Bluescreen - Undercurrents

Shadow Records: 2001

That the label that gave America an early taste of Ninja Tune and all things trip-hoppy, abstract-funky would throw its hat into the trance game was remarkable, daft even, among the most unexpected things I’ve ever come across in my music buying time. Still, with that scene popular enough with young punters, what harm was there in giving it a shot with a couple, nicely-priced compilations in Trance Sessions? Besides, it helped promote one of their signed acts, one Anthony Voitik, or Bluescreen as he goes by here.

This debut album came out a short while before Trance Sessions did, in of itself remarkable. Forget that whole ‘jumping on the trance bandwagon’ angle the compilations kinda-sorta reeked of, Shadow went and signed a totally unknown dude for a trance album. Not just any trance either, but deliberately old-school leaning stuff, tunes that wouldn’t sound out of place coming from MFS’ heyday, a style almost extinct by the year 2001 courtesy of the drudge-Dutch invasion. How’d they even make contact with him? Mr. Voitik hailed from the literal opposite end of the continent from Shadow headquarters, mostly residing in the hinterlands of British Columbia. For a time, only a few streets away from me.

Okay, full disclosure: I know ol’ Anthony. Like, went to the same high school as him. Drank at the same house parties as him. Rode four hours in his car to the same bush raves in Smithers with him. This probably doesn’t sound like a big deal to those living in major hubs of electronic music (London, Detroit, Berlin, New York City, San Francisco, Montreal… Vancouver?), where talent of all sort mingled with regular joes as they grew up. When I say our hometown is out on the fringes of Western society though, I ain’t kidding. It’s amazing that anyone from there ended up getting a record deal for a trance album, much less on a well-known trip-hop print like Shadow Records.

Thus me saying I like Undercurrents obviously comes with degree of bias, since I quite like the brand of trance Mr. Voitik enjoyed as well. If you fancied yourself some of that Paul van Dyk vibe but hated his turn towards the pop side of things, you’ll probably like this too. There isn’t much in the way of surprises, Bluescreen mostly sticking to an easy-going, traditional template to his tunes. Of notables diversions, he goes a little prog-house with Vanishing, Daybreak has some fun with the acid, and Surfacing works as a nice summation to the melodic points touched upon throughout. Aliendisco is about the only tune that leaps way out of Mr. Voitik’s established comfort zone - it’s speed garage, but with a sci-fi twist. I’ve never heard another speed garage track do this, much less produced by a trance guy. Corsten hasn’t gone there. Lieb sure never went there. Armin hasn’t gone there, and he’s gone to some wack places over the years. Tiësto probably would have though, if there was money to be made.

Various - Trance Sessions

Shadow Records: 2002

This CD doesn’t make sense. Not one small bit of sense. Barely a smidge of sanity is associated with it. How does Shadow Records, a label that built its reputation on trip-hop, jazzdance, and leftfield techno, throw its hat into the big ol’ trance-tastic PLUR-poodle? Trance Sessions isn’t some coy, smirking title, where trance is but a concept for exploring the hypnotic potential of deep spliff jams. Nay, this is full-blown, hands-in-the-air, gurn-off-your-face trance, with the gated pads and the acid lines and the supersaws and the off-beat basslines and the trite vo- no, wait, there are no vocals here. Okay, point to you, Shadow Records.

That still doesn’t explain why a label that broke DJ Krush and Ninja Tune to an American audience palled about with the trance scene. Heck, wasn’t their parent label, Instinct, still in operation anyway? They’d released some trancey material back in the early ‘90s, so why not again if they’re so intent on putting out a little trance? No, wait, Instinct was dabbling in indie rock at the time – that’d be an utterly bizarre clash of scenes right there. And while big-time trance money was being made by the British superclubs and globetrotting DJs, it wasn’t that popular in the States; plus the scene was in the midst of a recession as 2001 drew to a close. Ultimately, my best conjecture is, in accordance with Shadow’s other [Style] Sessions series of compilations, the label felt it only appropriate in giving the popular clubbing music a chance. They even went all-in with the concept, getting a continuous mix from Shawn Francis, and even inserting a tiny glowstick into the spine of the clear jewel case. Because if you’re gonna’ cheese out, you may as well own it full-stop, right?

