_Nyquist - Sonic Periapsis

Intellitronic Bubble: 2020

Not as prolific an artist as I initially assumed, but that's only because when I first came into contact with _Nyquist, he definitely was a prolific artist. Or at least, about as prolific as one could be releasing multiple records with Lee Norris over the span of a few years. When the two finally committed some tunes to the LP format in Synchronized Minds, it looked like they'd keep that momentum going for some time still. I guess Lee got side-tracked with his usual multitude of side things (label managing, other collaborations, life issues), leaving the man behind _Nyquist – Frank Rumpelt – to pursue other interests in that time. Most of these were as different aliases exploring other sounds than techno, a tradition as old as... well, as long as there's been electronic music, at least.

Before that though, he did release a solo _Nyquist album, this here Sonic Periapsis. In typically odd fashion, it was bundled in one of Intellitronic Bubble's double-LPs, paired with The Shape's Waveshape Fiction, who is... well, I won't say just yet. Regardless, this isn't such a bad deal when you're dealing with physical mediums, but the download of this release doesn't separate the two albums. I technically should be reviewing both right now, but adherence to alphabetical OCD compels me to postpone The Shape's album for whenever I get down to the 'W's. Anyway, it seems a moot point now, as Frank recently uploaded the album on its own to his Bandcamp page. See, it pays to be two-to-three years overdue in covering new releases!

Mr. Rumpelt doesn't waste any time letting us know what sort of music we're in for with Sonic Periapsis. A simple electro rhythm, a little chunky acid bassline, and soon enough, we're cruising retro-future streets, passing sleek chrome vehicles in search of cyberpunk hangouts for some cyborg break-dancing action. Some tracks get more on that pure Detroitism (Micro Expression, Mydentity, Electric Rain), some maintain the electro acid fonk (Abstract Mind, Velocity Vector, SCIPRIDC), and Sudden Void sets off some of my trance triggers, despite most evidence pointing out it's not trance. Tack on a requisite chill tune at the end with Time Safari, and you have... whoa, wait a minute! D'at bass! Damn, does Time Safari ever remind me of some of those old 'audio bass' tunes from the '90s.

Come to think of it, Sonic Periapsis has quite the technobass vibe going for it overall. Yeah, there isn't much of a leap from that genre to Detroit techno and electro, but hearing some trunk-rattling basslines out of a label that isn't quite so known for it, well, that tickles my fancy. Or maybe Intellitronic Bubble does, and I simply haven't heard it yet. I have picked up a bunch of their compilations, but they're titled as numbers, I won't be getting to those until I wrap around again. And given my current pace, that won't be until... 2025? Ha-ha, no, I'm that tardy with this blog. I hope...

Gorillaz - Song Machine, Season One: Strange Timez (Proper Review)

Parlaphone: 2020

Strange days indeed. The global pandemic almost may have benefited the Gorillaz project, at least with regards to the Song Machine cycle. Being forced to strip back all the indulgent studio time and guest collaborators made this album a far leaner outing than the bloated Humanz. Even better, with no pressure to go on tour in support of a new record in the foreseeable future, Damon and Jamie could primarily focus on other multi-media aspects of the band, in particular music video and animations.

Because let's face it: for as much as we enjoy Gorillaz music, it's the videos and such that truly grab our imagination. Trouble is animation is expensive, and with more money being allotted for studio production and tours, this aspect of the project sometimes gets shuffled to the side-line. Again, just look at the Humanz roll-out for proof, only one video of significant note released in support of that record.

In treating Song Machine as an episodic venture, however, you were basically guaranteed a video with each song this time out. Whether an elaborate 'lore' builder with The Lost Chord, a simple loop session with Aries, or 'Roger Rabbit'ing their way about Kong Studio with guest musicians (Momentary Bliss, Pac-Man), it definitely felt like you were getting your dollar's worth. Oh, wait, watching the vids was free on YouTube. Erm, I mean, it definitely felt like you were getting rewarded for sticking with this fickle project even during the less-than-great times.

And even with all that, holy Hell, but does Song Machine ever come loaded with ear-worms! You could always count on a number of them per album, but even the best Gorillaz records will have a few tunes that could be left aside. Not so here, every song a winner. Well, okay, I could maybe leave Friday 13th off, but that's more because I'm not much a fan of mumble rappers, and Octavian doesn't do much to convince me otherwise. At least The Pink Phantom has Elton John's big, boisterous voice on hand to counter 6LACK's mumbling. Everything else though – from rowdy rockers (Strange Timez, Momentary Bliss, The Valley Of The Pagans) to electro boppers (Pac-Man) to soulful poppers (The Lost Chord, Désolé, Dead Butterflies), and all else between, Song Machine's got all you could want from a Gorillaz album.

It's funny though, because there's a hint Song Machine could have had some of the same issues as Humanz. The bonus disc includes half a dozen nifty tunes, mostly on the hip-hop side of things, but definitely don't quite fit the vibe of the main album. Which is how bonus tracks should be treated, the b-sides that are here for your enjoyment without sullying the flow of the main feature. Somehow though, I sense had this been Humanz-era Gorillaz, they would have tried to force them in, once again bloating an album beyond what was necessary. Song Machine is perfectly paced at its eleven tracks, once again showing smart restraint in the final product.

