Djen Ajakan Shean - Crows Heading For Point Blank

Amplexus: 1995

Music storage comes in many formats, but few as curious as the mini-CD, or CD3. The idea behind them was sound, offering a compact format for singles much in the same manner as 7” vinyl did for the record industry. It never caught on though. Major labels made use of the traditional CD size for EPs, filling half its potential space with music instead. However, blank CD3s were still widely available in bulk at computer shacks, so they turned into a means for independent labels to hand-make small quantity releases of material.

The history lesson done, let’s look at this album from Djen Ajakan Shean, which was released on, you guessed it, a limited run CD3.

The first track on here is the titular Crows Heading For Point Blank. Anyone familiar with Eno’s brand of ambient music will feel right at home as Shean weaves droning pads of calming textures and various timbres throughout. About a third of the way through, slow tribal rhythms are introduced, providing a welcome change in tempo, if not in tone. A few atmospheric flourishes come and go, including what sounds like chatter at a subway train station. Overall, it’s a very pleasant piece of ambient music that never needlessly noodles about. Good enough for background music, yet just enough content to keep you engaged should you pay attention for the duration.

And that’s all. Yep, it’s a twenty-one minute long track, which is the maximum length these mini-CDs can hold. So… um, that’s that?

Naw, that’s only half my word count. There’s gotta be more. Djen Ajakan Shean? Eh, not much info there, as both Discogs and Last.fm bios are relatively blank, not to mention a very sparse discography. The label Amplexus? It had a few prominent names of similar ambient ilk release mini-albums - Steve Roach, Michael Stearns, Vidna Obmana, Tuu, and Robert Rich to name a few - but due to only releasing limited-run CD3s, the label was a very marginal player in the 90s ambient scene. Cool name though.

I’m sorry. There’s just nothing else here. Maybe I can talk about current events for a bit. Hm, hockey’s still not back yet. The LA Lakers finally won a game, so that’s good, even though I’m only begrudgingly cheering for them now that Steve Nash is on the team. There was that big kerfuffle at Anjunabeats over renaming their radio show to Group Therapy, for some reason. A country to the south of me had an election, which was apparently a big deal there. Prince Edward Island has a new Premier, but nobody cares. Saturn continues to be fucking awesome! I heard Karl Rove had a Scanners moment recently. Suzuki’s gone bankrupt, which is a shame since he’s such a decent human being that- oh, wait, the moter company Suzuki, not David Suzuki.

You know what? I suck at current events. Let’s hope there’re no more one-song mini-CDs for a long, long time.

Roc Raida - Crossfaderz: A Turntablist's Throwdown!!

Moonshine Music: 2000

Now this is an odd one. Moonshine Music flirted with many genres during its run, but never hip-hop. The closest might have been trip-hop or acid jazz, but nothing like this. It’s understandable though, as the label primarily focused on releasing compilations and DJ mixes, signing very few artists for album output. The world of rap music tended to go the other way, with a plethora of albums but few compilations and even less DJ mixes. I suppose it’s due to the fact hip-hop DJs are of a totally different stock than house or techno DJs. Their craftsmanship lay in turntablism and scratching, cutting up tracks to create whole new compositions on the fly as an MC spit rhymes overtop. Certainly an incredible skill to pull off, but not a commercially successful one as MCs became the stars of the show, stealing all the DJs’ thunder.

I suspect the hip-hop scene came to realize this oversight at the turn the century. Turntablists started getting their dues again and more media exposure came to DMC champions. All well and good for the scratchers, but what about those other DJs of the rap world, the pirate radio players? The mixtapers? That… took a while longer to catch on.

Moonshine, however, appeared willing to gamble on getting a head start, offering up this here CD featuring the late DMC World Champion Roc Raida (that’s Grandmaster, foo’). For sure, there’s plenty of scratchin’, rewinds, and assorted turntable trickery on display, but this is also a mixtape. Or rather, a radio set.

The concept behind Crossfaderz is Mr. Raida as a guest DJ on an underground station called WHAT! 187FM (they don’t give a fuck, what!). I have no idea if this was an actual radio station in New York, but given how many hilarious interludes and skits are scattered throughout the disc, I suspect not. Oh, and I’m serious in that these skits are funny - they’re all piss-takes on various hip-hop sub-cultures. My favorite’s the commercial for Slash Ya Face Records, featuring “smash reggae hits” like Sleepy Eepy’s Bitch Take Me Home Or Die When Ya Get Home (it’s a foc seen).

