Tiga - American Gigolo (Original TC Review)

Turbo Recordings: 2001

(2019 Update:
Sometimes I wonder if I oversell this CD. For sure my enjoyment of it still hasn't diminished in the slightest but perhaps I was a tad too overzealous in proclaiming it to be "the Tranceport of electroclash". Come to think of it, does anyone really even remember Oakenfold's mix CD anymore? For sure none of the new trance cats care about it, though if you wanted to give someone a primer on this particular music, Tiga's set still does the trick. And I have anecdotal proof!

One time I played this at work, and a co-worker inquired about it, as my co-workers are wont to do when they hear dope music emanating from my bluetooth speaker. I told him and he promptly downloaded a copy (from wherever, I dunno'). Later that week, he tells me that he played it at home while doing housework with some friends, and they liked it so much that they requested he replay it over and over. Hot damn, if this CD has that kind of power fifteen years after its release, then it's a dope CD indeed, my friends!)


IN BRIEF: Then, a revelation. Now, not so much.

With so many former ‘electroclash’ stars releasing albums this year (Tiga, DJ Hell, Vitalic, Miss Kittin & The Hacker, Felix da Housecat, Fischerspooner), it can be difficult to fathom many of them were veritable unknowns at the beginning of the decade. Sure, some had been in the game for a while and garnered a few respectable plaudits along the way, but in no way were they stars. Remember, this was at the time of superstar trance DJs and epic progressive sets from Global Underground and Renaissance mainstays, not to mention ample amounts of funky disco house filling the store racks. In the year 2000, the very notion of gritty electro, punky techno, and sleazy EBM grabbing the spotlight by the balls was absurd. Yet the underground buzz started to catch and as folks-in-the-know grew tired of expensive superclubs, a tidal-wave of momentum surged the electro-revival into the mainstream.

Here in good ol’ Northern Americana, you can point to a single compilation that got the ball rolling: Tiga’s American Gigolo. It was conceived when the Montreal native, upon recognizing just how cutting edge the International Deejay Gigolo sound was at the time, figured it would do the American scene some good to properly introduce this brash style of techno to a stagnating continent. DJ Hell, already having garnered a large cult following in Europe with his label, seemed to agree it was time to take the U.S.A. and Canada.

Tiga’s label itself, Turbo Recordings, had been gaining similar momentum on this continent with a run of classy, varied DJ mixes, though mostly sticking with tried and tested house and techno. When this one dropped, however, it not only marked the beginning of electro’s resurge but also Turbo’s re-imaging. All in all, a perfect marriage.

Your requisite track-list glance reveals a number of bona-fide classics. Sunglasses At Night, Porno Actress, Frank Sinatra, I’m A Disco Dancer, Poney Part 1, Emerge… I could go on. If you didn’t know better, you’d almost swear this was some kind of ‘Electroclash Anthems’ from Ministry Of Sound. Yet, it’s simply a label showcase: twenty-five tracks across twenty-four singles (out of the first eighty) from one label. It’s that realization that makes this mix all the more remarkable, that just one freakin’ label was responsible for so many classics and for exposing so many future stars.

“But,” you say, “so what? How is this unique now?” Good point, my unseen questioner. While this may have been the first major exposure for guys like Vitalic, Fischerspooner, and even Tiga as a proper singer, the huge bandwagon jumping that ensued from major labels in the following two years flooded the market with similar compilations, many of which were far more comprehensive of this sound than American Gigolo. In many ways, it’s similar to what happened with Paul Oakenfold’s original Tranceport - sure, it exposed a large number people to a relatively fresh sound with several strong, memorable singles for the first time, but its quality was easily been eclipsed in later years (of course, part of the handicap here is the fact the music’s from only one label; not sure what Oakenfold’s excuse is).

Heck, even Tiga, usually a capable DJ, doesn’t bring his A-game here. While he pulls out some brilliantly daft blends and mash-ups - throwing the over-emoting Marc Almond chorus from Soul On Soul into the great synth chords in Vitalic’s You Prefer Cocaine is hilariously awesome - he also forces some ugly transitions too. The mix from DJ Naughty’s Boing Bum Tschag into his own Sunglasses At Night is brutal, and seemingly only done as an inside joke - Boing Bum Tschag being Gigolo’s first release, while Sunglasses At Night was (at the time) the label’s latest.

On the other hand, some of Tiga’s rough transitions only added to this compilation’s allure. After so many years of pristine polished progressive trance sets (often done in a studio), to hear a ‘balls to the walls’ mix coupled with such punky attitude in the music, you really did believe this could be the next big thing. The minimalist nihilism of the opening stretch, forays into strong house and tech in the middle… solid enough. Then Vitalic comes in, and the mix basically bludgeons you with energy; more importantly, it suggests wonderful possibilities for this sound’s future. For a brief moment, it even makes then-trance’s poster boy Ferry Corsten seem like a perfect fit (thanks in large part to The Hacker; also it certainly can’t be a coincidence that Corsten came out with Punk shortly after Gigolo did their remixes for Soul On Soul). By the time Emerge has wrapped up, you can’t help but wonder, nearly a decade later, why this music didn’t have the strong future it hinted at.

Well, there were many reasons for it, some of which already touched upon in this review. Here’s not the place to delve deeply into it though. Rather, the only remaining question I’ll discuss is whether American Gigolo is still worth your time and pennies. Frankly, you can’t fault the music, and even if the mixing isn’t the greatest, it’s still fine enough to not be too distracting. If you’re looking for a more complete electroclash compilation, there are better options out there, even as tribute mixes available for free on DJ websites. In the end, though, this little mix from Tiga is fun enough to throw on, as very little on here has dated. Easily a worthy pick-up if you find it on the cheap.

Written by Sykonee for TranceCritic.com, 2009. © All rights reserved.

Richard Durand - Always The Sun (Original TC Review)

Magik Muzik: 2009

(2019 Update:
Well. I certainly had a lot to say about this, huh. Never thought I'd ever listen to this again, but for some daft reason I kept the MP3 album, maybe for future reference. Then I embarked on my listening project, listened to this again, figuring it'd be the final time I'd subject myself to it. And now I've listened it again, for the sake of completism within this blog's archives. I've only myself to blame.

But enough about my sad-sack, what's ol' Durand been up to since? Quite a bit actually, that blatant 'I R Nu-Tiësto!" marketing taking the next logical step when he was handed the In Search Of Sunrise DJ mix series after Mr. Verwest completely and fully abandoned trance for lucrative Vegas money. Naturally, the series saw diminishing returns with every volume, to such a point they started pairing him with other guest jocks (and BT). And now, he's no longer involved either, the latest edition featuring McProg's superstars of old in Marcus Schulz, Andy Moor, and Gabriel & Dresden. Durand also kept releasing albums, his latest coming out this past year, where he's apparently aged twenty since this one. Helps when you're not airbrushed into the Uncanny Valley.)


IN BRIEF: Gads…

The name Richard Durand (Richard van Schooneveld’s current alias) made quite the impression when it first broke out in the trance scene, although it wasn’t for a good reason. Rather, he’d briefly stolen the title of Needless Remixer Of Classics from Sean Tyas, though folks quickly realized that, aside from Toca’s Miracle, he was mostly just doing old Tiësto singles (he has made dubious remixes for classics by The Prodigy and Underworld since, however). The initial hate subsided, but there was this lingering feeling that something was still askew regarding this Durand fella’. For instance, why him? Who was he, exactly? Where did he come from? And, considering how much Mr. Verwest seemed to be giving him the thumbs-up, why were so many of his remixes and follow-up singles garnering incredibly divisive opinions? (the usual from “mesmerizing” to “torturous”, though typically “pointless” being the consensus)

To be honest, Durand’s ascent is remarkable when you consider what he was doing when the Big T saw something in him. Before then, he was carving out a niche sharing compilations with the likes of Scooter, Lasgo, and Klubbheads as G-Spott, releasing a stream of dodgy euro-dance with gratuitous supersaws. If the name doesn’t ring a bell, it’s because very little of his material ever left the realms of Dutch, with tracks appearing on equally dodgy releases going by names like 100% Eurotrance Vol. 4, Get Uppa And Dance 3, and Damn! 9. Then again, even the biggest titans of dance music had very humbling beginnings (Doot Doot, anyone?), so we shouldn’t hold Richard’s past against him. Or should we?

Let’s turn our attention to the release at hand, Mr. van Schooneveld’s debut ‘Richard Durand’ album Always The Sun. A change of artist names to something closer to one’s real name is a sure sign that ol’ Richard wants to be regarded as a Serious Producer now, with a muse that stretches well beyond his G-Spott legacy; smart career idea, to say the least. To back that up, he’s introduced more tech-trance attributes to his tracks, giving his productions a much tougher edge. Unfortunately, he’s also carried a lot of his generic cheese-dance baggage with him, such that it permeates much of his debut album. This wouldn’t be a horrible thing if he went into this tongue-in-cheek the way other over-the-top hard-trance acts like DuMonde often did, but he doesn’t - after all, this is the new, Serious Producer Richard Durand, not that silly G-Spott guy who was seen playing a synthesizer to CGI popcans in the video for N-R-G. (trust me, YouTube that shit!). I mean, just look at the intensity of that face in the cover!

He hopelessly fails. At damned near everything.