Actually, Trance Sessions gets off on a surprisingly solid start. Things kick off with Afterhours from Alphazone. No, not the supersaw hard trance mongers everyone loved in the mid-‘00s; this one’s a solo project from a Brian Castro. His track’s also rather old-school, with floating Balearic vibes, gated choir pads, and the like. Two more remarkably old-school tracks for the time follow, from a chap by the name of Bluescreen (one Anthony Voitek… more on him at a later date). Explore has a minimalist MFS vibe going for it, while Razor gets all agro with a muted acid hook. Fourth cut Avalanche from Sentinel gets (then) current with a progressive trance tune that would have fit snuggly in an early Global Underground mix. Trance Sessions is shaping up as a nifty under-the-radar collection of trance.

Then it goes completely off the rails. Boshy tracks playing one after the other, hard crossfade slam negating any sense of flow, and tunes that just aren’t that good or memorable. Jan Dexter’s Believe sounds especially cheap compared to the stronger opening salvo. Cannot deny Masters Of Balance’s Long Way Home gets some Sash! charm going for it, but it’s not enough to rescue an abysmal back-end to Trance Sessions. Shame.

Various - Shadow: Hed Sessions 2

Shadow Records: 2002

What's that, you say? You don't care about Shadow Records' genre explorations and just want to kick back with some down low funky urban vibes? First off, props to you for being that dedicated to defunct label to even have developed such standards. I didn't even know y'all existed out there. Hell, I was surprised to find any Shadowheads even when they were in business. Folks knew of them, sure, but more as an outlet for older releases from Ninja Tune, DJ Cam, or Kruder & Dorfmeister – only hardcore fans of trip-hop and jazz-funk gave the label's massive extended roster much notice, and even then plenty of names slipped through the cracks. Goo needs more love, yo'!

Where was I going with this? Oh, right Hed Sessions. This was the sort of compilation that served Shadow Records best, focusing on the sound that made the label’s breaded butter while throwing the spotlight on acts that had fallen through the downtempo cracks. Hell, given the massive size of the that scene and all its variant genres (trip-hop, illbient, acid jazz, nu-jazz, dub, funk-fusion, abstract-step, sprockets), it’s more of a chasm than a crack producers could disappear down. Forget the obsessive techno collectors, I’d like to see someone gather all there is in this field of electronic music!

The first Hed Sessions did as the Hard Sessions did with two tracks per five selected artists. Hed Sessions 2 mixes things up a little by drawing upon more artists instead. There’s also a repeat from the previous volume, in that Saru (Steve Branson) appears again, though in remixed form. Wait, Subterra already was remixed on Hed Sessions, and now we get another remix of that track in Hed Sessions 2? Damn, pimp your own acts much, Shadow? Whatever, the dubbed out version of Suck In Love’s good stuff. Why am I talking about Hed Sessions as though I’ve already reviewed it?

By the by, Blend is on here thrice. Once offering a remix of Greg Long’s Economic Freedom, and getting remixed himself by DJ DRM in Addicted and Greg Long for All That Dub. Ah, a little ‘I remix you, you remix me’ action going on here. And for the love of dub, I hope y’all remember me mentioning Blend some twenty months ago (!) – his Echo Warrior album is exactly the sort of thing I was blabbering on about above there.

Other tracks on Hed Sessions 2 include trip-groove hoppin’ Goldiggin’ from Cordovan, jazz-funk hop of Banana Jazz Hop from Toye, floating jazz-dub vibes of Nikita’s Dream from Swirlbent, and space ‘n’ spliff turntable action of Darkness from Raging Family. If you recognize most these names, you either know them personally, or already have this CD, because this is literally the only place Lord Discogs recognizes them. Still, though walking the same paths Mo’Wax and Ninja Tune had long treaded, these are all fine tunes, definitely deserving of more exposure even if the artists aren’t around any longer.