As for the music itself, there’s definitely some fine hip-hop on display (god, I sound white…), mostly all underground stuff, though a few big names crop up. Pre-coffee shop Common’s here with his Ice Cube diss track Bitch In Yoo; The Heist is an excellent crime story from Big L; Missin’ Linx’s Missing In Action will get your attention, as it did Dr. Dre’s when he used a very similar backing track for The Next Episode. Don’t expect mixing like most EDM sets though. Everything’s a sharp scratch cut into the next record.

One thing I’ve always wondered about Crossfaderz is whether it was intended to be a running series for Moonshine. Despite a quality collection of underground hip-hop, it was so far outside the label’s traditional audience, I could see it doing poorly. Too bad for those who slept on it.

FPU - Crockett's Theme / Ocean Drive

Turbo: 2002

Pads have long been one of my favorite components of electronic music, but I’d be hard pressed to provide a Top 10 example, as they’re so ubiquitous in the genre, dating back even to its earliest forms. On a personal point though, Peter Benisch’s use of them in Crockett’s Theme easily makes the list. Their beauty lies in their simplicity, prominent and enveloping, yet always lingering in the background as the best pad work does. Of course, it helps that the original composition was written by Jan Hammer, easily one of the best synth composers of the 80s; however, Hammer kept his pad work subtle, instead focusing on the rousing, building theme for the Don Johnson character. Though that theme is present in Benisch’s cover, it’s his pads that steal the show. And the remixers knew it.

Possibly even more successful was Tiga’s reworking of the tune into Ocean Drive. This came out when the Turbo honcho was discovering he actually had a decent singing voice and, following up on the sensation that was his cover of Sunglasses At Night produced yet another 80s homage. Obviously it’d be something relating to Miami Vice but who’d have thought he’d play to the show’s slash-fic audience. He’s never explicit about it, as there’s an artful homo-erotic tone to this version, made even more apparent by the video that borrows its aesthetic from a similarly homo-erotic art house film titled Querelle, also from the 80s.

Adding a hand to Ocean Drive was Mateo Murphy, a techno producer of some success in the early 2000s. He’s given solo remix duties on Crockett’s Theme, working an energetic layered groove before bringing his take on the pads for the finish. Rounding out the remix package is Jori Hulkkonen under his Zyntherius guise, treating the tune to an 80s house rub that’s fun for what it is, but ain’t a touch on the other versions here.

Man, all this, and I still haven’t gotten to Benisch’s FPU alias. The project gave him an avenue to explore spacey electro and synth-pop, the first single of which was this one. In an effort to promote the forthcoming album Traxxdata, this CD contained a couple extra tracks from it, Time Safari and Eastside Protection. As I’ve gushed before, Benisch is an excellent producer, and even though these electro cuts are of a significantly lighter tone than anything on Soundtrack Saga, his craftsmanship is still strong, injecting playful sci-fi sounds and digitized vocals throughout. Interestingly, he uses a similar pad texture in Eastside Protection to Crockett’s Theme, yet they don’t stand out as much as there’s much more at work in that track.

Or maybe it goes to show just how excellent they’re used in Crockett’s Theme. I can’t get enough of them. Excuse me a moment while I throw that song on again, and drift down Ocean Drive on a linen cloud of pad bliss.

Various - Creamfields: Mixed By Paul Oakenfold

Thrive Records: 2004

For the inaugural Grammy Award For Best Dance/Electronica Album in 2005, Paul Oakenfold’s DJ mix Creamfields was among the nominations. As it stands, it’s the only DJ mix to ever be nominated in the category, which makes sense since a DJ mix isn’t an album of original material and probably shouldn’t have been there in the first place. Why was it, then? As anyone will tell you, it's because the Grammy Nomination Committee’s filled with morons. They probably didn’t even realize ol’ Paul had only half-a-dozen tracks to his name on the double-CD, but he did have that pop charter Starry Eyed Surprise a couple years prior, so throw him on the ballot for the name recognition. See, club culture, we’re hip to your music. We know you like that Pauly Oaksenfield guy.

