ACE TRACKS: August 2013

Huh. Spotify’s gone a little screwy after downloading one of their updates. Despite registering ~14,400 songs, my Local Files no longer show. Meh, serves me right for figuring a newer version of a Desktop app would somehow be better. There’ve been a few minor features that disappeared lately, though nothing as inconveniencing as this. I suppose it doesn’t make too much difference since most y’all couldn’t hear the missing tracks anyway. For a short Playlist such as AUGUST 2013’s, however, even having those songs in a track list would help some. Guess I’ll add them in whenever Spotify sorts their shit out.


Full track list here.

MISSING ALBUMS:
Various - High Karate
DJ John Kelley - High Desert Soundsystem
DJ John Kelley - High Desert Soundsystem 2 Various - Dirty Vegas: Homelands 2002 Preview
Various - Helsinki Mix Sessions: Jori Hulkkonen
William Orbit - Hello Waveforms
Various - Heroes! Rewind!!

Percentage Of Hip-Hop: 0%
Percentage Of Rock: 0%
Most “WTF?” Track: Daft Punk - Alive (how’d the end come so soon!?)

Vacation time already resulted in a lean month for reviews, but with half the albums covered not even available on Spotify makes for one very, very short Playlist. Remarkably, almost everything that made it is house music, and a rather specific sort at that. It’s like Frankie Knuckles, Daft Punk, and Hercules & Love Affair are kindred spirits in alphabetical coincidences. Even the tougher tech-trance from L.S.G., Trancesetters, and Jan Driver don’t sound out of place.

What obviously will though is that Hits Unlimited CD from 2 Unlimited. It seems Spotify finally has a version of the group’s greatest hits package available, so I’ve lumped it all at the end of the Playlist like the fanboy I am. There were also current remixes on it too, from the likes of Steve Aoki, Big Dawg, and Joachim Garraud. Naturally, I jettisoned them to the bin. Why make you suffer more than necessary?

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 020: Menno de Jong (CD1)

In Trance We Trust: 2014

The folks at Black Hole Recordings had to realize the In Trance We Trust brand was in desperate need of a shake-up. The genre its namesake was based upon had dwindled in clubber interest and market share. Much of the old guard moved onto more lucrative ventures. New singles continuously failed at enticing a new generation into its scene. All that remained were staunch die-hards, those who truly did trust in trance regardless of popularity. It isn’t as massive a group as those found at massive festivals, but at least they were a dedicated bunch, who'd stick with you through the good times and the bad, provided you didn't deviate from what they felt was a purity of their preferred music. What was the label to do then? Try riding the trendy bandwagons in the hopes of remaining relevant, or start catering specifically to a guaranteed, though smaller, following? Speaking of Menno de Jong's career...!

Okay, ol’ Menno hasn’t taken quite the same path, mostly resisting throwing his lot in with noisy electro anthems and dubstep permutations like many of his brethren did. For a chap who seemed primed for a larger career though, he floundered a bit at the turn of this decade, soon after closing up his Intuition Recordings print. Aw, I actually kinda’ liked that label, his Intuition Sessions mix one of the few CDs that got me tentatively giving trance another chance. While it’s no surprise he’d end up at one of the mega-labels, it’s interesting that he’s releasing singles and now offering a set on In Trance We Trust. Their DJ mixes have mostly gone to up-and-comers and relative unknowns for over a decade now, and surely Mr. de Jong has enough scene clout that he need not slum it with sub-labels.

Then again, hitting the big Two-Oh is something to celebrate for any series, so why not have a prominent name at the helm. And as ol’ Menno’s been one of the genre’s resolute ‘old-school’ supporters, it makes good sense having him provide a throwback euro-trance set. There are breakdowns, girly vocals, and oh God is there supersaws. None of these have any chance of being a hit in this day of EDM, and despite production chops at the bleeding edge of modernity, are all recycling the same standard formulae from euro-trance of old.

Yet, I’m strangely fine with this, even enjoying myself most of the time. The energy is relentless, especially in the latter half when tunes absolutely tear (yeah, that’s John Askew for ya’). Menno even provides a rare vocal tune I unashamedly like (Creatures Of The Night), proving the ol’ Law Of Averages I guess. No matter how overwrought, cliché, or sappy this set goes, MdJ kept pulling me back in, anxious to hear what sort of anthem he’d drop next. It’s like he’s paying homage to that scene’s roots (the fun and the wack), and screw whatever recent developments have gone down. Those are sentiments I can respect.

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.

Various - Psychotrance 2002: DJ Brian

Moonshine Music: 2001

Hold a sec'…! Didn’t the Psychotrance series feature a different DJ with each iteration? What was D:Fuse doing getting two in a row then? Did Moonshine have plans for him turning it into his own annual thing? No, that couldn’t have been so – normally DJs had their own series on the label. Like that DJ Brian fella’, he had Hardesertrance to himself, so I’m sure if D:Fuse was to be the designated ‘progressive trance guy’ at Moonshine, they’d have done the same for him. Probably just a coincidence of circumstance then; either that, or even D:Fuse wasn’t pleased with Psychotrance 2000, and wanted a do-over for Psychotrance 2001. Isn’t suppositional speculation fun?

Speaking of that DJ Brian fella’, he got to do Psychotrance 2002, as bizarre a choice for the series as any of the non-trance DJs from the ‘90s were. Wasn’t he known to the Moonshine audience as the 'psy trance guy'? Ignore the fact his mixes for the label only had a tangential relationship with that scene - when folks play any sort of trance in the desert, they automatically assume psy. I mean, what other trance makes sense in hot climes or under starry, dry nights? If Psychotrance was to be relaunched as Moonshine's answer to Global Underground, Cream, and (*snicker*) Topaz’s Nokturnal Mix Sessions, going the psy route at a time when the genre was deep in remission wasn't going to do the series any favors. Especially if rinsed out by a jock who, let's be honest, never got much fame beyond the Moontribe posse (respect!).

That DJ Brian fella' though, he knew how to treat Pscyhotrance proper-like, by taking it back to its roots and offering up a set that is almost entirely techno. Yep, in a turn of events that shouldn't have surprised anyone who'd picked up Hardesertrance 3 (*cough*), Mr. Golub brings us a CD full of bangin', tribal business. Some tracks have elements of goa, such as squelchy acid in Spacefrog and Timelord’s rub of Resistance D.’s Feel High, or floaty ethnic chants in Ritual from Seed (that DJ Brian fella’) vs Teapot (a DJ Treavor fella’). Other tracks get deeper into tech-trance’s realm, at least the older school of the sound that Oliver Lieb was producing under multiple aliases (including Red Star as Ivan in this mix). And by the end of his set, ol’ Brian even goes proper-proper old school trance, even if the tracks are (were) current offerings. Always cool hearing Nuclear Ramjet’s Deep Blue again.

