Master Margherita - Border 50

Ultimae Records: 2018

For much of Ultimae's history, there was a sense its musical talent being nurtured in-house. Most of their early acts had their break-outs with the label, while other producers who'd wandered into its sphere had some of their biggest exposure with Aes Dana's print. All well and good and creating something of an exclusivity aura about your label, but I can't help but wonder if it hampered Ultimae's long-term prospects when its alum drifted elsewhere. After all, what journeyman producer would even bother sending demos to the ritziest country club on the continent?

Which is what makes this album from Master Margherita all the more unique to Ultimae's catalogue, an active producer since the start of this century. One Moreno Antognini, he's mostly self-released material through his own Casalinga Production print, but bounced around other labels too (Peak Records, Electrik Dream Records, Blue Hour Sounds). He's also had a robust compilation presence over the past two decades, mostly appearing on downtempo and chill-out collections, but a little psy-trance too. I even crossed paths with him before, on the 2007 Waveform Records outing Waveform Transmissions (Volume One). And... can this be right? A track on the Steve Lawler triple-CD set Viva on Ministry Of Sound? That can't be the same Master Margherita, but if it is, man is that ever a deep dig on Mr. Lawler's part.

Still, ol' Moreno was doing all this with nary a connecting dot to Ultimae. Then in 2015, he released the double-album Afro Dots, which got a spiffy Ultimae Mixdown™ from Aes Dana, plus a track on the Ultimae free-comp Enfold 01. And just like that, Master Margherita is part of the cool-kids club! (okay, the association goes back a little earlier, Aes Dana also doing a mastering job on the 2011 album The Marginal Rules, but c'mon, the pun was right there!).

So it seemed appropriate that Mr. Antognini would release something proper with the label, perhaps some sort of retrospective or summation of the Master Margherita stylee. That's certainly what I thought in my initial go-throughs with Border 50, what with all these mixes, dubs, and alternative takes. Plus, for a generally drone-heavy ambient record, there's a fair bit of stylistic difference between each track. Cosmogram features '70s era space synths, while Shruti One has soft woodwinds and gentle tribal drumming. Geophilous is almost an acoustic drone outing, but Extending Downwards is pure synth drone. So much disparity in sounds on this album, surely they must all come from various points in M.M.'s extensive discography.

But no, these are all originals for Border 50. Turns out ol' Moreno is one of those electronic artists that likes adding 'Mix' or 'Dub' to nearly everything he releases. Still, all these different ambient passages and vintage synth textures sound lovely with the Ultimae Mixdown™ on them, and have seldom been heard in the label's history. And hey, there's even a 'dub techno' outing in the titular track, just in case you need your contemporary Ultimae fix.

Nav Bhinder & Patrick Dream - Bombay One

Bombay Records: 2001

Every so often, by luck, pluck, or dumb happenstance, you stumble upon the perfect CD for the perfect time. It resonates with you far more than it probably should, or possibly could with anyone else, save those that were within your sphere for that one perfect moment. There were better deep house mixes before. There were better deep house mixes after. Heck, there likely were better deep house mixes released that same day. But for a small contingent of 'jaded ravers' eking out an existence in the hinterlands of Canada, Bombay One was the deepest, most soulful set we'd heard that summer of 2001, and it was good.

But enough anecdotal evidence of why this little CD might be worth your ears, should you happen across it in your western wanderings. What exactly is Bombay One, and does it hold up nearly two decades on? I'd say 'yes' to the latter, though almost entirely based on the strength of the tunes alone, the mixing mostly functional at best. Nav and Patrick do a couple clever blends, if you consider mixing different mixes of the same track together clever, and considering the praise Sasha & Digweed earned for doing so, many do. There's also a tonne of Miguel Graça tracks, six out of eleven within the CD, plus a remix, which... Okay, this is a showcase of Bombay Records, and he was their most prolific producer to that point, but no room for Roy Davis Jr.?

