King Cannibal - Ninja Tune XX Presents: The Way Of The Ninja

Ninja Tune: 2010

70 Minutes Of Madness? This one’s insanity, two-hundred fifty-six tunes utilized, some barely for a second's worth of sample. This isn't a DJ mix in the traditional sense, but rather an overambitious collage celebrating Ninja Tune's twentieth anniversary, ramming and jamming as many cuts and blends possible so no one significant is left behind. And while King Cannibal was at it, here's the sub-labels getting repped too: Big Dada, N-Tone, and Counter. Can’t deny Mr. Richards’ passion for this project, but can there be fault in the final product?

Depends how you approach The Way Of The Ninja. As a DJ set highlighting all the Ninja Tune, it’s far too stuffed with content for any sustained flow. The label made their name with acid jazz, trip-hop, turntablisism, and other down-low soulful-funky genres of the ‘90s, and even as their influence waned, they kept their fingers on the pulse of new developments - dubstep, grime, and even indie rock found homes within Ninja Tune’s archives, always signing music and acts beyond class. Just as well, then, that The Cannibalistic Lord divided everything up into uniquely titled sections featuring specific genres or highlighting certain artists. Including the Intro, Way Of The Ninja has twenty of these mini-megamixes within the mix. And remember, there’s two-hundred fifty-six individual tracks used, all crammed into these indexes. This CD, it’s full of musics!

The Intro track alone, at just under two minutes long, has nineteen bits and pieces listed. The shortest track on here, subtitled Big Tunes, Big Hits, runs a minute-twenty and has a ‘mere’ eight tunes, including two mixes of More Beats & Pieces. Meanwhile, the lengthiest one, Welcome To Our Ageing Sideshow, clocks in at the heftier side of six minutes, also with nineteen tunes squeezed in (ooh, Timber’s in this one!). Hell, two more chunks, I Wanna See All The Hands and Tings Get Heat Up, Rewound And Torn Down hold about the same number of tracks, with a mere four minutes of run-time. So much musics, man, just so much musics.

Artists? Coldcut, Amon Tobin, Herbaliser, Roots Manuva, DJ Vadim, Mr. Scruff, DJ Food, Hexstatic, Bonobo, Neotropic, The Bug, Sixtoo, Jaga Jazzist, Super Numeri, Funki Porcini, Qemists, Cujo, Spank Rock, Thunderheist, Fink, 2 Player, Wagon Christ, Anti Pop Consortium- Look, I’ll be here forever if I list off the near-entirety of the Ninja Tune roster. Same with pointing out specific tracks, although obviously not every single song’s on here. And, while King Cannibal tries giving many their due, some get cut short (no Irresistible Force, what?) or have barely a token sample tossed in. For instance, I was gutted the bass drop of his own Flower Of Flesh And Blood never materialized. Wow, I actually missed a dubstep drop. Crazy.

So’s The Way Of The Ninja. It’s a fun CD if you want to relive so much Ninja Tune in a short amount of time, but best treated as a novelty rather than a proper showcase of the label’s rich history.

Various - fabric 54: Damian Lazarus

Fabric: 2010

*cover art brought to you by fabric's “Alternate Uses For Old Bed Sheets” period*

How is it that I now have two mixes from Damian Lazarus? His Crosstown Rebels label material isn't one I've actively sought out to own, though if I had to pick one minimal-deep-tech print to indulge in, theirs is a cut of ketamine I've enjoyed more often than others. They provide a good vibe, one where I could easily find myself continuously shuffling upon a rooftop or summer patio had I decided to spend my vacation in such locales rather than the great Canadian outback, subjected to rippin' winds, blistering sun, and thunderstorms. On the other hand, ooh, dinosaur tracks!

Where was I? Oh yeah, fabric 54. We've finally come to the end of this year's Fabric On A Budget, and let me tell you, I'm leery about doing another one next year. If so many came available on the cheap in but one year's time, I can't imagine how many more might crop up by Spring Of 2015. Like, there are still another eight fabrics and FabricLives in the 30s I've yet to see on the used market. Man, folks sure didn't like those years, did they? There were a few great ones from what I've covered (The Glimmers, Tayo, Ewan Pearson, Craze), but yeah, kinda doggy all around.

Which doesn't have much to do with Damian Of Lazarus's offering in fabric 54, a couple years removed from all that. The music's quite different too, no longer stuck in tedious minimalism drier than a dustbin in Death Valley, though still reaching for that 'deeper than thou' vibe tech-house continued searching for. Naturally, all the hot, trendy names of the time come up: Art Department, Seth Troxler, Four Tet, Soul Clap, Nicolas Jaar, another Lee, Cajmere, and Swayzak. Wait, were those last two still trendy in 2010?

Whatever. fabric 54 ultimately feels like an appropriate set to end this two-week-plus project on. It's rather chill, the sort of music that makes good sense at 9am the morning after. I suppose it could work as main room music too, if it's a small, comfy, intimate environment – not Fabric at peak hour, is what I'm saying, though the fabric series doesn't mind taking a stroll down the hallway to the second room either. There's little to find fault with in Damian's mix, as he doesn't take much in the way of musical risks, an indulgence of '70s psychedelic funk and experimentation from Su Kramer and Bill Holt at the end notwithstanding. In all, a nice collection of house tunes, though kind of peters out from a lack of energy by the end.

