Showing posts with label acid techno. Show all posts
Showing posts with label acid techno. Show all posts

Wednesday, January 26, 2022

Various - Classic Rave 2

Moonshine Music: 2000

It was the Year 2000, and the first nostalgic pangs of rave's early years was hitting everyone's memory membranes. Or Moonshine was just looking for another genre to corner in their relentless output of compilations and DJ mixes. Perhaps both, though probably more the latter.

For sure there would always be some reason for some label to trot out another round of licence-friendly 'classics', but there wasn't a super-high demand for it either. Rather, such discs were more for the impulse buyer, a dude or dudette glancing over a track list, recognizing a tune or three they didn't already have, and going from there. For the record, the tunes in my case were Orbital's Chime, Felix's Don't You Want Me, and The Good Men's Give It Up. No shame.

I can't deny my recollection of just how pervasive 'classic rave' CDs had become by the turn of the century is hazy – I'd imagine more so in the UK than anywhere in the Americas. And to be fair, Moonshine's Classic Rave series wasn't specifically meant to be just about old-school hardcore. Rather, a whole run of Classic [Genre] was planned, kicking off not just with a Classic Rave, but a Classic Acid too (oh look, three Hardfloor tracks you already got!). Unfortunately, the Electronic Music Classics run sputtered before it really got started, this Classic Rave 2 thrown out with little fanfare before the series folded. Going by the selection of tracks on here, it's easy to see why.

Like I said, I got this mainly for three out of the eleven tracks, which is a fair when paying used shop prices for a CD. Give It Up has always been a guilty pleasure, and Chime is Chime. D'at Felix track though, one of the earliest examples of Rollo's penchant for big synth chord anthems, and steering Hooj Choons down the prog-house road we all love and adore (well, some did). Others I'd heard about, but hadn't heard yet, so figured Classic Rave 2 a handy pick-me-up for a knowledge drop. Let's go over those tracks now!

2 Bad Mice's Bombscare: definitely an important record in establishing Moving Shadow's footprint in the proto-jungle scene, but I've heard better. Acen's Close Your Eyes: definitely on that 'Prodigy: Phase 1' tip, but I prefer Trip II The Moon. X-Press 2's London X-Press: wow, they were able to sustain a career into the new century with this run-of-the-mill slice of New York house? N-Joi's Anthem: alright piano house with some nice string-pads, but Papillon's better. Also, what are house tracks doing on a rave compilation?

As if that wasn't enough to convince Classic Rave 2 was a slapdash afterthought from Moonshine, the chemical breaks of Electronliners' Loose Caboose and big-beat of Basco's The Beat Is Over fills out the rest. Yes, two cuts that have almost nothing to do with 'classics' or 'rave', and weren't even half a decade old yet. What, couldn't get any Praga Khan up in this warehouse?

Tuesday, November 9, 2021

Sync24 - Acidious

Leftfield Records: 2020

Speaking of side-projects that had been sitting fallow for half a decade, here's Sync24 again. You may recall him being one-half of Carbon Based Lifeforms. I certainly didn't, back when I first reviewed his second album Comfortable Void on this here bloggy-blog of mine so many years ago. Or I did, but simply neglected mentioning it because I didn't think it important to bring up at the time. It's not like Daniel's solo alias was lighting the world afire then, and when CBL transitioned to Blood Music (BLOOD Music!!), he didn't take it there with him.

Still, I've noticed a trend with all these Sync24 albums, in that they seem to appear a year or two after a major CBL release. Ah, that makes them b-sides then? Perhaps, though that may just be coincidental too. I think Mr. Segerstad is simply the sort that has many ideas floating about, some of which needs an additional outlet to satisfy.

Predictably then, a Sync24 album came out shortly after CBL's Derelicts, Omnious. That's not what I'm reviewing though, and not because of my alphabetical stipulation either – I just haven't gotten it yet. Nay, I'm instead scoping out this more recent outlier to the Sync24 canon, Acidious. Not only is it the first album under this alias to not be released so close to a CBL record (does Stochastic really count?), but this is a strict exercise in acid techno to boot.

Yeah, the title's a dead giveaway, if not the smiley face painted upon the tree those druid bunnies are huddle about. But the TB-303 runs deep in Daniel's blood, such music among the very earliest he ever made before CBL came to dominate much of his career. The squiggly, bubbly sound has long been a staple in the tunes he's crafted with Mr. Hedberg, but a return to those decades old roots certainly isn't out of the norm.

The appropriately titled Feet In The Water kicks things off in somewhat familiar territory, the acid but a simmer as a simple, gentle prog-psy tune plays along. It's not long before the 303 gets its squelch on, and by Nightfall Bounce hits, we're firmly in Hardfloor territory. Seriously, Acid For Blood does the vintage '90s peak-time acid anthemage as fine as any track from the days of yore. And it's not just acid techno that gets its nod, but trance as well. Real trance! Old school trance! Real old school acid trance, as though time-travelled from the early days of Platipus Records. Sa-weet!

Despite Acidious triggering all my nostalgia endorphins, the whole experience runs rather slight. Many tracks will build to a solid acid peak, but instead of thrusting forward into an even bigger high, it will simply end. Plus, we only get eight tracks, which feels skint with tracks so structurally short. Unfortunately, this makes the album more of a fun diversion than something commanding repeated playthroughs. But hey, no one ever went wrong adding a little more acid into their diet.

Wednesday, October 27, 2021

Humanoid - Your Body Robotic

fsoldigital.com: 2007

The Future Sound Of London have been in the music game for a very, very long time, seen more things than you people would ever believe. Somewhere early on, they saw something that must have unnerved them in ways we couldn't possibly fathom, to such a degree that Garry and Brian never discuss it, never mention it, never even consider it. I am, of course, talking about the Singles Remix.

Oh, they have no problem doing such a dastardly deed themselves, often crafting whole new albums around album singles (a 'translation', if you will), but to licence their music out for other artists to tamper with? They've seen the horrors afflicted upon the world of such endeavours, and save a couple classy anniversary rubs from trusted associates, our intrepid duo has been super-stingy with their back-catalogue indeed. After taking in this double-LP twenty-year anniversary package of Stakker Humanoid, I don't blame them one bit.

Granted, this isn't strictly a FSOL tune, the breakout acid anthem produced by Mr. Dougans from before he properly hooked up with his future partner. He's kept the alias around for his own solo techno work, so I assume he gets some say in how Humanoid music is handled abroad. I've a feeling ol' Jumpin' & Pumpin' hold more rights to the tune though, as I can't imagine some of these newer remixes offered would come with Brian's blessing.

First, let's get into what's dope about Your Body Robotic. The original Stakker Humanoid remains a classic slice of electro-acid, and no matter how those famed vocal samples from the game Berserk get used, I'll never tire of them. As this collection spans the entire Humanoid lifespan, we get many remixes and live jams from over the years, including a couple Graham Massey rubs (808 State fame). I'm quite fond of the Plump DJs go with the tune (WipEout Fusion has that effect), it's neat seeing Legiac show up for rub that's definitely got its FSOL nods going for it, plus it's nice hearing a few more King Roc productions. And whenever a remix goes proper deep into the electro or acid techno hole, we're all the more blessed by it.

Unfortunately, that only happens about half the time with this two-discer. Not that I wasn't expecting a little trendwhoring from a 2007 release, I just wish it wasn't so banal about it. The whole thing kicks off with a Feadz 2007 Mix, and sounds about what Ed Banger posse were doing. Not three tracks later, the Punx Soundcheck Mix goes all super-farty electro house, and Pirate Robot Midget Mix gets back to Ed Banger noise. Arranging these among the older remixes and nifty electro acid techno rubs makes for a rather disjointed listening experience. By the time the lame electro house of Will Propz hit, I gave up any hope the trendy stuff satisfying, but hey, since it was only 2007, at least there weren't any dubstep remi- *Sub-Osc Mix plays* - any brostep remixes.

Thursday, February 4, 2021

The Micronauts - Bleep To Bleep

Science: 2000

This was one of those CDs that seemed sat in every store. For the life of me, I can't understand why. Or rather, I get 'how' it ended up in music retailers and pawn shops, just not why The Micronauts got such a significant promotional push in the first place. Certainly nothing on this here debut mini-album would suggest a huge cross-over event in the making, this music brash and noisy, like some kind of put-on by misters Christophe Monier and George Issakidis (who left the duo shortly after Bleep To Bleep's release).

Digging around their Discoggian data, they had a respectable run of items leading up to this, both as The Micronauts and in other ventures. I distinctly recall hearing their acid stomper single The Jazz in a Chemical Brothers mix CD. Christophe had a tidy run with Pascal R as Impulsion, getting in on that stompin' acid and hard house that was quite popular with French producers in the back half the '90s. It also seems that Lord Discogs really loves tying these guys with that scene, throwing about recommendations for Daft Punk and Cassius. Hm, it's coming together, the Micronauts story: promising single, associated with the big movers and shakers of the era... How could the mighty Virgin not sign these guys, though I'm not sure if the label had the utmost confidence in them. Nay, better to shuffle them off to a sub-label, like that Science print that was a dumping ground for Photek and Source Direct records.

Even partial Virgin promotion was enough to get onto a tonne of store shelves though. So there it sat, a quirky little item on the slightly cheaper end of CDs, being a mini-album and all. A few curious glances are thrown its way, wondering what that might be, what with no names or titles on the cover art. Some might recognize the name on the spine from singles like The Jag or Get Funky Get Down, but none of that is on here. A few, daring souls decide to give this a demo spin anyways, their reward an assault of hard house beats, garish acid, and a cacophony of electro noise. Good gracious, whatever is this racket?

Baby Wants To Bleep, in all its permutations on this CD, almost feels like a joke. Like, The Micronauts wanted to make the most obnoxious sounds they could within acid house's parameters, extending it into a sort of jam session in the process. It's rather fascinating in of itself, and could even be pointed at as a precursor to the Ed Banger aesthetic that would come to dominate much of French techno half a decade later. Trying to come into this blind, however, would almost certainly turn folks off. Not to mention one of the longest tracks, Bleeper_0+2, is just a noise experiment no one with any aspiration of commercial intent would dare put on an album. Time to hunker the project down then, let the rest of clubland catch up.