Gorillaz - Song Machine, Season One: Strange Timez (Kayfabe Review)

Parlaphone: 2020

Last time I talked up Gorillaz, I lamented we'd never seen a truly collaborative effort from this group. Yeah, they've all been present for a number of albums (their self-titled debut, Demon Days ...Humanz, if only barely), but generally speaking, one or two members are the driving force behind a given record, leaving the others to simply contribute their requisite parts in support. No, what I wanted to hear is a Gorillaz album where everyone - 2-D, Noodle, Russel, and yes, Murdoc – all have equal share in the writing process. Given the chaotic nature of this band, it seemed it'd take nothing less than an Act Of God for such a thing to happen. Or, in a pinch, a global pandemic.

Details are hazy what the initial ideas for Song Machine were going to be – something to do with a music device Noodle acquired. Regardless, the lockdowns in the following year essentially isolated the band within the new Kong Studio. Never mind their corporeal nature likely wouldn't be an issue in dealing with meat-space viruses, they stood in solidarity with society at large.

With nothing better to do than hang out together making music, that's basically all they did. No ideas for a specific album concept or contractual obligation, just jam away and see what sprung forth in a given session. That isn't to say some didn't have other things on their mind while holed up at Kong – you just know Murdoc would look for any opportunity to get out of house, especially having just gotten out of prison the previous year. Overall though, Song Machine, Season One: Strange Timez is possibly the band's most satisfying album in... gosh, a decade? However long it's been since Plastic Beach, at least.

Again, it's all about bringing every member's influences and interests under one big tent. Gorillaz have always been adventurous in their genre fusions, but you can generally tell who's doing the most production in a given project. 2-D likes his electro pop, Russel likes his American hip-hop, house, and soul, Noodle likes her esoteric indulgences, while Murdoc likes his punk and bass-driven rock. Indeed, there are songs on here you can tell who's influence is felt. Peter Hook on Aries? Oh, that's gotta' be a Murdoc get. ScHoolboy Q on Pac-Man? Russel, absolutely. Beck on The Valley Of The Pagans? Seems like the sort of musician Noodle would have on dial. And of course Elton John and Stuart Pot have talked collab' at some point.

Yet as mentioned, no one song feels like someone's taking a back seat in the writing process, everyone part and parcel in some way. Maybe that's why, for the first time in Gorillaz history, the album's unofficial song-writing credits goes to 'Gorillaz'.

According to lore, Murdoc and Russel did Humanz and the self-titled, Noodle did Demon Days, Mr. Niccals did Plastic Beach, while 2-D did The Fall and The Now Now. Song Machine though? Everyone! And it's all the greater for it.

Sykonee's 'Sportsing' Surveys: CYPRESS HILL

Like 99.5% of suburban Canadian white boys, I first learned about Cypress Hill when Insane In The Brain became a juggernaut of rap music. You could not escape this tune on your regular MuchMusic (re: Canuck MTV) rotation, and was practically guanteed a rinse out at the high school dance. Everyone loved the tune, including me, but over-exposure led to disinterest on my part, and I never gave the group much attention after.

Not so for some of my peers, the clutch of skaters and potheads I knew always blasting the Hill's weed anthems wherever they could. Even while working that little music shop at the ends of the earth, I'd still sell the odd copy of Black Sunday to a fresh batch of marijuana connoisseurs. I sometimes wondered, was there more to this team of B-Real, Sen Dog, and DJ Muggs than I gave them credit for? Some of their newer stuff I'd play didn't really catch my ear, but then I'd yet to be fully bitten by the hip-hop bug.

Fast forward many years later, and I'm playing GTA: San Andreas, hearing How I Could Just Kill A Man a whole lot while driving about Los Santos, digging it every time. Well, that's more than enough for me to want to hear if there's any more tracks in the Cypress Hill catalogue that I've overlooked. Seems like survey material to me!



















This survey certainly had its fair share of surprises. While I had a feeling I'd enjoy their first couple albums, I had no idea the Hill had some concept LPs under their belt too. Made me want to go out and get the records proper-like, so I could do a proper review of them at some point down the road! See, these aren't just mindless things to play while I'm burning calories, it's scouting for ace material too!

Who's next, then? Well, the poll I did on Mastodon ended up with a tie, Cypress Hill being co-winner. The other: Paul van Dyk! Yeah, I was shocked by the results too.

Alpha Wave Movement - Somnus

Harmonic Resonance Recordings: 2018

It's been a long while since I've talked up anything regarding Gregory Kyryluk, if for no better reason than he hasn't been on my radar much. The ambient scene is so utterly filled with prolific artists that many simply slip by the periphery of my attention, even with a few chance crossings over the years. My scene explorations only take me down a few specific roads, the natural paths made when stumbling upon producers and labels via Discogs links and Bandcamp suggestions. It's, like, scary, straying off the path you've made for yourself, lured in by the lights flickering elsewhere, drawing you away from the familiar.

As Alpha Wave Movement, I haven't happened upon Mr. Kyryluk's music, as he's mostly self-released material through his own Harmonic Resonance Recordings. He did offer a few albums to Anodize, a couple of which were under the guise of Within Reason. If that name sounds familiar, it's because it appeared on that gargantuan, elephantine Pete Namlook tribute box-set Die Welt Ist Klang. Yep, even though it's nearly a decade old now, I'm still name-dropping that release.