Despite the name, Bombay Records is not based in India, but rather Vancouver, and was helmed by a UK transplant who lived in the west coast Canadian city at the time, Nav Bhinder. And yes, he is of Indian descent, did the name give it away? For a deep house label out of Vancouver, it had a modest little run of success throughout the '00s, though kinda' petered out once the '10s took over. Their last bout of activity was over half a decade ago now, so it's safe to say the Bombay Records tale is over. In that period of time, their releases included items from such deep house vets like Derrick Carter, Fred Everything, Roy Davis Jr., Chris Brann (of Wamdue Project fame), and... Tim Fuller? I feel like Tim Fuller was a name of some prominence, though Lord Discogs suggests otherwise.

Anyhow, as mentioned, Bombay One is all about promoting the label's 'tropic soul' vibe, and if a pile of Miguel Graça tracks and Fred Everything remixes is means of doing so, then so be it. I certainly feel like I'm lounging about some humid resort listening to this, deep house that's groovy enough to bop your head to, but not so much that you gotta' hit that dancefloor and sweat to death. Palm trees above, a mellow buzz from that tropical beverage in hand, an ambience that whatever ills are in the world, in this moment they don't matter. For in this moment, listening to Bombay One, the moment is good.

B12 - Bokide 325

Soma Quality Recordings: 2015

Steve Rutter and Michael Golding gained a decent amount of prestige with their B12 alias back in the '90s, so the story goes. Before that decade ended though, their partnership with Warp Records ended, and seemingly too did the project. Nearly ten years after their final record, however, the duo re-emerged with a new album on their own label, plus a bevy of archive material. Guess someone was paying attention to FSOL's marketing strategy. In any case, it looked like the B12 saga was primed to carry on into the '10s. Except it didn't, Last Days Of Silence instead serving as a cap on their careers, the duo going quiet once more.

Except that's obviously not the whole story, since I've talked up B12 and Steve Rutter's continued exploits quite a bit on this blog. I bring all this up only to put into context where this particular EP stands, as the re-relaunch of the B12 brand, appearing on a totally different label. Oh yes, we're in the 'wandering label' years with Steve Rutter, before he got FireScope off the ground. I mentioned in the Transient Life review that this may have been a means of shopping B12 around after being absent from the techno scene again, but whatever the case, I find it fascinating that his first port of call ended up being on Soma Quality Recordings.

The label that Slam built were no strangers to techno, but vintage 'intelligent techno'? Aside from their signing of The Black Dog, not so much. As Soma was never shy from hitching its wagon to whatever trends were happening in the genre, they were fully committed to the purveying bang-on Berghain style by the time B12 entered their sphere. Was there room for a little slice of pure Detroitism in their catalogue then?

I don't think it even matters, because Bokide 325 is downright minimalist for a B12 outing. I don't mean 'minimal techno', for the classic sci-fi bleeps and IDM bloops are present, just performed in a chill, unassuming way, as though soundtracking the lonely traverses of interstellar flight. Not the usual fare from what folks familiar with B12 then, much less Soma's typical output at the time. Would have made more sense on De:tuned than Transient Life, is what I'm saying. But hey, at least Soma could claim to have had another Artificial Intelligence alum on its roster.

Particulars, then. Into The Void is an aptly named opener, lonesome, mysterious pings echoing through the emptiness before a simple electro beat and ominous synths join in. Descension gets a little busier in the rhythm department, but maintains the general mood and minimalist songcraft. Unsound Mind adds a little acid action, and closer Terra Incognita strips things right back to mysterious pads, spare beats, and subtle bleeps. All said, Bokide 325 is an interesting little EP of dark space electro from B12, but hardly the sort of dancefloor weapons Soma was churning out. A strange addition to Slam's label, all said.

Deep Forest - Boheme (2021 Update)

Epic: 1995

(Click here to read my original TranceCritic review)

Somehow, this album keeps aging like the best wines. I have no idea how or why it gets better as I get older. Is it because there's ever greater distance from my initial disappointment in hearing it the first time, so unlike their self-titled debut? Or maybe I've grown more appreciative of how much of a musical gamble Boheme truly was, especially in light of the sort of music Deep Forest would go on to make in the future.