I know what you’re thinking: “Oh, Sykonee, how can he really fail? I mean, so long as I can dance to it, right? Um… right?” That’s just it. I never thought I’d say this about standard 4/4 dance music, but Durand has actually managed to make tracks that are nigh on impossible to dance to. I’m not even talking about the usual overlong breakdown-build nonsense Dutch trance abuses - the song-writing itself lacks any sense of flow. When the rhythms, basslines, and synth-hooks are all in play, they sound horribly disjointed, creating this weird, herky-jerky momentum that saps the energy right out of your legs; it’s the sonic equivalent of walking on a railroad track. In fact, that’s exactly what it was like, as I couldn’t even get a decent walking groove going when I was listening to stuff like Papillon, Ancient Garden… hell, everything in the album's first half. I’m sure Durand’s defenders will point out that I’m not listening to his music in the proper context, that I should be hearing it blasting out of towers of speakers at clubs. Yet walking and dancing aren’t that dissimilar - both require a sense of rhythmic motion, and Durand’s music totally, utterly, fucking wrecks it when you try to move with. Then again, many of Durand’s fanbase considers dancing to be jumping in one spot with a fist in the air.

So yes, Durand has actually failed to make dance music that is danceable on a dance album. It gets worse though. For instance, are you still pining for more Anthem knock-offs? That track may be two years old now, but Durand seems intent at his piece of the melodramatic male-singer eurodance pie, and offers up two generic cuts: the titular track, and No Way Home. I actually didn’t mind vocalist Simon Binkenborn when I heard him on Leon Bolier’s album, but there he was featured on a track that was quite content to be light-weight eurodance fluff. On Durand’s album, however, it seems he’s been instructed to belt out his lyrics with all the overwrought raw emotion he can possibly muster - this is, after all, a Very Serious album. Predictably, the results are ridiculously over-the-top sap. Ah well, at least there weren’t any naff acoustic guitars this ti- wait, what’s this at the end of the album? A… melodramatic acoustic version of No Way Home? FFFFFUUUUUUU...

Although I could endlessly berate the first half of Always The Sun (like the hopelessly amateur sounding Divine, which desperately wants to be a profound opener; or the equally desperate Next Big Anthem Into Something), perhaps it’s about time I turn my attention to the second half. Here is where Durand’s corny super-trance takes full control, starting with a generic femme vocal trancer in City Never Sleeps and followed by Mouseville, an ultra supersaw epic trancer that sounds like a left-over System-F tune Corsten was embarrassed to release. The good news is Durand seems to have finally figured out how to get everything in his tracks working together, so you can actually dance to these. The bad news is he’s forgotten how to adequately mix his tracks together (did I mention this is a continuous mix album? Oops…). So, instead of fucked-up flow within his tunes, it’s now fucked-up flow between the tunes. Gah, can’t he do anything right?

As for the remainder tracks, they’re mostly serviceable tech-trance numbers, but much of their hinted potential awesome is too often squandered. The Trigger, for example, features the first instance on this album of a genuinely unique and nifty hook, a bleepy little thing that gets devilishly twisted as a buzzing sawwave spits and spurts in the background; it never takes off in any significant way, even when the two breakdown-builds suggest the track is ready to erupt. Instead, the standard beats are brought back in, and The Trigger gradually comes to an unremarkable end. As does the whole bloody album.

Call me flabbergasted. I cannot for the life of me figure out how this album saw a green-light at Tiësto’s label. Sure, we’ve handed out bad scores to them before, but it was for things like dull pop pandering or misguided experimentation. Durand’s album is none of this. It’s a euro-cornball hard-trance album trying to pass itself off as a Serious And Earnest collection of rough’n’ready tech-trance (watch the video for Always The Sun if you still don’t believe me), thus diluting the ‘stoopid-fun’ of the former while easily getting outclassed by the likes of Oliver Lieb, Marco V - hell, even Bolier - in the latter. Still, although Always The Sun has all the musical merit of a Special D. album, this probably won’t stop Durand’s career from continuing its rise - Tiësto’s mighty PR machine will see to that. The only thing that still eludes me is why Mr. Verwest would have given a cheesy Dutch hard-trance producer an opportunity like this in the first place. Perhaps Tiësto figures Durand’s success will give him the chance to resurrect Da Joker.

Written by Sykonee for TranceCritic.com, 2009. © All rights reserved.

Bogdan Raczynski - Alright! (Original TC Review)

Rephlex: 2007

(2019 Update:
I don't normally include the track list in these old TranceCritic reposts, much less any review beyond some personal burned discs, since it's usually redundant, unimportant information, and takes up ugly space. However, much of the opening paragraph is dependent upon you knowing what the track list looks like, so in this rare case, it's here to see. Funny thing is, despite this album now being over a decade old (!!), I'm still not sure if the track title confusion has cleared up. The Discoggian entry has them all listed as 'Part's, but scope out the Bandcamp option, and they appear as below. I think I added 'Part' to the titles when I uploaded this album to my computer, just so the Last.fm scrobbling data didn't get all wonky too. And since the album's not on Spotify - y'know, where Bogdan can make a couple fractions of a penny via streaming - there's no way to know for sure, is there?

Sadly, this was Mr. Racyznski's last album. He's kept active in other ventures (does he still mod? I feel like he's the kind of guy that'd still mod), and recently released a four-track collection of DJ mixes on his Bandcamp. It just feels wrong that he never followed up this giddy LP. Surely he's got more ideas in his brainpan for the braindancers. Like, a decade's a long period to not release anything official, and far as I know, Rephlex's doors are always open for the quirkier chaps in this scene.)


Track List:
1. Alright! (4:59)
2. Alright! (4:51)
3. Alright! (4:31)
4. Alright! (4:32)
5. Alright! (4:05)
6. Alright! (5:32)
7. Alright! (5:58)
8. Alright! (7:38)

IN BRIEF: Um... alright?

No, your eyes don’t deceive you. That really is the track list to this album. Or is it? There is absolutely nothing to hint at what the titles are, or even if the tunes contained on here do have titles. Sure, Mr. Raczynski has mentioned they should be Alright!, but given his prankster past, how trustworthy can such claims be? For all we know, they could all be called ‘Untitled’, or even ‘...’. Perhaps we the consumers have been granted the good grace to come up with our own names, although I’d imagine that would make finding these on your handy P2P programs ever more difficult. What I do know for certain is they are not titled after record labels, so ignore that fake track list floating around with names like Rough Trade and Forced Exposure: it's completely the bunk. For the sake of sanity, I’ll be referring to them by their track numbers in this review (#2, #4, #7, etc.).

Alright? Good. After reading that, you should have a better idea of what kind of a producer Bogdan Raczynski is (if you didn’t know already, anyway). Taking influence from ‘braindance’ icons of the 90s like Squarepusher and µ-Ziq, his music can be a bit, um, challenging. At the same time though, he treats his craft with the recklessness giddiness of a child, taking delight in throwing curveballs at the self-serious attitudes the IDM crowds are known for. Whether making threats to produce psychedelic trance if fans didn’t legally obtain his music or using bait-and-switch album names like Ibiza Anthems Vol. 4, Bogdan can be one tricksy musician.

On his sixth full-length, it also appears he’s become nostalgic,Alright! a kind of joyful throwback to the hedonistic days of raving, when folks were more concerned with happy-fun times rather than prestigious regard in the eyes of the larger world. Goodness knows seeing the word ‘eurodance’ on the back cover of a Rephlex release is enough to throw such serious plans right out the window.

Fortunately for fans of Bogdan’s drum programming, his scattershot rhythms and frantic pacing is still in full effect, although far less complex than in years past. There’s breakbeats at break-neck pace, proto-gabber beats bobbing about, and plenty of tin-can rim shots for you to gorge on. Er, yeah, a lot of the percussion, while interesting to hear, comes off weak and flat, as do many of the sounds used too. You’d think he cannibalized a bunch of 8-bit video games for samples, which may not be far from the truth. Frankly, aside from moments when the bass suddenly rumbles with authority (especially so in #4), much of Alright! is gleefully under-powered, and will immediately turn away those whose tastes are within the confines of squeaky-clean, pristine, EQ’d-to-the-max production.

Shame for them, then, as they’ll be missing out on some gosh-darned wonderful little songs here. Between rave-tastic riffs - #1 and #3 spring immediately to mind - and mellower melodies (#6 and #7) Alright! is just so endearing, you can’t help but come away with a smile on your face. Heck, the tinny production even helps sell the tone of the album, reveling in childlike exuberance.

Is it silly? Sure. #4 could just as easily be called The Spastic Acid Kitty-Kat Parade, but what a hoot it is! And #8 sums up Alright! perfectly, indulging in both old-school energy and ambient sentimentality for a winner of a track. Perhaps the only stumble to be found is the acid work in #5, lacking the spiffiness the other tunes have but still fun in its own right.

Undoubtedly, fans of Bogdan’s work and dedicated followers of Rephlex have already snagged this one up, but what about the rest of you? Should you commit debit to disc on a silly ‘braindance’ album? Even if your tastes are razor thin, I still say yes, if anything to spice up your collection. But more than that, no matter the circumstance, these tracks are simply fun diversions, very much channeling the care-free spirit of raving’s heyday. And isn’t the whole point of dancing to let go of the world’s formalities anyway?

Clocking in well under an hour, Alright! breezes by quickly and like the rave party that prematurely ends, you can’t help but long for just one more song. End it does though, as does this review.

