It's Thinking - Hyperion

Prime/Frame Of Mind: 1994/2018

Whoa, did I just fly through a whole bunch of “I” albums? And who is this Hyperion? No, no, It's Thinking is the name of the group – yes, I know it looks weird, to say nothing of naming the EP something that would make more sense as an alias. Then again, Lord Discogs lists at least thirty-six (36) Hyperions within its tomes, whereas there's only one (1) It's Thinkings. Right, I doubt there were a pile of Hyperions already floating about when this was released, thirty years removed and all – plenty of time for dozens more to crop up. What would one (1) more matter? So props to this Dutch team for thinking this far outside the box in coming up with a grammatically confounding handle when applied to a typical English sentence reviewing it.

This is another Gerd project, and up to the point of me covering his collaborations with Speedy J, the only one I was even remotely familiar with. Not that I was aware of it in that time, and truthfully, there still may be some other alias of his that never realized was him floating about my music collection. Fairly sure I covered all those bases though, so It's Thinking remains it.

As for the particular track I've heard from him, Dirk-Jan Hanegraaff and Mark Ripmeester, it was Afterglow as heard on that Excursions In Ambience compilation that included such luminaries like FSOL, HIA, PWoG, Banco, The Orb (sorta') and a few others. Man, and to think It's Thinking was about the most obscure thing on that CD, perhaps only rivalled by John Selway's Psychedelic Research Lab, and now I have an EP from them. Yay artist discography Bandcamp uploads, and all the legal hurdles they cleared to do so.

Since Afterglow is the only track I have, I naturally picked up the other single in the It's Thinking catalogue, follow-up EP Hyperion. Gotta' explore d'em deep cuts, yo'. The track is a pleasant floaty affair in the vintage Detroit techno vain, though utilizing a standard breakbeat for its backbone. I also love how none of the synth leads are quite aligned to quantized perfection, giving it that real live jam vibe. Imperfections reminding you there's human souls behind the machines. Onto the other tracks, then!

Frame Of Mind is basically Jam & Spoon's Stella, though stripped down to Detroit functionality and less outright Balearic. Love Without Sound gets closer to the seaside resort feels with subtle vocals and effects invoking sunrise in Ibiza. Plus, it's just downright groovy with its rolling rhythms and cascading synths. Funky Finger goes about as deep as you'd expect of a B2 cut on a record with so many shimmering leads, but even it gets in a few bright synth stabs for its back-half.

A charming little gem of a retro EP, Hyperion is. I'd expect nothing less from Gerd's extended discography by this point. Shame it took me thirty years to 'discover' more of it.

Urban Meditation - Headspace II

Carpe Sonum Records: 2022

This is the part where, when doing a box-set, I wax extended info about the artists involved, or the label supporting it. Maybe even digging a little deeper into the genre itself. Y'know, anything to fill self-imposed word count as I carry on. I don't really have much more I can detail with this one though. As mentioned, Urban Meditation is a relative newcomer to this scene, having initially made his mark on some Carpe Sonum compilations before getting the green light to release full-lengths. He did float around a couple other labels after (Fantasy Enhancing, Móatún 7, that one that released the Adykt double-discer), but the Sonum crew seems to be his primary residence for now.

And as for the label itself, well, I've been covering them for almost as long as they've existed – think I was only a year behind their launch. *checks* Okay, technically two, as Carpe Sonum spent 2013 releasing a few items that got lost in the wake of Fax+'s shuttering, but I'm talking when they properly launched, with original material intended to follow the success of the monumental, compendious Pete Namlook tribute box-set Die Welt Ist Klang. Boy, it always comes back to that, doesn't it? Not with Charles Urban though, having missed the big ol' Irish wake of a musical party that was.

Was he not yet confident in his music-making ability to contribute to it? Or didn't quite make the cut? I mean, yeah, there were a lot of artists that had their tracks added, some for the first time ever having material officially released. Even with four CDs worth on non-Fax+ alum included though, some had to be left behind. Hm, makes me wonder if Mr. Urban was one such artist, and having a quintuple-LP album released is sort of Carpe Sonum's way of making it up to him. Now that's a silly conspiracy!

Anyhow, Headspace II is where things start kicking off with higher tempos. Even opener Thought Garden brings da' beats! Okay, I'm exaggerating, the rhythms mostly a light pitter-patter of electro, spritely synths and arps the main driving force of momentum. Even when things 'calm down' in follow-up Cloud Terrain (real floaty arps) and Into The Void (darker experimental piece that goes a tad too long), there's still some continued sense of pace throughout.

The centrepiece of Headspace II is easily the Si Matthews double-collab' of Dreaming Of The Stars and New Horizons, and not just because both feature a steady techno pulse as layers of synth arps dance along. Okay, it's primarily that, but also that twenty-minute plus runtime between the two tracks, which really makes the whole session feel like one long neo-trance jam. Final track Flight Home tries ending Headspace II on cosmic Berlin-School ambient grandeur, but doesn't quite hit the same hypnotic high as the Si Matthews tracks achieved. Still, a solid finish for this CD, building upon the very ambient first. Dang, just how peppy will these get?

Various - Galaxies: An Excursion Through Technospace

Havoc: 1993

I came across this while perusing Lord Discogs' tomes for Human Mesh Dance material, and almost instantly, a wave of weird nostalgia hit me. Of a bygone era when garish CGI cover art and track lists filled with utter unknowns were common place. When techno was still finding its way in a post-rave world, unsure whether to go harder, trancier, or minimal. Where such a CD would cost you $30 at the local record shop (because 'imported'), a total gamble when that was, like, half your monthly allowance, dude, for something you really didn't know would be good or not.

Initially I was gonna' pass on this from the Discogs seller, not willing to pony up that kind of cash for a single disc anymore. Then I thought, wait, I totally would have back in the day, when such money was worth more than it is now. Screw it, let's take that Excursion Through Technospace!

And yeah, this was worth it, at least where my interests are concerned. I'm always down for unearthing obscure electronic music capturing the early '90s freedom on non-genre conformity, and this collection has techno-trance acid-rave to spare. Absolutely some of this will sound dated and simple, but you can't help but fall sway to its retro charms as well.

Specifically, Galaxies was meant to be a label showcase for Havoc Music, one of Human Mesh Dance's earliest prints. Taylor Deupree, the man behind HMD, would go onto more success with 12K, but we all start somewhere, and the sound of techno-rave was the fresh hotness in New York City back then. Along with Taylor, this roster included early works from Dietrich Schoenemann (those who know, know) and Jason Szostek (partner in crime with John Selway behind the Serotinin print). Plus an assortment of way-underground names like Virus Crack Team, Hydraulic Clownhead, Lunik, and City Of God, because a good compilation can't be carried by just a handful of dudes. Okay, it can, but better having a little variety in there.

