Chris Fortier - Trance America (2016 Update)

Engine Recordings: 2000

(Click here to read a bunch of hyperbolic gushing passing itself off as 'jurnarlizm'.)


So this CD. It’s still one of the best prog mixes I’ve heard, especially for such an obscure release. The label it came out on, Engine Recordings, has but three entries in Lord Discogs’ archives. This includes a DJ mix from Mr. C called Subterrain 100% Unreleased, and the Stateside copy of Layo & Bushwacka!’s debut Low Life. Lord Discogs also informs this print was a subsidiary of Will Records, which apparently mostly dealt with indie rock. If Will was taking a chance on that trendy ‘electronica’ at the turn of the century, they sure didn’t bother sticking with it for long. How Chris Fortier got involved with the label for a ‘prog’ mix titled Trance America is anyone’s guess; except for Chris, because obviously he knows firsthand. He did put out a ‘trancey breaks’ mix a couple years prior on StreetBeat Records, a print that got its start peddling that Miami bass business. Maybe Mr. Fortier just enjoyed bucking convention? No, that can’t be right. He’s behind Fade Records, the label that practically defined ‘prog’ before it became Bedrock’s genre du jour. Was there any style of dance music that sounded more conventionally traditional than ‘prog’? Whee, oxymoron!

See, 2004 Sykonee, see? That’s how you’re supposed to do a review. None of this ultra-long anecdotal nonsense about Trance America being “trance’s redemption”. A few actual nuggets of information goes a long way, especially when dealing with something as obscure as this CD. Not that it’s difficult to find on the used market, nor does it command a high price. Nay, its obscurity lies in how overlooked Trance America remains, an easily missed release due to its awfully generic title. Plus, despite his skill behind the decks and the acclaim he earned before and since the year 2000, Mr. Fortier never broke free of the scene that nurtured his career, forever just another DJ and producer that Sasha & Digweed liked. Hey, that’s not such a bad distinction, not at all!

If you’re a prog completist, Trance America does feature a number of one-offs in its tracklist. Hyper-X never released anything else, not that it matters since its Steve Porter’s remix that gets the glory here. Tranceiver didn’t do much else either, while Memnon and Devol faded a couple years after. 3 Monkeys only had the mint single Crazy People, though its members – Anthony Pappa, Alan Bremner, and Barry Gilbey – were incredibly prolific with other projects (Brothers In Rhythm, Mara, superstar DJing, etc.). And we all know the fates of Steve Porter and Max Graham, early progressive trance darlings that went in completely different directions once ‘prog’ fell out of favor.

Not that 2004 Sykonee knew much of this. Discogs was still skint in its early info’, still becoming a Lord That Knows All. Plus, who’d have thought ‘prog’ would completely die so soon, its tastemakers scurrying to the safety of trendier genres? Certainly not I back when. Maybe exhaustingly detailing the music was for the best. Yeah, no.

Stephen J. Kroos - Tecktonick (Original TC Review)

Anjunabeats: 2007

(2016 Update:
See 2007 Sykonee. See 2007 Sykonee make ridiculous generalization about trance producers making breaks. Point at 2007 Sykonee. Laugh. Laugh at 2007 Sykonee. Ha ha ha. What a nob. I don't even recall what his problem was, a rant that comes totally out of nowhere. Laugh especially hard at the fact I actually like Oxygenation now. Maybe it's that new-found appreciation for McProg's more charming attributes, but Kroos does good in bringing the grumbly low-end/twinkly high-end style to the realms of broken beats. The nu-skool leaning Elecktronick can be left well behind though.

Kroos wasn't long for the world of trance, moving onto tech-house and prog shortly after this album, releasing several singles on Anjunadeep in the process. Eventually he left Anjuna', finding a new home on Spring Tube where he continues releasing music to this day. While keeping with the tech, he's also incorporated deep house and chilled IDM into his repertoire. So a fairly well-rounded career since dropping his debut, even if significantly diminished in scene presence since.)


IN BRIEF: Bringing the past to the present.

Expectations are a dangerous thing when it comes to music. While they may be different for everyone, if an artist doesn’t reach a previous peak (much less surpass it), their subsequent releases are often met with disappointment. And this tends to hold true not just with producers, but everything from DJs, compilation series, labels, and even whole genres.

This can work other ways too. The obvious is when your expectations are so low, to hear something that is surprisingly decent can skew an objective impression. More common is coming across a release that breaks the norm of what you are used to, and impressions are no less susceptible.

The ultra-melodic trance label Anjunabeats hasn’t been known for its diversity but they seem to be showing signs of moving beyond the clichés of late. Among the artists doing so for them is Stephen J. Kroos. The Dutchman’s been producing since the late 90s, having small success when his singles found homes on compilations like Mega Trance 1.0, Ibiza Club Trance, and The House Sound Of Dance Tuning Disco (?). A few years back, Anjunabeats took Kroos on, and turned heads by providing a sound much of the epic trance brigade were unfamiliar with.

Let’s make something clear though. Despite claims to the contrary, Kroos’ music isn't revolutionary. In fact, he’s merely doing the same thing as newer producers like Paul Moelands, Sander van Doorn, and the Discovery squad are: taking trance back to its roots. A time before the Corsten clones, the overblown breakdowns, the schmaltzy lyrics, and everything else that sent the genre into Punchline Land. I can see how kids who figure trance begins and ends with Armin van Buuren’s radio show would find Kroos’ material quite different from the norm. However, folks with Pre-Dutch Explosion knowledge will find his style familiar (I’ll spare you the synth-sample trainspotting).

And this is A-OK. Although often regarded as tech-trance these days, this is more-or-less how the genre sounded when it was showing great promise as savvy party music. It builds on layers, letting the rhythms drive and the melodies subtly tickle at your mind. It was effective in the mid-90s, and it remains effective to this day. If stuff like deep house and Detroit techno are able to get away with recycling winning formulas, why not trance of this nature too?

Anyhow, let’s get to the particulars of Kroos’ album Tecktonik.

After a bit of ambient noodling opens things up (of which several others crop up throughout as interludes between tracks), Stephen wastes no time in letting his audience know this isn’t a typical Anjunabeats release. 4 Your Taperecorder is a techy banger that has only one thought in mind: working the dancefloor. Fortunately, it works fine on the homefront as well, with catchy hooks and vocal samples keeping your attention. Follow-up Sadistick is something far more familiar with the Anjuna faithful. A standard prog-house excursion, Kroos does the style justice with suitable dark grooves and moody atmosphere. Less effective is Tony McGuinness’ lyrics: unnecessary fluff. Why is the Above & Beyond man even here? As one of the label heads, did he insist on having at least one vocal number on this album. Thankfully, it’s a one-off, and we’re right back into Kroos’ winning style soon after.

And nothing over-fancy here, folks. Just simple energetic trance. The rhythms pump, the melodies work, and the breakdowns never dawdle. Hell, Innerstatistick barely has any downtime at all, with a not-a-breakdown-at-all moment lasting less than thirty seconds; and merely used to introduce one of those oh-so vintage ominous sci-fi samples no less! Kroos’ offerings tug at nostalgic strings while keeping his sound firmly in the present. I’d say I’m about ready to be converted to the Cult Of Kroos.

But then he decides to take a stab at breaks. Oh dear...

My friends, there are many constants in the cosmos, one of which is trance producers seldom make good breaks. With most of their attention paid on atmosphere and melodies, they forget the one ingredient that makes breaks good: da funk. Kroos is no exception to the rule, with his offerings blander than white bread. Oxygenate isn’t that bad when he lets the effects direct the flow of the song, but Elecktronick is far too dependent on rhythm to carry it, and the track suffers as a result. And sadly, Tecktonick ends on a limp note. Frankly, the final ambient doodle Sphecktralizm would have been a great closer had Kroos explored the psy dub possibilities an extended version of it hints at. Instead, Formalistick is the main show, but doesn’t have much going for it as such. It’s a fine track to be used in DJ sets but remains musically limited, with a lead hook that ends far too soon; just as you’re warmed up to it, we’re already heading into our perfunctory rhythmic lead-out.