I told you fabric 54 was an appropriate end to Fabric On A Budget, Part 2.

Was This Worth The Pennies Paid For It?
I feel like I'm partaking in post-hipster activism, getting into the trendy stuff after it got popular, then back-lashed. At thrift shop prices too!

Beto Narme - Multiple Choice

Sublime Porte Netlabel: 2010

I have no recollection of how a digi-EP from an Istanbul net label found its way into my possession. As it's a 2010 release, I suspect it was part of some MP3 promo-pool I briefly subscribed to, but I've nothing else from Sublime Porte, which makes having this stranger still. If an MP3 promo was good enough for me to keep that year, I usually kept an eye on the label too, hoping another EP might get released that could knock me out of my then writing stupor. Maybe Sublime Porte simply lost its promotional power, unable to penetrate an overcrowded digital market. After all, who'd ever be interested in dubstep from Turkey?

If Multiple Choice is anything to go by, they should be. Right, it's impossible gauging a whole scene of an entire country based on four tracks from one label, but we gotta start somewhere. Plus, Sublime Porte’s still in operation, even recently taken a tentative step into the realm of limited-run CDr. They must be doing something right with their dub ambient techno dronestep if they’re still around, even though Lord Discogs tells me they don’t have a consistent roster. Even this Beto Narme, or Tufan Demir to the Istanbul legislate, has but this one four-year old EP to his name, though a smattering of remixes too. His Discogian bio is almost certainly out-of-date then, suggesting this was an “ever-growing dubstep project”. Maybe he got a high-paying job as that sound engineer he was striving for.

What held my interest with Multiple Choice was how, for an EP promoted as dubstep, it sounded very little like dubstep. Rather, Mr. Demir shows he’s definitely a student of Detroit and dub techno’s never-ending influence. Aside from occasional drags of the low end, Cellophane Dub is straight-up funky dub techno, including a breakbeat that’d have Carl Craig nodding approvingly. Elsewhere, Outranked Spectacles and Figment Dots gets closer to the half-step beat we’re all familiar with, but we’re still firmly floating in dub techno’s spacious waters. And warm waters they be, not those frigid, sterile bays other Detroit-inspired dubsteppers so loved to frequent. Beto Narme can’t help himself though, getting sucked into the lands of ‘wub’ on last cut Simmer Down. It’s a fine tune when you hear the vintage reggae vibes, I could just do without the requisite Rusko modulations every dubstep producer threw in during those days.

I have an almost inescapable bias against most forms of dubstep, subconsciously preparing myself for a given track letting me down by indulging in nonsensical, erratic drops. Aside from the aforementioned brief bit in Simmer Down, that moment never came on Multiple Choice, and I could enjoy all the polyrhythms without worry (dear God, I know different forms of dubstep). Yeah yeah, I know there’s tons of dubstep – sorry, post-dubstep (future garage?) like that out there. With so many netlabels pushing the stuff though, how does one even begin to filter it all out? Maybe start with this Turkish label?

The Future Sound Of London - Environments 3

fsoldigital.com: 2010

So I skipped the first Environments. It wasn't because of the general shrug from fan-based opinions on it, oh no. Rather, it was its presentation, a mere two tracks averaging about twenty-five minutes, each plainly titled Environments. If that doesn't come off about as lazy as anything the Future Sound Of London's put out, I don't know what else could top it (no, From The Archives doesn't count). Lengthy ambient soundscapes are already a dubious proposition, and while I've no doubt the FSOL can capably craft such music, part of their appeal's long been the quirky titles they give their tracks. They're like a guiding suggestion in what imagery is created with their soundscapes. Compared to names like Spineless Jelly, Smoking Japanese Babe, and Antique Toy, Environments is vague and dull.

Dougans and Corbain must have realized this weakness in the first Environments, every piece of music since of digestible length and with an individual identity. While it's unfortunate they still aren't composing albums as distinct thematic wholes, this approach is far preferable to the formless method before. At least, that's how I like my FSOL, hence skipping on the first one.

Okay, I shouldn’t say Environments is totally without theme, as II, 3, and 4 do have self-contained premises, even if it’s only hinted through track titles (do you see why it’s important?). E3 features names like Sunken Ships, The Empty Land, The Oldest Lady, and End Of The World, so we’re in future-shock desolation territory again.

E3 may as well be Dead Cities: 100 Years After, a reasonable assumption considering The Empty Land sounds like a mash-up of My Kingdom and In A State Of Permanent Abyss (and boy, does that ever further beg the question whether all these Environments albums are repurposed old material or spankin’ new compositions). The cataclysm that caused the fall of civilization is an old memory, occasionally retold by aging elders but seldom reflected upon by the surviving generations. Those who remain are eking out a new life for themselves, building upon the structures of old, a somber struggle of a stubborn people. Summer’s Dream has quiet, clicking machinery minding its own business as ominous pads weave about; A Glitch In Cellular Memory is cheerful and jubilant, while Recollection following it invokes child innocence and whimsy. Beware those that will steal what’s yours through dark ambient techno in A Diversionary Tactic, or false complacency as tranquil pianos play in Hall Of Mirrors and gentle guitars strum in Sense Of Being. For, in this uncertain world, who know what electro horror lurks beneath Surface Waters, ready to undo all that was regained.