Yes, there's surprising variety here. It may not seem so at first, the initial clutch of tracks doing hard acid techno and ravey breakbeat. Then things get way deeper on Lovechild (Rise), downright trancey with Video Hallucination, deep trancey on Circuit, then... deep house on Human Mesh Dance's own Heaven (Recovered)? Huh, wasn't expecting that. Nor hearing the sort of synth pads expected from a Pete Namlook work on Prototype 909's I Don't Want To Grow Up (the Havoc 'supergroup', if you will).

Something more tribal from Axon (Flux (The Tribal Mix)), something weirdly Balearic in a warehouse rave sort of way from E-Sop (Dream Is A Shadow Of Something Real), and back to chant-riffic jazzy breaks in closer Io from City Of God. Yeah, that FSoL influence could be felt even on the Eastern seaboard. Very well-rounded finish, all said, and quite a spell from the bangin' acid homage to E' Dietrich opened things up with.

God's Groove - Elements Of Nature

Logic Records: 1994

How on Mother Earth does this album exist with hardly a soul knowing about it? Like, I understand why it would get lost in the shuffle three decades ago. The music on here just doesn't tidily fit into any conventional genre of the era, liberally cribbing from its surrounding scenes, existing outside of time, sounding retro and contemporary. Okay, maybe not ultra-modern or anything, but boy does it ever predict a certain segment of dance music in the years to come.

It's not like God's Groove went out of their way to create some ageless, timeless masterwork that was unfairly neglected, oh no. I sense this was one of those happy coincidences, Misters Gauder and Herz just stumbling into this quite by accident. They never parlayed this project into huge things, God's Groove dutifully appearing on the requisite eurodance and trance compilations for a few years in the '90s (though nothing on this side of the pond), the players then moving onto other, more lucrative things. It's like they immediately hit a creative dead-end because in a sense, they did. Where could they even go from this album? They sure couldn't double-down with more of the same, because they seemingly layed everything out on their opening hand. When you start this high, there's only down after.

Am I overselling Elements Of Nature? You're damn right I am! When you stumble upon something this unexpected, you can't help but feel giddy about it, relishing in all its attributes that, on paper, should utterly fail. There's cheese on here - good Lord is there ever cheese - but such succulent cheddar, leaving you craving for bite after bite. There's eurodance, there's German trance, there's epic house, there's pan-pipes, there's New Age bollocks, there's proto-goa, there's women belting choruses like they're Tori Amos. There's melodies ripped from vintage Jarre and segments ripped from Enigma interstitials. And holy cow, if that titular cut isn't a direct style-bite of Jam & Spoon: moody, trancey lead-in with tweaky acid, then the biggest PLUR-goo breakdown you'll ever hear in the before times of Dutch trance nonsense, followed by a big ol' race to the finish that'll have all the candy kids melting. Yet, somehow not a happy hardcore track? How can this project be this extra yet credible?

Again, it's that timeframe. Had Elements Of Nature come out in 2009 or 2004 or 1997, I'd totally buy that. As mentioned, it kinda' does foretell where the sillier aspects of vocal trance would end up. Yet here it is, right in the middle of trance and eurodance's classic era, fitting in neither scene all the while feeling like it should be part of the other. How could God's Groove be credited with influencing anything when nothing off here gets name-dropped after the fact?

I've no idea if Elements Of Nature will find a new audience, its 1994-ness obvious and bare. If you've even a small inclining for that year of trance music though, this is definitely worth a listen.

Various - Trust In Trance 2

Outmosphere Records: 1994

I can't believe this happened again. Once, sure, a weird fluke of chance, but twice now? Not that I'm complaining, per se, as this is by far a more interesting item to review than what I initially set out to get. It's just bizarre that, once again, an order for an In Trance We Trust CD has yielded me something completely different. Right, not as egregious a mispick as ending up with Tiësto's In Search Of Sunrise 5 - this at least has the words 'trust' and 'trance' in the title. But yes, getting Astral Projection's debut album is a far better grab than another In Trance We Trust mix – guess that collection will have to wait a little longer for completion.

Okay, this technically isn't an Astral Projection album, but it may as well be. Though the famed Israeli group made their proper debut with The Astral Files, they'd spent a few years prior honing their craft under a number of aliases, including Mantra, Aban Don and SFX. Hitching up with the label Phonokol, Misters Avi Nissim, Lior Perlmutter, and Yan-Iv Haviv were given the green light in compiling the first Trust In Trance collection, launching the sub-label Outmosphere Records. That one had a couple other contributors, but by the time they put together the quick follow-up, it was strictly an Astral Projection joint, even if they were operating under various guises. Hey, if The Black Dog could get away with it on Bytes, why not good ol' A.P.?

What makes all this a bit confusing is Astral Projection did release an album called Trust In Trance ...two years after Trust In Trance 2 came out. Confounding things further is them renaming Outmosphere Records into Trust In Trance Records. To say nothing of an Indian re-issue on Vale Music simply calling it Trust In Trance, which was later re-issued as Karma Trance 2 (so sayeth Lord Discogs). Good God and Vishnu almighty, does this nine-tracker of proto goa trance ever have a weird history.

Oh yeah, the music! Mahadeva is on here, often considered among the earliest tracks shaping the genre's defining characteristics many future artists would emulate. Sure, Eat Static, Total Eclipse, and Juno Reactor were doing their own things by this point, but Astral Projection really put a stamp on tweaking acid and vintage synths in such a fashion you just couldn't help but conjure flailing about on the beaches of Goa. Still, there's no denying Trust In Trance 2 is some early-ass trance music, a hefty portion not quite yet transitioned from mainland Europe's idea of what the genre should entail. Some are blistering fast, while others, particularly the SFX cuts, have little 'goa' influences in them at all. I can see that being a turn-off for those weaned on the psy scene's latter years of radical, freeform, trip-your-face-off music. For those preferring their psy on the simpler side though, Trust In Trance 2 does hold up pretty good three decades on.

Various - Tranceculture > Endless Universe

Hypnotic: 1995

This was a fairly popular CD among my raving peers way back in the day. When you're stuck in the hinterlands of Canadaland, in the Before Times of primitive internet, finding anything with a hint of the underground was like mana from heaven to the ears of high-schoolers. This wasn't some poppy eurodance rinsed out by MC Mario, this was European trance music, with sounds emitting from the deepest cosmic corners, conjuring sci-fi concepts like semiconductors, DNA structures, and Apollo moon missions, all throbbing at 160 – 200 bpm. It does all seem a bit silly in hindsight, doesn't it?