The most prominent release I've heard from Gregory, however, is one I actually have, Nomadic Impressions as Open Canvas on Waveform Records. If that's drawing a blank, don't worry, it's been even longer since I reviewed it. In fact, I wonder if Mr. Kyryluk is even aware I did? He never made mention of it when he approached me to review this item for him. So it goes sometimes. Oh, right, I've a review to do!

So Alpha Wave Movement. As mentioned, this is Gregory's most prolific alias, currently up to thirty albums in just as many years. With titles like Cosmology, A Distant Signal, Architexture Of Silence, and Yasumu, it's quite clear the more meditative, New Age side of ambient is his main foray, with some explorations of cosmic Berlin-School thrown in for good measure. Like, when you've released in the excess of thirty-plus albums over your career, there's plenty of opportunities to explore the various facets of a chosen genre.

With a title of Somnus, the intention is clear: music for relaxation, drifting synapses, and serenading songs sending you to slumberland. No, not the Waveform compilation Slumberland ...though these pieces could have easily fit snug on those too. As this is very calm, droning ambient music, there's little for me to actually detail, but hey, if I've gone this far with all those Lucette Bourdin albums, I'm sure there's something here too.

Sonaoran Silence features deep pads before gently morphing into flowing harmonies. Be Here Now goes more tranquil with gentle, spritely synths and babbling brooks. Bioelectric Traces brings a sense of angelic astral planing into focus. Transient Molecules and Patterns Of Fragility are more minimalist compared to the rest, while Ting-Sha, with its sparse bell tones and sustained drone, is mysterious and, dare I say, ominous. Oh dear, there had to be that one track bringing to mind night terrors, didn't there.

Speedy J - Something For Your Mind - The Remixes

Music Man Records: 1992/2021

The other big crossover hit Speedy J landed early in his career, but hardly the embarrassment Pullover is. Yeah, the vocal nicked from C'hantal's The Realm can grate after a bit, but there's plenty more going on such that you don't have to entirely focus on it. Besides, if you need proof Mr. Paap doesn't mind this track as part of his discography compared to Pullover, just gander at the cover art he used for the Bandcamp remaster.

Something For Your Mind gets to have the O.G. Plus 8 Records glory, while Pullover features the Music Man Records art, even though this package technically contains all the music from the Music Man version. Keep in mind that the record this release got its art from, simply titled The Remixes, also featured Pullover on the A-side, yet Something For Your Mind gets to rub shoulders with all of Plus 8's greats instead. Right, I know the Pullover single came out before it was featured on The Remixes, but hey, if Jochem is a stickler for such details, why not use the Music Man art for Something For Your Mind as well?

Anyhow, while all the other singles had remixes of Something For Your Mind, and not the original cut, this re-issue does include the original! Or at least, the version as heard on the Rise EP, which was a live outing of crashing rhythms, but I guess ol' Jochem feels that's the definitive one – it's certainly as close to the sort of techno he'd eventually rinse out on the regular.

Realizing a live rendition might be a bit too bang-on for proper single consideration (and maybe wanting to add a little more songcraft compared to the dumb-thump of Pullover), Speedy J's own remix brings some ravey synth stabs, tension building strings, and cowbell. It's also rather muted compared to the live version, which makes it less powerful if you want to get folks properly pumped. It's as though Jochem forgot to add the gains for these remasters. Or were they just recorded that quietly in the first place?

The other remix comes care of Exposure, one Maurits Paardekooper and Rick van Breugel (these Dutch names, I swear). They were part of the Techno Grooves collective, a bunch of Dutchmen making techno in the early '90s, which also included Speedy J. They've been semi-active to this day, and Richie Hawtin seemed to like Maurits' Percussion Electrique under his Dwarf alias. Meanwhile, van Breugel has way too many aliases and projects for me to dig further, so let's move onto their remix of Something For Your Mind.

The longest of this batch, Exposure uses even punchier, crunchier rave stabs than Speedy J's rub, adds some choir pads at the peaks, and that's about it. Hey, it ain't bad for a '92 Dutch techno tune, but at nine-minutes long, kinda' overstays its welcome as well. Maybe needed an edited version? *listens to the 7” Remix*. Oh dear, no. That was just pointless.

AstroPilot - Solar Walk IV. YOUniverse

Blue Tunes Chillout/AstroPilot Music: 2016/2017

You'd think it'd take me less than... *squints* seven years to nab a copy of this. Indeed, when I did take the AstroPilot plunge, I grabbed every one of the Solar Walk albums, plus the remix outing Star Walk. So should another edition come to light, absolutely I'd be there ready to slap down some coinage for it.

As it turned out, this was about the tail-end of his tenure with Altar Records, shortly after setting up his own eponymous digital label to self-release material. And as a means to kick things off, he launched the label with Solar Walk IV. YOUniverse. Like, it's just good marketing sense when establishing your own print, dropping with the ambient series you're best known for. Perhaps somewhat foolishly, I assumed a hard-copy edition would drop as well, so held out on it. And held... and held... and held... It was only after checking back in on AstroPilot's Discogs page that I realized, “Hmm, there isn't gonna' be a CD of Solar Walk IV, is there.” Fortunately, digital albums never run out of copies, so it was simple t'ings finally get one for myself.

