth (that’s pre-Saturday Night Fever, folks). Well, they use a drum machine instead here, but the spirit of old disco is still present. It’s a groovy song, as most old time garage is, but I’m willing to bet only the most trusting of Digweed fans will buy into his showcase of one of the most heavily sampled tunes around (Lord knows I’ve heard bits of Don’t Make Me Wait scattered about the last thirteen years).

The eclectic choice of tracks continues unabated: the Morales remix of Propaganda’s Your Wildlife is a great grooving house number, if you don’t mind some of the late 80s pop hooks sprinkled about; The Beat Club’s Security takes us through an erotic trip in freestyle’s dungeon -yes, freestyle proper, as in massive use of the good ol’ 808 drum machine; Sheertaft’s Cascades brings us back to the groovy ambient dub on display from earlier; and Mercurial from Euphoria touches on the chunky prog house Digweed would soon embrace. So much musical territory to cover, so little time. I get the impression Diggers had even more than this in his initial selection but was cut short due to trying to keep some sort of cohesive narrative to the whole enterprise; even mixtapes like to tell a story when possible.

But our man knows his audience well enough to give them something they’re familiar with. Probably striking parallels to the early Northern Exposure series, the Hardkiss remix of One Dove’s White Love certainly is a groovy gem of dreamy prog house done as only the names Andy Weatherall, Scott Hardkiss, and Dot Allison can imagine. It’s a shame these names aren’t given the recognition they deserve today. Well, at least Digweed does here.

And, of course, he let’s all of his ‘99 fans have a taste of trance towards the end -classic trance, that is (hah!). No progressive anthem schlock for you. Instead, you get the trance tune that practically defined the genre: Dance 2 Trance’s We Came In Peace. After what seems like a lengthy bit of minimal techno going nowhere, the song’s building tension is finally unleashed with synthy strings accompanied with a sample uttering the song’s title repeatedly. It’s an incredibly simple technique but is still just as effective in putting your mind in space as it must have been fifteen years ago.

With the cleverly ironic follow-up Desert Storm, the hypnotic trend continues. Again, nothing fancy with this track: looping rhythms, gently bubbling acid and melancholy three-note chord progression played on spacey pads defines the bulk of it. Yet, it’s far easier to become entranced listening to a track like this than anything with a supersaw in it.

As the disc wraps up with Abfarht (hey, it’s Nosie Katzmaan again!) And Underworld, I can’t help but notice this starts to sound like, dare I say it, an actual DJ mix! No, there’s no beat-matching or transitions fancier than brief crossfades, but the final run of tracks have such amazing chemistry together, it sounds just as smooth as any decent mix. How’s that for track selection, eh?

If you figure the end of the first disc is a sign of things to come in the second disc, you’d be partially right. For the first half of CD2, Digweed takes us on a tour of all sorts of 2nd generation house music: deep house, prog house, tech house, deep prog house, prog tech house, tech deep house, deep prog tech house, and some New York stylings, too. But, most notably, ‘choice’ house (hah, again!). Most of these tracks tend to play out without much mixing, but they all segue nicely together so as things don’t sound too disjointed.

For the final stretch of this disc, our intrepid DJ digs into his crates an unloads a bevy of rarities and obscurities that collectors would cash in their retirement reserves to own. In case Skyscraper wasn’t enough convincing, Underworld’s remix of Cool Kids Of Death is further proof we should really be hoping for that eventual reunion tour [involving Emerson, that is -2010 Syk]. And the genres begin to liberally jump again, sometimes within the same song (like Young American Primitive, a track more akin to Banco de Gaia than Enigma) before ending off on Mark Saunders’ mix of The Cure’s A Forest, a track that sounds like it could have helped spur the electroclash movement had it not been produced ten years prior.

If you’re wondering why I’ve only given two paragraphs to describe what goes on in CD2, the answer is I don’t feel it quite lives up to the expectations set out by CD1. Of course, all the songs on display are nice and make for decent listening, but aside from the tail end of it, it lacks the spontaneity of the first disc. As such, it doesn’t engage you with surprises like you might have hoped.

But don’t let this nitpick of mine put you off of this whole compilation. For folks looking for some history in either Digweed’s own musical beginnings or discovering older, obscure EDM cuts, this edition of Choice is fine buying. In fact, I’d go so far as to say this, and any of the Choice releases, should be required listening for those who wish to explore the rich tapestry EDM has created in the last thirty years. There was so much that was left to the recycle bin by major record executives, we are quite fortunate to have compilations like these to remind us where this music came from and where it is still going. However dated some of these songs may sound, their influences can still be heard over a decade later.

Score: 7/10

ACE TRACKS:
The Grid - Floatation
Desert Storm - Desert Storm
Saint Etienne - Cool Kids Of Death (Underworld Mix)

Written by Sykonee. Originally published 2006 for TranceCritic.com. © All rights reserved.

Sykonee Shares His Classics! (mixtape)

2010-02-02T21:13:00.000-08:00

I was called upon to do this one as a favor to my old TC writing partner, J', who's been running a Classics Mixtape invite at TranceAddict. Each month, a member of the message board gets to make an 80-minute set of their favorite tracks, which can include any sort of music they wish. It would figure, then, that I'd go and make a set that includes a bunch of hip-hop, rock, dance-pop, and, er, only one actual trance tune. Hey, it's not like I ever get a chance to include these genres in my other mixtapes, so why not, right?

You can download it directly here (Right Click, Save As): Sykonee Shares His Classics!

Here is the track list:

1. Boney M - Nightflight To Venus
2. Snap! - Who Stole It
3. 2 Unlimited - Club Megamix (Get Ready For This, Twilight Zone, Tribal Dance, Here I Go, The Real Thing, No Limit)
4. The Prodigy - No Good (Start The Dance)
5. Gravediggaz - Defective Trip (Trippin')
6. Deltron 3030 - Mastermind
7. Wu-Tang Clan - C.R.E.A.M.
8. Wu-Tang Clan featuring Cappadonna - For Heaven's Sake
9. Type O Negative - The Glorious Liberation Of The People's Technocratic Republic Of Vinnland By The Combined Forces Of The United Territories Of Europa
10. Fear Factory - Self Bias Resistor
11. Uminiski - Harder Better Faster Stronger
12. Neil Young & Crazy Horse - F*!#in' Up (Live)
13. Banco de Gaia - Kincajou (Duck! Asteroid)
14. Spicelab - Falling
15. The Beach Boys - Good Vibrations

To find out why each song was included in this set, click here to read the original thread. Enjoy!