Yeah, as I’ve said, writing the finer details of FSOL’s music isn’t the easiest, especially when they allow themselves this much freeform expressionism. Environments 3 is another great body of work from the duo though, one that can take you to captivating surroundings, provided you have a foundation to start from.

Fehrplay - Meow

Ministry Of Sound America: 2010

It’s a given that the PR blurbs that come with new singles are ridiculous. If you were to take them at face value, you’d swear every new tune was the greatest composition ever created. Of course, that ain’t true, but it can make for some hilarious reading whenever they overshoot. Sometimes, they’re so bold in their ambition that they’ll bestow ‘classic’ status upon a track well before it’s even had a chance to get properly rinsed out. Like this one.

Oh, Meow definitely has the potential to become a hit, even if it’s ballsy to declare it a WMC anthem nearly a month before the event even starts. Thing is Ferhplay has checked off (re: style-bitten) many of the things that has made many an Eric Prydz track a hit. The hook is instantly likeable, the beats have quality bounce, the supporting ‘piano’ chords will bob heads, and all the whooshy effects are tastefully done; then, it’s arranged such that the vibe never falters. There’s no new ground being broken here but with a track this shamelessly fun, does it matter? Certainly not, so Meow looks primed to be at least a minor hit for the main room crowds.

The B-side of this digital promo is

Then I stopped typing, stared at the computer screen, and asked myself, “Why am I still doing this? Nothing I write matters and all these free digi-EP promos I’m being sent won’t have any lasting impact upon electronic music. Fuck it. Fuck everything.”

Yes indeed, it was cynicism towards over-zealous PR that finally broke me, despite managing a few more reviews before truly quitting. It didn’t help I was suffering from multiple bouts of work and college related stress, relationship and financial depression, and just generally feeling poo at the time, but there it is - the honest-to-God impetus for giving up writing reviews about new music. I’m feeling better now, thankfully.

I imagine it’s a self-defeating, futile and sick, sick, sick environment, the world of promo-PR. How many times do copy-writers hype a track to the high ends of the Earth, only for said track to get completely passed by without a notice or care. Hell, Fehrplay’s Meow was one of the best ones of at least a dozen digi-promos I went through, hence why I tried writing a review for it, plus got picked up by Ministry Of Sound and Hed Kandi for compilation duty on all their major releases (Annual, Clubber’s Guide …Miami Fashion District?). Nor was I the only one to make the Prydz connection, as Jonas von der Fehr released his second single, Incognito, on Pryda Friends. Meow truly could have been a major hit like the promo guys claimed. Yet, do you remember this tune? For that matter, did you even know it existed, because Amazon.com sure doesn't.

Anyhow, to finish this four year aborted review, the B-side is titled Meow Again. It’s an electro-house version, and not as good as the original Meow. Yay, done, finished.

Krusseldorf - Bohemian Groove

Beats & Pieces: 2010

I never ordered this, nor did I find it in a CD shop (pft, as if those exist in Vancouver now); rather, it came bundled with my last Ultimae splurge. Wow, not only does the always-ace chill label include great music, classy digipaks, cool postcards, bookmarks, and incense, but now free CDs too? This is better than radio promos other labels offer: it's a proper LP from an established artist! Okay, it was likely a packaging error (though I wasn't missing anything), so it’s not a big deal. Still, never look a gift horse in the mouth, right? Uh, that’s kinda what I’m supposed to be doing at this blog though.

Anyhow, Krusseldorf goes by Simon Heath on his passport, while others still may know him as dark ambient project Atrium Carceri. I haven’t heard that one, though his recent Sabled Sun off-shoot looks interesting, further exploration of dark ambient but with a sci-fi twist (“in space, no one can hear the synth drone”). In either case, it’s a far cry from what we get on Bohemian Groove, essentially a psy-dub album. Guess that makes sense if Ultimae had this floating around. I’m not sure if this is the established Krusseldorf sound or just a one-off, but considering all his other releases at Lord Discogs suggests the likes of Shpongle and Ott (to say nothing of Ultimae regulars), I’ll trust my instincts; a psy-dub album, then.

Even before throwing this on, I was leery. It’s a genre that can hit some exhilarating highs, yet is seldom achieved by only but the most frequently name-dropped. Too many producers are content to sound like Posford or Bluetech without adding a fresh twist on the template, and matters aren’t helped when they lack comparable studio gear. As Mr. Heath additionally works a studio engineering gig, you’d think he’d make a good showing if it, but nay, the music on Bohemian Groove, while spacious, comes off just as plastic as most average psy-chill acts.

Right, it’s partly my fault here for listening to a chunk of CDs with the Ultimae Mixdown™ recently. And if space synth has taught me anything, who cares about quality of sound so long as the musical craft holds. The first couple tracks off Bohemian Groove are fine, though not terribly challenging where psy-dub arrangements are concerned. Third track Inbound raised a few red flags, however, and fourth cut Nobs is just… oh dear, it’s psy-muzak. Never have I heard such a listless, saccharine tune in this genre, and Lord help me I hope to never hear it again.