This by no means makes for a weak album though. While the second half of Tecktonick doesn’t quite match the first, there’s still enough here to warrant your attention. The ‘let-trance-do-what-it-do-best’ mentality to many of these cuts shows the ol’ girl still has some life after all, and Kroos’ production suggests a promising future for his career. Well, such that he won't have to worry about being on compilations with names like Veronica’s Mega Music Dance Experience again.

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

ACE TRACKS: November 2012

We’re nearly at the end of these back-tracking ACE TRACKS Playlists. It’s weird realizing that the music I was playing and reviews I was writing was done over three years ago now, enough time that I’m actually having faded recollection of the month. Like, as though it was a distant part of my past, not unlike my TranceCritic writing days. The music I was covering seems so innocent too, still going through my old collection of trusty favorites and stand-bys, having no clue of the splurging I’d undertake that’d bloat out my library to the four digit realm. About a dozen CDs have since been added within this block alone, and that’s just narrowly missing out that Pete Namlook tribute box set. Back then I had no idea labels like Silent Season, Altar, or Psychonavigation even existed! That November also marked the point I realized I could keep writing at a near-daily clip, though with a signficant chunk being some of my all-time favorite albums, it’s not surprising I was feeling the mojo then. It’s also a big ol’ ACE TRACKS Playlist, so let’s get to ‘er.


Full track list here.

MISSING ALBUMS:
Pete Namlook - The Definitive Ambient Collection: Volume 2
Deep Forest - Deep Forest
Dillinja - Cybotron
Djen Ajakan Shean - Crows Heading For Point Break
Roc Raida - Crossfaderz: A Turntablist’s Throwdown!!
Quadrophonia - Cozmic Jam

Percentage Of Hip-Hop: 12%
Percentage Of Rock: 19%
Most “WTF?” Track: Fear Factory - Pisschrist (that title, tho’!)

Full albums from Future Sound Of London, Pink Floyd, and Spicelab are a must. A bunch of Fear Factory, a pile of progressive trance, a little techno, psy, and world beat thrown in for good measure. Oh, and that last little bit of Bone Thugs working its way in too. Man, did I ever look like the Bone Thugs fanboy in those early months. Little did anyone know my hip-hop allegiance lay with the Wu-Tang Clan (plus whatever Del was up to). All in all, this is a fun, varied month’s worth of music, another reason why I likely sped through those CDs so fast. Couldn’t wait to hear the next one again!

ACE TRACKS: December 2015

Holy cow! That’s the letter ‘S’ now done. Over. Finished. I first started on this chunk of my music collection all the way back in May! True, there was a couple weeks of downtime in that period, plus nearly three weeks worth of alphabetical backtrack at the midway point, but damn, I never would have predicted taking to the very end of 2015 to get through it all. And it felt I was brute-forcing my way just to do it too. Know what’s even more insane though? No, not the backtrack queue that’s developed since the last one, though fair warning we’re looking at a month-plus before getting through all that. ‘T’ is almost as big a beast as ‘S’, only about thirty albums less. So, though I doubt I’ll still be plowing through that letter come summer, get ready for another long letter haul in this New Year. Meanwhile, here’s the Ace Tracks that took us to the end of ‘S’ this past month of December.


Full track list here.

MISSING ALBUMS:
Koichi Sugiyama - Symphonic Suite “Dragon Quest” Complete CD-Box
Koichi Sugiyama - Symphonic Suite “Dragon Quest VIII”
Kon Kan - Syntonic
A Positive Life - Synaesthetic
Various - DJ-Kicks: Claude Young

Percentage Of Hip-Hop: 7%
Percentage Of Rock: 0%
Most “WTF?” Track: Nothing comes to mind. Yes, not even the Aphex Twin tracks.

Oh, hey, none of those symphonic suites are on Spotify, what a surprise. Maybe on the Japanese version of the streaming service they are? Not that many folks reading this blog will likely care, but hey, thanks for letting me get my gaming dork indulgence on for a week there. If you must hear this music (!!), I did make a continuous mix of several pieces from these assorted CDs. It’s out there, on the internet, somewhere. Exciting.

What you get with this playlist, however, is a lot of techno. Like, I’m actually shocked by how much techno there is. Aphex Twin obviously, but even names you’d never expect get in on that action too. I guess it’s only fitting that after a month of the smallest percentage of electronic music reviews, the subsequent playlist would have the heaviest amount of traditional stuff.

Paul Oakenfold - Swordfish: The Album (Original TC Review)

London-Sire Records: 2001

(2015 Update:
Did anyone get the parody in this review? My extended riff on the only good part about the movie, John Travolta's opening monologue regarding Hollywood's lack of realism? Guess you'd have to hear it in the first place, which I doubt many reading this ever did. Well, here's a good ol' linky to it on YouTube for you to get your kicks in. Now you can read this old review as intended, as envisioned, as ordained.

This was a fun one to write, especially coming off that horrendous album of 'original' material Oakenfold had released the same year. It's held up much better too, at least in that vintage turn-o'-the-millennium prog-trance stylee folks continue reminiscing over. I'd make a quip about the same being untrue for the movie, but I still haven't seen it, and probably never will. The version of Swordfish playing in my head based on the few clues given by the music here is almost certainly leagues better than anything committed to film.)


IN BRIEF: Better than remembered.

The year 2001. Such a memorable year, wasn’t it? No, I’m not referring to that incident; I mean before then. A time when we felt complacent and self-assured about things. A time when we still felt the buzz of the 90s, the silly Y2K superstitions having blown away with the wind. A time when young loves and romantic rendezvous was heartfelt and genuine (well, in my neck of the woods).

The year 2001. Remember how great electronic music was then? When electroclash was new and exciting? How house music was at glorious heights courtesy of the French? How NRG was dying off (well, I celebrated)? When seeing the name Oakenfold in production credits still equaled class?

Oh, yes, my newbie readers. Even if folks were divided on the merits of his DJing in those days, few disputed Paul’s worth as a producer, his track record throughout the '90s impeccable. Despite never actually spearheading any genre, whatever style he jumped on could be counted on as a worthy addition to the movement.

So, does anyone remember the buzz surrounding his involvement with the soundtrack to Hollywood’s faux-hacker thriller Swordfish? I wouldn’t blame you if you don’t, as it was buried under the other hype going into the movie: John Travolta doing the post-modern villain thing; Halle Berry showing nipples for an outlandish fee; Joel Silver, still flashing ‘bankable’ from The Matrix, being promoted as the hot producer for the flick. Yeah, Paul’s involvement probably didn’t register much in the minds of the movie biz faithful.

But, oh, did it matter in clubland. As far as many were concerned, this was the closest thing to a solo Oakenfold album yet (his work with Grace is often regarded as a collaborative effort), and his huge fanbase was eagre to check out the results.

Right, right. Swordfish isn’t exactly all Oakenfold. Three tracks don’t have his imprint on it, and one isn’t even from his label (the Lemon Jelly song, which unsurprisingly sounds the most unique amongst the others). Everything else, though, finds Paul getting his fingers in. Whether as producer, remixer, or collaborator, the Oakenfold (and Andy Gray, heh) touch is felt. Although you can definitely hear how these tracks would work in the movie itself, their worth isn’t hindered if you haven’t seen it (er, like me). Between clear-cut songs (Jan Johnston’s Unafraid; N*E*R*D’s Lapdance; the Planet Rock remix), trancey Perfecto cuts (Dark Machine; Muse’s New Born; Patient Saints’ On Your Mind), and obvious made-for-movie moments (Speed; Password), every one of them holds enough musical strength to keep your attention.

Holding everything together, and raising the bar on this release, is the maintained theme. While most soundtracks of this nature grab a collection of random, if not similar sounding tunes and hope for the best, Swordfish’s keeps the moody techno-trance tone intact for the duration. Even if the BPMs vary by ten or twenty, it flows naturally from song to song. This is arguably the most consistent soundtrack I’ve heard, short of orchestral and true solo works of course.