Technical Itch - Haunted/Wraith (Original TC Review)

2010-01-31T20:56:00.000-08:00

Penetration Records: Cat. # TIP019
Released January 1996

Track List:
A. Haunted (6:13)
AA. Wraith(6:54)

(2010 Update:
Still no album, though plenty more singles in the digital realm. Like so many other jungle producers, Caro's also taken a few stabs at dubstep this past year. I've yet to hear them but if they're just as evil as his d'n'b, I should definitely try and scope 'em out.)

IN BRIEF: Evil business.

I’ve heard very few producers out there that sound like Mark Caro, more commonly known as Technical Itch. His fusion of industrial strength sounds with manic jungle rhythms can leave you gasping for air when the track is done. If you don’t have a good set of speakers that are generous with the bass, you can probably kiss those speakers goodbye when you’re finished with a typical Tech Itch song. It doesn’t just pound at you like a good deal of darkstep (the sub-genre term for this stuff -yeah, silly name, isn’t it) does; it’ll envelope you, clutch your very body in its firm grasp, then plaster you across the wall, leaving you looking like that poor guy who took a rocket launcher to the gut in Hot Shots: Part Deux. Well, maybe not quite that severe, but you get the drift.

But Caro wouldn’t have earned himself a highly regarded reputation if he was just all about killer bass sequences. This man’s rhythms can be utterly chaotic compared to all the typical Amen Break clones jungle’s overflowing with. Yes, he does rely on the standard break a great deal but the amount of manipulation with the sounds in effect is probably only taken further in the drill’n’bass camps of the IDM crowds. They are always dynamic, always filled with personal improvisation to suit the track, and never sound the same between songs. Throw in Caro’s use of choking, meanacing sound effects for his leads and ambience, and you have yourself a producer that has managed to stay ahead of his peers for many years.

It’s just a shame he’s only released one full-length album on CD despite all of his vinyl singles. It makes it tough for us CD buying crowds to keep up (if you remain honest and don’t download music illegally, that is). Sure, we have his numerous tracks appear on Moving Shadow compilations or Dieselboy DJ mixes, but it sure would be nice to have another Technical Itch full-length to follow-up the great Diagnostics. (yeah, that’s a hint in case you be reading this, Mr. Caro... but I’m sure you’ve heard it for the last five years anyways)

Anyhow, with that bit of intro out of the way for our non-jungle readers here at TranceCritic, let’s get into this latest Technical Itch single.

Haunted sees Caro going about business as usual. Eerie ambience with creepy dialogue provide the setting with numerous sounds and effects I’ve heard before recycled here from other Technical Itch tracks -they are by no means unwelcome; it’s just apparent. The strength of the track, of course, lies in the percussion, and Caro doesn’t waste a single beat. It is constantly busy, pounding and hammering away at you, never really settling into an easy loop for you to get a feel for. The moment you think you can guess how the next measure of rhythm will play out, our intrepid producer will throw in a random snare roll or guttural bass growl just to mess with us. Fascinating to listen to, probably infuriating to the jungle soldiers trying to bust out their best moves.

Keeping in tune with the horror themes is Wraith, with a suitably sinister synthy intro. The rhythm is still busy once it kicks in but it isn’t the main attraction this time around. Rather, this one’s about showing off various bass noises to suit the demonic vocal sample.

I made a joke in a forum last year: considering the way all things 80s have been seeing a revival, it would only be a matter of time before that spring of nostalgia was utterly tapped dry and we’d be moving onto the early 90s for our retro kicks -including seeing the hoover synth making a glorious return to popularity by the year 2007. Well, Tech Itch may be thinking the same thing as, amongst the typical grimy bass noises oozing about in Wraith, there is also a traditional hoover, um, hoovering at various points. You’d think it might sound cheesy today but there was a reason all those early hardcore rave tracks used it: that sound can be quite menacing when used properly, and Technical Itch certainly knows how to get the most millage out of his sounds.

Both these tracks are worth your attention if you’re in the mood for evil jungle. Caro may not be doing anything too different from what we’ve heard him do before but he can still deliver the goods as Technical Itch when called upon.

Now, about that second artist album...

Score: 7/10

Written by Sykonee. Originally published 2006 for TranceCritic.com. © All rights reserved.

Sub Focus - Sub Focus

2010-01-27T09:19:00.001-08:00

RAM Records: Cat. # RAMMLP13CD
Released October 2009

Track List:
1. Let The Story Begin (4:53)
2. World Of Hurt (4:25)
3. Follow The Light (5:34)
4. Last Jungle (3:40)
5. Deep Space (4:37)
6. Rock It (4:35)
7. Move Higher featuring Culture Shock (4:13)
8. Vapourise (4:05)
9. Triple X (4:03)
10. Could This Be Real (3:36)
11. Splash (3:58)
12. Timewarp (4:38)
13. Coming Closer featuring Takura (3:35)

IN BRIEF: More jungle for the masses.

Thanks to Pendulum’s chart heroics, drum’n’bass has seldom been more popular. Okay, so maybe most of that success is primarily a UK thing but the genre is making some headway in bringing new talent to the masses. Nick Douwma, for instance. His first couple years as Sub Focus saw minor success but soon he caught the ear of jungle veteran Adam C (sending a CD-R of your own tunes to play out probably helps) and was promptly signed to his label RAM Records. Then the hits started to pile up, with tracks like X-Ray and Timewarp getting rinsed frequently at jungle parties.

Still, that’s not quite enough to explain his recent string of Radio 1 play. Nay, ol’ Nick must have realized to really make an impact on the dance masses, he was going to have to follow Pendulum’s lead and branch out of the safe confines of by-the-book d’n’b. Thus, he grabbed a clutch of currently trendy styles and tinkered with the formula, creating a couple tracks that are quite inspired, and a couple others that are absolute pish.

