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.

Hearts Of Space - Hearts Of Space

Fax +49-69/450464/Ambient World: 1993/2008

Even among the numerous Namlook collaborations, his pairing with Pascal F.E.O.S. goes way back. To the start of Fax+. To a time before Fax+ ever existed! True, it was only a couple of one-off tunes released for ZYX Music, but they're there, listed within Lord Discogs' tomes. Not that the Resistance D. member was the only such techno dude Pete was working with in those pre-Fax+ days. There was also Christian Thier (Deltraxx, Sequential), Uwe Schmidt (Jet Chamber, Subsequence), and Maik Maurice (4Voice), all lending talents to records on Harthouse, Pod Communication, and Trigger (?). Not to mention Mr. Kuhlman's time in a jazz-rock band called Romantic Warrior throughout the '80s.

The Fax+ years is where most figure Namlook's star truly started shining though, and Hearts Of Space truly was among the first 'big' collaborations that got folks looking in. And 4Voice, I guess. Look, when you get to work with both members of Resistance D., the folks of Techno Town are gonna' notice. Hearts Of Space though, that got my attention for two reasons. One, the clear nod of recognition towards seminal '80s ambient and New Age label of the same name. Two, the track Drawn appearing on the personally influential VHS tape 3Lux3. Such space ambient, very CGI, so wow.

Drawn is a pure Namlookian slice of ambience though, hardly indicative of the Hearts Of Space stylee. This being a techno-trance outing from early '90s Frankfurt, you bet your bottom Deutsche mark the BPMs are blistering fast, the synth pads are outer-orbit, and the acid loops are never-ending. A track like All About Sensuality may be downright shocking to those not familiar with these earliest Fax+ offerings, proto-gabber beats and Cosmic Love claps aplenty. Why wasn't the whole album just Sensualitys and Drawns?

That's because those were ambient B-sides to Drawn To The Thrill and All About Sensuality. While I don't doubt Namlook was quite fond of this style of music, it's clear they weren't the initial selling points, figuring the techno A-sides would get his fledgling label attention in clubland. Still, it's funny that while a vintage trancer like With A Medium Into Trance can't help but sound dated nearly three decades on, the simple synthy beauty of Drawn remains timeless.

If it seems like I'm not getting too deep into Hearts Of Space, it's because there isn't that much to detail. Like many early Fax+ albums, it was more a consolidation of singles, and if you aren't into the Frankfurt style of early trance, this probably won't change your mind. The ambient pieces are nice, though you can find them on many other collections of Namlook ambient. I'm not even sure if Pascal F.E.O.S. fans would deem this essential, his later techno explorations far removed from this era. Still, Hearts Of Space remains a nifty time capsule of a label finding its footing, hinting at the sort of collaborative star-power that would soon propel it into one of the '90s most intriguing ambient techno prints.

Plaid - Double Figure

Warp Records: 2001

Back to the lands of Plaid, taking another tentative step beyond the classics and the currents. Actually, check that, I'm pretty sure Double Figure is considered one of the duo's better works, but it's hard finding definitive consensus within their fanbase. Opinions and proclamations run almost as idiosyncratic as a typical Plaid track list, a little something for anyone, but seldom something for everyone. I heard mostly positive things about this one though, so figured it a worthy continuation of my explorations in their wider discography.

And don't Double Figure waste little time in getting tunes stuck in the ol' noggin'. Opener Eyen is a chipper, jaunty of a whistlin' tune, with just enough of an IDM menace lurking underneath such that it doesn't fall into twee silliness. Follow-up Squance, on the other hand, drops an instantly hooky bassline with a skippity beat and jubilant brassy synths. After that, Assault On Preceint Zero works a groovy techno rhythm with punctual synths and... gosh, does this every remind me of Orbital.

Come to think of it, a lot of Plaid reminds me of Orbital, at least whenever the Hartnoll brothers would get more experimental. I'm surprised I never made that connection before, the two duos inhabiting such vastly different corners of the 'electronica'-o-sphere. It ain't like Plaid's getting the same level of crossover fame, their tracks almost never winding up on any commercial compilation or soundtrack. I do wonder if either of them noticed the similarities though. Maybe Orbital did, since they included the Plaid track New Bass Hippo on their Back To Mine collection. I'd like to think Andy and Ed would have returned the favour had they been tapped for an edition that compilation series. Guess including Chime on their throwback set for XLR8R is a nice alternative.

Anyhow, there's a whopping nineteen tracks on Double Figure, though five of them are taken up by little sonic doodles, or Taks. Yep, it's the same trick that was pulled on The Black Dog's Spanners and all their Bolts. That still leaves a hefty chunk of running time for all manner of typical Plaid musical indulgences. Jazzy ditties like Zamami and Ti Bom. Braindance spazzies like Silversum and Twin Home. Straight-forward Warp techno titties like Ooh Be Doo and Porn Coconut Co. Tunes with synthy shinies like New Family and Sincetta. And whatever Light Rain is supposed to be. Trip-hop with squeaky bubblies, I think?

In any event, Double Figures is another solid outing from Plaid, with a decent amount of tunes that you'll want to come back to a few more times down the road. It's only real fault is it's just so darn long, all those Taks giving it a bit of a bloated listen. I suppose it helps space some of the quirkier tunes apart, but Plaid's never worried about that before or after. Maybe they felt it a nice nod to Spanners? Eh, it made a bit more sense there, what with such disparity of genre hopping.

The Chemical Brothers - Brothers Gonna Work It Out

Virgin: 1998

The Chemical Brothers became known as producers elite so swiftly into their careers, their humble DJing roots were almost entirely forgotten by Dig Your Own Hole. For sure the heady-heads remembered the dodgy 'Dust Brothers' era, but as the '90s came closer to closure, the millions of new fans Ed and Ted had gained remained in the dark of their past influences. Sensing a chance to perhaps educate all these fresh faces attending their concerts, Misters Simons and Rowlands released this DJ mix between albums, a massive mash-up of the tunes that were rinsed out 'back in the day' with a bunch of b-sides and remixes of their current big beat hitters.