Like, it could have been so very easy of Sanchez and Mouquet to retread 'ethno-dance'. They still had an ear for the clubs in the mid-'90s, and if you doubt it, I simply point you towards their rub on Apollo 440's Liquid Cool as proof-positive. And if that still isn't enough, I give you the Peter Gabriel collaboration While The Earth Sleeps, made for the movie Strange Days, but added as a bonus to later versions of Boheme. It makes the fumble of Bohemian Ballet on here ever the more confounding, though I like Cafe Europa a little more than before. I attribute that to hearing it as performed in a symphonic nature, on the recently released Deep Symphonic. Oh yes, even Deep Forest (now just Mouquet) gave their old tracks the symphonic treatment. Considering how many producers and DJs in clubland have done so, it's surprising it took this long for Deep Forest to also get in on that. Then again, much of their post-2000 work involved multiple instruments, so it was a natural evolution to re-interpret the sample-heavy material as though performed by full symphonies.

Speaking of, can you guess what else Deep Forest got up to, after the split? No, go on, guess! You'll never believe it. Wait, you guessed dubstep? How did...? Oh, you peaked, didn't you.

But yes, once Mouquet took the name for himself, he started a series of country-specific Deep... albums. The first, Deep Brasil, sounded about what you'd expect from a Deep Forest project specifically focused on the South American country. Half a decade passed, then Deep India and Deep Africa dropped, and I don't know what crawled into Mouquet's brain, but boy-howdy must he have been influenced by the festival psy-dub scene in that time. For sure there's still 'traditional' world beat and ethno-ambient in them, but those half-step rhythms and mid-range bass noises too. Was he trying to get hep' to the youth? Just found those sounds too irresistible to not dabble in? It absolutely boggles my mind that Deep Forest - DEEP FOREST - would go dubstep. And even more damning, I... kinda' like it? What on Earth is happening!? Oh, he's been hanging out with Gaudi. Yeah, I'd trust him in guiding the way with basslines.

Anyhow, Boheme. I think what keeps drawing me back here is the roller-coaster of emotions it wilfully takes you through. The dark, mysterious, and melancholic, followed by unabashed exhilaration and jubilation. For a tight forty minutes, that's a journey worth taking.

Ott - Blumenkraft

Twisted Records/Ottsonic Music: 2003/2012

I've mentioned before how this album was a no-brainer as a pick-up. A psy-dub debut album from one of the major players and formulators of that genre? How could this be anything less than great? Oh, there's ways, but fortunately for us, Blumenkraft doesn't go down that road. Really, its only sin is that it came out when the genre was still relatively young, and hadn't showed us its full potential yet. Yes, I'm legitimately calling Ott's debut rather basic, but only because his follow-up Skylon was such a massive leap forward in his songcraft abilities.

Make no mistake, Blumenkraft is still a solidly produced album, possibly among the best psy—leaning items released that year that didn't carry an Ultimae tag. There's much heavier focus on reggae-dub rhythms and world beat tropes though, more than newcomers to the Ott discography may expect. That's not really a fault, just a matter of fact when it comes to this music at the time. All was in transition, the Shpongle influences on the verge of spawning off copy-cats that would follow in the ensuing decade, but not so much that it was unmistakably everywhere. Yet, given his prominent role in many of Simon Posford's projects to this point, you'd understandably think an Ott album would be just as culpable of this too.

Perhaps that's why Blumenkraft is so rhythm-heavy, with less of the wordly sounds and psychedelic samples as found in Ott's earlier collaborative projects. He felt the need to distinguish himself from the Shpongle stuff brimming with instruments and melodies. Or maybe it just seems that way in hindsight, what with his future albums brimming with instruments and melodies as well. This isn't to say Blemenkraft lacks in such things, they just aren't so prominent. Whenever some organ, flute, or melodica solo joins in the fun, they don't leap out from the mixdown, the jaunty drums or frenetic jembe action with trippy effects stealing the spotlight.