Tuesday, February 2, 2021

Various - Blade - Music From And Inspired By The Motion Picture

TVT Records: 1998

Plenty has been said how this movie ushered in a new era of comic book adaptations. That it rescued a quickly diminishing genre of film from the downward slide of Schumacher Batman into something once again credible and financially lucrative. That the cinematic juggernaut known as the MCU would never have gotten on the beachhead had this relatively unknown creative property of theirs been a box-office dud. Yes, all these things have been brought up by people who make it their business/career/hobby discussing such things, but that's not what I'm doing here.

Instead, I wish to make my own hot-take proclamation about Blade. More specifically the soundtrack: this was the last of a small but vital run of scores that people intimately associate with exactly one techno track, which everyone had to rush and buy because of needing that one techno track.

You know the type I'm talking about. Your 'Mortal Kombat Theme'. Your 'Trainspotting Theme'. Your, um, The Saint Theme. For a time in the '90s, a wave of movies featured some big thumping anthem as its centrepiece of music, forever tying song and cinema to specific scenes. For sure there were plenty of soundtracks that featured electronic music, before and well after Blade, but can you instantly identify That One Track out of any of them? No, Zion doesn't count. Even if folks do remember that scene (for all the wrong reasons), they definitely can't recall how its techno track sounds, preferably forgetting anything associated with the Matrix sequels.

You can't shake the image of Blade's blood rave and the pounding acid of Pump Panel's rub of New Order's Confusion though. There were plenty of other great artists with tunes in the movie – Photek, DJ Krush, Source Direct, Junkie XL, Solitaire ...Polygon Window? - but its this specific one everyone knows. I just have to say “that movie Blade”, and you instantly hear the acid again. Aww, and here I am, thinking Expansion Union's Playing With Lightning is just as dope.

“But wait!” you say, “what's with all those artists you mentioned above? I have the CD and only a couple of them are in there. It's mostly a bunch of hip-hop!” Right you are, oh man of straw. In fact, only four tracks as featured in the movie made the cut of fifteen here. Save a couple clubbier offerings from Mantronik and Roger Sanchez bridging the gap, everything comes from the lands of gangsta rap.

Though as they are tracks 'inspired by' the movie, it feels more appropriate to call this 'gothic rap'. Lots of raps about Blade, hunting vampires, wars between heaven and hell... pretty cool stuff, with a good mix of stars and unknowns. Gang Starr is here! KRS-One is here (breaking fourth walls, no less)! Mystikal is here (his track was great at showing off the bass of the JVC Kaboom)! P.A. is... wait, Parental Advisory? Oh, wow, they were also on the first rap soundtrack I ever owned. Small world.

Sunday, May 27, 2018

MUX - 2005 Live-PA Demo

promo: 2005

I wonder how many of these exist out there. Like, even from my tiny, backwater home-town, I've come across a number of them. Hell, I technically made one, when a couple buddies and I borrowed our fathers' music gear and started jamming out some really, really, really amateurish Primus-inspired nonsense. We recorded our efforts to a few tapes, but fool ye' be should thou seek to purchase a demo of The Festering Rat-Heads. Point is, music demos are everywhere, made by many who had an early itch to produce something, anything, but go no further than that. Maybe they found a musical calling elsewhere, or other life commitments prevented them from following through. Whatever the case, it seems no matter the level of talent involved, only one out of thousands of demos blossom into an actual career with signed records distributed through a label, even if but a short one.

MUX though, I always felt he coulda' been a contender, making live acid techno at a time when the genre was pretty much a forgotten relic of the '90s. Yeah, the Stay Up Forever posse were still kicking out the jams with regularity (they never go to sleep, see), but they had that legacy momentum going for them. Ain't no where else on the globe peddling that stuff in the mid-'00s, much less the West Coast Of Canada. So you gotta' give it to MUX (Drew Smith to the Pacific Naval Patrol) for sticking to the sound he loved best: 4am bangin' acid techno.

Four tracks long, this live-PA outing picks up right where the London Acid Techno crew have remained for two decades. Okay, it's not pure TB-303 action in play, as authentic machines are limited and difficult to come by, but the essence and soul of acid remains. For folks starved for the stuff in a region completely devoid of it, MUX's stuff is the right stuff indeed. It's got the thumping beats, the looping vocals ripped from sci-fi movies (I'm not inconsistent, you are inconsistent, dammit), the tweaky acid builds, and... um, okay, that's about all there. It's acid freakin' techno, exactly what you'd expect, delivered as well as you could hope from someone not within the Stay Up Forever inner circle.

Though he probably could have sent some music to the London Acid Techno Crew for consideration, MUX recorded little else after this. He still keeps semi-active in the Vancouver scene though, a prominent promoter for the long-running, bi-annual live-PA showcase Sequential Circus, even occasionally breaking out his old gear for another live acid rinsing. Mostly though, Mr. Smith's found his true calling gallivanting across the Pacific shores in his own sail boat. I'm serious! Like, if there's ever a reason to not follow through on a career in techno, that's good enough for me. Maybe I can hire him sometime in the future for an expedition to Kerguelen Island, have an acid techno party on the loneliest place on the map.

Sunday, February 25, 2018

Various - X-Mix-3: Richie Hawtin & John Acquaviva - Enter: Digital Reality

Stud!o K7: 1994

No longer satisfied with one DJ for their X-Mix series, Stud!o K7 settled for nothing less than a tag-team set for volume three. Or they had no choice in the matter, Richie Hawtin and John Acquaviva a package deal at this stage of their careers. If you want one of these techno dons, you gotta' book the other – a brilliant marketing tactic that carries on to this day by many scene-whoring sorts (Steve Angello & Sebatstian Ingrosso, Excision & Datsik, Dimitri Vegas & that guy who shouts shit). Still, though one would go onto mega-stardom while the other remained a 'DJ's DJ', at this point you couldn't think of one without the other, their Plus 8 print one of the hottest labels to emerge out of Windsor Detroit-region in the early '90s.

It's remarkable that for a German label, !K7 didn't really rely on their local DJs in this series. Yeah, Paul van Dyk provided the MFS-showcase kick-off, but his pure trance set's now regarded as an outlier in the X-Mix canon. DJ Hell and Hardfloor would get mixes down the road, but !K7 did their homework in scouring the globe for techno talent in need of a debut commercial set for their discographies. That... was among their manifestos, right? It's definitely a trend they held up for most of these releases. As an aside, I find it amusing that, for as many Genre Defining, Trend Setting, Forward-Thinking, and Very Important mix CDs Richie Hawtin would put out over the years, his first mix CD was in service of old-school CGI rave videos.

But first, we're treated to Mr. Acquaviva's mix, featuring tunes from Speedy J, Hardfloor, Laurent Garnier, and L.S.G. Whoa, wait, what's Blueprint doing here? Aren't these guys techno through and through? Maybe Richie is, but John's often more adventurous with his sets, and X-Mix-3 is no exception. Despite burning through a half-dozen tracks in around twenty minutes, the opening portions of his mix has a surprising prog-house vibe going for it. Obviously not proper prog or the like, but techno and acid house that's rather groovy, chill, and spaced-out for the time. Can't deny being a little put off hearing such blatant sampling of Steve Hillage's Garden Of Paradise in Orson Karte's Metamorphosis though.

Eventually John settles into the sort of acid techno you'd expect from the owners of Plus 8, building things to a nifty crescendo of Hardfloor's Alternative. When Hawtin takes over, he can't help but use an ambient interlude bridging things together, a small letdown coming off the acid high of Hardfloor, but Hawtin's gotta' start fresh for his unfussy minimalism.

His set runs shorter than Acquaviva's, and does about as you'd expect of a mid-'90s Hawtin rinse-out (just tunes, none of that micro-edit mixing). Spastik's here, of course, as is Spaz, his LFO collab' Loop, a remix he did on Teste's The Wipe, plus cuts from Lemon8, Peelo, and Speedy J. Man, did techno dudes ever love them some J' back then.

Sunday, February 4, 2018

Various - United DJs Of America, Vol. 5: Frankie Bones - Brooklyn, NY

DMC: 1996

And... we're already in some discrepancies regarding this series. I have in my possession Frankie Bones' contribution to United DJs Of America, as worthy as any US-born jock to get the nod. However, two versions of his entry exist, one with this yellow background, listed as Vol. 5, and another with a red background, listed as Vol. 6. Which is the real deal?

Both, kind of. This series had US and UK distribution, but for some reason, the UK skipped on the double-disc outing of Vol. 4 featuring David Morales and Frankie Knuckles, thus gimping the sequence for a couple years before Mark Farina's Vol. 9 set the timeline back in order (man, is there anything Frisko Disco can't do?). Cover art aside, there's no difference between UK-Vol.5 and US-Vol.6, though considering the red one's got all the Discogian comments attached, I suspect it's considered the proper-deal – it is the American version, after all.

As for ol' Frankie The Bone, he needs no introduction since I've talked him up plenty now. For a jock that was so instrumental in bringing rave music to the underground masses of the Eastern seaboard, it's surprising this was among his first major commercial DJ mixes. He'd put out several tapes prior, but the Discogian data's a little flakey on the exact dates of his other 1996 releases – for all I know, House Loop on Sm:)e Communications or Global House Culture Vol 2 on ESP-SUN Records hit the streets sooner. Still, fairly certain this was his first UK DJ mix.

And there's no beatin' round the bush with Bones' brand of bangin' acid techno. The kicks come hard and fast right out the gate, dudes like Tom Wax, Chris Liebing, and Commander Tom all doing the damage. A particular chap by the name of Michael Kores pops up frequently in this set, though usually under an alias, including Albion. Yeah, you can imagine my initial shock when I thought it was the other Albion (aka: Ferry Corsten) in a Bones set. Trance does get a cursory glance in the track Active Sensing from Lectric Cargo, yet another project from Norman Feller, but it's the relentless hard techno and acid we get through and through. We wouldn't have it any other way from ol' Frankie.

For this guest review, there's only one Brooklynite famous enough to review Frankie Bones, the Flatbush native Bugs Bunny! What, I didn't say they had to be human.

Bugs: Eh, what's up, doc'? Me, review music? Sure, I can do that. I know all the classics – Brahms, Beethoven, Bachs – and plenty of vaudeville too. Frankie Bones, eh? Hehehe, get a load of that name. What is he, a skeleton? Hehehe, better watch out for roving bands of Rovers. Frisky gangs of Fidos. This music is different from what I'm used to, but it sure does pep'. Hehehe, would make for a wonderful gag, placing headphones of it playing onto ol' Elmer's head while he's sleeping.