That sadly soured my initial impressions of the rest of this album, but I’ve softened since. Most of it settles into a blissy, comfortable psy-dub groove, the plastic sheen even turning charming after a while (yay clickity-glitch rhythms). Occasional instrument choices may lift an eyebrow (no, guitars, no), but nothing dire. Still, Bohemian Groove is conceptually so middle-of-the-road for psy-chill, it’s stuck at the fork in a highway. What nonsensical metaphor?

Neil Young - Le Noise

Reprise Records: 2010

It was about the mid-'aughts that I caught the Rusty bug, but even as ol' Neil continued releasing albums of new material at a good clip that decade, I didn't pay his post-millennial output much heed. I had nearly four prior decades of Young's discography to catch up on, and while press for the likes of Living With War or Chrome Dreams II was positive, I saw little point in catching such albums. They were good, so said the journals, but not going anywhere his classic material hadn't been before. Thus I figured I'd stumble along to Young's 2000s music long after the fact.

Then I heard the early promos for Le Noise. Say, this is different. I’d heard him as a solo guitarist plenty of times, but never with an emphasis on fuzzed-out distortion. Also, what’s with these songs about aged reflection? It’s almost as though his head was in an autobiographical mindset when he wrote them. And hey, Daniel Lanois is the producer? Holy cow, Neil ain’t never get professional producers on his work, always preferring the ragged, first-take approach guys like David Briggs provided. How would a guy known for spacious, perfected studio mixdowns mesh with a rocker known for almost the exact opposite?

Truth be told, Neil Young’s something of a music perfectionist himself, always aiming to capture the spark of his creativity as close to the source as he can. Couple that with an almost insatiable pursuit of discovering the highest-fidelity medium out there (he got no love for MP3s), and pairing up with Lanois isn’t quite so surprising. “Give me space for the music to breathe,” said Neil, “and you can use fancy studio gadgets to take it further.” Sounds good to me, as does Le Noise.

Instead of recording in a traditional studio, they set up a make-shift one at Lanois’ Los Angeles mansion, resulting in a fuller sound as Neil’s guitar tones filled large rooms. Also unique to the project was splitting the guitar into two amps, one for rhythm and one for lead, creating audio separation of the two. As Mr. Young’s never been the most technically proficient guitarist around though, flubbed chords are a consequence of simultaneously playing lead and rhythm. Still, as any longtime Rusty will attest, that’s always been part of his charm. As for Lanois’ production, it remains in the background while Neil sings about relationships (of course), global problems (damn hippie), and his sordid drug history (ooh, tantalizing!). When songs go pure instrumental, however, or during a coda, dubby effects emerge, lending Le Noise to something of a shoegaze feeling, though with a producer doing the sonic manipulation rather than the musician with footpedals.

This album received a ton of accolades when it came out, though I figure more for the concept than the actual content since most songs are typical Neil Young: simple. It’s definitely one of his most unique sounding albums though, and a must-have for anyone willing to take the Rusty plunge.

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

In Trance We Trust: 2010

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

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

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

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


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

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

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

Various - In Trance We Trust 015: Virtual Vault

In Trance We Trust: 2011

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

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

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

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


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

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

Various - FabricLive 50: D-Bridge & Instra:mental Present Autonomic

Fabric: 2010

*cover art brought to you by FabricLive's “Stuff On Table Is Art” period*

Okay, this is a surprise. Folks offloading their sterile minimal-tech mixes, I can understand - unless you have a profound love for the sound, it's just not gonna make the cut when culling your CD collections. But a mix featuring the likes of Instra:mental and D-Bridge? On FabricLive's fiftieth entry, no less? Then again, Fabric 50 had a ton of pre-hype going into it: speculation over who’d get the honor, what sort of music it might feature... the works. I can’t recall anywhere near the same amount of buzz about FabricLive 50. As with the series itself, it was relegated to the sidelines, an interesting after-fact for those curious about it.

Or maybe folks didn’t quite know what to make of it. For the prior year leading up to this mix, D-Bridge and Instra:mental had been, erm, instrumental in pushing a new form of d’n’b that eschewed all conventions of the genre. Perhaps as a counter to the super-popular ‘rock’n’bass’ Pendulum sound, their music became incredibly stripped down and minimalistic. There was still that sense of bassline groove and urgency, but instead of everything being intense bedlam, music was given space to breathe, bass filling in all the aural gaps. The original dubstep aesthetic is a definite influence, but this stuff was more free-flowing and rolling. No one knew what to call it either. Autonomic, for the label that spawned much of it? Minimal jungle? Personally, I’m going with microfunk, but feel free to come up with something else (always fun times, coming up with new genre names!).

Their mix for FabricLive 50 prominently features this sound, and it can be disconcerting when first thrown on. Many times you (re: me) feel these are all tracks serving as intros, that they’re building anticipation for your typical tear-out jungle session to drop. It never comes though, instead keeping things at similar pace and tone throughout. At times it’ll dip closer to ambient techno or future garage, but mostly Instra:Bridge stick to dubby ‘not-quite-d’n’b’ microfunk.