Really, the few times Blumenkraft sounds like the future Ott is when he gets some vocal action going. At nearly thirteen minutes in length, opener Jack's Cheese And Bread Snack has plenty of time to indulge spoken word passages with chants and sitars, but third track Splitting An Atom really gets in on that bouncy bhangra beat. It's just a shame we don't get any more of that until final track Smoked Glass And Chrome, a wonderfully opulent tune with a blinder of a vocal that could fit snugly in any portion of Skylon. It almost puts the rest of Blumenkraft to shame, leaving me wondering why the rest of the record couldn't have been to this standard?

I get building to a big crescendo and all, but surely something just as brash and bold lodged mid-album would have truly sent Ott's debut into classic status. Instead, Blumenkraft is simply remembered fondly for its time, a strong opening statement from a producer who would go onto bigger and better things down the road.

Electric Universe - Blue Planet

Spirit Zone Recordings/Avatar Records: 1999/2016

I had my eye on this for a long while. Something, anything full-length from Electric Universe, if I'm honest, but this one in particular got my attention whenever I happened upon his Discoggian entries. Is it because of a ton of good will through psy-trance discourse? A frequent namedrop in all the cool discussions? Oh, come on, you should know me well enough by now to know why Blue Planet would be the first Electric Universe album I'd spring for. I really am that shallow sometimes.

This came out at an interesting time for Boris Blenn. The middle child of a remarkable period of productivity from him, where he released three albums in three years under the Electric Universe banner. He was also releasing multiple records as Galaxy and Jupiter 8000, not to mention the odd collaborative project here and there. Even more amazing is Mr. Blenn was doing much of this all on his own, his early Electric Universe partnership with Michael Dressler having come to an end. Does this mean he was on an unstoppable creative streak? Or might that dreaded 'quality control' factor come into play? A little column A, a little column B?

I actually may have lucked out in grabbing 'the blue one' first out of all these Electric Universe outings. Between this, Waves and Divine Design, Blue Planet has the most diversity going for it, Boris branching out from your usual psy-trance trappings. Unfortunately for me, however, that wasn't what I was after, wanting more spaced-out goa the likes of Love Is Not A Crime. I get some of that here, sure, but coupled with drab stabs at tribal-prog and... big beat?

Okay, it was the year 1999, and breaks were super-trendy, but after four tracks of various psy, Rock Da House comes out of nowhere, sounding like it should be in a This Is... compilation. It's got shades of The Chemical Brothers, but all the attempts at being block-rockin' feel flat, an experiment in genre dabbling that simply doesn't mesh with its surroundings. Oh well, at least it isn't as dreadfully dull as The Tribal Session.

That all said, at least these tracks give me something to talk about beyond the typically positive psy-trance platitudes. You get the acid outings (Fly, Renania, The Space Dimension), the soaring space rockers (Meteor), and the downtempo cuts at the end (Lovesciene, Journey Into Outer Space). Nothing wrong with any of these tunes, but little that deviates from the norm of Electric Universe's discography either. From a personal standpoint, I was disappointed Blue Planet didn't have anything as dope as Love Is Not A Crime, but the album's best tracks are worthy companions.

And I really can't fault Boris from branching out a little either. It's just when you compare his genre explorations to that of the likes of Juno Reactor or Eat Static, it's hard to not come away underwhelmed. Electric Universe fits in a lane he's plenty adept at, no need to stray from it.

Solar Fields - Blue Moon Station

Ultimae Records: 2003/2008

For the longest time, this was my number two album from Magnus. Heck, maybe even number one? Mutual tie with Movements, at least. Regardless, it came bundled with most of Solar Fields' albums in a vintage Ultimae Records bulk deal, and when I played them all, Blue Moon Station stood out the most to me. I can't recall exactly why, just some loose memory of it easily grabbing my attention through the duration, a dynamic outing compared to his other efforts (Movements notwithstanding). Also, I felt it was the most 'psy-dubby' record in Solar Fields' discography, a major plus in my books. Yet, I haven't listened to Blue Moon Station since the first time I alphabetically cycled through my music collection, nearly a decade ago now. What gives?

Likely because I've given all his other albums more spins in the intervening years, determined to win me over in the same manner as my perceived big two. I needn't return to Blue Moon Station any time soon, because it's greatness is already confirmed, thus could sit on my shelves for special occasions. I think that may have had a negative effect though, its details slipping from my memory, such that I went into it in the here and now having almost no recallection of its musical details anymore. Ooh, does this mean I get to experience Blue Moon Station all over again, as though it were a brand new, undiscovered Solar Fields album?

