Showing posts with label Street Fighter. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Street Fighter. Show all posts

Monday, March 16, 2015

In Trance We Trust: Super Champion Review Project Turbo - Round 2 Fight!

C-c-c-comber Breaker! Wait, wrong game. Initiate Super Fire Blow! No, that's not it. Test my might? Oh HELL no! New challengers appear! Yeah, that's the stuff.

Whatever famous fighting game phrase you prefer, I am indeed breaking up my regular queue for a brief return to the world of In Trance We Trust. Revisiting the series' music for my December 2013 ACE TRACKS Playlist got me curious whether the label was still kicking around or had quietly folded into the glowstick illuminated night. Not only has it held on, but even knocked out another mix, reaching the mighty Volume Twenty in a 3CD extravaganza! Damn, I knew I shouldn't have let Dan Hibiki deliver the final blow to the series. Guess it’s time for me to step into the fighting arena for another round (plus a few assists from various Street Fighter Alpha 3 participants, ‘natch).



Of course, I can’t return to a DJ mix series without adding some stipulations for which volumes I’ll buy. Last round, I picked up every edition that was cheaper than In Trance We Trust 011, my official introduction to these CDs. Turned out every single mix after DJ Phynn’s set fell into that condition, so I’m left with very few still out there regardless. Since I was getting In Trance We Trust 020 no matter what (because glutton for punishment, right?), I figured rounding up whatever mixes were cheaper than that one as the best option for a purchasing stipulation. So now I have every volume of In Trance We Trust aside from the first four (expensive rare now). That includes In Trance We Trust 011, but the CD still hasn’t arrived, now two weeks overdue - I don’t know if it ever will. I’d rather not waste anymore time waiting, but I’ll see if I can come up with something in its space instead.

Saturday, December 21, 2013

Various - In Trance We Trust 019: Kris O'Neil

In Trance We Trust: 2012

Well, at least I didn’t have to endure a breakdown until two minutes this time, but there it is once again. God almighty, when will this trope- oh, it’s already back to the beats. Well, good then. But I bet this opener will come to a full stop for a standard build-up and- wait, it’s already doing the build-up? Without a pause? Holy cow, and it drops right after the peak; no dawdling, just hitting that anthem instantly. Okay, that wasn’t so bad, but it was just a one-off, I’m sure. The rest of this disc will- oh, wow! The entire first half of this mix has tracks like that.

I’ll grant some builds go a tad long (Cosmic Gate just can’t help themselves), but there’s no sense of momentum lost - just bangin’ tune after bangin’ tune, many with a hooky anthem and hard rhythms. Hm, and snares or claps on every beat, no less; rather like hard house come to think of it. Hey, this isn’t trance at all, it’s anthem house!

Right, so I should have expected it from a 2012 mix CD, as tons of DJs jumped on that genre’s recent resurgence (and stop calling it retarded names like ‘trouse’ or Trance 2.0). I can totally see the euro-trance faithful hating Kris O’Neil’s offering to the In Trance We Trust series, signifying yet another example of the scene they reverently coddled turning to sounds more popular to a general audience. Yeah, well, them’s the breaks, kids. Now you know how the old-old schoolers felt when the Dutch sounds ya’ll loved started dominating trance many moons ago. Stings, don’t it.

Anyhow, Mr. O’Neil’s quick mixes (average of four minutes per track!) of tunes that keep the energy escalating does peter out by the midway mark, after which he indulges in some tepid vocal cuts (dear Lord, that Wanrooy track with Blake Lewis is hokey), and tech bangers for the end. A couple are okay, but can’t match the unabashed stupid-fun the first half of the CD offered, which was more than could be said for so many other volumes.

Thus, that’s the last of the In Trance We Trust series, perhaps period. ITWT019 was released a year-and-a-half ago, and though the label still comes out with the odd single, there hasn't been word on a twentieth volume hitting stores any time soon, digi or not. Gee, I know the whole mix CD market’s got little appeal to most young punters out there, but surely a mega-label like Black Hole Recordings sees some merit in maintaining In Trance We Trust. Did Kris O’Neil’s offering tank that bad to kill it off? Or was the inclusion of so much anthem house a sign that In Trance We Trust no longer trusts in trance?