Let’s get the negative out of the way. Move Higher showed early promise, leaning on old-school jungle vibes with great effect. Then, that awful speed garage bassline drops, turning what could have been a fun track into a cornball fidget house tune. I’m sure it’s super popular with a whole bunch of kids out there, but whenever I hear a randomly modulated bass noise that has no funk, no hook, and no charm, all it inspires me to do is bust out my most exaggerated mock-rave dance. God, and people think donk music is stupid. The modulating bass nonsense continues in Could This Be Real, fucking up what could have been an amiable piano-house tune with funkless ‘wobble’ noise that’ll only have the floor acting out seizures as they try to move with it. Enough with the gimmicky bass modulations already.

However, Douwma manages to surprise with Rock It, a wonderful electro spin on Pendulum’s brand of rock-heavy d’n’b. This track has already drawn tons of Daft Punk comparisons (because, you know, the French duo invented talkboxes and all) and is about as straight-forward a cut as the description implies, making it all the more surprising that no one had ever thought of doing it before. Or maybe it has been done, but this is the biggest exposure this sound has ever received.

The rest of the album consists of jungle cuts of various types. You got some liquid funk care of Follow The Light, clownstep in Vapourise (a rather pointless tune considering it’s all tension builder with no proper release), more rocky tunes like Let The Story Begin, some spacey tracks with Splash and Deep Space, another go at diva soul with the cover World Of Hurt (original being Worla Hurt by nu-jazz mainstays Bugz In The Attic) and a total cheese-fest in Triple X. So a nicely varied album overall, with one nagging problem: much of it sounds tame.

Yeah, there’s some strong beats to be had. Splash kicks some serious ass, while World Of Hurt and Deep Space grooves with the best of them. Yet I keep getting the impression this is jungle for beginners, those who are ready to move on from Pendulum but are fearful of diving too deep into the scene. Follow The Light, though a fine liquid funk song in its own right, ain’t a touch on what London Elektricity or High Contrast have been churning out for a decade. Ed Rush & Optical’s efforts easily trump Douwma’s sinister cuts, and so on. Cagey jungle vets aren’t going to be too fussed with this album, as the only way Sub Focus has managed to stand out from the glut is by producing tunes that are well outside the scene’s boundaries, and as mentioned he’s incredibly hit-or-miss with that.

Still, even if this is entry-level d’n’b, Sub Focus will probably be a successful album for this very fact, as it’s an accessible starting point for the new generation of junglists. However, despite showing promise of a strong career, Douwma’s going to have to shake the formula a little more than what he’s done here. Rock It is an intriguing start but be wary if he takes the path of fidget-Hell instead.

Score: 6/10

ACE TRACKS:
Follow The Light
Rock It
Splash

Written by Sykonee, 2010. © All rights reserved.

Jam & Spoon - Tripomatic Fairytales 2002 (Original TC Review)

2010-01-25T07:02:00.000-08:00

Sony Music Entertainment: Cat. # 474918 2
Released 1993

Track List:
1. Hermaphrodite (2:10)
2. N.A.S.A. Nocturnal Audio Sensory Awakening (11:15)
3. LSD Nikon (2:34)
4. The Future Is In Small Hands (5:25)
5. Salina's Afternoon (4:03)
6. V. Angel. Is Calling (10:11)
7. Words And Dana (1:00)
8. Ancient Dream (8:41)
9. I Saw The Future (11:32)
10. Castaneda Future Illuminations (2:04)
11. Secret Kind Of Love (8:02)
12. World Of X-T-C (5:52)

(2010 Update:
Had I heard The Orb's Ultraworld album before I'd written this, I'd have been stunned by just how much Jam & Spoon bit Dr. Patterson's style for this album. As for my review itself, I don't know why I was so hard on it. Yeah, it's not a brilliant CD but I still enjoy it on occasion. There are some gosh-darned lovely little melodies floating about these songs. J&S just needed to trim the fat a little better. Its scarcity has made it rather expensive to buy though.)

IN BRIEF: The ambient fairytale.

A sort of B-side to Tripomatic Fairytales 2001, Tripomatic Fairytales 2002 didn't garner much attention with its lack of any clear-cut singles. The only folks who seem to be aware of its existence are ardent Jam & Spoon fans and it's not too surprising why.

Yes, there isn't any of the snappy pop hits that made casual consumers rush out and grab 2001 but nor are there any of the underground anthems that made them critical darlings as well. Rather, 2002 is Jam & Spoon flexing their muses as far as they're willing to go -and believe me, it stretches far indeed.

If you found the duo's more indulgent tracks on 2001 not to your taste, you'll probably not get much out of this release. If, however, you were genuinely intrigued by the more experimental nature of, say, Who Opened The Door To Nowhere, then this just might be right up your alley. Jam & Spoon must have had a ton of quirky ideas in mind while making 2001 but were held back due to the obvious necessity to make that album more commercially viable. Here, they get to do whatever they wish and the results, well, vary.

It gets off on a promising note, for sure. After intro track Hermaphrodite’s eerie, ominous ambience opens the doors, lengthy N.A.S.A. (named after a former club night in New York) takes us on a moody excursion through spacey ambient dub. Despite the sparseness of the track, it manages to keep your attention thanks to the breathing room the sounds on display have. The first third of the track alone consists of nothing more than a looping bassline, alternating Gregorian chants and noodly prog guitar bits, and little sounds effects sprinkled about; it's a simple yet effective combination. Eventually, things get a little more bouncy as the ambient cousins of the Stella synths gradually emerge, followed up by some reggae rhythms. The end gets a little odd with the soaring jet samples but it doesn't really detract from the track as a whole. It's not easy to create a ten minute plus downtempo song where the mind doesn't tend to wander, but Jam & Spoon pull it off with N.A.S.A.

