Various - RU Receiving

Mercury: 1997

I’m sure in the lands of the Old World, where electronic music wasn’t so mocked, they had all sorts of shows dedicated to ‘rave videos’. Out here in the New World, however, our options were scant, few, and almost entirely centered on club hits of the day. That wasn’t so bad in the early ‘90s when euro-dance had a little market penetration, but once R&B took over, good ol’ house and techno was practically jettisoned from music channel rotation. Save the occasional undeniable chart climber from Fatboy Slim, Daft Punk, or, erm, Aqua, electronic music videos all but disappeared from North American TVs. Hey, at least it’s not as bad as today, where all music videos have disappeared. (hey-o!)

Still, even in those lean years of the mid-to-late ‘90s, one could find obscure shows in the wee hours dedicated to showcasing outlier acts of a broad culture. After all, the UK never stopped making music videos for their eager audiences, so why not offer up a 2am slot airing them. Gives a handy excuse to replay that Trainspotting hit or a semi-popular ‘electronica’ jam again, plus throw in a few homegrown acts like Moby and Richie Hawtin for good measure. On MTV, their show was called Amp, while in Canada, our own MuchMusic dubbed the hour RU Receiving, and holy cow was this ever the bomb late at night! Weird, esoteric music only underground ravers had much clue about, finally given visual representation, with videos equally weird and esoteric. With so few star frontmen to market around, most electronic music videos back in the day were artsy and abstract efforts, only adding to the American rave scene’s alt-culture allure.

Naturally a CD compilation hit the shelves promoting this fledgling show. As a 1997 ‘electronica’ collection, it features familiar acts, a few obscure tracks, and a couple “fucking why?” cuts. Okay, U2’s Mofo isn’t that surprising considering this was the year they got in on that hip, new big-beat sound the UK was all abuzz over. And honestly, with Steve Osborne (Grace, Virus, Paul Oakenfold) and Howie B behind the decks on this one, this is one of the best tunes that emerged from U2’s Pop experiment. The other “fucking why?” track is Orbital’s The Saint, because fuck you.

Pretty much all the very important acts and their biggest hits of 1997 are represented on this CD, including Roni Size/Reprazent’s Share The Fall. There’s Prodigy’s Firestarter, The Orb’s Toxygene, Goldie’s Inner City Life, and The Chemical Brothers’ Loops Of Fury. Wait, that last one’s unexpected, but I’m not complaining, far preferring their earlier thrashy acid breaks to the Dig Your Own Hole era. Also, as trip-hop was super hot too, we get Portisehead’s smoky Strangers, DJ Shadow’s blissed-out Midnight In A Perfect World, and Howie B’s crunchy acid-funk Butt Meat.

For me though, the one track that defines the whole RU Receiving legacy is Synaptic Response from Canadian duo Legion Of Green Men. Gander at the video, and understand.

Various - Renaissance: The Masters Series Part 15 - James Zabiela

Renaissance: 2010

Maybe I should just go back to the beginning, those early seminal mixes that elevated James Zabiela into the progressive elite. Yet would I be let down by those too? There’s so much hype for Utilities, Sound In Motion and ALiVE, their legacy as essential contributions to progressive house/breaks/tech, I fear they can’t help but not live up to their praise. Were they just good for the time, or had ol’ Zabs’ earned enough good will with live shows and Sasha nods that they forgave whatever faults those CDs might have. They certainly can’t have that same sense of missed opportunities as his contributions to Renaissance’s Master Series have.

Let me repeat his CD1 mix from Part 12 remains a great collection of tunes, arranged with wonderful narrative flow; however, the whole package is undone by the hopelessly dated, drab techno of CD2. Part 15 is another double-disc set that would have benefitted from reducing it to one. In this case though, we’re dealing with two half-good mixes rather than one ace and one bunk.

Make no mistake, I was looking forward to hearing this one based on the tracklist alone. So many artists I enjoy, plus others I deeply respect despite not indulging their material as often. Like who, asks you, before knowing the imminent namedrop shall commence. There’s Gui Boratto, Robert Babicz, Guy J, Hardfloor, Spooky, Josh Wink, Kaito, Jori Hulkkanen, Siriusmo, Ellen Allien, Boys Noize, ASC, plus a chap by the name of Peter Benisch I’ve gushed all too often about. Part of what intrigued me about Part 15 was how Zabiela would arrange all these artists into a cohesive DJ set, and the answer is he barely does at all, mostly opting for the mixtape treatment of tracks instead. Okay, cool, I’m sure Zabiela’s got some great selections to showcase throughout the course of these runtimes. Ehh…

CD1, subtitled A Life Less Ordinary, suffers most from this, never gaining any traction until well over the half-way mark with a comfortable groove. Before that though, we run through dubby downbeat (Nosaj Thing’s Fog), clicky chill (Zabiela’s Burnt Bridges), shoegazey electro (R3volve’s Bootpacker Alpha), microfunk (ASC’s Porcelain), and acid-ragga breaks (Ruxpin’s A Sunrise). All cool music, but little connection between any of it beyond tunes Zabiela’s fond of, and the distracting, injected dialog snippets don’t help matter either (shame, because such recordings were also a plus in Part 12’s favor). Still, a strong finish for this disc, even if it’s thanks to Benisch’s Skymning pulling it forward (no bias!).

CD2, subtitled Afterlife, almost has a good start with some melodic Detroit techno (Vince Watson’s Long Way From Home, but is followed upon deep tech-house that has all the substance of a rice cracker. At least it isn’t plodding, and once Zabiela gets out of the fussy bloopiness of it all, he settles into an enjoyable proggy outing with a little acid funk thrown in. There, that wasn’t so hard. Why you no do that from the start?

Various - Rising High Trance Injection

Instinct Records: 1994

One of the buried treasures of early '90s classic trance, this. Not that Teenage Sykonee realized it when he picked it up by random chance. All he saw was an affordable double-CD with a bunch of weird, cool names (Influx! Syzygy! Tranquilizer! New London School Of Electronics! Perry & Rhodan?), and the word ‘trance’ on the cover. Perfect! Oh wait, except for one track, this sounds nothing like hard German trance. Fail. That second disc's got some neat ambient though. Win!

More to the facts, Rising High Trance Injection is a gathering of ancient trance-leaning tunes from the seminal UK label Rising High, offered up by seminal US label Instinct. Also in for the ride are tracks from seminal German label Fax +49-69/450464, whom Rising High had a distribution deal with. Geez, is that ever a lot of label cross promotion. There's also a lot of acid on hand, Rising High more of a techno print than trance, but daring enough in their records that occasional spacey, trippy sounds would be released along with the hardcore rave thump. If you’re curious about what trance was doing in the UK before even Platipus existed, Rising High Trance Injection is as perfect a summation as you’ll find. Detailing all the cool music on this release will require a serious namedrop paragraph though, so let’s get to it.

CD1 features such important names as Casper Pound (he founded the label so of course), Resistance D., The Irresistible Force, Pete Namlook, Dr. Atmo, and Ed Handley of Black Dog Productions. They are almost all under pseudonyms, some making music you’d never expect of them. For instance, Namlook and Atmo teamed up as Escape, and their track Escape To Neptune is an absolute blinder of hard trance stomp. Due to some legal hiccups, Resistance D’s credited as RD1 for their classic bliss cut Eclipse. Casper Pound hides in the trippy self-titled Tranquilzer, while breaks and ambient dabbler James Bernard (Expansion Unit!) offers up two spacey acid tracks as Influx (plus a dark space ambient outro as Cybertrax at the end of CD2). Oh yeah, Perry & Rhodan’s beloved The Beat Just Goes Straight On & On opens disc one, but I’ve always felt that tune too gimmicky. Give me the deep acid pulse of OBX’s Eternal Prayer or psychedelic build of Balil’s Parasight instead!

That disc two though, hot damn are there some hidden gems lurking about. Here there be lo-o-ong tracks, only six in total but great examples of the ethnic leaning side of chill-out house and ambient dub. Most are familiar with the Namlook and Morris pairing Dreamfish, and we get the aptly dreamy eighteen-minute long School Of Fish on this CD. Namlook’s also here with Christian Thier as Sequential for the proper-trancey Everything Is Under Control. My favourite discovery of these though is Syzygy’s Discovery, coming off what a blend of early Orb and Banco de Gaia might sound like. On acid. Seriously, dude, the acid’s all over this compilation.