There's a lot about Tranceculture that can come off rather dodgy, even by mid-'90s efforts. Despite being presented as a compilation, it's abundantly clear all the tracks are produced by one man, Steffen Schuhrke, who barely gets an 'Operations & Navigations' credit. The alias Reverse Pulse had appeared on a few other scattered Hypnotic collections, so why not just bill it as that? No, this is just Hypnotic (re: Cleopatra) on their chintzy marketing shtick again, right down to a lenticular jewel case with lame- oh, I can't stay snarky at you, lenticular jewel cases. There's even a picture of Saturn, always frickin' awesome!

Besides, it's all about the music, right? Right, and Tranceculture features some of the purest forms of trance you can imagine. Like, ultra-retro pure. We're talking basic, hypnotic loops, performed in incremental waves, melody more of a suggestion of minor chord progression in backing pads. There's acid and bleepy arps, but served as a rhythmic rudder to the blistering pace of these tracks rather than prominent leads. Aside from escalating tension as loops build upon each other, there isn't any sort of typical song structure going on here.

It's an almost improvisational method of constructing each track, Steffen feeling out when and where each loop gets dropped in, whether a key change is warranted, and how much knob twiddling one earns. Nor does he seem encumbered by when and how a track should end, letting things run for however long feels right for the moment, even if that's nine, thirteen, or fifteen minutes. It rather reminds me of the old Spiral Tribe free-tekno tapes but with German trance sounds rather than hardcore techno.

Still, the dated nature of Tranceculture can't be overlooked. Heck, I'm sure some could argue A.I. does this now – it certainly ain't no th'ang for computers to emulate popular EDM, so why not three decade old (!!) trance? Plug in some stock loops, request a couple effects, and let 'er rip, right? I thought so at first, but the more I re-listened to this CD, the more I realized Steffen's still doing things that just can't be mimicked by technology yet. When and where such loops are utilized, just how much a knob gets twisted – a 'human intuition' sort of vibe, however basic or subtle it may be. Damn, didn't expect to get so metaphysical with a shameless nostalgic trip.

Sykonee's 'Sportsing' Surveys: PAUL VAN DYK

For a time, Mister Mattias Paul stradled between two worlds within trance's domain, somehow existing at the crossroad between UK progressive elite and Dutch ultra-melodic bombast. It made him one of the scene's most popular producers and DJs, one I even fell sway to in his late '90s / early '00s heyday. As my interests wandered elsewhere, I lost touch with Paul van Dyk's output, but that didn't mean I hadn't kept tabs. Hell, some of TranceCritic's earliest internet infamy involved his projects! Still, his career trajectory didn't seem to be one I wanted to follow, so let him be.

Then he had his near-fatal stage accident, which I can't say personally shook me or anything, but did 'reconnect' me after a fashion, as shortly after, I heard he'd 'reconnected' with trance music as well. Well that's interesting, thought I, but was I really that curious to hear such a comeback? Not initially, but every so often, I'd replay some of his old music from 45 RPM and Seven Ways, leaving me to wonder, did I do myself a disservice in dismissing so much of his discography? Like, I hadn't heard Out There And Back since it came out, and never even gave Reflections a chance. Hmm, albums both new and old I should be checking out? Sounds like a prime candidate for a 'sportsing survey' to me!





















Looking back on this, I'm surprised how many times I name-dropped ATB. Is it because I did a survey of him as well, so he's just the freshest in my mind in referencing popular eurotrance producers? Maybe, though I noticed the Wonky Angle dude was making similar comparisons too. Not to mention Paul and Andre seemed to occupy the same space within DJMag's poll, no matter how high or low they placed. Methinks the two Germans should collaborate. I'm serious!

As for who's next, I'm going back to a poll on Mastodon before deciding. I've a good feeling I know who'll win it, but then I was totally wrong in who'd win in the last one. No way I could have predicted Cypress Hill and Paul van Dyk would tie!

Spicelab - Spice Is A Fulltime Occupation

Harthouse/Solieb Digital: 1994/2014

The writing was on the wall. Hard acid techno that marked much of Oliver Lieb's early Spicelab work was quickly coming off dated, new sounds and genre cross-pollination emerging within the halls of Harthouse. You could either start dabbling in the more experimental side of techno, or hop on the trance bandwagon gaining momentum about Frankfurt. Well, Lieb already had established an alias for that, called L.S.G., so the experimental side it would be. Like, he'd been pushing that as Spicelab already, at least as far as you could while blistering out the 303 action at 160bpm. Some tracks though, like Quicksand, showed he could do more with the project than sci-fi pulp bosh. Eh, that's just not what the label wants from him? Okay, fine, let's take Spicelab into proper trance territory too.

Thus we have Spice Is A Fulltime Occupation, the in-between EP released during this transition. You can definitely hear stray elements of older Spicelab still lurking, but it's clear ol' Oliver was evolving his sound into the progressive house DJ friendly material as heard in his L.S.G. material (to say nothing about singles from A Day On Our Planet). Changing tides and all that.

Retaining the pulp vibe is opener Pigs In Spice, a nod to the Muppet skit, no doubt. Eh, you say it's actually Pyrospice that's the opener? That can't be right, this Bandcamp remaster I got clearly shows Pigs In Spice as track one, Pyrospice the third. Ah, the original vinyl had them switched around, that's it. Well, I'm gonna' go with how they're sequenced for the re-issue – I assume it's the order Mr. Lieb prefers it.

And right Pigs In Spice should the be opener, Lieb stretching his experimental side much in the same manner as the Quicksand EP. While not so chill as that track went, this one isn't in much hurry to lay the beats out either, letting Oliver's usual array of sci-fi synths, space opera choirs, and bleepy electronics play out. Brisk hi-hats and cymbal crashes seems to impart a sense of urgency in the track, but the soft pitter-patter of the beat never lets Pigs In Spice ratchet up into higher gear. Besides, that's for the titular centre-piece.

Yeah, if you thought Amorph was dope but just a little too boshy for a trance cut, Spice Is A Fulltime Occupation refines everything into peak classic trance perfection. The beats are fast, but not stupidly so. The acid is subtle, serving as the rhythmic propellant the little TB-303 machine always intended it to be. And the synths. My God, the synths! Epic and grand in all the best ways sci-fi pulp ever envisioned.