Various - Shadow: Hard Sessions

Shadow Records: 2001

When Shadow Records started their big push out of underground obscurity, they knew more markets than their traditional blazed-out audience needed attention. Fine and all continuing the promotion of trip-hop, illbient (aka: trippier hop), and abstract jazz funk, but geez, look at all the bank house, trance, and techno was making too. It wouldn't hurt to dabble a little in those scenes, would it? No, not at all. Just set up a couple new compilation series as an introduction, offer them up at a reduced rate to entice the curious, and scour the lands of America for talent interested in a record deal. Search high and low for them too, oh Shadow lords, even the backwaters of northwestern British Columbia (yes, this did happen!).

Hard Sessions was set up as the label's showcase of the more aggressive acts within Shadowland’s sphere of interest. While mostly overlooked d'n'b (though ASC makes an early career appearance in Hard Sessions 2!), in a move that surprised many, this first volume features techno from Dietrich Schoenemann, a veteran of the ambient and experimental circuit. He'd released material on Shadow's ambient parent label Instinct, so it's not like ol' Diets was a complete unknown, but what's he doing here on Hard Sessions? For that matter, what's he doing offering up head-down pulsing techno workouts with his two tracks here, Dark Sight and Autumn Ground? The former thumps with all the minimalist fury of a Jeff Mills cut, and the latter goes for the dark, tribal jugular of a 4am bender in a dank warehouse. It’s not the hard, bangin’ shit, but it’s solid stuff, and totally at odds with everything else on Hard Sessions. Hey, I appreciate Shadow’s attempt at subjecting die-hard junglists to something outside their comfort zone, but maybe an entirely different compilation dedicated to techno would have been a better option.

Including the two Dietrich cuts, ten tracks make up this compilation, two per artist. The artists range from the highly prolific to the hopelessly obscure. For instance, Hard Sessions opens with smooth flowing tech-step ofSo Dark Now from Magnetic, or David Harrow to Lord Discogs. He had two albums on Shadow Records, plus a few more LPs following that label’s folding. Then there’s the other work David Harrow’s accomplished as High Stepper, Technova, Oicho... holy cow, does this guy have a huge discography! Then there’s Illform (Quentin Allen), who only released but one album of d’n’b with Shadow, though had a little more success with deep house as Karu after. Quite a contrast there, mang’.

Hanna, another prolific producer, provides more d’n’b with a jazzy bent, while weirdo cybernetic, abstract, broken-jungle one-shot group Droid rounds out the rest. No, really, I can’t think of any other way to describe Droid. It’s like Amon Tobin’s more spastic moments fed through a Detroit jazz factory. Worth a listen just to believe. So is Hard Sessions too, if you ever stumble upon it on the cheap. Discover a few great producers in the process!

Carl Craig - Onsumotahasheeat

Shadow Records: 2001

While there's no doubting Carl Craig's status as a Very Important Person in the world techno, his has increased with age. Yeah, he was Very Important during the '90s, what with being second generation Detroit, Landcruising and some other stuff that was important enough to namedrop him in conversation. Yet as the new millennium took form and the number of yesteryear names to drop was gradually pruned, Mr. Craig continuously elevated above his peers. I honestly haven't a clue why this was so, but then I'm slightly biased to the late '90s, where his output was on a downswing as techno generally floundered about looking for new directions and relevancy. Guess all those hip kids getting into tech-house and minimal found some reason to prop him up to legendary status.

Am I blowing smoke with this theory? Perhaps a little, but take a look at this CD, Onsumotahasheeat - I’ll bet a Paperclip People white label that this is the first any of you have seen it (you people lurking my Discogs profile don’t count). You’d think his second official DJ mix would garner more attention, but then it is Shadow Records, a label not exactly high on the minds of the average techno head. On the other hand, few make mention of his way early contribution to the DJ-Kicks series either, and he never had a significant mix out again until 2005’s Fabric 25, when name-dropping techno’s old guard was incredibly fashionable again. From there, Carl Craig kept gaining Very Important Person status point, earning him mixes on all the significant labels and podcasts. Where was the love back in the day, mang?