The Hacker - Reves Mecaniques

[PIAS] Recordings: 2004

Michel Amato already had a tidy techno career going for him before pairing up with Caroline Herve. He even released a debut LP way back in 1999 under his Hacker guise, Mélodies En Sous-Sol, though the buzz surrounding his early singles with Miss Kittin overshadowed it. Heck, bring up anything Hacker related, and it’s nigh impossible wondering what his partnerette in sexy detached synth-pop crimes is doing. Off being her own superstar and hanging out with her own famous friends probably, but she and Monsieur Amato have continued pairing up every so often. Oh man, I still gotta’ hear Second Album proper-like too.

As The Hacker was one of electroclash’s foremost tastemakers, another solo outing from him hitting the shelves was guaranteed. Unfortunately for him though, by the time Reves Mecaniques came out, that scene had already collapsed, journalists and electro-indie types looking for the next big nothing they could latch onto. Just as well, then, that ol’ Michel stuck to the sound that earned him critical praise in the first place: uncompromising electro and brutal, minimalist techno.

Yeah, if anyone was expecting a euro synth-poppy retread of First Album, they were in for a shock. The Hacker’s style’s long been finding ways of taking chintzy ‘80s sounds and giving them an aggressive, gritty edge. It’s as though the gear he uses was found in a Berlin back alley, abandoned and near ruin from rain and neglect. Not for Amato though, as he takes that shit home and fixes it from disrepair into something capable of music making. Why, you might even say he… “hacked” his way into it! Eh? Eh? Man, was that ever a ‘hacky’ pun.

Of course, the first question everyone asked upon clicking this review is “Does Miss Kittin show up?” Yep, on track number three, Masterplan, and it sounds as vintage Kitt’n’Hack as you’d expect, like a pair of actors slipping into familiar roles. Not to be outdone though, Amato brings in Perspects (Ian Clarke) and Mount Sims (another Matthew) for a pair of tunes in Flesh & Bone and Traces. I dunno’ so much about Clarke’s offering, in that he sounds too electroclashy, (no, I can’t explain that – you just know it when you hear it), but Sims’ croon works wonderfully with Hacker’s bleak electro.

The rest of Reves Mecaniques finds Amato going about his usual techno business. Sometimes he leans more electro (It’s The Mind, Sequenced Life, where he totally apes Kraftwerk, because yes he would shut up), and other times he goes more downtempo (Electronic Snowflakes, Sleeping Machines). He’s at his best, though, unleashing aggressive, feral synths (Village Of The Damned, Radiation), and especially so with an acid techno workout on The Brutalist. Nothing fancy about these cuts, folks, aiming straight for your rave jugular.

All said, this album is something of a precursor to the ‘maximal’ strain of techno many French producers adopted in the late ‘00s. If you’ve a hankering for that sound, then The Hacker’s sophomore effort’s for you.

Various - Rave Power (Fake Flashback Review)

ZYX Music: 1997

(note: all that needed saying about Rave Power was easily wrapped up in a single review; however, three CDs is a lot of music to get through, creating something of a gap in posts here before the next one. Fortunately, I've modified my time portal, such that I can send this compilation back in the past to my teenage self. Let's see how he/I would have reacted to Rave Power had I/he bought it way back in those early raver days instead of fifteen years later. Temporal paradoxes, you ask? Um, don't worry, just pay attention to the cute chincilla over there while I explain it all away with the maths *ducks away*)

Teenage Sykonee: Oh man, you guys, you'll never believe what I scored on my trip to Vancouver. I mean, I knew I'd get something deece – there's always deece music at A&B Sound and Sam The Record Man – but I had no idea I could get trance CDs in three packs! I mean, I saw a few box sets at the new Virgin Megastore like This Is... Techno and This Is... Jungle and This Is... Acid Jazz - what even is acid jazz anyway? I think I kinda' know what it is, it's like trip-hop, right?

Those compilations probably aren't that good though. I mean, there's some cool tunes, but I've heard all the good tracks on them, and I'm all about discovering new music and new artists. Mostly trance though, especially if it's from Hypnotic Records ('electronic purity', w'ut!). So it's nice that Rave Power has one track that I can rest assured I'm hangin' with familiar sounds, Sunbeam's High Adventure. And I thought that B.B.E. looked familiar, but I couldn't remember who it was that made that cool trance song I heard on some recent euro-dance CD. There's a whole bunch of tracks on here like that too, tunes I know I've heard at some of the raves at the Elk's Hall or curling rink or a Terrace party. Hell, I'm sure a few in my Rupert Raver posse have them too on mixtapes somewhere, but whatever, we can still play them out, if we can borrow my Dad's gear again and rent out a hall somewhere. Or have a house party with a strobe light, that'd be awesome. Monolize and DJ Brainwave tag-team, ya'!

Man, I still can’t believe I found this in Vancouver of all places. The back cover says it was made in Germany – are all their compilations this sweet? Okay, it’s not all awesome, those Daft Punk covers totally geigh-kay, but three discs is better than anything I’ve ever seen around here. Only that Platipus double-discer could compare, and that doesn’t have as wicked-cool a cover as this one (aliens rule, you know it). Doubt I’ll ever find such a compilation again, so I’m gonna’ treasure this for years and years and years. Rave Power is the greatest collection of trance ever!

(four years later, he/I sold it for ramen noodles)

Various - Rave Power

ZYX Music: 1997

Signs Of Adulthood #1523: splurging on an old 3CD collection for exactly one track out of thirty-nine. It’s a frivolous use of one's money, not like when you're younger and are forced to carefully consider what you'll use up limited funds on (er, in the pre-MP3 era of long, long ago at least). What's that? “Responsibility?” Oh hohoho, that's a laugh – adults blow large sums of cash on the most pointless of things, just because they have the means to. Of course, matters aren't helped by seductive online outlets like Amazon and eBay, where rockin' deals for old, gimmicky things lure you in, tempting your youthful nostalgia centres like so much Beanie Baby fluff.

Fortunately, I didn't have to break the bank in acquiring the one tune off here that eluded me for years, Gary D.'s Timewarp, among the best hard German trance cuts ever released. It features all the vintage sounds that made the genre so much fun: multi-tap voice pads leads, minor-key piano hooks, driving acid basslines, and relentless rhythmic energy to spare. Even the compilers knew this was their money track, giving Gary D. top billing on the small list of artists advertised on the cover (seriously, that cover!). Bizarrely though, Timewarp is dumped all the way on CD3, sharing disc space with such forgotten names like Charlie Lownoise & Mental Theo, Dan Dizko, and Afrowax. Oh dear, this one of those ultra-dodgy compilations, isn't it. Yeah, sure is.

The origins of Rave Power are mostly lost at this late date. As this came from German mega-label ZYX Music, my best guess is the compilation was a stab at style-biting Sub Terranean’s highly successful Rave Mission series. It must have been a failure though, as no subsequent editions were made. Matters weren’t helped that, at three CDs in length, this is one erratic collection of tunes.

For sure most of the sounds representing German rave are here: hard acid, hard trance, happy hardcore, and some techno too. I honestly don’t know much about the candy-raver stuff, and it’s weird seeing such music sharing track lists with bona-fide classics of the era. Gander at these tracks: Commander Tom’s Are Am Eye, B.B.E.’s Seven Days & One Week, DJ Quicksilver’s Free, Chicane’s Sunstroke and that Three ‘N One Remix of Cafe Del Mar, appearing here just before it blew up huge in UK clubland. Their sequence throughout makes no sense though, often shoved between hardcore and forgettable house music, including two atrocious covers of Daft Punk’s biggest hits.

Rave Power likely had a very specific audience in mind, the sort of doe-eyed young raver taking their first steps into the wild underground. There was plenty to discover, and these 3CDs served as a handy introduction, even if there’s no structure to this mess. Clearly Rave Power now only holds interest for those with nostalgic ties to the era (or retro-fashionable candy kids). Makes me wonder how I’d have reacted if I’d discovered this new. I wonder... wonder... wonder...