Unfortunately, Paul’s work here was doomed to soundtrack tie-in failure. There were no clear-cut singles to promote it and no big anthems tearing up the clubs from it. The final nail in the coffin was Swordfish’s own lackluster performance at the theater. Without a sizable audience eagre to hear the music associated with the flick, the soundtrack’s sales were paltry. Oakenfold’s ‘debut’ project was quickly forgotten with an unremarkable whimper, his attention now focused on a proper artist album. So endeth the Swordfish saga.

But what if - now this is the tricky part - what if folks looked past the theatrical tie-in. No movie, no hype: just treat it as a concept album, a collaborative effort with Paul’s ideas leading the charge. Lock, stock. Still no good? C’mon. How much Hollywood marketing thrown out the window would it take for the fans to reverse their stance on this soundtrack’s worthiness? And this is early 2001! There’s still optimism, still a lack of cynicism, and Paul’s star, Paul’s star is still shining!

Now, fast forward to today; diff’rent time, diff’rent place. How quickly we are to mock Oakenfold and slam anything he does in a matter of hours. An, an easily laughed at story, from Swordfish to Lively Mind. A sell-out stumble. Again, again. Relentless. Trip, splat. One after the other. All displayed on the ‘net: downloaded, compressed, mocked, and ridiculed; you can practically see the ship sinking. And all for what? A mansion, a plane? A couple million pounds of blow to shoot straight up the nose?

As easy as it is to point to Swordfish’s failure as the beginning of Oakenfold’s end, looking at just the music itself reveals some actual thought and consideration going into this. Treated as a collection of moody, trancey tunes, there’s some decent material to be had. And, no matter what you may think of Oakenfold these days, Swordfish is at least worth a pick-up should you ever spot it in a bargain bin along with the DVD, as some of these cuts don’t deserve to be lost with bungled Hollywood hype.

Well, just a thought.

Written by Sykonee for TranceCritic.com, 2006. © All rights reserved

Flowjob - Support Normality (2015 Update)

Iboga Records: 2006

(Click here to read my original TranceCritic review.)

At the tail end of that very, very, very long original review of Support Normality, I quipped about how pricey these old, ace albums in the psy scene can get on the collector’s market. Hell, even lesser CDs have fetched remarkable prices at Discogs. From my pile alone, U-Recken’s Aquatic Serenade once sold for $143! The compilation Goa Spirit 3, $102! ICE MC’s Ice N’ Green, $81 (wait, what?). Several Ultimae albums have moved in the $75-$100 range, with plenty more psy leaning discs going in the tidy $30-$50 bracket. Flowjob’s sophomore album, Zentertainment, which I found weaker than their debut, brought home $40 for a former owner. Surely Support Normality then, a great collection of ultra-groovy progressive trance, would command a gracious price of… seven… teen… dollars? Are you kidding me? That’s an injustice! This should be going for well over $50! Did Iboga flood the market with too many copies or something? Am I blinded by some unaccounted bias? I’ll admit I was going through some interesting transitional times when I first came across this album, but still.

No, wait, let’s examine this. Did my situational living impact upon my reaction to Support Normality in a significant way? It’s no secret we often associate music with events in our lives, such that hearing a song can send a flood of memories from the time you first heard it. When I play this album back now, three immediate things come to mind: a rave where I had a bad 2CB trip, shitty Vancouver weather (even more so than usual), and being home wretchedly sick watching Season 1 of Battlestar Galactica. I can’t say these are at all pleasant memories on the surface, but they were significant, where after a year of big city bachelorhood, I was learning just what it took to survive in the Lower Mainland. Don’t be so irresponsible at parties, get some proper rainwear, and don’t binge watch such a depressing, brilliant sci-fi series. Oh God, the flood of feels, I tells ya’!

I suppose Support Normality provided a brief bright spot in that dour February of 2006. The chipper vibes, dubby synths, and oh-so infectious rhythms gave me a glimmer of optimism, rejuvenated my interest in electronic music in such a way that hadn’t happened since electroclash emerged onto the scene. Flowjob wasn’t doing anything I hadn’t heard before, but they did it with such finesse and skill, I was instantly hooked. They found a sweet spot that catered to my deep, dubby prog needs, the sort of music none of the genre’s standard bearers were crafting anymore, all content pursuing their own roads instead (tech, minimal, Mc.). It obviously didn’t happen like that for others, some probably bored by what Flowjob was selling. But no one can deny they have albums of similar connection to them as this one has with me.

PS: no, I’m not looking to sell anything from my collection, but if I was, hoo boy, would I clean up!

Armin van Buuren - A State Of Trance 2006 (2015 Update)

Ultra Records: 2006

Oh what the heck. Though it's hi-lar-ious to leave my current thoughts of A State Of Trance 2006 out there in the ether, I feel like this needs a proper reassessment anyway. In the ensuing years following my bevy of bile, I had defenders proclaiming Armin's selection of tunes here wasn't so bad, not when compared to where the genre had gone since. And that's a valid point, all manner of sad bandwagon jumps and obnoxious productions (ugh, all that side-chain nonsense) still over the rim from 2006's vantage point. Hell, the idea of dubstep cozying up with trance was utter bollocks in the mid-'00s, yet here we in 2015, Seven Lions an actual thing. The euro trance scene has done more than enough to prove the old adage “it's never so bad that it can't get worse”, and there's been many instances of me going back to these old, lambasted releases, wondering just what zombie bug crawled up my ears to get me so irate. Maybe A State Of Trance 2006 was unjustly crucified, time and hindsight now offering a renewed perspective on Armin's mix.

Nope. In fact, it’s gotten worse! While On The Beach didn’t blow me away as a set, I found it agreeable enough as a proggy collection of tunes way back when. I haven’t a clue how I came to that conclusion before, because this sounds so dull to me now, spinning its wheels worse than the In The Club mix. The two tracks I pointed out as highlights – Zirenz’s Edge Of Space (Whiteroom Remix) and Incolumis’ One With Sanctuary - do remain the best of CD1, but everything else around them is useless plodding McProg and forgettable progressive trance. I mentioned Jody Wisternoff’s Cold Drink, Hot Girl as a mood changer, yet it serves no function in the context of this set. What was I even hearing? At least 2006 Sykonee was accurate in mentioning how lame that acoustic guitar in Sunlounger’s White Sand is.

As for In The Club, yeah, that’s gotten no better either. I ranted big about its problems before, but I could have summed it up with a single word: homogeny. There are twenty-three names listed among these tracks, and only five of them show any sort of personality outside the bog-standard epic, uplifting trance template: Stoneface & Terminal’s Venus for its distinctive rhythm and synths, Sander van Doorn’s rub of Control Freak for its Doorny beats, Thomas Bronzwaer’s Shadow World for those guilty-pleasure SUPREMEsaw synths, and van Buuren’s Sail for its awfulness. Everything else comes off like euro trance as disposable product, duplicated and churned out to meet Armin’s needs in presenting his singular, myopic vision of what trance must sound like. And this has been a problem with his music ever since!

With plenty other fresh takes on trance now available (prog psy! neo-trance! throwback trance! melodic, hypnotic techno!), settling for A State Of Trance 2006 as a standard-bearer of the genre is an exercise in musical denial.

Armin van Buuren - A State Of Trance 2006 (Original TC Review)

Ultra Records: 2006

(2015 Update:
My friends, this review is awful! ...is what you want me to say, right? I won't deny this is one tedious slog, taking forever to get to any point and forcing the reader to wade through waves of bile to do so. This thing is seventeen-hundred words long, with maybe two or three paragraphs of a clear point being made throughout. Hell, I spent the opening three-hundred words building to a lame joke about the cover. Who has time to read that? Certainly no one in this day and age. And there's so much more that's just cringe worthy to read now: still doing track-by-track in some instances, rambling on about inconsequential details, and what the Hell was I going on about with constant reference to 'Glory Years'? I just listened to a DJ mix that sounds much closer to Millennial trance than this one, A State Of Trance 2004. This sounds nothing like that.