Monday, June 12, 2017

Ceephax - Volume Two (Original TC Review)

Rephlex: 2007

(2017 Update:
I haven't delved into Andy Jenkinson's material as much as I'd like, and that's almost entirely due to his discography's lack of CD options. Vinyl, digital offerings, tapes... absolutely, but the compact disc is a rare beast when it come to the Ceephax Acid Crew story. Not having a steady label doesn't help either. After the pair of albums on Rephlex, it appeared he'd taken a further step up the IDM ladder in releasing
United Acid Emirates on Mike Paradinas' Planet Mu.

That was 2010, and he's barely touched the LP format since. A few singles have cropped up though, almost all through Andy's own Waltzer print, so at least the project has kept going in some capacity. He might be moving on from the Ceephax stuff though, dipping his feet into the soundtrack business this past year on the Troma film,
Essex Spacebin. Eh, never heard of Troma? They of Toxic Avenger infamy? Yeah, that studio. How on Earth did Ceephax hook up with those wackos?)


IN BRIEF: An acidy timewarp.

If rumors are to be believed, acid is on the verge of a huge comeback. Really, it’s already been burbling just under the radar of clubland. Acid house, in sharing a similar aesthetic, can often be heard in ‘minimal’ sets. Meanwhile, the whole maximal techno camp shows no qualm in letting the ol’ TB-303 loose. And of course those wiggly-squiggly lines never left the psy trance scene. Now that it’s been twenty years since the sound first exploded into British consciousness, you can be rest assured there will be a flood of retrospective releases celebrating everything acid.

In the meantime, we have Andy Jenkinson, one of the new breed of IDM producers who fell in love with acid and honors it like it’s still the early 90s. Well, that’s not entirely accurate. As the younger brother of Tom Jenkinsion (aka: Squarepusher), he seems to also enjoy making other leftfield sounds like ‘drill’n’bass’, analogue ambient, and even casiocore.

Initially the Ceephax moniker was established to deal with that side of his work while the more cumbersome-named Ceephax Acid Crew tinkered with trance. Hah, no, of course it’s acid. Anyhow, upon getting signed to Rephlex (founded by some guy named Richard D. James - perhaps you’ve heard of him?), Andy merged the two together and released two albums dealing with these different aspects of his productions: Volume One, from earlier in the year, featured his IDM side of things, while this here Volume Two takes on the TB-303 and ambiance.

And while he doesn’t stretch the sound too far off the beaten path, he struts his acid stuff with winning results. Tracks like Snifter’s Acid, Scary Pollution, and Cold War Acid has it bubbling and squiggling along. Elsewhere, Andy cranks the tweakin’ up a few notches in Acid Schroeder, Acid Breezer (have I typed ‘acid’ enough yet?), and Vulcan Venture. In all, it’s a fun assortment of 303 indulgence, but there is an elephant in this room that also has to be dealt with: production quality.

When I say Andy honors the early 90s, it isn’t merely with fanciful aesthetics; I mean it literally. Rhythms are incredibly tinny by modern standards, with under-powered sounds and arrangements that don’t stray far from techno’s raw roots. If you didn’t know better, you’d swear this was a release from Rephlex’s birth-year rather than fifteen years on. At some points, you have to wonder just what these may have sounded like had he brought his production into the 21st century. For example, Vulcan Venture is a smashing exercise in pounding techno, a beast of a tune as is. Yet what if it had been made with modern equipment? Monstrous is what it would be!

Still, once the album does gets a few tracks under its belt, these production limitations don’t seem to matter as much. It’s rather like watching a classic sci-fi movie: yes, the special effects are hilariously primitive by today’s standards, but when the plot is solid enough to grab your attention, you don’t even notice it. And the plot in Volume Two is indeed solid.

Or rather, Andy’s tracks are good enough to enjoy even with the unapologetic restrictions he places upon himself. Whether with funk or with reckless energy, all of his acid workouts will hook you in (well, aside from the go-nowhere loopfest that is Scary Pollution). But especially so with the lovely melodies he interjects into his tracks, proving there’s more to his work than a love of what acid can do for you.

These melodies manifest themselves more prominently in his ambient excursions, which bookend the album. Opener LW Traveller is interesting but noodles a bit too much. However, as a somber minimalist piece, closer Ravenscar is quite nice, even if Andy does get a tad over-experimental towards the end of it. Still, at least it isn’t quite as wank as the stuff he does in TX Ogre.

Ultimately, your decision to commit debit to disc with Volume Two will depend entirely upon whether you enjoy old school acid techno. As easy as it is be fooled into thinking so, this isn’t a throwback album; Andy simply likes vintage equipment and makes ample use of it - warts, limitation, and all. If you do too, then by all means hop on the ride with the Ceephax Acid Crew.

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

Tuesday, February 7, 2017

Various - UK Space Techno, Vol. II

Millennium Records: 1996

Cheeky Millennium Records, marketing their sixty-percent goa trance compilation as ‘space techno’. They also had the balls to promote it as an ongoing series right out the gate, giving us a Vol. I no matter how successful the first one sold. It probably did reasonably enough, lasting all the way to a Vol. V in 1998. I somehow doubt even piss-poor sales would have prevented this Vol. II from hitting the CD shelves though, coming out the same year as Vol. I - Millennium was super-go on this no matter what! Oddly, I never saw the third or fourth editions over here in Canadaland, and I wasn’t invested enough in this series for a single disc’s worth of UK Space Techno to buy the fifth. Guess no one else was getting hype to that tag anymore either. If it sounds like acid and tastes like acid, just call it trance!

Hell, there’s no way to hide just how trance some of these tracks are, goa or otherwise. As with Vol. I opening with the classic Neuro from X-Cabs, Vol. II opts for a big, recognizable anthem from another hot, new act, this time care of Transa. No, it’s not Enervate, but the single that came before that one, Prophase. What do you mean you’ve never heard it? I know Enervate overshadowed nearly everything Transa ever did, but Prophase (plus b-side Transphase, included on CD2 here) were totally early progressive trance hits. Okay, should have been. Speaking of X-Cabs, there’s another pair of tracks from the famed Chris Cowie project on here (Avalon and Adena), both blistering cuts in that vintage Cowie stylee. Man, was that guy ever on fire in the mid-‘90s.

Goa trance obviously gets its tunes in, Cosmosis, Zart, Endora, Power Source, Mosti, and Ectomorph doing the business. Some crackin’ tunes from Cosmosis, Silicon Drum, Zart, and Power Source, but little else to recommend there. Hard acid has its obligatory tracks thrown in too, Dr. Octopus (alias of D.A.V.E. The Drummer) being the best of the lot. A young Lab 4 appear, though their Transformation is pitched down significantly for some daft reason – what, too hard for a ‘space techno’ CD? Spacer IV shows up again with yet another way out of place progressive house track, Jetson almost a precursor to the genre’s evolution into ‘prog’. And even regular ol’ Detroit techno gets a couple tunes thrown in, care of Darren Price’s Blueprints and Skeleton Crew’s Skeleton Coast. Actually, I’m not sure what to call Skeleton Coast, and nor does Lord Discogs, because it sure as Hell ain’t tech-house.

Overall a more memorable assortment of tune in the UK Space Techno franchise, even if the concept is straying further from whatever Millennium Records figured ‘space techno’ could be. Like, those two try-hard progressive trance anthems in V’s Anjuna (The Incredible Journey Mix) and The Bubble’s Squeek!. Good God, no! What’s so spacey about a lame breakdown with saxophone solo ripped from the ‘80s?

Various - UK Space Techno, Vol. I

Millennium Records: 1996

Yeah, I get why Millennium Records would eschew the ‘goa’ tag for its new compilation series. The European market was already flooded with tons of CDs offering trippy, acid-drenched dance music, with many a label rushing out to capitalize on hot buzzwords goa, trance, and the like. And fair enough, a lot of folks thought of early trance simply as ‘space techno’ (or ‘space house’, LOL), so it’s not that great a leap in logic in taking this angle. I dunno though; it still feels disingenuous promising ‘space techno’ from the UK, and having a good sixty percent of the tracks still feeling that rush of psychedelia from the shores of India. I sure wasn’t expecting so much goa trance when I picked this up way back when, nosiree.

What I was expecting was a whole lot of unknown names giving me another crash-course in all this ‘techno’ business going on overseas. I definitely got that, what with names like X-Cabs, Green Nuns Of The Revolution, Jon The Dentist, Darren Price, and Chris Liberator (as Star Power) appearing on this double-discer. Okay, so they weren’t outright unknowns, but who here remembers tracks like The Attic, or Neuro, or Desert Storm’s Scoraig 93, or Kenny Larkin’s rub of LA Synthesis’ Agraphobia? Hm, that’s all techno that’s rather spacey too, isn’t it.

I swear UK Space Techno Vol. I is filled with obscure goa trance, honest and true! Cosmosis’ rub of Disco Volante’s El Metro, for instance, or Monosphere’s Elysian Fields, or the Spectra Mix of Optica’s Alkaline PH9. And who can forget such forgotten gems like Isomise’s KHO Phang Gain, or Head-Doctor’s Train Ã¥ Medellin, plus Polyploid’s Coaster Prefix? Certainly not I, since I’ve had this CD for two decades now (holy cow!).

Since this compilation tries to have its acid cake and eat its goa trance too, it creates an odd dichotomy of tunes that no amount of ‘space techno’ branding can overcome. CD1 isn’t too bad in this regard, hitting you early with simpler, recognizable tunes like Neuro and Spacer IV’s Arc 3 (I think it was) before moving onto psy leaning cuts, the odd acid techno tune breaking up any potential monotony along the way. CD2, on the other hand, opts for pure techno tracks for the most part, some of which are regarded as classics in terms of UK offerings (Scoraig 93, Agraphobia, The Simirillion (Svenson’s Trip To Gondor Remix), others not so much (Skintrade’s Andromraxess, Integrated Circuits’ Ghost 843). Having them assorted with trippy goa and hard acid from the Stay Up Forever posse doesn’t do them any favors either, coming off rather basic and monotonous compared to the busier cuts. I often don’t even remember much of what’s on CD2 until I throw the disc on again. Such is the case with so many double-disc compilations from the mid-‘90s though: a couple classics, a few unheralded gems, and a pile of agreeable filler lost to the ravages of raving history.

Saturday, December 17, 2016

Various - Splash!