From here, though, your patience for studio tomfoolery may be tested. LSD Nikon is an odd sonic experiment, taking an old soul-jazz song, muddying it up with effects, and throwing in camera shutter sounds played at varying speeds at random points. Sound interesting? Sure, but it doesn't really make much sense once it comes together either.

Alternatively, The Future Is In Small Hands is a minimal trip of beatnik ambience. Bits of pulsing bass, airy voice pads, and hand drums fill in the gaps but the song's mostly carried by lyrics sung by Hans Helmer Sauer. As such, your enjoyment of this track will live or die by his ability to carry a note. Well, let's just say the use of male vocalists in electronic music was suspect even back then.

If you thought Small Hands was minute, then Salina's Afternoon is downright microscopic. Aside from being bookended by samples of running water, this track consists of nothing more than gentle keyboards playing a light, improv melody -this is pure ambience at its calmest. Does the track amount to anything? Well, no, but that's always been the case for ambient music, to be honest. It's nice to play in the background.

V. Angel. Is Calling... Man, I don't have a clue what Jam & Spoon were trying to accomplish with this track. The first chunk of it consists of subtle eerie synth washes while sounds of phones being dialed and answered play out. Because the dialogue is all in German, I can't make out the details (you have to tri-lingual to get the full effect of 2002, as there's French as well as English and German on display in many tracks) but, as near as I can figure from rough online translators, it's something about a corpse trying to make a phone call but is unable to talk -hence all the "hallo, hallo?" on the other end of the phone. If that sounds odd, the rest of the track doesn't make much sense musically either. Sure, the synth washes, rolling bass resonance, and bubbly sound effects make for an interesting mixture but it isn't coherent either. This wouldn't be so much a problem if the track didn't run for so long. By the end of it, you kind of wonder what just happened.

Words And Dana is just that, and it doesn't make much sense as a skit either, so let's move on and get into something that, finally, makes sense as a song again. Ancient Dream is a quiet, gentle track which doesn't try to do anything fancy. Starting out with a briefly looping sample of some sort of folkish melody, Jam & Spoon pull a quirky little trick in adding another loop of it just a half second behind, creating an interesting doubling effect. Adding simple percussion (no kicks!) and synth washes to complement it, Ancient Dream becomes a lush, calming tune that'll put your mind at ease -that is, until a looping sample of a Bushman gathering emerges from the background, growing in volume until it drowns out everything else to finish up. O-kay...

Another biggie track here with I Saw The Future which, despite the live percussion provided by Dieter, comes off sounding like some sort of jam session with loops. Everything you're going to hear in this track - from various percussion, synthy pads, and repeating vocal samples - are introduced very early on. The draw of the track is to see how the trio will embellish these elements as the song progresses. They don't stray far, though, so don't feel bad if you begin to lose interest two-thirds of the way through -you won't miss anything you hadn't already heard.

As far as interludes go, Castaneda is probably one of the more interesting ones as Jam & Spoon play around with the speed of a vocal sample while ominous, futuristic ambient sounds threateningly weave about in the background. In contrast, the gentleness of A Secret Kind Of Love works wonderfully as a follow-up, even if the track itself might leave something to be desired. Again, not that this cousin of Small Hands is bad (it certainly comes off more successfully than the former track did), but because this too is carried by the vocals of Helmer, you'll pretty much enjoy it depending on how you like his singing.

And finally, as we come to the end of 2002, we find the only real similarity to this albums big brother, 2001. How the latter's final moments felt jarringly misplaced with the inclusion of Find Me seemingly tagged on when Stella's Cry would have been the perfect closer, this album also has the same quirk, although not quite as abrupt sounding. Whatever you might feel about Secret Kind Of Love, the gentle ambience it ends on would make for a nice closer. However, it is followed up by the bouncy, dancey World Of X-T-C. The reggae influence on this track is certainly fun but it sounds way out of place on 2002's experimental nature. Ah well, par the course in the case, I suppose.

I guess the big question remaining is whether this CD is worth your funds. It all depends on how much of a Jam & Spoon fan you are, really. Personally, I have very fond memories associated with Tripomatic Fairytales 2002, as it was the soundtrack to a significant time in my life (yeah, yeah, we all have earth shattering moments when we're sixteen). However, having listened to a great deal more experimental ambient music since then, I definitely can see the flaws in this release.

Make no mistake about it. Music of this sort can be very hit or miss with a great number of people. While I wouldn't say this is a major musical misstep in their career, neither does it distinguish itself much from the crowd. The music on hand with 2002 is strictly middle-of-the-road ambient music, with a few moments of intrigue interlaced with a few moments of bewilderment. If you go in expecting this, you'll be fine.

Score: 5/10

ACE TRACKS:
N.A.S.A. Nocturnal Audio Sensory Awakening
Ancient Dream

Written by Sykonee. Originally published 2006 for TranceCritic.com. © All rights reserved.

RipFork, a music writer's greatest annoyance.

2010-01-23T06:56:00.000-08:00

When I first started writing music reviews, it was to give followers of EDM broader, honest coverage of the genre. There were far too many horribly-written brown-nosing writers on EDM websites, each coming off as desperately seeking free promos and never actually being critical of poor music -their scales of "1-10" seemed to forget there were actually numbers below seven.

That wasn't the whole story though. Another part of it was the infuriating pretentiousness of other websites that would cover EDM, specifically those that catered to indie crowds. Pitchfork, Tiny Mix Tapes, Drowned In Sound, and so on. Whatever practical facts or opinions they presented were so often buried in English Major prose, it renders reviews nearly unreadable. Boomer Rock journalism was bad enough in carrying annoying self-importance, but at least you figured they still knew how to, well, party. You seldom get that sense from indie rock journalism, with dry attempts at witty wordplay designed to impress their peers being the norm. It's why Mark Prindle remains one of my favorite music writers (check him out if you haven't yet!), as you can tell he's just a guy who likes to talk music, make his well-informed opinion, and throw in a few dick jokes along the way. He's not trying to create something as daft as journalistic art or something.