So Psychotrance 2002 has plenty of spacey trance vibes and pummeling techno action, and despite the tag for its entry at Lord Discogs, is definitely not a psy trance collection. Wouldn’t be the first time such an erroneous mistake’s been made there. You’d think a Contribtors’ list of eight people would have caught that. Hey, there’s my name there! I don’t recall doing anything for this CD. I wonder what I add- Oh. Oh dear…! *dies from embarrassment*

Setrise & Kay Wilder - Poetry Clash (2014 Update)

SPX Digital: 2010

(Click here to read my original TranceCritic review)

Oh come on! I know I said in my last 20xx Update that I should treat these posts as an opportunity to improve upon my past writing. That, now with a concise format and dedicated self-restriction, one can read better reviews that don't endlessly ramble on. What I hadn't counted on was dealing with this one as an early attempt. Well, okay, I did know, in that my short queue doesn't change that much, but you aren't all seriously expecting me to write Poetry Clash over? I barely got over four-hundred words on the original, and ain't no way I can manage it again, even with wasting a good hundred with my current griping. The original was written when I was already finding success with brevity anyway, so there's no point in me redoing it. Besides, does anyone care about the exploits of Setrise and Kay Wilder four years on? Yeah, I thought not.

That all ranted, I was curious to see what SPX Digital had been up to. They got their ball rolling towards the tail-end of TranceCritic's run, which had me feeling a little guilty over the promos they kept sending without any response. Not that the website had much impact in the trance scene overall, but for any start-up web label, some exposure is always better than no exposure, even if that exposure sometimes came at the end of a snarky quip. SPX though, I liked a couple of their early singles enough that, should I have found myself in need of looking at their Discogian database again, a small tingle of anticipation would tickle up my neck. Did they last longer than a year? Sign any singles from prominent acts? Premiered any up and comers that are stars today? Branch out into bigger and better things like albums, DJ mixes, and *gasp* CDs?

Nay to all that. Well, unless you consider names like Bryn Whiting and Mysterious Movement unheralded producers of trance. It also appears that SPX’s output sputtered out by the end of 2013, but to make sure it wasn’t a case of folks failing to keep Lord Discogs’ records current, I checked out the SPX Digital website. It no longer exists. Ah well, thirty singles isn’t so bad for a trance label, even a digital one.

As for Setrise and Kay Wilder, neither produced much else of note, though Setrise did last a couple years longer. The Steve Birch Remix of Poetry Clash also got picked up by Christopher Lawrence for one of his DJ mix compilations (Rush Hour), which isn’t too surprising as ol’ C.L. had been a supporter of the ‘real underground trance’ movement Johns Askew and Fleming promoted. Listening back on this single, it remains the best of the lot, as close to the tough, energetic tech-trance as you were likely to hear in those days and beyond. Wait, maybe I’m thinking of the Rob van den Beuken Remix. Gads, this EP’s flittered away from me brainpan. Such is so.

Leon Bolier - Pictures (Original TC Review)

2 Play Records: 2008

(2014 Update:
Before I say anything about Pictures, can I point out how much improved my writing is here compared to that Phoenix Rising review? I mean, wow, just wow! Only a year-and-a-half had passed between, and though a few minor gaffs still crop up, it's nothing compared to the clunkiness of that older one. Guess going back to college paid off after all!

Okay, Bolier's debut. The horribly dated attempts at 'minimal trance' aside (*cringe*), this has held up quite well. Ol' Leon hit upon a strong formula for his trance productions, of which I detail below, and could have sustained him with a then emergent 'underground' side of the genre - the John Askew style, if you will. But Bolier had bigger aspirations than that, and has instead been seduced by the more profitable side of electro house and festival anthems. His name's unfortunately fallen back to third-tier status, just enough to sustain a DJ career but increasingly lost in a market flooded with bandwagon-jumping former trance producers - to say nothing of all the young jocks emerging and taking all the glory. Shame, as he could have been a king in the '140bpm trance' scene if he stuck things out with this style. Maybe he'll have another hit on the level of Ocean Drive Boulevard with festival bosh, but if it hasn't happened already, I'm doubting it will.)


IN BRIEF: Energetic yet evenhanded? Sounds good to me.

Was 2008 Bolier’s year? Don’t be daft - if anyone owned this year, it was some guy wearing a mouse head. However, by all estimates, Leon had himself a professionally successful year. He released his first commercial DJ mix (Trance Mission, even if he had to share the spotlight with femme-trance player extraordinaire Mike Shiver), was responsible for one of the most memorable anthems of 2008 in Ocean Drive Boulevard, and finally released a full length album. After several years being something of a third-tier name in the realms of trance, things certainly do appear to be on the up-and-up for the Dutchman.

This wouldn’t matter, though, if his debut Pictures was a bunch of forgettable fluff. Fortunately for Bolier, the man has displayed adeptness in a part of trance that many producers struggle with: rhythms. Not that the genre lacks beats that bring the boom, but quite often they are merely serviceable thump-thump-thumps with your choice of offbeat or rolling bassline; after all, trance prefers focusing on the melodic aspect of music (or just mess with your head if you’re into psy). And although Bolier displays some fine melodic sense, it’s his crafty tech-beats that make his tunes stand out from the bloated trance-pack.

Which is good news for him because Leon’s trance isn’t terribly innovative, doing much of the same thing we’ve been hearing for the past decade and blah blah blah etc. Yeah, we’ve been hearing this complaint for a while, even said it ourselves on plenty of occasions. Although it’s a sound critique when producers are replicating the past to a fault (re: adding nothing new to the table), if someone maintains a degree of class in their work, it at least makes for an agreeable listen; for the most part, Pictures does.

Really, Bolier’s trance is hard to fault on its own merits, doing everything you’d expect of the genre just fine. There is, of course, Ocean Drive Boulevard, about as expertly executed an anthem as you can hope out of the genre; even if all the trance jocks overplayed the tune this year, it still makes for a riveting climax to Pictures’ album proper (disc one, for the record). Meanwhile, cuts Dnipro and Meditate are more straight-forward excursions, simply laying out driving beats and loopy melodies that are nicely hypnotic. YE, on the other hand, aims straight for the melodic jugular; frankly, I’ve never been much of a fan of this type of doodily-do trance, but it’s still enjoyable while it plays. Plus, let’s not forget opener Offshore, a tune that taps into the best of what Tiësto was capable of: melancholy baroque atmosphere (did Geert Huinink ghost-write this?), stadium-sized beats, infectious hook at the climax – it easily outclasses Mr. Verwest’s recent offerings; Bolier out-Tiëstos Tiësto! And, as surprised as I am to say this, I kind of rather like I Finally Found’s euro-danciness – sure, the main hook practically rips off Jam & Spoon’s Right In The Night and the vocals are typically trite, but it doesn’t oversell its earnest emotions, which is about all one can hope for with music of this nature.

Unfortunately, disc one has a chunk of dull filler between many of the better tunes. Darling Harbour, XD, and Beyrouth contain some half-decent elements, but Bolier seems intent on making these his ‘deep’ cuts. As a result, we have music that is kept turned down really, really low so it merely simmers; every so often, a bright bit of synth work will build into a crescendo, but Bolier scales things right back to a simmer following such peaks, turning the tracks into insubstantial teases. I’ll grant they’re not as pointless as Sander van Doorn’s similar offerings (from which Bolier seems to be taking his cues with these tracks), but they ultimately serve no better purpose on this album than to space the trance cuts out.