Raum Records: 1995

Gander at some names in the tracklist: Laurent Garnier, Biosphere, Pete Lazonby, Josh Wink, Paul van Dyk, Carl Cox, Blake Baxter. That’s seven bona-fide legends of techno and trance on a double-disc compilation, all for an easy-breezy five bones off my back. And hey, Sunbeam, Doug Laurent, Scooter, and Joe T. Vannelli also show up, so maybe there’s some fun Euro cheese floating about too. Can’t see how such tonal clash can make for a consistent playback, but perhaps this Splash! compilation has an amazing gameplan, with plenty of unknown producers rounding things out into a cohesive whole. Price is worth a purchase just to find out. Right, about the only thing that interested me was the Mark Bell Remix of Novelty Waves, but there’s gotta’ be a few more worth the piddly investment. Sure, a few…

But what is Splash! in the first place? This comes care of Raum Records, yet another German dance label that sprung up in the wake of the collapsed Berlin Wall. Their biggest claim to fame is the _00% Underground compilation series, while releasing singles from such luminaries like Estelle, Marc Noise, C.O. Injection, Robotnico, and Insane (4). Ah, hmm… so Raum Records didn’t amount to much at all. Far as I can tell, Splash! was released to kick the label off with hot acts and spiffy advertising – literally making a splash on the German techno ‘underground’. They had the right idea, just none of the important licensing to make it happen.

For all the class names I listed above, it seems Raum Records got the most forgettable material from them. Carl Cox’s rub of Garnier’s Astral Dreams is just bog-standard euro techno. van Dyk’s go at Voices In Harmony is a useless radio edit. I have no idea how German trancers Sunbeam got their hands on Lazonby’s Wave Speech, and Bell’s take on Biosphere was completely disappointing for yours truly. Baxter’s Reach Out is at least an agreeable go at deep Detroit house, and it’s interesting hearing Winks’ Meditation Will Manifest, essentially his stab at a Spastik type of techno builder. Did it really need to be over fourteen minutes though? Small wonder it seldom saw compilation duty (R & S Records being stingy with it may have contributed, begging the question how Raum Records secured the rights for this release).

The rest of Splash! pretty much contains the standard acid and German trance of the era, with few of the charms the successful labels offered. Scooter does a remix for Ultra-Sonic’s Check Your Head, and with so much rubbish surrounding him, Baxxter’s “posse” shouts are somehow enjoyable. Holofonic Dream from Deanna Troi (yes, really) uses pad synths that reminded me of Morpheus 7, which makes sense given it’s the same guy (Ufuk Yildirim), Jeyênne’s Japanese Train has a vocal sample that sounds like a pisstake on Dance 2 Trance, and Groovemaster K. tries his hand at Soliloquy House. Everything else? Forget it. Not even worth a two-spot. Find yourself a Ravermeister CD instead.

Wednesday, July 20, 2016

Various - Trance Trippin'

DMC Records: 1997

Far be it for Hypnotic to have a monopoly on wacky trance art that screams ‘90s, here’s Trance Trippin’ from DMC Records! No, not the prestigious DMC that holds annual DJ competitions - this DMC was a short-lived print out of Los Angeles that apparently peddled a fair bit of deep house before taking a chance on trance (it was growing popular by ’97). Also, don’t go confusing this with that early-‘90s Trance Trippin’ from ZYX Records, for cover notwithstanding this one is surprisingly decent. There’s a solid gathering of names on here, with everything mixed by that smoothest of jocks, DJ ProTools.

I also can’t tell whether Trance Trippin’ is bold or daft in its attempt at linking fluffy vocal trance with smashing goa and acid. Consider: DJ Dado’s Revenge and Qattara’s Come With Me are a couple of the opening tracks, while the set’s final volley features the ‘buttrock’ of S.U.N. Project’s At The Edge Of Time and deep tweakin’ 303 action of The Pump Panel’s Ego Acid. I don’t think even Oakenfold would have tried bridging the two wildly disparate sub-genres of trance, always keeping his goa indulgences well separated from any club friendly material. This CD done does it though, using a varied assortment of trance to get there, twenty-two tracks in total.

You get an early Ferry Corsten acid production with Pulp Victim’s I’m Losing Control, something that sounds like Brooklyn Bounce from Acidphase’s We Are Back, a little chemical breaks business with Solarstone’s The Calling (Inner Peace Mix), plus unabashed Sash! anthemage with 2 Lips’ Je T’Aime. A little further along, and DJ Scot Project’s Y (How Deep Is Your Love) offers the man’s cheeky ultra-build action, then the goa hits in with a Digital Blonde’s rub of Sandman’s Coimbra followed by Electric Universe’s Stardiver. Once the pummeling acid build of X-Cabs’ Neuro hits, you’ve likely long forgotten that Trance Trippin’ opened with Anomaly (Calling Your Name)!

Eh? These tracks all sound too disparate for a smooth flowing set? Well sure – it is a CD from 1997 after all, and ProTools can only do so much for you without some outside-the-box ingenuity. Trance Trippin’ doesn’t have that though, most tracks cutting in and out after three minutes of showtime, some transitions horribly clashing in key before quickly move on. Still, admirable effort for an obscure label jumping on a bandwagon. How did I get this anyway?

Funny story that! Forced to leave Vancouver and move back to the hinterlands, I knew once there I’d be without cool underground electronic music for a long time – my final purchase from the Lower Mainland had to count. Clearly Trance Trippin's cover art caught my attention, and seeing Atlantic Ocean’s The Cycle Of Life intrigued me, but I wasn’t sure about the rest. Then my sister, hardly a fan of this stuff, took a listen, enjoyed the first few tracks, and insisted I get this. T’was the only time she influenced a purchase of mine.

Saturday, July 16, 2016

Various - Trance To Planet X: Influence 3.3 (2016 Update)

Hypnotic: 1996

(Click here to read a bunch of words, words, and oh my God why are there so many words!?)

So this CD. Can I talk in one-fifth the words used compared to my first Trance To Planet X review? Holy cow, I used up two-hundred words just detailing the first track alone. Two-hundred, with two zeroes after the two! I don’t think I could talk up Phasis’ (Norman Feller!) Visitations to such a degree now even if I tried. Okay, if I was forced at gun point by some insane old-school TranceCritic fan, who felt we betrayed our original ethos in abandoning such tediously drawn-out reviews after a while, then I probably could. I wouldn’t enjoy it though, nosiree. Also, does such a person exist in this reality? I know it seems everything has at least some micro-insane fandom attached to it now, but surely not of Early TranceCritic writings. Surely… not…

I mentioned Trance To Planet X was the last of the Hypnotic’s Influence Records showcases, a shame because there was still a few more tracks in that library worth tapping for a fourth CD. Yes, despite the fact Omnicron’s The Bushmen was used twice between this compilation and the previous Influence 2.2. C’mon, Hypnotic, why no love for Komatsu’s Input Transformer? On the other hand, if I’m to judge Hypnotic’s catalog numbers correctly, it seems their partnership with Music Research and all their sub-labels was about at an end following Trance To Planet X. I spot no further cover art fronting the label’s iconic seal, and about the only further significant release of any Music Research material is the 3CD extravaganza/back-catalog dump of Musik Non Stop. A couple ‘albums’ of Komakino and Sunbeam material later, and that’s all she wrote for Hypnotic’s association with Talla 2XLC’s print. That Outloud Records partnership, on the other hand…

For anyone fearful of wading through two-hundred plus words per track in that old review, but would still enjoy a quick summation of what’s on Trance To Planet X, here we go. This is harder trance as only the Germans could do back in the mid-‘90s, with a whole lot of acid throughout. Sometimes an epic, spritely hook comes in, such as in Wave Shaping Age’s bleepy World In Trouble, Cyberjam’s funky Alphaflight and Morten’s spacey Hypnotizing. Other tracks forego anything resembling a hook, simply assaulting you with pummeling pulsing acid (Dermatologist’s Jupiter (Omm To The Stars)), chunky muddy bosh (Analog Communications’ Wave Generator) or ear-blistering noise (Artificial Flavor’s Deep Noizer). Audio Science shows you can have clever programming with your hyper-fast acid action in the eleven-minute long Sunstroke, while Judge S.’ Brainstorm is a fun bit of space-pulp gabber. Such an epic hook in that one!

Hey, that’s so much better to read, so let me end this all on another wonderful anecdote. Okay, more a factoid than anything. I let it known that Trance Europe 2.0 was a ‘trance-formative’ (*such groan*) compilation for yours truly, but I also bought this one alongside it. For some reason though, this one didn’t sink in quite so completely. Needed more Komakino, is what!

Wednesday, March 9, 2016

Various - Techno Trax Vol. 12

ZYX Music: 1994

Techno Trax was one of ZYX Music's premier compilation series in the '90s. Okay, I don't know if that's true, but I can confirm it was one of their most prolific, especially in the first half of the decade. This Vol. 12 came out when the series was but a mere three years old, and while its output was significantly cut back following 1994, it persevered into the new millennium. Took a couple evolutions to get there though, becoming Techno Traxx (with two x’s!) as the year 2000 drew close, then morphing into Techno Traxx – Step Into The Future going forward, finally ending in 2002. Including a megamix spin-off series, and various ‘Best Of...” additions, not to mention a dedicated entry into ZYX’s massive The World Of... series, and I’d say you have a proper successful collection of compilations on your hands. Well, you’d have to ask old-school folks from mainland Europe if that’s the case. I have no idea if Techno Trax was indeed a smash, or it was just a means for ZYX to churn out quick, cheap CDs into the market.

I imagine it was reasonably popular though, the series often featuring ‘techno’ hits of the day while staying just a foot within the underground. It’s early entries mostly contained classic rave tracks from acts like Altern 8, The Overlords, The Prodigy, L.A. Style, and, um, 2 Unlimited. Soon Techno Trax was also licensing out records from Suck Me Plasma, getting in on that burgeoning German trance thing as hardcore rave turned into goofy, happy offshoots. Once trance became the genre du jour of Europe, the series almost exclusively focused on that instead, their only actual techno pretty much the hard acid stuff. Not that Techno Trax ever had much traditional techno to begin with. Hell, the only such case on this particular double-discer is Love Inc.’s R.E.S.P.E.C.T., an early Wolfgang Voigt cut. Speaking of another ‘humble beginnings’ name on here, Robert Babicz shows up as Acid Warrior, doing acid techno in Acid Bites. ACIIEEEDDD!