Oh, wait, maybe the reason Onsumotahasheeat’s gone neglected is due to its content, essentially a Shadow Records showcase. Jimpster is here! Recloose is here! Goo’s here! Droid’s here! L.B.’s here. Um, Marasma’s here. Er... Shinju Gumi’s here? R. Craig? Sneakster? Ultralights? Where’d you dig up these guys, Carl? Yeah, the Shadow archives have some relative unknowns about, but Mr. Craig claims he was fascinated by their library such that he wanted his mix spotlighting the label’s musically bold ways. Fair enough, as the tunes are at least fascinating.

There’s Latin jazz-funk (Jimpster’s Wild Light, John Arnold’s Universal Mind, Ultralights’ Supernova), wicked Scarface turntable action by Goo in The O.G., and big beat business in Shinju Gumi’s Hide And Seek. Then there’s the weird stuff: Droid’s Spacey Poly Bell gives us taste of Detroit d’n’b (!), leftfield electro covers by L.B. (James Brown’s Superbad and Prince’s The Future, if you’re curious), drone-ambient trip-hop (!!) with Sneakster’s Twisted, and fuzzed-out jazz-rock-hop in Marasma’s I Have Got Garlic Hanging On My Front Door. Okay, that last one’s mostly weird for the title.

As you’ve undoubtedly guessed, Onsumotahasheeat’s all over the place in terms of genre. About the only thing holding it together is Craig’s esoteric ear for electronic music. Mixing’s mostly non-existent, but unnecessary for this CD. A fun little throw-on for those days in blunted haze.

Various - Ninja Tune: The Shadow Years

Shadow Records: 2001

In the sub-micro-niche commodity classification known as “Ninja Tune Showcases”, The Way Of The Ninja sits at one end of the spectrum – at the other end sits this. Way early in Shadow Records’ humble beginnings, the label got by in offering State-side distribution for several European records. Most were one-offs, but they did share a two-year partnership with Ninja Tune as a means of disturbing some of Coldcut’s label’s older material. Wow, Ninja working with Shadow, who’d see that coming?

Of course, Ninja Tune’s clout eventually grew big enough they handled their own American affairs, but Shadow still had rights to those older tracks as they saw fit to use them. With Shadow’s own clout never higher at the turn of the century, they also released a few Ninja back-catalog CDs as a means of earning a quick buck from an unsuspecting public. Okay, that’s a ridiculously cynical take on this compilation – I’m sure Shadow had all the best of intentions when putting this double-CD together. As a showcase of Ninja Tune’s repertoire, however, The Shadow Years is incredibly slight.

Yes, a 2-CD, eighteen track collection of Ninja Tune music come off underwhelming. Part of the problem is the small number of artists Shadow had to work with. For sure, most of the main players of Ninja Tune’s early years are accounted for: Coldcut, The Herbaliser, DJ Vadim, DJ Food, 9 Lazy 9, London Funk Allstars, Hedfunk, Funki Porcini, and Up, Bustle & Out are all repped. And of those nine artists, we get one song each on both CDs. Unfortunately, it’s not all their best material. I mean, of the Coldcut tunes Shadow could have selected, Eine Kleine Hed Musick and Atmoic Moog 2000 are the ones you go with? Not that I should have expected Autumn Leaves or Timber, but surely something a little less MOR from More and Black could have been included (for the record, I adore Eine Kleine Hed Musick, but for mostly personal reasons).

Truthfully, the selection of tunes here aren’t bad at all, all the downtempo genres Ninja Tune made their mark in given their moments. There’s trip-hop vibes from DJ Vadim and The Herbaliser, abstract broken-beats from Funki Porcini, funky ‘70s licks from DJ Food (I always picture Ninja Walk as the opening credits to a blaxploitation flick), and acid jazz grooves from 9 Lazy 9, London Funk Allstars and Up, Bustle & Out. In a way, The Shadow Years’ relative lack of material just goes to show how much Ninja Tune spoils us for music, names like Amon Tobin and Drome missing from this collection, to say nothing of extensive discographies of those who do show up here.

If you’re utterly raw to Ninja Tune and won’t spring for one of their boxsets, The Shadow Years is an adequate starter’s sampler. While it barely scratches the surface of even Shadow’s association with Ninja Tune, it does provide a quick glimpse into some of the label’s more seminal years.