Still, having too much of the same thing over and over isn’t such a hot idea either, as evidenced by disc two. Here you have most of Bolier’s collaborations and b-sides collected together and, note for note, I’d wager this the stronger of the CDs. For one thing, you don’t have any of the dull ‘deep’ tracks; about the closest would be Lost Luggage with Jonas Steur, which is more funky tech-house than anything (and a whole lot of awesome, I’ll add). The lone vocal track on this disc - Exhibit - is a rollicking goodtime euro-dance tune, with Ms. Georgiou belting her heart out like she’s singing house in the early 90s, and making it far more fun than I Finally Found. And the rest of the tracks - from melodic musers to tech-bangers - are all classy cuts; never were the breakdowns and builds heavy-handed, and the sounds on display were always energetic and pleasing. The unfortunate trouble, however, is the fact all these tracks are so similarly arranged (lead, break, drop, outro) that it can grow monotonous after a while. Although the music is strong enough to keep you engaged, some variety in style would have done wonders for this discs’ overall appeal, and a couple token nods outside the formula just isn’t enough.

Still, as far as debut trance albums go, Pictures is certainly one of the better ones you’ll come across. Yes, there are a number of rough patches and questionable choices included in this double-discer (what even was the point of Longing For? It sounds like a tagged-on afterthought), but as a whole Bolier has come away from this maintaining his path on the up-and-up. With so many of trance’s standard-bearers churning out directionless misfires and corny tosh, it’s reassuring to hear the young bloods stepping up to keep some respectability in the genre.

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

Tiësto - Nyana

Nettwerk America: 2003

Say what you want about Tiësto’s career trajectory – no, go ahead, its fun! - but for a brief while in the early '00s, it seemed the Dutch icon was poised at breaking into the mainstream with critical credibility intact. To do so though, a bit of reinvention was required, taking his first steps in distancing himself from the euro-trance that had defined much of his musical output. After all, single-CD sets were fine for anthem rinse-outs, but Tiësto are serious DJ now, so he needs two discs spotlighting his muse. And what better way to prove, beyond a shadow of a doubt, you are serious DJ than by playing serious techno bollocks, opening with the same track Hawtin began Sound Of The Third Season, no less!

He pulls it off. I'm serious! The opening stretch of Nyana is one of the best CD1 starts I've heard from Mr. Verwest, plus I can't help giggling at the thought of his traditional 'cracker fanbase utterly aghast at all the techno, perplexed over what happened their trance hero (oh, if only I had a time-machine to show them what was to come...). True, there's little here Adam Beyer would tremble over, but for a Dutch trance DJ taking a step into the unforgiving underground, Tiësto handles himself well. The rhythms are kept brisk with momentum on a steady climb, and getting Oliver Lieb (The Ambush's Acapulco) and L-Vee (Planisphere's Totem) as some of your peak tech-trance bangers for this section is mint!

Then he fucks it all up with Darren Tate and Jono Grant’s collaboration Let The Light Shine In, as cheeseball a chedder-trance track as cheese trance could cheese out in 2003. There’s no reason for such an abrupt change in tone either, other than Tiësto had a pile of vocal tunes to cram into this two-discer somewhere. What, the Indoor disc wasn’t good enough for Cor Fifneman’s Venus or Conjure One’s Tears From The Moon? Damning things further is Outdoor returning to the tech-trance business with Ton T.B.’s Electronic Malfunction regardless, rendering the middle portion of CD1 a pointless diversion. That said, I still like Tijs’ remix of Venus, despite serving no purpose in the context of this mix.

As for CD2, this one’s famous for having three huge, gigantic, massive, McProg anthems on it – Hell, these tracks practically helped kick-off that sub-genre! Of course, I’m talking about Andain’s Beautiful Things, Motorcycle’s As The Rush Comes (tunes that Gabriel & Dresden never topped), and Holden’s Nothing (93 Returning Mix). And with that said, do you even care about the rest of the CD? There’s a few nice tunes scattered between, and the final stretch of Balearic trance vibes is charming enough, but come on, we all know what folks remember most about Nyana to this day.

That’s right, the techno! It makes one wonder where Tiësto’s career could have gone had he dared remaining on that path instead. Cue Bizarro World scene of Mr. Verwest playing Bergheim and Circo Loco.

John O'Callaghan - Never Fade Away (Original TC Review)

Armada Digital: 2009

(2014 Update:
John O'Callaghan's kept himself busy in the euro-trance scene, a name often dropped among those who feel he's among a few DJs and producers still keeping the old-school vibe alive, resistant to jumping on the latest electro, anthem house, or hardstyle-in-hiding bandwagon. To this, I have to ask, "Da'fuq!? The Big Sky guy, really? One of the most blatant crossover vocal anthems to emerge in the last half-decade, and you're championing him as one of your saviors of the underground? Have you really grown so desperate?" Chaps like J00F, Lolo, and John Askew, I can see, but not O'Cally, not after this album. Unless he was initially pressured by Armada after signing with them to make such music, which I could totally see happening given the label's ridiculous homogeny at the time.

I guess I shouldn't be too hard on him - after all, I gave him the benefit of the doubt going into this album, having enjoyed Something To Live For. I probably go on a bit too much about that aspect in this review (to say nothing of yet another overlong explanation of a now-pointless rating). And if I'm honest, I've lightened up a little on Big Sky, at least on the lyrical front. The other vocal tunes are still pants though.)


IN BRIEF: After a bigger piece of the vocal trance pie.

It’s not that a writer won’t get hate-mail for negative reviews of popular-but-poor releases – that’s common. Yet, the content of such ‘letters’ oftentimes has an acceptant tone to it, as though the hate-mailer knows the music is of lesser quality but doesn’t care one way or the other. The matter is then quietly dismissed and everyone moves on. Nay, the really controversial reviews are those that are generally accepted as poor, but the reviewer actually likes.

Without getting into the numerous examples of such here at TranceCritic, I’ll just touch upon the one that pertains to this review: John O’Callaghan’s first album, Something To Live For. I liked it. Sure, it was far from a brilliant album, but as a collection of simple, energetic epic trance and bangin’ tech-trance, it was enjoyable. In fact, I found it downright nostalgic, as O’Cally recaptured some of the spirit of the genre’s raise in prominence near the end of the ‘90s. For whatever reason though, a great many folks out there hated it, as poor ol’ John became an unofficial whipping boy of all that’s gone wrong with trance in recent years.

The reason I bring this up is, if anyone here could give O’Callaghan’s latest album - Never Fade Away - a fair shake, it’d probably be me, as I have no previous anti-bias against his work going in. However, what we have on this CD is much different than what was offered on Something To Live For, as O’Cally has promptly abandoned much of his previous sound in favor of something far more financially lucrative.

It’s quite pointless to accuse him of selling out because John knows full well it’s what he’s done. And who can blame him? When the sales of the post-Something… single Big Sky (included here in a ballad version) were far exceeding material like Space & Time, the writing was clearly on the wall: if you want to make it in this industry, produce tracks with vocals. And boy has he ever.

Eight of the twelve tracks on this album feature vocalists, all female. Although a few are fairly known in the scene (Audrey Gallagher, Sarah Howells, Lo-Fi Sugar), they’re all pretty interchangeable, with lyrics consisting of your usual simple couplets regarding love and such. Inoffensive material for the most part, although if the thought of over-emoting choruses sends cold shivers down your spine, you’d best stay well away. Truthfully, there isn’t anything particularly wrong with these choruses – they’re catchy enough that they’ll lodge inside your head as they play, but will promptly fade away shortly after (which makes the title of this album hilariously ironic). There’s very little about these vocal tunes that lift them above the usual euro-trance glut.