While previous Solar Walk albums explored the grandeur of the cosmos, the subtitle of IV implies we're in for a journey of inner space. Or that you are the universe, made manifest, so here's some music to get to know yourself better. Wait, that sounded kinkier than intended. Um, 'when you stare into the cosmic abyss, it stares back at you'? Nope, that ain't it, Solar Walk IV far too uplifting for such a bleak concept. Okay, I admit, YOUniverse comes off a tad hokey as a title, but whatever, it's the music that counts, and once again Dmitriy brings the opulent psy-chill and space ambient goods.

We're certainly dropped into the big, emotional feels with Our Second Sun, picking right up where most Solar Walks left off. What's this though? Some light groove to go along with the densely layered synth tones? Gosh, might YOUniverse forego the pure ambient pieces for something more on a steady prog-psy tip? Second track Balance certainly suggests so, offering it's own light rhythm in support of the usual cascade of bright pads. Third track Desolate Spaces scales things back though, a beatless affair and much less overbearing in its use of layered drones.

Solar Walk IV mostly alternates from there, with a gradual ease down to more reflective, contemplative pieces over the 'space symphony' tracks of the first half. There's even a touch of melancholy in Through The Veil and Frozen Time, though with synth harmonies this bright and bold, even the downtempo moments are grand.

Which has always been par for the course with these Solar Walks: music for epic feels, stupendous stargazing, and all that fun stuff that makes watching documentaries about cosmic splendour all the more addictive. It may not be as subtle as some space ambient goes, but if you wanted that, there's always Silent Universe.

Moss Covered Technology - Sodium Light

Neotantra: 2021

Oh no! Another lovely little ambient album out of Neotantra, from an artist with a charming three-word alias I know nothing about but am now compelled to explore their Bandcamp page. When will my financial suffering end! *sigh* Let's do this then... Oh, he doesn't have that massive a discography after all. Still, some highly tempting items there. Quiet Loops, Southern Points, Speicherbank, Seafields, And His Many Seas... I'm sensing a theme here, one I'm totally digging. *deep sigh* *comical unzipping sound of digital wallet*

Moss Covered Technology is a relatively new artist, one Greig Baird, releasing the odd item every so often on a variety of labels (Dronarivm, hibernate, Polar Seas Recordings, Eilean Rec., Fluid Audio (2)). He had an earlier, minor run as Boomruin, fusing ambient and drone tones with downtempo beats, eventually making the transition over to more traditional beatless music and field recording manipulations. Seems that was Mr. Barid's true calling, as he's maintained that style ever since.

A running theme among many of Greig's albums under this moniker is using the same title for each track, though not necessarily the name of the album itself. The biggest diversion from this is found here on Sodium Light, each track rather titled Night. If you're wondering why, what do you think powers all those big spotlights in wide-open urban spaces like industrial parks and vehicle lots? There's other uses for them as well, but for the most part, when folks think of twilight hours in darkened city locales, the omnipresent soft glow from overhanging poles tends to spring to mind. Especially is you're the lonesome sort to wander about when contemplating post-clubbing existence and such. Ooh, I suspect there may be a bit of an ambient-Burial vibe going into this one.

Well, not quite. Night #1 is mostly languid synth tones supported by fuzzy analogue throbs, and over in a rather brief three minutes. Night #2 carries on the gentle ambience of soft, harmonic pads blanketed within the warm embrace of faint static. It certainly imparts the feeling of a metropolitan square utterly still, perhaps a stray insect hovering about a street lamp the only movement.

Even when Greig gets a little more 'aggro' and unsettling in his use of background hiss, there's always an accompanying serenity in what melodic tones pierce the murk. Unfortunately, we don't get to dwell on such ideas for long, Sodium Light only six tracks, lasting a mere thirty-five minutes total. I suppose it's effective in getting his musical ideas across without feeling the need to dawdle about, but man, what we do get is such a tease of something larger in scope. Can you blame me for wanting to raid his Bandcamp page for more items?

No, you cannot, which is what makes music exploration and discovery so much fun. Expensive, but fun! Hmm, speaking of, I noticed another intriguing print in my label name-drop above. What does this Polar Seas Recordings offer? Oh... oh no! *sigh* Here we go again... *unz-z-z-i-i-i-ip*...

Lucette Bourdin - Soaring Above The Thunder

Fantasy Enhancing: 2005/2021

I was afraid this would happen. Really, it's my fault, what with my arbitrary alphabetical queuing of albums. If I approached things normally, in chronological order, I'd hear Ms. Bourdin's natural progression as a musician over time. Instead, I've jumped all over the place, and as such have heard her muse in various states of evolution. I'll admit her general tone and style seemed to be mostly formed early on, material on Oceanic Spaces and Raven's Dream sounding almost as good as pieces from Breath Of Grace and her Nordic Waves series. And hey, maybe that would also be the case when I finally got around to her actual first album, Soaring Above The Thunder. There was always this niggling suspicion, however, that it would be more typical of a 'first album' from an artist. A little amateurish and rough around the edges, said artist still in their feeling-out process despite confident enough to release something out into the wider world.

And, well, that's basically what I hear with Soaring Above The Thunder. It's not bad or anything, indeed still competently performed ambient music. It just doesn't sound like Lucette had really explored her synths yet, relying on whatever was already available in their sound libraries, then playing them in a functional manner. It's the sort of music I'd probably perform if I was just starting out too.