This isn’t a main room sort of mix, and as our featured mixers provide a bulk of the tracks themselves, some may be let down by the lack of artist variety. To be fair, not many were even pushing this sound in 2010, though a few familiar names like Scuba, ASC, and Genotype help round things out. Apparently these are all exclusives to FabricLive 50, provided upon request from D-mental if they were interested. It’s a definite chill sort of CD, proper headphone material to get a sense of the space these tunes provide. An odd choice for a fiftieth edition of a series, but not a bad one.

Was This Worth The Pennies Paid For It?
Definitely, though I can understand why someone would offload it on the quick and cheap. It’s a mix that forces you to take on its own terms, and some still don’t know what to make of microfunk.

Various - Family Tree

Eardream Music: 2010

Ah, no! I've had my fill of psy dub, really I have. Going through the entire Fahrenheit Project series from Ultimae, plus a brief detour into spa-a-a-a-ce, has sated my palette for at least a good month. Damn you, alphabetical stipulations. And here I was, thankful for covering different music again. *sigh*

The funny thing is I nearly bypassed this one altogether. Family Tree comes care of Eardream Music, a tiny web-label that's released but a mere half-dozen digi-comps in the few years it’s existed. I stumbled upon this one at the always awesome Ektoplazm, based off a recommendation list from website runner Basilisk. Cool and all, but as I'm sure many folks can relate, downloading from these free music portals creates a tendency of nabbing releases in bunches, some of which get lost in the shuffle and buried within the convoluted file management of hard drives. I'm pretty O.C.D. about keeping track of what I download, and Family Tree still plunged to the depths of my folders.

Long story short, I only just now happened upon this sucker again, which likely means there wasn't much to it that made me want to listen again (assuming I even bothered to play Family Tree when I first downloaded it). I certainly don’t recognize any names here, and nor should I as most of them haven’t released anything anywhere else (so sayeth The Discogs).

The most prolific of the bunch is Tor.Ma, otherwise known as Rafael Hernandez to his fam’ - of course, being prolific here means releasing at least one album, but dude’s got three under his belt. His tune for Family Tree is about what you’d expect from most psy dub music, though it’s got some funky bounce going for it, almost a proper reggae vibe were it not for occasional effects dragging it from the realms of trippy ganja music. In fact, save that and the final of these five tunes, this could almost be considered a reggae dub release.

Each producer does offer a different take on the template too. Austero’s Bettie Page opts for a house jam. Nako sees fit to bring the rude-wobbly side of dub music to our ears in 3 Corazones (no, not dubstep). Prefer your Jamaican jams coming from space? Ish Dub & Juan Cano got you covered with the spliff-bliss Good Bye South Africa.

Yeah, yeah, these tunes aren’t reinventing the wheel, and if I’m honest (am I anything but?), the production’s stiff, missing that extra little mixdown polish that sets great releases apart from the merely decent. Or maybe I’ve just been horribly spoiled by Ultimae this past week - it’s like going down to a 19” monitor after enjoying a glorious 32”. Still, if you favour these sounds, you’ll be well sorted with Family Tree. Hey, it’s a freebie download, and far worse music has been unleashed upon the interwebs than this tidy little collection.

Various - Echodub Loves, Vol. 2 (2013 Update)

Echodub: 2010

(Click here to read my original TranceCritic review)

Oh hey, looky here. It's the last release I wrote a proper review of before I went on that two-plus year hiatus. Funny how it's also the last review for TranceCritic, and looks to remain that way. That website sure ended with a whimper, though I guess I'm partially to blame since I never did officially declare my writing tenure there to be over. I wonder if anyone still goes there expecting something new.

So what did happen, anyway? Sorry, nothing scandalous or the like, but with TC having not evolved much during the time I promised to commit, I saw little point in carrying on if it was just going to be me writing reviews; it’d be nothing but a glorified blog, and I already had a middling blog for myself at the time. More than that, however, was I found myself less and less interested in whatever the latest electronic music had to offer. My ears kept turning to the past, not so much for familiarity, but to unearth what I’d missed before, and what I could discover further back. Not exactly conducive to a website aiming for coverage of the latest releases.

“But, Sykonee,” you might have said back in the Summer Of 2010, “there’s plenty of great new music too!” Hey, I wouldn’t doubt you. Echodub Loves 2 certainly was proof of interesting things going on in the elsewheres of electronic music. Listening to it again today, I’m actually rather saddened dubstep didn’t explore these roads more, instead venturing further into bro or... whatever else it did in the UK. Or maybe it did, and I’ve been missing out on a bunch of great atmospheric material.

There entails the other frustration I had towards the end: being overwhelmed by releases, and never knowing what I should be listening to for coverage. I’m quite proud we were able to review such a wide range of electronic music at TC, but without ample manpower, it’s a self-defeating process when you don’t specialize. What gives precedent over something else? Do you buy into PR hype about what “will” be the next greatest thing? Not bloody likely, as almost every fucking release comes with such ridiculous marketing. Going through new releases becomes a chore, and the passion and enjoyment that comes from listening and writing about music evaporates. Ask any music journalist and they’ll likely tell you similar feelings of futility when swamped in promos; however, they’ll plug on, because that’s their job. TC was not my job (I sure didn’t get paid to write), but nor was it a hobby. Ultimately, it became an obligation, one I felt fulfilled after five years.

Of course, there was a lot of other bullshit I was dealing with that year too (2010 was not a happy funtime for yours truly), but that’s chit-chat for another time. As for Echodub Loves 2, I’m pretty sure it’s still available for free at the label’s website. Some good tracks available, you should check them out.