Blend - Echo Warrior

Shadow Records: 2002

I’ve apparently known about Blend (George Mandas on his Greek passport) for a while now, appearing on the 2002 Shadow Records compilation Hed Sessions 2. Among original cuts and remixes, he makes up a third of that CD's tracklist, and is easily a highlight of all that funky, downtempo niceness (shouldn’t I have reviewed Hed Sessions 2 already?). It was just recently, however, that I re-stumbled upon Blend, while scouring through Shadow’s discography at Lord Discogs. Say, the samples of Echo Warrior sound good, but fat chance finding a hard copy over a decade- whoa, Amazon does have one available!

The album turned out as I expected, a solid collection of downtempo tunes borrowing influences from trip-hop, dub, nu-jazz, and broken-beats. In fact, you could say Mr. Mandas manages to 'blend' them quite excellently! Eh? Eh...? Oh come on, you have to give me that pun - it was too tempting to pass up, the most succulent of low-lying fruit.

Seriously though, the name Blend as an artist title is apt, as ol' George displays quite the craftsmanship for his chosen sound. Each track typically features a specific genre of the downtempo scene, but borrows enough elements from others such that they never drown in cliché. So whereas you may prefer pure dub vibes over jazz noodling, even when Blend gets his saxaphones or standing cellos in the spotlight, it’s always accompanied by rivers of reverb and smokey space.

Thus, Echo Warrior gets to indulge in a surprising bit of diversity: Green Tea Blues and E-Funkt have funky hip-hop flavor going for them (kind of reminds of a Gorillaz instrumental); All That Dub, Plan Zero, and Moods For Mr. D get heavier into the bass ’n’ echo end of things; Blue Man and World Dot Com play up urban jazz tones, such that you just might handle those beatniks and their poetry after all; a couple nods to trip-hop and illbient (really, ‘trippier-hop’) crop up in Addicted, Soulcentrik, and Bleep, Human, Bleep; and even drum ‘n’ bass gets represented with Sunset Cream and Strictly Nowhere. I should mention that this summation of Echo Warrior is far from sequenced; in fact, every stylistic variant is nicely paced from one another, giving this album an equally class listening experience when played from beginning to end.

Okay, high praises all around, but if what I say is true, why have so few (including myself, until now) heard a thing about Blend’s decade-plus old debut album? Unfortunately for Mr. Mandas, his timing in releasing an album like this wasn’t the best. Had Echo Warrior somehow managed a late-‘90s street date, it may have stood out as something far more unique. By 2002, however, the downtempo scene was flooded with options for music suitable for lounges and late-night smoke sessions. Blend couldn’t help but get lost in the glut. Perhaps this little review will turn some ears his way though, as Echo Warrior shouldn’t be lost to indifference and passing of time.

Various - Freebass Breakz & Sub Funk Beats

Shadow Records: 1999

First, apologies for the crummy image at left. The only one I could find online was too small to use, thus I resorted to taking a photo with my phone. I’ve reviewed obscure stuff before, but always found a decent cover pic' (sometimes uploaded to Lord Discogs myself back when I had access to a scanner …maybe I should get one?). I know this CD isn’t terribly well-known, but surely something from Shadow Records wouldn’t be this obscure.

Yes, in a total coincidence, we’re dealing with another release from Instinct’s sub-label. Hey, they released a ton of music during their run, and believe you me we'll be dealing with more of their output down the road – they were very affordable CDs, after all. Still, Shadow's hit-to-miss ratio varied wildly, and this particular mix with the ghetto title Freebass Breakz & Sub Funk Beats is definitely a miss.

Well, not a full-on miss. More like hitting the border of the target, if you were after the hottest offering in breaks of the late '90s. Progressive, Florida, big beat, and even the burgeoning nu-skool was what folks wanted, and Freebass Breakz only sparingly has that. Instead, we're dealing with proper street-funk breaks and ...um, space breaks? I'm not sure what to call it, as it doesn't really fall into any conventional genre of that scene.