I'm not sure if it entirely worked. Oh, the set is great, with plenty of wonderful moments highlighting all that made folks fall sway to the Chem'Bros' charms. I just don't think many of them knew exactly what they were getting. “Is this their new album or not?” they'd ask me in that little music shop I worked at. And I'd reply, “Eh, not really. It's a DJ mix.” After a moment's blank stare, I'd add, “It's not a new album.” Said customer of straw would then move on, leaving Brothers Gonna Work It Out collecting dust, brother. At least, that's how it went down in my backwater corner of Canadaland. I'm sure it sold gangbusters in Great Britain, as most Chemical Brothers merch did.

If there's anything that hampered this CD's general success, it was the fact there are only five indexed tracks. Eagle eye'd spotters may notice twenty-three listed tunes on the back, making this one of those mixes, where bits and pieces are spliced into hefty portions for maximum punch. Like, that mash of Freestyle's robo-vocals Don't Stop The Rock and Metro L.A.'s acid stomp To A Nation Rockin'... I can't hear one without the other anymore! Sure, it'd be handy to skip to specific spots on this CD, but that'd ruin its proper flow, now wouldn't it?

Other highlights? How about The Micronauts' utterly mental, over-driven remix of Block Rockin' Beats, practically right out the gate? It's almost too much awesome too soon, and one of the reasons I really can't ever go back to the original version, so tame in comparison. That, along with The Jazz being featured here, it's small wonder The 'Nauts had so much momentum going for them at the time. Fusing them with some juicy acid care of Sidewinder doesn't hurt either. Elsewhere, '70s funk and psychedelic soul get their looks in, while acid techno and big Meat Beat lock horns.

Yes, there's plenty of bedlam on Brothers Gonna Work It Out, but it also feels like they end the party too soon, the final stretch getting on that Private Psychedelic Reel vibe without playing the actual tune (which would be redundant coming off Dig Your Own Hole anyway). I suppose it works for a nice comedown, but this was a party I could have enjoyed 'till dawn's early light.

Norken & Nyquist - Synchronized Minds

Intellitronic Bubble: 2020

Aha! There was another Lee Norris alias I had yet to cover. (no, Man-Q-Neon doesn't count; nor Nei Lorken) Norken's been around almost as long as Metamatics, emerging about the same time as Nacht Plank. I don't think this one gained quite the cult following as his others though, in that Lee never released Norken records on his own labels. Which makes sense, the Norken material not fitting so tidily on Neo Ouija or ...txt, as this is Mr. Norris' serious techno muzik alias. Okay, not that serious, but from what I sampled of his earlier albums, there's heavier emphasis on deeper, almost minimalist tech-house rhythms. That just wouldn't do for those labels plying more of a continuum of ambient techno IDM, nosiree.

Despite having mostly mothballed the project since the mid-'00s, Lee kept Norken around for sporadic items, eventually dusting it off with more regularity half a decade ago. Somewhere along the way, he became buds with Futuregrapher, and started releasing a whole bunch on his Móatún 7 print. And then, still feeling that proper techno twinge, he teamed up with Futuregrapher to start up another label together, Intellitronic Bubble. Gads, how many labels does Lee have running right now? Seven?

Okay, that's Norken sorted, so how about _Nyquist? Not nearly as much history, and much of it is in conjunction with Lee on Móatún 7. When Intellitronic Bubble started expanding into artist albums, it was decided their combined powers were a perfect kick-off for the throwback techno print. Doesn't hurt when you're part label-runner too. Of course, I knew very little of this, just that there was an interesting new label that Lee Norris was part of, and here's a cool piece of cover art featuring Arctic wastelands. Ooh, might it be experimental tundra drone?

Nah, it's techno, ol' school and stripped down with machine-jackin' rhythms, floaty synth leads, and deeper than thou basslines. Like, holy cow, are these basslines ever low on the low end! Some of these frequencies are in the technobass domain, though the surrounding production keeps things in the realms of crisp 'n' clean techno. If that crisp 'n' clean techno carried with it those heart-melting melodies Mr. Norris' body of work is known for. Sometimes a little acid action is thrown in (Aux Patch, Auxxx Thatched), other tracks opt for a vibe in other genres' realm (tech-house in Mutual 2, electro in Track 11, Detroit funk in The Far Center, ambient techno in Love Simulation), but the general sonic aesthetic of each track remains mostly consisted throughout Synchronized Minds.

And I can't deny, that does lead this album to sounding a little samey when I play it back. Nothing ever slips in quality, but little leaps out as the highlight track, or the intriguing leftfield cut, or the instant earworm. Which is fine, Synchronized Minds clearly not that kind of album. Does feel like this could have been broken up into separate EPs though, giving each track more space to stand out.

Coma Eye - Insufflated Brine Shrimp

self-released: 2020

(a Patreon Request)

I'm surprised this doesn't happened more often. These Patreon Requests have mostly been as I expected, if not so dominated by a select few. Getting my thoughts on items I've overlooked in the past, or throwing some shine on genres outside my usual wheel-house (so much Japanese music... just so much), that's usually how it goes. Somehow I haven't received requests for anything intended for a roast, as can happen, but I guess I haven't gained a reputation as that sort of review blogger. Come to think of it, I don't think I've gained any sort of reputation. Which is ...good? Like, I have a real life and a real job, and becoming Internet Famous could severely impact that. Yes, even Good Internet Famous (is there a Good Internet Famous?).

Thus getting requests as a means of promotional hype has been exceedingly rare on the Patreon front. I can't imagine my word carries very far or has any influence – I do this as a lark, not as a profession. Folks would have more success sharing things on streaming services than the slim hopes someone may stumble upon this blog and wade through over two-thousand posts to see their stuff given some shine. Then there's the whole 'ethics' of it all, getting paid to potentially hype something up. Never mind I'm quite honest in my feelings over whatever I listen to, there's just this whole assumption, see. Then again, I've actually reviewed promo stuff from my local talent, so where do I get off on this holier-than-Pitckfork shtick?

