Afrika Bambaataa - Dark Matter Moving At The Speed Of Light (Original TC Review)

Tommy Boy Entertainment: Cat. # TB1601
Released 2004

Track List:
1. Got That Vibe featuring King Kamonzi (4:07)
2. Metal featuring Gary Numan & MC Chatterbox (4:58)
3. Dark Matter featuring King Kamonzi (3:55)
4. Take You Back (3:57)
5. Soul Makossa (5:02)
6. Just A Smoke featuring Mustafa Akbar (3:42)
7. 2137 featuring Alien Ness (3:50)
8. Almighty Ra featuring TC Izlam (5:13)
9. Touch & Go featuring Muriel Fowler (5:40)
10. Shake 'n' Pop Roll featuring Aghi Spirits (5:05)
11. Ain't Takin No Shhh (4:32)
12. Pick Up On This (4:39)
13. No Dope Fiends On The Floor (4:51)
14. Electro Salsa (1:21)
15. B More Shake (1:17)
16. Meet Me At The Party (3:46)
17. Sally featuring King Kamonzi (5:19)
18. Zulu Chant No. 5 (1:14)


(2010 Update:
Still too wordy, but definitely getting better. At least I wasn't nearly as dry as I used to be, managing to throw in recurring jokes in the bulk of reviews, should you be brave enough to sift through it all to find them.)


IN BRIEF: Zulu Nation keeps partying like it's 1980 and 2180.

Respect. It's a wonderful thing to have in the music industry, isn't it? Most bands, singers, and producers gain respect by pioneering a musical standard and sustaining or building upon it in the following years, a most difficult task as numerous happenstances may interfere (products of their time, creative blocks, fads that fade, etc.); one slip up might raise a few eyebrows and another could leave you forgotten for the rest of your career. However, if such musicians can maintain the respect they've earned, they create a dedicated following of fans who will support your artistic endeavors and win critical admiration from your peers.

One such man is Afrika Bambaataa, one of the groundbreaking artists who helped build a fledgling hip-hop scene into something larger. With his group of friends and followers, the Zulu Nation, hip hop and breakbeat music grew into prominence as the entire culture of turntablism, MCing, breakdancing, and graffiti art was cultivated by him and similar minded artists. Even if hip hop and breaks took radical paths away from each other and even mutated into something far removed from its original intents, Bambaataa's influence has never been forgotten and remains an important figure to this day, held with the utmost respect for his accomplishments.

Always one to defy convention, Afrika's sound quite often borrowed heavily from the futuristic sounds that early electronic music pioneers created. As such, he has never come across as dated, in fact light years ahead of your normal players. However, now that technology has allowed hip-hop producers to catch up, does the Godfather of Hip Hop still have what it takes to remain relevant?

Instead of trying to beat the new breed of rappers at their own games of beefing, battles, and one-upmanship, Bambaataa sticks to his strengths of inventive beats (featuring a whole slew of unique producers) and fun, positive lyrics.

Openers Got That Vibe and Metal gives us a taste of the eclecticism we can expect to hear on this release. Egyptian instruments and atmosphere dominate the former with simple breakbeats and bubbly bass rounding out the rest. King Kamonzi provides most of the verses while Bambaataa hangs out in the background with shout-out MCing to pump the listener up. It's a fun little ditty to start out with but the paranoid, new wave sounds of Metal leap out at you in stark contrast. A cover of a Gary Numan song (with Numan actually returning on vocals along with Bambaataa), the electro sounds of digital beats, sci-fi effects, and robotic voices is like leaping into the urban squalor of Bladerunner.

One would think going from ancient Egypt in one song to a choking, future metropolis in the next would throw this album's flow completely out of sync but it doesn't. Why? Because this is the Amen Ra of Universal Hip Hop Culture we are listening to here. This kind of willful, contrasting diversity is what we've come to expect from him. What kind of sound will he come up with next? What musical avenue will he take us from here? Of course, Bambaataa doesn't disappoint.

Title track Dark Matter returns us to the streets of the Bronx in the early 80s for its grooves, recalling some of the big funk band sounds (trumpets, early organs, and so on) getting thrown into hip hop beats. King Kamonzi again provides most of the verses of street knowledge while Bambaataa hangs back to get the crowd energized. But not to be outshined on his own album, the Founder of Zulu Nation gets a chance to take center stage in the even funkier Take You Back. He doesn't really do much more than give you crowd hyping chants and shout-outs to the nations of the world but, as always, they are filled with zest and sound great with filtered disco loops and wah guitars slapping about.

The Fort Knox Five have provided the production for most of these tracks so far (the Paul Daley produced Metal excluded) but Bambaataa taps Überzone to help do a cover of Soul Makossa. Mostly an instrumental affair with Bambaataa supplying a wide assortment of backing chants, Überzone's unique blend of digital breakbeats sounds incredible as splashes of guitar and saxophone fill out the rest -a top notch, energetic track all around.

Another funk-fuelled Fort Knox Five-produced party jam in Just A Smoke passes us by and we are plunged back into the future with a pair of electro tracks produced by Sharaz. 2137 provides a utopian outlook by way of self-education as rapped by Alien Ness through a filter effect while the Father of the Electro Funk Sound gives his usual support. Robotic chants of "Afrika Bambaataa" and "Zulu Nation" get thrown in for good measure as the digital bass and beats keep the funk going. Almighty Ra gets a little more paranoid with strangling string pads (most reminiscent of Planet Rock) and thicker breakbeats. Again, robotic chants add to the futuristic soundscapes while bass pulses penetrate the funky rhythms. Both tracks are certain to get the current generation of b-boys at parties busting out their most skilled moves; best to have a chiropractor handy.