And unfortunately, that’s the biggest problem to be had with this album: O’Cally’s complete lack of personality as a producer. Were you to lodge any of these vocal tracks into a Trance Divas compilation, they’d promptly be lost amongst the Mike Shivers, Ronski Speeds, Langes, Above & Beyonds, and any other notable vocal-fluff femme-trance producer. There is absolutely nothing here that makes you say, “This is the John O’Callaghan sound!” Rather, it’s the sound of simple and safe production so a licensing company can come along and pick any one of these tracks for their Euro Vocal Trance Ibiza Voice compilation. This may work to O’Cally’s favor if he ends up sharing compilation duty with the likes of Cascada or Lasgo, but not with his newfound roster-mates at Armada.

There’s one stretch on here where O’Callaghan does exhibit a musical persona, with the blissy three-track run of Out Of Nowhere, Never Fade Away, and Tom Colontonio-collaboration Through The Light. This is perfectly pleasant music, touching on the tranquil Ibizan-tinged trance vibes that makes light-weight fluff such as this a guilty pleasure for many (although Never Fade Away is actually more of a ballad). Granted, it’s just as safe and unsurprising as anything else here, but I challenge even the bitterest trance-cynic out there to not enjoy the sequence of these three songs at some level.

So, with this many perfectly average pop-trance tunes on here, this should earn Never Fade Away a perfectly average 5/10 score –yet, the final grade is actually lower than this, and, perhaps surprisingly, is primarily due to the non-vocal cuts. Aside from the aforementioned Through The Light, these tracks are generic in the worst sense of the word. Heck, Broken is bordering on parody, coming off like a desperate attempt on O’Cally’s part to prove ‘he can stills be tough tech-trancer’; despite a killer hook being hinted at in the breakdown, it just meanders about with dull bangin’ beats. Meanwhile, Liquid Fire and Megalith sound like left-over ideas collaborators Giuseppe Ottaviani and Aly & Fila had for other tracks, while Don’t Look Back is a rehash of the much better Through The Light. Bottom line is if you’ve been listening to trance for even a year, these will sound utterly over-familiar, with O’Cally’s lack of production personality hobbling their appeal more than ever.

Then again, I kind of doubt this album is intended for the veteran trancer. Nay, it’s primarily for the new kids on the scene whom have ‘graduated’ from the likes of Milk Inc., Scooter, and ‘donk’ music. And that’s absolutely fine, especially so since O’Callaghan has specifically targeted this audience anyway. The trouble with his album, however, is in a field with so many others catering to this crowd, plus dozens of similarly-themed compilations readily available any given month, ol’ John hasn’t done anything here to make Never Fade Away stand out – in fact, he’s gone out of his way to sound exactly like every other euro-trance producer out there. If you’re in the market for this particular genre, you’d be better off picking up a random Armada compilation, since O’Callaghan’s simply copying the label’s biggest producers anyway.

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

Soliquid - Music Is For Rich People

Captured Digital: 2007

Soliquid, or Dávid Biczók to the European Empire, seemed like a guy that could do no wrong in the trance-slash-progressive scene of the late ‘00s. Already a favorite with the traditional Anjunabeat ‘crackers, he even got playlisted by the likes of Digweed and Hybrid (!), highly respected names regardless of what folks thought of the current state of their careers. A strong assortment of singles, including his biggest hit in Music Is For Rich People, built anticipation for a debut album, which dropped in 2009 as Transportation. And then Soliquid dropped from the face of Lord Discog’s existence. No follow-up singles, a few remix credits reaching no further than 2010, and that’s all Mr. Biczók wrote. The business side of music must have soured him severely to abandon it so; or maybe he settled down with a family.

I recall being intrigued enough by a few of his tracks to hunt down the single for Music If For Rich People, and even intended to review it for TranceCritic. Upon finding it though, I discovered it was already a year old, which might as well be a hundred where singles in music journalism are concernted. Off to the dusty corners of a burned disc it thusly went. Shame I didn't review it, as perhaps the ol' TC bump could have inspired Mr. Biczók to keep producing to this day, our voice having enough sway to- ahahaha! Oh, that's funny.

Anyhow, the original version of Musical People Of Richness is one hell of a bangin’ track. I’m astounded such a hard piece of trance didn’t chase away all those progressive house jocks who picked up Soliquid’s other singles, but then Mr. Biczók did claim to have diversity as part of his manifesto. Even this cut’s got plenty going for it: fierce-as-fuck rhythms, electro dressings, twinkly breakdown, and a glitch-laden build. Good stuff.

The remixes got more attention though, especially so the Mat Zo Remix, one of that guy’s earliest works. It has all the hallmarks of latter-era McProg, and I remain stunned that I’m still digging those grumbly basslines and twinkly melodies; or maybe Mr. Zo’s reputation is well deserved and he crafted an excellent example of the sound. Meanwhile, Cerf & Mistika provide a rub that checks traditional prog-house boxes, though has the whiff of Armada blandness about it. At the other end is the Sunny Lax Remix, doing your bog-standard epic-uplifting-melodic Anjunabeats eurotrance that’s fun to hear on its own, but is just pants in most sets. Still, I’m sure the Anjuna kids would kill for a return to this sound from their favored label. Oh, and Biczók does an epic-uplifting-melodic remix of his own under his Bëlmondo guise, but who cares about that when there’s the kick-ass original?

If you missed this EP before and have a minor hankering for trance of 2007, Music Is For Rich People’s definitely worth a look back on. It hints at a promising lengthy career that sadly never materialized.

Various - In Trance We Trust 019: Kris O'Neil

In Trance We Trust: 2012

Well, at least I didn’t have to endure a breakdown until two minutes this time, but there it is once again. God almighty, when will this trope- oh, it’s already back to the beats. Well, good then. But I bet this opener will come to a full stop for a standard build-up and- wait, it’s already doing the build-up? Without a pause? Holy cow, and it drops right after the peak; no dawdling, just hitting that anthem instantly. Okay, that wasn’t so bad, but it was just a one-off, I’m sure. The rest of this disc will- oh, wow! The entire first half of this mix has tracks like that.

I’ll grant some builds go a tad long (Cosmic Gate just can’t help themselves), but there’s no sense of momentum lost - just bangin’ tune after bangin’ tune, many with a hooky anthem and hard rhythms. Hm, and snares or claps on every beat, no less; rather like hard house come to think of it. Hey, this isn’t trance at all, it’s anthem house!

Right, so I should have expected it from a 2012 mix CD, as tons of DJs jumped on that genre’s recent resurgence (and stop calling it retarded names like ‘trouse’ or Trance 2.0). I can totally see the euro-trance faithful hating Kris O’Neil’s offering to the In Trance We Trust series, signifying yet another example of the scene they reverently coddled turning to sounds more popular to a general audience. Yeah, well, them’s the breaks, kids. Now you know how the old-old schoolers felt when the Dutch sounds ya’ll loved started dominating trance many moons ago. Stings, don’t it.