If this really is the end, then it’s only fitting to have In Trance We Trust put to pasture. Let ‘em have it, guys!

Gen: “Zan’ei!”

M. Bison: “Psycho Crusher!”

Akuma: “Shun Goku Satsu.






Dan: “Chouhatsu Densetsu!








Thursday, December 19, 2013

Various - In Trance We Trust 018: Marc Simz

In Trance We Trust: 2011

I've gone on about how bad some of these In Trance We Trusts are, but they haven't been dreadful-bad or anything. Despite many stretches of misery, unoriginality, or boredom, I can at least get through them with some decent tunes along the way. This one though... Oh God, this one...

Not even ninety seconds in, and I’m hit with a full-stop breakdown. What the fuck was the point of those limp opening beats then? You didn’t mix from anything, Mr. Simz. Either start your set with proper rhythmic build to hook me in, or don’t bother at all – use an ‘ambient intro’ if you’re going this route. Fine, the main track is nice as an opener, but the next track after that has another full-stop breakdown. And the one after that. And after, and after, and practically through the whole bloody CD. So much for set flow. Here’s the start of a new tune, it stops, here’s your dithering breakdown and build, thump-thump, and moving on. And dear lord do these breakdowns ever go on. It’s like the worst of DJ Scot Project, but with plodding prog beats rather than pounding hard trance.

And I thought I’d heard some wretched ‘melodies’ in such breakdowns before. Saint X’ Gabriel has to rank up there with the most overblown Dutch synths victimizing my ears, made even more hilarious by the ‘minimal’ bloopiness that forms the rhythmic backbone. Give me the good ol’ days where Dutch anthems were just supersaw nonsense. Wow, how I miss those alre-

Ah, fack me, I didn’t mean for you to actually include those sort of tunes at the end, Marc! Virtual Vault’s really getting his System-F on with Freedom, Simz teams up with Geert Huinink for an orchestral breakdown-build that lasts nearly three fucking minutes, and Juventa’s As You Are is, well, about typical for the classic Anjunabeats sound. Guess it was alright for what it is, but not after such a pathetically structured set such as this one.

Man, even some of the tunes I kinda like have things working against them. Fefelove & Abramasi’s Try To Catch A Goldfish has strong, spacey trance elements in play, but are undone by a distorted low-end drowning everything out. Ruby & Tony’s Praya kinda tickles my ‘dumb-fun’ centres with its anthem and chopped up McProg vocals, but it don’t last long enough.

Ugh. In Trance We Trust 018 is a total turkey. I can’t imagine the series getting worse after this, but there is still one more to go. Courage, Sykonee...


Is this the worst CD of this reviewing project? Let’s ask the worst Street Fighter, Dan Hibiki, if it’s so.

Dan: “Hey now, don’t be like that. I’ve proven myself in the fighting arena, as I’m sure Marc Simz has proven himself in the DJ arena. In fact, I don’t even need to listen to this to know it’s the strongest CD of them all. Yahoo! Am I right, Jimmy?”

Blanka: “Aaroohoaahoo! (You go, Friend Dan!)”





Wednesday, December 18, 2013

Various - In Trance We Trust 017: Bobina

In Trance We Trust: 2011

Bobina is Dmitry Almazov, a very important person in the world of Russian trance. Wait, are there any others? I know plenty of Russians have made trance over the years, but beyond the occasional cross-over hit (hi, PPK!), none have made much of an impact on the scene at large. Not Bobina though. He got noticed by a few very important people in the trance scene of Western Europe, and gained enough of a following such that he’s consistently placed high in an online poll many folks used to take seriously. He must have blitzed his homeland for votes, and with no other heroes to support, trance fans of the Motherland dutifully came to his support, a Red Trance Army unlike any seen before. Sort of.