I was tempted to do a full Update review, as I've plenty fresh things to say about this mix, but that'd be cheating my ironclad rules. Besides, do I really need to spend any more words on A State Of Trance 2006? I mean, just look at this review! It's a bitter, bloated beast, ornery and cranky for reasons I can't recall now, beyond my utter frustration with Armin's scene in general. All that hype, all that marketing, all that product and good intentions. All that waste of my time.)


IN BRIEF: Still living the Glory Years.

Armin van Buuren’s always been the guy who remains cheerfully optimistic in the face of adversity, and it clearly shows in his approach to music. His brand of uplifting trance is known to rock many a club night while putting sincere smiles on all those who hear it, equally enjoying the soaring melodies while Armin exuberantly lays down the anthems behind the decks.

But one has to wonder whether Armin is growing tired of his role as cheerleader for the epic trance brigade. After all, nearly every other DJ that helped build the style into the dominating party music that it was at the turn of the century has begun to move on to other pastures, leaving Armin to carry on in their stead. He’s certainly made ample use of being given the spotlight, as his star rose to the elites of popular trance DJs while promoting his A State Of Trance internet radio show as the premier source for new uplifting tunes. However, being stuck in that typecast has left him at a standstill for the last few years.

His artist album Shivers from last year saw him attempt to break that mold by creating songs outside the trance template. A worthy idea, but the results were uninspiring to casual happeners and met with annoyance from his hardline trance fans. Still, Armin knows if he wants to be held in higher regard outside his core niche, he’s going to have to step up his game. So, no more Mr. Happy Exuberant Nice Guy. With the grim determination of a DJ on a mission to bring trance back to its nostalgic highs, Armin presents to us the latest collection of the best trance music his radio show has to offer.

Well, one theory for the awful cover image at least.

Anyhow, here we are with Armin’s latest edition of his annual A State Of Trance series. As usual, there are plenty of complaints from listeners of his radio show that there are too many tracks which have been played to death. I’m still befuddled by this complaint; unless you are an extreme Armin fanboy that has got to have everything Armin puts out, this release really isn’t for the dedicated radio listener. Rather, the aim here is simple: compile the standouts from the program for those who don’t listen to it much (or, like me, at all), thus giving Armin the necessary promotion in places that are not the interweb - namely, music stores where money can be made. Fortunately for the non-radio listener and non-downloader, there are plenty of new, exclusive, unreleased tracks to be had in this edition, so if fresh material is what you’re after, you’ll get some bang for your buck.

Following similar themes set by previous editions, 2006 divides the selection of tunes between two different types of sets. Last year, Armin didn’t know if his audience would get the idea, so he gave the discs idiot-proof titles of Light and Dark. He seems to show a little more faith in his fans this year though, going for the slightly more descriptive titles At The Beach and In The Club. Since it’s the first disc here, let us start with the beachy music.

And Mike Foyle’s Shipwrecked is as fine an opener for such a theme as any. Pleasant piano melodies, seaside sound effects, and warm pads make up the bulk, with simple rhythms keeping the pace on easy cruise control. This is quite the blissy offering, easily putting me into a trancey, tranquil sense of waterfront calm.

...Only to be promptly taken out of it by the questionable guitar work in White Sand. I can kind of hear what DJ Shah was shooting for with this track, that of a loungey Mediterranean mood. Unfortunately it comes across as mere noodly finger plucking, without any kind of proper attention paid to stringing together a cohesive harmony. It’s like a poor-man’s Michael Brook with a dance beat.

We quickly leave these seaside tunes though, entering a stretch of moody vocal prog numbers, each followed by a charming instrumental to complement them. These are all quite nice to listen to, keeping the mood on a gradual climb with each track sounding unique from the previous without losing that all important flow. Although the tracks never quite lift beyond a few minor emotional peaks (most notably Junkie XL’s remix of Niyaz’ Dilruba and the Whiteroom remix of Zirenz’ Edge Of Space), they are effective in drawing you into a pleasant trance. It’s just as nice as background music as it is something you can absorb yourself into.

Once Jody Wisternoff’s Cold Drink, Hot Girl changes the general tone of this mix to something a little more groovey, Armin sees fit to gently ease us out of our blissy tenure with the ethereal setting of One With Sanctuary from Incolumis. No apparent hook to be had with this track; just gentle pad work with appropriate rhythms. Definitely a nice capper to this pleasant little disc.

Ack, but Armin decides to keep going. I’ve complained about him throwing on additional tracks at the end of a set when the lead-up to it suggests he’s wrapping up, just because it comes off as milking a CD’s length for all its worth even if you’ve said all that needs to be said. Still, his choice of add-ons isn’t too bad this time out. Even if Envio’s For You has the unfortunate distinction of being ‘one track too many’, it’s a decent track regardless.

Overall though, At The Beach certainly manages to create the atmosphere Armin’s title shoots for. Although a couple tracks feel out of place (I suspect the Karen Overton one may just be PR plugging, but that’s a rant for another review), none of them really detract from the overall tone set-up by Shipwrecked and, more or less, is brought to its natural conclusion at the end. It’s not a revolutionary mix, but works within its confines and should make for a nice summer soundtrack.

As for the second disc...

Shit...

My friends, this is awful!

Damned near every single fucking song does the exact same thing! I just need to provide a link to Fable’s Above for a description (2015 Edit: whoops, that link no longer exists!), and let that repeat itself. If you’re too lazy to actually click the link, here’s the gist of how it goes from start to finish: intro and outro beats matched; minor melody; breakdown, build, soaring uplifting melody, jump in the air with your fist pumping, supposedly cheering Armin on for selecting the ‘choon’; repeat. That’s it. The repetitive redundancy this disc contains isn’t that far removed from that found in hardstyle mixes. The energy is completely flatlined from the get-go, at no point ever seeming to lead anywhere other than just one breakdown after the other, and the predictability of it gets old fast. Were I to implement my Patent Pending Trance Drinking Game to this disc, I’d leave with a very tortured liver.

It’s not that all the individual songs on display here are bad examples of epic trance; put into a better set with more room to stand out, any one of them would probably be good peak time moments. However, Armin’s arrangement and mixing is so utterly bland, the tracks never get a chance to show any kind of personality, which is a far cry from the flavour to be had in the first disc. The beats are simply aligned, the keys properly matched, and that’s it. A robot could do the same job. Say, maybe that’s what gives with the blank look in Armin’s face on the cover: he’s been replaced by an android!

There are a couple points where this mix seems to break the mold, however slightly, but not always for the better. Highlights include: the better than average melody in DJ Governor’s Red Woods; some quirky synthy delights to be found in Stoneface & Terminal’s Venus; the SUPREMEsaw synths of Thomas Bronzwaer’s Shadow World (though that just may be familiarity sparking my interest, since I’ve already heard it on Phynn’s recent DJ mix for the In Trance We Trust series). Lowlights include: both Kyau vs. Albert tracks, who’s blend of bland adult contemporary songwriting with trance beats seems to kill just about every show of momentum; Armin’s own laughable Sail.

Actually, since he gives his own new anthem the spotlight at the end, I may as well give it the review spotlight as well. It’s as though Armin, still trying to create that one classic that will be played forever and ever, took a look at every single major hit in the past and fused them all together. The melody is super-stupidly simple, pretty much hitting single notes on every beat and played with just about every kind of sound you’ve heard in epic trance. You get bleepy synths that made PPK’s ResuRection the smash it was; you get plinky pianos that made Children the hit it was; happy-go-lucky rhythms which are vintage Ferry Corsten; and, of course supersaw breakdowns, sure to bring back Rank 1 memories. And that’s just the first fucking half! I’ll admit I have a soft spot for the voice pads, but Armin kills it with a horribly distorted synth sound in a second breakdown, which reminds me of Tiësto’s take on Adagio For Strings in sound, and The fucking Launch in ‘melody’, of all damned things. To complete the idiocy of trance clichés, he brings in stuttery supersaws alongside the distorted synth once the beat returns. What is this, epic trance meets hardstyle? Christ... Either this is meant to be a ‘tribute’ to the Glory Years of epic trance that totally missed the mark, or a very, very sick joke.