Union Jack - Pylon Pigs (Original TC Review)

Platipus: 2009

(2015 Update:
Ugh, I hate it when a review starts with reference to other TranceCritic reviews not written by me. How can readers unfamiliar with that defunct website know what in the blue blazes I'm talking about in the here and now? Sure, I kinda' got my own 'Simon Berry Backstory' out of the way with the Platipus Records Dream Collection, but maybe folks are curious to read what ol' Jack had to say about that Art Of Trance collection too. Perhaps I ought to pester him to upload his old material. Or at least get back in the reviewer's chair at some point, heh.

Good news for Pylon Pigs is the singles still hold up remarkably well. Berry and Not-Claudio tapped into something timeless with Papillon and Funnelweb, though it undoubtedly helps absolutely no one else tried emulating their acid trance in the modern era. Unfortunately, that also means this album never gained enough buzz to stage a massive comeback, neither for Berry or his Platipus/Porcupine print. I'm hoping he's got it in him to release a couple new tunes at some point in the future, but it looks like this album's about the end for his LP efforts.)


IN BRIEF: Fitting in.

Hooray for me, J’[ack Moss] handle most of the lengthy back-info regarding Simon Berry with his recent review of Art Of Trance’s Retrospective. Of course, that’s not the whole story, as there’s also the business of Berry’s other big project from the Platipus glory years. That’s right, none other than Clanger. No, wait… Poltergeist, that’s it! Vicious Circles?

Yes, yes, it’s Union Jack. The project was a collaboration with Claudio Giussani, and though short-lived the two of them undoubtedly produced some of the most famous Platipus records together; Two Full Moons, Red Herring, Lollipop Man, plus several remixes of roster mates. After a well-received album (There Will Be No Armageddon), both went their separate ways pursuing solo careers, and everyone figured the name Union Jack would forever be put to rest.

Lo, such has not been the case. Simon Berry has been feeling the production itch again, and after spending most of this decade out on the fringes of the trance scene’s collective consciousness, has re-emerged with the Union Jack banner, sporting all-new material for our ears to feast on. Only… this isn’t the same Union Jack of old, as Giussani is nowhere to be seen. Instead, former Clanger collaborator Paul Brogden takes his place. And since a reunion of Clanger wouldn’t garner nearly the same amount of buzz as a reunion of Union Jack would… But hey, Claudio had no problem in letting them carry on the name in his absence, so it’s all good.

Only thing, part of what made Union Jack so memorable back in the day was Claudio’s influence. If you compare his and Berry’s solo efforts (as Terra Ferma and Art of Trance, respectively), Claudio tended to be the overall better songwriter, if not the better hit-maker (though admittedly, Berry’s biggest hit was by way of a remix from Ferry Corsten). That may have been in part because he wasn’t nearly as prolific as Berry, so the quality-control ratio was more concise, but there it is. Bottom line is in taking out one-half of a strong tandem and replacing it with another who hasn’t had anywhere near the same sort of success (sorry, Paul), we unfortunately don’t end up with a Union Jack that can't match up to the previous version.

Not to say there aren’t some great cuts to be had on Pylon Pigs - there are. If you haven’t heard lead single Papillion by now, chances are you haven’t been anywhere near prominent trance forums. Of course, this isn’t trance as it’s come to be known, but rather something of a throw-back to the years of acid-yore. Given extra weight by modern production, the acid baseline burbles with power as thick no-nonsense kicks pound away. Then you have spacey, floaty pad work, bright bursts of synthy arpeggios, and rhythmical spoken syllables, staples of many a Union Jack track. It’s as vintage a sound as you’re likely to find but doesn’t sound dated in the slightest. In fact, it has become something of a statement for folks favoring old school trance, a perfect example that the genre can be just as relevant today as it was over a decade ago so long as DJs give it ample exposure. Similar cut Funnelweb (of which aptly bookends the album with Papillon) and deeper cut Longhorn will undoubtedly add ammo for such arguments. Elsewhere, the ‘90s comparisons continue with a cool-groove tune in Vowel that’s reminiscent of Underworld, while Triclops comes across like a long-lost Hooj Tunes single.

All well and good for nostalgia’s sake, and certainly there’s nothing wrong in resurrecting sounds that are thusly proved to be timeless; however, aside from Papillon and Funnelweb, you don’t really get the sense we’re hearing anything creatively fresh either. Most of the melodies are predictable and safe, with execution suggesting Berry and Brogden weren’t all that fussed in pushing the genre anywhere new. They do get a little indulgent in their experimental side with downtempo cuts like Submerge, Mainline, and Lifeblood, but these feel more like tide-over tracks between the clubbier cuts than anything else.

On top of all that, there’s Blink, a track I’m at a loss to figure out why it even exists. Aside from a few bits of those vintage rhythmic syllables, it’s about as generic an ‘mau5 clone’ as you’ll ever come across; there’s nothing about it that makes you say, “Now that’s a Union Jack track.” If you’ve gone out of your way to prove classic acid-trance can work in a contemporary climate, why also go out of your way to include a track that is not only creatively weaker than anything else on the album, but adds nothing to the over-saturated “8th-note trance” glut in the process? Such it goes, though.

Overall, despite the positive things offered by Pylon Pigs, this isn’t the triumphant return of acid trance some have proclaimed it to be. Rather, it’s quite a safe album, as though Berry and Brogden were more concerned about testing the waters with their sound instead of making the kind of definitive statement many hoped. It’s not the most flowing listening experience either - having the blissy ambient Submerge as the second track and lodged between two club bangers just doesn’t make a lick of sense.

I still recommend this as a pick-up - Papillon, Funnelweb, and Triclops easily make it worth the entry fee, and though the rest won’t light the world on fire, they will still entertain for the most part. However, despite what the hype circles have been purporting the last few months, Pylon Pigs is far from a modern classic.

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

Sykonee Surveys Spotify's Senseless Suggestions, Round 4

Spotify’s still sending me suggestions based on my Faithless dalliance, but now The Prodigy too. Hilariously, it’s mostly the same releases as my last round, which only confirms my suspicion that Spotify is sending these recommendations based on U.K. chart dominance. Dammit, Britain, there’s more to music than just your corner of the globe! For the purpose of completion though, here’s the few additional albums listed that aren’t Basement Jaxx and Armand van Helden again:

The Micronauts - Damaging Consent & A Remixes Retrospective
Underworld - Dark & Long
Zombie Nation - Absorber

Again, some good music there, but not in line with the point of my surveys of Spotify’s services. Fortunately, it seems Spotify’s also clued in that I’m not following their BIG UK CHART MUSICS suggestions either, and have mostly tapered them off. So let’s see what sort of general recommendations I’ve been sent this time around. Remember, scores are relative to how obvious a suggestion the album is, with 5/5 being something I’d never have thought existed and 1/5 being what every music rag shoves down my earholes.

James Holden - One For You
Wait, you’re recommending a single to start things off? Well, okay then, I don’t mind hearing some old-school Holden for a start. One For You is McProg long before McProg was even considered a thing (re: Schulz adopted the style for his use/abuse). It’s got a grumbly bassline, spritely bleepy hooks, and floaty vocals …all the tropes that defined the genre in the mid-‘00s, but here in 2001. Damn, was Holden ever ahead of the progressive game, eh? Brancaccio & Aisher provides a tougher ‘dark prog’ remix, for all your John Digweed needs.

Recommendation Rating: 3/5

Chris Zippel - Genuine Horizon Remixes
I follow the link, and Spotify says the album’s not found. How is the first track, Blade (Namito Remix), playing then? I know the player will sometimes stream directly from one’s own library, but I sure don’t have this track. I’m not even familiar with Chris Zippel, though Lord Discogs tells me he’s been around for a while. The music on here does shows some promise in further exploration though, mostly dubby dark prog from a year that would have called this dark tech-house or something stupid (yeah, because my description is equally naff!).

Recommendation Rating: 4/5

System 7 - Classics
Ah dear, another case of being forced to give a low score not based on quality of music, but obviousness of suggestion. System 7 is quite ubiquitous in the world of ethno-fusion, which any algorithm having seen copious amounts of Banco de Gaia should realize I’d have interest of. Matters aren’t helped by going with a ‘classics’ collection, though to be fair, this is a gathering of remixes from Hillage and Giraudy’s ‘90s heyday. Bonus points for that.