Steven Boogie Brown gets to have a turn at providing Bambaataa with the musical backdrop for the next couple tracks. Leaving the future, Brown takes us into the sweaty clubs of the southern states for the setting. Touch & Go may start out sounding like a bit of typical diva freestyle (with Muriel Fowler giving her vocal chords a decent workout) but mid-way through, a filtered disco house loop interrupts the proceedings as Bambaataa joins the party. Soon enough, the beats are laid on thicker and Fowler really cuts loose as the Purveyor of Elaborate Headdresses urges her on enthusiastically. Touches of raw synths fill out the song at the end to finish off this slice of house.

In case all that soul sista’ style in Touch & Go was too much for the guys, Shake 'N' Pop Roll gives the boys a chance to get crunky with it. Droning sirens, breakbeats, and vigorous raps provided by Bambaataa and guest Aghi Spirits hit you hard and fierce, generating a good deal of wild energy for the guys on the floor to get rowdy with (yes, even us white folk).

From here, unfortunately, the grooves lose their steam. The next three tracks, while fun party tracks, just don't have the same kind of diversity the beats on the first half of this album contained. In contrast, they're quite boring and, unfortunately, Bambaataa's crowd hyping MCing doesn't do much to improve them. Even when he gets a little more innovative with content on No Dope Fiends On The Floor, the rhythms are so limp and repetitive, you could skip past it after hearing a mere forty-five seconds worth and not miss much. After these, however, you then have to sit through two interludes that are nothing more than brief drum loops (although B More Shake is a little better). Were these really necessary to include? I wouldn't even consider these battle tools.

At least Meet Me At The Party brings this album back up to speed, even if it's almost four tracks overdue. Another Überzone produced track, we are treated to a little slice of Zapp-influenced funk. Even the Grand Poobah of Funky Vox (okay, I made that one up) is more lyrically diverse than his usual fare here, singing verses and choruses rather than just hyping the crowd. The big question is why couldn't we have had this song five tracks ago instead of stumbling through a bunch of mediocre tunes? The flow of this album would have been far smoother.

Sally is a bit of an oddity. No party vibe here, my friends. Instead, we are given a story about a woman of less than reputable stock. With the grimy, simple beats lying underneath, it's not a very optimistic song, and is extremely stark in contrast to the overall feel of Dark Matter. Sure, there've been a few menacing sounding tracks thrown about such as Metal and Almighty Ra, but they still had an air of keenness to them. Sally is just depressing, which is the point I suppose, but I don't see how it relates to the rest of this album. I guess that's why it was lumped at the very end. Well, not the very end, really. Zulu Chant No. 5 is the last track but it's pretty much self-explanatory, that one.

In the end, you have yourself two-thirds of a great album. The post Shake 'N' Pop Roll string of tracks (Meet Me At The Party excluded) aren't nearly as good as the first half of Dark Matter, but they aren't flat out bad either. Perhaps if the arrangement of the tracks mixed them up a little more, there wouldn't be quite the apparent dip in quality.

Still, Bambaataa has proved (as if he really needed to) he can still provide the party vibe when called upon. The legacy remains intact.


Score: 7/10

ACE TRACKS:
Metal
Soul Makossa
Almighty Ra


Written by Sykonee. Originally published 2005 for TranceCritic.© All rights reserved.

Armin van Buuren - A State Of Trance 2004 (Original TC Review)

Ultra Records: Cat. # UL 1202-2
Released April 10, 2004

Track List:
DISC 1
1. Mark Otten - Tranquility (7:10)
2. Solid Globe - Sahara (5:48)
3. Whirlpool - Under The Sun (Solar Stone Remix) (7:18)
4. Three Drives - Signs From The Universe (4:14)
5. Airwave - Lady Blue (Original Beat) (5:53)
6. Kyau vs. Albert - Velvet Morning (Aalto Remix) (5:01)
7. Fictivision vs. Phynn - Escape (Phynn Mix) (5:36)
8. Perpetuous Dreamer - Future Funland (Astura Remix) (5:00)
9. Active Sight - The Search For Freedom (6:01)
10. Super 8 - Alba (6:00)
11. Oceanlab - Satellite (Original Above & Beyond Remix) (5:45)
12. Robert Nickson - Spiral (6:54)
13. Armin van Buuren featuring Justine Suissa - Burned With Desire (Rising Star Remix) (7:07)

DISC 2
1. Perry O'Neil - Kubik (8:06)
2. Valentino - Flying (Sultan & The Greek Remix) (5:37)
3. Michael Burns - The Ambience (4:35)
4. Anthanasia - Perfect Wave (6:43)
5. St. John vs. Locust - Mind Circles (Perry O'Neil Remix) (4:47)
6. Remy & Roland Klinkenberg - Fearless (5:42)
7. Scott Bond vs Solar Stone - Naked Angel (6:07)
8. Fascinated - Totally Fascinated (6:18)
9. Mono - Rise (5:37)
10. Envio - Time To Say Goodbye (Passiva Remix) (6:04)
11. True From - Forbidden Colours (7:28)
12. Artic Quest - Offbeat (5:31)
13. Water Planet - Introspection (John Askew Mix) (5:06)


(2010 Update:
Pretty benign here, I must admit. I'll grant I didn't have the highest opinion of Armin but the second CD of this was quite good, so I could see the potential of an excellent trance DJ, and even buy into some of the hype a number of his fanboys were gushing on about. You can't help but wonder what would have happened to his career if he'd followed CD2's style instead of the cheesier CD1.