Anyhow, Mr. O’Neil’s quick mixes (average of four minutes per track!) of tunes that keep the energy escalating does peter out by the midway mark, after which he indulges in some tepid vocal cuts (dear Lord, that Wanrooy track with Blake Lewis is hokey), and tech bangers for the end. A couple are okay, but can’t match the unabashed stupid-fun the first half of the CD offered, which was more than could be said for so many other volumes.

Thus, that’s the last of the In Trance We Trust series, perhaps period. ITWT019 was released a year-and-a-half ago, and though the label still comes out with the odd single, there hasn't been word on a twentieth volume hitting stores any time soon, digi or not. Gee, I know the whole mix CD market’s got little appeal to most young punters out there, but surely a mega-label like Black Hole Recordings sees some merit in maintaining In Trance We Trust. Did Kris O’Neil’s offering tank that bad to kill it off? Or was the inclusion of so much anthem house a sign that In Trance We Trust no longer trusts in trance?


If this really is the end, then it’s only fitting to have In Trance We Trust put to pasture. Let ‘em have it, guys!

Gen: “Zan’ei!”

M. Bison: “Psycho Crusher!”

Akuma: “Shun Goku Satsu.”






Dan: “Chouhatsu Densetsu!

Various - In Trance We Trust 014: Daniel Wanrooy

In Trance We Trust: 2009

The good news is the compression production is behind us – oh, the wonders of sonic dynamics and space between the beats, crystal clarity and not a trace of mud in earsight. The bad news is we’re entering the ‘generic vocalist’ era of trance now, with two such indistinguishable gals gracing us with their non-presence in the first few tracks of In Trance We Trust 014 no less. Okay, tons of vocal trance since even the ‘90s suffered from this; at least Black Hole Recordings had enough clout in hiring ladies with some personality. JES may have always sung from the back of her throat as though she was about to have a wonderful bowel movement, but she stood out as someone unique. Melissa Mathes sounds almost identical to Susie (4) in this CD though, and it only gets worse after this one (Lord help me, there’s still five more discs to get through).

Anyhow, Daniel Wanrooy. He’d already been DJing on the side during his days as one-half of Progression (they of multiple progressive trance singles you’ve heard but probably can’t remember), so he’d been active for a while before striking out solo. Having his chance at an In Trance We Trust volume was a good start in getting his name out there, but he fails to do much of note with his effort. The opening is the usual smattering of pleasant Balearic numbers and McProg vocal cuts, then he heads down the god-awful anthem road with tracks containing breakdowns and builds that go on far too long and seldom offer a memorable payoff (holy cow, is that Topher Jones cut ever pointless). It’s just like Carl B’s mix, but at least with better sound design.

Things got interesting with some strong tech-beats in Daniel Heatcliff’s Phoenix. Yeah, it abuses the breakdowns too, but when the tune’s on, it’s on! It definitely regained my attention in this mix, and I was engrossed in where it would go next when… Oh dear, those vocals, they’re awful. This whole track is awful. Who the fuck is this, and why is it so familiar? *checks tracklist* Fack me, Richard Durand! Not that twat again, I thought I was done with you. We’re getting this shoved in our face just because he had that album out too, aren’t we.

Wanrooy seemingly corrects this atrocity by offering up more tech bangers to finish, but it isn’t enough to save INWT014 from being a middling affair. Kinda like most of his music, sadly.


It feels like ol’ Daniel’s always been around, yet never made much of a mark. Adon’s been around since the very first Street Fighter, but do you remember him from any of the games?

Adon: “What kind of introduction is that? I’m the ‘God Of Muay Thai’, and you want me to review European trance music? I ought to snap your spine for such disrespect! Get out of here, I’ve a date with destiny by defeating the man with the ‘Ten’ symbol on his back.”

Various - In Trance We Trust 012: Johan Gielen

In Trance We Trust: 2007

After years in the underground, Belgian Johan Gielan seemed poised to break out into super-stardom along with those Dutch trance chaps. A popular production alias (Airscape), plenty of side-projects, remixes, and collaborations to flood the market with, and even a part of Tiësto’s inner circle when Mr. Verwest still had his hand in many things Black Hole Recordings related. Yet he never could reach that next level, at best relegated to second-tier status in the euro-trance pantheon. All things considered, it wasn't such a bad place to be throughout the '00s, but not for a guy who easily stood toe-to-toe with the big boys at that decade's start.

He’d done all that he could to stay relevant; that is, bandwagon jump at every opportunity. Oh yeah, he definitely got in on some of that electro house shizz, dragging the genre with him into the In Trance We Trust series. It’s odd even having Gielen helm another volume years after he did 004, given the label’s tendency of offering it to up-and-comers. The liner notes claim he was brought in to properly take the series into this uncharted realm of electro, which is funny since hardly anyone in the euro-trance scene even liked those farty sounds soiling their uplifting melodies.

In fact, I’m not even sure Gielen’s fond of them either. He only uses a couple such tracks at the beginning (which instantly ruins the pleasant Balearic mood set by opener Sex On The Beach from 8 Wonders), and much later care of the Wippenberg Remix of Super8 & Tab’s Needs To Feel (wow, did Wippenberg ever suck at electro). His set’s all over the place too, tracks jumping in tone with little care towards flow.

I guess there’s a decent moment in the middle when things get proper euro-trancey, but methinks he’s just attempting to build up his own track, Magnetic, as the centrepiece, going so far as to use Tiësto’s Elements Of Life as the lead-in. Hell, they even share similar orchestral aesthetics. Sorry, Johan, you’ll never be ol’ Tijs, especially at that late stage. Also, it’s rather sad that, with tons of familiar trance names on ITWT012 (Steur, Ottoviani, Kyau & Albert, Vincent de Moor), that the utterly unknown Ryan Blair trumps all them with Flapjack. Shame the guy only released the one single.


Gielen’s effort makes me think of a poor man’s Tiësto. How appropriate then, that we get Charlie (the poor man’s Guile) as our guest reviewer.

Charlie: “I’ve not much to offer in the way of musical analysis, but I can point out the technical attributes of this mix. Most of the transitions are functional, which I assume is what one expects of these mix CDs. I believe a DJ in this field is also expected to ‘maintain momentum’, which this one fails to do on numerous occasions, the rhythmic section often dropping out entirely. Research shows people enjoy dancing to this music, but reduced pacing confirms a tactical deficiency on the DJ’s part.”

Various - In Trance We Trust 008 - Ton T.B.

In Trance We Trust: 2003

Now this is a surprising mix. While Ton T.B. (Antonius H.M. Ton van Empel to his birth parents) is best known as one half of Three Drives (On A Vinyl) and numerous other productions, he’s never been seen as a DJ, and for good reason. This here In Trance We Trust 008 remains his only major mix CD credit at Lord Discogs, and while I’ve no doubt he does the occasional gig as most producers are wont to do now, all the glory he’s gained comes from the music he makes.