Speaking of 'local talent', listening to this debut EP from Coma Eye reminds me of the sort of live PA acts I often hear at Vancouver's bi-annual Sequential Circus showcase. Apparently Coma Eye is part of one such scene, hailing from New Orleans but somewhat involved with Erie's electronic music scene. As in, 'Lake Erie' Erie? Wouldn't make sense to have an Erie in Louisiana, now would it? That'd be like having a town called Tsimshian on the Hudson Bay (very local joke).

Won't deny I didn't have high hopes for this after the first couple tracks. IDM can go oh-so very wrong and off the rails without a steady hand, producers too often thinking MOAR stuttery-glitch means MOAR awesome. Coupled with ultra-twee perversions of electro-pop sampling, and the palming of my face is complete whenever I hear that kind of stuff. Coma Eye doesn't go quite that far, but does take a longing glance at the edge of that cliff.

Or maybe my ears just prefer when she takes things down the breakneck acid techno road with HORSE. Or the creepy sludge-glitch of Conquered In The Concord Gel. Or the trippiest-hop of Do You Love Your Granny?. That's the darned thing about these IDM wonks: when no sounds or styles are off limits, they're bound to stumble upon something that connects with the cochlea. Some have better batting averages than other, but even a .500 on a six-track EP ain't too shabby.

Various - Beyond The Machines

Infonet: 1993

Looking at this CD sure brings back memories. Oh, not for any particular sentimental attachment to the compilation itself. In fact, I only recently came across this, during my last and final splurge on Bandulu material. Nay, what triggers the ol' nostalgia endorphins with Beyond The Machines is remembering how enamoured I'd get with such mysterious items like this.

The cover art some strange blend of manga and pulp comics. The track list consisting of such bizarre, unconventional names like Syzygy, Sulphuric, and Thunderground. Even the title hinted at music taking things to a totally different level of electronics, beyond whatever the original Detroit future-fetishists had in mind (to say nothing of the bouncy, poppy euro-dance that was the limit of my knowledge back when). Given the opportunity, Beyond The Machines could have been one of the seminal releases in Teenage Sykonee's developing interests and tastes, opening a whole unforeseen world of sonic possibilities. More realistically though, it'd probably get stacked along such compilations like Tone Tales From Tomorrow Too and The Sound Of Zero And One, techno collections just a tad too off the beaten path for me to 'get' as a dewy-eyed teenager.

Many years older now, and with a vast database of neigh-limitless knowledge at my fingertips, Beyond The Machines is a mysterious item no more. I know who Bandulu is. I know who Syzygy is (and truthfully, one of the main reasons I sprung for this along with the additional Bandulu material). I even know what Infonet is, and that this compilation was a showcase for the label's budding artists. Erm, not many of them stuck around longer than this CD, while one of them had already been making a name for himself in Detroit before (Eddie Fowlkes, who's I Wanna Know is definitely on that 'Detroit guys wanting to make Chicago deep house' tip). Subterfuge's Liquid Poetry reminds me of those way-early attempts at trance you'd hear out of non-Frankfurt regions of the deustchland, while Rev 1's Chochillics and Sulphuric's Better Come Together offer up the acid business.

Really though, Beyond The Machines is mostly about Bandulu and their various side-projects (Thunderground, Koh-Tao). Even the Syzygy track, Meditation, is rather Bandulu-ish, with its loopy nature and all, though quite trancey and mellow compared to the proper techno workouts the Bandulu-proper cuts offer. The opener Thunderground cut, Illegal Rush, inches closer to the domain of trance as well, while the track Amaranth could almost be a New Beat tune, what with its sampling of the synth arp from My Mine's Hypnotic Tango. Not so sure about those tinny trumpets though. As for the Koh-Tao cut, bluesy country-twang in dub is the last thing I'd have expected to hear, but here we are.

The dated quality of these tracks unfortunately does overwhelm much of Beyond The Machines, which leaves the CD more a curioso or completist item of interest. Bandulu did have a unique sound, but it's better highlighted on their albums than here.

Various - Better Living Through Circuitry

Moonshine Music: 2000

I haven't seen this documentary, by the by. Just seemed like redundant information from my end. I'm sure there were little details included that I didn't know, but for the most part, I was quite up to speed with the ins and outs of American rave culture when Better Living Through Circuitry was released. I'd watched the movies Go and Groove, after all!

Jokes aside, this isn't meant to be a humble-brag or anything on my part. 'Rave' as a thing in the Americas was only a decade old (holy cow!), and for half that time, I'd been digging and prodding into as much as I could despite my geographical handicap. Regular pilgrimages to the Holy Land of Electronica CDs helped (re: music shops in Vancouver like A & B Sound, Virgin Megastore, Sam The Record Man, etc.), while media like spotlight showcases on MuchMusic and the magazine Mixer rounded things out. Plus a little thing called The Internet, that clued me in on a bunch of things too.

Still, the end of the '90s saw quite the surge in interest from newcomers, and a little DVD documentary bringing such folk up to speed wasn't such a daft idea. In fact, Better Living Through Circuitry was being promoted as the first ever documentary to summarize just what all this raving business was on about! Well, the first in America, maybe. Europe had been making such docs since the early '90s, but then club culture had reached popular saturation there well before it ever did in the Americas (sans some pockets among coastal cities).

Anyhow, a soundtrack was released in conjuction with it, because you can't talk about a culture based around rave music without some actual rave music playing. Some of the artists they interviewed get tunes in (Genesis P. Orridge's Psychic TV, Keoki, Roni Size), while the rest is about what you'd expect to hear on the West Coast of the US at the time. Lots of acid, breaks, d'n'b and... The Future Sound Of London's Expander? Not that I mind hearing it again, but seems a bit random a tune to have as representative of rave music in America.