Sadly, not really, my expectations for what I did remember mostly dashed. For sure I still enjoyed what I heard on Blue Moon Station, it just wasn't the wizz-bang, 'OMG' record I somehow had built within my memory. Like, where in the world did I get it in my head that this was heavy on the psy-dub elements? Some prog-psy, sure, but ain't nothing Shponglely on here, nosiree. I'm assuming it's the opening track, Confusion Illusion, that caused that, erm, confusing illusion of this being an album of psy-dub. There's tribal drums and swirly sounds and ethnic samples, all things you associate with the genre, but not so much Solar Fields.

Nay, we come to a Magnus joint for those ultra feel-good melodies, and Blue Moon Station has them, though not in as high quantity as I recall. If anything, they feel a little restrained, teased out with lengthy, almost empty sounding tracks. Magnetic Air is remarkably spacious, feeling like you're breathing clean, purified atmosphere, followed by an eruptive Majestic Feeling. Ah, there's the opulent Solar Fields stylee.

The album mostly alternates between downtempo pieces and prog-psy numbers, which can leave Blue Moon Station a little jerky in flow to some listeners. Except for the final stretch, after the titular cut. Planet Zoo does something a touch psy-dubby (I wasn't imagining things!), Third Time goes right mellow again, and closer Swimming With Stones goes ultra-mellow. It's all quite nice, but doesn't remain in the ol' noggin quite so well as the earlier cuts. Guess Movements remains top dog, then. It stuck the landing.

The Herbaliser - Blow Your Headphones

Ninja Tune: 1997

Is this The Herbaliser's break-out album? Well, it's got A Mother on it, the tune that opened up Kruder & Dorfmeister's contribution to the DJ-Kicks series, which counts for something. So much so, that it just might be Jake and Ollie's most well-known song, which is remarkable considering it wasn't released as a single, nor made the cut on their 2010 retrospective compilation Herbal Tonic. Still, it must have been popular enough for them to include two versions of it on here, the other titled Another Mother. This is also the point when the DJing duo started expanding their sound from strict jazzy trip-hop exercises, incorporating actual musicians and lyricists. Okay, the musicians part was more for the tours at this stage in The Herbaliser's lifespan, but the lyricists, they be here.

More so though, this was about the time Ninja Tune itself started breaking out as an indie label with real potential, a promising growing roster that held more than whatever project Coldcut and crew was up to. True, they were riding on that 'electronica' wave that threw trip-hop favourite Mo'Wax into the pie, but exposure was exposure, even if it was in the backwash of everything else getting the hype. The Herbaliser benefited from this no less, though that aforementioned K&D rub didn't hurt either.

If anything, Blow Your Headphones captures the sound folks would come to associate with the label for nearly a decade after. That's either its greatest strength or an unfortunate weakness, depending on how you come into this album. Great, if you love the classic Ninja Tune trip-jazz funk-hop sounds, and enjoy consuming it from an era it was still quite fresh. Or you found it to grow rather stale after a while, and this is just a reminder that the label had a real tough time evolving as the years wore on. Actually, that's hardly accurate at all, the Ninja posse including many unique artists in the coming decade. Could they help it if their biggest stars and most prominent compilation contributors came from this mould? Okay, maybe a little – all about that sweet licensing exposure, amirite?

So the nu-hop acid-scratch vibes dominate, with tracks like both Mothers, Ginger Jumps the Fence, and Shorty's Judgement leading the charge. A couple tracks (Put It On Tape, Shocker Zulu) slow things right down into near illbient waters, plus a whole pile of interstitial tracks litter about. There's a jazz-hop cut in Saturday Night with some of that rappity-rap going on, but the bulk of the lyricism on Blow Your Headphones features What? What? She also goes by Run Run Shaw, Tsidi Ibrahim, and Jean Grae. With the jazz influences getting ultra-thick on her cuts (The Blend, New + Improved, Bring It), I can't help but think I'm listening to some of Guru's Jazzmatazz selections. I suspect The Herbaliser sensed it too, the beats they provide her quite indebted to DJ Premier. Well, except that pure beatnik-gangsta poetry outing in Hardcore. Weird one, that.