Anyhow, he got a record deal with the all-consuming Black Hole Recordings, and as such got a chance at In Trance We Trust. Unlike the recent string of jocks in this series, Bobina already had some experience in the mix CD realm, so we can expect something with a little more structure despite still being constrained by the same ‘play record label’s latest singles’ politics we always deal with In Trance We Trust now.

The first three tracks are vocal trance. Well f

The first track, Reverie by First State and ‘has some personality’ vocalist Sarah Howells, is kinda fun, only that it’s totally Real McCoy’s classic euro-dance tune Runaway. Whether intentional or not, I haven’t a clue, but you can’t hide that chorus from my expert euro-detection ability (the hook screams mid-‘90s too). The second track has a bored sounding Jan Johnston on it, probably because it was Cosmic Gate originally doing the production. The third track has Hayley Parsons on it, who’s done little singing of note so moving on.

Actually, we don’t get anymore vocals until Bobina’s own You Belong To Me some midway through, and hoo boy is this ever set-up to be the anthem of ITWT017. Most of the tunes before were on a proggy tip, some nice synths and atmosphere created but little in the way of rhythmic momentum. Bobina’s cut practically erupts from there with rolling basslines, ultra supersaw washes and such. Really, it’s copying the ‘big Tiësto vocal remix’ formula, which he does pull off, I must admit.

Some good epic trancers with lovely sounding synths follow (I’m warming up to that T.O.M. fella’), plus some utter wank ones too (oh hi, Carl B). As many of them have halting, overlong breakdowns though, it naturally ruins any musical momentum this set had going for it. *sigh* Nothing changes is this bloody scene, does it.


Bobina’s from Russia. Of course the ‘Red Cyclone’ of the former Soviet Union has something to say about it. What does that big piece of beef, Zangief, think of ITWT017?

Zangief: “Comrade Bobina does the glory of Mother Russia proud, making music for European masses. I prefer the classics, Balakirev and Mussorgsky. Night On Bald Mountain good for wrestling bears in Siberia.”




Monday, December 16, 2013

Various - In Trance We Trust 016: DJ Observer & Daniel Heatcliff

In Trance We Trust: 2010

Hey, I know this Heatcliff guy! True, it's only just recently that I know him, on account he's had a track on but two volumes of In Trance We Trust ago, but it's something familiar. As I recall, it was also one of the better tunes off whichever mix that was (geez, it wasn’t that long ago – are these so interchangeable?). Don’t know anything about this DJ Observer dude though. According to the liner notes they’d been producing together for about half a decade, starting out with remixes for Gareth Emery (when he wasn’t so crap) and ...Robbie Rivera? Uh... *scurries to corner, rocking* It’s alright, it’s alright, it’s alright...

I’m not sure how the Misters Heatcliff and Observer go about their DJing, but judging by the arrangement of their set for In Trance We Trust 016, a suspected pattern emerges: one handles the instrumental cuts, the other shows love to vocal tunes. Oh God, are there vocals on the CD. Nearly every other song’s got some tart going on about something, and the first couple gals are annoyingly grating. Hannah Ray apparently got her break providing pipes on Armin van Buuren’s Mirage album, so I can give her some slack in not knowing how to handle vocal trance singing yet (and it’s not like Observer and Heatcliff give her anything interesting to work with). Not sure about Antonia Lucas though, as Lord Discogs may have her mixed in with another Antonia Lucas who sang on house records back in the ‘90s. Get your shit sorted, oh Lord!

After that bit of pain in the early going, things go prog-dull, plodding beats and uninteresting hooks one after the other. Matters aren’t helped when Observer and Heatcliff can’t even get figure out where they want to take their set, jamming in standard slices of euro-trance (Mastteo Marini’s Cosmic Place, their own Fall Call Right Back) in the middle before getting back to the trite McProg fluff.

Speaking of such, I must admit some enjoyment in First State’s Cross The Line near the end. Maybe it’s the better-than-average beats, or maybe vocalist Relyk shows more grace in her delivery than the gals at other points, but it did put a silly grin on my face. Following it with some interesting tech-numbers and an energetic offering from another pair going by T.O.M. & Tommygoff (Callisto Air seems like it learned from the Corsten Book of big-dumb-fun trance), I was almost saddened to have ITWT016 end when it did. Almost.