A little less surprising is the style that ended up on this mix. As you’d expect of a guy that became synonymous with the height of progressive trance’s late ‘90s peak, the early going of his set features some choice cuts of the genre, including Joker Jam’s blissy Traffic, and even breaks care of the San Project Remix of Coda’s Under Control. And here I thought this stuff was dead by 2003. It all reaches a mini-peak with his and DJ Enrico’s Air Traffic, a tune with a whiny hook that’ll have you initially scratching your head, yet somehow makes sense once all the other elements are in play. Say, why didn’t the other half of Three Drives get a mix as well?

The middle of this CD’s all a-muddle though, as if Ton T.B. didn’t have the knowhow to link the first third of his mix with the banging latter portions. Rather awful among this bunch is Tillmann Uhrmacher’s Friends, which includes a woeful saxophone solo in the breakdown. Ugh, smooth jazz and trance: a hideous combination. Fortunately, once things pick up again with Midtone’s Pearl, it’s high-flying energy to the finish, with galloping trance rhythms galore. Sweet, there’s even a nod to German trance of yore in Tyrome’s Bad Magic, and Tiësto’s remix of Jan Johnston’s Venus remains one of my few vocal trance guilty pleasures (yeah, that Cor Fijneman guy had a hand in it too).

So a solid mix of progressive and high-energy trance from Ton T.B. Name notwithstanding, I admit being unprepared by this turn of events, given the low expectations I had for the In Trance We Trust series going in. I wonder if the rest will turn out this good. (spoiler: nope)


A classy, efficient effort from a trance veteran? Only World Champion Ryu can give proper perspective in this guest review.

Ryu: “The way of the DJ is the way of the warrior, tirelessly striving for perfection of skill and craft. One must be consumed by an almost obsessive determination to be the very best, practice with patience, lest he is consumed by their darker desires. This Ton T.B., he displays these qualities here, for which I must commend. It is-”

Ken: “Geez, Ryu, lighten up. It's dance music, tunes for cutting loose and having fun. Stop being so uptight. Let go once in a while.”

Evil Ryu: “You're right. I must give into Satsui no Hado...”

Ken: “Wait, that's not-!”

Banco de Gaia - Kincajou

Planet Dog: 1995

Aw yeah. Now we're talking. Kincajou was already one of Banco de Gaia's more captivating tunes off Last Train To Lhasa, and whether it was the spacey, tribal techno version on the main album, or the epic thirty-six minute Duck! Asteroid!! ambient version on CD2, there was more than enough to go around. Yet here we are with a single to itself, with none other than Oliver F'n Lieb and Speedy F'n J, two producers at the height of their mid-'90s careers, getting their hands on it! (Toby Marks also provides a new remix of his own) How can this not be awesome? Uh...

I guess it’s presumptuous assuming an Oliver Lieb remix would sound exactly like something from his L.S.G. work, but damn it, tracks like Hearts and Hidden Sun Of Venus were among his most popular cuts in 1995. And if not borrowing elements from L.S.G., surely folks assumed something similar would come from remixing the closest thing to trance Banco de Gaia had ever done. Okay, he did, sort of, but tech trance, really? The sub-genre was barely even a thing yet, The Black Series still a couple years away. That he would go down this bangin' route had to befuddle almost everyone involved. Lord knows it still befuddles me. None of the spacey attributes remain, opting instead for squalling sirens, burbling acid, and pumping rhythms (not to mention those distinctive Lieb claps). Aside from a couple token re-used samples, Oliver’s go with Kincajou sounds totally unrelated. This was some left-over Spicelab material before, wasn’t it.

If you think that’s weird, then get a load of Speedy J’s mix. I’m not even sure what those in charge thought was going to result in getting the Dutch techno don on Kincajou - maybe a Fill type track? But hey, this is Marks doing techno, so maybe Paap can do it even more techno ...which he did done. It’s not a particularly weird remix, though if you’re unfamiliar with Speedy J’s sound, it too can throw you for a loop. It’s definitely one of the oddest pairings you’ll ever find in the Banco de Gaia discography, as his brand of proggy world beat and ambient dub is worlds apart from the world of techno. I’m more fascinated by the theoretical conversation that resulted in this remix than anything musically related. Did appearing back-to-back on the Positiva compilation Earth Trance have anything to do with it?

Oh, speaking of which, why couldn’t we get the Wild Monkey Fever Remix on here? Instead, there’s Here Come The Norse Gods, which is essentially the yang to Duck! Asteroid!!’s yin when it comes to Kincajou - it’s just as spacey as the original, but far more brisk and bangin’. Not as interesting though, which can be said for this whole single. Considering the names involved, you can’t help but come away disappointed. Whatever awesome music you preconceive with that first glance is likely better than what’s on disc.

L.S.G. - The Hive

Beat Buzz Records: 2002

In some ways, ending the L.S.G. project on Into Deep would have been perfect. Having successfully pushed the boundaries of his popular trance moniker down roads few thought possible, where else could Oliver Lieb go with it? House music? Jungle? Acid Jazz!? Nope, in a move that was somewhat surprising at the time, the fifth L.S.G. LP went back to its regular progressive trance roots, offering up an album of about as straight-forward Oliver Lieb branded trance as you could get. And then it was almost utterly forgotten shortly after, his mid-‘90s sound coming off old-fashioned and dated in the year 2002.

Okay, trance burnout had definitely settled in by that time, five years of over-exposure sending many folks seeking fresher genres. That The Hive would pass by with little fanfare is understandable. What boggles my mind, however, is how, in the ensuing decade, old schoolers decrying the lack of good trance in the '00s never brought this album up in conversation. Was it really so underwhelming that it slipped everyone's mind? So it lacked the 'firstness' of Rendevous In Outer Space, the killer single of Vol. 2, the ferocity of The Black Album, or the soaring sonics of Into Deep. The Hive was just... there, holding few surprises for the discerning L.S.G. follower to return to.

And I cannot deny I'm guilty of this too. It's been years since I last threw this on, and though I remember enjoying the Hell out of it, The Hive's always been the last L.S.G. album I'm inclined to hear. Even now, despite remembering all those awesome moments throughout, I just know when I reach for a Lieb LP again, other entries in his discography will find their ways to my ears sooner than this one. Such is the price one pays for maintaining such a high standard of quality, I guess.

So what does ‘awesome but forgotten’ L.S.G. sound like? Oh man, there’s some mint stuff on this album. Opener Loose Ends seems appropriately titled, coming off like a left-over tune from a prior LP. Then we’re flying out in space with Down To Earth (or returning from space?), kick ass tribal rhythms with Saviour… Hell, I could go track-by-track on how good this music is, but self-imposed word count forbids. And truthfully I’d be detailing things anyone familiar with Lieb’s work should recognize anyway, as he re-uses plenty of synths, melodies, beats, and effects from years past. If you’re wondering if he brings anything unique to The Hive, Everon features a bassy hook that I’ve never heard attempted in prior L.S.G. material, but that’s about it.

Still, Oliver Lieb going through the motions easily trumps many trance producers out there, such that The Hive, though not a defining L.S.G. album, remains essential for any collector of the genre. Don’t make the mistake so many others have made in turning a deaf ear to it just because it came out at the wrong time.