Pyrospice can only be something of a comedown following that. Well, in vibes, if not in tempo, getting right back to the hyper-fast techno of older Spicelab. Yeah, it's basically more of the hard acid bosh, though a bit more intuitive compared to some of Lieb's other hard acid bosh. It got a synth breakdown, yo'!

Armin van Buuren - 002 Basic Instinct (A 'Token Prog' Review)

United Recordings: 2001

And finally, Armin. It’s worth pointing out that in 2001, Armin was by far the least well known of these DJs. PVD, Oakey and Tiesto were all jostling in the Top 10 of the DJ Mag poll back when it had some connection to reality, and Ferry Corsten was sat at #19 despite being better known as a producer. Armin was a new entry on the list that year, and he still hadn’t had a mix CD released outside the Netherlands. Not until widespread broadband roll-out made Internet radio a big thing did his A State Of Trance show take him truly global.

Basic Instinct (which was kinda, sorta part of the ASOT series but before Armin had figured out how to brand it) was released in January 2001 and most of the tracks featured were released the previous year, and it shows. CD1 is prog alright, but it’s a much more banging big room strain of prog than the dark ‘n tribal stuff that would become so crushingly dominant just a few months later.

And y’know what? That’s very much a Good Thing, because the prog disc here is really good. The transitions are sometimes edited to make them a bit too abrupt for yer chin-stroking Global Underground connoisseur, but honestly I can’t fault how Armin put this together. The Argonaut’s Going Through is a perfect opener, low-key with a great sci-fi sample, and from there AVB builds quickly into some full-knacker peak time prog trance, featuring some of the finest trancey proggy cuts of the era from the likes of Lemon8, Starecase and Junkie XL.

And really, that’s the distinction. Like Oakey’s Another World, which I didn’t get to review, this CD is far better than the more dutiful 2001 Token Discs because it’s progressive trance rather than just progressive prog. It captures that shift where these guys sighed and said, “Okay fine, I’ll build up a set” in concession to prog scruples, but weren’t yet wanking around with tuneless tribal blah just to fit in. Funny how fast the club scene moved back then, that a mere twelve months could signify such a significant shift in sound.

Make no mistake, CD1 here would be CD2 on any of the Global Underground or Renaissance outings mixed by Seaman, Warren, Pappa and the like. It’s prog at its biggest and tranciest, but without ever falling into uplifting trance stoopidity. And honestly, if you’re going to buy a prog CD by Armin Van bloody Buuren, isn’t that what you’re after?

Cursory Second Disc Verdict: Not good. Not good at all. Cringey vocals, breakdowns longer than the Middle Ages and blaring Roland JP-8000 leads abound. It’s vaguely mindblowing that Armin can be so good on disc one and so bad on this disc.

What Did We Learn From All This? The general trend here is that the trancier these guys kept their “deep” disc, the better the results. Funny that. Improbably, it’s the Dutchmen Ferry and Armin who prog up best. If you want to hear the big trance boys at their least silly, their CDs are the place to go. Equally improbably, it’s Englishman Oakey who comes dead last, although he would have done a lot better had the Syko-lord allowed me to cover Another World again. Either way, the Great Prog Dominion fell off pretty swiftly after this, while trance got real bad almost as swiftly. For most of these guys, this was as respectable as they ever sounded. But hang around after the final credits, because there was one trance jock who jumped this bandwagon and never hopped back off…

Ferry Corsten / System F - Trance Nation 2001 (A 'Token Prog' Review)

Ministry Of Sound: 2001

[Sykonee Says: Shame the excellent Trance Nation America from Taylor and Jimmy Van M falls just outside the parameters of this series. Now there's a pair of CDs that deserves some recognition! Come to think of it, why haven't I plucked myself a proper copy of that by now? Time to get on it, methinks. Also, you can read Jack's thoughts on it direct on the Discogs page, if you're curious. Anyhow, onto the 'Token Prog']

Plot twist – it’s CD2! Yes, you didn’t expect the Trance Nation series to give up its first disc to any kind of halfway credible music, did ye? As a side-note, it’s kinda fascinating to go back to these CDs and contrast how the big trance jocks chose to market themselves. Oakenfold and Tiesto hammered the mix CD market hard, treating compilations the way bands treated albums. Meanwhile PVD avoided the format almost altogether, but released more actual albums than Plantpot and Ape Man combined, whereas Ferry was mostly happy to hitch a ride aboard one of the Ministry Of Sound’s most shamelessly commercial trance compilation series.

Accordingly, the Trance Nation outings were never really regarded as any kind of Serious Artistic Statement by Corsten – hell, I don’t think he ever primarily saw himself as a DJ anyway - so when he did come anywhere near a Token Prog Disc, it was more about The Ministry goading him with cattle prods into playing what was seen as commercially viable at the time.

(Also, y’know how I’ve been hyping up the graphic design of CDs from this period? Yeah… we need to talk about that. Trance Nation 2001 has one of the worst covers ever, pitched midway between health and safety signage, E-number-heavy fruit chew wrapper, and the carapace of some aggressively venomous insect. Even nostalgia can’t save this one.)

Because this is Trance Nation, the Token Prog Disc has to open with the most commercially successful prog tune ever, Touch Me, and because this is Trance Nation, it has to be pitched at +4%. The next track is the disc’s solitary concession to “tribal tech” seriousness, and then things get, well… really fun actually. As early as track three, Ferry’s dropping in some nasty warehouse-friendly acid lines courtesy of Lee Coombs, and shortly after he accelerates a pair of Bedrock productions and slams them together with the expert disdain of a Hollywood stunt driver.

Don’t get me wrong, there’s the odd bit of shite on here. Ferry’s own remix of Tony Walker is a load of cobblers, and I don’t care if Human Movement happens to be prog legend Marc Mitchell in disguise: Love Comes Again is still a horrendous slab of rotten cheddar and always has been. But of all the Token Prog Discs we’ve covered, this is by far the most boisterous and exciting, with cuts like the Trisco remix of Freet and Ferry’s own Needlejuice being the kind of jaw wobbling, face stroking, can-I-have-a-sip-of-your-water-mate bangers that rarely make it onto more high-minded Serious Artistic Statement prog mixes. The mixing also sounds just rough enough to be an actual turntable mix, which kinda adds to the whole “I just want to get out of here and cash my cheque” energy Ferry’s bringing. Two thumbs up.

Cursory First Disc Verdict: Completely terrible, but you already knew that. Cosmic Gate’s Firewire sitting side by side with novelty hard dance shit-hit How U Like Bass is one of humanity’s low points.