Anyhow, it’s at this crossroads between techno-rave and German trance that we find Vol. 12. Some of the Techno Trax old guard show up with tunes, like The Prodigy’s Voodoo People and Moby’s Feeling So Real, but neither would appear in the series again. Meanwhile, names like Komakino, Jam & Spoon, Alien Factory, Paranoia X, DJ Tom & Norman, Acrid Abeyance, Legend B, and Nostrum should spark the synapses of anyone familiar with hard trance of the time. Can’t say all the tracks here are mint examples of the German sound though, no matter how many punchy, minor key melodies tickle my ears.

In fact, this whole compilation is kinda’ rubbish, and it’s all the happy hardcore’s fault. Whether ultra-lame covers of pop hits or super sap bilge, I just can’t stand this stuff. Only two tracks transcend the nasty cheese into tasty-cheese: Mark ‘Oh’s Love Song, and the hilariously ridiculous Rotterduck from Assi, another Komakino alias. He-he, wheee, squeaky toy!

Sunday, November 15, 2015

Cirrus - Stop & Panic

Moonshine Music: 1999

I feel Moonshine Music oversold us on Cirrus being The Next Big Thing. Not that I blame the label in marketing the Los Angeles breaks duo as their answer to The Chemical Brothers and The Crystal Method. Big beat was big business as the ‘90s drew to a close, but there was only so much big money a label could gather with compilations that (possibly) required big licensing fees. DJ Aaron Carter and Stephen J. Barry had a good look to them, in that so-‘90s L.A. way, and were more than capable of kicking out the jams in various genres, though acidy breaks was their main call of expertise. They could have simply carved out their niche and stayed on the low-key, but after Moonshine had so much success in their promotion of “Superstar DJ” Keoki, another kick at the Crossover Can couldn’t hurt. Or not, if it meant licensing out Cirrus tracks to all manner of receptive video games.

Anyhow, Stop & Panic was the second single from the group’s second album, Back On A Mission. There were no other singles from the LP following this, Cirrus quick to move on from big beat before the year 2000 reared its head. This cut is all big beat though, with guitar licks, fierce crashing percussion, tweaked as fuck acid, siren calls, time stretched vocals of the title, and a little record scratchin’ for good measure. In other words, a good thrashing time.

This being Moonshine, you can’t have a single without a DJ Dan remix, and Dan does the deed with his typical disco funk rub of house. Just in case you felt the original was too much big beat and not enough proper breaks, The Coffee Boys (re: just one guy named Paul Grogan) strips things down some, giving space for the acid to shine without a bunch of other sounds cluttering things up. I’ve talked about DJ Micro’s go on DJ Aaron Carter’s mix CD Lit Up, in that I just mentioned it there as a surprise ending to the hard acid techno set. Still, it was used well in that context, whereas on this single it’s possibly the driest of the remixes. There needs to be more than just siren-wailing bosh in my acid techno.

Finally, progressive trancer Deepsky rounds out the single with a decidedly old-school take on the genre. Seriously, that pitch-bending sawwave is straight out of the bible of Jam & Spoon tricks, even right down to the breakdown where you hear nothing else. I’d keep thinking I’m hearing Follow Me instead of a Stop & Panic remix were it not for the vocal being dropped in throughout. This couldn’t have been a coincidence. Deepsky had to have done it deliberately, just figured no one listening to a Cirrus single would ever know the truth. Well, fool’s on Mr. Blum, as I am one such person! Clearly though, this is among the utmost useless information I have in my possession.

Friday, October 2, 2015

ACE TRACKS: September 2015

Well, what do you know? It’s October 2015, which means I’ve been back at this blog for three whole years now. I honestly never thought it’d come to this. While I was pretty determined to listen through my entire music collection in alphabetical order, I felt writing about my progress would be nothing but a short-termed lark. That I’d hit another burn-out wall, or see this as a futile endeavor if no one was reading, or get distracted with something more important. This format though - the self-imposed word count and sense of absolute writing freedom - has kept burn-out at bay, somehow attracted its fair share of steady readers, and never interfered with real world obligations. Geez though, I hope I don’t get big off this. Last thing I need in my life is becoming Internet Famous. Here, have a play of ACE TRACKS from September 2015 to keep the controversy at bay.


Full track list here.

MISSING ALBUMS:
Tom Middleton - The Sound Of The Cosmos
Dieselboy - A Soldier’s Story
DJ Moe Sticky - RnB State Of Mind 32 & 33 Various - Saint-Germain-Des-Pres Café III
Tau Ceti - Somnium

Percentage Of Hip-Hop: 0%
Percentage Of Rock: 7%
Most “WTF?” Track: Coldcut - Sound Mirrors (just what is going on with that instrumentation anyway?)

With so much ambient in this playlist, especially from AstroPilot, I’ve gone with a different sort of arrangement. No, not a variation of an alphabetical run-through. Rather, I’ve lumped all the beatless material at the beginning, and worked a gradual increase in tempo through to the end. It goes into some downtempo and deep house stuff, gets a bit more heavy with funk and disco punk, then finishes out with hard trance and acid. So, um, like a traditional set, I guess. Weird that I’ve never done it this way before, but then most of these playlists are quite the mish-mash of genres.

Monday, September 28, 2015

Various - Sound Of Acid Core 3

Cyber Production: 1997

For years I saw this – or some volume of it – advertised in another compilation of mine. It sat alongside titles like Illegal Techno and Acid Trancecore, all sporting similar cheesy CGI art featuring smiley faces turned scowling, menacing, or looking like hooligans in cartoon settings. And I was fascinated by these CDs, believe you me. They weren’t on local shelves, and the eye-catching stamp of 'Techno Import' gave it that extra Old World allure, that I was dealing with something from the Proper Underground of clublands I'd never have a chance of visiting. Plus, how could I not find appeal in such a daftly titled compilation like Acid Sound Of Core? What even is the acid sound of ‘core? Like, hardcore music with acid? Or psychedelic music that’s so ‘core, I could never know the score? What weird, mysterious sounds might I find on these discs? Eh, what do you mean I'm saying it wrong?

Actually, if I may be so bold as to start out of traditional reviewing sequence, ‘Acid Sound Of Core’ pretty much sums up CD2. The first few tracks are your standard bangin’ acid techno of the mid-‘90s, including a right squelcher from Acrid Abeyance’s Minimalistic with Commander Tom on the rub. Following that though, the acid retreats in favour of pure bosh by the likes of Scarecrow, DJ Edge, and Dyewitness. Okay, I don’t know much about any of these guys, only that this is straight up hard to the core music, and initially caught me off guard for some reason. I should have expected the gabber beats, hoover anthems, and old school spastic breaks to show up in a compilation with “core” in the title, but not stuff that was sounding a tad dated by 1997. It doesn’t even seem like the compilers were searching for the greatest, overlooked underground hardcore anthems, just whatever they could licence that had some acid tweakage available.

CD2 finishes with two tracks that are acid, but definitely not ‘core; in fact, they’re trance, Microwave Prince’s Cycle Evolution has a strong enough beat, barely fitting the ‘core theme, but not so with Emmanuel Top’s Stress. Compared to all the boshing boosh prior, it’s downright minimal, subdued, and absurdly long at nearly eleven minutes in length. I never thought I’d say this about having an E.Top track in a compilation, but I feel cheated here.

As for CD1, there’s not a whole lot of surprises. Hard acid techno pretty much has one mode, and though the 303 may alter its patterns, effects, and knob twiddling from track to track, the rhythms remain in forward drive and go. Some names of note here are Dave The Drummer, Lochi, Dr. Octopus, plus assorted well knowns under one-off pseudonyms. Caspar Pound’s hiding with Temple Of Acid, Liberator and DDR opt for A+E Dept, and Manu Le Malin gets an assist from... Draft Ponk? Lord Discogs, are these the same French guys you’re suggesting? Never would have expected them on a hard acid techno collection.

Sunday, May 31, 2015

Eat Static - Science Of The Gods

Mammoth Records: 1997

I may have pre-hyped this album a bit much, what with so many namedrops in past Eat Static reviews. For all I know, Science Of The Gods was unanimously rejected by the psy-trance faithful, seen as a betrayal of all that the goa scene held true. The hippies and techno crusties were in no need of their chosen heroes getting in on that surging d’n’b action, and junglists were even more insular, waging their own war over classic Amen Break darkside productions versus the new tech-step hotness. There’s no way these two disparate scenes should have any business interacting. It’s poison. It’s toxic. It’s catastrophic. You don’t cross the scenes!

So of course Eat Static said nuts to all that and delivered some of the gnarliest d’n’b I’ve ever heard. In adding the tricks they developed performing goa and psy, these aliens don’t so much invade the junglist’s realm as take some artefacts for themselves for display on their own world. The main tune off here, Interceptor, features a pummelling tech-step rhythm with thick, chunky kicks and a grimy acid bassline, serving as a rudder for all manner of sci-fi sound effects, knob tweaks, drum fills, and general psychedelic craziness to hang off. If Eat Static made this track specifically as a tie-in with the RTS game Conquest Earth, it’s about the only saving grace in that forgotten crap game. Come, bask in its glorious ‘90s CGI alien invasion video. It’s like watching a demo episode of Babylon 5!

Two other tracks on Science Of The Gods work the d’n’b angle, Dissection going deeper with Amen Break business with their usual assortment of sci-fi sounds and noises. Following a brief interlude, they tentatively dip their toes in jazzstep’s calmer waters on Bodystealers before going full-in with experimental beatcraft of micro-bleeps and reverb effects. Can’t ever say these guys never ventured where no others dared, even if this portion grows overindulgent after a couple minutes.

For all the supposed talk of this album straying from Eat Static’s core audience, folks forget that’s only three tracks out of eight, the remaining attending to the needs of their loyal outdoor followers as expertly as ever. The opening titular cut is all kinds of trippy fun, giving us a dirty bit of twisted acid funk before seemingly falling off the rails. Nay, it’s just the duo playing, soon enough unleashing a beast of acid techno for the remainder. Elsewhere, Kryll floats about with a spacey, proggy vibe, Spawn will kick the shit out of you, and Contact leans way old-school goa, sounding like a leftover from the Abduction days. Finally, The Hanger is one seriously dubby, low-riding monster of a track – imagine Predator cruising the cosmos with blunts billowing against the stars, feelin’ chill after a successful hunt.

I’ve no more else to say about Science Of The Gods. It may look campy, but that’s always been Eat Static’s charm, fooling the suspicious with the weird before unleashing their face-melting weaponry upon your ears.