So it's quite refreshing to see someone take the time to actually critique these websites. It's a fairly new website, called RipFork, and he's already managed to tick off a few of the 'established indie journalism elite'. It appears to be nothing more than a hobby right now but many of his points are solid and amusing. Who knows how long he'll keep this up for, but provided he doesn't run into a rut, it could become a popular website for those weary of Pitchfork's shtick. Also, if you ever find yourself writing in the manner of some of the reviews he's taken to task, for the love of God rethink what you're doing!

I'll admit I'm far from the greatest music writer out there but I at least attempt to follow Prindle's form in being a personable writer. We need more like that out there, and definitely less of the Pitchforkian Prose types. Yes, I'm looking at you, Resident Advisor. Get your head out of your ass before it's too late!

Jam & Spoon - Tripomatic Fairytales 2001 (Original TC Review)

2010-01-18T03:59:00.000-08:00

Sony Music Entertainment: Cat. # EK 64230
Released 1993

Track List:
1. Heart Of Africa (6:49)
2. Odyssey To Anyoona (9:59)
3. Two Spys In The House Of Love (0:32)
4. Stella (6:19)
5. Neurotrance Adventure (5:42)
6. Zen Flash Zen Bones (6:10)
7. Who Opened The Door To Nowhere (2:44)
8. Right In The Night (Fall In Love With Music) (6:04)
9. Muffled Drums (0:40)
10. Path Of Harmony (7:02)
11. Paradise Garage (6:30)
12. Earth Spirit (6:28)
13. Stella's Cry (7:25)
14. Find Me (Odyssey To Anyoona) (Radio Mix) (4:00)

(2010 Update:
I guess for a review attempting to describe what this album sounds like to a newer generation of trance fans, this came out alright; albeit too wordy like so many other reviews I was writing at the time. However, I regret not really delving more into the significance of this release more, in that it truly was a daring attempt on Jam & Spoon's part to make a crossover trance album. Also, I neglected to mention all the various, um, variations of 2001 that were issued, as new hit singles kept cropping up and replacing less-favored tracks. Ah well, Discogs can clear much of that up for you if you're curious enough.)

IN BRIEF: Looking back in trance time.

I hadn't planned on doing this review anytime soon. There's always a certain fear in going back to a release you hold fond memories of but know will not stand up against genuine scrutiny as much as you'd hope. Equally difficult is when it is an album, for whatever reason, you hold a sentimental place in your heart -you would love to give it a glowing review but any trace of sentimental fanboyism will ruin your credibility faster than a lip syncing pop star. Yeah, it's not fun doing these kinds of reviews.

However, with the recent and all-too-soon death of Markus Löffel, a.k.a. Mark Spoon, I can't help but feel compelled to tackle this now. I never knew the man (obviously) so writing some sort of obituary is out of place -that's for friends and family. Also, I never really followed much of his career. Most of the music I'll remember him by came out in the early half of the 90's, a time when I was hardly clued into what was going on overseas. Still, the work he did with Jam el Mar laid the ground for much of what was to come in this whole trance thing. As with many others, it was the Jam & Spoon sound that swayed me to the underground.

This isn't going to be a typical review. To judge Tripomatic Fairytales against the history of trance is unfair, as this release is very much a product of its time. Likewise, it would be quite tasteless of me to try and spin some sort of perspective on this release with Mark's death. Instead, I'm writing this to give those who may not have heard much of the Jam & Spoon catalogue beyond the major hits an insight into some of the other works they produced.

Tripomatic 2001 has always been known to be a somewhat difficult album for casual fans to get into. The big hits - Right In The Night, Find Me - seemed strangely out of place on an album filled with oddball experimental songs like Zen Flash Zen Bones and Earth Spirit. Such was Jam & Spoon’s allure in those days, though. They were never afraid to test how far they could push their songs and, even if the results weren't always memorable, they were at least interesting.

Opener Heart Of Africa is a prime example. You get a bizarre assortment of tribal grooves, quirky sound effects, gentle synth pads, and bits of goobled dialogue all mixed into a synthetic soup. Interesting combination, to be sure, but the end result isn’t as coherent as folks seeking their poppier songs might expect. Not to say this track is a random mess of sounds -there's still flow to the way all the elements play out; however, the feeling of playing loose and fast with traditional song structure is quite apparent. Heart Of Africa is as good as a gauge to test the waters on 2001, as the style of this track tends to be the norm.

Odyssey To Anyoona -ah, now this is what I always enjoyed about old trance. Loops and loops being layered and layered on top of one another, building and building to crescendo and crescendo -er, one crescendo. The remarkable thing about Odyssey is just how long Jam & Spoon dwell on the rhythm at the beginning, yet manage to keep things from sounding too repetitive. Give credit to that wonderful bass kick. It creates a cavernous resonance and the louder the sound system, the more full it gets. This ain't a track meant for your tinny iPod earbuds or mini-player (although the melodic bits work just as fine). Invest in that two-grand sub-whoofer and feel how this track was meant to be felt.
One little skit which may be an inside joke later, and we're gently slid into the somber opening pads of Jam & Spoon's first big single, Stella. This track has been remixed a number of times to keep it current sounding, but I still feel the original remains the most effective. Like Odyssey, it's another track that works with layered loops. Unlike Odyssey though, Stella doesn't dwell on lengthy, rhythmic lead-ins, getting into the thick of things rather quickly. In addition, the loops don't all remain static, allowing for pitch bends and subtle effects to keep them interesting. Yes, it's more of a slow burner than your typical remakes, and I'm sure many of the new cats will wonder what the big deal with Stella is, especially with guitar strums as fake sounding as those or no massive build or melody. But that's just how the music sounded back then.

Stella ends with the elements of the track getting stripped away and then gradually slows down to a crawl. In contrast, follow-up Neurotrance Adventure does the exact opposite. Starting with a simple little three-note hook, the track slowly begins speeding up for some thirty seconds until, surprise, it's gone on to form the bassline! Heh, clever for sure, but does the rest of Neurotrance measure up? Hard to say, really. It's a pretty sparse track for a good chunk of the beginning, doing the same layered loops thing as the last couple tracks, but without anything quite as catchy. Really, there is no major hook, as the track relies on layering sweeping synths playing a benign ditty for its melody. There's also a moment midway through where you have one of those synth noises getting a pitch bend, most famously done in the duo's remix of Age Of Love, but heard in many other works Jam el Mar's had his hand in. Yeah, Neurotrance is a nice little song, but not quite as memorable as the obvious tracks here.