What stands out most to me is how punctual her synths sound, particularly on pieces like Prelude, Cloud Drones, Metallic Skies and Return. If there's any definitive style I could place upon Ms. Bourdin, it's her subtle layering of pads and drones, such that her music has a graceful flow among its harmonic elements. Obviously this wasn't always the case, but whenever she was at her best, that was the attribute that stood out the most. On Soaring Above The Thunder though, such attributes are noticeably absent, lending her synth work to more of an old school '80s vibe, when layering synth pads was in a more primitive state (if even achievable at all).

Still, a couple pieces hint at roads where Lucette would soon explore with greater results. Winds Across The Fields is almost pure minimalist drone, even if some of the 'wind effects' come off a little clunky. Despite also being comparatively jagged, Sundrops (Interlude) does offer a gentleness heard in many pieces of her discography. Elsewhere, the titular track and Showers brings some rhythmic elements to Ms. Bourdin's repertoire, showing she wasn't just an 'all ambient, all the time' artist right out the gate.

So yeah, a bit of a disappointment this one, but like I said, I've only my own expectations to blame. Had I started this Retrospective Box Set (2005 – 2017) from here, rather than jumping all over the place, I'd probably have a better first impression of it. Then again, what if I'd discovered Lucette somewhere around her Ancient Memories period regardless, digging into her back catalogue from there? Would impressions have been the same?

John '00' Fleming - Progressive Euphoria (A 'Token Prog' Review)

Telstar TV: 2001

Bonus review – that time the biggest trance series in the land did an entire Token Prog Compilation! Yes, even the Euphoria series was not immune to the Great Prog Dominion of 2001, and so they set aside their usual roster of second tier Brit-jocks to recruit the ever-so-slightly more underground John 00 Fleming to teach the trance kids all about this new fangled progressive phenomenon. Of all the jocks we’ve featured, J00F is the only one still playing music in this vein, and not coincidentally he’s also the only one I could listen to in 2023 without wanting to shove a fork in my ear after 15 minutes. Positioning himself as the trance massive’s self-appointed gateway DJ to deeper sounds has paid career dividends for Worthing’s slightly pompous prodigal slaphead.

Seriously, get a load of these inlay notes! “If you are new to this scene, you have to listen to the music in a different way,” John mansplains, since “a lot of you may rarely go to an underground club”. This radical rewiring of your mind to accept dance music without a gigantic melody over the top of every tune is worth it in the end though, as “this music is more intelligent, and some of the complicated string arrangements have been compared to such all-time great composers as Mozart!” Sheesh. I also like how John promises to play you the versions that were “around on the underground scene way before their commercial release” and then promptly gaslights the listener by including the vocal mix of Cass & Slide’s Perception.

Jesting aside, this is really very good stuff from J00F. It has a few slightly more mainstream moments to build a bridge with the Gatecrasher kids (I’m looking at you, Storm and Jakatta), and because this is a Euphoria compilation it’s contractually bound to feature Matt Darey’s From Russia With Love in some form or other. But John also features some lesser known but top-notch prog tunes by the likes of Jay Welsh and Thomas Penton that came out on small labels and certainly weren’t big hits at the time, which shows he was doing his homework. CD1 is deeper and CD2 brings out the trancier end of the prog spectrum, prepping these kids for the time-honoured ways of the Global Undergrounds and Renaissance CDs they could move onto. Most didn’t, of course, but not for the want of J00F’s trying. This CD is an able rival to anything on those labels.

(Graphic design watch – as much teenage nostalgia as I derive from the iconic Euphoria logo, the overall sleeve is more “superclub supermarket CD” than gorgeous prog mimimalism. Bonus points though for making this the most grey and colourless cardboard sleeve in the entire series. If ever there was a visual metaphor for “put the glowsticks away”, you’re looking at it here.)

Cursory Second Disc Verdict: Not relevant here, for obvious reasons. Prog all the way home, and all the better for it.


[Sykonee Says: And that's a wrap on 'Token Prog'! Thanks to Jack for the fun little diversion from this blog's usual bollocks. Might there be more such mixes lurking out there for a revisit down the line? Or perhaps a whole new series where we force J' to review 'Token mnml' mixes from prog DJs, Clockwork Orange style? Oh c'mon, no one's that cruel.]

Armin van Buuren - 002 Basic Instinct (A 'Token Prog' Review)

United Recordings: 2001

And finally, Armin. It’s worth pointing out that in 2001, Armin was by far the least well known of these DJs. PVD, Oakey and Tiesto were all jostling in the Top 10 of the DJ Mag poll back when it had some connection to reality, and Ferry Corsten was sat at #19 despite being better known as a producer. Armin was a new entry on the list that year, and he still hadn’t had a mix CD released outside the Netherlands. Not until widespread broadband roll-out made Internet radio a big thing did his A State Of Trance show take him truly global.

Basic Instinct (which was kinda, sorta part of the ASOT series but before Armin had figured out how to brand it) was released in January 2001 and most of the tracks featured were released the previous year, and it shows. CD1 is prog alright, but it’s a much more banging big room strain of prog than the dark ‘n tribal stuff that would become so crushingly dominant just a few months later.

And y’know what? That’s very much a Good Thing, because the prog disc here is really good. The transitions are sometimes edited to make them a bit too abrupt for yer chin-stroking Global Underground connoisseur, but honestly I can’t fault how Armin put this together. The Argonaut’s Going Through is a perfect opener, low-key with a great sci-fi sample, and from there AVB builds quickly into some full-knacker peak time prog trance, featuring some of the finest trancey proggy cuts of the era from the likes of Lemon8, Starecase and Junkie XL.