Written by Sykonee for TranceCritic.com, 2008. © All rights reserved

Daft Punk - Alive 2007 (Original TC Review)

Virgin: 2007

(2018 Update:
Might this have been the Most Important tour in electronic music history? It certainly kicked off an arms race of spectacle concerts within the scene, where having the biggest, boldest, flashiest, gargantuan light show was a necessary evil in one's career arsenal. Good tunes and loyal fanbase just wasn't enough, you had to get them buzzing online, sharing phone videos on YouTube and Facebook of The Experience of seeing your act live. Heck, with so much visual stimuli, having 'good tunes' wasn't even a requirement any longer, any ol' 'thumpity thump-thump' rubbish being enough so long as 20 billion watts of LEDs and laser power is going down. And when that is no longer enough, throw in a dinosaur or two.

I'll contend this remains the 'definitive Daft' collection of music though. Yes, it's missing their Random Access Memories material, but really, what are we missing from that? Get Lucky, and maybe one other song you like from that album. No big loss when you have so much other dope material here. Besides, the live nature of those songs really wouldn't jive with all the boom-boom stuff here. Would work as a nice pre-show opener though.)


IN BRIEF: Definitive Daft.

Maybe Kanye West had something to do with it. It’s certainly possible the hip-hop star whispered just the right words to Thomas and Guy-Manuel about such things as ‘legacy’, as Mr. West is quite obsessed with his own. If so, the electronic community may owe him some thanks, lest Daft Punk might have still been in the collective “fallen off” category of many as we enter 2008. Because let’s face it: after the mediocre Human After All and an all-too perfunctory greatest hits package, the general assumption was Daft Punk were past their prime. That they would have the most successful dance-act tour a couple years later was the furthest from everyone’s mind.

Yet that’s exactly what they did. By combining both the simplest yet most visceral of what the genre offers, Alive 2007 earned plaudits and accolades and kudos and whatever else you may have from across the board. And most importantly, it reminded us just why we enjoyed these daffy punkers to begin with.

Naturally, an album release of the show was inevitable. As with any live recording though, the same ol’ question marks regarding the outcome still cropped up. How would the sound quality be? Will crowd noise enhance or hinder the atmosphere? How effectively does it make you feel like you are actually there? And most importantly, does it make you wish you were there at that moment? Screw-ups in any of these factors can make for a lackluster live album (see Vitalic’s recently released one for a perfect example) but when nailed, the home listening experience can be almost as exciting as being there in concert.

Since Alive 2007 is a couple months old now and several of you have already undoubtedly listened to this, I’ll save you the suspense: they nailed it. Everything.

Most prominent of all the awesome on this CD is the bass. Whether they placed their recording source in a perfect sweet-spot or relied on post-production trickery to get the maximum results, every track literally pounds and resonates with amazing arena realism. If you ever wanted to show off to your non-‘techno’ friends what beats sound like a rave, this is as good a demo as any. From thunder-like rumbles (Touch It) to cannonball gut-punches (Da Funk), the bass is a marvel to hear (and feel, should you be fortunate and rich enough to own a sound system of such quality).

But that’s more of a technical gush than anything, and could be found on any home-theater showcase. No, the reason you’re after this disc is for la musique, and Alive 2007 delivers in such a way I’m sure few could have expected.

Despite their singles being bona-fide classics in EDM canon, the general consensus here at TranceCritic is much of Daft Punk’s discography is littered with tracks of questionable quality. The duo’s hype has often helped elevate annoying go-nowhere tosh like Rock ‘n’ Roll to levels of acceptance among their fanbase. And while such tracks sometimes make sense when used as quick sound-bites, they do not for the lengths Daft Punk presented them on their albums.

Perhaps Thomas and Guy-Man eventually realized this too, as all these problems with their ‘filler’ tunes are abolished here. The best parts are cannibalized to complement the bigger hits, and it works fantastically! Take the Prime Time/Alive mash-up for instance: Prime Time Of Your Life is rather listless on its own, but with the vocal complementing the cascading synths of Alive, the joint venture soars with excitement.

Their set is filled with such wonderful moments. The ripping fusing of Rollin’ And Scratchin’s sledgehammer beats supporting The Brainwasher’s techy rhythms. Crescendolls giving Television Rules The Nation extra vitality at its peak (lord knows Television could have used it). And, perhaps the most cheeky and exhilarating example of them all, the killer combination of the number two hits off their first two albums: Around The World and Harder Better Faster Stronger. I have to wonder if even the most dedicated Daft Punk fan would have been able to cobble together a set of Daft tunes and made it work as excellently as Thomas and Guy-Man have here.

And then there’s just how immersive this release is. Live recordings can be hit or miss in making you feel like you’re actually there at the event, but this one is definitely a hit. Just watch a couple bootleg videos of the event or flip through the fifty-page-plus booklet that comes included in this two-discer to get a feel for how it looks, then close your eyes as it plays through. Okay, so those sorry sacks out there without an imagination probably won’t vibe on that, but indulge me on this. Ooh... pretty, that pyramid...

I honestly can’t recommend this album enough, for Daft Punk fans and for casual fans of EDM period. Every single one of their best tunes are here, all of the questionable tunes are given new life, it is all presented in an atmosphere that draws upon dance music’s strengths, and it comes in a package that makes it worth shelling out that extra couple bucks for. Throw in a great encore featuring some of Bangalter’s side projects on the second disc, and you have about as definitive a Daft Punk release as you’ve ever seen. Whether they’ll be able to ride their new-found popularity to larger heights in the coming years remains to be seen but unlike the fall-out from their last album, you can be rest assured their next project will be waited upon with bated breath by fan and foe alike.

Written by Sykonee for TranceCritic.com, 2008. © All rights reserved

Scooter - Age Of Love (Original TC Review)

Club Tools: 1997

(2018 Update:
My head tells me I should hate this. My gut tells me it. Heck, even my heart tells me it. Yet, there's something that always keeps me from hating this album like I'm told I'm supposed to. Some overpowering feels from the spleen? Like, I don't go out of my way to play this often, maybe once every few years, save a chance random encounter on my media player's shuffle option, but when it does play, I still get into it just the same. I think this album releases the same stoopid-fun endorphins tracks like Sash!'s Ecuador does, and there's nothing wrong with that. We all have our silly little pleasures within our musical tastes, and if you don't, then I imagine you're just a dreadful bore to be around.

As for how Scooter's career went after I wrote this review, the group jumped on the dubstep bandwagon. Of course they would.)


IN BRIEF: Scooter’s turning point.

As vehemently as they’ll deny it, it’s safe to say a lot of EDM’s followers went through a Scooter phase. For some it may have been a brief flirtation during their initial rave years, others a lingering dedication. However long it was though, the reasons for it tend to be the same: the group made some undeniably fun anthems.

Ah, you’ve noticed the use of past tense. I suppose I should explain. Y’see, friends, Scooter’s discography can easily be split into two eras, each with a number of name variations. For example: Bueller years/post-Bueller years; pre-excessive covers/post-excessive covers; pre-shit/shit. Whatever you call it, Scooter’s initial mid-90s output was a guilty pleasure for many. That all changed when Ferris Bueller (aka: Sören Bühler, H.P.'s cousin) left and the group and began relying more on covers rather than original productions for their hit singles. Accusations of ‘sell-out’ and ‘going to Hell in a cheese basket’ dominated many discussions, and Scooter became the target of every biting punch-line regarding the worst aspects of commercialized dance. They may not have much artistic credibility left, but who cares about that when you can fight with Cascada for top spot on the dance charts, eh?

Anyhow, a change of direction often has a catalyst, and their album Age Of Love certainly was that. Beyond the fact this was the last Bueller album, there’s a sense Scooter were aiming for larger audiences than their initial happy hardcore fanbase, and why not? This was 1997 here, folks, when everyone figured they just might have a chance at hitting the big time. So how does one go about doing so?

First, out goes the hardcore and in comes more of the trance; nearly half the album is dedicated to the popular club style of the era that wasn't too different from most euro-dance (re: pre-epic). Next, branch out into other genres that are garnering attention from the masses: big beat, jungle, rock hybrids -‘electronica’, in other words. And finally, have one of your singles feature on a major motion picture to grab that always lucrative non-electronic consumer. Perfect formula for success, right? Um...

Alright, the big single here, Fire, certainly did succeed in its aim. Aside from the fact it is a decent bit of hard dance fun, by featuring on sequel soundtracks to Mortal Kombat and Hackers, Scooter got to rub elbows with respected names like Leftfield, The Prodigy, and Juno Reactor. Along the way, the thrashin’ guitar riffs grabbed the approving attention of many metal-heads. I’d commonly hear “fuck, that fucking techno shit is fucking shit, but Fire’s alright” from long-haired associates.

Then there’s The Age Of Love. I’ve heard it called corny, cheesy, and a complete rip-off of the Terminator theme; in trying to combine the sounds of trance with the effusive sentimentality of happy hardcore, Scooter created a disgrace of a tune. Oh shut up. Yes, it is all those things. That’s exactly the point! It’s what Scooter did so well in those days: pure, guilt-free anthemic fun. This is ‘stadium techno’ as The KLF spearheaded, and The Age Of Love is just as effective as anything they did.

The rest of the album mostly amounts to agreeable filler. There really isn’t anything that is whole-sale awful, but nor does it leap out at you as essential either. Hit The Drum stands out a bit more by getting back to a ‘stadium techno’ sound, and includes one of H.P.’s more ridiculous lines: “‘Cause we are ready to shake the nation with another creation!” Also, Tonight’s take on ol’ school jungle and Return Of The Future’s standard trance execution are intriguingly entertaining, mostly for the fact they veer so far off the expected Scooter path; if you didn’t know better, you’d swear they were by another act. However, these examples didn’t win over their detractors then, and they certainly won’t today either.