And now, you might want to hold onto your hats for some very oddball sounds. Zen Flash Zen Bones spends a huge amount of time having fun with quirky rhythm effects and not much else. The bass definitely growls along, but what's with some of those... hi-hats? The added claps make for a decent little bit of tribal foolery, and you cannot deny the effectiveness of those glowing stuttering synths playing a little Eastern tune towards the end, but couldn't this track have been a bit more coherent in what it was trying to accomplish?

Who Opened The Door To Nowhere is another skit, this time in the form of bubbly acid, sweeping ambient synths, and robotized voices. Very cool sounding stuff, and makes for a nice interlude.

Right In The Night. Boy, what can be said about this track? Probably most recognized for letting Jam el Mar put those classically trained guitar skills to work, it is also quite famous for giving the burgeoning trance scene its first bona-fide club hit; really by drawing upon the styling of euro dance that was so incredibly popular back then. With lyrics sung by Plavka and some extra trancey elements recycled from the B-Side of this single, Follow Me, it crossed the barrier between the underground and the mainstream so effectively that both camps declared it a classic. Good work to all four of them on this track.

Huh? Four? There's Jam, there's Mark, and there's Plavka, so who's the fourth? Heh, you didn't think the commercial accessibility of Right In The Night was their doing alone, did you? No, the man really responsible for making this song so chart friendly was Nosie Katzmaan and, as the man who's had his hand in scores of euro hits, his touch can definitely be felt on this song. Not to take anything away from Jam & Spoon, mind, but if you've ever wondered why this song sounds so much different than the rest of the material on 2001, that is your answer right there. Anyhow, moving on (right past Muffled Drums, since there's nothing of interest there).

Getting back to Jam & Spoon's more quirky side again is Path Of Harmony. A very strange sounding bassline, bizarre percussion sounds, and rhythmic experimenting make up the beginning of this track, but fear not, my friends, this isn't another Zen Flash. Once we get past all that, we're thrust into a serious groover with catchy synth stabs and throbbing voice pads; call it the housey cousin of Stella. And, lo and behold, we get an actual breakdown in this track, where, *gasp*, the main hook, a happy little synthetic thing, is introduced with gentle pads, letting things build back up to a peak where those groovey rhythms are thrust back in. A certain Dutchman was probably paying attention.

Returning to the layered loop template is Paradise Garage, a tribute track to the club of the same name. A pure trancer in the traditional sense, there's no real hook to be had in this track -just arpeggio synths and effects getting their pitches tweaked out. Love the format or hate it, you can't deny its effectiveness in sucking you into trance, especially as subdued pads get a little extra playing time towards the end. Man, but did they ever like to make things sound distant sometimes.

And, once again, were getting some rhythmic experiments, this time in the form of Earth Spirit. It's a little more coherent than Zen Flash, and there's yet another great, growling bassline to be had here, but a great number of the added sound effects tend to grate just a bit much. If Jam & Spoon's indulging hadn't won you over in the earlier tracks, I doubt this one will sway you either, but the tribal energy to be had in Earth Spirit is quite infectious, and it's a nice experiment to give the bassline over to a bubbly bit of acid later on. Ending on some ominous stuttering voice pads, this might make you feel more in tuned with your animal instincts than any other track on here.

Alternatively, Stella's Cry will most likely get you in touch with your more humane feelings (aw, garsh). A pleasant little number that, despite actually having a brisk rhythm to it, is carried by benign sweeping synths, string stabs, and piano ditties. It definitely catches that morning after feel as the night's festivities come to an end and would have been a perfect capper on 2001...

...Had Find Me not been seemingly tagged on here. Well, that's because this track was thrown on the American release when it became the big hit it did (thanks to, once again, Nosie Katzmaan finding the euro hit capabilities of Odyssey To Anyoona). Not that it's a bad thing, really. The song is fine and dandy for what it is, being the birth of vocal trance (probably) and all but, with in sounding so out of place coming right at the very end of 2001, it doesn't quite leave the same feeling upon finishing this release as Stella's Cry would have. At least Right In The Night was bookended by interludes so it wouldn't interfere with Jam & Spoon's more quirky tracks.

And there you have it, my friends. There is any number of ways to conclude what sort of album Tripomatic Fairytales 2001 is: genre classic; underground burner; failed crossover attempt; hopelessly outdated -it tends to boil down to your level of cynicism, I suppose. Of course, I'd recommend this album for anyone who wishes to have a piece of trance history in their collection but it should be forewarned you will be getting a release with a lot of variety. Yes, I know this is supposed to be a good thing but I've known many folks who were disappointed in 2001 because it wasn't filled with copies of Right In The Night or Stella (for the record, I never even heard those tracks when I first picked this up -it was Follow Me that tuned me into the Jam & Spoon sound). Keep your mind open to what these two were trying out here, however, and you're sure to enjoy their little fairytale several years on.

Score: 7/10

ACE TRCKS:
Stella
Right In The Night
Path Of Harmony

Written by Sykonee. Originally published 2006 for TranceCritic.com. © All rights reserved.

Various - Fabric 48: Radio Slave

2010-01-17T11:50:00.000-08:00

Fabric: Cat. # fabric95
Released September 2009

Track List:
1. Baeka - Right At It (Michel Cleis Deeper Remix)
2. Radio Slave - DDB
3. Radio Slave - I Don’t Need A Cure For This
4. Dance Disorder - My Time (Radio Slave’s Rekids Tribe Remix)
5. Brothers’ Vibe - Platter Sugar
6. Spencer Parker - The Beginning (Michel Cleis Remix)
7. Nina Kraviz - Pain In The Ass
8. DJ Boola - Balada Redo
9. Radio Slave - Koma Koma (Steve Lawler Remix)
10. Spencer Parker - My Heart (Daniel Sanchez Easy Noise Remix)
11. Michel Cleis featuring Totó La Momposina - La Mezcla
12. 2000 & One - Wan Poku Moro
13. Nate Williams - Maximum Overload (Roy's Death Wish Mix)

IN BRIEF: Exactly what you’d expect.