As luck would have it, Alpha 3 features a pair of fighters who you often face together, Juli & Juni, member of M. Bison’s elite super-soldier force known as The Dolls. What do they think of this CD?

Juni: Commencing audio sampling. Source indicates BPMs of 133 average, with error of 23% due to unfamiliarity of sound.

Juli: Low frequency ranges effective at stimulating left frontal cortex, left parietal cortex, and right cerebellum. High frequency ranges possibly intended for non-human enjoyment.




Sunday, December 15, 2013

Various - In Trance We Trust 015: Virtual Vault

In Trance We Trust: 2011

I'm embarking upon uncharted territory from here on out. All those DJs in prior In Trance We Trust mixes, I was familiar with on some level (mostly productions). I know absolutely no one going forward; though do recognize one name because of that blasted DJMag poll. After my tenure at TranceCritic, I saw no reason to keep tabs on the up-and-comers of the euro-trance scene (though I must admit some perverse enjoyment out of watching trance-crackers wail to the stars over the abandonment of their heroes ...excellent). It's not like the music was doing much to listen in on anyway. Seeing as how these forthcoming five volumes all cover the three year span following that time, I'm getting a crash course in what I missed whether I like it or not.

For instance, I've never heard anything about this Virtual Vault chap. Lord Discogs has him down as two guys, but all I see is photos of one, Ben Huijbregts. He's also involved in a few other side-projects like Trebbiano and Lagan Valley, all of which show up on his mix for In Trance We Trust 015. Well, at least it's being more creative than just whoring his regular name out for everything he releases. He's taken trance production back to the old school, when you could have a zillion aliases to work with. Heck, he even used Virtual Vault here rather than Ben. I think I like this guy already.

This music on here’s pretty nice for the most part too. While the only cut that got my blood pumping comes at the end – a fun, twinkly melodic trance collaboration with Ørjan Nilsen called Too Late (wow, I thought twinkle-prog was dead in 2010) - there wasn’t anything that had me burying my head as in the previous couple volumes either. No breakdowns overwrought, no vocals too trite, hardly any sub-genre bandwagon jumps, and ...what’s this? Off beat voices plucks in Kimito Lopez’ I Am Rave. Oh man, there go my German trance nostalgia endorphins!

If anything, Virtual Vault shows something of a fondness for trance before all the electro, side-chaining, brickwall mixdowns, yada yada – whatever you figure the sound of roughly 2002 euro-trance was. This may be a deal breaker if you only want up-to-date sounds and such, but if you’re in the market for a more recent take on turn-of-the-century trance, ITWT015 should serve you fine.


Okay, this one went well, but I still fear the future. I need a fortune-teller to provide guidance in how I should proceed. Say, Rose, you lovely lady, might you be interested in reviewing some music?

Rose: “Not music such as this, immature man. I prefer the opera, and these ‘musicians’ use of baroque chords fool me not, nor should they you. The cards point to other forms far more appropriate for your particular personality, should you remain on your chosen path. Do not falter, no matter how bitter the wine tastes. Fill my glass, please.”


Friday, December 13, 2013

Various - In Trance We Trust 014: Daniel Wanrooy

In Trance We Trust: 2009

The good news is the compression production is behind us – oh, the wonders of sonic dynamics and space between the beats, crystal clarity and not a trace of mud in earsight. The bad news is we’re entering the ‘generic vocalist’ era of trance now, with two such indistinguishable gals gracing us with their non-presence in the first few tracks of In Trance We Trust 014 no less. Okay, tons of vocal trance since even the ‘90s suffered from this; at least Black Hole Recordings had enough clout in hiring ladies with some personality. JES may have always sung from the back of her throat as though she was about to have a wonderful bowel movement, but she stood out as someone unique. Melissa Mathes sounds almost identical to Susie (4) in this CD though, and it only gets worse after this one (Lord help me, there’s still five more discs to get through).