By the way, does anyone know what the hell I was going on about in the Brief? I wrote that, and even I don't have a clue.)


IN BRIEF: One of the world's most popular DJs shows us two sides of the same face.

Is there any point in doing a brief background on Armin van Buuren and his A State Of Trance radio show? Any passing fan of trance will have heard of it after spending a short time around online trance communities. Between acquiring massive amounts of admirers and massive amounts of detractors, there's been a tidy niche carved out for Armin in the genre.

However, for as many people who've listened to his radio show (thanks in large part to online feeds), there are probably far more who haven't checked out what the big fuss was about, whether due to technological limits, time limits, or flat out apathy.

Truth be told, I was one of those folk.

It's not so much the curiosity wasn't there; fact of the matter was as A State Of Trance was starting out, I was putting my interest in trance on the backburner when the overdose of anthems had sent me fleeing to the wonderful, back-to-basics vibe of electroclash and disco punk. By the time I'd come back to the fold, the Sashas, Digweeds, and Oakenfolds had been replaced by a flurry of new cats as trance's movers and shakers -oddly enough, almost all of them Dutch.

At the time of its release, A State Of Trance 2004 held some of the most recent hits of Armin's show. Looking to find out just what the current 'state of trance' was (ho ho!), I figured this would be as good as any place to check out what I'd missed in the previous two years.

Judging from the first disc, things have gotten a lot mellower. This isn't to say trance didn't have a mellow side to it before; it's always kind of lurked about while the heavier tracks held the limelight for the first decade or so. But by the turn of the century, you could see that Ibizan atmosphere starting to emerge from the background when acts like ATB were dominating pop charts. It would appear that aspect of trance has now completely taken over.

The first three tracks are quite similar in this respect with their use of gentle guitar strums and light pad work. Solid Globe's Sahara stands out a bit more than the others, though not for the better. Instead of relying on the strums to carry it, they use a rather goofy sounding cousin of the ATB Hawaiian guitar. You can tell Sahara so desperately wants to be the Next Big Anthem but with a flaccid hook like that, it'll probably receive a mere token footnote in trance's history.

Anyways, we briefly leave the Ibizan fronts with Three Drives' Signs Of The Universe, then make a return as we head into the quite lovely synth pads of Airwave's Lady Blue. Seems a bit odd to arrange tracks like that but I'll give it a pass this early on -compilations of this sort can be troublesome to arrange into a flowing, continuous mix sometimes.

Things start to get more energetic as we move into Velvet Morning, at least until the song breaks down for a minute and a half to let a few sung lyrics and mild breakbeats play out. This isn't too bad, though, as the breakdown does help change the tone of this mix, leading to a wonderful payoff.

Oh, not in Velvet Morning (although it's not too bad in that song). Rather, Fictivision & Phynn's Escape completely leaps out at you with energy, thanks in large part to one major factor: bass. Sure, there's been bass on this mix so far, but for the most part it plays second, even third, fiddle to the more melodic elements the former songs were intent on providing. Escape's bottom end instead fills out the low frequencies as it rolls along to some energetic rhythms. Pair this up with simple, effective synth arpeggios and melodies, and this mix seems about ready to be taken to the next level.

Whoops! Looks like I spoke too soon.

Um, Armin, what are you doing here? You do not give your audience a song that has just as much ass shaking goodness as hands in the air vibes, only to follow it up with a track that is almost completely devoid of bass that can match pace. Without that extra emphasis on the rhythm being maintained, you're going to lose your momentum.

Any hope of seeing that energetic charge created by Escape carry over is lost instantly with Future Funland, and Active Sight's The Search For Freedom doesn't get any better when a ninety second breakdown slows things right down to a crawl. Sorry, but as fine as these tracks are, coming off the heels of Escape just makes them sound inconsequential.

Alba by Super 8 passes us by without much fanfare and we're now into one of the most notorious tracks of 2004: Above & Beyond's remix of Satellite.

Why is it notorious? Well, it seems to have gained a reputation for polarizing more epic trance fans than any other track. Either you absolutely love it for Suissa's vocals, sputtering supersaws, and grandiose build, or hate it for those exact same reasons.

How could such a simple song have such an effect? Well, it probably has to do with the fact this track bares more than a passing similarity to DJ Tiësto's seminal remix for Delerium's Silence. The fact Satellite really is nothing more than a carbon copy of it will please those who couldn't get enough of Silence, and chase off those who were sick and tired of the endless wanna-bes that followed in the wake of the remix's success.

Okay, the fact I've spent the last two paragraphs going on about one song's reputation instead of how it actually sounds kind of shows how much interest in this mix I have left. Sure, the remaining songs are fine (quite wonderful if you have someone to tenderly embrace, I might add, so cynics of lamour may want to stay away) but when I still have those infectious rhythms of Escape lingering in my head even after six other songs have played, there is a serious problem here.

As a test, I started the disc at Future Funland, just to see if it might be something to do with the tracks themselves. Without Escape's rhythms so recently in my mind, the second half of the disc sounded much better. Granted, there were still a couple of nitpicks I could point out but, for the most part, the flow of the tracks made more sense and, most importantly, I did not feel as though the momentum took a huge dive (it didn't exactly gain any either, but steady momentum is much preferable to a drop). Had Escape been left out of this mix, it would have been a pleasant enough listen. Instead, we are given a rather substantial tease to something bigger only to have it cruelly snatched away, the remaining tracks sounding like nothing more than filler as a result.

Anyhow, enough moaning about woulda-coulda-shouldas, as I still have another CD to listen to here.