So this one’s kind of late, and, in light of the Fabric series having recently reached the 50th edition of its long history (100th, if you include the FabricLive series alongside it!), makes talking about number forty-eight seem highly inconsequential at this point. Yet surely there’s something to be said about Radio Slave contributing, right? After all, Matthew Edwards has been a hot commodity these last few years, building his steadily rising star on the basis of an endless stream of singles and remixes that, er, always have the feeling of being endlessly looped.

Therein lays the problem though. Having firmly established his place as a producer with a limited, if effective, signature sound, Edwards’ name has cooled off in the clubbing conscious. Without even looking at a tracklist, someone even vaguely familiar with Radio Slave material will have a good idea what a Fabric release with his name on it will sound like. What could have been a thrilling addition to the series’ legacy a couple years back now seems safe and predictable.

Sure enough, Fabric 48 holds few surprises. The opening begins with a few deep cuts, recalling the sort of sound prog DJs were playing around 2002. Then, we move into tribal-house territory, which is interesting merely for the fact this stuff is in vogue again after some five-to-ten years of being not. A quick detour into dull ketamine-house with Nina Kraviz’ Pain In The Ass, then back into the tech-grooves, finally throwing in a few contemporary ‘gimmick-house’ cuts towards the end; a Latin-sample here, a soul-speech there… not all that contemporary, to be honest, as we’ve heard gimmicks like these for years now.

And frankly, Edwards’ set is summed up as much. You could probably walk into a used music shop and find a DJ mix CD from up to fifteen years ago that would sound remarkably similar to much of what Edwards plays here. No, this isn’t a bad thing, as his set is mostly enjoyable, the sort of dance music you can mindlessly bob your head along to; unfortunately, it’s also redundant. Unless you can’t get enough of this deep-tech-tribal-etc. house sound, such that you just have to have every release the genre offers, there isn’t much incentive to pick this up. You would be just as well off downloading a live-set for free.

Supposedly, Edwards intended this to be taken as such, a representative of what you’re likely to hear at a club he’s playing at. I can buy into that, as there isn’t any kind of musical narrative going on here. It simply starts, let’s the energy gradually grow, and simply ends, taking in few variations of tech house along the way. You can start this CD at any point and not have missed anything significant; or end it at any point for that matter. It’s like being able to leave the dance floor to get a drink or go for a smoke, secure in the knowledge the DJ isn’t going to memorably switch things up in the meantime.

Or, if he does, it’ll be a fall back on a worn-out anthem -in this case, La Mezcla. For whatever reason, this was one of the biggest tracks of 2009. As far as I can tell, it’s just Heater Part 2: Flute Boogaloo; the melody is apparently Spanish in origin, but I keep hearing the words to Frère Jacques whenever that flute starts bleating. It’s a fun little tune once in a while, though definitely not something you’d want to hear over and over and over once the novelty of the sample wears thin.

Even if you have a fondness for this music, Fabric 48 is hard to get terribly enthusiastic over. I’m just repeating myself in calling this safe and predictable but Edwards hasn’t given me much to work with here. Such seems to be the case with the Fabric series as a whole lately though. Aside from a few occasional standouts, what was once a leader in the DJ mix field has settled into something of a ‘Global Underground syndrome’: relying on high-profile names to deliver merely adequate DJ mixes to the consumer; unremarkably consistent. Radio Slave’s contribution is just another addition to this trend, and if you’re still wondering why I’m even bothering to review this CD four months after it hit the streets, it only confirms my point.

Score: 6/10

ACE TRACKS:
Nothing really stood out as a highlight.

Written by Sykonee, 2010. © All rights reserved.

Various - Buckle Up, Vol. 2: The Trancelucent Garage (Original TC Review)

2010-01-10T07:56:00.001-08:00

Trancelucent Productions: Cat: # TPCD-IL012
Released July 2005

Track List:
1. System Nipel - Russian Gangsters (8:08)
2. Cosmic Tone - Element (6:51)
3. Electro Sun - Demon's Halo (7:20)
4. Aquatica - Skydance (Remix) (7:35)
5. The Misted Muppet - Snarling Zraw (7:56)
6. Noga - Acceleration (8:15)
7. Etic - 1 Day (7:38)
8. Systemic - Systec (6:53)
9. Noga vs Solar System - Above The Ground (6:53)

(2010 Update:
Well, at least I was getting the hang of talking about the music without going track-by-track, even if I only did it for the latter half of this compilation. A lot of these guys are still around, though have somewhat faded as the whole prog-psy thing started to get more attention than full-on. In fact, I think this was about the peak of full-on's popularity, not to mention creativity -a lot of subsequent full-on I heard wasn't quite as good as this stuff was. Maybe I just had bad luck of the draw?

Cover's still hilariously tacky too!)

IN BRIEF: We're missing a decade here.

Before I write anything regarding the music on Buckle Up Vol. 2, I want to direct your attention to the cover of this compilation. No, go ahead and look at it. Don't be shy, I know you want to.

Got a good look at it? What's that? You need more time? Okay, but don't take much longer. I have much to cover here.

Seriously now! You can stop looking. No, I mean it! Stop looking! Bloody pervert...

So what's the big deal, you ask. It's just a couple of naked gals. Plenty of covers have used this tacky gimmick to sell their CDs: thrashy, trashy rock music; booty bass hip hop; even superstar teen pop (well, they may be clothed in the last one, but they certainly don't leave much to the imagination either). You can hardly take such covers seriously.

That's exactly the point, though. All too often trance music, especially of the psy variant, takes itself far too seriously and uses overly pretentious images of Buddhism or fractal artwork. Fine and dandy for the most part but it'd be nice to see the genre have a little fun as well. It might actually attract more casual folks into the fold, if anything to sate their curiosity. The only time I've ever seen trance try to get kinky is back when Hypnotic would put devil chicks wearing S&M gear flopping their giant breasts around in moving cover art (plus other assorted fetish material inside, but perhaps too hardcore for many of our readers so I'll spare you the details). Whether you were turned off or on by the stuff was inconsequential -at least Hypnotic had the balls to do something different from the norm. These days trance covers play things safe with scenic art, contemporary computer art, Renaissance art, or 'DJ/Producer looking off in the distance' art.