Is it because the documentary was financed by Cleopatra Records, and insisted upon having some of their licensed music in? Yeah, that tracks. Also, how amazing is it that not only did Cleopatra release the DVD, but Moonshine Music released the CD? That's, like, the two biggest underground curators of '90s rave music in America combining forces! I don't know what a contemporary comparison would be.

All in all, Better Living Through Circuitry (the CD) is a nice little time capsule of a bygone era, when raving was still no bigger than a curious counter-culture movement (snippets of interviews from the doc help). Playing this won't help you 'understand' it any more than watching the documentary would, but hey, FSOL, Meat Beat, Roni Size, Keoki, The Crystal Method, Psychic TV, DJ Spooky, Überzone, and Electric Skychurch, all in one place, armirite?

Fatboy Slim - Better Living Through Chemistry

Skint/Astralwerks: 1996/1997

For a time, I considered this the superior Fatboy Slim album: no overplayed hits or blatant crossover appeal. Norman Cook's big-beat debut was pure underground t'ings, for the underground heads who kept things under the ground. Or something.

Then I came to learn of Mr. Cook's storied career, how he'd been responsible for the goofy Pizzaman project, and that his Fatboy Slim moniker was just the latest (and most successful) of a long line of chart-topping achievements. Goodness, does that mean everything I thought and believed about this album was a lie, a misled assumption that couldn't be helped due to the lack of available knowledge while residing in such a far-flung corner of North America? Must I re-assess my enjoyment of Better Living Through Chemistry?

Well, there is an air of bandwagon jumping here. Cook broke out the Fatboy moniker with the single Everybody Needs A 303, a fun acid jam for sure (and a winner of a title!), but clearly riding on the wave of acid anthems that Josh Wink's Higher State Of Consciousness set off. Not that I suspect insidious intents in making the tune on Norman's part. Nay, here's a silly one-off alias for a one-off single and oh my God, this thing is blowing up in the clubs! Maybe there's some potential after all.

UK interest in breakbeats that sounded as big as rock 'n' roll of yore was taking off, and sampling funk and soul was always a major part of that scene. Well, ol' Norman had a woodshed full of records from years of DJing he could pilfer. Surely there's enough material there to knock out a full-length album's worth of 303 retreads? Well, maybe.

I'd honestly forgotten how loopy this album is. Yeah, they layer and build and all, but compared to the songwriting leaps the Fatboy project took in subsequent albums, this is some raw, basic stuff. The second half in particular doesn't do much to dispel the notion Better Living Through Chemistry was made mostly in service of capitalizing on a big single. The chill, psychedelic outing of Santa Cruz and trip-hop funk of The Weekend Starts Here show off some diversity, but generally there's only so much acid builds with big breaks can do before it all starts sounding the same.

Fortunately, the Astralwerks version added a couple winners, some of my favourite Fatboy Slim jams ever! Michael Jackson is Norman at his best with cheeky sampling, rockin' leads, and wailin' hooks with beats to back 'em up. Meanwhile, Next To Nothing is another chill outing like Santa Cruz, and a strong, proper capper on an album that originally got redundant by Milwaukee's end.

Whether Better Living Through Chemistry doesn't hold up as well as I remembered is irrelevant though, as its status as a Very Important record is already enshrined. The Chemical Brothers' Exit Planet Dust may have kicked off big beat, but this solidified it as a genre with big things ahead of it.

Various - Berghain 05: Marcel Fengler

Ostgut Ton: 2011

Yet another item I attained after doing that which I never, ever did: following the recommendation of a Resident Advisor 'Best Of' list. It was 2011, see, a year I was slowly crawling out of my 2010 funk, but not terribly enthused about digging about on my own. Such lists are handy for such folk, and from the quick samples I heard from Berghain 05, it sounded promising enough for further inspection.

And what I'd discovered was techno had seen some upheaval in the past few years since my last serious forays into that scene (during the dark times, during the MNML). I'd heard a few items to that point, mostly out of the Ostgut Ton camp as well. Still, I needed something a little extra to convince me the scene had indeed moved on, a definitive statement that the plinky-plonk monotony of the decade prior had truly been put to pasture. And what better series could there be than the one in service of the club most responsible for the shift in clubbing taste? None better series than Berghain, so I was told.

The chap tasked with handling the fifth edition of the series is Marcel Fengler, a resident of the famed club during its peak years of prominence. He never gained the same level of critical prestige as others from that era (Dettman, Faki, Klock), but had a respectable following just the same. Then... something happened? Some sort of falling out and parting of ways between the club and he? I don't know about that, but I do notice all his releases are scrubbed from the Ostgut Ton Bandcamp page. Whatever, I'm here to review a DJ mix from before all that.

Marcel opens his set with over-dubbed vocals, then explodes into shimmery synths that... okay, isn't trance, but sure is a lot more melodic than anything I'd expected from techno in those days. You got my attention, Mr. Fengler. Oh, you're doing the minimal thing for a bit after, aren't you. Well, it's acidy and dubby, crunchy minimal techno – the vintage Berghain sound – so that's fine by me. Sweet, there's even an L.B. Dub Corp rub worked in there too. I sure likes me some L.B. Dub Corp, so rare as it is.

From there, things settle into more of a Detroit groove, or Europeans trying to do a Detroit groove. Just kidding, there's some authentic Motor City alum in this mix too, such as Claude Young (though hanging out with Japanese guys by this point) and, uh... Okay, for some reason, I thought acts like Skudge and Ben Sims hailed from this side of the Atlantic, but I was wrong. Don't matter, there's enough spacey future-funk and techno-stomp in this set to fake it until they make it (to DEMF). And hey, there's a Convextion track to end on, long before when Gerald Hanson properly unearthed the project. That counts close to a proper Detroit closer, don't it?