Recommendation Rating: 2/5

Khan featuring Julee Cruise - Say Goodbye Remixes
If the name Julee Cruise seems familiar to you, it’s because she’s most famous for providing vocals to Falling; aka: the Twin Peaks theme song. She’s also sung on a couple Hybrid tracks, which is about the only reason I can think of Spotify recommending this to me. Or maybe it just figures I’d be down for the Losoul “She’s Homeless” Mix’s down and deep house vibe, because Lord knows the original is one odd tune. Evil electro bossa-nova, maybe? Whatever it is, I know my life’s one step closer to completion having heard it!

Recommendation Rating: 4/5

Slacker - Start A New Life
Oh hey, I remember Slacker. He had quite a few awesome progressive trance tunes back in the day. Didn’t know he was still producing music. Hm, this is from only a few years ago too. Better check the o’ Lord what else he’s released since- oh. Dear. Geez, that puts the title of this album into an unfortunate dark slant. The music itself is also something of a surprise, with liberal amounts of funk and jazz fusion among hip-hop beats, smooth breakbeats, and indie rock psychedelia. Reminds me of what The Future Sound Of London have been up to in recent years.

Recommendation Rating: 4/5

Hardfloor - The Art Of Acid
I’m pretty certain I’ve played some acid techno at some point in all my Spotify sessions, so that I’d get a suggestion of Hardfloor’s latest album is no surprise at all. I’m honestly more surprised that Hardfloor had another LP out this year, since I didn’t hear much buzz for it (what else is new?). As for this album, it’s Hardfloor doing what they’ve always done: acid techno, sometime funky, sometimes spacey, sometimes peaktime, always tweaking. Don’t ever change, boys.

Recommendation Rating: 2/5

Wally Callerio feat. Delmos Wade - The Love Story EP
Strictly West Coast jazzy deep house, this. Except the second track, I’m In - that one’s got more of an electro funk thing going for it. This is a genre you can cast the tiniest net and trawl up something gold, but it’s always nice when you get something you’ve never heard of before. The only link I can think of Spotify suggesting Wally Callerio is this single’s from Guesthouse Music, who has released music from DJ Sneak and Gene Farris. Not that I recall Spotifying them recently, but maybe I have. Whatever. Good tunes, good find, now stop nitpicking, me.

Recommendation Rating: 4/5

Underground Resisance - Electronic Warfare 2.0 – The Other Side Of Bling
Another album missing from the main Spotify library. Come to think of it, even finding UR on the streaming service seems counter to the aggressive Detroit techno outfit’s manifesto. I guess the gritty underground’s gotta’ get paid somehow, even if it’s in fractions of pennies. While the music is as you’d expect from no-holds barred ghetto funk techno, I’m at a loss as to why this particular release came recommended over all the other UR singles out there. Maybe it really is the only one available on Spotify? I’m too lazy to confirm it right now.

Recommendation Rating: 5/5

überLAB - überwunder
Ah, here we go. Something I’ve heard absolutely nothing about, by an artist even Lord Discogs has scant information about, in a style of music that doesn’t get much attention because of its mish-mashy nature. Is it ambient techno? Glitch? J-Pop? Ah, just call it IDM, works for everyone else. It’s fun, charming, whimsical, super-nice, and all that good stuff. Rare too, I suppose, but only because of those darned limited CD runs. So it goes.

Recommendation Rating: 5/5

Kraftwerk - Aerodynamik
Oh, these guys. Yeah, if you’re listening to electronic music, gotta’ get in the most influential German act to come out of, erm, Germany. This was the lead single to Tour De France, their first new music in twenty-five years, and a pretty big deal at the time. The two remixes here go for the tougher electro techno touch and a prog-tech rub(!?), because why not. It’s a solid enough tune for Kraftwerk, but hardly as definitive as their early stuff. What is, though?

Recommendation Rating: 3/5

Lamb - Butterfly Effect
After helping define trip-hop in the ‘90s, Lamb went silent for a while, following their muses elsewhere. Then the allure of reunion festival tours was too tempting to resist, thus Andrew Barlow and Louise Rhodes joined forces again. This was one of the lead singles from their comeback album 5. The track itself is Lamb being as Lamb as they usually are, but the remixes are clearly on the pulse of the new London urban scene (future garage, dubstep …indie rock?). Frankly, I’ve had difficulty getting my vibe on to Lamb’s brand of music, and this is no different.

Recommendation Rating: 3/5

Whew, there’s more, but I think eleven suggestions are enough for now. Out of all these musics, we come to a finally tally of 39/55, the best score yet! Even with such a small sample size to work with, I’d say Spotify’s getting better at its recommendations. I may have to change the process (not to mention the title) yet again when I do another round, keep challenging whatever AI is driving this improving algorithm, but for now I’d say whatever it’s doing is working.

Various - Platipus Records: The Ultimate Dream Collection

Popular Records: 1995

I honestly haven’t a clue how this 2CD collection came to be. On paper, it’s simple enough: the first two volumes of Platipus Records’ annual label showcase in a single, tidy collection – an ‘ultimate dream collection’, if you will! – now made available in North America without obscene import fees. Simon Berry’s growing print needed a foothold over here as it was, and surely one of the homegrown, underground electronic music labels would provide an outlet: Moonshine, Hypnotic, Instinct, maybe even Astralwerks. Wait, you’re going with Popular Records? The upstart Euro-Dance label that’s promoting the likes of J.K, 2 Brothers On The 4th Floor, and N-Trance? Berry, you boss, how did you pull a deal like that off? Your brand of acid trance might have critical buzz in your U.K. homeland, but here in Americas, no way was there any commercial potential for-

Oh, Robert Miles’ Children (Dream Version) is on here. Well, that explains that. Popular just wanted that one track, and you let them have it in exchange for taking on the first two volumes of Platipus Records as well. That’s my theory, but if so, bravo, Mr. Berry, for it sure conned a few people I knew into buying this double-discer for only one song.

Contrarian that I must be though, I bought Platipus Records: The Ultimate Dream Collection for the other twenty tracks. Okay, roughly eighteen others – I can do without the goofy What? from Catalyst and way under-produced Sea Of Tranquility from Art Of Trance. An affordable 2CD set of trance though, how could any budding 'cracker resist such a deal? I'll put up with Children if it means I get to discover new artists like Art Of Trance, Union Jack, Poltergeist, and Clanger! Wait, why do they all sound so similar, what with distinct burbling acid basslines, rough rhythms, and vocal ethnic samples?

Yeah, I realize Platipus was young, had yet to gather an extended roster they could promote, but holy cow, Mr. Berry, whore out your own music much? Whether as original artist, collaborator or remixer, ol' Simon has credits in all but four tracks: the aforementioned Children and What?, plus Quietman's Plastic Gourd, and Technosommy's Elektron Bender. Of course, this is great news if you can't get enough of his vintage acid trance, with plenty of classics making up the track list: Two Full Moons & A Trout, Red Herring, Cambodia, The Colours, Seadog, Orange, and Cactus. And hey, there's even two versions of Octopus (original and Man With No Name Remix) and Vicious Circles (Spirit Level Mix and Union Jack Mix). This last one's a bit funny hearing twice, since, beyond a bassier climax, there isn't much difference between the two mixes. Then again, they were initially on two separate releases so most folks wouldn't have noticed it.

They'd definitely notice how much of a sore-thumb Children is on this collection though - off to BMG with ya', Mr. Miles. There's acid trance to soak in here instead!