Wednesday, January 7, 2015

ACE TRACKS: January 2014

Whoa, wait a minute here! How can there already by an ACE TRACKS playlist for January when we’re barely a week into the month? The answer, to the surprise of no one, is that this is the January playlist from last year. Ah, I remember that time so fondly, spending nearly two days straight of finally giving this blog actual sound clips and links via Amazon. Boy, if only I had a different audio service available to me at the time that would have made that process so much easier. If only…



Full track list here.

MISSING ALBUMS:
Doc Scott - Lost In Drum N’ Bass
The Orb - Live 93
DJ Aaron Carter - Lit Up

Percentage Of Hip-Hop: 26%
Percentage of Rock: 4%
Most “WTF?” Track: Archie Bleyer - Hernando’s Hideaway (get your tango on, mate)

This was quite an eclectic month, as far as musical genres are concerned. Beyond the highly recognizable electronic names like Leftfield, Ladytron, Infected Mushroom, and FSOL, there’s obscure acid techno, reggae, world music, and grimey UK bass. Also, live albums, so expect to hear more cheering crowds than a KLF record. Surprisingly, the end result isn’t as convoluted or forced as other 'kitchen sink' playlists I’ve done. I won’t deny a couple clunky transitions, though (sorry, Rae’).

The total runtime is about 10 hours here, but that’s because I gave three whole albums Ace Track status that month: Asura’s Life², Bob Marely’s Legend, and GZA’s Liquid Swords. Instead of clumsily worming these LPs’ individual tracks throughout, I’ve lumped each one at the very end of the playlist. It makes better sense having albums that are great straight through represented as such anyway.