DJ John Kelley - High Desert Soundsystem 2

Moonshine Music: 2000

John Kelley's second mix under the High Desert Soundsystem banner was a disappointment when I first threw it on, lacking so many of the big anthems that made the first one quite fun. So of course, over a decade on, I find myself enjoying this one more as a DJ set. I'm not sure what the former funky desert breaks man had in mind when he started doing these CDs, but for the second (and last) volume, he's gone full shuffly, driving techno, with touches of house, tech-trance and a dash of prog. Blend everything in an arid, outdoor tribal vibe, and you have High Desert Soundsystem 2. Ah, Consistency, how you always make mixes better.

So while this makes for a solid CD for the ears, I'm struggling to find much of substance for your eyes. Kelley opens his mix with Samuel L. Sessions, gives us two Timo Maas tracks after that (boy, remember how big his star was supposed to be at the turn of the century?), some fine bangin' material plays out for a while (oh, two Ben Sims!), with a sorta-peak hitting with Trancesetter's classic Roaches, and an easy fade-out with the Fade mix of Carissa Mondavi's Solid Ground. There, done.

Even at fourteen tracks, High Desert Soundsystem 2 isn't a very long set, not even an hour's length. Since most of these tracks don't offer much other than keeping the tribal-tech momentum moving, it's not an issue, as each cut serves its purpose for the brief duration it plays out. Also, Kelley's mixing is quite smooth, a marked improvement over the previous HDSs, but by staying in such a narrow frame of genre-type, something's lost in the unpredictability that came before.

At best, High Desert Double-Loo is a snapshot of whatever John Kelley happened to be playing out at the Moontribe parties at the time ...I assume, anyway. If I wandered over to a stage where he was playing this, you bet I’d be down for these sounds, and if you’re perfectly fine with a CD that captures an hour’s worth of what sounds like at least a three-hour session, by all means scope this disc out.

And there it is. Absolutely nothing else to say. What happen to John Kelley afterwards, you ask? (no, just pretend you did, alright? I’ve still another hundred words to fill here, damn it) He made a mix for the United DJs Of America series (second to last one, in fact), released an album of original breakbeat material in 2005 (well, more of a mid-‘90s throwback, if we’re honest), and not much else of note, according to Lord Discogs. He’s still active, mind you, DJing and lending an occasional production hand to Eastern Sun (who?) – and, of course, playing for Moontribe events whenever they go down. All things considered, it’s unfortunate seeing one of chemical breaks’ biggest supporters seemingly disappear underground with such little fanfare, but such it goes with that genre in the current millennium, it seems.

DJ Brian - Hardesertrance3 - Son Of The Moon

Moonshine Music: 1999

And so he did. Erm, keep the hard-hitting tech-trance vibes going for the duration, I mean. DJ Brian, that is. For the follow-up, Hardesertrance3? Goodness, didn’t you read the previous review? What do you mean you’re in the future and stumbled upon this review by accident? Reading this blog in reverse chronological order, I can understand, as Blogger’s layout isn’t exactly conducive to continuity attempts. But from the literal future? That’s far out, man. Far out of space and time!

Okay, enough of that. Someone must have mentioned those plusses and minuses I brought up on Hardesertrance2, as DJ Brian’s jettisoned almost all progressive trance for this instalment. There’s Salt Tank’s Rezmorize near the end, getting you two progressive names for the price of one (if you don’t know why, please hand in your ‘progressive card’ to the lady at the exit), and that’s about it. For Hardesertrance3, Mr. Brian Golub starts out hard and trancey, and barely lets up.

As before, you get a goa-leaning opener, this time care of Human Movement’s Traveller’s Theme, and for a whopping ten minutes at that. Yeah, it’s one of those ‘journey’ tracks, but pretty cool nonetheless. Shortly after, it’s back to our good ol’ friend Oliver Lieb again, but this time under the one-off Snakeman guise, which he used to indulge himself with some proper tribal beats, and Medicine don’t disappoint, son.

And the hard techno keeps coming. Geezer’s Tickling The Trout is here, its raw, thumping acid goodness almost out of place for a set supposedly meant for the desert (harsh my vibe, yo). Even deeper into the tribal techno is Electronic Home Entertainment’s Traffic EP (yes, it’s called that), which mixes wonderfully into another vicious Lieb tech-trance beast, Quantensprung as S.O.L. – if you ever wanted more in The Black Album style, there’s your cut, my friends.

DJ Brian can’t help himself from pulling out an anthem though, but for once he’s ahead of the curve. Joshua Ryan’s bleepy, fist-pumper Pistolwhip was yet another inescapable trance hit, featured on tons of obvious track lists and compilations throughout 2000 and especially 2001 when the single was re-released on NuLife Recordings. This here Hardesertrance3 CD’s a ’99 offering though, the same year the original Pistolwhip came out on Fragrant Music. And according to Lord Discogs, this was the tune’s first major release. What I’m getting at in this long-about way is, even though Mr. Ryan’s hit was quickly played out by the end of 2001, I’m quite content hearing it on this CD due to these conditions. Okay, and the surrounding tracks are kick-ass as well.

So Hardesertrance3, an overall better set than the previous one, if you like your hard desert trance (techno) with a proper kick to it rather than all psychedelic and wibbly. Surely this is the direction of sound that will take this series to the next level, establishing it as a string of classic DJ mixes. Wait, this was the last one? Well, f-

DJ Brian - Hardesertrance2

Moonshine Music: 1998

I'll have more opportunity to talk about the Moontribe parties that Moonshine loved promoting in short order, so let's get right into this here DJ Brian figure. A founding member of the California-based desert rave promotion, he soon established himself as 'the late-night trance guy'. And since we're dealing with whole bunch of West-American hippies (probably), that means he played psy. Well, yes and no. It was undoubtedly a part of his tracklists for some of those dusty all-nighters under the desert stars, but the music he compiled for his series titled Hardesertrance started out with more commercial intent (probably).

Since we're skipping straight to Hardesertrance2, it's clear I don't have the first one. I did hear it back in the day though, and thought it good, in that acidy, outdoor, tribal trance sort of way. The formula was simple enough: start off bangin' with a touch of psy, then unleash a few recognizable anthems towards the end (Netherworld!). DJ Brian follows a similar style on this one, and for the first few tracks, it looks like we have another winner in Moonshine's catalogue.

Right, so having L.S.G.’s kick-ass Train Of Thought at the fourth position is such an easy way to tickle my earlobes, but the surrounding tracks are strong company. Opener Emotions from Sonic Fusion sets a suitable 3am desert vibe, and tracks from System 7 and Rotortype round out a solid first lap of this disc. Huh, funny seeing Rotortype’s Be Yourself here, in that it was quite an older track by ’98, having already appeared on a few other notable CDs (an early DJ-Kicks from C.J. Bolland, for instance). And this, unfortunately, sets a trend that hampers Hardestertrance2.

The next track is India from E-Razor (yet another collaborative project between Martin Eyerer and Oliver Lieb). Cool, but I’ve already heard this one on a Nick Warren Global Underground. A little further down, we find our good friend Air from Ferry Corsten’s Albion guise (holy cow, was this track ever canned). I’ll give DJ Brian some props for choosing the storming Palefield Mountain remix, but it’s still an obvious anthem. Oh, and Slacker’s here too, with the track Psychout, which one could have heard off that same Nick Warren Global Underground. Finally, throwing in Amoeba Assassin’s Rollercoaster as your closer, and you’d be forgiven for thinking we’ve somehow stumbled upon a ’98 progressive trance DJ mix instead of something advertised as more on a psychedelic tip.