Various - Balance 027: Magda

Balance Records: 2015

The only reason I'm reviewing so many Balance mixes, this. Yeah, I've said I kept tabs on the series, but wasn't inspired to look back either. Magda though, I'm always on the look-out for more mixes from her, so when I heard she'd been tapped for the venerated prog and tech-house brand, you bet I double spit-taked. Ms. Chojnacka's aesthetic is so outside the traditional Balance wheel-house, it may as well be on a different planet. I suppose one could made a distant connection to Joris Voorn, in that they've both done Hawtin-esque ultra-mixes, but that's about it.

Maybe Balance felt the need for another change though, having used up just about all the prog veterans to this point. Perhaps Danny Tenaglia's heavy techno outing had the Balance staff feeling that pull (which would explain why this was followed by Stacey Pullen). Or supposedly they realized they'd never had a woman do a mix for them. With an utter dearth of prominent lady jocks within prog circles, however, they had to reach beyond the genre aisles to make amends.

So this doesn't come off like a typical Balance release, instead seemingly celebrating Magda's own history in the commercial mix domain. The cover art is like a scrapbook of her prior outings (open mouth for Fabric 49; creepy doll/mannequin from She's A Dancing Machine). As such, the music within adheres to no past trends within Balance canon, no established genres carried upon. This is a Magda set through and through, and if you only come to this series' style of prog and tech-house, you're gonna' have a bad time.

Yet I feel so hypocritical enjoying the weirdo minimal and odd-ball nu-jazz of CD1, because isn't this the sort of stuff that soured me on Agoria's set? A little, yeah, but Magda just does it better. Really, she does better what a lot of her peers do (for sure a lone bright spot during 'mnml's suffocating dominance), and its a crying shame she never got the due others received, but perhaps appearing on Balance would help endear her to a fresh audience. Or not, her quirky selections being a bit much for the prog faithful. Heck, some of the 'tunes' toward the end of CD1 were a bit much for me, and I'm usually more than willing to take the ride on whatever strange road Magda drives us on.

Anyway, CD1's traditionally the 'indulgent' set in these Balance releases, but does the clubbier CD2 deliver in any shape or form? If you like your stripped-down tech-house and acid boogie, most definitely! It's more straight-forward compared to Magda's older commercial mixes – no super-dense mash-ups of four minimal techno tracks at once, or something – but gets my shoulders shufflin' and my bottom wigglin' in my chair just the same. Once again, Ms. Chojnacka remains one of the few who delivers exactly what I like to hear in this style of music. To be fair though, it's been a very small sample size.

Various - Balance 020: Deetron

Balance: 2011

Venturing into unknown territory here, in more ways than one. Yeah, this is the first time I've wandered beyond Agoria's Balance set, but as mentioned, I did keep tabs on which DJs would come and go. Pretty nearly all, I was somewhat familiar with. The vets of old (Timo Maas, Nick Warren, Funk D'Void), the newer cats gaining buzz (Nic Fanciulli, Henry Saiz, Radio Slave), and such. Deetron, however, is a comparative blank for me. Like, I'm sure I've seen the name pop up here and there, but there were no tracks or remixes of his that nabbed my attention, no massive hype cycles proclaiming this or that set as decade defining. I won't deny some of that may be due to my own lack of exploration of some scenes, but considering I haven't had this problem with most other jocks in this series (within the main line, at least), it does feel odd having this much of a blank regarding Deetron.

And Lord Discogs isn't much help either, simply stating Swiss-born Sam Geiser as having been using the Deetron alias for a good two decades now. The bulk of his singles came out through famed Belgian print Music Man Records, and appearing on numerous DJ mixes from jocks ranging quite the spectrum (Pete Tong, Carl Cox, Adam Beyer, Ken Ishii, Stanny Franssen, Knee Deep, Frango (2)). Boy, folks sure liked that I Cling tune. Was that the bump that got Deetron enough notice for a Balance set?

Though the series had drifted away from mega-conceptual mixes, Mr. Deets brings a couple different approaches with each disc he's given: one done digitally, the other analogue. Won't deny seeing a twenty-six tracker for the Digital CD1 had me a little side-eyed with visions of Joris Voorn, but the analogue set has one track more, so why should I worry? And disc one is fine enough, though changes pace in tone so many times it's hard to gain any moment. It felt like Sam was using digital's abilities to coerce transitions between tracks that really had no business being together, but it didn't create a disjointed mess either. Besides, it worked well enough for Jimmy Van M, so no sense niggling the inconsequential details. Speaking of Jimmy, Deetron opens CD1 with Autechre's Egg, which Van M also used, marking this, I believe, the first instance of a repeat song within Balance canon. Of course Jimmy would do it first.

Digital may be more diverse with its deep house and nu-jazz and downbeats and Throbbing Gristles, but I'm fully on the train with Analogue, a proper house 'n' techno ride that keeps the pace steady and on the up. I can almost feel Deetron riding the wheels of steel with each transition, and gosh, wouldn't you know it, kinda' makes me want to check out those Fabric and DJ-Kicks outings of his, if it's more of this! Not so much the first disc though. Would definitely need to try before I buy.

Alien Community - Alien Community 2

Fax +49-69/450464: 1994

Looky-looky what I got! An honest to God, original print, ultra old-school, limited-run copy of a Fax+ CD! Not a rip, not a reissue, but an O.G. version with the classic cover-art. And with the Earth photo too, not triangular logo. Such releases were part of the 'PW' series, or 'Peter's Worldlabel', where all of his famed, globe-trotting collaborations took place. Not surprisingly, these are highly sought items, releases from the likes of Fires Of Ork, 2350 Broadway, and From Within fetching stupid amounts of money on the collector's market. Sometimes though, you get lucky on the Discogs Marketplace, and I scored myself a source that had all manner of classic Fax+ items up for offer. True, many of them were re-issues on Ambient World, but beggars can't be choosers, and I nabbed me some albums I never thought I'd land without dropping upwards of triple digits for.