Things I've Talked About

...txt 10 Records 16 Bit Lolita's 1963 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2 Play Records 2 Unlimited 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 20xx Update 2562 3 Loop Music 302 Acid 36 3FORCE 3six Recordings 4AD 6 x 6 Records 75 Ark 7L & Esoteric 808 State A Perfect Circle A Positive Life A-Wave a.r.t.less A&M Records A&R Records Abandoned Communities Abasi Above and Beyond abstract AC/DC Ace Trace Ace Tracks Playlists Ace Ventura acid acid house acid jazz acid techno acoustic Acroplane Recordings Adam Beyer Adam Ellis Adam Freeland Adham Shaikh ADNY Adrian Younge adult contemporary Advanced UFO Phantom Aegri Somnia AEI Music Aes Dana Afgin Afrika Bambaataa Afro-house Afterhours Agoria Aidan Casserly Aira Mitsuki Airwaves Ajana Records Ajna AK1200 Akshan album Aldrin Alex Smoke Alex Theory Alice In Chains Alien Community Alien Project Alio Die All Saints Alpha Wave Movement Alphabet Zoo Alphaxone Altar Records Alter Ego alternative rock Alucidnation Ambelion Ambidextrous ambient ambient dub ambient techno Ambient World Ambientium Ametsub Amon Amarth Amon Tobin Amplexus Anabolic Frolic Anatolya Andrea Parker Andrew Heath Androcell Anduin Andy C anecdotes Aniplex Anjunabeats Annibale Records Anodize Another Fine Day Antendex anthem house Anthony Paul Kerby Anthony Rother Anti-Social Network Anzio Green Aoide Aphasia Records Aphex Twin Apócrýphos Apollo Apollo 440 Apple Records April Records Aqua Aquarellist Aquascape Aquasky Aquila Arcade Architects Of Existence Archives Arcturus arena rock Arista Armada Armin van Buuren Arpatle Artifact303 Arts & Crafts ASC Ashtech Asia Asian Dub Foundation Astral Engineering Astral Projection Astral Waves Astralwerks AstroPilot AstroPilot Music Asura Asylum Records ATB ATCO Records Atlantic Atlantis atmospheric jungle Atom Heart Atomic Hooligan Atomine Elektrine Atrium Carceri Attic Attoya Audiobulb Records Audion AuroraX Autechre Autistici Autumn Of Communion Auxilary Auxiliary Avantgarde Avatar Records Aveparthe Avicii Axiom Axs Axtone Records Aythar B.G. The Prince Of Rap B°TONG B12 Babygrande Balance Balanced Records Balearic ballad Bålsam Banco de Gaia Bandulu Barker & Baumecker Battle Axe Records battle-rap Bauri Beastie Boys Beat Buzz Records Beat Pharmacy Beatbox Machinery Beats & Pieces bebop Beck Bedouin Soundclash Bedrock Records Beechwood Music Benny Benassi Bent Benz Street US Berlin-School Beto Narme Beyond bhangra Bicep big beat Big Boi Big Dada Recordings Big L Big Life Bill Hamel Bill Laswell Bill Leeb BIlly Idol BineMusic BioMetal Biophon Records Biosphere Bipolar Music BKS Black Hole Recordings black metal black rebel motorcycle club Black Swan Sounds Blanco Y Negro Blasterjaxx Bleep Blend Blood Music Blow Up Blue Amazon Blue Hour Blue Öyster Cult blues blues rock Bluescreen Bluetech BMG Boards Of Canada Bob Dylan Bob Marley Bobina Bogdan Raczynzki Bombay Records Bone Thugs-N-Harmony Boney M Bong Load Records Bonobo Bonzai Boogie Down Productions Booka Shade Botchit & Scarper Bows Boxed Boys Noize Boysnoize Records BPitch Control braindance Brandt Brauer Frick Brasil & The Gallowbrothers Band breakbeats breakcore breaks Brian Eno Brian Wilson Brick Records Britpop Brodinski broken beat Brooklyn Music Ltd Bryan Adams BT Bubble Buffalo Springfield Bulk Recordings Burial Burned CDs Bursak Records Bush Busta Rhymes Buttertones bvdub C.I.A. Calibre calypso Canibus Canned Resistor Capitol Records Capsula Captain Hollywood Project Captured Digital Carbon Based Lifeforms Caribou Carl B Carl Craig Carlos Ferreira Carol C Caroline Records Carpe Sonum Novum Carpe Sonum Records Castroe Casual Cat Sun CD-Maximum Ceephax Acid Crew Celestial Dragon Records Cell Celtic Centaspike Cevin Fisher Cheb i Sabbah Cheeky Records chemical breaks Chihei Hatakeyama Children Of The Bong chill out chill-out chiptune Chris Duckenfield Chris Fortier Chris Korda Chris Liebing Chris Sheppard Chris Witoski Christmas Christopher Lawrence Chromeo Chronos Chrysalis Ciaran Byrne cinematic soundscapes Circle of Pines Circular Ciro Berenguer Cirrus Cities Last Broadcast City Of Angels CJ Stone Claptone classic house classic rock classical Claude Young Clear Label Records Clementz Cleopatra Cloud 9 Club Culture Club Cutz Club Tools Cocoon Recordings Cold Spring Coldcut Coldplay coldwave Colette collagist Columbia Com.Pact Records Coma Eye comedy Compilation Comrie Smith Congo Natty Conjure One Connect.Ohm conscious Control Music Convextion Cooking Vinyl Cor Fijneman Corderoy Cosmic Gate Cosmic Replicant Cosmo Cocktail Cosmos Studios Cottonbelly Council Estate Electronics Council Of Nine Counter Records country country rock Covert Operations Recordings Craig Padilla Craig Richards Crazy Horse Cream Creamfields Creedence Clearwater Revival Crockett's Theme Crosby Stills And Nash Crossing Mind Crosstown Rebels crunk Cryo Chamber Cryobiosis Cryogenic Weekend Cryostasis Crystal Moon Cube Guys Culture Beat Curb Records Current Curve cut'n'paste CYAN Cyan Music Cyber Productions CyberOctave Cyclic Law Cygna Cypher 7 Cypress Hill Cyril Secq Czarface D-Bridge D-Fuse D-Topia Entertainment Daar Dacru Records Daddy G Daft Punk Dag Rosenqvist Damian Lazarus Damon Albarn Damon Wild Dan Terminus Dan The Automator Dance 2 Trance Dance Pool Dance With The Dead dancehall Daniel Heatcliff Daniel Lentz Daniel Pemberton Daniel Wanrooy Danny Howells Danny Tenaglia Dao Da Noize Daphni dark ambient dark disco dark psy darkcore darkside darkstep darksynth darkwave Darla Records Darren Emerson Darren McClure Darren Nye DAT Records Databloem dataObscura David Alvarado David Bickley David Bridie David Cordero David Guetta David Morley DDR De-tuned Dead Coast Dead Melodies Deadmau5 Death Grips death metal Death Row Records Decimal Deconstruction Dedicated Deejay Goldfinger Deep Dish Deep Forest deep house Deeply Rooted House Deepwater Black Deetron Def Jam Recordings Del Tha Funkee Homosapien Delerium Delsin Deltron 3030 Denshi Danshi Depeche Mode Der Dritte Raum Derek Carr Detroit Deviant Records Devin Underwood Devroka Deysn Masiello DFA DGC diametric. Dido Dieselboy Different DigiCube Dillinja Dirk Serries dirty house Dirty South Dirty Vegas Dis Fig disco Disco Gecko disco house Disco Pinata Records disco punk Discover (label) Disky Disques Dreyfus Distant System Distinct'ive Breaks Disturbance Divination DJ 3000 DJ Brian DJ Craze DJ Dag DJ Dan DJ Dean DJ Gonzalo DJ Heather DJ John Kelley DJ John Storm DJ Merlin DJ Mix DJ Moe Sticky DJ Observer DJ Premier DJ Q-Bert DJ Shadow DJ Soul Slinger DJ-Kicks Djen Ajakan Shean DJMag DMC DMC Records Doc Scott Dogon Dogwhistle Dooflex Doom Poets Dopplereffekt Dossier Dousk downtempo dowtempo Dr. Alban Dr. Atmo Dr. Dre Dr. Hook & The Medicine Show Dr. Octagon Dragon Quest dream house dream pop DreamWorks Records Drexciya drill 'n' bass Dronarivm drone Dronny Darko drum 'n' bass DrumNBassArena drumstep drunken review dub Dub Pistols dub techno Dub Trees Dubfire dubstep Dubtribe Sound System DuMonde Dune Dusted Dyadik Dynatron E-Mantra E-Z Rollers Eardream Music Earth Earth Nation Earthling Eastcoast Eastcost Eastern Dub Tactik EastWest Eastworld Eat Static EBM Echodub Ed Rush & Optical Editions EG EDM World Weekly News Ektoplazm Electric Universe electro Electro House Electro Sun electro-funk electro-pop electroclash Electronic Dance Essentials Electronic Music Guide Electrovoya Elektra Elektrolux em:t EMC update EMI Emiliana Torrini Eminem Emmerichk Emperor Norton Empire enCAPSULAte Encym Engine Recordings Enigma Enmarta Ensiferum Enya EP Epic epic trance EQ Recordings Equal Stones Erased Tapes Records Eric Borgo Erik Vee Erol Alkan Escape Esko Barba Esoteric Reactive Espacio Cielo ethereal Etic Etnica Etnoscope Euphoria euro dance eurodance eurotrance Eurythmics Eve Records Everlast Ewan Pearson Exitab experimental Eye Q Records Ezdanitoff F Communications Fabric Facture Fade Records Faex Optim Faint Faithless Falcon Reekon Fallen False Mirror fanfic Fantastisizer Fantasy Enhancing faru Fatboy Slim Fax +49-69/450464 Fear Factory Fedde Le Grand Fehrplay Feist Fektive Records Felix da Housecat Fennesz Ferry Corsten FFRR Fictivision field recordings Filter filters Final Fantasy Firescope Five AM Fjäder Flashover Recordings Floating Points Flowers For Bodysnatchers Flowjob Fluke Fluxion Flying Lotus folk Fontana footwork Force Intel Fountain Music Four Tet FPU Frame Francis M Gri Frank Bretschneider Frankie Bones Frankie Knuckles Frans de Waard Fred Everything freestyle French house Front Line Assembly Frou Frou fsoldigital.com Fugees full-on Fun Factory funk future garage Future Sound Of London Futuregrapher futurepop g-funk G-Prod gabber Gabriel Le Mar Gaither Music Group Galaktlan Galati Gang Starr gangsta garage Gareth Davis Gary Martin Gas Gasoline Alley Records Gee Street Geffen Records Gel-Sol Genesis Geometry Combat George Issakidis Gerald Donald Get Physical Music ghetto Ghostface Killah Ghostly International Glacial Movements Records glam Gliese 581C glitch Glitch Hop Global Communication Global Underground Globular goa trance Goasia God Body Disconnect Gorillaz gospel Gost goth Grammy Awards Gravediggaz Green Bay Wax Green Day Grey Area Greytone Gridlock grime Groove Armada Groove Corporation Grooverider grunge Guru Gustaf Hidlebrand Gusto Records GZA H:U:M H2O Records Haddaway Halgrath happy hardcore hard house hard rock hard techno hard trance hardcore Hardfloor Hardly Art hardstyle Harlequins Enigma Harmless Harmonic 33 Harmonic Resonance Recordings Harold Budd Harthouse Harthouse Mannheim Hawtin Headphone Hearts Of Space Hed Kandi Hefty Records Helen Marnie Hell Hercules And Love Affair Hernán Cattáneo Hexstatic Hi-Bias Records Hic Sunt Leones Hide And Sequence Hiero Emperium Hieroglyphics High Contrast High Note Records Higher Ground Higher Intelligence Agency Hilyard hip-hop hip-house hipno Hollywood Burns Home Normal Honest Jon's Records Hooj Choons Hope Records horrorcore Hospital Records Hot Chip Hotflush Recordings house Howie B Huey Lewis & The News Human Blue Humanoid Hybrid Hybrid Leisureland Hymen Records Hyperdub Hypertrophy Hypnotic Hypnoxock I Awake I-Cube i! Records I.F. I.F.O.R. I.R.S. Records Iboga Records Icarus Music Ice Cube Ice H2o Records ICE MC IDM Iempamo Ignis Fatum Igorrr Ikjoyce illbient ILUITEQ Imogen Heap Imperial Dancefloor Imploded View In Charge In Trance We Trust Incoming Incubus Indica Records indie rock Indisc Industrial Infastructure New York Infected Mushroom Infinite Guitar influence records Infonet Inhmost Ink Midget Inner Ocean Records Innovative Leisure Records Insane Clown Posse Inspectah Deck Instinct Ambient Instra-Mental Intellitronic Bubble Inter-Modo Interchill Records Internal International Deejays Gigolo Interscope Records Intimate Productions Intuition Recordings ISBA Music Entertainment Ishkur Ishq Island Def Jam Music Group Island Records Islands Of Light Italians Do It Better italo disco italo house Item Caligo J-pop Jack Moss Jackpot Jacob Newman Jafu Jake Stephenson Jam and Spoon Jam El Mar James Blake James Holden James Horner James Lavelle James Murray James Zabiela Jamie Jones Jamie Myerson Jamie Principle Jamiroquai Javelin Ltd. Jay Haze Jay Tripwire Jaydee jazz jazz dance jazzdance jazzstep Jean-Michel Jarre Jefferson Airplane Jerry Goldsmith Jesper Dahlbäck Jessy Lanza Jimmy Van M Jiri.Ceiver Jive Jive Electro Jliat Jlin JMJ Joel Mull Joey Beltram John '00' Fleming John Acquaviva John Beltran John Digweed John Graham John Kelly John O'Callaghan John Oswald John Shima Johnny Cash Johnny Jewel Jon Hester Jonny L Jori Hulkkonen Joris Voorn Jørn Stenzel Josh Christie Josh Wink Journeys By DJ™ LLC Joyful Noise Recordings Juan Atkins juke Jump Cut jump up Jumpin' & Pumpin' jungle Junior Boy's Own Junkie XL Juno Reactor Jupiter 8000 Jurassic 5 Kaico Kay Wilder KDJ Keith Farrugia Ken Ishii Kenji Kawai Kenny Glasgow Keoki Keosz Kerri Chandler Kevin Braheny Kevin Yost Kevorkian Records Khetzal Khooman Khruangbin Ki/oon Kid Koala Kiko Killing Joke Kinder Atom Kinetic Records King Cannibal King Midas Sound King Tubby Kitaro Klang Elektronik Klaus Schulze Klik Records KMFDM Koch Records Koichi Sugiyama Kolhoosi 13 Komakino Kompakt Kon Kan Kool Keith Kozo Kraftwelt Kraftwerk Krafty Kuts Kranky krautrock Kriistal Ann Krill.Minima Kris O'Neil Kriztal KRS-One Kruder and Dorfmeister Krusseldorf Kubinski KuckKuck Kulor Kurupt Kwook L.B. Dub Corp L.S.G. L'usine