Paul van Dyk - The Politics Of Dancing (A 'Token Prog' Review)

Ministry Of Sound: 2001

[Sykonee Says: Wait a minute, I've already done a review of this one. Twice! Do we really need another? Well, considering the latter is a 'jokey' two-paragraphs long, and the former is a 4,000 word monstrosity that's so dry that it may as well be a 'Review Written In The Style Of Prog', maybe this deserves another kick at the can. Have at 'er, J'!]


Paul Van Dyk was rather anomalous amongst the big trance jocks in that he didn’t really do mix CDs. Indeed, The Politics Of Dancing was much-touted at the time as the first one he’d ever done, which means we’re supposedly to pretend his MFS showcase for X-Mix never happened. PVD upheld his part of that consensual hallucination by trying really hard to make TPOD stand out, out Sasha-ing Sasha by doing the whole “radically re-edit and remix everything” trick a few years before Involver. The inlay also contains a full page of cryptic gibberish where PVD artfully avoids explaining what “the politics of dancing” actually means. All very high concept.

While we’re at it, here’s another compilation sleeve that’s got all of that 2001 graphic design good stuff going on. Just pause for a moment and stare at a photo of that back cover with tracklist. It’s so beautifully clean it could be from the 1920s Bauhaus. Gotta appreciate Paul looking pensively monochrome in front of some limestone steps on the front too, like a politician holding a press conference to publicly apologise for sleeping with his secretary.

But nevermind that. We’re here to judge how well he jumped the bandwagon. This is an odd one, because everything is so extensively reworked (mainly by giving every tune the same kick/clap/bass combo PVD used on everything around this time) it sounds more like a PVD showcase than an overt Token Prog Disc. It starts out pretty good, with Ashtrax – Digital Reason being exactly the kind of atmospheric proggy trancer that these guys should have played more of. Even early on, the flow feels ultra-fiddly though, the studio’d-to-death nature of the mix stopping it from feeling like a real DJ set. Amazingly, this is the only place in the Token Prog Discs series we’ll hear IIO’s omnipresent Rapture, and I quite like the way PVD rebuilds it into a harder prog-acid stormer. Then there are more vocals. Lots more vocals.

Yeah, I dunno. This just doesn’t flow very well. A lot of stop-starting, a lot of breaks switching to 4/4 and back, and that damn PVD beat on nearly every single track. In the inlay, Van Dyk states that he doesn’t like doing studio mixes because he doesn’t have a crowd to vibe off, and it really shows here. By the time we get to his own Autumn, things are getting unapologetically trancey and there they’ll stay. I don’t know, I feel cheated. This is barely a bandwagon hop at all. Everything is kinda stripped down and proggy, but he’ll be winning absolutely no prog purist points for how naff a lot of this disc is. Another one of those 2001 hat tips to the zeitgeist that doesn’t really please either the trance tribes or the Bedrock hordes.

Cursory Second Disc Verdict: Paul’s having a lot more fun here, which means you will too. More bangers, less fluff: this is main room superclub trance done – mostly - very well.

Yamaoka - Short Films For Long Days

Databloem: 2016

Speaking of artists I've neglected, here's Yamaoka again! Sprung for a couple of those Databloem discs, but wouldn't you know it, he's gone and released more since, including another collaboration with Purl (two, if you count Sculpture on Shimmering Moods Records ...must ...resist ...Bandcamp ...page), and another album out on Carpe Sonum. This man's a machine, with a back-catalogue some thirty albums thick now. To say nothing of all the works he did with former partner Yoshinori Yamazaki.

Oh yeah, I haven't actually gotten into the history of this project, have I? Currently helmed by Kenichi Oka, he and Yoshinori had a solid run as Yamaoka releasing several techno records at the turn of the century. If the Discogs chronology is accurate, they took a break in the mid-'00s, after which Kenichi carried on solo, making the name's portmanteau redundant - I assume it was done with Yoshinori's blessing. Debuting on Databloem probably wasn't a breakout for the project, because Yamaoka was clearly successful enough to have such a robust discography behind its back before appearing on the label. Still, it had to be beneficial to his profile, exposing him to more folks than labels like October Man Recordings, Somehow Recordings, Kazumi, and Secret Station managed.

Anyhow, I grabbed the album Short Films For Long Days, not only because it was a namedrop in my last Yamaoka review, but also because it's a double-LP. Sweet, two CDs worth of Kenichi's hypnotic loops and improv melodies echoing for long stretches! Can't wait to dive right into- Holy shit! This album just lead-drops you right into it, opener Close Line immediately hitting you with a crash and busy arps. No warning at all. Geez, let me at least get my bearings first, will you Oka-san?

Actually, the track does quickly settle into familiar Yamaoka territory, and at nine minutes, is the longest track on CD1. This disc is essentially the 'techno' half of the album, with loops in play often percolating in intense rhythmic fashion. Some tracks, like To Morning, Expand, and Latch, even get close to having actual drum kicks. Others wouldn't be far removed from trance, if given a bit more bass business (Leap Year, Pict Time). Still, Yamaoka's freeform approach to crafting tracks is in full display here, everything coming off like sketches while jamming with his gear. 'Short films' indeed.

If CD1 is the uptempo side, then clearly CD2 is on the downbeat – or at least as downbeat as Yamaoka can go while still employing endless strings of pulsing loops. The opener here is called Night Train, and if that doesn't feel an apt title for the tunes I've heard thus far, almost like riding along tracks down some dark tunnel. Generally though, CD2 is a calmer session of music, the sketching aspect making more sense with tones lingering longer on drifting echoes. Cool stuff all round, but forgive me for hoping my next Yamaoka outing is a little more structured. Maybe with Purl again?

Sven Väth - Retrospective 1990-97

Club Culture: 2000

Kinda' wild to think there aren't many Sven Väth compilations. Plenty of Harthouse or Eye-Q collections, sure, where he's had his hand in the production chair one way or another. An actual LP dedicated to just his works though? This simple little nine-tracker released in the year 2000 is about it. Okay, also a Mixmag set he did for his 30th anniversary as an artist. This CD doesn't go that far back though, only focusing on his Harthouse era. I assume because Club Culture – and by extension, WEA – only had licensing rights to these tracks, thus it was all they could include. And with Sven's Cocoon print and nightclub gaining plenty of plaudits at the turn of the century, time was about right for those licence holders to cash in.

Nine tracks may not seem like a lot of music covering a seven year span, but considering a few of these cuts breach the double-digit length, I'd say that's reasonable bang for your buck. Not so much, though, if you were already a hardcore Harthouse follower, very little on Retrospective even the most casual consumer of that label's output wouldn't already have. Heck, I already have two-thirds of these tracks in some form, but there are a few remixes that I haven't plucked up yet, plus a few others missing from my own library, so springing a few bones for this compilation was an easy buy for yours truly.