And really, that’s the distinction. Like Oakey’s Another World, which I didn’t get to review, this CD is far better than the more dutiful 2001 Token Discs because it’s progressive trance rather than just progressive prog. It captures that shift where these guys sighed and said, “Okay fine, I’ll build up a set” in concession to prog scruples, but weren’t yet wanking around with tuneless tribal blah just to fit in. Funny how fast the club scene moved back then, that a mere twelve months could signify such a significant shift in sound.

Make no mistake, CD1 here would be CD2 on any of the Global Underground or Renaissance outings mixed by Seaman, Warren, Pappa and the like. It’s prog at its biggest and tranciest, but without ever falling into uplifting trance stoopidity. And honestly, if you’re going to buy a prog CD by Armin Van bloody Buuren, isn’t that what you’re after?

Cursory Second Disc Verdict: Not good. Not good at all. Cringey vocals, breakdowns longer than the Middle Ages and blaring Roland JP-8000 leads abound. It’s vaguely mindblowing that Armin can be so good on disc one and so bad on this disc.

What Did We Learn From All This? The general trend here is that the trancier these guys kept their “deep” disc, the better the results. Funny that. Improbably, it’s the Dutchmen Ferry and Armin who prog up best. If you want to hear the big trance boys at their least silly, their CDs are the place to go. Equally improbably, it’s Englishman Oakey who comes dead last, although he would have done a lot better had the Syko-lord allowed me to cover Another World again. Either way, the Great Prog Dominion fell off pretty swiftly after this, while trance got real bad almost as swiftly. For most of these guys, this was as respectable as they ever sounded. But hang around after the final credits, because there was one trance jock who jumped this bandwagon and never hopped back off…

Ferry Corsten / System F - Trance Nation 2001 (A 'Token Prog' Review)

Ministry Of Sound: 2001

[Sykonee Says: Shame the excellent Trance Nation America from Taylor and Jimmy Van M falls just outside the parameters of this series. Now there's a pair of CDs that deserves some recognition! Come to think of it, why haven't I plucked myself a proper copy of that by now? Time to get on it, methinks. Also, you can read Jack's thoughts on it direct on the Discogs page, if you're curious. Anyhow, onto the 'Token Prog']

Plot twist – it’s CD2! Yes, you didn’t expect the Trance Nation series to give up its first disc to any kind of halfway credible music, did ye? As a side-note, it’s kinda fascinating to go back to these CDs and contrast how the big trance jocks chose to market themselves. Oakenfold and Tiesto hammered the mix CD market hard, treating compilations the way bands treated albums. Meanwhile PVD avoided the format almost altogether, but released more actual albums than Plantpot and Ape Man combined, whereas Ferry was mostly happy to hitch a ride aboard one of the Ministry Of Sound’s most shamelessly commercial trance compilation series.

Accordingly, the Trance Nation outings were never really regarded as any kind of Serious Artistic Statement by Corsten – hell, I don’t think he ever primarily saw himself as a DJ anyway - so when he did come anywhere near a Token Prog Disc, it was more about The Ministry goading him with cattle prods into playing what was seen as commercially viable at the time.

(Also, y’know how I’ve been hyping up the graphic design of CDs from this period? Yeah… we need to talk about that. Trance Nation 2001 has one of the worst covers ever, pitched midway between health and safety signage, E-number-heavy fruit chew wrapper, and the carapace of some aggressively venomous insect. Even nostalgia can’t save this one.)

Because this is Trance Nation, the Token Prog Disc has to open with the most commercially successful prog tune ever, Touch Me, and because this is Trance Nation, it has to be pitched at +4%. The next track is the disc’s solitary concession to “tribal tech” seriousness, and then things get, well… really fun actually. As early as track three, Ferry’s dropping in some nasty warehouse-friendly acid lines courtesy of Lee Coombs, and shortly after he accelerates a pair of Bedrock productions and slams them together with the expert disdain of a Hollywood stunt driver.

Don’t get me wrong, there’s the odd bit of shite on here. Ferry’s own remix of Tony Walker is a load of cobblers, and I don’t care if Human Movement happens to be prog legend Marc Mitchell in disguise: Love Comes Again is still a horrendous slab of rotten cheddar and always has been. But of all the Token Prog Discs we’ve covered, this is by far the most boisterous and exciting, with cuts like the Trisco remix of Freet and Ferry’s own Needlejuice being the kind of jaw wobbling, face stroking, can-I-have-a-sip-of-your-water-mate bangers that rarely make it onto more high-minded Serious Artistic Statement prog mixes. The mixing also sounds just rough enough to be an actual turntable mix, which kinda adds to the whole “I just want to get out of here and cash my cheque” energy Ferry’s bringing. Two thumbs up.

Cursory First Disc Verdict: Completely terrible, but you already knew that. Cosmic Gate’s Firewire sitting side by side with novelty hard dance shit-hit How U Like Bass is one of humanity’s low points.

Paul van Dyk - The Politics Of Dancing (A 'Token Prog' Review)

Ministry Of Sound: 2001

[Sykonee Says: Wait a minute, I've already done a review of this one. Twice! Do we really need another? Well, considering the latter is a 'jokey' two-paragraphs long, and the former is a 4,000 word monstrosity that's so dry that it may as well be a 'Review Written In The Style Of Prog', maybe this deserves another kick at the can. Have at 'er, J'!]