Speedy J - G Spot (& !ive)

Virgin Music Canada: 1995

The only Speedy J album you’re supposed to have, even if you’re not a Speedy J fan. I mean, who can argue with G Spot? It’s got future-cast techno, lovely ambient, big beaty electro, and even (whisper it) classic trance. Throw in the !ive CD that was released the same year as a double-disc package, and you’ve got yourself a definitive collection of mid-‘90s electronic music that many point to as essential Jochem Paap listening. Ginger? Definitely strong, but a bit stuck in early ‘90s mode and still playing by Detroit’s iron-clad rules. Public Energy No. 1 or A Shocking Hobby? He pushed himself for creative challenges, which is good, but in the process pushed away a number of fans he earned with his early work, which is bad. Loudboxer? Yeah... no – it’s a fun album for what it is, but far too musically singular for any but the most die-hard of techno heads. Many key tracks off G Spot and !ive have appeared on compilations and DJ mixes (erm, and music guides), especially the prog jocks who wanted a little techno roughness to go with their melodic grooves and constructs.

So G Spot it is then. Is that hesitation I sense though? Need a little convincing, do you? Since its kinda’ what I’m supposed to do with this blog, I shall tickle your most potent of music pleasure centers with what you’ll find on here …uh, in word form. In a totally non-threatening, respectful manner, if you want to that is. I suck at game.

Anyhow, this album features ten tracks, some long, some not. Mr. Paap opens with typical branches of techno that was making the rounds of the mid-‘90s: something a little jazzy with The FUN Equations, Ping Pong feeling the sci-fi electro, and Fill 25 has spaced-out acid groove. These all owe more than a debt to Detroit’s lineage, and though these are fine tunes, they aren’t that far of a stretch from what the various giants of that scene were up to. What’s G Spot’s big deal, eh?

Then Lanzarote and Extruma make themselves felt, ambient at its most lush – just eleven solid minutes of bliss. The only way to follow upon such a sequence is by hitting the listener with fat funky acid breaks as conceived by space station robots, but workers out at The Oil Zone will work too. Treatments comes off rather inconsequential after that, but it leads wonderfully into another great ambient interlude with Fill 17, which serves as a perfect respite before going back into the space acid techno-trance in the titular cut. Cap off with a final bit of cinematic ambient music in Grogno, and you’ve yourself an instant classic of the ‘90s. And then you can enjoy it some more on !ive, plus a couple older cuts (Symmetry, Pepper)and exclusives like Fusion, Scare Tactics. Yes, it’s the same Fusion that appeared on Northern Exposure 2, and the whole CD’s got music in that vein. No more excuses, mang.

Various - One. A.D. (Volume One Ambient Dub)

Waveform Records: 1994

One A.D. took what I knew about downtempo music (one year knowledge!) and utterly shattered it. On the musical front, Enigma and Deep Forest suddenly sounded corny and commercial. As starting points for further ambient exploration, The Orb and Brian Eno came off obvious and safe. I mean, who were all these guys on this compilation? The Higher Intelligence Agency? Banco de Gaia? Sandoz? I'd never seen those names on “Must Have Ambient” lists, giving One A.D. a mysterious allure most other chill-out collections of the time couldn't compete with. The giants of the genre could wait - I wanted to hear what the less-heralded offered in this exciting new realm of underground ambient house and techno.

I’ve gone on and on and on about Waveform Records’ beginnings, but in case you’re new to this blog (hi, enjoy your stay!), here’s the quick lowdown. Birmingham label Beyond Records kicked off a nifty new sound called ambient dub, and ran a critically hailed compilation series promoting the stuff. Waveform Records opened up shop in America and served as their outlet for a short while. As Beyond had already released three Ambient Dub collections by that point, Waveform had some choice material to recycle for their launch. What they did instead was more interesting.

For sure there were familiar names between both labels: HIA, Banco, A Positive Life, Original Rockers (Rockers Hi-Fi). Somehow though, Waveform convinced these acts to provide fresh material for One A.D., a sweet deal if you already had the Beyond discs. Thus Toby Marks made new mixes of Desert Wind and Shanti (the latter being a far superior version compared to its original incarnation), A.P.L. sends The Calling into a lengthy, floaty Ambient Mix, Original Rockers lend a production hand to kindred dub spirits Templeroy on Dubometer, and HIA made an exclusive track for Waveform in Harmony Angel.

Along with a couple repeats (Original Rockers’ Mecca Of Space, G.O.L.’s Soma Holiday, the original version of The Calling ...yeah, track appears twice on One A.D., but as the original’s quite bangin’ for a supposed ‘chill’ tune, the contrast is welcome), Waveform got in a couple names Beyond never did: Sandoz and Pentatonik. Considering the scarcity of Sandoz’ debut, its remarkable Waveform secured a license for Beam. Even rarer is Pentatonik’s Devotion, first appearing buried as the CD-only last track of his debut Autonomous EP. As a bit of dubby ambient techno though, it’s a good fit.

For some reason, One A.D. was ‘reformulated’ at the turn of the century, jettisoning Shanti and HIA’s Spectral in favour of tunes from Ras Command and Urchin. Both were new artists to Waveform, so I’m assuming it was done as promotion - can’t let Bird and Marks hog the six year old track list. While it nerfs the ‘vintage early ‘90s sound’ of the CD a little, One A.D. remains a great collection of ambient dub of that era. Its well-worth your coinage if you’ve even the smallest hankering for the stuff.

Solieb - On The Button / We Are Moving

Maschine: 2007

Geez, another Solieb single? How many of these did I get? How many were even released? (ten) I was curious to hear a few of these minimal techno Lieb musics, sure, but not all of them. It's minimal, for God's sake – how interesting could all of it be? Have a cursory glance, then back to forlorn hopes for another L.S.G. album. I've no idea what else to say about the Solieb project that wasn't already covered with Integrale and Impersonator. Heck, I've even already done the fictitious backstory angle! I've nothing left.

Let’s get this review over with, then. On The Button was released towards the latter end of the Solieb run, and I have to wonder if Mr. Lieb was running out of ideas where he could take minimal techno. Despite a start that hints at a sludgy bit of rhythmic monotony, the track gets rather busy with its various sounds: some machinery grinding, dub techno effects, and even proper melody at points that’s mildly catchy. That’s not supposed to happen in serious minimal music. The track doesn’t go anywhere much, and spends far too much time on the DJ-friendly bookends, but the middle sections were interesting for short time they were allowed. We Are Moving on the flip isn’t even minimal, despite the requisite over-dubbed percussion and plonky parts. There’s a funky groove, smart acid blips, and an ominous, dominant synth drone that sounds like it belongs in Spicelab down moments rather than supposed minimal techno. Since We Are Moving is the least minimal track I’ve heard from Lieb’s minimal moniker, it just might be one of the best Solieb tracks around.

Lieb would release one more single as Solieb, Halo / The Drums, coming out in spring of 2007. Just before minimal became insufferably commercial and tiresome in clubs everywhere, come to think of it. Hm, ol' Oliver rode that minimal wave for just the right amount of time, getting on when it started its intriguing buzz (2005), and bailing before every two-bit producer jumped on the bandwagon. Or maybe it's just a coincidence he put Solieb to pasture before the scene stupidity started settling in. I prefer believing the former, because I’m a hopeless fanboy that way.

That’s all I got. For the love of Lord Discogs, I hope there aren’t any more Solieb singles lurking in my music collection. There’s a couple more individual tracks floating about, but surely not full two-track EPs. I mean, look at this, I’m rambling to make self-imposed word-count quota. It’s not that the Solieb stuff was boring or whatever, it’s just there’s little more to discuss regarding the project. Dear me, I hope Lieb doesn’t release a CD collection of the stuff now, because I know I’ll end up buying it, then I’ll have to review it, and I’ve exhausted almost every talking point by now. Maybe not actual detailing of individual tracks, but geez, you know how painful it is reviewing minimal? Not fun, not fun at all.

Boys Noize - Oi Oi Oi (Original TC Review)

Boysnoize Records: 2007

(2014 Update:
Who'd have thought after the great 'maximal' techno wave of 2007 crested and passed, it'd be Boys Noize still standing tall half a decade later? Justice, Digitalism, the whole Ed Banger crew - all faded and, while not gone, seldom discussed anymore. Meanwhile, some German who seemingly jumped on the bandwagon kept going and found a comfortable role within the burgeoning EDM festival scene. I suspect it's due to Ridha's canny adaptability as a DJ, whereas the others were more producers-first by comparison. Either that, or being buddies with Tiga sure does pay off in this industry.