The second disc starts out much like the first in terms of atmosphere. However, there are grooving prog rhythms at work instead, allowing you to be swept up in their hypnotic patterns. Relying more on soundscapes than melodies, the opening stanza of this mix manages to do in its first two tracks what the first one couldn't even manage in its entirety namely, allow my mind to drift with the music. Sultan & The Greek's remix of Valentino's Flying perfectly captures that hypnotic feeling with its eerie pads and grooving bass.

The Ambience by Michael Burns keeps the mellow tone going, tiding us over nicely into the subtly stuttering chords of Peter Martin's Perfect Wave. As these chords gently get tweaked with pitch effects, the mind is taken on an entrancing sojourn. Additional synth pads join in some four minutes in, bringing with it a wave of bliss.

It's strange how these four opening tracks have managed to move me more physically and mentally than all but one of the first disc's tracks (no prize for guessing which one, I'm afraid). I get the impression that Armin was allowed to get a little more creative in track selection for this second disc than the first, creating a mix with excellent flow. I'm quite impressed by this turn of events but I'll hold off on full praise for the moment; I've been let down by strong openings before.

The rhythm gets a little heavier with Mind Circles, and the mood gets deeper with Fearless, taking this mix into darker pastures. Taking its cue from these tracks is Solar Stone's and Scott Bond's offering of Naked Angel. This song hits all the right notes with driving rhythms, ghostly pads, and heavenly female voices. A mild breakdown over halfway through adds a simple piano melody to create a wonderfully benign vibe over the song.

As such, using M.I.K.E.'s Totally Fascinated (under the Fascinated guise) is a great contrast to follow with. Borrowing more than just the habit of using tons of aliases from Oliver Lieb, this track has much in common with many a Lieb produced release. In what may be the most inhuman song on this entire two-disc set, the electronic heritage of trance is given a chance to show off sinister sounds as subtle, synthesized melodies pulse and meander in the background. The climax to this song adds hauntingly ominous effects to the fray with superb skill, ending it with a rush of primal energy.

Feeding off that rush, the busier rhythm of Rise by Mono works brilliantly in keeping this mix on a steady upward climb of excellence. While the main melody may sound a little whiny in other mixes, it plays remarkably well as a follow up to the comparatively unmelodic Totally Fascinated. As fine it is that tech-trance can hypnotically draw you deep within your psyche, having a little melody thrown in for good measure at points can help accentuate points.

With Envio's Time To Say Goodbye, things start to slow down a bit. Actually, they slow down drastically as this song uses a breakdown and build that lasts over two and a half minutes. Good lord, but does this ever go on. Considering how good this mix has been thus far, I normally wouldn't be too annoyed by such a long interlude, especially since this track has an air of wrapping things up soon. However, there's a rather weak, er, 'melody' used in the breakdown that doesn't add anything at all. The fact we have to endure it for so long quickly takes us out of that trancey state of mind everything else before it had expertly put us in. "Reality's on her way..."

Anyhow, the climax of Time To Say Goodbye manages to recover a bit but it's quite apparent Armin's changed lanes now. With True Form's Forbidden Colours, he takes a complete one-eighty. With its peppy synth arpeggios, this is a stark contrast to much of what's already been played but not a bad offering, really. I guess it's quite nice to go out on this album with an uplifting note.

Oh, wait, Armin's not done yet. He takes another one-eighty with Artic Quest's Offbeat. Returning to the more ominous, darker textures of much of this mix, there is a wonderfully mysterious little melody introduced in a breakdown, building subtly into some tech-trance rhythms. Never overdoing it, this is a great way to go out on an enigmatic note.

Oh, wait, Armin's still not done yet. Geez, these last two tracks certainly had an air of finality to them; it's quite disconcerting to keep having another track follow it up. Still, Introspection by Water Planet is a pleasant enough excursion. Nothing too fancy here with some bright melodies, mellow pads, and stomping rhythms, this kind of encapsulates most of the elements heard throughout this mix. This is probably the honest-to-god best method to end the mix on; a nice way to go out on a summarized note (for real this time).
And now, I am stuck with a dilemma.

The first disc really sounds more like a compilation of big trance tunes put into a continuous mix, mainly because of the lack of any type of consistent momentum. Like any compilation, you are given a selection of tracks to enjoy, but very little in terms of that proverbial journey to follow; much like a typical radio show, actually.

The second disc sounds more like a DJ mix, as the flow is more logical and actually builds towards something. Despite the final act of it sounding more like a random mish-mash of leftover tunes Armin wanted to include on this release (but was unable to find any logical place to include them without things sounding even more jarring at points), everything else up to that point is quite enjoyable.

So what's the dilemma? In a nutshell, do I rate this as a DJ mix release, or as a compilation release?

Actually, it isn't too hard to choose as my answer lies in the front cover. The fact the DJ's name is in big, bold letters with a photo of his face (albeit slightly hidden) leads me to believe the marketing team expect folks would be after this for the DJ rather than the material. As such, how do I rate Armin van Buuren, the DJ?

Well, he can beatmatch the percussive lead-outs and lead-ins of each track. That's about it, really. There aren't any other fancy DJ tricks to be had here so it boils down to track selection. As I bemoaned at length already, the track selection for the first disc is very off kilter for a DJ set, with very little in terms of surprises to be had (most of the tracks follow the melodic theme, with a slight increase in energy towards the end) a two star rating from me in most cases. On the other hand, the second disc's choice of music for a DJ mix has much better flow and diversity, creating a far more pleasent excursion into trance, a four star rating from me in most cases.

I guess this leaves this release smack in the middle: three stars. There is enough enjoyable material to keep me interested in the more popular forms of trance at present but I hope things show a little more innovation in the near future than what is on offer here. I'd imagine trance could get even more mundane than after the anthem boom of yore if this melodic form dominates for too long.