Mind you, there’s no real fault on DJ Brian’s part in how this CD’s put together, and for all I know, it’s a faithful recreation of one of his Moontribe sets. As a commercial disc, however, the track selection’s over-familiar for those well-versed in what progressive trance had to offer in ’98. The opening of Hardesertrance2 does help it stand out, but DJ Brian would only emerge from the glut by keeping the hard-hitting tech-trance vibes going for the duration. Ain’t no one else playing that sound on Moonshine.

L.S.G. - The Black Album (Original TC Review)

Superstition: Cat. # 82833-2 

Released June 1998 

Track List: 

1. The Train Of Thought V. 0.9 (2:16) 

2. The Train Of Thought V. 1.1 (6:58) 

3. Go Fishing (8:25) 

4. Cellular (9:21) 

5. The Blaxone (7:43) 

6. Rotation (7:40) 7. 88 (7:00) 

8. Freakz (6:04) 

9. Hellfire (7:14) 

10. Deep Blue (9:28) 

(2010 Update: It undoubtedly shows, but I had a lot of fun writing this review. This was about the point I was realizing meticulously detailed track-by-track writing was quite dry to read, and knew there was no way I'd be able to get away with doing such with this release. So, I let the creative juices loose, turning in one of my more memorable pieces for TC. Wish I'd realized how much better this kind of review was earlier.) 

IN BRIEF: The heart of Lieb’s darkness. 

Oliver Lieb had done it! After half a decade of much critical but little commercial success, he’d finally produced a track that would get played out by trance DJs for years to come. Netherworld gave him the spotlight, won him a legion of new fans, and would earn him decent royalties as the track would go on to be featured on many DJ mix compilations and updated remix packages. It would be so easy for him to rest on those laurels, continue re-hashing Netherworld, and ride the burgeoning trance wave into the sunset. 

Except that’s not what happened. Seeing the forthcoming commercialization of the genre he helped pioneer, Lieb gave the masses the finger and took his L.S.G. moniker in the completely opposite direction of epic anthems. His Black Series was not meant for those who’d just discovered trance as it was getting super-popular, but for those who’d stuck it out during the unforgiving underground years. It was his way of weeding out the L.S.G. bandwagoners, whom would come expecting more Netherworlds.  Well, that’s my theory, anyway. 

Truthfully, that entire paragraph is just speculation. I think very few know exactly why Lieb took L.S.G. into unfriendly underground territories just as trance was blowing up all over Europe. Was it a knee-jerk reaction to the commercialization of the genre he fostered? Or perhaps he just decided to do a little experimenting? Probably only he knows for certain, but as a man who has always done exactly what he wants, I’m sure he had a very good reason for it. He’d probably quaintly answer you if you asked, although it is admittedly more fun to speculate. 

Yes, The Black Album isn’t the most accessible CD. The tracks contained on here come from a string of vinyls known as The Black Series, and are arranged into a continuous mix. However, because the songs on those vinyls were strictly intended for the dancefloor, this creates a difficult album to sit back to. 

What’s on it, then? Tech-trance, but only the most aggressive, unrelenting sort. This isn’t the kind of stuff you’d hear from guys like Marco V or Sander van Doorn; Lieb’s material eats their tracks as a midnight snack and takes a second helping without asking. You’ll find scant traces of any kind of melody, and usually only in a warped fashion. It’s primal, it’s feral, it’s predatory. To use a current cheesy yet popular internet meme, The Black Album is the Chuck Norris of tech-trance. 

Wisely, Lieb opens the album up with The Train Of Thought, as it has the closest thing approaching a melody (the 0.9 version is just an ambient-ish intro). Amongst murky, mechanical rhythms, a pulse of spacey synth pierces the unsettling atmosphere every so often. Various effects tweak it throughout, distorting its resonance as the song progresses. There is no real conventional structure to The Train Of Thought, simply building upon layers of sound to raise the intensity of the track. It certainly is an entrancing bit of music but, if you find it not to your taste, you might want to seek other pastures; the tech influences only get stronger from here. 

Go Fishing offers a clearer taste of what’s to come. Although the blasting distorted sirens, eerie effects, and synthetic pads could be construed as hooks, they don’t offer much in melody. Rather, they’re there to accentuate the driving mechanical rhythms as layer upon layer of loops keep building this track’s intensity. Yeah, it’s quite similar to Train Of Thought in structure, but far less benign in nature. 

From here, any notion of detailing the rest of The Black Album in our usual method just flies out the window. Every track melds into each other, and, although you can usually tell when a different song is playing, it isn’t easy listening as there’s very little in terms of conventional hooks or melodies. And the sounds Lieb creates? Forget it. I don’t think there are any proper metaphors in my vocabulary to do them justice. The drone of a starship reactor; industrial strength clangs and clonks; brief bits of sputtering, distorted acid squelches; cyborg jembe drummers; splashes of bright synth; growling Imperial AT-ATs; demonic screams; radioactive chemicals boiling in huge factory vats; Unicron having a tummy ache; wraith-like wails; whatever else you may have. All this and more can be heard through tracks Cellular to Freakz, and it can be an unsettling experience if you succumb to the madness of it all.  

The remarkable thing about all this is, despite the relative inaccessibility of these tracks, they are still amazingly seductive. Lieb has paid an incredible amount of attention to his rhythms, hooking you into their mesmerizing dance. All these menacing sound effects throughout are there to provide a primal backdrop, grabbing your primitive brain so the rhythms can overwhelm you. And with each successive track laying down the rhythms harder and fiercer, the intensity of this album just continuously escalates with no end in sight. 

The final two tracks, Hellfire and Deep Blue, might trick you into thinking you’ll find some solace, as spacey synthy washes rather than menacing sounds provide the atmosphere. Alas for the weak at heart, Lieb shows no mercy, cranking his rhythms into overdrive in his rush to the finish. Hellfire is a hypnotizing cacophony of percussion while Deep Blue unleashes his fiercest kicks yet. You’ll only escape the madness of this once the droning, synthetic pads of Deep Blue finally recede. 

Madness. Absolutely yes, The Black Album could cause madness if you let it. This is not something for throwing on while lounging about home enjoying tea and crumpets. The music on here is simply designed to pummel logic and reason into submission and let pure instinct take over. And this, my friends, can frighten many people. We do not readily enjoy losing control of our sensibilities, letting the animal within us to override our judgment. As such, the music on here will just come across as irritating noise if you merely play it in the background, your logic center uncaring towards what’s going on since the music defies what we typically expect out of trance, much less music in general. The entire middle section can easily pass you by without anything leaping out for your attention. 

It may be a music journalistic cliché to say this, but The Black Album really is an album that demands your undivided attention, preferably while in the process of doing something active to get your adrenaline going (I recommend dancing, but working out, running, driving, or sexing can probably do in a pinch). I wouldn’t exactly say you’ll be rewarded for such attentiveness though, as you may not feel comfortable in where it’ll take you. Still, it will certainly not be a trip you’ll likely forget. 

Score: 7/10 

ACE TRACKS: 

The Train Of Thought 1.1 

Hellfire 

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