Sven Väth's retrospective collection opens up with the early trance hit of Zyon's No Fate ...which isn't actually a Sven Väth joint. Oh, he and right-hand man Ralf Hildenbeutel are definitely on the Struggle Continuous Mix (the version with d'at piano!), which is what's included here. And this is a perfectly suitable track to open Sven's CD on. Just, y'know, hilarious how Sven technically isn't much involved with it, but rather those other two Eye-Q all-stars: A.C. Boutsen and Stevie B-Zet. Speaking of, Vernon's Wonderland is also on here, but again as remix (called The Future) handled by Sven and Ralf.

Anyhow, of the tunes I already have, Spectrum is here, as is An Accident In Paradise. Heck, I even have that ultra-long Underworld rub of Harlequin – The Beauty And The Beast, which I assume would have been a selling point for this CD for most others. Nice to finally have an original version of the classic, chipper My Name Is Barbarella, though this moody, minimalist Michael Mayer version of L'Esperanza isn't much to get fussed about – darn edits.

That leaves just two tracks I've never talked about. The first is Sven's own Ballet Fusion but it's also an edit, so nuts to that. Electro Acupuncture then, with B-Zet under the guise of Astral Pilot. It's a twelve-minute outing of bouncy techno that's a lot of fun and would probably get huffed out of Very Important techno circles but is so Very Sven Väth – especially of this period – so who gives a hoot?

Blue Hour - Reference 97

Blue Hour: 2014

Hearing honest-to-Gods, true blue trance music from that positivesource compilation naturally had me wondering, was there any more from these guys? The label may be far too new to have cultivated much of a regular roster, but surely all these artists didn't just suddenly sprout up from the ground like so many Tolkien dwarves. You bet, but that's a lot of digging through discographies, some of which may only have a few scant releases to their name. No, best to stick to labels for now, and fortunately for I, it turned out positivesource is a sub-label. Which means there's a parent label I can check out! Oh, goodie!

Sure enough, said parent label is Blue Hour. You might remember that name as one of the artists I mentioned in the positivesource 'Bundle' review (it was only a month ago). I touched on it there, but here's more details. Started by Luke Standing way back in 2013 (yes, that's 'way back' now, deal with it), the eponymous print carved out a tidy little niche in an overcrowded techno market in Germany. Maybe not the most flashy label thereabouts, but successful enough to carry on releasing a few records every year to this day. I don't have the time to sift through the label's entire catalogue to hear just how consistent the trance vibes that lured me in had been lurking throughout, but I figure scoping out some early works might give me an idea. Ah, this Reference 97 looks promising, perhaps referencing techno and trance from the year 1997?

Or maybe not. The titular opener of this single hits you immediately with the thudding, thunderous techno beats you'd associate with Ostgut Ton releases – maybe the snare action is a little vintage Detroit? But what's this? An emergent synth pad, pulsing to the rhythm as it slides along its sine wave? Yeah, that's kinda' trance, even has a little breakdown where it's just the melody doing its thing. Those big ol' beats waste no time coming back though (fuck d'em builds, yo'), keeping Reference 97 firmly in techno's domain.

Second track is called Don't Speak. Ooh, is that a reference to the No Doubt song? Right, the album it came from was released in '95, and technically had a single released in '96, but it did most of its chart damage in '97, so there could be a tie-in! Ha-hah, oh of course not, this Don't Speak a strict exercise in techno minimalism (but not mnml, thank Lord). There is a weird sound that oozes out after every eighth measure, which might be an ultra-dubbed vocal sample, which could be a clip from the No Doubt song? No, I doubt that.

Final track Moments also brings the boom in its beats, but in a broken way, boy. There's also some synth pad work in support, giving this track a real classic Artificial Intelligence vibe. Could almost appear on B12's label, if that bass kick wasn't so beefy.

Spicelab - Quicksand EP

Harthouse/Solieb Digital: 1992/2013

I've held off buying Oliver Lieb Bandcamp remasters for far too long. Always that niggling hope though, that maybe, just maybe, he'd release a hard copy version of his early singles across various aliases, gathering them into a compilation, as done with his L.S.G. works. And I suppose there's still a chance it will happen, but really, if it hasn't happened by now, chances are it never will ...and watch me get proven wrong by this summer.

Anyhow, the early Spicelab singles remained highest on my 'Want' list, so naturally they were the first I sprung for. The Quicksand EP in particular was a unique item in the Spicelab canon, as the titular track is among the first tunes Mr. Lieb released on the downbeat. Perhaps not as notable overall since he'd release the ambient-leaning Constellation on Recycle Or Die the following year, but for a producer who was mostly making blistering, raw acid and techno, Quicksand is a significant step in Oliver's musical evolution.

I already touched on the track as it appeared on the Harthouse Dark Hearts, Vol. 1 compilation, but I may as well re-iterate. Maintaining that experimental sci-fi bent Spicelab often enjoyed, this one opens with lengthy, spaced-out synths gliding and sliding along sine waves, all the while someone hurriedly rushes up a flight of hallway stairs. Man, I can feel my calves getting a work-out just listening to this!

Seriously though, Quicksand has most of the hallmarks of a typical trance tune of the era, just played in a far more chill way, the groove a steady, soft rhythm while all sorts of electronic sounds bubble about. It's an extremely slow build getting to a point where everything's in play, and even then, it doesn't make a big fuss about it, simply cruising along for the track's duration. For those used to the harder side of Spicelab – heck, Harthouse in general – this had to be quite the ear-opener. Small wonder it was tapped for label retrospective consideration.

On the flip, however, is where you'll find the bangers. Amorph is probably the most famous of the lot, an early example of Oliver steering German trance music into the acid techno of the day. It starts out typically of the genre in '92: noisy noises, simple rave riffs, and speedy 150 BPM beats. At the two-minute mark though, those distinct Lieb space synths emerge, flying along with simple pitch bends and squiggly electronics, sending the track into outer orbit. There were examples of these sounds in the debut Spicelab EP, but never used to this effect. The cheeky 'gabber' beats towards the end are just silly fun.

The third track on this EP is called 56387. It's got an annoying hook that sounds like a cyborg strangling a synthesizer. It's mostly just boshy acid techno with some ol' school German trance choir pads. It's not as interesting as the rest of this EP. It was just the style at the time.