Marcel Dettmann - Dettmann

Ostgut Ton: 2010

Marcel Dettmann isn’t a very important person in the world of techno, but he does regularly DJ at Berghain, the most important techno club in the universe. I guess that makes him a little important by association, but compared to the other Ostgut Ton guys, he doesn’t receive quite as much hype. Oh, there’s still hype - it’s Berg F’n Hain, after all - just more subdued compared to the likes of Ben Klock or Shed.

Subdued. Yeah, that's a good way to describe his debut album. Dark and stark? Hmm, that's not bad either. Abstract, enveloping, and spacious. Ooh, choice journalistic words there. Tedious and pointless. Well, after a fashion.

Let's get to the point. This is a loop dub techno album at its most functional. Every track starts with basic four-to-eight bar segments of sound and percussion, then repeats them for around five-to-six minutes. Then they end. Nothing more, nothing less. There's little tension or release in any of these cuts. Melody? Don't be daft. This are serious techno. Real warehouse hardware, or some faceless bollocks.

Okay, okay, it's not all monotonous loops. Dettmann does add and subtract things throughout, with neat reverb and echo effects scattered about. The bass is also wonderfully cavernous, each kick enveloping you (there's that word again!) as though reverberating off warehouse walls. Occasionally something draws my attention into the loopy nature of these tracks: the droning pads of Motive (it's almost trance!), the grumbling bassline of Reticle, or the funky rhythm of Captivate. Plus, the roomy sound design gives those with quality audio equipment much to gush about. It makes all that money I sprung for Sennheiser 650s, HeadRoom Micro Amp, and HeadRoom Micro DAC seem worth it. Mind, so does a lot of music now, and they also sound okay coming from my shit Acer whocareswhatmodel computer speakers. Not the stuff on Dettmann though, but that's a pointless argument as these tracks were clearly made with techno fetishists in mind, proper listening gear and all.

I've heard Dettmann's regarded as a better EP producer, and if this release's anything to go by, I firmly agree with that assessment. Despite the presence of an intro and an outro, this is not structured as an album; no narrative, no flow. Perhaps a little rise in energy as it progresses, but you could play these in random order and the listening experience wouldn't change much. Dettmann's a collection of singles, with him coming off as the very epitome of a DJ-producer who knows exactly what works for the dancefloor, but not so much for a home listening experience.

There's still some enjoyment to be had playing this at home, if anything for the sound design. Essential listening though? Not at all, no matter what the Ostgut Ton cult proclaim. Then again, even they seem to have already forgotten about this release, creaming their shorts over the latest Shed or Klock material instead. They are very important persons in the world of techno, after all.

Globular - Colours Of The Brainform

Gliese 581C: 2010

Globular is Morison Bennett, a supposed rising star in the psy dub area of things according to his Last.fm bio (oh, Last.fm, I’d be so lost without you). He’s recently come out with a debut full-length album titled A Self-Fulfilling Prophecy, but since that would fall under ‘S’ (Windows Media Player, from which I get my list order, ignores articles if they’re first), I won’t be talking about that for some time (if at all). Instead, let’s talk about his first EP, Colours Of The Brainform.

It sounds like Twisted Records psy dub. Meaning, the Shpongle and Ott influences are extremely apparent. And yes, I came to this conclusion before I even looked at Globular’s Last.fm bio, which directly states they’re influences for Mr. Bennett. So, if you enjoy those two, you’ll enjoy this EP as well.

To be honest, there’s not much more I can say. It’s a chore detailing the intricacies of a typical psy dub track, yet broad strokes feels like cheating. I can say that The Continuum Press is filled with dubby sonic treats, word beats, and ethnic harmonies, or I can say that it sounds like something Ott would make. Which is more helpful? Even the cascading flamenco-guitars in Synesthesiasia, while a nifty, unique sound compared to the other tracks here, still comes off like typical Twisted Records, with several effects having been raided from Mr. Posford’s storehouse.

Perhaps Globular’s grown since this debut, but there’s little here to differentiate him from Twisted Records’ all-stars. This is a win-loss, as far as I’m concerned. Win, because the music on this EP is good, and there’s worse things than to be compared to some of the best in the business. Loss, because Globular’s music unfortunately lacks an identity of its own, and therefore Colours Of The Brainform fails to make a mark beyond being an expertly executed copy-cat.

I know I’m coming off more condescending than I really want to, but I aim to be honest, and sometimes honesty hurts. Hey, I like this EP, and will more than likely check out that full length eventually. There is potential here, should Globular be bold enough to venture beyond the Twisted Records template. Here on Colours Of The Brainform though, he plays things straight (well, about as straight as anyone can with psy dub) and while that’s fine for what it is, it’s not enough to step out from the huge shadow Shpongle and Ott create within this particular niche of psychedelic music.

Black Rebel Motorcycle Club - Beat The Devil's Tattoo

Vagrant Records: 2010

This is a rock album.

*waits for 90% of readers to leave*

More specifically, this is a ‘rawk’ album.

*waits for half of remaining readers to leave*

In fact, I’d even peg this as Brit ‘rawk’, though some may call it ‘shoegaze’.