Score: 6/10

ACE TRACKS/MIXES:
Fictivision vs. Phynn - Escape (Phynn Mix)
Anthanasia - Perfect Wave
Fascinated - Totally Fascinated


Written by Sykonee. Originally published 2005 for TranceCritic.com.

Various - Tunnel Trance Force Vol. 30 (Original TC Review)

Sony Music Media: Cat. # SMT 517977 2
Released August 30, 2004

TRACK LIST:
Disc 1
1. DJ Tiësto - Adagio For Strings
2. Paul van Dyk - Crush (PvD Remix)
3. Nature One Inc. - The Golden 10 (Festival Mix TTForce 30 Edit)
4. Cosmic Gate - Tomorrow
5. DuMonde - Kalt (Original Mix)
6. Kindervater - FTP://013.07.974
7. 4 Clubbers - Sonar (Club Mix)
8. Age Of Love - The Age Of Love (Marc Et Claude Remix)
9. Niels van Gogh - One Way Out (Oliver 'Reloop' Klitzing Remix)
10. Danny C vs. John Moon - No Way Out (Danny C Mix)
11. Abel Ramos - Aquarius (Randy Katana Remix)
12. Mike Dragon - Orange Song (Alex Megane Remix)
13. Sensorica - Few Days Away (Nostrum Remix)
14. Marty van Nilson - The Fear
15. CreamTeam - Samurai
16. Derler & Klitzing - Dedicated
17. Accuface - The Change (Reworked 04)
18. High Power - Hypnosis (DJ K-Van Remix)
19. Krid Kid - Another Dimension
20. Hunter And Lauks - Everything I Want

Disc 2
1. Special D - Dust To Dust
2. DJ Ornator - Next Life (DJ Ornator Remix)
3. Rocco - One, Two, Three
4. Crash 'N' Burn - Sunrise
5. Axel Coon - Lamenting City (Lacoon Remix)
6. Dynamic Ds - Rock Da Floor (Arena Mix)
7. Mission Control - Standby 2004 (89-er's Remix)
8. Mario Lopez - Sound Of The City (Nature 2.4) (Mario's Club Mix)
9. Calderone Inc. - Maximum Power (Mike Nero Remix)
10. Angel Beats meets DJ Merlin - Power To The People
11. Busted - Bitches (Paranoid Remix)
12. Modern Art - Let There Be Light (DJ CID Remix)
13. DJ Greenhead - In The Name Of Love (Dave Joy Remix)
14. Sa.Vee.Oh - Nohacker.exe (Original Mix)
15. Lagoon - Beam Of Love
16. M.U.M.M.S. - Up To Find My Mind (Late Night Mix)
17. DJ Enjoy vs. Punisher - No Rules (Club Mix)
18. DJ Shane vs. Waveliner - Connected
19. JFS - The Raider
20. Voodoo & Serano - This Is Entertainment (Club Mix)

(2010 Update:
As mediocre as this release was, it was actually quite significant as far as my early writing goes: it marked the first time I realized the ridiculousness and futility of detailing every single track. I just couldn't bring myself to do it, as it seemed pointless when all the tracks did the same damned thing. Of course, it'd be a while before I actually abandoned track-by-track writing altogether but at least I'd gotten the hint.

Can you believe this CD goes for nearly $60 on Amazon today?)

IN BRIEF: Energetic, but my neck gets sore after half an hour.

Believe it or not, despite having followed trance music since, well, damned near the beginning, this is my first foray into the Tunnel Trance Force series. Apparently Tunnel Records has been doing these compilations for as long as I've been listening to this branch of EDM so it feels kind of weird that I should take a gander at one of their many, many, many compilations so late in the game.

However, if this volume is any indication, it doesn't seem like I've been missing much. I wouldn't go so far as to say this is a bad release but it certainly leaves a lot to be desired.

The trouble here is the fact there are twenty tracks to get through on each disc and only eighty minutes to work with at the most. That leaves an average of four minutes per track, which wouldn't be so bad if but for one problem: the incessant need for so much trance these days to use breakdowns and builds that can last from a minute to nearly three minutes. It doesn't leave much room for any kind of momentum to get going when there is more 'stop and go' than a traffic jam in L.A.

The opening twenty minutes of the first disc is a prime example of what I'm talking about here.

Things start fine enough with Tiësto's own interpretation of Samuel Barber's Adagio For Strings. While I feel Adagio has been played out and covered enough by other acts, Tiësto does manage to do a few interesting things with those familiar opening string chords by playing them with several different sounds, including chunky distorted acid, symphonic strings, ethereal pads, voice pads, synth pads, space pads, rocket pads, parachute pads, pillow pads, yo' momma pads, and so on. Coupled with heavy rhythm that cranks and pummels the bass to ten on the dial, and we're off to a good start here. The breakdowns that occur along the way are fine, as opening tracks can often use them to set melodic tones for the rest of a mixed CD.

The mix into Paul van Dyk's Crush is brief and functional (as will be the rest of the mixes on these discs, really, so there's no need to bring up DJ Dean's mixing from here on out). However, it mixes right into a breakdown of the song and, while the synth stabs keep some semblance of momentum going from before, it does go on for a while. By the time the song builds back up into fast driving rhythms again, the song is already mixing into Nature One Inc.'s offering of The Golden 10. Not even a minute later, we're right back into another breakdown, this one even more halting than the previous as the rhythm disappears altogether to allow some synth pads to play while one of those Menacing Voice vocals goes on for some time. It's nearly two minutes before any kind of rhythm returns and, while the thundering kicks cranked to eleven are energetic, we only get a minute of it before we're quickly mixed into Cosmic Gate's Tomorrow.