Also remarkable is how the good parts of Oi Oi Oi hold up. You'd think they'd be totally dated by now, but Boys Noize somehow tapped into a timeless bit of dance music excess, like AC/DC at their cock-rockiest best. Even the drabber points of the album sound fresh now that we're not constantly bombarded by tracks of this sort. The Battery's still dogshit, though.)


IN BRIEF: Proper L.E.F.

Mr. Ridha’s been a busy boy in recent years. After seemingly ready to coast along on an electro-house euro-trashy blend as Kid Alex - forever earning royalties from Fame and Young + Beautiful - he goes and realigns his focus more on the Boys Noize alter-ego, as it has more in common with the kind of material that has Justice the talk of the town. Way to go and jump on the bandwagon, Mr. Ridha!

Heh, actually, that’s not accurate but it does seem the ‘maximal’ push is in full-on attack mode now, with singles and albums from several Europeans ready to rescue techno from the navel-gazing ‘plink-plonk’ monotony of minimal. Berliner Alex Ridha is the latest to offer his take on the sound, and he doesn’t hide his influences much. In a nutshell, take one cup of Daft Punk’s uncanny knack for finding a catchy loop and doing next to nothing with it, take another cup of the siren-like squall of 808 State’s Cübik, sprinkle in a little unpredictable glitchy spice, and you’ve got the bulk of Oi Oi Oi.

And Boys Noize is indeed noisy. Having gone to the Hard School Of Spinal Tap Rock, every big riff he comes up with is pushed to the threshold of volume; those little red lights on your monitors will be earning their keep when tracks like & Down, Superfresh, and Oh! blast forth. It makes for quite the drunken rowdy sound, which is perfect sense with a few beers in your body and the testosterone is flooding your system. When Ferry Corsten was blathering on about his Loud Electronic Ferocious direction [in 2006], Mr. Ridha’s material is probably what everyone was expecting. But is it music? Er... not as much.

For sure, there are some blinders on this album. Oh! is like capturing the perfect storm of dance music excess: rhythms that pound, incredibly infectious robo-vocals, and reckless distorted riffs that Ridha can barely contain from destroying the speakers. Opener & Down captures this feeling too, although doesn’t fire with quite the same intensity.

And sadly, & Down’s execution is where a number of these cuts lie: an unfortunate gray area of exuberant but unfulfilled potential. There’s only so many times you can hear a short loop play over and over and over before you ache for something more done with it. Even Daft Punk, whom practically wrote the book on this technique, don’t get away with it all the time (and do more than they should in my opinion, but that’s another rant for another time). Of course, these work great in a club environment, where one’s attention span doesn’t last much longer than ninety seconds, yet the fact remains it leaves something to be desired on the musical front. Arcade Robot, Shine Shine, and Lava Lava all hint at something special in their opening minutes but fail to deliver in the end, continuously running round and round in the same sonic circle (although Shine Shine does come away the better for adding an additional loop along the way). By the time Don’t Believe The Hype rolls along - probably one of the best tunes to be had on Oi Oi Oi - Boys Noize’s whole distorto-filtered loop sound has gone from ingenious technique to gimmicky shtick.

Ridha does inject some variety into the proceedings, producing a few tracks that dabble away from the ‘maximal’ sound. However, with the exception of Let’s Buy Happiness - a more intuitively melodic track than the others - most of these are little more than passable electro diversions. Again, they suffer from the same problem as the other tunes, in that not enough is done with them, going through the motions as far as this sound is concerned and coming off as mere album filler. Superfresh attempts to blend a few ideas together but makes use of a horrid chunky nu-electro fart bass noise that is ridiculously over-the-top and completely lacking in finesse ...which is probably the point, but still doesn’t make it any good.

And then there are the batteries. Wu-Tang sounds like a lame Tone Loc instrumental, yet is a masterpiece compared to the disaster that is The Battery. Take one monotone fart bass sound and loop it over a bare-bones breakbeat for five minutes; throw in the odd hi-hat fill, and you have one of the most idiotically awful cuts I’ve heard all year.

Still, perhaps these are just unfortunate stumbles. The Berliner is fully capable of coming up with the goods, as is evident with his excellent remix of Feist’s My Moon My Man (included here as a bonus). Listening to it in the closing moments, thoughts of ‘what could of been’ only strengthen as you realize Oi Oi Oi would have been much more had Ridha not settled on the simplest of dance music arrangements.

In the end, the Boys Noize debut is a mixed bag. Yes, the highlights are awesome but the album as a whole comes up short in the musical department, and no amount of cranking your amps to eleven will ever hide that fact.

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

Various - Musik Non Stop

Hypnotic: 1996

Criminey blimey, gov', is this one dodgy collection. You’d think a 3CD set of Music Research material as licensed out by Hypnotic would have me all squee, but even I must raise an eyebrow over how this one was put together. Between Hypnotic and Cleopatra before it, I’ve gathered a decent amount of music from Talla 2XLC’s pioneering label. Some compilations were great, some not as much, yet you could at least count on original material with each release those first few years. That well of German trance had to run dry eventually though (especially with Talla shutting doors), and repeat tracks became increasingly common on Hypnotic compilations. At the same time, there must have been plenty of leftovers, tunes that just couldn’t fit on Trance Europe, Trance On Earth, Trance 2001: A Trance Odyssey, or European Future Soundz (Excursion In Trance). What better way to clear out that Music Research backlog than a 3CD extravaganza!

Normally I’d break this review up into at least two separate ones, as my self-imposed word count often interferes with coverage of so much music. What’s the point, though? CD1 alone has six tracks I’ve either already talked about, or will down the line. The other two discs have more unreleased cuts through Hypnotic, but are easily summed up – it’s small wonder some of these never got a release until this collection.

But hey, three discs for the price of one was still a good deal back in the ‘90s, and at least you were getting something of a primer into Music Research’s catalogue, despite not being the cream of their crop. CD1 mostly handles the trance, including Komakino, Reel X, Cenobyte, Sunbeam, and a pile of Norman Feller, who steals the show with the one-off collaboration with pre-Timewriter Jean Cochois as Lesamis. Eternal Sleep’s a wonderful slice of riffy, floaty early trance, and it’s a shame these two didn’t collaborate more if they were making music like this. Ah well, that whole ‘tech-house’ thing they later spearheaded turned out alright too.

With a skip to CD3, we get treated to names like Aqualite, Audio Science, more Norman, Pascal F.E.O.S., and Beyond Reality’s Semi-Analogue. This is also the techno CD, or rather German trance guys doing Detroit techno. It’s not as interesting as it sounds, though Blitz! from Audio Science is a cool tune, because of course it is.

CD2’s where most of the fun’s found, hardcore beats and acid running rampant. There’s also copious cheese here too, some of the ridiculous cornball kind (Happy Ravers’ Hubert), others of the unabashedly gurning type (D-Lay’s Don’t Stop The Motion (E-Motion Mix)). Rolling pianos, cheeky phrases (“Hi, I hope you’re enjoying your trip.”), multi-tap delay pads, bells, and that’s just Urban Trance Plant. There’s even a chill Balearic cut opening the tracklist. CD2’s definitely worth the price of admission into Musik Non Stop if you’ve an ear for candy-coated acid rave of the mid-‘90s, and hey, there’s a few good tunes on the other discs too.

Various - Mixed Goods X

(~): 2002

TRACK LIST:
1. Aqualite - The Outback (DJ Taucher Remix)
2. O.T. Quartet - Hold That Sucker Down (Aquagen Remix)
3. DJ Kayos - Acid Vibes
4. Reverse Pulse - Flexible
5. Tom Wax - Amphetamine
6. Sunbeam - Solar Surfing
7. Stimulant DJs - Stop The Groove
8. Komakino - Dynacore
9. Spicelab - We Got Spice (Humate Remix)
10. Spicelab - Bad Rabbit
11. Sunbeam - Dreams
12. Shorty Bone - Dream Phase

My memory's hazy on this one. I distinctly recall seeing the image in an online gallery and thinking, “That's what I want for Mixed Goods X! It'll make for a wicked X-Files rip-off!” I'm pretty sure I'd also escaped interior-BC purgatory by this point, so my thoughts would have been on developing covers, including ones for future use since I had access to a printer again. Pity not the ink jet that handled this one, my friends, for it was a noble death.