One such release I always had my eye on was Namlook's pairing with Jonah Sharp as Alien Community. Their featured track in the Coldcut mix CD Tone Tales From Tomorrow Too made it among my earliest internet explorations (d'at title alone! ...not to mention the sci-fi electro), but discovering it was part of this ca-raaayy-zee catalogue of rare ambient techno, I resigned myself to wistful glances here and there. I mean, the project hadn't even been tapped for reissue with Ambient World. I guess the Spacetime Continuum tie-in just wasn't enough for consistent interest.

Even now, Alien Community doesn't rank terribly high on the list of Fax+ essentials. Well, the first album does, as there is some mighty tasty ambient electro going on there, but not their second (and last) outing under the alias. Why, one can find this for the same price of a regular CD on the used market. Strangely, the same goes for Pete and Jonah's other collaborative project, Wechselspannung, which I haven't really listened to. Its artwork is mighty familiar tho'...

Anyhow, as with many Fax+ releases of this era, Alien Community 2 features a singular sixty-minute composition titled A Long And Perilous Voyage, broken up into twelve parts around five minutes in length for handy CD skipping. Because not everyone is down for those super-noodly, feeling-out, abstract ambient segments these jam sessions often entailed. Seriously, it's like when guitarists spend time tuning their instruments, but instead with twiddly knobs on gear racks.

Also a common feature with these LP-length outings was how they were structured, with rising escalation of the various sounds in use, a mid-section of downtime with various sonic doodlings, each player doing their thing, then a bigger peak-out with everything coming to the fore. It's effective ambient techno jamming, especially if you enjoy Namlook's distinct synth pads and transistor tweeps with Sharp's spaced-out acid tweaks and electro rhythms. Still, it's just following upon the same ideas as the first album, and I can understand why some may feel it the lesser of the two Alien Community releases.

Josh Christie - Stuck On A Space Trip

self release: 2018

So this Josh Christie chap approaches me on Twitter, as the platform is want to allow, and asks me if I'd be interested in reviewing one of his albums. Sure, thinks I, I'm always down for taking in extra tuneage for my queue. Send it my way and, oh, it's only available Bandcamp. Well, I'm not so anal on digital-only releases anymore, though this does put me in a slight pickle. Not so much a 'hey, can you review a copy of my album that I send you?' request, as 'hey, can you review my album after you buy it on Bandcamp?' Seems highly irregular for this sort of thing, but eh, I've paid money for lesser works. Besides, if I cannot keep my word, then what word I offer is any good? No, if I say I'm gonna' do something, whether it's reviewing someone's music or seeing a guide to completion, then by g'ar, I'll do it, no matter how long it takes, no matter the cost.

Don't bother looking for this Josh Christie within Lord Discogs' massive tome of data. A search there instead brings up acts like Christie Front Drive ('90s indie rock) and Josh Groban (modern day crooner). Naturally, the album I decided upon reviewing, Stuck On A Space Trip, is also a total blank, though when I typed up “Josh Christie Stuck On A”, the lone result I got was ...Insane Clown Posse's third album Riddle Box? Uh, well, they both have a stark black background with a green icon on the front. I suppose I could just ask the Tampa chap other details, but judging from the music on this album, it's pretty clear where his inspirations lay.

Space is definitely the place, but so are the British raves of the early '90s, with loving homages to the primitive dance beats and cheeky sci-fi sampling ever so prevalent of the era. In fact, Stuck On A Space Trip almost feels too lovingly replicant of that music, and I'm not just talking about opening things up with the sounds of a train taking off. From more obvious nods to The Orb (Dawn Of Emptiness, Sunny Vibrations), The KLF (The Autocratic Machine), and Shut Up And Dance (Chemical Weapons), to a general vibe not too dissimilar to Orbital and Earthbeat (aka: FSOL's early works) permeate much of the album. And I'm not sure if this is a good or a bad thing.

Yeah, I like me some vintage UK acid house sounds, but where does homage end and blatant lift begin? These sound so much of that time, you could probably convince clueless folks they were unearthed artifacts. It's like, if bleep-acid-ambient-techno-rave could become a synthwave-styled genre – music not only inspired by an era, but highly romanticized into something it never actually was - then this is probably what it would sound like. Why doesn't that happened more often, I wonder? UK acid raves too narrow a cultural niche compared to the omnipresence of The '80s?

The Prodigy - No Tourists

BMG: 2018

(a Patreon Request from Philoi)

I may have passed on The Prodigy post-Millennium, but that doesn't mean I didn't keep some tabs on them, the lingering question of “are they still going?” always tugging at my curiosity. Truth is, questions of 'relevancy' were long since dashed after Liam Howlett failed to keep pace with electronic music's mutations throughout the '00s, and it seemed he spent a lost decade of figuring out just where his brand of thrashy-bash stadium fodder fit. I think he eventually sorted it out, and No Tourists finds the Prodge machine running as smoothly as one could expect/hope for in the year 2018.

Which, for all intents, may end up being the final official Prodigy album, what with Keith Flint's passing and all. Yes, Liam was the brains behind nearly all the music that ever came from the Prodigy banner, but as a live act, 'Keef's presence was what catapulted the group from rave favourites to something marketable across the globe. For good or ill, it was Mr. Flint and his iconic double-'hawk hairdo that got him front and centre on Spin Magazine (and lampooned by Weird Al's quickie Lousy Haircut), not Maxim's cat eye lenses, Liam's nose-ring or Leeroy's... gangling legs? Howlett long claimed the tunes he made were just as much in service of Keith's antics as anything ear-catching or club smashing, knowing he'd struck upon a winner if his stage jester went completely ape-shit to it as the tune blasted from stacks of speakers. It's difficult imagining Liam finding the same level of musical confidence without Keith's moshing approval.

And that's the vibe I get from No Tourists, ten tracks designed with maximum thrash appeal for those who still have a fondness for Prodigy of old. Still, I won't deny almost fearing the worst with opener Need Some1, the track sounding like it's cribbing from the school of Pendulum rather than anything Liam built. Fear not, my friends, for follow-up Light Up The Sky brings back the big boshing beats of yore, with red-lined acid thrash and sped-up rasta vocals. Yes, it's way familiar of Prodigy of old, but isn't that what we've always wanted from them anyway?