*waits for nearly everyone else to leave*

For those left, don’t expect this to be much of a review. I don’t know anything about this group, beyond what their Last.fm bio provides (based out of West Coast of America, been around for over a decade, some tumultuous issues with band members over the years). Nor am I much inclined to do more research than that. This is a style of music that barely registers on my Interest Barometer, perhaps due to an overexposure of it during the 90s when Oasis and Blur were Next Big Things.

So why do I have this? Simple answer: their name piqued my curiosity, as I’m sure it did yours. How could it not? Black Rebel Motorcycle Club? Oh, God, I just got’s ta’ hears what they sounds like! Maybe it’ll be an awesome Steppenwolf tribute. Or maybe crazy-ass metal! Perhaps it’s some quirky IDM experimental thing using a totally ironic handle. Come on, Record Shop Man, let me hear some!

Really, all I wanted to hear was rock music that ‘rawked’, guitar tones that either built intense walls of distortion or were dragged through gravel pits, and drumming that wouldn’t sound out of place in a pub or garage. Expectations were met, and I gave Record Shop Man some digital dimes for a copy.

There were some nice bonuses too. Peter Hayes, their singer, gets plenty of treatment on his vocals, sounding like something you’d expect to hear at Glastonbury dawn (or a Chemical Brothers collab’). A definite influence of 60s rock is present, with folksy ditties and psychedelic sounds creeping in here and there. And plenty of catchy hooks and charming choruses abound, rounding out a solid overall listening experience.

Is this a great album? Well, I like it, and though it’ll only cross my ears once every year or two, that’s still far more often than anything I’d be willing to hear from bands like Coldplay or post-2000 U2. For all I know, Devil’s Tattoo has been lauded and bestowed multiple kudos from Pitchfork, NME, and several trendy rock publications. Or maybe it’s been heavily criticized as derivative and cheap, a shameless sell-out of an album that decries their earlier output. Again, that’s research I don’t care to do.

After all, the music here gives me warm, fuzzy feelings, and in the end, isn’t that all that matters?

Various - Echodub Loves, Vol. 2

Echodub: Cat. # ECHO003 

Released April 2010 

Track List: 

1. Subreachers - Memories Of A Better Time (3:41) 

2. Box Mouse - 5:37am Outside The Station (4:53) 

3. Actraiser - Imaginarium (6:40) 

4. Egoless - Back Home (6:37) 

5. Svpreme Fiend - Prover (3:17) 

6. Think - All Wet (5:06) 

7. SimonOff - Trip To Luca (5:29) 

8. Lurka - Cosmic (3:38) 

9. Tribal - White Rain (5:47) 

10. Vandera - India Joya (6:10) 

11. Lojik - White Room (5:51) 

12. Jas - In A Heartbeat (5:57) 

13. Dminus - Ultramarine (6:39) 

IN BRIEF: Chill-step, yes! 

As quickly as dubstep’s rise to critical popularity seemed to go, so too has the critical backlash. Perhaps it was to be expected though, what with everyone hopping on the Hot New Genre bandwagon at a time when EDM was dying for such. Now, however, it seems the journals and blogs are almost afraid to cover anything that isn’t a high-profile release, and I don’t blame them. 

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

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

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

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

The tunes in the second half of Echodub Loves, however, get a little more creative, bringing forward some of dubstep’s more common tropes and giving them a fresh spin for the chill sect. An easy highlight out of this bunch is India Joya from Vandera: think some of the best atmospheric jungle from the 90s and instead given a half-step beat; lovely tune, this be. 

White Room follows suite with a little more aggression, and In A Hearbeat gets proper dubby on our asses, bringing the compilation to a strong close. Erm, well, aside from that clicky dub-techno cut at the very end, which is only interesting if you’re up for some sub-whoofer torture. 

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

Score: 7/10 

ACE TRACKS: 

Box Mouse - 5:37am Outside The Station 

Vandera - India Joya 

Lojik - White Room 

Written by Sykonee, 2010. © All rights reserved.

Various - Balance 016: Agoria

EQ Recordings: Cat.# EQGCD029
Released March 2010

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

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


IN BRIEF: The series continues to mash things up.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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


Score: 7/10

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


Written by Sykonee, 2010. © All rights reserved.

DJ 3000 - Galactic Caravan

Motech: Cat. # UGCDMT 004 

Released March 2010 

 Track List: 

1. Flamuri I Popullit (4:45) 

2. Meridian (5:45) 

3. Heritage featuring Esteban Adame (5:55) 

4. Coat Of Arms (4:55) 

5. Darjeeling Sun (5:03) 

6. Yrwehear (5:54) 

7. Emotional Sequence (5:34) 

8. Meloudic Landscapes (6:10)

 9. Seven Tribes Of Hoti (4:23) 

10. Penny For Your Thoughts (4:11) 

11. Midnight Express featuring Esteban Adame (5:02) 

12. Her Smile (5:02)

13. Memory Almost Full (5:26) 

14. Day Dreaming (2:43) 

IN BRIEF: Makes me get my strut on. 