The track list, however, has me wondering otherwise, as it's full of acts that don't make sense for the time. Komakino, Spicelab, Sunbeam, and such almost certainly would have been prioritized when I made my first searches in the world of P2Ps. Yet here they are instead, almost a good year after getting involved with AudioGalaxy. Perhaps after making the switch to WinMX, I tried my luck again to see if any new results came about? A smattering of leftovers I was saving for a theme-appropriate Mixed Goods? Or maybe it was that interactive Flash thingy I'd stumbled upon that pointed out tracks of ye' olden days, inspiring me to dig a little further again (Enlil's Tour Of Digital Rhythm, Melody & Harmony, or something).

I’m not sure what else to say about this one. As a collection of old school German trance, it’s alright, but I’d already put the best stuff on that Hypnotic: Electronic Purity CD, plus most of the other Spicelab material on its own disc (long since demised). The Aquagen Remix of Hold That Sucker Down pales compared to the classic Builds Like A Skyscraper Mix, and of all the leftover Komakino I’d yet to get, it’s an old, hard techno tune that makes the cut here. Still, gotta love Shorty Bone’s free-wheeling hard acid trance. So raw, so fun.

The outliers on Mixed Goods X aren’t much cop either. I have no clue why I got an NRG track in Stop The Groove, as I had but a passing tolerance of the stuff most of the time. Then again, when you’re growing desperate for any tune out of Muzik Magazine’s back pages, you’ll settle for Stimulant DJ’s. And Reverse Pulse’s cover of Depeche Mode’s Flexible barely sounds like the original at all – more like a left over German trance track the Pulsers had, and dumped some distorted vocals on top. Why do I have a feeling of déjà-vu talking about that one?

Various - Mixed Goods IX

(~): 2002

TRACK LIST:
1. Jondi & Spesh - Creep Phase (Dub)
2. Chiller Twist - Strings Ultd (Shelly Mix)
3. Futurecast - The Future (Is Now)
4. Powerplant - With Or Without You (Blackwatch Mix)
5. DJ Gollum & DJ Yanny - Watch Out (Mellow Trax vs Lars Palmas Remix)
6. Dirty Vegas - Days Go By (Galastasory Mix)
7. Jay-J & Chris Lum - Freaks Like Us
8. Walley Lopez & Dr. Kucho - Acid Journey
9. Jondi & Spesh - Creep Phase (Original)

This might as well be Dark Prog 2, even though the music here isn't as endlessly plodding as some of the stuff on that disc. It is a consistent theme on Mixed Goods IX though, and also having the dubious distinction of the volume I always forget is on it.

Yes, even the Dirty Vegas hit Days Go By. I remember that I did nab that track almost immediately after seeing that Mitsubishi car ad like everyone else (so cool, so class, so vibe), but not where I put it. In fact, even going back to this CD just now, I was surprised to find Days Go By on here. Incidentally, this “Galastasory Mix” credit must be mislabeled, as Lord Discogs has no return for such a name. It just sounds like an 'extended mix' anyway, and for all I know, it's the proper original version (I don't have their album, nor do I care to get it). I'm only keeping it titled up there thusly as a testament to the wilderness that was post-AudioGalaxy P2P hunting of the early '00s, where mislabels were common. Many times you thought you'd stumbled upon a new, unique tune or remix, only to find it horribly, incorrectly titled (remember, kids, properly label your rips), or deliberately misleading to give the uploader undeserved fame (oh hi, DJ Mystik). At least this MP3 of Days Go By wasn't credited to Paul Oakenfold with a Digweed remix.

*whew* Was that paragraph ever long. What sort of specific tracks are we dealing with on Mixed Goods IX, then? There's some deep, dubby stuff here from Jondi & Spesh – mm, like dub techno, but with warmth. Chiller Twist's Strings Ultz was a minor, melodic hit back in the day, while Walley Lopez & Dr. Kucho bring a proggy bit of acid to the table. Even hard dance mongers DJ Gollum & DJ Yanny get a classy acid-prog (!!?) rub for Watch Out. Also, why is nearly every artist and remix on here a duo? Even two of the aliases (Powerplant and Futurecast) are duos. I swear I didn't intend to piece together Mixed Goods IX as a showcase of that! Maybe prog was entering its “we cans Sasha & Digweed too” era with credits?

Despite always forgetting about this compilation, it's still a pleasant disc to hear whenever I do throw it on. Can't really say the same for the remaining Mixed Goods, but they're definitely memorable, if not for the best reasons.

Stylophonic - Man Music Technology

Prolifica: 2002/2003

This album had everything successful going for it. Catchy crossover tunes, variety of contemporary sounds without coming off instantly dated, general praise from every EDM magazine that mattered, and even half-page ads in said magazines filled with quotable plaudits (best: “Great album, great hair. What more do you want?” DJ Mag). And yet, only blank stares when Stylophonic’s brought up. Heck, I didn't even know about the guy, and I must have seen those ads in Muzik Magazine. Nay, Man Music Technology was a blind purchase, one that I spread the love of any chance I get. Not that it mattered, but it was the most promotion Stefano Fontana’s project got in Vancouver (um, no).

So who is this critical darling barely anyone remembers? According to his page at Lord Discogs, Stefano Fontana is an “Italian DJ and producer”; it’s all that’s written for his bio. Wow, not even love from his own marketing department? Utterly unknown laptop ambient noodlers get bigger bios (mind, those are all self-written in the third person). Man Music Technology was Mr. Fontana’s first LP – as Stylophonic or otherwise – with prior singles primarily lead-ups to this album. Almost all his compilation duty consists of DJ pool promotions, with a couple Ministry Of Sound appearances too. Success?

Getting into some actual music, Man Music Technology runs through various forms of house, electro, acid, and funk. You’d be forgiven in initially thinking his tunes were produced by other, more successful acts, as the influences from (credible) dance chart toppers runs throughout this album. Soulreply gets in on some of that loopy French house action, including samples from Chic’s Sometimes You Win. Elsewhere, Bizarre Mind ups the acid-funk into sleazy electroclash territory, while Break @ 100 BPM, It’s The Old School With The New School, and Way Of Life get into electro-funk and hip-hop territory. The latter also includes a guest verse by Digital Underground front-man Shock-G – who also offers an extra verse in his Humpty Hump persona on the same track. Damn, how much more cool can this track get, and the answer is none more cool.

All Nite Long digs into proper electro house (yes, you 2004 gits, this is what electro house should sound like, not dumb-fuck farting basslines!) and since Basement Jaxx were experts at tossing multiple genres into radio-friendly house, Stylophonic apes the same trick with plenty more tunes (Vinalstyloz, Da Symphony, Game Over) that should have gotten more radio rotation than none at all. Man, not even car advertisement deals? Help me out here, Europeans, did anything get annoyingly licensed out? Speaking of which, closer track If Everybody In The World Loved Everybody In The World is an easy contender for “Most Groove Armada Track” on this album.

Okay, I’m generally ribbing on Stylophonic here. Man Music Technology honestly is a fine LP. His sound may not be going anywhere the big boys have gone, but he does it just as capably as anyone has. Maybe he needed a better agent.

Spicelab - Lost In Spice

Planet Earth Recordings: 1993/1994

Of all Oliver Lieb’s albums, I have to say his debut Spicelab LP, Lost In Spice, must be his oddest. Not for its raw production or lack of typical Lieb trance, but for how boshing basic some of the rhythms are. No matter what genre he’s explored, Lieb’s craftsmanship with drums kits and basslines always kept him a step above his peers. Here though, you get near-gabber beats in Cold Chillin’, coming at you a blistering 160bpm. It’s more of a hard acid techno track, the sort of sound you might have heard Spiral Tribe kicking out around the same time. Yet hearing it must be like what Tiësto fans feel when hearing Da Joker.

Even more baffling is making it nearly seventeen minutes long. What’s he trying to do, create the progressive rock version of hard acid techno? I suppose Cold Chillin’ has enough neat sounds going for it to just make it worth the duration – sci-fi zaps, snarling TB-303 basslines, peppy synth hooks, percussion and cymbals that crescendo as industrial blocks clank in the background. It just seems overkill for a track of this nature. All well, ol’ Oliver always claimed his Spicelab material was intended for more experimental stuff, and if he wanted to open this album with ‘experimental hard acid bosh’, so be it.