The other track that treads into contemporary festival cliches is Timebomb Zone, and only because those chipmunk vocals aren't of vintage rave stock. Boom Boom Tap too, I guess, though I sense that one's more a pisstake of trap anthems than a sincere attempt – how else to explain a curt “fuck you” at the drop before unleashing fierce jungle on your ears? As for the rest, No Tourists is all fine, the sort of tuneage intended for quick, explosive release, then just as soon passed on by. There little that sticks with you like classic Prodigy of the past, but for the time you spend with them here (a rather brisk thirty-seven minutes!), it's a fun ride. And, given the circumstances, if this does mark the final Prodigy album, it's a fine final send-off as well. Respect.

Delerium - Archives, Vol. 2

Nettwerk: 2001

I know the album Poem from Delerium has its fans, but for me it was a watered-down retread of Karma. After learning that Rhys Fulber had 'left' the partnership to pursue his own Conjure One project, I figured Delerium done. Joke's on me, Leeb and Fulber reconvening and adding four more albums to the Delerium discography since. Can't blame me for such an assumption though. When retrospective compilations hit the market, it's only natural to think a group is moving on.

Thus were my thoughts with Archives, released just after Poem, and seemingly as a stamp on the Delerium saga. Archives Vol. 1 would naturally cover all of their cross-over material (three albums is usually enough to cobble together a greatest hits package), while Vol. 2 would take a surprising dive into Delerium's pre-Nettwerk era. At least, that's what I assumed, hence why I only sprung for this collection and not Vol. 1. Turns out Vol. 1 reached even further back, when Leeb's pairing with Fulber had just started Delerium as little more than a side-project to Front Line Assembly, material only the earliest followers of their music would be aware of. That's remarkably bold of Nettwerk, assuming interest in the group had grown so substantial, they could capitalize on stuff in stark contrast to radio-friendly ethno-chill tunes featuring Sarah McLachlan. Maybe Leeb curried favours from the label, resuscitating stuff from his defunct Dossier print before Cleopatra somehow claimed total ownership over it.

What's interesting about Archives Vol. 2 is it also captures Delerium in transition. It covers three albums from their discography: Spiritual Archives, Spheres and Spheres II, the former essentially capping off their dark ambient period. And boy does it show on the track Drama, creepy industrial clank and melodramatic orchestration the name of the game there. Ephemeral Passage goes for the ominous yet angelic mood music, whereas Aftermath and Awakenings sound like the Front Line Assembly downtempo b-sides Delerium was.

Spheres, meanwhile, found Leeb and Fulber moving beyond the dusty catacombs and gothic planes in search of the outer realms of their muses. For sure it's still dark ambient, but spacier, emptier; music for traversing the Stargates of the Old Ones. Look, they ain't subtle about this, one of the tracks titled Monolith, and using the air ventilation sound effects from 2001: A Space Odyssey. To say nothing of the failing life supports beeping at the end of Hypoxia. There's some interesting ideas floating about the two Spheres showcases (almost the entirety of Spheres II is included on CD2), but some tracks seem to go on and on with no clear focus. Lots of weird sci-fi sound-effects, decent trip-hop beats, some toying around with acid and Delerium's distinct ethereal synth pads. The pure ambient pieces are quite lovely though.

Still, the most interesting take with the Spheres portion of Archives Vol. 2 is “they were making this concurrently with Semantic Spaces?” Makes you wonder what their future would have held had the Nettwerk debut flopped, doesn't it.

Alter Ego - Alter Ego

Harthouse/Harthouse America: 1994/1995

Even with their name right there as the album's title, I doubt most folks would believe you if you told them this was Alter Ego's debut. Oh, the old heads know, though they tend to skip straight to Decoding The Hacker Myth for their Must Have Alter Ego Records Of The '90s; Acid Jesus too, if they want some straight-up techno. Heck, even if folks are savvy enough to know Alter Ego started out on a more chill bent, I'm sure they'll name-drop the album they released before this one (The Primitive Painter as The Primitive Painter) as the more interesting of the two, if nothing else because of how unknown it is (gotta' show off that trainspotter savvy).

Thus in a discography that includes IDM, techno, tech-house, minimal tech-house, electro, faux-electro, and some acid too, Alter Ego stands alone, more a remnant of the ambient dub era of downtempo music than anything Misters Wuttke and Flügel would go on to do. For sure they put their own spin on the sound, but by and large most folks instead regard this album a chill-out option within the early Harthouse catalogue, a companion piece to whatever mellow moments Ralf Hildenbeuten, Oliver Lieb and B-Zet were providing the label. Aside from the laid-back acid vibes of single Soulfree, little from here gets brought up when discussing Alter Ego's body of work.

Well, poo on them, because I quite enjoy Alter Ego for all those reasons! Yeah, it owes a fair deal to ambient dub, but that gives their music much warmth over their more clinical excursions into music-making. If anything, I'd bill this stuff as 'lounge techno', the sort of music you could imagine being played out at a dimly-lit coffee shop while relaxing on a sofa, a warm mug of your favourite caffeinated beverage simmering nearby as you contently flip through some old novel, its spine withered from repeated usage. No, I'm not basing that off the one track titled Sentimental Books, why do you ask?

As mentioned, Soulfree was the lead single, a wonderfully downtempo outing of deep acid grooves. Atomic Playground plays up to its namesake, a playful little ditty of acid, jazz, and dub, while Chinese Eyes lazily bobbles along with dubby acid and lushly warm pads. For those who need their Alter Ego a tad more upbeat, the thirteen-minutes of Nude Restaurant works a nifty, rolling oscillating rhythm as acid and synths percolate throughout, while Tanks Ahead shows off the duo's funkier side of acid electro (small wonder The Black Dog tapped this one to remix). And as is required of most techno albums of the day, we get the obligatory ambient closer in Undersea Girl, about as warm a piece of ambience as I've ever heard from anyone of the era, wrapping you in thick blankets of synthy timbre while spacey acid bubbles to the ocean surface from Atlantian depths. Yes, I've had this album so long, it's practically painted canvases within my brain matter. How it do?