I honestly don’t know how anyone can take Armin seriously after this. At The Beach showed some promise, but In The Club destroys it in an instant with its tiresome re-hashing. In Armin’s mind, 1999 is still going strong, and I suppose with the continuous influx of new kids to the scene, he’ll be able to live off of that vibe for a long while still. He’s apparently made his bed with the Glory Years, and you can either join in with his never-ending ride or go elsewhere. Of course, once you’ve moved past that introductory stage A State Of Trance seems custom made for, you usually will.

Written by Sykonee for TranceCritic.com, 2006. All rights reserved.

Armin van Buuren - A State Of Trance 2004 (2015 Update)

Ultra Records: 2004

(Click here to read my early rambly, rubbish writings.)

Hello, Armin, my old friend. Seems I must talk about you again. Not that I haven't mentioned you when discussing so many things trance - the highs, the lows, and the epic, uplifting in-betweens. Long ago though, I decided it wasn't worth my effort to “get” your music, as the Armin fanclub is wont to say. I suspected it even this far back, when you technically could do no wrong. You were still the scrappy upstart to the euro trance throne, the almighty Tiësto still King and Tyrant, with Corsten remaining the Duke of Dutchiness. Everyone likes an underdog, a talent on the rise, a hustler willing to make his vision come into being. The vision is to be Overlord of all things trancetastic, right?

Unfortunately, Armin's time at the top only eroded a once vibrant scene. It wasn’t entirely his fault, as all scenes must recede, tastes and trends waning as new ones emerge and take the spotlight. Trance though, in its desperation to remain the most popular gateway genre (and thus the most profitable!), hilariously jumped on many a bandwagon with ever increasing cringe-worthy results; Armin was no less guilty a shepherd during this time. There's been a minor return to trance's older strengths, but the scene's had to accept its losses in doing so, becoming purist and niche. That's great if you're willing to play for humble audiences and cultivate a savvy following, but Armin's brand has grown too bloated to take that much of a step back.

I'm astounded his long-suffering fans keep holding out hope he'll return to the sort of sound he played back on this DJ mix. Instead, he dangles them along, throwing an occasional vintage cut their way like so much scrap meat, continuously proclaiming he’s still playing trance, but constantly barraging them with trite dance pop and obnoxious stadium house in his efforts to reach a broad EDM audience. With Solarstone providing the full course meal these days, I must wonder why they settle for substandard product? Armin doesn’t deserve that much unrequited loyalty; no musician does.

Still, listening back to A State Of Trance 2004, it’s understandable how that devotion blossomed. There’s a lot of quality trance on here, much of it holding up remarkably well a decade on. A few problems do persist - Future Funland and Satellite remain pants, Sahara’s still corny, and the end of CD2 hasn’t a clue of where it’s going – but beat for pound, I enjoyed this more than I did before. Heck, some tunes, like Super 8’s Alba and Mono’s Rise, I’d totally forgotten about, and found myself vibing off them like they were fresh, new cuts.

Then again, maybe I'm biased to this era of trance than anything recent, these tunes closer in spirit to the Oakenfold Years than whatever it is we get these days. Yes, this is me saying the Oakenfold Years had some merit – even Armin believed so in his liner notes. Shame he all but ignores that now.

BT - R & R (Rare & Remixed)

Nettwerk: 2001

I'm far from a BT mark, but I cannot deny a double-disc collection of rare and remixed music from Mr. Transeau's back catalogue is a tasty offer. Some of his best music never made it to his albums proper, while other producers have given tracks brilliant rubs, outclassing the originals. Even better, this release came out shortly after Movement In Still Life, before all sorts of bullwark and unsense affected ol' Brian's music making ability. In plucking tunes from his earliest, obscure collaborations with Deep Dish and John Selway to the very (then) current cuts of his discography, R & R (Rare & Remixed) almost serves as an alternative greatest hits package. Oh, what the Hell, I declare this better than any kind of “Best Of BT” that could have surfaced covering the same ten years of his musical life, including 10 Years In The Life.

For one thing, CD2 has nearly every great nu-skool breaks tune Mr. Transeau ever had a hand in. Fibonacci Sequence is here! Hip-Hop Phenomenon is here! Smartbomb is here, and the kick-ass Plump DJs remix at that (best damn cut off WipEout: Fusion)! Um, that's about it, at least the ones I rate as his most essential breakbeat efforts – guess the Hybrid Remix of Godspeed is fine too, if you skew more the progressive trance way for your breaks fix. Point is, you won't find these on his albums proper, at least no official, non-special edition version in the Americas. And yet, here they all are on R & R, all lined up and decently mixed together. I told you this collection is mint!

Oh, you don't like BT Breaks. Fair enough, and as there's two discs worth of music here, there's heavier emphasis on his various takes on progressive house and trance anyway. Of course all the agreed-upon classics of his career make it on: Flaming June, Blue Skies, Dreaming, Anomaly, Remember, Sunblind. I personally don't rate all of these as highly as others, but damn if the versions on here don't kick some serious butt. Example: Tori Amos, bless her talented heart, has a tendency to grate after too much Blue Skies; that acid line in Mr. van Dyk's remix, tho'! And hey, it's a good version of Anomaly here, one that focuses more on acid than Jan Johnston's vocals. Hell, even Timo Maas treats Mr. Transeau's (questionable) singing in Never Gonna Come Back Down with some degree of class (re: shuffles them mostly out of the way early). Ooh, and we can't forget the Sasha collaborations either, Heart Of Imagination and the remix of Seal's It's Alive; no 2 Phat Cunts, unfortunately.

Probably the best surprise of R & R lies at the end of CD1 though, where two super-early, one-off BT collaborations lurk. Yes, I'm referring to those aforementioned Deep Dish and Selway singles, where you're treated to some bumpin' garage business. Never would you have expected to hear that on a BT CD, I wager.

Solarstone - Electronic Architecture 3

Black Hole Recordings: 2014

Ain’t no way epic, uplifting, melodic, cheesepuff trance could make a comeback, all the former heroes of the sound chasing the lucrative festival market and the awful music that comes with it, loyal fanbase be damned. Anjunabeats? Forget it. Ferry Corsten? Not really. Armin? Pft, he was never that good anyway. And yet, one name did hold out, quietly going about his business without much fanfare, steadily building a respectable reputation as one of the few, classy purveyors of a sound that defined a generation of clubbers at the turn of the millennium.

Who'd have thought the Solarcoaster guy would be the one, eh? Richard Mowatt wasn't even that busy a chap during the '00s, at least compared to your usual tastemaker within the trance scene. An album or two, a DJ mix CD here and there, but nothing to suggest he'd become the curator of a style having long thought tired and stale. Even the first Electronic Architecture, released around the same time as his album Rain Stars Eternal, didn't get that much notice as the old standard bearers still churned out their bilge. Slowly and surely though, old school fans of melodic trance noticed Solarstone was doing something different with his mixes, something respectable and, dare they say, credible in an age where trance is routinely mocked. This and his Pure Trance series have gone on as reliable mixes for those who still yearn for the early 2000s, providing fresh sounding tunes with a distinctly vintage feel.

Naturally, I was suspicious of such praise, but after the surprising turn with In Trance We Trust 020, maybe Electronic Architecture deserved a listen-hear too. I may not have much fondness for the ultra, epic, melodic, fluffball brand of trance Solarstone occasionally dabbles in, but his Balearic and chill moments are usually good. And with three CDs to work with, I felt the odds were in my favour.

Well, two out of three ain’t bad. CD2 has all the trance I just can’t care much about, and is bursting with far too many got’dang full-stop breakdowns, ruining any momentum it has going. CD1, on the other hand, goes proper Balearic for a good while, with plenty groovy prog rhythms and floating vibes throughout before ramping the energy up for a strong finish. It’s progressive trance that plays to Solarstone’s strengths without overindulging in them. Okay, technically so was the uplifting stuff on CD2, but CD1’s style more class, yo’.