I'd carry on but I'll just end up repeating myself. This cycle continues for half the disc's playing time: quick mix into the next song, maybe a minute at the most of opening rhythm (with the kicks still pummeling at twelve on the dial), followed by a breakdown that slows things right down for a time directly proportional to the amount of time there was rhythm previous to it. Stop, go, stop, go; it never feels like we're going anywhere.

The second half of the first disc isn't quite as bad with the overuse of breakdowns and builds but it wrecks havoc with another aspect here that makes it such a chore to listen through: the overuse of the same bloody screaming synths. Aside from a few exceptions (Mike Dragon's Orange Song, which opts for a plinking sound for half its duration, and Accuface's, The Change, which uses some synth washes at points instead), you'd swear you were going in circles; barely any song changes much. And, although Hunter & Lauks's Everything I Want makes some improvement with an entirely different crunchy synth coupled with the screaming synths, it's too little and too late since it's the last track of this disc.

Now, I'm not faulting the individual tracks themselves. There are some truly exceptional tracks to be had here like DuMonde's Kalt, Marc Et Claude's remix of The Age Of Love, and the aforementioned Everything I Want. Additionally, the rest would hold their own in a mix or compilation with more variety but that's the problem here. Since all of these hard trance tracks bare so much similarity to each other, and they don't have time to really do much beyond give you their main screaming synth melody before being shoved aside by the next track, nothing stands out from the rest.

The second disc fares somewhat better, though. Hardstyle's the name of the game here, which means whereas the first disc had its beats cranked to thirteen, they get turned all the way up to fourteen here. Also, for a good chunk of this disc, the momentum is kept going at a very steady pace.

Okay, so it opens up with Special D's Dust To Dust, a track that's almost malicious in its use of false builds (click here for more details on my thoughts of it) but it works, mainly because it's at the very beginning of the disc. With no momentum yet built, you aren't really killing it either.

When the quick mix into DJ Ornator's Next Life occurs, it is into another breakdown as well but this stands out and remains interesting for the simple reason that the plinky little melody and benign pads are different from the sounds used in the previous track; it isn't treading the same ground already covered, unlike the first disc which was guilty of doing so. With this unique element, the screeching synths that come back at the peak of a build don't become superfluous, instead harmonizing quite nicely (well, as best as hardstyle can harmonize, I guess).

The trend continues into One, Two, Three by Rocco and Sunrise by Crash 'N' Burn, always keeping things interesting with distinctive synth melodies accompanying the screaming synths and intense rhythms cranked to fifteen. Axel Coon's Lamenting City really stands out from the rest thanks to some female operatic samples providing a wonderful contrast.

Things take a slight dip with Dynamic D's Rock Da Floor, though, partially because the Menacing Voice makes a return here to try to pump the crowd up (he's never really had much appeal to me) but mainly because compared to the previous five tracks, this one's just kind of monotonous. It can't be that difficult to keep the diversity going, can it?

Standby 2004 by Mission Control (with a remix done by The 89-ers) helps rebound a bit thanks to a melody that's admittedly catchy but then Mario Lopez's Sound Of The City drags us down again due to a breakdown that just had to use that other annoying voice, the Mother Gaia. She goes on about how man and nature have to come together or some other damned thing but do we really want to hear this now? This is hardstyle, man. We want to get off our tits with beats cranked to sixteen pummeling us! Go away, y'tart!

Calderone Inc. returns us to form quite nicely with a screeching synth melody that is infectious in how it sticks to the mind, setting us up for the next track which is, put simply, incredibly energetic. I may have ragged on DJ Merlin's collaboration with NXP as being trite but working with DJ Dean (using the Angel Beats alias here) seems to have helped both of them in making a stomper of a track.

Using a very familiar vocal sample, Power To The People makes use of supersaw synths to great effect. Normally, I'm a bit of a detractor of the supersaw synth but that's normally due to their overabundance in many trance sets. Being the only use of such in this two disc'r, their big punchy notes stand out wonderfully from the usual barrage of screeching synths. A breakbeat breakdown with the title's vocal sample getting time stretched gives us a breather while still keeping things pumping. A brief build-up later, and the synths are blasting with gusto to the thick kicks. This is energetic EDM on overdrive -outstanding work here.

Where can you go from this peak? Only down, it seems.

Busted's track here brings things to quite the crawl, actually. Sure, the beats are still cranked to seventeen but there just isn't any intensity carried over from Power To The People. Rather, we seem to be starting over again, which makes some sense, as we're already halfway through the second disc.

Unfortunately, this disc suffers from the same thing the first one did with its second half: too much of the same thing over and over, namely overuse of overlong breakdowns and builds that lead to screaming synths. There's only so much of the same thing one can take before it gets redundant. Where did the diversity from the first half go?

The breakdowns here are really long, with the wait for those thundering kicks that are cranked to eighteen lasting up to three minutes sometimes, and the intensity hardstyle is known for is severely lacking because of it. Without the energy to keep us pumped, the tracks at the end here just come across as tired; the leftover scraps of a DJ's vinyl bag that is only played to those who are still jacked up on amphetamines. What a shame.

Wait a moment! What's this? Bitchy vocals? Low-fi analogue synths? Could it be?

Oh, YES! Disco punk! ...or at least the hard trance equivalent of it. Where did this come from? Ah, who cares. Voodoo & Serano's This Is Entertainment certainly is coming out of leftfield considering what's come before it but it's a breath of fresh air after the rather mundane run of tracks that filled up the latter half of this disc. It's a shame it has to come at the end of the disc. It would have been an interesting tangent for DJ Dean to follow had it been used after Power To The People.