So, no matter how many psy-heads may call this cover tasteless, I say Kudos to Trancelucent for breaking the norm.

That rant out of the way, let's get into the music.

Straight up I'll tell you there isn't anything revolutionary or groundbreaking on Buckle Up Vol. 2. This is un-mainstream trance going about its business as though the last ten years hadn't happened. The furthest thing from these producer's minds is having the likes of Tiestin van Corstenfold play them or to be broadcast on A State Of Global Deejays (or something like that). As such, this compilation would probably get lumped into the psy trance section of your stores, even though not everything on this is true blue psy -it's just a tendency for stuff that doesn't fit into popular niches to get shunted over to the psy camp. However, such concerns aren't all that important -how effectively these producers craft their music is the main question.

We dive into Buckle Up Vol. 2 with System Nigel, one of many members of the Trancelucent family I've never heard of prior to receiving this disc. Like many psy-trance titles, the song's name of Russian Gangsters doesn't make a lick of sense to what goes on in the song. As for the song itself, it's serviceable full-on stuff, building from simple, chunky acid sounds and bleepy hooks to more stock psy sounds anyone with a passing familiarity with the scene will recognize. As with most psy-trance, there are a few tangents taken during the course of the track before peaking out with rhythms that pick up the intensity as most of the hinted elements throughout come out in full force. It's a bit happy-go-lucky, which may scare off the purists, but certainly inoffensive enough as an opener.

Cosmic Tone's Element borrows the spoken dialogue from Danny Tenaglia’s track of the same name, but doesn't go through the whole laundry list of items that make up the track like the original, mainly because they'd be out of place here. Instead, it cuts to the chase by skipping right to the "I like it all" bit after the initial prelude. As for the track itself, it's a simple, moody little number. Not much happens in it, letting the subtle sounds create a sinister atmosphere and deep, rolling bassline groove you on.

As Element ends, we're thrust into the soaring pads of Electro Sun’s Demon’s Halo. The track doesn't waste too much time getting into it though, as chunky, acidy rhythms erupt with everything they've got after the paddy intro. From here, this song absolutely tears along. I mean it! Compared to most of the material on Mr. Elkayam's debut, Demon's Halo is leaps and bounds better. Okay, so there are a few odd tangents (is that a synthesized chicken being strangled?), and Electro Sun still hasn't changed the sound patch for his bassline, but these are just minor nitpicks. When the soaring pad work and invigorating rhythms are this infectious, who cares? Had I known Electro Sun was capable of this kind of stuff, I might not have been quite so generous in my rating of his full length.

Aquatica's Skydome makes for a decent transitional track on this compilation, but not much more. It's pretty standard full-on material, including a build that peaks with a typical full-on synth -it could easily be called Psy Synth 01 in a pre-set bank. The peak isn't nearly as good as the build would have you believe either but nice eerie pads are to be had in this track.

The Misted Muppet seems to be one of the main stars of the Trancelucent label, and if this offering of Snarling Zraw is any indication, I can see why. Whatever a Zraw is, it certainly snarls in this track as it oozes absolute evil with some of the most messed up sounds this side of a Hellraiser sound-effects studio.

And those rhythms! My God, I thought Demon's Halo was busy but Snarling Zraw is absolute chaos! I've listened to this track several times since receiving it from Boa Distribution (plug!) and am still discovering little nuances amid the mayhem. Most trance seems content to use around four elements in their rhythm sections -Zraw uses three times that in the first half alone.

Unfortunately, it's not all aceness in this track. It seems my compatriot Cinos was correct in his assessment of Zraw: despite a very promising start with things building in intensity for a while, it loses the plot around half-way through, veering off into just plain weird tangents for the sake of it. Ah well, -Zraw finishes off wonderfully with a chopped up female chant accentuated with shuffling percussion that'll get the hippie girls shaking their skirted asses if they hadn't already fled to saner pastures.

For the rest of this compilation, something strange happens. A feeling comes over me that recently seems to only occur with some the deepest prog around. I know what it is, but I'm almost afraid to say it. For so long now trance music has been mostly about mega-melodies and worshiping the guy who plays them; the name of the genre has gone on to only imply euphoria so saying what this feeling is would be out of place here. Ah, what the Hell. I'll say it.

From Noga's Acceleration to his collaboration with Solar System in the form of Above The Ground, I literally feel like I'm getting sucked into a trance -the inward, hypnotic kind, that is.

How does it do it? Simply put, it's all about the subtlety of these four tracks. The leads and sounds used are subdued and ever shifting as the tracks evolve. Pad effects - some gentle, some ominous - keep the songs afloat and whenever a main hook enters the fray (usually two-thirds of the way through), it doesn't smack you across the head for your attention, rather complementing the track as a logical conclusion to the lead up to it.

Of course, this isn't to say these four tracks are perfect. Certainly, some of the sounds in Systemic's Systec are odd, and, as mentioned earlier, it's not like there's anything groundbreaking to be heard. You wouldn't be able to tell if these were produced in 2005 or 1995. Indeed, some of the sounds used are a little primitive considering how far trance has moved. Still, within this field, these producers managed to craft tracks that truly do succeed where so much other trance fails despite better production values.

There you have it. Definitely some interesting material on hand, if staying true to the source materia nearly to a fault. Buckle Up Vol. 2 probably won't win over any folks who still haven't jumped on the psy wagon, nor will it impress those always striving for the latest and greatest. For those of us who wouldn't mind a little harmless full-on action followed up by some good old fashioned hypnotic trance, this is as decent of a compilation as any which I've heard over the last ten years.

Score: 7/10

ACE TRACKS:
Noga - Acceleration
The Misted Muppet - Snarling Zraw

Written by Sykonee. Originally published 2006 for TranceCritic.Com.