Now, CD3, that was a surprise. Filled with downtempo reinterpretations of tracks off CDs 1 and 2, I wasn’t expecting much. Some pleasant ambient pad work and a trip-hop beat would have sufficed, and the first few tracks provided as such. Then things get gnarly (Razorbeam), spacey (Red Orbit), and even gloriously wide-screened (Metal Jaws). While not quite at par with Ultimae’s best (obviously), there’s some seriously epic sounding chill-out on display in this disc, almost worth the price of Electronic Architecture 3 alone. An ace first disc doesn’t hurt either.

Various - Slinky Presents: Superclub DJ's - John Kelly

Slinky Music: 2001

Just so we’re clear, this isn’t DJ John Kelley, the Moontribe member rinsing out at West American desert raves. No no, this is DJ John Kelly. It’s all in the pronunciation, see, that slight inflection that differentiates UK dialects and Californian slang. Go on, say it aloud. What, you still can't tell the difference? Whatever, it took nearly two bloody years to finally made that callback gag, and ain't no way I'm letting it go to waste with this one opportunity. This is what's called humor, people!

Also humorous is the notion of the Slinky brand, truly a testament to the bloated scene that was British superclubs at the turn of the century. It's understandable that institutions like Gatecrasher, Renaissance, and Cream would have enough market clout to promote their own DJ sponsored CDs, t-shirts, fanzines, and other paraphernalia. Slinky though? Was there really so much money floating about that any club night pulling a few thousand punters could have global reach? Even way off on these shores of the far West, you'd find Slinky CDs clogging up shelf space, always sitting there, stupid expensive from import fees, trying to pass itself as on par with the big boys of the era. Little on those mixes looked appealing though, whatever hits of the day the same ol' anthems rinsed out on other prestigious mixes. God, even calling Gatecrasher 'prestigious' feels dirty, but compared to Slinky, it seems apt.

Fortunately (?), after the megaclub scene crashed, so did Slinky as a super promotion, their label folding and several of their releases easily found in clear-out bins for a soft fiver. Even then their CDs didn't look worth the investment, but seeing a double-disc from DJ John Kelley was enough enticement for a purchase. Wait, when did he ever play superclubs in the UK? Oh, wait, this is DJ John Kelly. Who’s he now?

Just kidding. Mr. Kelly paid his dues on the British DJ circuit throughout the '90s, often rubbing shoulders with all the big names and famous jocks while flooding the market with mixtapes. He definitely deserved a spot at a superclub, though it seems after Slinky's brand collapsed, so did ol' John's output, Lord Discogs finding little trace of his material these past ten years. So he either retired, or has gone deep underground. I'd do a search but chances are I'd come across his American doppelganger instead.

Oh, this 2CD mix? Eh, there's not much worth getting detailed about. CD1 is hard dance, at that weird crossroad point where NRG had faded but hardstyle hadn't quite taken off yet, and very little flow between tracks throughout the bosh. Utterly skippable, though hearing Picotto's Komodo again was nice. CD2 goes proggier, and builds well for a good while before getting stupid with novelty tracks, though hearing Minimalistix' Struggle For Pleasure again was nice. Mr. Kelly sounds more comfortable mixing these tracks, but most of his chosen tunes are forgettable. Yes, even that useless Tiësto remix of Innocente.

Paul van Dyk - Seven Ways

MFS/Mute: 1996/1998

I could never understand the praise heaped on Paul van Dyk's second LP. “Really?” my brain puzzled as I listened to the album proper. “This is considered one of trance's all-time greatest efforts?” It’s decent enough, if rather simple for 1996, but my gold standard for the era is, was, and always will be whatever Oliver Lieb was kicking out at the time. And Seven Ways is no Rendezvous In Outer Space.

I can’t even give it the pass I normally allow cheesier hard German trance of those years, the production much too slick and polished for that. There are charming moments for sure, like the old-school vibes of I Like It, the unabashed bliss-out of Forbidden Fruit, the snarling acid work of Beautiful Place, the floating space-trance of I Can’t Feel It, and Words tickling all my vintage German trance pleasure centres. The whole album is mostly continuously mixed, a nice flow maintained between energetic bangers and melodic groovers. Paul and his helping hands in the studio (MFS head Mark Reeder, Wolfgang Ragwitz, Johnny Klimek) put together a decent enough product here – nothing sounds cheap or lame but I dunno’. For something considered one of the best albums of ‘90s trance, I figured Seven Ways would be more definitive of the genre. Then again, van Dyk’s style has been copied and expanded upon so much over the years, his second LP can’t help but come off sounding rather ordinary in comparison. Such has long been his handicap anyway.

Eh? The second disc? Oh, how good could that be? It’s just remixes and B-sides for collectors, ain’it? Yeah, that killer BT mix of Forbidden Fruit lurks among the ten tracks, but do I really need to hear three alternate versions of Words? Oh fine, I’ll spring for the double-discer set – it’s about the same price as the single CD version anyway.

And... oh. Oh! Oh my...! CD2 is awesome! Production that’s beefier. Ample wicked acid. Arrangements working the progressive trance template to perfection. Right out the gate, you get Seven Ways (Star Wars), a mix that sounds so much fuller than the CD1 version of the titular cut. Why the Hell didn’t Paul use this one there? Following that is Today (Trance-Ambient Mix), a lovely bit of Balearic business, and after that Words (For Love), jettisoning the older-leaning sounds of the original in favour of something far more cutting edge for the time. Even the hard, bangin’ Curbed Headcase Mix of Words doesn’t sound out of place. Then there’s two killer versions of Beautiful Place, an additional tech-trance stormer of Forbidden Fruit, and even a bit of that pseudo-genre epic house going on with eleven minute Sundae 6 A.M..

I get it now. CD1 of Seven Ways was van Dyk of old, closing a chapter of his career. CD2 of Seven Ways is the van Dyk everyone loves and pines for a return to. Though futile at this late stage, let me throw my voice in with that choir.

ACE TRACKS: March 2015

Hey, it’s April 1st, which means I have to do a prank or some shit like that. Okay, let’s see…. Um.. ah, I got it. I promise to review ALL the Armin van Buuren albums! Hahaha! Oh, that’s rich. What, too obvious? Okay, how about this one. I’ll not review all the AvB albums! Ah, hahaaha, hoho hee! That’s not a prank either? Well, what do you want, a close-up sneak peak to Ishkur’s Guide To Electronic Music 3.0? How about a fresh playlist of ACE TRACKS from the past month instead?


Full track list here.

MISSING ALBUMS:
The Beatles - Revolver
Bandulu - Redemption
Various - In Trance We Trust 006: DJ Cor Fijneman

Percentage Of Hip-Hop: 11%
Percentage Of Rock: 12% (note: not all the included rock bands perform actual rock here)
Most “WTF?” Track: I honestly can’t think of one with this bundle. Maybe some of the ‘cracker trance towards the end. Like, how could I ever enjoy such corn! If we’re going that route though, any Bryan Adams?

Quiz: what do Bandulu and The Beatles have in common? They’re both British! Oh, and neither are officially on Spotify, though you can find plenty of cover bands doing Beatles classics. No such luck with Bandulu, sadly.

This one came together remarkably well, which was nice considering the last few playlists were messier than I’d have liked. Even the dalliances into rock don’t sound forced (yes, even Bryan Adams). Also, as with ACE TRACKS: December 2013, I’ve lumped all the In Trance We Trust material at the end, so if you need your eurotrance fix, you’ve a jolly good lot of it at the end. Also, it seemed appropriate kicking that segment off with Faithless’ Insomnia, since they were partially responsible for clubby anthems of that sort gaining popularity.

Various - In Trance We Trust 020: Mike Saint-Jules & Sneijder (CDs 2 & 3)

In Trance We Trust: 2014

So Menno de Jong's mix for this 3CD mega-event Twentieth edition volume of In Trance We Trust turned out better than I expected. I suspect two reasons for that. First, Menno's unabashed enjoyment of the vintage euro-trance stylee came through in his mix, infecting me with his enthusiasm in the process – too often sets like these come off perfunctory hits rinse-outs, but not so much this one. Second, as this is an anniversary release, of course one of these discs would go the throwback route, saving the other two for contemporary takes on trance. I may as well enjoy the CD that shares some attributes of my early rave days, even if I did my darndest to avoid it back then. After all, whatever Mike Saint-Jules and Sneijder have in store will obviously be inferior.