Various - positivesource 'Bundle'

positivesource: 2022

Two 'label compilations as Bandcamp downloads' in a row now. Do I have any more? Eh, not in the pipeline, but it is funny how this pair lined up, especially as they couldn't be further apart in genre if they tried. Well, okay, maybe if that Green Bay Wax print was actually nosebleed hardcore, and positivesource was lowercase ambient, then yes, that's about as opposite extremes as it gets.

And I suppose there is some similarity, if not in genre, then definitely in manifesto. Whereas Green Bay Wax is all about that ol' skool jungle, positivesource seems to be all about that ol' skool techno-trance. Yes, I'm talkin' early '90s, Harthouse-era, high-BPM spaced-out trance-trance. When I say no genre dies, I ain't tellin' lies.

The label is an off-shoot of Blue Hour, a print helmed by an artist of the same name, though goes by Luke Standing when dealing with the German auto license depot. It started as an outlet for his own techno material, but gradually grew to incorporate other artists, and now a sub-label with positivesource. Three four-track compilation records were released over the course of a year, which provided just enough material for a charmingly retro 'label compilation' consolidating it all. Now if only there was a CD option, the '90s retro feels with this release would be complete.

And right from the jump, we're dropped into the brisk BPM business, Oprofessionell's SXTOOL pushing the pace pretty high, far higher than cavernous dub techno of this sort ever dares to tread. Still, this is more of a minimal outing, and I promised trance. Wh'ar tha' trance, wh'ar? Follow-up Maniac from Newa gets us closer, with a rolling bassline and punchy synth stabs that tease out brighter chords over its seven minute run-time. And... are those choir pads I hear, towards the end? That's about as ol' skool trance as it gets, ain't it? If that's not 'trance' enough for you, then here's Alan Backdrop's Liaq, with floating pads, burbling acid, and flanged-out percussion that's gotta' get your Oliver Lieb triggers flaring. Not to mention the follow-up to that, Rove Ranger's Future Starts Today, is some straight-up vintage Spicelab action.

Other tracks, like Lady Starlight's G 3.1, Mikkel Rev's Entrance, and Less Distress' Crush The Candy, recall the Platipus side of trance, while Blue Hour reaches back even further to ravier roots on Flashback. And what classic trance compilation would be complete without those weirdo techno cuts that defy easy classification, such as LDS' too-fast t.m. (fm mix), or the oppressive minimalist dub-drone of Ryan James Ford's Purity, or the distorted acid stomp of D.Dan's Raw Jam. A little something for everyone!

Does this 'bundle' promise a proper trance revival then? Eh, no more than Green Bay Wax does for darkside jungle. This is still very niche music in today's clubbing culture, but it warms this old raver's heart knowing it is out there, for those who wish to hear it.

Speedy J - Pepper / Beam Me Up!

Warp Records: 1994/2021

Time to get hep to the step, when J' drops that Hot Mix of Pep! ...per. Um, represent? Okay, that was lame, Dr. Evil lame, but you gotta' give me some kudos for admitting as such, right? Not every one of these intro paragraphs will be a winner, and when you're dealing with the same artist in multiple reviews in short order, the brain, she sometimes fails at the wit. Besides, what would this blog be without the occasional bout of lame-itude?

Pepper was one of the trancey tunes off of Speedy J's debut album Ginger, possibly the tranciest track he ever made. With soaring strings, spaced-out voice pads, and a steady, chugging rhythm, it's small wonder it became a staple of the progressive house scene. It does leave a tantalizing bit of 'what if?' on his discography, if Jochem had decided to pursue this line of music making rather than exploring other facets of techno proper. Instead, it's more a reflection of the period from whence it was made, Europeans cross-pollinating techno and trance with nary a care or worry of what the Detroit Elite thought.

Still, he must have realized this tune was getting a lot of extra attention, giving it a little single love so the DJs didn't have to lug around all that Ginger wax just to play it. And just in case the original was a tad too 'deep' with all those spacey lead-ins and breakdowns, The Hot Mix ups the rhythmic energy with prog-house beats and twitchy, bouncy synth leads. Okay, so less trance than the album version, but I'm sure Sasha and Diggers appreciated this one's dancefloor utility.

That Pepper would get the single treatment isn't surprising, but of all the tracks to pair it up with, why did Beam Me Up! get the nod? The original's fine, I guess, a juanty little easy groover with twinkly synths and stuttery voices, but hardly a top choice for the clubs. This here Pegasus Mix on the single ups the house attributes, even edging close to the realm of garage with a rhythm that's almost shuffly. It's over before it even really begins though, running a svelte three-and-a-half minutes. Barely seems worth the effort having it on a record like this.

Jochem must have known this Pepper / Beam Me Up single was quite skint, so for the CD option, he included a near-sixteen minute excerpt of a live performance that includes the tracks Ginger, Pepper and Flashback (the other 'trancey' song off the album). And hot damn, is this ever a dope excerpt! If ever you needed proof positive Speedy J knew his way around a techno groove and a 303 acid twiddle, you got it right here. Only downside to Live '94 is it fades out just as you're really warmed up to it, wanting the set to go the full length of a CD. Hmm, Jochem should do that, down the line, and call it something simple yet silly, like !ive. Genius!

Various - In Trance We Trust 001: DJ Misja Helsloot

In Trance We Trust: 1998

Going back to the very beginning of this label's existence was inevitable, especially if I ever want to sate this bizarre desire to 'complete the set'. Oddly, In Trance We Trust 001 wasn't that hard to find for a reasonable penny, at least compared to the subsequent volumes. Is it because Mr. Helsloot has remained active to this day? For sure Discoggian data is utterly sparse for DJ Stigma and DJ Lars Holte, though that may be for other reasons I needn't get into here.

Anyhow, we should be plenty familiar with the story now. Black Hole Recordings established, DJ Tiësto quickly releasing a couple of his famed Magik mix CDs, fame growing, then *boom*! Sub-labels spring up aplenty. Actually, I'm not entirely sure how many emerged shortly after Black Hole's launch. I was honestly surprised to discover In Trance We Trust was birthed so soon after its parent label though, my head somehow thinking it wasn't until the year 2000. And yet, listening to the inaugural mix CD from this two decade-plus old print (!!), you could have easily convinced me it was launched even earlier.

I know the state of trance was somewhat in flux throughout 1998, but there's still an easily identifiable sound we associate with the era: sawwave anthems, gated pads, melodies that really get your gurn on. I was not expecting to hear vintage choir pads right from the opening in Hammock Brothers' Blaze Of Night. Even more confounding to my senses is this is one of Mr. Verwest's early collabs, in this case Roland Kramer. Right, it totally gets its Sash! on when the peak hits, but so did a lot of clubby trance back then, and not every one of them did the ol' school German trance thing while doing so.