Eastern Dub Tactik - Blood Is Shining (Original TC Review)

Waveform Records: 2001

(2021 Update:
I feel like a right idiot-jerk reading this back now, in that I inexplicably and completely neglected mentioning any Indian influence here. I have no idea why. Was I so utterly berift of cultural exposure that I couldn't recognize any? I mean, the Middle East certainly was more prominent on everyone's minds in the mid-'00s, but c'mon, man. I even made a tacky joke about it right in the brief!

This album still bumps mighty good though. I never fail getting hype hearing all these big-ass beats and ear-wormy hooks again, even after over-playing it something stupid way back when. Oh yes, this was another one of those CDs I was carrying a torch for, often whenever local festival goers would go on about some local hero. They'd be all like, "Isn't Bassnectar the greatest thing ever?" And I'd be like, "He's okay, but he doesn't play anything as dynamic as what's on here!" And they'd be like, "What? Who are you? I was talking to my friends over here?" And I'd be like "......." Good times.)


IN BRIEF: Funky fresh bloopity bloop, Allah.

Uh oh. Middle Eastern themes? A name with the word ‘dub’ in it? A promo spiel using adjectives like ‘worldly’ and ‘exotic’? Could this possibly be yet another unnecessary ‘world beat’ album consisting of noodly downtempo collages of Western and Eastern styles, where it’s blatantly apparent one or the other is in total control? Hardly.

Rather, producer Aaron Dysart has taken elements of East and West, and fused them together so his music wouldn’t sound out of place in either locale. Eastern Dub Tactik is as smooth a blend of funk rhythms, Arab harmonies, dubby psychedelia, and slummy street attitude as I’ve ever heard.

The reason for Dysart’s success is in his music’s simplicity. He doesn’t get bogged down in elaborate atmospherics or complicated arrangements. Tracks get down to business in short time, delivering all the pieces early on and having fun with them for the duration. And while some producers may overindulge embellishing their tracks’ components for tedious lengths (hi, Laswell!), Dysart keeps things concise and to the point, rarely letting a track go on for more than necessary. This does create a slight problem though. Because of their simplicity, tracks come and go without the kind of engagement reserved for intuitive songwriting; they come across as fun diversions but little else.

Such a release will often warrant a three star rating from me but you’ve probably noticed that extra half-star there by now (don’t lie; I know a bunch of you skip to the bottom first). So what, you ask, warrants that above above-average rating? Simply put, sheer diversity.

Even despite the similar themes and arrangements, no two tracks sound alike on here. Each cut has Dysart trying something different and aside from the plodding Day Of Despair and uneventful Asra, his works continuously surprise. And, whoo... are they ever catchy to boot. With their short running times and quick loops, breaks and hooks easily get lodged into your noggin.

The opening chunk of Blood Is Shining sees Dysart’s fusion at its most, shall we say, united; everything blends together so no influence overwhelms the other. The sounds of plinky organs, funky guitar licks, sitar strums, whispery woodwinds, and Arab vocals flow so smoothly, you’d think they’d all been a match since their cultural beginnings. Throw in a few turntable tricks and chunky beats with serious horsepower, and you can’t help but groove along.

Ah yes. Those beats. I’m not sure how much overdubbing Dysart did for them, but they pack a thick punch. Most of his breaks are time-worn from funk’s forefathers, so they’ll be quite familiar to anyone who enjoys hip or trip hop. They certainly are brisker than those styles though, and carry enough bass to piss off the neighbors. And even here Dysart melds cultures, gleefully allowing Indian drums to jam alongside the funk bands in overdrive. The rhythm heavy tracks - street-savvy Cultural Wisdom, the stompingly fun Brothers & Sisters, and screwy time-signatured Wicked Style - are irresistibly fun, and will light any dancefloor up. Well, maybe not Wicked Style as much, since it’s break isn’t quite as accommodating to folks weaned on standard rhythms; those funky organ licks will definitely have you trying though.