Anyhow, Daniel Wanrooy. He’d already been DJing on the side during his days as one-half of Progression (they of multiple progressive trance singles you’ve heard but probably can’t remember), so he’d been active for a while before striking out solo. Having his chance at an In Trance We Trust volume was a good start in getting his name out there, but he fails to do much of note with his effort. The opening is the usual smattering of pleasant Balearic numbers and McProg vocal cuts, then he heads down the god-awful anthem road with tracks containing breakdowns and builds that go on far too long and seldom offer a memorable payoff (holy cow, is that Topher Jones cut ever pointless). It’s just like Carl B’s mix, but at least with better sound design.

Things got interesting with some strong tech-beats in Daniel Heatcliff’s Phoenix. Yeah, it abuses the breakdowns too, but when the tune’s on, it’s on! It definitely regained my attention in this mix, and I was engrossed in where it would go next when… Oh dear, those vocals, they’re awful. This whole track is awful. Who the fuck is this, and why is it so familiar? *checks tracklist* Fack me, Richard Durand! Not that twat again, I thought I was done with you. We’re getting this shoved in our face just because he had that album out too, aren’t we.

Wanrooy seemingly corrects this atrocity by offering up more tech bangers to finish, but it isn’t enough to save INWT014 from being a middling affair. Kinda like most of his music, sadly.


It feels like ol’ Daniel’s always been around, yet never made much of a mark. Adon’s been around since the very first Street Fighter, but do you remember him from any of the games?

Adon: “What kind of introduction is that? I’m the ‘God Of Muay Thai’, and you want me to review European trance music? I ought to snap your spine for such disrespect! Get out of here, I’ve a date with destiny by defeating the man with the ‘Ten’ symbol on his back.”




Thursday, December 12, 2013

Various - In Trance We Trust 013: Carl B

In Trance We Trust: 2009

Wait, Carl B. DJ’d too? I recall he had a brief flirtation with popularity around the time this came out, and was even tapped for a track in Tiësto’s In Search Of Sunrise 7. I also remember calling that tune cloying or some derogatory shit. Dear Lord, and his mix for In Trance We Trust 013 features four of his productions. I can expect pain on this one, can’t I?

Well, no, just boredom for the most part. Say what you will of the track-by-track up-and-down quality in the old editions of this series, at least they had personality. Hell, even Johan Gielen’s effort in the last volume had distinct music throughout, dodgy though some of it was. Unfortunately, it doesn’t take long for Mr. Barrdahl to unleash the super-compressed epic trancers that was yet another awful attribute plaguing the scene (read up on the Loudness Wars, kids). His collaboration with JPL on Orchid Blossom is a perfect example of it, beats and synths hopelessly muddy, with no dynamics to speak of. Let these tunes breathe, for God’s sake. Things thankfully clear up with Existone’s Sunshower, an excellent slice of energetic trance that kicks everything that came before to the curb. Even the dithering piano breakdown’s tolerable, but only because all the bloody breakdowns that came before were pants.

Oh yeah, there’s a ridiculous amount of breakdowns in this set, easily the worst batch of the CDs I’ve covered. I can handle a few here and there, but these are of the gratuitously overlong type, with those piercing ‘melodic’ synths that are about as subtle as a boulder to the face. I get that was sort of Carl B.’s thing, and if you wanted to stand out in the trance glut in those days, you needed those ultimate anthems in your arsenal, but not one after the other. Wasting them in the early portions of a set is just overkill.

A couple dabblings outside this sound crop up on this mix, like minor electro elements found in Fred NuMF’s Directions and Mr. Sam’s Cygnes . Also, the track Sticky Tape features music on minimal techno bent, and is totally out of place in a set such as this. It does segue nicely into the dull final stretch of tunes though, so there’s that.


Carl B.’s production is like a brickwall of sound. Edmond Honda is a big brick of sumo. Clearly a perfect guest reviewing match if ever there was one.