All in all, if you are looking for a primer of sorts to the hard trance scene, Tunnel Trance Force 30 would probably do; you certainly get a lot of songs for your dollar here.

Unfortunately, dedicated fans of this style of music will probably be left wanting. Despite some fleeting moments, this release doesn't have much going for it to raise it above the majority of trance compilations out there. Most of the standout tracks are available on other discs, and either in their full incarnation or in mixes that complement them better. Best to seek those out instead if your funds are limited.

Note: To hardcore/gabber fans whom felt I was giving hard trance too much benefit with the intensity of their pummeling kicks, your beats are cranked to mother-fing five hundred!

Score: 5/10

ACE TRACKS/MIXES:
Angel Beats Meets DJ Merlin - Power To The People
Voodoo & Serano - This Is Entertainment (Club Mix)

Written by Sykonee. Originally published 2005 for TranceCritic.com.© All rights reserved.

Erik Vee - Sacred/Iron Eden (Original TC Review)

Dropout: Cat. # DROP 0456-6
Released Nov. 1, 2004

Track List:
A. Sacred (Club Mix) (6:16)
B. Iron Eden (Club Mix) (7:35)

(2010 Update:
So much for really being an 'instant fan'. Granted, Erik didn't release much after this but it's not like I bothered to follow his career either. 'Tis funny how enthusiasm can be so fickle in dance music.)

IN BRIEF: Erik Vee's standing remains firm.

The trouble with becoming an instant fan of an artist's work after hearing just one of their songs is the expectation level on subsequent releases tends to be higher. I'll grant that such expectations are ridiculous but, truthfully, if the artist was good enough to draw you in with just one song, you kind of expect them to be able to produce something of at least equal quality.

This does not mean they have to copy the same formula. In fact, I'd be a bit disappointed if they did. I'd rather hear their musical talent put to use exploring other ideas instead of rehashing the same ones.

So it is with welcome relief to see that Erik Vee continues to keep things interesting on this EP. While no I Am Free, the two tracks on offer here still manage to deliver to some degree.

Sacred is a gimmick-free hard trancer, aiming straight for the floor with punchy percussion. Nothing fancy here -just four-to-the-floor rhythms and crunchy synth riffs for the opening two minutes. A brief breakdown gives us a thirty-seconds breather before the established elements are built back up. Once everything's moving along again, the synth gets a little more melodic as background pads harmonize with it.

It's a solid enough affair but perhaps more could have been done with it. I get this feeling Sacred is lacking that extra touch of ingenuity that would raise it above the level of other hard trance tracks. As such, it remains firmly in the middle of the pack.

Iron Eden is apparently a cover of a song by The Gate done in 1998. I'm not really familiar with the original but the melody does ring a distant bell, perhaps due to a striking similarity to much of the trance melodies that were coming out at the time. It's quite possible I heard it at a party back then. But enough dwelling on the past. How is Erik Vee's rendition, you ask?

Like Sacred, this is fairly straightforward in presentation but the similarities end there. Even though the track does contain some thumping rhythms, they're at a slightly lower BPM and less punchy. Really, it's merely there to service the main meat of Iron Eden, a somewhat distorted synth played on every kick. For the most part, this synth is played throughout the track, casually mixing things up between terse and harmonizing melodic notes as the pacing dictates. It's rather catchy and, thankfully, Vee allows it to carry the song without relying on any big builds or overlong breakdowns (there's a brief one some four and a half minutes in but it's more of a brief pause in momentum than anything obtrusive). By stripping this song to the basics of trance music, we can easily be drawn into the hypnotic nature of it.

Plus, Vee uses that wonderfully nostalgic ting, ting, ting hi-hat that Jam & Spoon quite often used way back in the genre's infancy -kudos for that.

Now, I'd be lying if I said I didn't enjoy these two tracks; like I Am Free, they really are good in their simplicity. Unfortunately, I get the impression these are just tide- overs until Vee produces more material for perhaps a full-length album or, at the very least, another big single. The production talent is still there but here's hoping for a little boundary pushing on the next release, Erik.

Score: 7/10

Written by Sykonee. Originally published 2005 for TranceCritic.com.© All rights reserved.

Cosmic Gate - Different Concept, Part 2 (Original TC Review)

E-Cutz: Cat. # EC 2004/2
Released April 2004

TRACK LIST
A. Bilingual (8:37)
B. Monotune (9:02)

(2010 Update:
Wow, who would have thought this was going to be the end of Cosmic Gate's hard trance era. This review is definitely a product of its time, as the duo's whole change of direction isn't even touched upon here.)

IN BRIEF: More quality from the Cosmic Gate crew.

With some good, solid percussion that progressively adds layers driving the first two minutes of Bilingual, Cosmic Gate's most recent EP sets us up for quite the stomper of a track. Things calm down briefly as bass kicks begin to throb from beyond a murky veil, allowing a pulsating saw synth to slowly emerge from the background. Less than a minute later, the percussion kicks back in, the synth becoming more focused and punctual in time to the rhythm as it slides across the stereo spectrum. Soon though, things fade off again to the throbbing bass kick permeating the background. A great little piano melody fed with a bit of reverb plays out, eventually gaining momentum in itself as some synth pads join as well. This breakdown goes on for perhaps a little too long (a minute and a half) considering how driving Bilingual started out but there's enough momentum carried over into the piano melody to keep at least some part of the body moving.