Before that though, let’s deal with some straight-up, dirty acid funk! Aw yeah, Chester Rockwell’s Alice In Wonder’s a fine way to kick things off, and following it up with a couple big beat jams is mint as well - Crossfader Dominator from Sniper is good fun, and a shame it ends so quickly. In fact, the entire opening bit is over in but seven minutes, which wouldn’t be so bad if this was a set featuring plenty of quick mixes but that’s not the case. The next cut runs nearly eight minutes long, with plenty more after that of significant length.

Then there’s that abrupt transition. Narco Dogs’ Breakbeat On Mars is such a sudden turn in tone, it may as well be an entirely different CD. This is where that ‘space breaks’ thing comes in, and though General Midi’s Outa Orbit leans more nu-skool than the others, many of these tunes seem to pilfer old school trance hooks to complement their sub-bass rhythms (though with the ’98 remix of Total Confusion, I can see why, what with borrowing elements from the original 1990 Heavenly Mix, almost a proto-trance cut itself). Unfortunately, a lot of this sounds muddy, and by the time we get back to regular big beat action near the end of the mix, most of that initial momentum’s been lost.

Still, despite a wonky track list and average-at-best mixing from Brock Landers, Freebass Breakz is an interesting listen. I honestly can’t say I’ve heard many breaks sets that sound like it, which probably was the reason I picked it up so long ago. Better than another damn DJ Icey CD anyway.

Mujaji - Free Rain

Shadow Records: 2001

Though a sub-label of Instinct, Shadow Records was regarded on par with such luminary downtempo labels like Ninja Tune (probably didn't hurt they handled the UK imprint's US distribution in the mid-'90s.) As time wore on, Shadow's manifesto turned towards giving relatively unknown producers a chance to shine, whether in their various Sessions compilations, or proper LP form. Somehow, Shadow also kept the cost of their CDs low, making them incredibly tempting purchases for those with limited income *cough*. Sadly, when Instinct was bought out in the mid-'00s, so too was Shadow, and thus ended one of the more eclectic labels to ever operate on American soil.

The label history out of the way, let’s now talk Mujaji. Um... that’s a little tricky. Lord Discogs has almost no info, while their own website’s biography tells a tale of interplanetary travelers, bringing about musical manifestations to Earth, and eventually leaving because “their home world was invaded and taken over by Reptilians from the Andromeda Galaxy.” Da’fuq? Best I can glean from that is the brothers Shmack (I’m assuming they’re siblings, but they may be cousins) disbanded after a while. Before then, they bounced around after their Shadow Records debut, going from Bastard Jazz Records, Setanta Records, and Nomadic Music, releasing a couple more albums during those years. Why aren’t they on Discogs? The Lord hath failed me there.

Anyhow, Free Rain came out when Shadow Records was signing several up and comers, and as such Mujaji got lost in the shuffle of other acts like Saru, Illform, and Goo. And yes, it’s perfectly fine if you haven’t heard of these names - like I said, Shadow was all about exposing unknowns. Unfortunately, unless you’re a dedicated label hound, it makes it difficult to choose which albums to pick up, even if on a whim. I truthfully don’t even remember why I got Free Rain. I’m glad I did though, as it’s a fun album.

Mujaji hit an interesting mix of gritty trip-hop beats, funky downtempo hooks, and quirky scratches and sampling. For the most part their tunes are light-hearted and fun, but occasional somber moments crop up too, sometimes within the same track. They’re also quite different from each other and rather difficult to summarize, so here’s a quick rundown of a few standouts:

Free The Rich - great beats coupled with a lovely flute hook and ambience that sounds like a machine breathing.
Work For Us - a sample of maybe an industrial site elevator manipulated into the rhythm.
Italian Waffle - country guitars, Far East dialog, flutes, and... a digital harmonica?
The Fork - funky guitar licks, while the rhythm’s trying to be d’n’b, but Mujaji ain’t lettin’ it. Oh... oh... There it is!

And there’s more, but I’ll let you discover them if you’re so inclined. I’ll grant Free Rain may not be your cup of chamomile if you’re not into the quirky side of trip-hop, but it’s an album that’s charming enough to warrant a listen.