Still, Age Of Love is probably one of the better albums in Scooter’s discography. Even when the songs are little more than simple dance pop, they present them with such infectious zesty energy it is hard to resist, provided you leave the Bitter Beer in the cooler before listening. If you are quite new to this whole electronic music thing, you could do worse (like Scooter’s recent offerings). And even if you aren’t, Age Of Love still has a bit of charm for those moments when you just need a reason to get up and shout. Nothing wrong with that, now is there?

ACE TRA-

Oh, wait. There’s one more track here. A cover of a Depeche Mode song. Hold on... *plays the ballad Leave In Silence*

I take it all back. Scooter are shit.

Written by Sykonee for TranceCritic.com, 2007. © All rights reserved

Alien Project - Activation Portal (Original TC Review)

H2O Records: 2007

(2018 Update:
Probably more acerbic than necessary, but eh, that's just how you did things back in the '00s. If something was dodgy, crummy, sketchy, awful, and poo, you didn't hold back the hyperbole one iota, lest readers/viewers mistakenly think there was a glimmer of good in the product. These days, it's better doing harsh criticisms with thoughtful approaches, nuanced deconstructions, and long-form video essays talking into a microphone really fast. Still, there's something to be said for the cathartic release of what we have below.

I joked about 'banishing' Alien Project to the bowel's of TranceCritic's archives, but I wonder if he somehow did wind up there. This was Ari Linker last album under the moniker, shortly after rekindling his partnership with Ido Liran for their Save The Robot project. That lasted a little longer, shooting straight for commercial appeal, even to the point regular eurotrance jocks like Ferry Corsten and Richard Durand were rinsing their tunes. Don't know what he's been up to this past half-decade, but for all intents, it looks like Alien Project is totally dead. Surely my words didn't kill it...?)

IN BRIEF: Familiarity breeds contempt.

What the...? No... You’ve got to be fucking kidding me! Did he really think he could get away with it? This is so blatantly obvious, even a complete trance rookie would see through this hack. What a fucking gimp.

Eh? Oh, hi there, fellow readers. Whatever am I blathering on about? Allow me to introduce you to Exhibit A: N R G by Alien Project. You may know this track by its more familiar title of Café del Mar. Yes, that’s right folks: N R G is essentially Café del Mar (Alien Project Remix). But instead of giving proper credit to the source material, Alien Project changed a note or two and gave it his own ‘original’ title, thus negating the need to pay royalties. Vanilla Ice would be proud.

Apparently, this is only the tip of the dodgy iceberg when it comes to Ari Linker. Talk to anyone in the psy scene about him, and you’ll be met with a level of scorn usually reserved for the likes of DJ Sammy and Scooter in other circles. However, many dedicated goa-heads are rather anal when it comes to maintaining their scene’s underground cred, and anything with a whiff of commercial intent is often unjustly derided. Just because something has popular appeal doesn’t automatically make it bad, so I gave Activation Portal a spin to hear if the buckets of bile were with merit.

Indeed they are.

Ignoring for the moment his shameful pillage of recognizable trance tunes (and Café del Mar isn’t the only occurrence), this is a very bland collection of psy. Ari seems incapable of making his arrangements work. The rhythms are typical full-on drive but very little of his synths in support give them life. Most of his hooks are the same ol’ tired Israeli clichés. There’s nothing here that hasn’t been done before and better.

Most of his original tracks often start with a hint of promise. Super Buster has some nice leads; Activation Portal’s supporting trancey hooks are effective; Yellow Blaze teases with ace opening rhythms. Nothing of note ever comes of it though, as Ari continuously falls back on go-nowhere wibble supplemented with DOA tweaks. If psy is meant to trip you out, this is the equivalent of drinking cough syrup for a high.

There are some moments worth your attention but I’m hardly giving Ari credit for them. Tweaky, for instance, has a decent enough peak, but this is originally an Astrix track, so that was probably his work there. Groovy’s buttrock guitars are passable, but this was a collaboration with Raja Ram, so who knows how much his influence helped guide the track (and the ‘tee-hee, snicker’ use of the Cannibus Culture dialogue from Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas is juvenile idiocy). And Aztechno Dream is an agreeable if uneventful slice of simple trance, but this is a remix by Shanti, whom likely stripped out the original's bunk.

The shame of it all is just how good the production is. I’ve seldom heard all these stock psy synths sound better, and when the rhythms do drive, it’s with just as much punch as the stuff coming from Discover Records. It’s even enough to be forgiving of how achingly average most of the stuff on here is.

But no. We mustn’t forget our initial reasons for hatred. Ripping off Café del Mar is bad enough, yet Ari trumps that by doing the same thing with As The Rush Comes! Yes, that is the Motorcycle song you’re hearing in Deeper, and yes, that is Jes’ voice. The breakdown/build is practically a direct lift, with Ari throwing in useless effects to hide it. Does Ms. Brieden even realize she’s now singing for bland Israeli psy? I'm not so much irate over using the song itself (t’was quaint, but overplayed); it’s Ari’s utter insult to our intelligence that we wouldn’t notice it that gets my goat.

If you wanted to do a remix of the originals, fine. Contact the producers to request a remix project from them. If you wanted to cover it, fine. At least have the decency to call it by the same name since everyone will recognize them as such. Instead, both N R G and Deeper have all the hallmarks of a producer looking to capitalize on weak rehashes all the while hoping his audience is so clueless, they’ll think he made these melodies himself. Mr. Linker would have a promising future being the ghost producer of a This Is... Psy compilation from Beechwood Music.

These are disgraceful antics, my friends. I simply have no choice in this matter. I hereby banish thee, Alien Project, to the bowels of our review archives, to sit alongside the likes of Scooter and Cascada. May the scouse house brigade have mercy on your soul.

Oh, for additional unintentional hilarity, seek out the promo spiel for Activation Portal. Here’s a sample:

”Are you prepared to step up to the plate, into the Portal, and onto the next level of light on your path to enlightenment and joy??Are you willing to move towards a higher destination where peace and goodwill reside continuously, where love dwells eternally and where all things are, indeed, possible???

Well then, friends, compadres, amigos - step up, right this way........the Activation Portal is now open and all Galactic travelers and music lovers alike are invited to come forth and experience, even embrace, if you will, ever new and unfolding infinite dimensions of cosmic consciousness, hitherto unavailable to humanity at large, but now easily reachable by all, through the timeless, enduring and commanding medium of sound, which is, by the way, the Governor of all Existence!”

Can you believe there's three-hundred more words of the nonsense?

Mist:i:cal - The Eleventh Hour (Original TC Review)

Soul:r: 2007

(2018 Update:
It's astonishing this remains the only album this group put out. They had nearly a decade to work on another, though with the passing of Marcus Intalex this past year, such a thing's a moot point now. Save a single digital EP in the year 2008, the project went quiet after the release of this album. Calibre carried on with his solo output, now a dozen albums strong, and Marcus put out a lone LP in 2011 called 21, but his passion remained with the DJ circuit, all the while maintaining his Soul:r print. Meanwhile, ST Files kept a steady stream of singles, but never quite hit the same heights of success as the other two players involved with Mist:i:cal.

Nothing else to add to this review. There's a little fudging of the genre demarcations - liquid funk was broad enough in those days that the flying high soul found here could fit the term - but The Eleventh Hour remains a timeless outing of d'n'b for all you savvy heads out there.)

IN BRIEF: Doing it their own way.

On the opening title track of The Eleventh Hour, guest vocalist DRS is calling out all the corporate shenanigans of his scene. To the backing beats of what could be a long-lost Photek track, the MC seems a might bit peeved that drum’n’bass has lost its way, succumbing to the glitz and glamour of commercialization, sacrificing the heart and soul of the scene’s urban hipness of yore. Methinks he could be seeing the past with shades of a rosen-hue.

Yes, Pendulum turned the jungle scene on its head with one hell of a commercial breakthrough, but d’n’b had plenty of success well before then too. Goldie. Roni Size. EZ Rollers. Er... Kosheen. Hmm, apparently d’n’b’s credibility can ebb and flow with whichever name hits it big after all. However, I find it silly of DRS to be calling out currently successful acts of the dee’bee scene - if not specifically by name, then at least by association - when the very sound he’s spitting over was mainstream a decade ago. Then again, that material certainly was far more artistically credible than many current offerings from the majors these days.

And this is pretty much the sound you’ll come to hear on Mistical’s album. Comprised of Calibre, Markus Intalex, and ST. Files, the trio of producers have cooked up a collection of d’n’b cuts which mostly ignores current trends; there’s nary an ultra-aggro bassline heard, and style-biting from the Hospital Records crew is non-existent. Instead, they indulge in the styles which dragged the genre out of the underground during the mid-90s. This might have your Hooked On Nostalgia alarm beeping, but fear not, my friends, for Mistical aren’t rehashing the past, rather embracing what made those classic tunes work brilliantly when they were new.

So we have smooth dubby cuts like Mistical Soulution, City Life, and Amen Electric; atmospheric floaters like Time To Fly and Memory Jog; jazzstep offerings courtesy of Natasha; and urban stylings such as Stay Away and City Life (er, no points for predicting this reviewer's Ace Tracks, heh). Linking it all together is a warm gentle soulfulness that, frankly, tends to be lacking in much d’n’b these days. Yes, even the spirited liquid funk camps are guilty of this too, as they can get a bit caught up in bringing the bang to the party, lest they be left in the dust of their aggressive compatriots. Whether it’s Mistical’s aim to fill in this missing gap, or they merely prefer this sound over what’s hot and trendy, the trio definitely have managed to stand out from the pack because of their stylistic choice.