Paul Van Dyk was rather anomalous amongst the big trance jocks in that he didn’t really do mix CDs. Indeed, The Politics Of Dancing was much-touted at the time as the first one he’d ever done, which means we’re supposedly to pretend his MFS showcase for X-Mix never happened. PVD upheld his part of that consensual hallucination by trying really hard to make TPOD stand out, out Sasha-ing Sasha by doing the whole “radically re-edit and remix everything” trick a few years before Involver. The inlay also contains a full page of cryptic gibberish where PVD artfully avoids explaining what “the politics of dancing” actually means. All very high concept.

While we’re at it, here’s another compilation sleeve that’s got all of that 2001 graphic design good stuff going on. Just pause for a moment and stare at a photo of that back cover with tracklist. It’s so beautifully clean it could be from the 1920s Bauhaus. Gotta appreciate Paul looking pensively monochrome in front of some limestone steps on the front too, like a politician holding a press conference to publicly apologise for sleeping with his secretary.

But nevermind that. We’re here to judge how well he jumped the bandwagon. This is an odd one, because everything is so extensively reworked (mainly by giving every tune the same kick/clap/bass combo PVD used on everything around this time) it sounds more like a PVD showcase than an overt Token Prog Disc. It starts out pretty good, with Ashtrax – Digital Reason being exactly the kind of atmospheric proggy trancer that these guys should have played more of. Even early on, the flow feels ultra-fiddly though, the studio’d-to-death nature of the mix stopping it from feeling like a real DJ set. Amazingly, this is the only place in the Token Prog Discs series we’ll hear IIO’s omnipresent Rapture, and I quite like the way PVD rebuilds it into a harder prog-acid stormer. Then there are more vocals. Lots more vocals.

Yeah, I dunno. This just doesn’t flow very well. A lot of stop-starting, a lot of breaks switching to 4/4 and back, and that damn PVD beat on nearly every single track. In the inlay, Van Dyk states that he doesn’t like doing studio mixes because he doesn’t have a crowd to vibe off, and it really shows here. By the time we get to his own Autumn, things are getting unapologetically trancey and there they’ll stay. I don’t know, I feel cheated. This is barely a bandwagon hop at all. Everything is kinda stripped down and proggy, but he’ll be winning absolutely no prog purist points for how naff a lot of this disc is. Another one of those 2001 hat tips to the zeitgeist that doesn’t really please either the trance tribes or the Bedrock hordes.

Cursory Second Disc Verdict: Paul’s having a lot more fun here, which means you will too. More bangers, less fluff: this is main room superclub trance done – mostly - very well.

DJ Tiësto - Revolution (A 'Token Prog' Review)

Virgin: 2001

Never heard of this one? Me neither, until I happened across it on Discogs. Tiesto already had a cottage industry of mix CDs to his name come 2001, with both his Magik and In Search Of Sunrise series in full flow, but most were only available in the UK on import and they were generally single-discers, which didn’t give much scope for including a Token Prog Disc. So Virgin Records cooked up Revolution to capitalise on his growing popularity in the UK market, including a full disc dedicated to that moody drummy stuff so beloved by the Britishers.

Now before we go on, I’d like to temporarily pause my pithy prog appraisal and point out just how much armour piercing nostalgia these 2001 CD sleeves give me. Look at that chunky sans-serif font type, the tasteful minimalist layout. Oh my God, the title even looks like a watermark. I’ve no doubt it’s because the design template is completely ripped off from Virgin’s Anthems series from the same era, which were some of the very first mix CDs I laid eyes on, but there’s something about the graphic design of this era that takes me right back.

Anyway. There’s something else we need to talk about here. It’s the mastering. Whoever mastered this CD fucked up biiiiig time, which is perhaps why it’s largely forgotten even amongst Tiesto’s fans. The whole thing is recorded in mono, seemingly from the bottom of a tin can, on the end of a bad phone line. On Mars. Which is a shame, because the Token Prog Disc here (titled Darkside) is actually pretty good. Not great, but very listenable.

Plantpot opens with his own remix of Delerium, because of course, and while the ultra-syrupy vocal stylings of Leigh Nash weren’t winning any prog cool points, the fact he cut this remix at 125bpm tells you which way the wind was blowing in clubland. And despite the “Darkside” moniker, CD1 is actually quite smooth early on, less about the pulverising tech trance of Lethal Industry or Flight 643 and more a grown up version of those cartoon magik pixies searching for their sunrises that made Tiesto his name, the likes of Golden Desert and Innocence being dreamy closing-credits trance that don’t make your eyes roll so violently that your sockets get friction burn.

Things start to pick up pace with Fred Numf’s remix of Lovin’, although you can tell it’s 2001 because Tiesto gets it out of the way before the big trancey bit really gets going. The second half is much more percussive and the bandwagon hop is finally in full flow. Things get progressively harder and less tuneful before climaxing with utter inevitability on the tribal drums and ethnic wailing of The Search. Just a shame the mastering takes most of the oomph out of these cuts.

Cursory Second Disc Verdict: Magik Seven on third hand cassette rip. Okay, the tracklist is slightly different, but another good reason why nobody remembers this compilation.