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

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

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

Of course, an album of good tech-house can be dull if it’s only tech-house, thus Juncaj has spiced his album up with a few, er, spices of the Middle East. It’s about the closest to a currently-trendy jump he’s made, taking ‘ethno’ influences for a few tracks, most notably opener Flamuri I Popullit and follow-up Meridian; the former gives us an instantly catchy hook, while the latter mostly features chants complementing hypnotic rhythms. For an album titled Galactic Caravan, they make sense thematically, and it’s odd that Juncaj pretty much drops it for the rest of the album (track titles notwithstanding). 

By the time we do get another track of this sort - yet another catchy hook courtesy of Midnight Express - I’ve practically forgotten there was an attempt at a theme in the first place. Such is the strength of the rest of the tech-house tunes though. Wisely, Juncaj also spaces his album out with a few diversions of the Detroit sound along the way: a bit of techno-stomp in Darjeeling Sun; the obligatory, classy mid-album downtempo cut with Yrwehear, a touch of deep groove with Her Smile, swagger funk in Penny For Your Thoughts, and even what appears to be a live recording for closer Day Dreaming. 

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

Score: 7/10 

ACE TRACKS: 

Heritage 

Emotional Sequence 

Midnight Express 

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

BT - These Hopeful Machines

Nettwerk: Cat. # 0 6700 30849 2 5 

Released February 2010 

Track List: 

Disc 1: 

1. Suddenly (8:06) 

2. The Emergency (10:53) 

3. Every Other Way (11:07) 

4. The Light Of Things (10:47) 

5. The Rose Of Jericho (7:43) 

6. Forget Me (9:38) 

Disc 2: 

1. A Million Stars (12:25) 

2. Love Can Kill You (5:22) 

3. Always (6:12) 

4. Le Nocturne De Lumiere (11:38) 

5. The Unbreakable (10:25) 

6. The Ghosts In You (7:57) 

IN BRIEF: These songs, I wish. 

I’m not going to proclaim to be anything of a BT expert. I sporadically enjoyed a number of his tunes from the 90s, was ready to proclaim him an incredible producer after hearing Fibonacci Sequence on Sasha’s GU: 13 mix compilation, then was mightily disappointed in the album Movement In Still Life. It sounded like an overcooked attempt at ‘electronica’, fully three years too late to be relevant; mind, it probably didn’t help I was exposed to the busted American version either. 

None of Mr. Transeau’s output interested me since that time (well, aside from the perverse curiosity of what an N’Sync collaboration would sound like …it sucked). Apparently I’ve missed out on some dizzying highs (This Binary Universe) and dilapidated lows (Emotional Technology), which I’m sure would affect my thoughts on this latest album to some degree. As it stands, however, perhaps going into These Hopeful Machines without hearing those may be a benefit, as I won’t be weighed down by those expectations, good and bad. 

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

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

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

Now, here’s the way BT would write it: 

“The- let me pause for a moment, as I wish to present to you a theory of the cosmic significance of the word ‘the’, as it relates to the number pi.” Three paragraphs later… “…anyhow, the firmament above, where the heavens so grand exist beyond a fragile veil of nitrogen, oxygen, carbon dioxide…” (every atmospheric element is listed at this point) “…contains a deep azure melding with various shades of cerulean, aquamarine, and blue, which is a color I love, you love, and we all must love, like a dove, for love is the grandest of loving feelings, a feeling of pure emotional nurturing sentiment, this love we love.” 

That’s what it’s like to listen to this album. It grows so tedious that anytime an effects-laden ‘solo’ emerges, I completely tune out until it finishes. I simply don’t care. Another thing that struck me is how BT seems to be playing catch-up with contemporary club music, including rounding up regular ‘trance’ vocalists like Christian “Will Shed Tears For Sunrise” Burns and Jes “You Still Remember ‘As The Rush Comes,’ Right?” Brieden. Perhaps most shocking is The Emergency, a collaboration with Anjunabeats regular Boom Jinx. It features side-chaining, thunk-clap rhythms, and very little point beyond trying to fit in with the current generation of mau5 clones. 

Elsewhere, The Rose Of Jericho style-bites old-school McProg beats and plinky-plonk hooks, turning in a track that works at the peaks but pointlessly piddles about to get there (Le Nocturne De Lumiere suffers for much of the same reason). The Light Of Things, perhaps one of the least offensive tracks in the overwrought-effects department, is basically your standard vocal trance outing - though I must admit it’s quite good compared to many other dismal attempts of the same type; there’s fun energy to be had here (the fact it’s a collaboration with Laurent Véronnez of Airwave fame probably helps). I’ll also add The Unbreakable works in this regard as well, although whenever I imagine the scene in which it’s likely to be played at - super lasers and smug superstar DJs urging a ravenous crowd to enthusiastically hop in one spot with a fist in the air - I get a cold chill down the back of my neck for some reason. It’s a very obvious, manipulative, calculated anthem, that one. There’s also a bunch of ‘rocktronica’ tunes and downtempo moments, most of which are quite derivative of the sound (Every Other Way? Meh, needlessly long). 

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

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

Score: 4/10 

ACE TRACKS: 

The Light Of Things 

Written by Sykonee, 2010. © All rights reserved.

Setrise vs Kay Wilder - Poetry Clash

SPX Digital: SPX007
Released January 2010

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


IN BRIEF: Routine.

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

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

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

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


Score: 4/10

Written by Sykonee, 2010. © All rights reserved.