The other tracks on here are closer in tune to the early Spicelab sound, with many distinctive traits that defined many Lieb productions (spacey synth pads, those claps…). Second cut Spicelab is a slow builder, working an eerie mood befitting of such a dark cover while even more bleeps n’ bloops come and go. There are more instances of hooks found, though no real melody until a rapturous breakdown some two-thirds through, where the rhythm essentially leaves for the rest of the track for more sci-fi soundscapes. It’s like you’ve been cruising through underground industrial tunnels, only to surface into a b-movie or ‘80s anime alien world. Have I mentioned the sounds Lieb uses are dated in a quirky retro way?

The B-side of this CD is similar, in that The Last Supernova is another 160bpm blistering cut with weird sound effects, though with more reliance on tinnier percussion and those sweeping synths also found in Spicelab classics like Amorph and Spice Is A Fulltime Occupation. The titular cut at the end is more like the eponymous cut, in that there’s more build, proper hooks and melody, plus distinct sections that evolve from what came before (almost an extended version of Quicksand, really). Also included with the American version is The Spirit Of Fear, a darker take on the same formula.

Lost In Space is undeniably rough around the edges, especially compared to Lieb’s future Spicelab and L.S.G. songwriting. For an early ‘90s techno LP though, it’s damn ambitious, and definitely a positive sign that ol’ Oliver would have himself a remarkable career in the following two decades. Not bad for a German making New Beat but two years prior.

Hardfloor - The Life We Choose (Original TC Review)

Hardfloor: 2007

(2014 Update:
Guess it shouldn't come as a surprise, but the mid-'00s 'minimal techno are serious musics' tropes in Itz OK and Swiffer sound totally dated, whereas the rest of The Life We Choose's groovy acid techno doesn't sound dated at all. Strange, in that you'd think acid in general would sound dated, but the little silver box creates such weird, unique sounds that's yet to be topped in electronic music, I don't think it'll ever become dated. The stuff surrounding it, on the other hand...

Anyhow, this album passed by with little fanfare, though I did get to catch Hardfloor on tour while they were promoting it. I swear the crowd had no idea what any of the tracks off here were when they played them, the biggest reactions naturally coming from hearing the classics and nothing else. So it goes.)


IN BRIEF: Sing, acid, sing.

Alright, admit it: how many of you knew there was a new Hardfloor album out? Heck, for that matter, how many of you even knew Hardfloor were still around? It’s been a long while since their mid-90s peak on Harthouse, and despite their continued dominance of the Roland TB-303, the German duo hardly receive the same amount of fanfare they once did. Still, their absence from the general clubbing consciousness has yet to slow them down, as they keep plugging along, doing what they do best, pleasing their fans all the same.

And making the little acid box sing continues to be their forté. Ol’ Oliver and Ramon have been accused of not moving with the times but there is something to be said for sticking to your strengths too. Yes, acid hasn’t been in vogue for at least a decade and though it may be seeing something of a resurgence lately, it’s doubtful the sound will ever be as commercially viable as before. This grants Hardfloor a certain freedom when they make their music, as their productions are not weighed down by what is expected of them but rather how well they still do it.

So if you expect their seventh full-length of original material to offer anything groundbreaking or new, you may as well forget it. The Life We Choose sounds just as comfortable being in the mid-90s as it does hanging out in this year of ‘07. Much of Hardfloor’s equipment remains the same, so most of the sounds used stays within a rather limited sonic scope.

Most of these tracks follow a simple pattern: rhythm is laid out, a couple of acid lines emerge, and perhaps some additional dressing like pads complement them along the way. With spacey reverb and subtle tweaks, a typical tune works a slow build from beginning to end as Hardfloor work the 303 like a guitarist would work an improvisational solo. On paper, it may not sound like much, but the duo have an uncanny knack of hooking you in once an acid line appears, and the ride it takes you on is always a rewarding one. As much of a fucking cliché as it is to say it, these straight-forward acid tunes are more about the journey than the destination.

There are a few tunes that break the mold. Itz Ok and Swiffer are more in vein of the kind of techno you might see the hands of the Minus crew, including pitched-down vocals on Itz Ok that are rather trendy. They’re satisfactory offerings but aren’t terribly unique from what else is out there, and Hardfloor’s trademark acid work is mostly relegated to inconsequential atmosphere. Elsewhere, the duo take a stab with electro on The Life We Choose and chill vibes on Apollo & Zeus, with better results. I suppose its fine for them to branch out a little into sounds that are more contemporary; can’t get stuck in a rut after all.

But y’know what? Who needs bandwagon jumping and questionable innovation and needless experimentation? When Hardfloor work the acid into effective groovers, subtle builders, and ecstatic squealers, it’s like they’re slipping into the most comfortable of rolls; a natural talent where even though we’ve heard it many times before, it still delivers winningly just the same. It’s like when Snoop Dogg does his playa’ shtick. Or Neil Young doing his grungy folk. Or Jim Carey performing physical comedy. Or Martin Scorsese directing a mobster movie. Or Michael Bolton being a twat with bad hair. They are near-peerless in these chosen fields, and Hardfloor is the same with groovy acid techno.

The Life We Choose isn’t going to set the techno world on fire. Nor is it an album that will propel Hardfloor back into the spotlight. The duo have done better in the past but this is no slouch either. This is the sound of a pair of producers who continue plugging along at their own game despite the seas of change around them in continuous turmoil. And for fans of the TB-303, they wouldn’t have it any other way.

Lodsb - lazer.eyes.love

Force Intel: 2011

When pioneering glitch 'n experimental label Mille Plateaux relaunched in the late '00s, it was swamped by several up-and-comers’ promos looking to join the roster. I mean, when you're new to that scene and hoping to gain prestige, what better way to do so than having a Mille catalogue number attached to your work? Turns out though, some of these promos sent in weren’t weird enough for ol’ Plateaux, but would serve as fine examples of ‘classic’ IDM (bleepy ambient techno, scattershot breaks, etc.). If only there was a label that promoted the stuff still. Since Warp went all shoegaze though, I guess a whole new label was required, hence Mille offshoot Force Intel coming into its brief existence.

So this Lodsb fella' got to release a debut album on the 'net label. The Lord That Knows All apparently knows very little about who's behind the moniker. There isn't even a name assigned to his Discogs page, despite two albums to his credit. Heck, the only reason I know Lodsb is of the male persuasion is because there's a picture of him on his Last.fm profile - still no name, though. Curse those IDM wonks making research difficult.

lazer.eyes.love primarily falls into the breakcore side of IDM, so if you’re a fan of Venetian Snares and the like, this is a good bet for you to download (it was only available as a digital album). The opener, Analogue Arcade, is rather mellow for this stuff, even settling on a pleasant house beat while glitchy harmonics weave in and out. Yeah, you aren’t getting much more of that beat on this release. Second cut Eve lets loose with the cacophonic rhythms, then things go down Squarepusher’s frenetic jazzy acid avenue for a few tracks after. In fact, the next number of tracks all kind of blend together, so short as they are and sharing similar aesthetics, if not actual musical content. It can get to be a bit much though, so thank God Lodsb cuts it back by track six (Bubblegum Hypothesis, if you’re wondering, but it’s not like IDM song titles are meant to make a lick of sense).

Apparently Lodsb has a background in orchestral music study too, which becomes apparent on tracks like Deer Ride, Juno, Rubiq, and Zebra, where arrangements are cut up to form whole new compositions. Heck, Deer Ride forgoes any spastic breaks altogether, and if there is any glitch trickery at play, it sure doesn’t make itself known, sounding as seamless as though Lodsb was conducting a one-hundred-twenty string section himself. Mind, it seems every IDM wonk has to show off his classical capabilities in such a manner, but it’s nice to have such music break up the breakcore on albums like this one.

Of course, music such as this remains incredibly niche, and if even the popular names in this scene hold little interest for you, I doubt lazer.eyes.love will sway your opinion on it. Cool as a curioso, but not much else.