A few downtempo tracks help add to this album’s diversity as well. The aforementioned Asra doesn’t do much of note, but Like This, soaked in psychedelia, is a welcome dubby interlude. Meanwhile, closer Five ‘N’ Dub’s ominous atmosphere mixes nicely with chunky, clumping beats.

The odd-man out on Blood Is Shining is Eastern Winds, where Dysart allows the Eastern influences to totally dominate. Even the rhythms follow an Arabian pattern rather than the funky ones heard throughout. Fair game, I say, as it adds some vintage spice to the proceedings.

I suppose I should also mention the political content of this release. Actually, I was pleasantly surprised to hear it kept to a minimum: a couple sampled quotes looped at points, but no more. Dysart’s liner notes don’t dwell on the ills of society either, merely paying respect to those who’ve done what they could to change it. In this age of acts sacrificing musical content for sloganeering, it’s nice to hear less of it in tracks that Zack de la Rocha wouldn’t sound too out of place on. Then again, this was released in 2001, a year when music and politics weren’t quite so chummy as they are now.

Yes, this is an older release and, truthfully, there isn’t anything on here that makes it a necessary grab, fans of dubby breaks or otherwise. Even the melding of East and West, though exceptionally done, isn’t revolutionary. But regardless of these facts, should you decide to commit debit to disc, Blood Is Shining makes a worthwhile diversion from stressful days.

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

The Micronauts - Bleep To Bleep

Science: 2000

This was one of those CDs that seemed sat in every store. For the life of me, I can't understand why. Or rather, I get 'how' it ended up in music retailers and pawn shops, just not why The Micronauts got such a significant promotional push in the first place. Certainly nothing on this here debut mini-album would suggest a huge cross-over event in the making, this music brash and noisy, like some kind of put-on by misters Christophe Monier and George Issakidis (who left the duo shortly after Bleep To Bleep's release).

Digging around their Discoggian data, they had a respectable run of items leading up to this, both as The Micronauts and in other ventures. I distinctly recall hearing their acid stomper single The Jazz in a Chemical Brothers mix CD. Christophe had a tidy run with Pascal R as Impulsion, getting in on that stompin' acid and hard house that was quite popular with French producers in the back half the '90s. It also seems that Lord Discogs really loves tying these guys with that scene, throwing about recommendations for Daft Punk and Cassius. Hm, it's coming together, the Micronauts story: promising single, associated with the big movers and shakers of the era... How could the mighty Virgin not sign these guys, though I'm not sure if the label had the utmost confidence in them. Nay, better to shuffle them off to a sub-label, like that Science print that was a dumping ground for Photek and Source Direct records.

Even partial Virgin promotion was enough to get onto a tonne of store shelves though. So there it sat, a quirky little item on the slightly cheaper end of CDs, being a mini-album and all. A few curious glances are thrown its way, wondering what that might be, what with no names or titles on the cover art. Some might recognize the name on the spine from singles like The Jag or Get Funky Get Down, but none of that is on here. A few, daring souls decide to give this a demo spin anyways, their reward an assault of hard house beats, garish acid, and a cacophony of electro noise. Good gracious, whatever is this racket?

Baby Wants To Bleep, in all its permutations on this CD, almost feels like a joke. Like, The Micronauts wanted to make the most obnoxious sounds they could within acid house's parameters, extending it into a sort of jam session in the process. It's rather fascinating in of itself, and could even be pointed at as a precursor to the Ed Banger aesthetic that would come to dominate much of French techno half a decade later. Trying to come into this blind, however, would almost certainly turn folks off. Not to mention one of the longest tracks, Bleeper_0+2, is just a noise experiment no one with any aspiration of commercial intent would dare put on an album. Time to hunker the project down then, let the rest of clubland catch up.

Various - Blade - Music From And Inspired By The Motion Picture

TVT Records: 1998

Plenty has been said how this movie ushered in a new era of comic book adaptations. That it rescued a quickly diminishing genre of film from the downward slide of Schumacher Batman into something once again credible and financially lucrative. That the cinematic juggernaut known as the MCU would never have gotten on the beachhead had this relatively unknown creative property of theirs been a box-office dud. Yes, all these things have been brought up by people who make it their business/career/hobby discussing such things, but that's not what I'm doing here.