Further along The Eleventh Hour, we come across a track that may have all the junglists running for the hills ...or wondering if the right CD is still in their player. Dominick Martin (Calibre) has been known to dabble in other genres, but to have a purely dubbed-out house tune on a d’n’b album is a surprising and welcome idea. For a cut that wouldn’t sound out of place on a Swayzak DJ mix, Secret Love fits nicely in adding a bit of variety here.

Mistical continue their experiments for most of the final stanza. Add Break is an effects interlude; Eject finds the duo trying their hand at some neurofunk (and succeeding!); and the aforementioned Memory Jog will undoubtedly tickle at the old school dee’bee head in us all (and possibly fans of The Orb too). It’s quite an eclectic collection of sounds to close the album off, sounding very little like what came before.

Looking to close out The Eleventh Hour with that extra touch of class, Mistical bring in house legend Robert Owens to lend his vocal talents on Believe. The trio provide a sparse d’n’b cut to back the liquid funk favorite up, as Owens can easily carry the track on his own. And while he doesn’t sing about much we haven’t heard from him before (keep you chin up; don’t lose sight of your dreams, etc.), he does so in as fine a form as ever.

All in all, friends, we have a good little album here. Considering how dissimilar it is to much of what passes for cutting edge jungle, Mistical should definitely find themselves in a comfortable niche. A bigger question, though, is whether they have the chops to really stand out from the crowd, and perhaps even shake the dee’bee scene up a bit. Had you asked me that back in February when The Eleventh Hour was released, I’d probably have said “not much”. However, something recently occurred that has forced me to reconsider.

Marcus Intalex was tapped for Fabric’s thirty-fifth edition of their Live series. In the process, he came up with a drum’n’bass DJ mix that is currently being hailed as one of the best the genre has seen in years. Drawing upon many of the sounds Mistical utilize, it turned many heads around who’d grown jaded with their scene, claiming the sound is like a breath of fresh air in a stagnating atmosphere.

As I am not as immersed in the dee’bee scene to know if this is truly the case or not, I can still see the writing on the wall of what such claims foretell. Gaining exposure on a Fabric mix is big enough, but to have many bestowing high praise upon it in the process can only bring good things for the prospects of Mistical. Fortunately for them, they have an album in the bank that can back up any hype that comes with such exposure.

Written by Sykonee for TranceCritic.com, 2009. © All rights reserved.

Banco de Gaia - 10 Years (Remixed) (Original TC Review)

Disco Gecko: 2003

(2018 Update:
No, I don't have the actual 10 Years compilation from Mr. Marks. I did, at first. I mean, all those classic Banco tunes, plus assorted rarities like the Jack Dangers rub of How Much Reality Can You Take and the Insect Intelligence version of Amber, gathered onto two discs and all. Of course I got myself that! Then I loaned it out to a friend. Never got it back, though to be fair, I didn't push him to return it either. It's not like it was difficult to 'get' the rare offerings again anyway (most of these can be found on the Rewritten Histories collections now), so I was fine letting 10 Years slide from my coffers. I may be a major Banco fan, but I'm not a completist ...he says while reposting a review for a 'completist only' compilation.

This review is pretty rambly for one of my latter-years TC efforts, probably 33% longer than it needs to be. It's like, whenever I got the chance to talk up Banco at TranceCritic, I didn't hold back one iota. The other reviews I wrote for the website - Maya and Farewell Ferengistan - were absolute behemoths in word count. Thank God for self-imposed word count, though I'm oh-so tempted to break that rule whenever I get around to Big Men Cry.)

IN BRIEF: Ten years of tour mates.

For good and ill, the remix album has become an undeniable part of dance music’s legacy. It’s reached a point where they are not only expected, but even counted upon in some circles. I’ve seen several bemoan a lacklustre album-proper only to follow such sentiments thinking “hopefully the remixes will make this better.” Trance alone has several albums packaged with an additional remix disc, not to mention the endless follow-up remix discs for the bigger releases. Despite some of the positives that come with the endeavor - the odd time a remix actually does an original better, or rounding up rare and obscure remixes into a single package - far too often these CDs are cynical, quick money-grabs, milking an artist’s music for every potential penny. Ultimately though, remix albums for electronic music share the same status live albums from rock bands do: potentially interesting, sometimes brilliant, but usually skippable.

This is what makes a remix CD for Banco de Gaia even more peculiar. Toby Marks has consistently shied away from cheap commercial gains, so you really can’t take 10 Years: Remixed as such. On the other hand, it’s not like there's been a plethora of remixes of Banco tunes over the years, most of which are done by Marks himself. Despite some notable names being given the re-rub task (Oliver Lieb, Speedy J, Jack Dangers), the trend has been Banco de Gaia does the best remixes of Banco de Gaia. However, those were already included on the 10 Years proper album.

Which brings us back to 10 Years: Remixed - specifically, what exactly is this release all about? I suppose doing a remix album is justifiable when it’s in conjunction with a retrospective album, but Marks knew full well there weren’t enough in his back catalog for a proper CD. If such is the case, then how about brand new remixes of a bunch of classic Banco tunes? Sounds good to me, only there’s a catch: instead of hiring out big names or scene mainstays, Marks got in touch with a bunch of his musical associates from over the years and gave them carte blanche to go wild. And if you’ve followed his musical career, you’d know the man from the World Bank has had some wildly eclectic associates, though with more of a leaning towards the global-fusion dance beat (obviously).

I guess what I’m trying to say here is only hard-line fans of Banco de Gaia are going to get much out of this release ; par for the course when it comes to remix albums anyway. If you’ve read this far, then you’re obviously a fan (or incredibly curious), so let me tell you what to expect from 10 Years: Remixed.

First, the familiar. Even here at TC, names such as Eat Static, Loop Guru, and HIA (The Higher Intelligence Agency) have crossed paths (er, mainly because of a certain reviewer’s affinity for a certain producer who’s been tied to them), and as such the groups bring their trademark sounds to the tracks they got to remix. HIA turns the obscure proto psy-dub gem Soufie into a clicky ambient-techno piece, Loop Guru ramp up the ethno-dub styling of Sakarya, and Eat Static gives Lai Lah the psy-trance business, but also throws in a bunch of other samples Marks has used in other tracks (I Love Baby Cheesy, Kuos, etc.).

Meanwhile, other psychedelic and dancehall dub mainstays like Temple Of Sound, Zion Train, Dreadzone, Asian Dub Foundation, Future Loop Foundation, and Transglobal Underground lend their hand, with various results. Some are quite the reworkings, such as Temple Of Sound turning Drunk As A Monk from a kind of prog-rock stomp into a brisk neurofunk excursion; or Dreadzone giving the incredibly somber vocal version of Glove Puppet some rhythmic spring (Jennifer Folker still sounds gloriously tragic though). On the other hand, not much is gained or lost in Future Loop Foundation adding dreamy Balearic tones to Celestine, while Zion Train seems at a loss as to what to do with Shanti, providing a brief and rather generic techno -dub tune in the process (honestly, though, would anyone be able to top Marks’ brilliant Black Mountain Mix?); and what exactly is going on in Obsidian? Transglobal Underground’s stomp-dub go at Amber is ace though.

Now, the obscure and unknowns. Well, 100th Monkey isn’t exactly obscure - it's long-time Banco collaborator Andy Guthrie - but certainly not a name you’ll immediately connect with. Since he’s been familiar with Marks’ work over the years, it’s unsurprising he gives Sunspot a great remix - and it’s also a mash-up with Qurna! Elsewhere on the CD, old school industrial group Perfume Tree - here known as Veloce - does a respectable deep-trance rub of Heliopolis, which rates around the Shanti remix in terms of usefulness. It’s the hopelessly obscure Carbomb that brings us the most ‘leftfield’ cut, turning Drippy into a kind of thrash-metal thing - has to be heard to be believed, even more so that it actually works!

*whew* That’s quite the eye-full for the hardcore Banco fan, I must admit, but given the eclecticism and seemingly random order of all these remixes, it could not be glossed over. Well, it could, but that’s not what we here at TC are about. Where am I going with this? Oh, right… 10 Years: Remixed. There’s a few quality remixes here - see below for which - but this CD’s mostly a ‘completists only’ deal. Although it’s interesting to hear different versions, it’s primarily going to be Banco fans that will appreciate them.

Written by Sykonee for TranceCritic.com, 2009. © All rights reserved.

Various - 10 Years Of Drum&BassArena: Mixed By Andy C & Grooverider (Original TC Review)

Resist Music: 2007

(2018 Update:
Called it! Okay, predicting the D'n'B Arena would still be kicking around for another decade wasn't hard. In fact, they've just recently released a twentieth anniversary 3CD extravaganza! Well, 'extravaganza' if you spring for the limited edition collector's roll-out, including t-shirt, stickers, vinyl accessories, all available on their Bandcamp. What, I ain't no shill. Might be worth scoping out that 20th roll-out though.

A couple things are glaringly absent in this review. One, no Pendulum namedrop. Yeah, Andy C only used one track of theirs in the Upfront Mix, but their influence is heard throughout his set. It's also interesting hearing early breakouts from Sub Focus, Chase & Status, Noisa, and T.C., who'd all go on to be huge stars in the d'n'b scene along with Pendulum. Andy C knew what was what back then. Back to the errors though, I failed to mention how much tech-step is thrown down in Grooverider's set. For the layman, the differences between darkcore, tech-step, and darkstep are negligible, but these are Very Important demarcations within the jungle scene, believe you me.)