Speaking of way-old aliases hardly anyone remembers, hoo boy are there a bunch of them here. M.I.K.E. and Deruyter (as Extreme Trax), Benno de Goeij (as Ceres), Taucher and Stenzel (as Red Light District), Transa (as Cascade), with Corsten (as Moonman) on the rub. Actually, this Transcend tune is one I definitely recall hearing 'back in the day', and a clear precursor to his massive Out Of The Blue, doing that 'hold the build e-e-e-extra long' thing.

That was 'the future of trance' though, and Misja fills this CD with plenty of old-sounding trance from names like DJ Philip, Solar Plexus, Warlock, and even his own E-Mocean. Elsewhere, tunes like De-Tuned from Reversed Twister, Did You Hear Me? from Red Light District, and, erm, Sakin & Friends' Protect Your Mind and Tiësto's own Theme From Norefjell point to where things were headed.

Which would make for an interesting set if Mr. Helsloot thematically arranged things to support this dichotomy, but he doesn't. Frankly, the mixing is shockingly abrupt, with key clashes and hard slams everywhere. I guess when everyone making the genre aren't all using the same presets yet (much less studio polished into label homogeneity), these things are more noticeable.

Solar Fields - EarthShine

Ultimae Records/Sidereal: 2007/2022

Maybe not as unexpected a re-issue as EarthBeat, but man, did Magnus ever hold out on this one. Not that I blame him, EarthShine something of a black sheep in the Solar Fields discography, to say nothing of the Ultimae Records catalogue. For you see, this album is a full-on trance album, inching precariously close to full-on psy at times. Definitely on that prog-psy continuum, released when the sound was gaining as close to critical plaudits as the psy scene could ever generate. Yet while it wasn't unprecedented that Solar Fields or Ultimae would up the tempo for a track or two, you'd never get a full album's worth of the stuff. Even spiritual follow-up, Random Friday, had its ambient intro and outro tracks, with slower-paced prog-psy lodged among the rest.

What I can't figure is the hesitancy over re-issuing EarthShine, as it was a very popular album. As I remember it, this was the record that clued trance fans outside the psy scene that something rather special was going on over at Ultimae. Throw in Asura's Life² being released around the same time, and you have an undeniable killer-combo of LPs that drew in numerous new fans. *cough*

And while Life² did get a 2015 digital remastering on Ultimae, EarthShine remained in the vault. Part of that undoubtedly had to do with Magnus working to retain the rights to all his music so he could re-issue them himself elsewhere (his own Droneform; plus Sidereal, a sub-label of doom metal print Avantgarde Music ...what is it with Ultimae alum ending up in orbit of metal labels?). It's been an ongoing process, everything from Reflective Frequencies to Random Friday seeing a re-issue of some sort. Even stuff like Extended and the Origins collections, not to mention a 3CD box-set of assorted non-album material, were all re-issued before EarthShine. Mr. Birgesson couldn't ignore it forever though, and so, nearly fifteen years since its release, and having finally gone through the rest of his back-catalogue, we finally get the EarthShine re-issue.

That all said, how does this 'black sheep' of the Solar Fields discography hold up? Pretty darn good, I'd say, but only if you really dig that trance vibe. Yeah, there's just no denying it, the tunes on here having the morning parties squarely in its sights. It's honestly almost shocking just how brisk tracks like the aggressive Adjustment, floaty February, and acid-leaning Cruise are, the sort of cuts peak-time J00F would have been rinsing out back when. Sure, you may come into EarthShine with some expectation of a full-tilt go of trance music, and the first clutch of tracks drop you into prog-psy's domain with ease – there's even a triplet breakdown in Black Arrow!

But then Brainbow launches you into a deep cosmic ride, while Spectral Nation goes for the big gurning feels (pure Solarstone vibes on that one), and is it any wonder why the 'Trance Nation' fell sway to this album? Absolutely not!

Pete Namlook / DJ Dag - Adlernebel

Fax +49-69/450464: 2000

Pete Namlook collaborated with DJ Dag, the man who helped define trance music? Heck, he even contributed to the indispensable, quintessential Namlook tribute box-set Die Welt Ist Klang, and I somehow completely blanked on it. Right, he was using his seldom-used alias of, um, Dag Lerner (his real name), so you understand why I may not have made the connection.

More so, this is a pairing that, on paper, happened far too late. Dag's profile was at its peak when Fax+ was finding its footing, Dance 2 Trance getting published on one of the biggest eurodance labels of the time, Blow Up. Despite Pete's print being something of a common ground for all electronic music makers to convene and collaborate, I doubt it was high on Mr. Lerner's mind to do so. Time carries on though, and while DJ Dag's career never cratered, he certainly wasn't mentioned in the same breath as all the hot, new trance jocks of the millennium's turn. A legacy act, if you will. Which is about the perfect time to hook up with that Namlook fella' and see what creative juices may blossom from such a session!

I have no idea what anyone expected of this pairing way back when. They couldn't possibly have thought it would sound 'contemporary' to the tastes of trance music in the year 2000, could they? Both these chaps were resolutely old-school when it came to their craft, so hearing something so early '90s retro shouldn't have been much of a surprise. Then again, who was this release even for, beyond the Fax+ faithful? Certainly not clubland at large, though I'm sure Dag would have rinsed out at least couple tunes off here. Maybe Talla 2XLC as well.

Raum Und Zeit, The West Is The Best, and Pure Energy are as vintage of 'proper' trance tunes as I've ever heard, distilled and purified from the year 1992 and not a month later. Meanwhile, Dagar treads closer to Namlook's brand of spaced-out, loopy trance (with additional wolf howls maintaining Dag's continued nods to Native American activism), while the remaining cuts are charming chill tunes. Who cares if they'd never have a hope of being playlisted by Paul Oakenfold or any of the Dutch dudes? This is the music Pete and Dag wanted to make for themselves and that's all that matters, gosh darn it all.

Yet, as I played Adlernebel, a curious notion crossed my mind: what does it matter in modern times when this was released? True, electronic music evolution was explosive throughout the '90s, but that was honestly only important as it was happening. The gap between 1992 and 2000 is paltry from our vantage point. These days, genres have became sated and stagnant – the difference between a 2012 and 2020 trance release is almost negligible. So a year 2000 trance album sounds like a 1992 trance album. Us old-schoolers would kill for a 2021 trance album to sound like a 1992 trance album! Anyhow, food for thought.