La Luz Lab 4 Ladytron LaFace Records Lafleche Lamb Lange Large Records Lars Leonhard Laserlight Digital LateNightTales Latin Laurent Garnier Layer 3 LCD Soundsystem Le Moors Leaf Leama and Moor Lee 'Scratch' Perry Lee Burridge Lee Norris Leftfield Leftfield Records Legacy Legiac Legowelt Lemony Records Leon Bolier Les Disques Du Crépuscule LFO Linear Labs Lingua Lustra Lionel Weets Liquid Frog Records liquid funk Liquid Sound Design Liquid Stranger Liquid Zen Literon Live live album LL Cool J lo fi Loco Dice Lodsb LoFi London acid crew London Classics London Elektricity London Records 90 Ltd London-Sire Records LongWalkShortDock Loop Guru Loreena McKennitt Lorenzo Masotto Lorenzo Montanà loscil Lost Language Lotek Records Loud Records Louderbach Loverboy Lowfish Luaka Bop Lucette Bourdin Luciano Luke Slater Lunarian Records Lustmord M_nus M.A.N.D.Y. M.I.K.E. Mack 10 Madonna Magda Magik Muzik Mahiane Mali Malignant Records Mammoth Records Mantacoup Marc Simz Marcel Dettmann Marcel Fengler Marco Carola Marco V Marcus Intalex Mark Farina Mark Norman Mark Pritchard Markus Schulz Marshmello Martin Allin Martin Cooper Martin Nonstatic Märtini Brös Marvin Gaye Maschine Massimo Vivona Massive Attack Masta Killa Master Margherita Matthew Dear Max Graham maximal Maxx MCA MCA Records McProg Meanwhile Meat Loaf Median Project Medicine Label Meditronica Melusine Records Memex Menno de Jong Mercury Merr0w Mesmobeat metal Metal Blade Records Metamatics Method Man Metro Area Metroplex Metropolis MF Doom Miami Bass Miami Beach Force Miami Dub Machine Michael Brook Michael Jackson Michael Mantra Michael Mayer Mick Chillage micro-house microfunk Microscopics MIG Miguel Migs Mike Saint-Jules Mike Shiver Miktek Mille Plateaux Millennium Records Mind Distortion System Mind Over MIDI mini-CDs minimal minimal tech-house Ministry Of Sound miscellaneous Misja Helsloot Miss Kittin Miss Moneypenny's Mistical Mixmag Mixmaster Morris Mo Wax Mo-Do MO-DU Moby Model 500 modern classical Modeselektor Mohlao Moist Music Moljebka Pvulse Moodymann Moonshine Morgan Morphic Resonance Morphology Moss Covered Technology Moss Garden Motech Motionfield Motorbass Mount Shrine Move D Moving Shadow Mr. Scruff Mujaji Murk Murmur Mushy Records Music link Music Man Records musique concrete Mutant Sound System Mute MUX Muzik Magazine My Best Friend Mystery Tape Laboratory Mystica Tribe Mystified N-Trance Nacht Plank Nadia Ali Nano Records Napalm Records Nas Nashville Natural Life Essence Natural Midi Nature Sounds Naughty By Nature Nav Bhinder Nebula Neil Young Neo Ouija Neo-Adventures Neon Droid Neotantra Neotropic nerdcore Nervous Records Nettwerk Neurobiotic Records neurofunk Neuropa Records New Age New Beat New Jack Swing New Order new wave Nic Fanciulli Nick Höppner Night Hex Night Time Stories Nightmares On Wax Nightwind Records Nimanty Nine Inch Nails Ninja Tune Nirvana nizmusic No Mask Effect Nobuo Uematsu noise Noise Factory Records Nomad Nonesuch Nonplus Records Nookie Nordic Trax Norken Norman Cook Norman Feller North South Northumbria Not Now Music Nothing Records Nova NovaMute NRG Ntone nu-italo nu-jazz nu-metal nu-skool Nuclear Blast Nuclear Blast Entertainment Nulll Nunc Stans Nurse With Wound NXP Nyquist Oasis Ocelot Octagen Offshoot Offshoot Records Ol' Dirty Bastard Olan Mill Old Europa Cafe old school rave Ole Højer Hansen Olga Musik Olien Oliver Lieb Olivier Orand Olsen OM Records Omni Trio Omnimotion Omnisonus One Little Indian Onyx Oophoi Oosh Open Open Canvas Opium Opus III orchestral Original TranceCritic review Origo Sound Orkidea Orla Wren Ornament Ostgut Ton Ott Ottsonic Music Ouragan Out Of The Box OutKast Outmosphere Records Outpost Records Overdream Owl P-Ben Pale Glow Paleowolf Pan Sonic Pantera Pantha Du Prince Paolo Mojo Parental Advisory Parlaphone Part-Sub-Merged Pascal F.E.O.S. Past Inside The Present Patreon Patrick Dream Paul Moelands Paul Oakenfold Paul van Dyk Pendulum Pentatonik Perfect Stranger Perfecto Perturbator Pet Shop Boys Petar Dundov Pete Namlook Pete Tong Peter Andersson Peter Benisch Peter Broderick Peter Gabriel Peter Tosh Phantogram Phonothek Photek Phutureprimitive Phynn PIAS Recordings Pinch Pink Floyd Pioneer Pitch Black PJ Harvey Plaid Planet Dog Planet Earth Recordings Planet Mu Planetary Assault Systems Planetary Consciousness Plastic City Plastikman Platinum Platipus Pleq Plump DJs Plunderphonic Plus 8 Records PM Dawn Poker Flat Recordings Polar Seas Recordings Pole Folder politics Polydor Polytel pop Popular Records Porya Hatami positivesource post-dubstep post-punk power electronics Prince Prince Paul Prins Thomas Priority Records Private Mountain Procs Profondita prog prog metal prog psy prog rock prog-psy progress house Progression progressive breaks progressive house progressive rock progressive trance Prolifica Proper Records Prototype Recordings protoU Pryda psy chill psy dub Psy Spy Records psy trance psy-chill psy-dub psychedelia Psychick Warriors Ov Gaia Psychomanteum Psychonavigation Psychonavigation Records Psycoholic Psykosonik Psysolation Public Enemy Pulse-8 Records punk punk rock Pureuphoria Records Purl Purple Soil Push PWL International Quadrophonia Quality Quango Quantic Quantum Quinlan Road R & S Records R'n'B R&B Ra Rabbit In The Moon Radio Slave Radioactive Radioactive Man Radiohead Rae Raekwon ragga Rainbow Vector raison d'etre Raja Ram Ralf Hildenbeutel Ralph Lawson RAM Records Randal Collier-Ford Random Review Rank 1 rant Rapoon RareNoise Records Ras Command Rascalz Raster-Noton Ratatat Raum Records rave RCA React Rebecca & Nathan Recycle Or Die Red Fog Red Jerry Redman Refracted reggae ReKaB REKIDS remixes Renaissance Renaissance Man Rephlex Reprise Records Republic Records Resist Music Restless Records RetroSynther Reverse Alignment Reverse Pulse Rhino Records Rhys Fulber Ricardo Villalobos Richard Durand Richard Stonefield Riley Reinhold Ringo Sheena Rising High Records RnB Roadrunner Records Robert Hood Robert Miles Robert Oleysyck Robert Rich Roc Raida rock rock opera rockabilly rocktronica Roger Sanchez ROIR Rollo Roman Ridder Rough Trade Rub-N-Tug Ruben Garcia Rudy Adrian Ruffhouse Records Rumour Records Running Back Ruptured World Ruthless Records RX-101 Rykodisc RZA S.E.T.I. Saafi Brothers Sabled Sun SadGirl Saitoh Tomohiro Sakanaction Salt Tank Salted Music Salvation Music Samim Samora sampling Samurai Red Seal Sanctuary Records Sander van Doorn Sandoz Sandwell District SantAAgostino Saphileaum Sarah McLachlan Sash Sasha Saul Stokes Scandinavian Records Scann-Tec sci-fi Science Scooter Scott Grooves Scott Hardkiss Scott Stubbs Scuba Seán Quinn Seaworthy Segue Sense Sentimony Records Sequential Seraphim Rytm Setrise Seven Davis Jr. Sghor sgnl_fltr Shackleton Shaded Explorations Shaded Explorer Shadow Records Sharam Shawn Francis shoegaze Shpongle Shuta Yasukochi Si Matthews Side Effects SideOneDummy Records Sidereal Signature Records SiJ Silent Season Silent Universe Silentes Silentes Minimal Editions Silicone Soul silly gimmicks Silver Age Simian Mobile Disco Simon Berry Simon Heath Simon Posford Simon Scott Simple Records Sinden Sine Silex single Single Gun Theory Sire Records Company Six Degrees Sixeleven Records Sixtoo ska Skanfrom Skare Skin To Skin Skua Atlantic Slaapwel Records Slam Sleep Research Facility Slinky Music Slowcraft Records Sly and Robbie Smalltown Supersound SME Visual Works Inc. SMTG Limited Snap Sneijder Snoop Dogg Snowy Tension Pole soft rock Soiree Records International Solar Fields Solaris Recordings Solarstone Soleilmoon Recordings Solieb Solieb Digital Solipsism Soliquid Solstice Music Europe Solvent Soma Quality Recordings Songbird Sony Music Entertainment SOS soul Soul Temple Entertainment soul:r Souls Of Mischief Sound Of Ceres Soundgarden Sounds From The Ground soundtrack southern rap southern rock space ambient Space Dimension Controller space disco Space Manoeuvres space music space synth Spacetime Continuum Spaghetti Recordings Spank Rock Special D Specta Ciera speed garage Speedy J SPG Music Sphäre Sechs Spicelab Spielerei Spinefarm Records Spiritech spoken word Sport Spotify Suggestions Spotted Peccary Spring Hill SPX Digital Spy vs Spice Squarepusher Squaresoft Stacey Pullen Stanton Warriors Star Trek Stardust Statrax Stay Up Forever Stealth Sonic Recordings Stephanie B Stephen Kroos Stereolab Steve Angello Steve Brand Steve Lawler Steve Miller Band Steve Porter Steven Rutter Stijn van Cauter Stimulus Timbre Stone Temple Pilots Stonebridge Stormloop Stray Gators Street Fighter Stuart McLean Studio K7 Stylophonic Sub Focus Subharmonic Sublime Sublime Porte Netlabel Subotika Substance Suction Records Suduaya Suicide Squeeze SUN Project Sun Station Sunbeam Sunday Best Recordings Sunscreem Suntrip Records Supercar Superstition surf rock Susumu Yokota Sven Väth SVLBRD Swayzak Sweet Trip swing Switch Swollen Members Sykonee Survey Sylk 130 Symmetry Sync24 Synergy Synkro synth pop synth-pop synthwave System 7 Tactic Records Take Me To The Hospital Tall Paul Tammy Wynette Tangerine Dream Tau Ceti Taylor Tayo tech house Tech Itch Digital Tech Itch Recordings tech-house tech-step tech-trance Technical Itch techno technobass Technoboy Tectonic Telefon Tel Aviv Telstar Terminal Antwerp Terra Ferma Terror Cell Terry Lee Brown Jr Tetsu Inoue Textere Oris The Angling Loser The B-52's The Beach Boys The Beatles The Black Dog The Boats The Brian Jonestown Massacre The Bug The Chemical Brothers The Circular Ruins The Clash The Council The Cranberries The Crystal Method The Digital Blonde The Dust Brothers The Field The Frozen Vaults The Gentle People The Glimmers The Green Kingdom The Grey Area The Grid The Hacker The Herbaliser The Human League The Irresistible Force The KLF The Micronauts The Misted Muppet The Movement The Music Cartel The Null Corporation The Oak Ridge Boys The Offspring The Orb The Police The Prodigy The Real McCoy The Roots The Sabres Of Paradise The Shamen The Sharp Boys The Sonic Voyagers The Squires The Stills-Young Band The Stray Gators The Tea Party The Tragically Hip The Velvet Underground The Wailers The White Stripes The Winterhouse themes Thievery Corporation Third Contact Third World Tholen Thrive Records Tiefschwarz Tiësto Tiga Tiger & Woods Tijuana Panthers Time Life Music Time Warp Timecode Timestalker Tipper Tobias Tocadisco Todd Terje Toki Fuko Tom Middleton Tom Tom Club Tomas Jirku Tomita Tommy '86 Tommy Boy Ton T.B. Tone Depth Tony Anderson Sound Orchestra Too Pure Tool tools Topaz Tosca Toto Touch Touched Tourette Records Toxik Synther Tracing Xircles Traffic Entertainment Group trance Trancelucent Tranquillo Records Trans'Pact Transcend Transformers Transient Records trap Trax Records Trend Trentemøller Tresor tribal Tricky Triloka Records trip-hop Trishula Records Tristan Troum Troy Pierce TRS Records Tru Thoughts Tsuba Records Tsubasa Records Tuff Gong Tunnel Records Turbo Recordings turntablism TUU TVT Records Twisted Records Type O Negative Týr U-God U-Recken U2 U4IC DJs Ãœberzone Ugasanie UK acid house UK Garage UK Hard House Ultimae Records Ultra Records Umbra Underworld Union Jack United Dairies United DJs Of America United Recordings Universal Motown Universal Music Universal Records Universal Republic Records UNKLE Unknown Tone Records Unusual Cosmic Process UOVI Upstream Records Urban Icon Records Utada Hikaru V2 Vagrant Records Valanx Valiska Valley Of The Sun Vangelis Vap VAST Vector Lovers Venetian Snares Venonza Records Vermont Vernon Versatile Records Verus Records Verve Records VGM Vibrant Music Vice Records Victor Calderone Victor Entertainment Vidna Obmana Viking metal Vince DiCola Vinyl Cafe Productions Virgin Virtual Vault Virus Recordings Visionquest Visions Vitalic vocal trance Vortex Voxxov Records Voyage Wagram Music Waki Wanderwelle Warmth Warner Bros. Records Warp Records Warren G Water Music Dance Wave Recordings Wave Records Waveform Waveform Records Wax Trax Records Way Out West WC WEA Wednesday Campanella Weekend Players Weekly Mini-Review Werk Discs Werkstatt Recordings WestBam Westside Connection White Cloud White Swan Records Wichita Will Saul William Orbit Willie Nelson Wintersun world beat world music writing reflections Wrong Records Wu-Tang Clan Wurrm Wyatt Keusch Xerxes The Dark XL Recordings XTT Recordings Yahgan Yamaoka Yello Yes Ylid Youth Youtube YoYo Records Yul Records zakè Zenith ZerO One Zoharum Zomby Zoo Entertainment ZTT Zyron ZYX Music µ-Ziq