IN BRIEF: Here’s to another ten.

A simple website dedicated to providing scene information and live sets of jungle DJs. That’s all it started out as. These days, the internet is flooded with such places, but in 1997 it was a rare commodity. Audio files were usually just too crap to be bothered with such features - the MP3 revolution was still a couple years away, after all.

Somehow, Drum & Bass Arena survived those uncertain early years, and is now celebrating its tenth anniversary. Chalk it up to the loyalty of the junglist massive (a slick design by the always reliable Designer’s Republic didn’t hurt either). The devotion to their scene is rivaled by few, and when they put their faith in something, they stick with it through thick and thin. Fortunately, the Arena has rewarded their loyalty over the years by keeping to its strengths and always providing fresh material for the online junglists to gorge on. The website may not be a major player in the wider world web, but it’s firmly carved out its niche and will undoubtedly be here another decade later.

So what better way to celebrate your resilience than to have a couple of the ‘deebee’ scene’s elder statesmen come in and make a DJ mix for you? Well, perhaps allowing someone from the new school to represent the ‘current’ set is one possibility, but that’s just a niggling observation. Andy C has proven quite capable of hanging with the young cats.

Anyhow, Andy gets to do the ‘Upfront’ disc, and upfront it is indeed. Right up front in your mutha-fuckin’ face! With that danj’a danj’a bass! Er... sorry about that. Listening to this gets me super-hyped, that’s all. The energy in Andy’s set is fast, furious, intense, manic, insane, and plenty more adjectives describing wicked crazy nuts.

Put in more stoic terms, disc one is simply fun jungle to have on. Although there is plenty feasting for the ears should you so desire, it kind of defeats the purpose of a set like this to only treat it that way; lounging in a sofa with headphones doesn’t do this set justice. Catchy vocal samples, frenetic beats, aggressive basslines, pleasing hooks: all winning ingredients for madcap parties. And unlike many jungle sets which tend to get samey-sounding due to unwavering rhythms, Andy keeps this one fresh with plenty of unique percussion arrangements, even at times throwing different time signatures into the works. I pity the house-head who attempts to dance to this.

Okay, so this is by no means a great jungle set. It does at times teeter off the rails with different styles of drum ‘n’ bass crashing into one another. Some of Andy’s DJ tricks don’t quite mesh. For a set claiming to be ‘upfront’, some songs are rather old. And similarly, I’m sure trainspotting junglists will bemoan about played out tracks (do trainspotters ever talk about anything else though?). These are all points one should take into consideration but if such factors don’t bother you, this is a solid set and should satisfy the dedicated and casual alike.

Of course, what point is there in looking back in the past with an anniversary release unless you also include a good ol’ ‘Classics’ set too? Well, perhaps the fact another classic d’n’b set is redundant in this industry, but that’s just a niggling observation. Grooverider has proven quite capable of giving the goldie oldies a proper rinsing on many occasions.

Anyone with a passing familiarity with jungle will recognize tons of tracks here. Valley Of Shadows, Champion Sound, Cutslo, Threshold, Alien Girl (also heard in a mash-up on the first disc, no less), The Lighter, The Warning: if you’re a junglist but don’t know these, then you fail, poseur. Heh, I kid, of course. I’ve yet to meet a junglist who doesn’t have a firm grasp on his scene’s history. Other EDM scenes could stand to learn from that.

For the most part, the ‘Rider sticks to that ominous, methodical form of jungle known as darkcore/step which was very popular with the less-mainstream crowds in the mid-90s. While far less frenetic than the stuff Andy C provided on his disc, it’s nonetheless great to listen to and chugs along at a good pace. He also throws in some older cuts when the genre was still in its hardcore roots, plus a token nod to the always manic ragga style at the end. All in all, it’s a well-crafted set but will probably be best enjoyed if you don’t have many of these tracks already floating around in your collection.

I suppose you’ve noticed this review doesn’t have a terribly serious tone to it. That’s because 10 Years isn’t a release that needs a thought-out analysis. It is, if anything, a self-congratulatory pat on the back by the Arena, and if you wish to join in the festivities, you’re more than welcome to. There’s not much new to find here but if you could use a couple more DJ mixes of old and new jungle, Andy’s and ‘Rider’s sets won’t disappoint.

Written by Sykonee for TranceCritic.com, 2007. © All rights reserved

Corderoy & U4IC DJ's - 3 Spirit (Original TC Review)

SPX Digital: 2009

(2018 Update:
Did I rush this one out back in the day? My saved file doesn't have an IN BRIEF, nor the usual copywrite tag assigned to all TranceCritic reviews. I suppose I could use the WayBackMachine to find out, but eh, who really cares at this point what my Brief Byline was. Probably something generic, like so much trance was that year. Not this tune though, it stood out enough for me to scope a few more singles from SPX Digital after. Didn't hurt they were sending them to me as free promos either.

As producers, Dan Apps and Phil Collins (no, not that one) pretty much fall from the face of Lord Discog's records after this, but Corderoy's kept himself busy. He launched his own label called CDRY, has collaborated with a couple prominent names in this scene (Mike Koglin, Judge Jules), and released a steady clip of singles on various, respected prints like High Contrast, Enhanced, Perfecto... wait, didn't I just say he has his own label? Come to think of it, there's no mention of it in Discogs either, beyond his bio blurb. Guess it didn't turn out.)


Corderoy then. Ever heard of him? Probably so, (and it was Corduroy that J’ had previously covered, in case you’re wondering) as the brothers had a minor hit way back in 2003 with their single Sweetest Dreams. Like so many producers that breakout with a hit, however, they never managed to repeat that success, releasing singles in the time being without much fanfare. Along the way, the brother named Dale crossed paths with a duo by the name U4IC DJs. Comprised of Dan Apps and Phil Collins (to my knowledge, no relation to Phil Collins), the new-formed trio have decided now is a great time to start up a net label called SPX Digital. Which brings us to their second digital single titled 3 Spirit. Goodness, but is this ever a dry intro.

That’s kind of the problem here, though. The very names ‘Corderoy’ and ‘U4IC DJs’ come across as rather dry; they certainly aren’t names that leap out at you when on a tracklist. Heck, we even had a recent Corderoy tune cross TranceCritic’s path a year and a half ago, and I’m sure no one noticed it (J’ certainly didn’t, at least not enough to single it out). And to be honest, this trio’s brand of trance isn’t exactly the kind to grab your attention either, as it’s so easily lost in the glut of yearly releases. If you’re familiar with the energetic brand of uplifting trance that tends to bubble just under the surface of the playlists of your typical Tiestin van Schulzenyonds, then you’ll be familiar with 3 Spirit’s tone.

Fortunately, this track does have a few things working in its favor, such that it just might make more of an impact should it be placed in a trance set properly (re: not mashed in with a string of similarly-structured tunes). The beats are suitably driving; the lead hook is a subtle bleepy thing with just enough off-beat quirk to lodge in your head; the uplifting strings that keep reaching for the lasers at the climax are just classy enough to not have your eyes roll into your head; and, most important, the breakdown is kept rather short, with an actual beat used in the following build so you’re not left standing around waiting for the action to return for long. About the only proper complaint to be had with 3 Spirit is how over-produced the climax sounds, with unnecessary side-chaining gumming things up; it isn’t to the cartoonish extremes Carl B’s been known to go, mind, but is there nonetheless.

The remixes are a well-rounded bunch, with their own series of plusses and minuses. Friend of U4IC and long-time associate of John Flemming, Steve Birch cranks the energy of 3 Spirit up a notch, letting the bleepy hook rather than the uplifting strings dictate the direction of his remix; there’s even less time for breakdowns here, which is good, but Birch really abuses the attack and delay washes, drowning much of the track in gratuitous effects. Ben Gold, meanwhile, cuts out the crap with his ’Raw’ remix, offering a banger of a tech-track; featuring a killer lead synth that simply kicks you in the kunt and the bleepy lead in support, there’s actually nothing wrong with this remix. Finally, Beta Blokka opts for a housier route, establishing a blissy atmospheric mood with subtle pads. This was actually looking to be my favorite remix out of the bunch, but is sadly undone by their choice of bassline, a kind of silly, muted, speed-garage farty thing that clashes horribly with the benign nature of the pads. I can dig on the attempt to give the track some ‘deep bass’ menace, but not when it uses corny out-of-sync ‘wobbles’.

Overall, this is a decent trance single. While I can’t see it getting Corderoy to be remembered for more than a breakout single, much less lighting the scene on fire, competent DJs of the genre should get some worthy mileage out of 3 Spirit.

Written by Sykonee for TranceCritic, 2009. © All rights reserved.

The Hacker & Eric Borgo - Zone (Original TC Review)

Tsuba Records: 2008

(2018 Update:
So The Hacker's kept himself busy, even reconvened with Ms. Herve for another collaborative album, but I can't say the same about Eric Borgo. His Discoggian data dries up shortly after this. The remixers, Ivan Smagghe and Tim Paris, collectively called It's A Fine Line - mostly did their own things independent from one another, but astoundingly reconvened a couple years ago to release a debut album under this project name. Whatever was the hold-up, guys?

As for the tunes, they're, um, there, and, uh, haven't aged well outside the 'minimal' era. So, they're, uh... meh, what else is there to say here?

Hey, did you know, for a while, this was to be the last item I was going to listen to in this massive undertaking of mine? It's not anymore, but for a while, it was! Boy, sure is swell it's not this anymore. Would have made for a lame, limp note to end it all with.)