Oh, hi Sagat, what brings you to this review? Wait, what are you-

Sagat: Tiger Genocide!


*several hours later* Oh man, did I ever get some sense knocked into me. A real slap-shocker, just like listening to these remaining two CDs.

I’ll be damned, but both discs mostly pick up right where Mr. De Jong left off. Mind, Saint-Jules’ set does plod for much of its first half, the sort of thunking anthem prog that made some previous In Trance We Trust volumes such a chore to get through. Things get especially dire midway with a pair of tunes that sound like they’re hitching onto recent Dutch house nonsense (of course Richard Durand would be one of the producers). It was all that I feared from these sets.

Then, in an instant, MSJ’s done with it, starts unloading his own brand of hard trance bangers, and holy geez, these are just as much fun as Menno’s offerings. Why are these fun? Logic says I’m supposed to hate these, but damn if I don’t get the feels for these anthems. They’re just so unapologetic, earnest, and don’t give a fuck what those other scenesters think. It doesn’t hurt ol’ Mike keeps his mixes quick, never letting tunes dawdle for longer than they need to – even the breakdowns have something keeping the momentum, serving as lulls rather than full-stop dithering tedium. It’s euro-trance that utilizes its clichés with efficiency, and is all the better for it.

Meanwhile, this Sneijder fella’, hot damn, he’s just relentless with the energy. Even with breakdowns and supersaws and the whole lot, I’m completely on board his set from start to finish. It’s the beats, mang, relentlessly vicious rhythms that make all the requisite euro-trance downtime bearable (I imagine even with a gun to their head, euro-trance DJs would sooner take the bullet in their brain than play a track without a breakdown).

I still wouldn’t recommend In Trance We Trust 020 to anyone uninterested in this scene, but then it’s not trying to win such folk over anyway. These guys are done with appealing to tourists, perfectly content catering to those who never stopped trusting in trance. D’aaww, so sappy. PLUR hugs!

Various - In Trance We Trust 009: DJ Mark Norman

In Trance We Trust: 2004

The boys that built Black Hole Recordings and all their various offshoots were growing up, starting their first tentative steps as successful stars outside the safe embrace of familiar family. Erm, only one was successful, but then Mr. Verwest’s always been a driven individual, capable of taking root anywhere he so chose. Not so much the others though, but as the likes of Fijneman and Helsloot had drifted from the In Trance We Trust print, it was time for a new generation to take up the mantle (though after veteran Ton T.B. gets his kick at the can, ‘natch). Fresh blood, rising stars, innovative outlo- AHAHAHA! Oh, that last one’s rich. All the latest crop of producers did was recycle the old tricks and put a fresh coat of paint on it, but hey, it’s not like kids discovering trance for the first time knew any better.

Whatever. I have to talk about Mark Norman, one of these supposed new stars of the future. He – or rather still they (Mark de Jong left the duo a few years back) had already released a few singles on the short-lived label Silver Premium, finding a new home with Magik Muzik when that one folded, and have remained within the Black Hole Recordings family to this day. Norman Lenden only releases sporadic singles now, but for a short while in the mid-‘00s, the Mark Norman brand was a hot product emerging in euro-trance’s re-shuffling of movers and shakers, a force for the harder side of the scene that wouldn't follow turncoat trends like hardstyle or electro house. And then he did when festival paydays became the norm. So it goes.

In Trance We Trust 009’s another mix that surprised me, and not just because I got the proper CD this time. I’m already familiar with Mark Norman’s style of music from his (their) productions, and given the annoyingly repetitive era of eurotrance this was released, was expecting something similar to Helsloot’s last mix or even Phynn’s set for ITWT011 - some good tunes, but mostly tedium and another fuckton of breakdowns.

And while that’s kinda’ holds true for ITWT009, there’s far more consistent energy in Mark Norman’s chosen weapons of rinse-out. This set goes for the hard anthemage from the opening, and doesn’t let the pedal off until the laser leaves the aluminum. Okay, I can vibe to this, absolutely. Even the breakdowns seldom kill the set’s momentum, and the only outright cheese moment is the obligatory Tiësto promotion, Love Comes Again. Gotta’ pay respects to the label’s Godfather.

Today’s guest review spot was supposed to be Sakura, but she’s late as usual. Mm, who else hasn’t had reviewed one of these yet? Hey, Birdie, what do you think of Mark Norman’s In Trance We Trust mix?

Birdie: Prefer some UK garage ‘n’ grime m’self, mate.






Wait, didn’t you die before either of- *oof!*


Sakura: Sorry, sorry I’m late! I thought I saw Ryu on the way, and…

Various - In Trance We Trust 006: DJ Cor Fijneman

In Trance We Trust: 2001

Last round, I lamented ending up with Cor Fijneman’s first mix for In Trance We Trust, as his immediate follow-up looked more interesting of the two. Well fret not, 2013 Sykonee (oh God, I’m doing this…), because your future self will enjoy In Trance We Trust 006 after all. Oh, and while I’m conversing with Near-Past Me, you ought to get on that Silent Season label’s CDs before it’s too late. Trust me.

ITWT005 caught me off guard by high the average BPM was, so thoroughly subjected to trance’s gradual slowing throughout the ‘00s as I was. However, the Blackhole sublabel was initially designed as an outlet for the harder, clubbier side of the genre, so I shouldn’t have been. Yet, diving into ITWT006, fully expecting a brisk tempo from the outset, I’m still struck dumb by how fast these tunes are. They’re not the hard-hard form of trance either (freeform?), mostly hanging around melodic side of things the Dutch jocks adored.

And what’s this? Tunes with energy and drive. Synths flying in from space. Hooks that aren’t sap. Bangin’ 4am tech-trance business. Freakin’ old school acid trance! I know the release date on this claims 2001, but ol’ Cor’s mix sure feels like a ‘90s one. It’s not like he’s included a pile of older producers and tracks in here either. Yeah, Mr. Lieb get’s repped, and Airwave had a solid discography behind him by that point. Many more on here were just breaking out though, and would go on to have lengthy, respectable careers. Marco V’s here! Orkidea’s here (providing a mint remix to Tiësto’s Flight 643)! Darren Tate’s here (as Citizen Caned)! Of course Mr. Fijneman’s here too, bringing in a Geert Huinink assist for a surprisingly solid tech-trance outing in 10 PM. Unfortunately, Geert Huinink is also in at his Geertiest on the track Escalator from Headstrong. Too… much… Dutch…

While most of these trance tunes tickle me right, ol’ Cor’s mixing still isn’t much to get fussed about. That said, his set construction’s mostly sound, melodic stuff dealt with early, and then segueing into pounding tech-trance for a strong finish. Oh, except for one utterly daft moment near the end with cheese-mongers Dance Nation’s Sunshine (with Mr. Fijneman on the rub of course), hopelessly misplaced in- ah, forget it. The CD’s been good, and you’ve earned this silly moment, Cor. Nu-italo lives!

Anyone new to trance will figure In Trance We Trust 006 as rather old-fashioned these days. We better get a Street Fighter who’s about as old-fashioned as they come, T. Hawk. This guy’s so old-fashioned, it’s like he’s an old-timey stereotype!

T. Hawk: Hn. I’ll ignore that. The music does little for me. Some okay rhythm, not much else. That’s all I have to say about this.






Nothing at all? How about some of these titles, like Spirit In The Sky?

T. Hawk: …






Mysteries Of Life?

T. Hawk: …






The Journey? Nothing?

T. Hawk: …






Implacable.

T. Hawk: Yes.

L.S.G. - Rendezvous In Outer Space (2015 Update)

Superstition: 1995

(Click here to read my original TranceCritic review.)