And anyways, once things do get going again, the anticipation built up to the return of the main synth lead and percussion is enough to really get you moving. Things play out quite typically from here, with the main synth lead and piano melody alternating turns in carrying the song to a brief percussion lead-out; however, when the elements used are as good as they are here, this can make for a good set piece.

Monotune on the flip gives us techy percussion to start out, setting up a respectable pace. Over two minutes later things calm down, allowing a crunchy, stuttering saw lead to emerge from the background, eventually gaining enough momentum on its own to allow the percussion to fade away for the time being. As it gains intensity, the synth smoothes itself out, becoming fuller in sound until...

Um, it just dies, actually.

After a second's pause, the synth starts up again, starting from a low tone to build in intensity as it leads into heavy, driving percussion, embellishing from Monotunes opening percussive elements. When these two ingredients feed off each other's energy, we are fed some incredibly vigorous stuff for a good minute. After we are given a chance to catch our breath with some reduced percussion, the song cycles itself over again, adding a bit of a pulsing bass and a few extra effects to mix a little diversity before capping off some eight minutes in with a simple percussion lead-out.

I rather enjoyed these two cuts from Cosmic Gate. Granted, they aren't going to re-define trance anytime soon but neither do they dilute the name either. This is solid, four-to-the-floor material that knows its role as set pieces tailor made for getting the crowd moving. The pauses in momentum are, for the most part, welcome respites from the intensity of these tracks, although I did feel Bilingual's carried on a bit longer than it really needed to. Still, this is a welcome release to any fan of hard trance's collection.

Score: 7/10

Written by Sykonee. Originally published 2005 for TranceCritic.com.© All rights reserved.

Special D. - Nothing I Won't Do (Original TC Review)

Mental Madness Cat. # MMR-028
Released March 2004

Track List:
A. Nothing I Won't Do (Extended Mix) (6:38)
B. Dust To Dust (6:35)

Note: This is a review of the vinyl release of the EP. The CD single is essentially the same with two extra airplay edits.

(2010 Update:
I was handed this one to review, so you can stop looking at me like that. Besides, I felt it would be a good idea to give the cheesy commercial side of EDM an occasional nod, and having something like this in the early archives definitely gave TranceCritic the impression we were following through in our 'diversity' claim. But man, was I ever being extra objective here -barely any cynicism or quips to be had. It wouldn't take long for that attitude to change when it came to contemporary euro dance.)

Special D. seems to be gaining some ground as of late thanks to his popularity in the euro dance scene, an area that has typically been dominated by the likes of Brooklyn Bounce and Scooter. This single delivers that same style of hard dance with throbbing beats and big synths that has become the latter's identifiable sound.

Nothing I Won't Do opens up with some breakbeats, using rather odd percussion samples at points like cuckoo clocks and wobbly triangles, quickly lending this song to a silly atmosphere. As the bass kicks in less than a minute in -a pounding, throbbing sucker- this cacophony of silly sound effects continues, building up to the main hook. Before long, as a female MC urges the crowd on, the main synth hits us, a rather simple, punchy sound as canned crowd noise joins the fray of this lead in.

Over two minutes now of lead in, and the song breaks down to pleasant pads as the MC sings and crowd noise builds in intensity. Former elements are brought back in a build, letting the synth hook take the forefront for the most part. This is quite a good build actually, as the intensity never really falters thanks to this riff. In fact, I hardly even noticed when the beat came back in. That's a great mark of a good build, in my opinion: something that doesn't make you long for the percussion to carry you forward again.

Once everything is brought in, this song really bounces along; nothing but spastic, exuberant fun thanks to the synth. Momentum is never lost as the bass remains fairly constant, every so often allowing breakbeat bridges or just the synth to take the lead. About six minutes into this song, layers are progressively taken away, making for a nice lead out that should service DJs quite nicely.

Nothing I Won't Do really doesn't take itself too seriously but that's its strongest asset. Sometimes it's just good to enthusiastically let yourself go to music that's light-hearted.

The B-side to this single is Dust To Dust, a track that definitely showcases some interesting percussion but tends to lack in its ability to carry momentum for long with a few too many pauses.

After a minute of standard opening with a bunch of tech-y beats, a time stretched voice ominously tells us, "Ashes to ashes, dust to dust; in this music, we lay our trust." Throbbing beats kick in as a low, paranoid bleep plays, echoing off the walls with a distorted hoover effect. Intensity picks up as percussion is progressively added, building energy terrifically until...

Nothing.

What? You mean that last minute was still just lead in? Geez.

After a few seconds of pause, a benign little piano melody plays. The vocal sample returns, this time to the accompaniment of ominous synth pads. Percussion builds up again, and I'm thinking, "Alright. Here comes the payoff!" Who am I kidding? Percussion builds to a crescendo to cap off with another three seconds pause. Wow, what a way to kill momentum twice now, although I'm sure this will cause a number of dancers to take the Leap Of Shame; always good for a laugh.

Big synths play now, with rolling, pounding percussion, followed by percussion. It might be danceable but it still sounds like buildup to me, since I can't see anyone anticipating it.

Finally, now three and a half minutes into Dust To Dust, we get the big payoff to all this lead in, and it is good. Throbbing beats, big synths, and ominous bleeps in the background create some fierce intensity, and it only builds as the piano melody and pads join the fray. Former elements come and go for the rest of this track, eventually ending on the same sort of percussion used in the opening.

I can see Dust To Dust being a floor filler, but only if you take out the first three minutes worth, as it meanders far too much in the early going to build any amount of momentum.

Still, both tracks are fun when they deliver.

Score: 5/10

Written by Sykonee. Originally published 2004 for TranceCritic.com. © All rights reserved.