IN BRIEF: A fine offering, but not from the name you’d immediately expect.

Let’s cut to the chase. You’ve probably clicked on this review because you saw The Hacker in the title and are wondering what Michel Amato’s been up to since he and Caroline Herve decided to put their famed partnership to the side so he could retreat back into the relative underground. Eh? Oh, you already knew he’s continued to serve up a steady stream of perfectly sleazy singles, hooked back up with Miss Kittin on occasion, and generally maintained his name as one to keep an eye out on, even if his brand of electro-body-techno isn’t quite as popular as it once was and still should be. Damn, but you guys are good!

Ah, so it’s the lesser-known name Eric Borgo that has gotten your curiosity then. His story is quite similar to many in this business: after earning his pay as a DJ for most of the 90s, he managed to gain the attention of Amato and Olivier Raymond (Oxia) at the turn of the decade, such that he’s had the opportunity to release a few singles with them since. Last year he and Oxia had a minor electro-house hit with Another Man, and now it would seem he’s teaming up with The Hacker to see if they can work some music magic together on a new single entitled Zone.

Unfortunately, magic is rather lacking on this effort. Granted, the bassline oozes suitable sleaze, and ominous techno pads add some atmosphere on occasion, but everything else is just far too sparse and uninteresting to make Zone anything greater than an early tech-house set piece. The main hook, such as it is, consists of a tuneless looping plinky riff, harkening to techno’s robotic heritage but is devoid of the necessary craftiness that’ll lift this above the ‘minimal’ glut. And no, playing around with layered echo-and-delay effects does not give it character; such tricks have grown as tired and cliché within techno circles lately as the super-sawwave breakdown did in epic trance. Considering Amato’s name is tied to this track, the charm his productions are known for is surprisingly absent from Zone.

Luckily, the flip offers something more than ‘minimal’ monotony. Ivan Smagghe (former Black Strobe member; Fabric and Suck My Deck contributor; Word Perfect spell-check nightmare) is the larger name behind this remix, and along with Tim Paris has crafted a remix that, although gloomier than the A-side, offers much more personality. Simple choppy rhythms, eerie mangled hooks, and disconcerting atmospheric fills provide a track that’ll turn a tech-house set towards the sinister side of clubbing. And while it may not have much spring, this remix will nonetheless satisfy for those who enjoy inducing a little paranoia into their listening habits.

So a simple little release we have here, folks. The keeper is definitely the remix, but it isn’t enough to earn Zone high marks. As for The Hacker (yes, the guy you really did click this review for), this is something of a stumble for his discography. If he insists on doing collaborations, maybe it’d be best for him to stick with Oxia or Kittin.

Written by Sykonee for TranceCritic.com, 2008. © All rights reserved.

Flowjob - Zentertainment (Original TC Review)

Iboga Records: 2008

(2018 Update:
Oh man, while re-listening to this album, I came up with the perfect analogy to describe it. Get ready for this, it'll blow your mind. So, like, you know how cars have, like, five gears, with the first being the slowest, and the fifth being the fastest? Flowjob's debut album, Support Normality, was often hitting that peak of fourth gear, but would have been super-boss if it had a track or two that hit the fifth. Zentertainment, on the other hand, seems stuck in second gear for most of its runtime, occasionally squeaking into third, but seldom with much lasting success. Isn't that such an awesome analogy? What do you mean a George Harrison quote's coming to mind?

After this album, Mads Tinggaard left the group, but Joakim Hjørne's carried on the Flowjob banner to this day, even releasing an album in 2016. I browsed some of his recent material, and it sounds decent enough for contemporary prog-psy, but not much distinctive compared to most other stuff out there, missing that super-infectious groove these early efforts provided. May have to dig further to find out whether it disappeared after Mads' departure, or if it was a gradual thing.)


IN BRIEF: Sophomore stumble.

Strong debuts are common in the rock music industry. Whether thanks to initial innocence, talented hunger, or a nurtured push, such musicians often bring vital enthusiasm to their freshman efforts. Following that up with a solid second effort tends to be far more difficult, though, for a number of reasons that needn’t be brought up at this point; anyone with a passing familiarity with the music business would know them anyway. However, because dance music is a market dominated more by the single than the album, the dreaded Sophomore Slump occurs far less often. Heck, despite dozens of EPs, some producers don’t even get around to releasing a full-length. In this regard, the psy branch of EDM probably has the most in common with rock counterparts, as it is quite possibly the only large scene within dance culture that is primarily dominated by LPs.

As such, like rockers, many psy acts fall prey to second-album stumbles. Where it seems there’s agreeable debut albums from countless names monthly, strong follow-ups are increasingly rare. It’s as though all their great ideas are used up in one shot, and instead of easing through the in-between with singles, they rush out with a second album that sounds like a bunch of B-sides to the first.

And does Flowjob’s new album Zentertainment succumb to these pratfalls? Come-come now, surely you’ve learned how these introductory paragraphs go? Fortunately for the Denmark duo, it is only marginally so.

For those just tuning in to the Flowjob sound, Misters Hjorne and Tinggaard made an immediate impact with their 2006 debut album Support Normality on the burgeoning prog-psy label Iboga. I've already covered that release, but in case you’re not up for reading one of our older, rather clumsily-written reviews (we were still new at it, honest!), here’s the abridged version: infectiously groovy, wonderfully vibey, free-flowing prog that flirted between house and trance throughout, with very little actual psy influences considering the label it appeared on. Although some of the tracks on that album could have used more energetic climaxes, Flowjob’s sound was still highly enjoyable. Two years on now, where do we find the Denmark duo?

A surface scan reveals them to be cruising along right where they left off. Flowjob’s distinct neo-Tokyo electro-coo’ sound is all over Zentertainment, so if you come in looking for more of that, you’re in for a treat. And on the rhythmic end, they’re just as infectious as ever. You could potentially ignore a track for most of its duration, but once something grabs your attention, it hooks you in and you’re locked in for the ride. A welcome addition to their production are craftier basslines that are unafraid to leap off the loop-rails. If things are sounding fine and dandy, though, then what’s the problem I hinted at above?

Frankly, what’s missing from Zentertainment is a sense of thrill. I really don’t want to compare albums because even if it is not the case I have to assume the reader is coming into this one cold; however, when a follow-up lacks the same energy a debut has, comparisons are inevitably made. Flowjob has scaled back their music such that it comes off quaint and pleasant now, which of itself is fine for casual moments or warm-up periods at parties. But when you hear potential for more lurking beneath you can’t help but come away with lingering thoughts of “what if...” This was what impeded Support Normality from reaching some truly exhilarating highs, and now that Zentertainment finds Flowjob in an even mellower mood, their music comes off very subdued. The first half of this album does maintain a decent sense of flow, though. It’s all pleasant sounding with spacey pads, catchy (if overused) vocal samples, and undeniably groovy rhythms.

Once the lovely trance vibes of Don’t Believe In Mirrors ends, though, chances are you’ll be wanting Zentertainment to either ratchet-up the energy or offer something new. Flowjob provides the latter; unfortunately, it seriously drops the album into a kind of middling variation of their sound with lower BPMs and odd hooks. There are moments that’ll still grab your attention but unlike prior work, it never seems to go anywhere. It sounds as though the duo, like so many sophomore efforts, are trying to experiment in areas where they don’t have quite the musical fortitude to make work, all the while their strengths are sorely hindered in the process. And unfortunately, it ends the album on a rather limp note.

A bad album, then? No, not really. For the most part, it is still enjoyable, and if anything Zentertainment is charming enough for chiller moments. If you missed out on Flowjob’s debut, however, this one probably won’t do much for you.

Written by Sykonee for TranceCritic.com, 2008. © All rights reserved.

The Field - Yesterday And Today (Original TC Review)

Kompakt: 2009

(2018 Update:
Haha, look at 2009 Sykonee, throwing around the word 'trance' so casually in this review. Yeah, The Field's music is far more trancey than most things in the realm of tech-haus, but that's always been part of Kompakt's manifesto anyway. The pseudo-genre 'neo-trance', neighboring genres taking on trance elements, is a better descriptor, or if you want to be really daft, 'shoegaze techno' (there's a lot of daft folks at Discogs, by the by). Also, where was I going with that Underworld comparison? Sure, Willner's rub of Sasha's Mongoose on The EmFire Collection fit the bill, but not so much here.

It's weird to remember that, at one point, The Field and Burial were held in the same regard among music critics. The proof is in Metacritic's own aggregation, From Here We Go Sublime and Untrue both still holding top honors for "Best Of 2007" music, even above Radiohead's In Rainbows! However, one is constantly referenced with reverence, even getting documentaries made about it a decade on, while the other does not. I guess folks felt The Field's brand of music-making was too singular for a plethora of copycats to emerge from it, leaving Mr. Willner to carry on doing his thing to this day with little fanfare anymore. So it goes for many techno heroes of the '00s.)


IN BRIEF: Evolution.

Axel Willner had quite a thankless task in replicating the critical good-will of his debut LP From Here We Go Sublime, so it’s just as well he hasn’t bothered to try. His sophomore effort is carrying on as usual, as though that top spot at MetaCritic’s “Best Of 2007” doesn’t exist. And why should he care? Yes, the album was quite good, but reading several of the reviews, you’d think this was the first time the rock journals had heard trance music. Then again, it wouldn’t shock me if it actually was the first time many of them had heard trance music, at least of the non-epic variety. Surprising such folks who’d forgotten that electronic dance music could actually contain endlessly looping lovely melodies doesn’t seem that hard in this age of electro-glitch (has it really been so long since Boards Of Canada released Music Has The Right To Children?).