Instead, I wish to make my own hot-take proclamation about Blade. More specifically the soundtrack: this was the last of a small but vital run of scores that people intimately associate with exactly one techno track, which everyone had to rush and buy because of needing that one techno track.

You know the type I'm talking about. Your 'Mortal Kombat Theme'. Your 'Trainspotting Theme'. Your, um, The Saint Theme. For a time in the '90s, a wave of movies featured some big thumping anthem as its centrepiece of music, forever tying song and cinema to specific scenes. For sure there were plenty of soundtracks that featured electronic music, before and well after Blade, but can you instantly identify That One Track out of any of them? No, Zion doesn't count. Even if folks do remember that scene (for all the wrong reasons), they definitely can't recall how its techno track sounds, preferably forgetting anything associated with the Matrix sequels.

You can't shake the image of Blade's blood rave and the pounding acid of Pump Panel's rub of New Order's Confusion though. There were plenty of other great artists with tunes in the movie – Photek, DJ Krush, Source Direct, Junkie XL, Solitaire ...Polygon Window? - but its this specific one everyone knows. I just have to say “that movie Blade”, and you instantly hear the acid again. Aww, and here I am, thinking Expansion Union's Playing With Lightning is just as dope.

“But wait!” you say, “what's with all those artists you mentioned above? I have the CD and only a couple of them are in there. It's mostly a bunch of hip-hop!” Right you are, oh man of straw. In fact, only four tracks as featured in the movie made the cut of fifteen here. Save a couple clubbier offerings from Mantronik and Roger Sanchez bridging the gap, everything comes from the lands of gangsta rap.

Though as they are tracks 'inspired by' the movie, it feels more appropriate to call this 'gothic rap'. Lots of raps about Blade, hunting vampires, wars between heaven and hell... pretty cool stuff, with a good mix of stars and unknowns. Gang Starr is here! KRS-One is here (breaking fourth walls, no less)! Mystikal is here (his track was great at showing off the bass of the JVC Kaboom)! P.A. is... wait, Parental Advisory? Oh, wow, they were also on the first rap soundtrack I ever owned. Small world.

ACE TRACKS: January 2021

It feels weird, nearing the actual end of reviewing every single item in my music collection. I've started on the back-half of my 'B' albums, which will be followed by another catch-up pile of backlog, then it's on to the remaining 'C' albums. That will be it. Well, save for whatever else I gather in that meantime, which will likely be a fair bit as usual, but my main, sorted library will have been truly and completely reviewed. And not a decade too soon!

I know I keep saying this every other year, but I think this is achievable within 2021. Of course, I thought that in 2020, before 2020 2020'd all over the place. And who's to say 2021 doesn't have a whole pile of nut-fuckery up its sleeve just yet? For sure it's already been an eventful first month, but it hasn't impacted this person to quite the same degree as others. I mean, this is the first time in a long while that I haven't had my rent go up again. That counts for something, right? Thanks, COVID! Anyway, here are the ACE TRACKS for the first 31 days of this bold new year:


Full track list here.


MISSING ALBUMS:

None!

Yep, it took ninety-two of these playlists, but we finally have one where every single album I've reviewed for it is available on Spotify! Mind, some of the older ones might be complete now too, what with things having been added since. Heck, when I started, you couldn't even get The Beatles on Spotify. Oh, before I forget...

Percentage Of Hip-Hop: 8%
Percentage Of Rock: 31%
Most “WTF?” Track: Still the Viking metal stuff. It'll never make sense in a playlist supposedly in service of an electronic music blog.

Outlier metel music aside, this is a nice, diverse assortment of tunes, given the smaller sample size. It probably helps that I'm once again reaching into my long-standing collection of music, where a quarter-century of CD gathering has resulted in some variety. Guess it's true that the older you get, the more narrow your interests become.

Or the inability to brose pawn shops has left me unable to impulse buy of whatever catches my eye. Can be that too.