E. Honda: “Ghaa, ha, ha! I like your gumption, comparing me to boisterous music like this. No doubt the great art of sumo is comparable to the impressive sounds on this CD. These were made by the Europeans? Hah ha, I knew the world had much to offer, but I never dreamed they could outdo even our finest kabuki troupes in theatrics. Maybe I should take in some concerts there. I’m certain they’ll welcome a world-famous rikishi such as myself at a club, ghaa haa ha!”


Wednesday, December 11, 2013

Various - In Trance We Trust 012: Johan Gielen

In Trance We Trust: 2007

After years in the underground, Belgian Johan Gielan seemed poised to break out into super-stardom along with those Dutch trance chaps. A popular production alias (Airscape), plenty of side-projects, remixes, and collaborations to flood the market with, and even a part of Tiësto’s inner circle when Mr. Verwest still had his hand in many things Black Hole Recordings related. Yet he never could reach that next level, at best relegated to second-tier status in the euro-trance pantheon. All things considered, it wasn't such a bad place to be throughout the '00s, but not for a guy who easily stood toe-to-toe with the big boys at that decade's start.

He’d done all that he could to stay relevant; that is, bandwagon jump at every opportunity. Oh yeah, he definitely got in on some of that electro house shizz, dragging the genre with him into the In Trance We Trust series. It’s odd even having Gielen helm another volume years after he did 004, given the label’s tendency of offering it to up-and-comers. The liner notes claim he was brought in to properly take the series into this uncharted realm of electro, which is funny since hardly anyone in the euro-trance scene even liked those farty sounds soiling their uplifting melodies.

In fact, I’m not even sure Gielen’s fond of them either. He only uses a couple such tracks at the beginning (which instantly ruins the pleasant Balearic mood set by opener Sex On The Beach from 8 Wonders), and much later care of the Wippenberg Remix of Super8 & Tab’s Needs To Feel (wow, did Wippenberg ever suck at electro). His set’s all over the place too, tracks jumping in tone with little care towards flow.

I guess there’s a decent moment in the middle when things get proper euro-trancey, but methinks he’s just attempting to build up his own track, Magnetic, as the centrepiece, going so far as to use Tiësto’s Elements Of Life as the lead-in. Hell, they even share similar orchestral aesthetics. Sorry, Johan, you’ll never be ol’ Tijs, especially at that late stage. Also, it’s rather sad that, with tons of familiar trance names on ITWT012 (Steur, Ottoviani, Kyau & Albert, Vincent de Moor), that the utterly unknown Ryan Blair trumps all them with Flapjack. Shame the guy only released the one single.


Gielen’s effort makes me think of a poor man’s Tiësto. How appropriate then, that we get Charlie (the poor man’s Guile) as our guest reviewer.

Charlie: “I’ve not much to offer in the way of musical analysis, but I can point out the technical attributes of this mix. Most of the transitions are functional, which I assume is what one expects of these mix CDs. I believe a DJ in this field is also expected to ‘maintain momentum’, which this one fails to do on numerous occasions, the rhythmic section often dropping out entirely. Research shows people enjoy dancing to this music, but reduced pacing confirms a tactical deficiency on the DJ’s part.”


Saturday, December 7, 2013

Various - In Trance We Trust 005 - DJ Cor Fijneman

In Trance We Trust: 2001

And right in the first track, I'm hit with a god-awful example of supersaw epic trance. Holy Hell, this Aloha from hopelessly forgotten Organza is pathetic. I know these DJs have to highlight some tracks from the In Trance We Trust label, but be pickier about your selections, eh? It's the opening sound of waves crashing you wanted, Cor, wasn't it. A Balearic feeling for your first of two mixes in this series. *sigh* Why couldn't 006 have been the cheap one? It's got Oliver Lieb, Airwave, Insigma, Orkidea, and Marco V on it. This one? Allure, Rank 1, and 4 Strings; Art Of Trance too, but it's Breathe, Simon Berry's regrettable attempt at a vocal trance anthem (okay, the acid's still mint).