So obviously much of that initial love affair has subsided, and the buzz on Yesterday And Today hasn’t been anywhere near as enthusiastic. Oh, it’s received good scores - as it will here - but now that Willner’s tricks are familiar, the press seems far more subdued in its praise. It’s a shame, then, that Willner has managed to bring some fresh wrinkles to The Field that will go relatively unnoticed.

Touring with just a laptop for his ‘live’ shows must have felt highly constricting to ol’ Axel, as he’s brought in a few extra musicians to the studio to liven up the proceedings this time out. Drumming journeyman John Stanier is the most notable addition, along with one Dan Enqvist, whom brings an assortment of backing instruments to the fray (bass, guitar, piano, vibraphone). A few more rounds out the cast and what we’re given is a richly textured sound that tickles your ears at several frequencies while maintaining that loopy Field structure.

Oh, still not sure of what The Field even sounds like? Think Emerson-era Underworld, though without Karl Hyde’s nonsensical lyrics. The titular track on here alone is very much in the Underworld-vein, with an infectiously groovy rhythm and spacey synth work sucking you into a lengthy trance-trip. The 90s comparisons don’t end there, however, as final track Sequenced is very much like early ambient dub as championed by The Orb, though lacking Dr. Patterson’s odd sense of stoner-humor. Meanwhile, The More That I Do could easily draw Loop Guru similarities, with its tribal stomp and repetitive chant.

These are far from nostalgic love-ins or rehashes, mind, but if you’ve ever paid attention to EDM from the 90s, Willner’s tunes will bring back such memories of the era when similar material was getting massive play from all the British DJs. About the only track here that escapes a 90s comparison is Everybody’s Got To Learn Sometime, primarily because it’s a cover of an early 80s song from synth-pop act The Korgis; granted, it’s given a fine contemporary spin to fit within Willner’s sonic palette.

Somewhat annoyingly, and not just because it makes this album review shorter than most, Yesterday And Today isn’t terribly long. Sure, the six tracks offered are worth your pennies, and it certainly doesn’t feel like it ends all too soon, but when the musical ideas are purposefully limited, it’d have been nice of Willner to indulge us a little more. There’s almost a care-free jazz-fusion jam-band approach to these: most of them just start and keep going from beginning to end, improvising around the basic melodies along the way.

Yesterday may not be as initially, er, sublime as Willner’s debut, but it is a worthy follow-up. By adding extra musicians to The Field, he’s made his sound more organic and nuanced. Here’s looking forward to album number three.

Written by Sykonee for TranceCritic, 2009. © All rights reserved.

Zomby - Where Were U In '92 (Original TC Review)

Werk Discs: 2008

(2017 Update:
Screw '92. Where were you in 2008, when this came out, eh? Or maybe 2001, the same sixteen year gap as Zomby had between album and era-homage. Yeah, there's a sobering thought, I reckon. Does that mean we're due for some nostalgic throwbacks to vintage electroclash? Like, I can't think of much else from that year you could claim as 'cutting edge' and distinctly of that time, but with almost no follow-up in its wake as it splintered into competing scenes. Genres generally get comfortable and cozy these days, laying fat as time wears on. Or completely fizzling out as trend-jumping 'flash-in-pans'. I'm looking at you, whatever that 'minimal-prog' thing Border Community did.

Zomby's maintained a decent career for himself nearly a decade on, still releasing the occasional album that's just as intriguing as it is frustrating to play as this one. Seriously, does this guy have major ADHD, what with all the short snippets of tracks his LPs are littered with? Crazy that he ended up on 4AD for a time, though recently found his way back to his more natural setting of Hyperdub. Oh, and I think he's somehow remained incognito. Lord Discogs doesn't even list a proper name, much less any photos without some cover. That's serious dedication to the act, but hey, if the mighty UR could do it, so can Zomby.)


IN BRIEF: Too much old, not enough school.

We’ve certainly never hid our fondness for classic rave sounds of the early 90s here at TranceCritic. I’m sure it’s gotten to the point where readers figure we’ll give anything a glowing remark so long as it has a rolling piano, wailing diva sample, giddy breakbeat, or big-synth riff. Let’s be honest though (as if we ever aren’t): it isn’t enough to just make use of these bits and pieces – there needs to be a degree of intuitive musicianship involved too. It might have been a unique twist on the style, or a perfectly executed production, or perhaps a ‘special-something’ that captured the free-wheeling spirit of that time; whatever it was, the old-school classics have endured for these reasons, leaving plenty of forgettable tunes to the dustbin of history. And truth be told, there was quite a bit deservedly left behind.

While singles were awesome, many of the albums from that era were forgettable. Seriously, beyond the big ones, can you remember many old school albums? And even then, can you remember how every track went? The trouble was not many producers seemed capable of making full-lengths; for every Experience, you’d get about ten Movements. Albums generally consisted of an intro track, your big singles, a couple variations on that single, the ‘leftfield’ contribution, an ‘other-genre’ filler track or two, and remixes of the big singles – in that order. There was a lot of repetitiveness in old school albums, and in making a deliberate throw-back to the year 1992, Zomby has either accidentally or intentionally fallen into this trap.

First, of course, is who even this Zomby guy is. Well, good luck finding that one out. He remains anonymous, a characteristic worth its weight in gold where London’s dubstep scene is concerned. Still, some have him pegged as the next Burial, a dubious distinction I’m sure he’d prefer not to have given his utter disregard for following convention. This here debut album is a prime example: instead of building upon his promising early dubsteb and chip-tune singles, as many were expecting, he goes and makes a rave album.

Fair enough, plenty of producers are doing this lately, sometimes with brilliant results. If you’re going this route, though, there needs to be a good spin on the formula, otherwise we may as well just replay the classics.

It starts promisingly enough (oh, but how often albums “starts promisingly,” eh?), with Fuck Mixing, Let’s Dance hitting all the right nostalgia nerves, including sped-up vocals, quick punchy riffs, and bouncy beats. It’s an intro track though, setting the tone of the album before we’re lead into what would be the ‘big single’, Euphoria. Sounding like some long lost proto-jungle track even Grooverider inexplicably missed, it’s got a great shuffling breakbeat, many little tidbits culled from hardcore of yore (klaxon wails, vocal samples, catchy riffs), and a dubstep wobble bassline bringing it in the here-and-now. If none of this sounds appealing to you, however, then you’d better forget this album, as Zomby basically uses the elements from Euphoria and continuously recycles them throughout. And this is where the problems start.

For instance, do you love klaxon wails? I mean, really love ‘em? No, I mean really fucking love ‘em? Because you’re gonna hear ‘em… a lot. Also, did you love that shuffling breakbeat in Euphoria? No, I mean really… you get the point. Nearly every track on Where Were U sounds like a remix of Euphoria, just with a different ‘old school’ idea thrown on top of it. Tears In The Rain sludges things up with a wobble bass that drones more than wobbles, and makes use of the ‘rip speech from sci-fi movie’ cliché (the title alone should tell you which speech it is). Get Sorted through Float is pretty much one idea spread out, taking the klaxons and shuffle beats and mixing it up with Bizarre Inc.’s classic Playing With Knives. And the titular track is basically a megamix of all the album’s bits and pieces, flowing into a kind of mish-mash of it all with Baby D’s Let Me Be Your Fantasy and Street Fighter II samples (“Sonic boom!”). That’s a fair amount of Where Were U’s playing time taken up by rehashing a couple ideas and spreading it out, which, as mentioned, is par for the course where many old school albums were concerned.

Since Zomby doesn’t stray from the formula much, it’s always a welcome relief when he actually does, even if the results aren’t always memorable. Daft Punk Rave is little more than an interlude making use of the French duo’s Technologic dialogue over a beat; Need Ur Lovin’, Hench, and B With Me are the kind of ‘other-genre’ filler tracks you might find mired in a ‘92 compilation dedicated to those sounds (deep house, hardcore, and breakbeat, respectively) – I have to mention, however, that the klaxons sound pretty good in Need Ur Lovin’, as Zomby decides to funk them up a little.

As for the ‘leftfield’ track, Zomby has taken modern-day crunk man Gucci Mane’s Pillz, thrown in a bunch of chip-tune bleeps, and sped the pace up to proper amphetamine levels. It’s quite nutty, but in being so radically different from everything else on Where Were U, the track definitely leaps out. All the while, though, it sounds like something that could have been produced back in ’92, probably during one of Richard D. James’ ‘inspired’ moments.

Ultimately, Zomby’s debut comes off like a good ’92 pirate radio session someone recorded to tape - even the general sound quality has a kind of ‘aged’ feeling to it. This would have made for a nifty release then, had it been heard back in ’92. At this point, however, Where Were U is more like a quirky artifact that you may throw on occasionally, but has little that differentiates itself from the source material it draws influence from. His unfortunate insistence on recycling so many of the same sounds, riffs, and drum patterns throughout (old and new) severely dulls the listening experience. Of course, the counter here is that a throwback such as this isn’t meant to be critiqued by modern standards, that it’s a celebration of the good ol’ days if raving. Fine and dandy, but if that means hearing a bunch of sounds that can be found on any old school compilation, we may as well stick with the classics. In pilfering so much from the past, it certainly seems Zomby has.

Written by Sykonee for TranceCritic.com, 2009. © All rights reserved.