Bogdan Raczynski - Alright! (Original TC Review)

Rephlex: 2007

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

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


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

IN BRIEF: Um... alright?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Sven Väth - Accident In Paradise

Eye Q Records: 1992

Only Sven Väth could make a 'solo' debut such as this and get away with it. Like could you imagine a man in the 2000s behind Very Serious minimal techno parties in Ibiza creating something as daft as a flute and harpsichord Coda? Not bloody likely – unless, of course, you are Sven Väth, a chap who probably hasn't a clue where his inspiration will take him. He just goes with it as he feels it. And my mind boggles of what it must have been like to hear Accident In Paradise when it was fresh and new, a collection of highfalutin artistry from the dude behind the legendary OMEN nightclub, and who's previous major musical output consisted of singing with the boys behind Snap!

In officially putting his name on an actual record though, I'm sure the young Väth had a ton of ideas floating about his head, many of which inspired by the raving lunatics he saw emerging in Frankfurt's nascent clubbing scene. The freaks were coming out in full force, uninhibited by the looming threat of crushing communism while getting knackered on really good drugs. It must have looked like a carnival of world-wide cultures, all meeting at a European crossroads, where tribal spiritualists could intermingle within aristocratic chambers. So many ideas, so many influences, how can one interpret them within the confines of dance album? Probably you don't, but that didn't stop Sven from at least trying.

Fortunately, Mr. Väth had a secret weapon at his disposal, helping him curate his ideas into something presentable. Okay, Ralf Hildenbeutel wasn't that much of a secret, the man already instrumental in producing many of Eye Q Records' early singles. He and Väth even released a collaborative album earlier that year as Barbarella, a more straight-forward techno LP. Having gotten what was 'expected' of them out, they were free to indulge in whatever fit their fancy in a proper artist record. Just make sure that lead single's a stompin' acid techno cut though – don't want to scare the punters off before they buy the album.

Accident In Paradise is, if nothing else, an ambitious LP that almost comes together as Sven and Ralf envisioned. Heavily front-loaded, the opening salvo of tribal-trancer Ritual Of Life, sweeping ambience of Caravan Of Emotions, and blissy Balearic vibes of L'Esperanza eats thirty-five minutes of the album, more than half its runtime. It can't help but go down from there, and they don't even try reaching that lofty peak again, the back half of Accident In Paradise mostly taken up by interstitial musical doodles of Renaissance dalliances. Even Mellow Illusion, a groovy, nine-minute old-school trancer, comes off humble and ordinary in this album's context. Re-issues added the radio version of L'Esperanza, giving you reason to keep the album playing through, if you're willing to sit through Sven and Ralf's psychedelic carnival ride getting there. I give them props for including such daft tunes like Merry-Go-Round Somewhere, but like most, I usually tap out after Mellow Illusion.

The Future Sound Of London - Accelerator

Jumpin' & Pumpin'/Hypnotic: 1991/2002

The only Future Sound Of London album you need, if you listen to certain sorts of people. Let's call them 'stuck in The Haçienda' kind of people, UK ravers who never grew beyond that era's acid house scene, will only accept electronic music as it sounded then, and not a month later. Never mind that Brian Dougans and Garry Cobain ventured forth into new, fascinating realms of pure headtrip, mind-fuck album works – it's just not danceable, mate. I sense, though, such folks are forlorn at the coulda'-been, the shoulda'-been of FSOL's potential as studio hounds producing clubbing fodder. They made so many classic, genre-defining tunes at the time, the possibilities of what they might have done after had they scaled back the arty, pretentious aspirations boggles the mind. But nay, the lads from Manchester had grander visions in mind.

And I get it – oh man, do I ever get it. For as much as I've continued enjoying FSOL's work, there's an undeniable addictive simplicity about the tunes on Accelerator that remain effective to this day. Papua New Guinea, obviously, but I've no doubt tracks like the future-shock breaks of Expander, acid-bleep dopeness of Calcium, and blissed-out trancey acid house of Pulse State would be just as effective in any contemporary setting. Hell, I heard 1 In 8 at a music festival this past summer. 1 In 8, one of the 'filler' tracks on this album! Who plays 1 In 8 in this age? A DJ at Basscoast, apparently.

Still, one cannot deny there's some rather dated material on Accelerator too. Despite the smashing opening of Expander (oh, you just know Sasha cribbed that title), Stolen Documents is little more than a peppy transitional track of bleepy sounds and chirpy acid funk. While Others Cry has a little more personality going for it with its Balearic-Jamaican vibe (yes, really), nice for a sway in a hammock or beach lounge. On the other hand though, It's Not My Problem and Moscow have the unenviable task of bookmarking the album centrepiece of Papua New Guinea, and in being such abrasive, boshing tunes, neither are capable of it – you're just waiting for Papua while Problem is playing, and Moscow always feels like a comedown from New Guinea. As for hints at where FSOL would take their music, Central Industrial slows things down and plays up the future-shock scenery full-tilt. Psygnosis Studios were definitely paying attention.

When Accelerator was rolled out for a tenth anniversary re-issue, it included a bonus disc of Papua New Guinea remixes. Most of them take the tune's basic structure and re-purposes them into a particular genre (Satoshi Tomiie does the prog thing, Hybrid do the prog-breaks thing, Oil do the funk-dub thing). The most interesting of the lot are the Simian Mix, where the rock band turns Papua into a bizarre, stoned, jazz-stomp indie hoe-down (I'm sure Gary loved it), and Andrew Weatherall's eleven-minute rub – progressive house of epic proportions, that one!