Various - Perfecto Presents... Paul Oakenfold: Ibiza (A 'Token Prog' Review)

Perfecto: 2001

First up to bat is the ape man himself, Lord Oakenfold. Oakey is a slight outlier on this series because he started the bandwagon hop earlier than his peers. Ever the savvy A&R man, he saw the way the wind was blowing a year before most in the trance scene, dabbling with a proggy first disc on both Perfecto Presents… Another World (only released in the US) and its sort-of sister Travelling (everywhere but the US) in 2000. Another World is easily the best of Oakey’s prog efforts, but the Sykonaut has already run the rule over that one, and my benevolent blog overlord demands a separate entry into the EMCritic archive. Gotta harvest those search engine clicks, y’all.

Instead I get to cover Perfecto Presents… Ibiza. It’s now 2001, and boy are we going full prog here. Another World and Travelling both had Token Prog Discs, but they were very much progressive trance. This, on the other hand, is prog at its most 2001. Prog as in “progressive nothing”. The big echoey tribal drums, pulsing basslines and resolute lack of melodic top end are all present and correct. But how well does the ape man ape the prog men?

Honestly, CD1 starts so hilariously over-proggy it’s almost parodic. The first track is eleven and a half minutes long, fer chrissake! It’s like Oakey is deliberately setting out to alienate his trance kiddy fanbase. By the time we reach the fourth tune (and I use the word in the loosest possible sense) things have become so soporific my mind had wandered to why Oakenfold decided to style this disc after Ibiza, given the totalitarian greyness of the music is more evocative of Watford on a damp Wednesday than the White Isle. And just when you thought things couldn’t get any less cheerful, in come Radiohead with Idioteque. Oh my.

Yes, it seems as well as the prog bandwagon jump, this compilation catches Oakenfold at the start of his attempted Serious Artist phase, with Radiohead, Depeche Mode, U2 and The Prodigy trying to mix up the club tunes with Proper Songs. We’re really getting peak pretentious Oakenfold here, on both discs. The middle of CD1 also tips its hat to 2001’s other big fad: “nu skool” breaks, which really doesn’t help lift the energy levels any. Finally some drive is injected by Arena – Transit, before Oakenfold loses interest in that tack and ends the disc with Narayan, which would have had more impact had Fat Of The Land not been rinsed to death by 2001.

We’re off to a good start here. And by good, I mean bad. This is really rubbish, whether you’re a glowstick brandisher or a prog purist. Maximum prog points, minimum enjoyment.

Cursory Second Disc Verdict: Honestly, still pretty proggy. Right up until it’s not. The fact PPK – ResuRection exists in the same region of the observable universe as CD1, never mind the same jewel case, is testament to the remarkable variety of the human condition.

Jack Moss Presents: The Token Prog Discs

No blog post or ACE TRACKS playlist from me this time. Instead, my old writing partner Jack Moss came to me with the offer of an interesting concept that I couldn't refuse. I'll let him summarize from here...


Remember 2001? Nokia 3310s, PlayStation 2s, nary a superhero movie in sight and the last lingering hangover of relative sanity from the 1990s before freedom fries, global recessions and the general vortex of ever-accelerating doom we’ve been spiralling down ever since. Looking back, it feels like a year stuck in a holding pattern from the previous decade, not quite sure where we were going with this new millennium shit yet, and the same was true if you were a clubber. Electroclash was just starting to emerge from New York, Fabric released its very first mix CD and nu skool breaks was some sort of thing, but generally the scene was stuck in the same superclub mode that had dominated the ’98-2000 boom years.

And in the middle of all this, there was prog. A whole lotta prog. For whatever reason, prog reached its all time ascendance in this period. You couldn’t swing a cat in a record store without hitting a B-side prog remix, and the genre even achieved its one, and probably only, chart topping UK single with Rui Da Silva’s Touch Me. And whereas progressive house in its original early ‘90s incarnation had been a varied, playful thing full of sounds and steals from anything the ponytailed producers could shove into their primitive samplers, the second wave of prog was as proggily prog-prog as you could imagine, all moody basslines, heavy downpours of percussion and absolutely as little melody as possible.

But something fun did emerge from this unlikely dominion: the spectacle of DJs from over in glowstick trance land feeling the urge to jump aboard the bandwagon. And so for a year or so, it became obligatory for all the biggest trance DJs to devote disc one of their latest mix compilation to some dutiful prog dabbling before whipping out the supersaws on disc two.

And you know what? Unlike the decade’s later bandwagon hops of farty electro basslines appearing in absolutely everything everywhere, and Brit DJs pretending they liked minimal techno, there were some surprisingly good results from the cheesemonger DJs deliberately reigning in their flamboyant tendencies. It turns out some of these guys could play pretty well when they weren’t shovelling as many two minute breakdowns into a set as the Godskitchen laser array could handle. And with their natural trance tendencies always peeking through, some of them managed to be more entertaining than the actual prog DJs in this period. (Seriously, you try whistling anything on Digweed’s Los Angeles Global Underground).

So now, with 2001 a frankly terrifying twenty two years ago and counting, we’ll be journeying back through time to see which of the Big Five trance boys (Oakenfold, Tiesto, Armin, PVD and Ferry) hopped that bandwagon best! The rules are simple: the prog discs will be ranked according to their prog credentials, and we’ll poke our head briefly into the main room to scope CD2. So without further ado, join me for a deep dive into…

The Token Prog Discs.