Anyhow, the chubby, cherub-faced Cor Fijneman was one of Dutch trance's early key players, having a hand in producing some of Tiësto's first hits (Theme From Norefjell, Sparkles). This still being the early days of In Trance We Trust, Mr. Verwest’s also involved with putting these mixes together, though only given a 'compiler' credit along with Cor, while Mr. Fijneman handles the live turntable mix. I've no idea what the two had in mind while selecting these tracks, as there's almost no flow between tunes. It jumps through all sorts of epic, anthem trance of the day, some of it none too shabby (Freon’s Heaven’s Gate, Twenty-Something’s Morphing Mirror), others about as corny as you'd expect of supersaw trance in the year 2001 (Clubmasterz’ Cyberdrive, Ascension’s Someone). Yeah, the fatigue was definitely setting in with the old template.

So while the mix doesn't have much direction other than banging out various trance of the day, the high energy of this music is enough to keep you engaged for the most part. I'd grown bored of it by Denzel D.'s A Binary Star though, and a few tough tech-trancers for the finish weren’t enough to leave more than a passable impression on yours truly. Or maybe I’m still just bummed about not getting the mix with Oliver Lieb on it.

As for ol’ Cor, he continues producing and DJing, but as with so many of these In Trance We Trust jocks, never broke out of third-tier status. What, the Tiësto bump wasn’t enough?


Our guest Street Fighter Alpha 3 reviewer is none other than the Jamaican man with a perpetual smile, the “Southern Comet”, Dee Jay! Only he could be positive enough to enjoy this stuff so unabashedly.

Dee Jay: “Hey, mon, glad to see you recognize my great sense of music and rhythm, yeah! Only my amazing musicality can kick off such a wicked project. Speaking of which, have you heard my latest single, The Sun Rises Everyday? Dancehall number one hit like a Machine Gun Upper. It's inspired by my incredible Theme Of Sunrise super combo, mon! Hey, these Dutch guys, they like sunrises too, amirite? Can't say trance is much for me, too hard, but hey-hey-hey, they smilin' everyday, so they cool, mon.”


Friday, December 6, 2013

In Trance We Trust: Super Champion Review Project Turbo

Here’s the deal: way back when, I reviewed the eleventh volume of the In Trance We Trust DJ mix series, helmed by Phynn for that particular edition. As with so many trance mixes of the time, it was a middling affair for the most part, one that prompted me to derail my overly-detailed coverage to play some Street Fighter Alpha 3. An odd thing to do for a ‘professional amateur’ review, for sure, but fun nonetheless. I was rather looking forward to hearing it again in my alphabetical order, just for old time’s sake and maybe recount another Street Fighter session. One snag though: I no longer have that mix, which is odd considering I know I listened to it just a couple years back.

Whatever. I can just get another copy again if I really wanted to, probably at a reduced price through Amazon no less. Hmm, but if I’m going to do that, why not also do another ‘DJ mix series on cheap’ retrospective? It’s been a while since the last one, and though instinct tells me otherwise, I’ve long been curious to hear if the In Trance We Trust series might offer some long-lost gems. The concept of the label does have easy appeal, with classy cover art, a clubbier sound, and often giving up-and-comers a chance for greater exposure. Okay, it’s also a sub-label of Black Hole Recordings, which means there’s undoubtedly loads of Dutch trance cheddar to wade through. Yet, considering epic, anthem trance excess has faded from popularity, those tunes can now be appreciated on a different level, as appealing artifacts of a time passed. Shyah. Right. And Paris Hilton will win the DJMag Top 100.

There’ve been nineteen (!) main volumes of In Trance We Trust over the years, so I had to place a limit on how many were picked up. Since only a couple turned up under the $5 mark I used for prior retrospectives, I instead settled on everything I could find that was cheaper than Phynn’s edition. Turns out a lot of them were. I’m… going to regret this, aren’t I?



(Oh, and I didn’t bother getting Phynn’s mix again; funnier to see who’s considered of lesser value than him)

Finally, in honor of the Street Fighter derailment in my original TranceCritic review, each volume will feature a brief, guest reviewer from Alpha 3. Who will show up? Who will even know what trance music is? What characters are even in Alpha 3?? Stay tuned in the following week for these answers and more!

Saturday, April 10, 2010

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














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.

Things I've Talked About

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