A do-over for the L.S.G. debut album? Eh, I don't think that's necessary. Technically, that review I wrote for TranceCritic a decade ago (!!) was my second go at Rendezvous In Outer Space, the first a blurb on Lord Discogs. Yeah, I was carrying a torch for the CD back in the day, hoping to get all the young trance fans hype to some proper, authentic, genuine, indisputable, legitimate, um, authoritative, uh... twenty-four carat...? Are you messing with me, Online Thesaurus?

Point being, I felt like a man on a mission in ye’ olde year of 2004, a strident, determined soul set upon the harsh environment of internet web forums filled with ‘noobs’. They were gonna’ learn some history, gosh darned it, understand that trance did not, in fact, begin with Tiësto’s In Search Of Sunrise or Armin’s A State Of Trance. Oliver Lieb is the don of this scene, sons and daughters, the Godfather, the King Kahuna, the Khan, the Czar, the Duke and Duchess, the potentate, the oligarch, the overlord, the, um, rex, uh... the ‘crowned head’? Dammit, Online Thesaurus, you suck sometimes, you really do.

Obviously, I was a fool in turning the L.S.G. discography into weapons for a trance jihad, even subtly hijacking a young, hopeful trance website for my own nefarious plans. I shouldn’t be forcing my interests and opinions down the ears, eyes, and throats of fresh fans of a genre because I feel their current heroes are pale imitations of the real deal. See, there I go again - believing my taste superior than theirs because I have better albums in my possession (you know it’s true!). I cannot deny it though: Rendezvous In Outer Space should be mandatory listening for anyone who fancies themselves a fan of the genre. Lieb helped lay down so much of the groundwork future producers would emulate, why deny the roots of a form of music one purports to love? I mean, any metal fan worth his rock-salt dutifully digests the works of Black Sabbath – L.S.G. deserves the same respect, yo’.

Okay, enough of that torch. For one thing, there’s nothing else to prove with this argument. Those who’ve stuck with trance in the ten years since eventually came around to ol’ Oliver’s music regardless. It’s kinda’ hard not to look to the past when the present kept turning to such crap, right? More than that though, I no longer see music as tools for crusades, quite content in enjoying it for my own reasons and sharing my thoughts with those who are willing to hear or read. Oh yeah, I’m totally turning into that old guy sitting on the park bench with Sennheiser headphones feeding the raving raccoons. What makes Rendezvous In Outer Space so peerless, they ask, and I tell them, I tell them I says, “Hear how Lieb uses percussion for maximum effect with minimal fuss? By g’ar, that’s some mighty fine trance beat craftsmanship there, the likes you don’t see any more, b’gosh.”

Solar Fields - Random Friday

Ultimae Records: 2012

Probably one of the most anticipated albums on Ultimae, this. Of course, followers of the label eagerly await each release, but Solar Fields' Random Friday had a little extra going for it. After Mr. Birgersson wooed many a forlorn progressive trance fan into Ultimae’s fold via his 2007 album EarthShine, they wondered whether he'd ever offer more in such an uptempo style. It didn’t seem likely though, the Solar Fields discography almost exclusively on the down beat save occasional one-offs on compilations and LPs. And yet, having explored so many different movements, altered states, origins, and meeted skies (?) in the half-decade following EarthShine, ol’ Magnus had to feel some itch in trying his hand at progressive trance again. Yes, another definitive statement for his career would do, that the first’s success wasn’t a one-off fluke, all the while granting the wishes of those hard-earned trance fans drifting from Ultimae after a string of all-too droney ambient CDs. Or he’d been sitting on some live material for a while that had no place in his other albums.

Whatever the impetus for Random Friday was, its announcement had fans salivating for the results. I mean, the concept sells itself: all the epic, widescreen lush sounds of Ultimae, impossibly uplifting emotional Solar Fields song craft, and now at a pace benefit of peak-time rinse out action. 'crackers still following the tired sounds of Armada and Enhanced could remain in their redundant corners of the trance scene at large; here was Solar Fields – almost exclusively not a trance guy, mind you! - bringing the goods like few others. Nope, no bog-standard prog-psy business on Random Friday, nosiree. This is the highest of the highs, the, um, best of what's left. The, uh, bomb-diggity? Damn it, why can't I get as excited for this album as others? It's all AstroPilot's fault, isn't it.

This is a good collection of tunes, no doubt, but that annoying Expectation Hydra once again rears its distracting heads – no matter how many times I cut them off, they keep slithering back, convincing me of what I wanted this album to sound like instead. Tracks like Cobalt 2.5, Daydreaming, and In Motion have great, groovy, atmospheric builds throughout, but they don’t lead to much of anything in doing so – it’s frustrating in the same way Progression was, a group you’ve probably already forgotten about again. Those are the openers though, the lead-in tracks (for half the LP!) before we get ourselves some proper melodic business for the back-end. This is also where Solar Fields indulges himself beyond usual prog-trance rhythms. Two tracks, Swoosh and Perception, are great, though I suspect it’s my Underworld radar convincing me so (gotta’ love that proggy cool groove). The other two, Landing Party and Lift Off, opt for tribal rhythm action (ooh, quadruples), which I’ve seldom liked, but d’em melodies doe’!

Although I’m not terribly enthused about Random Friday, that shouldn’t deter you if you’re looking for a little extra progressive trance in your diet.

Various - Psychotrance 2001: D:Fuse

Moonshine Music: 2000

The Psychotrance series was Moonshine’s preeminent trance DJ mix series - except when it wasn’t, which was most of the time. Okay, back up… Psychotrance was Moonshine’s only trance DJ mix series – except when it wasn’t, which was for most of its ‘90s run. Let me try again… Psychotrance was Moonshine’s first trance DJ mix series, indeed one of the label’s earliest releases. Oddly, they had The Shamen MC, Mr. C, handle the decks for their first edition, soon followed up by Darren Emerson, Slam, Eric Powell and Daz Saund. Wait, who are the last two? Also, despite the name, the series had more emphasis on techno, acid, and even house. Five volumes is a tidy run for a DJ mix series, but it never took off in any significant way. After Daz Saund’s 1997 edition, it seemed destined for Moonshine back catalogue obscurity when the label started shifting focus to hip, fresh genres like breaks, d’n’b, and funky house.

But wait, cried the clubbing masses, we're nearing the turn of the century, and trance is now super popular! Maybe not quite as commercially viable in America as in Europe, but the likes of Oakenfold, Paul van Dyk, Sasha, and Diggers are as close to house-hold names as any DJ could get in those years. Moonshine had to capitalize on the growing interest, and what better way to do so than by dusting off the derelict Psychotrance series? They even found an up-and-coming jock from the American South rinsing out progressive trance in a style similar to the big European names, one Dustin Fusilier, more commonly known as D:Fuse (aka: the cowboy hatted one). Slap the always cool “2000” tag on the title, and you've relaunched a sure-fire success! Shame Psychotrance 2000 kinda' sucked balls.

Actually, I can't recall if it was that bad, but I do recall my first impression of it being an overwhelming roll of the eyes for yet another anthem-bilge bandwagon hop. Looking at that track list now, I'm drawing mostly blanks on the tunes D:Fuse used, so maybe my memory's skewed for some stupid reason. Oh, right, I remember now, it's because I have the much superior follow-up, Psycotrance 2001, in my possession. This one had nearly everything I looked for in my trance at the time (and still do!): proggy, spacey, groovey, Oliver Lieby, Fade Recordsy. D:Fuse hit the perfect sweet spot between progressive trance of before, and dark prog of the near future. There’s a nice mix of classy familiar tunes (L.S.G.’s I’m Not Existing (O. Lieb Main Mix), Schiller’s Ruhe (Humate Mix), Steve Porter’s Mindless), overlooked gems (Memnon’s Search And Rescue, Carrisa Mondavi’s Solid Ground (Fade Vocal Mix)), and neglected rubs of well-rinsed tunes (Wookie Slut’s mix of Traveller & In Motion’s Believe).

I won’t deny seasoned prog disciples will find little unique about D:Fuse’s mix, but it’s a solid collection of tunes for a single disc set. Definitely worth a pick-up should you find it resting in the used shops.