Still, wouldn’t it have been funny if he had won that year? Could you imagine the huge can of worms opened? All DJ mixes would have to be considered then. In a sense, that could work, as plenty of DJ mixes have just as much artistic merit as producer albums. Oh, who are we kidding? A Grammy for DJ Mixes would turn into a worse debate gong-show than even the DJ Mag poll.

Back to Creamfields, I recall this was hailed as a proper return to trance-form for Oakenfold, with many of his fans believing he’d given up his pop pursuits by getting back to his roots (re: the music his fans first loved him for - I highly doubt they’d want him to go all the way back to his Happy Monday roots). Of course, that didn’t happen, as his follow-up artist album A Lively Mind (also a Grammy nominee because it’s Oaken F’n Fold!) jumped on every EDM bandwagon he could find in Hollywood. Not that it should have surprised his fans since Creamfields is something of a bandwagon jump itself.

McProg - the lightweight, poppy variation of progressive house - was gaining traction in 2004; right alongside it was Markus Schulz’ ascendency, who offered a form of progressive trance that emphasized low, rumbly basslines contrasted with twinkling melodies. Oakenfold noticed, and CD 1 of Creamfields prominently features this sound, including cuts from Schulz and others of similar stock (Andy Moor, Probspot, Young Parisians, and Interstate being the biggest names). It’s a fine enough mix, though nothing you couldn’t find on a typical Coldharbour collection.

CD 2’s an odd one to conclude on, mixing a few genres up into baffling set. Opening with proggy breaks is fine, and it’s not long before we’re in trance territory, some tunes apparently winks to the sort of goa Oakenfold used to play out. Unfortunately, every so often, it’s broken up by pop remixes, throwing whatever marginal flow was built off the rails. Guess he couldn’t fit them on CD 1, so here they are instead. Gotta show off that new U2 remix, after all. Maybe he’ll get a Grammy nomination for it!

Various - Cream CD2: Mixed By Max Graham

Yul Records: 2000

Fellow Canadian Max Graham's been DJing for over two decades now, building a tidy career out of it. Yet, all anyone remembers him for is his productions, specifically two of them. The first, his breakout single Airtight, came out when progressive trance was enjoying a creative and commercial high, and getting the tune playlisted by Oakenfold's popular Another World and Tiësto's even more popular In Search Of Sunrise 2 guaranteed its classic status among year-2000 trance lovers. His other was a dance remix of Yes' classic Owner Of A Lonely Heart, where he took the brilliant idea of adding a house beat to the rock staple and... um, that's all. Why was that so popular again?

Anyhow, he’s released several DJ mixes over the years, including a running series called Cycles on Armada that I only learned about just now because, well, Armada. This particular CD was his first commercial mix, released just in time to capitalize on the good will he was garnering thanks to Airtight. It didn’t catch on, so he tried again with the fourth installment of the Transport series, which undoubtedly has caused you to ask, “They did four of those things?” Seven, actually, but yeah, it didn’t catch on either, at least in any significant way.

Wait, that probably wasn’t the reason this mix didn’t catch on. I mean, just look at the label here, Yul Records. Has anyone outside of Montreal heard of them? No, not the Rational Youth label. That was a different Yul Records. This one apparently co-opted the name since the original Yul had been derelict since the mid-80s. They released a few other DJ mixes and singles in the early 2000s, but didn’t last long, and doubtlessly never made an impact outside Canada.

So yeah, not the greatest start for Max Graham to make his mark, but we all start somewhere, and Yul Records seemed to have its heart in the right place, starting up a DJ mix series that paid tribute to the Cream festival. That was the intent, right?

The mix itself? Pretty darn good, I’d say. It’s progressive trance from the year 2000 after all, and there were some dynamite cuts to be found. Of course Airtight’s here, but you got contributions from Bedrock, BT, James Holden, Breeder, Way Out West, DJ Remy, and a few others rounding things out. The only real problem here is these are well-known anthems now, so Cream CD2 falls into that “same tracks you already got in a different order” category of DJ mixes. For as solid a track list this is, ol’ Max doesn’t do much to stand out from the pack, save a couple nu-breaks cuts to start (and I never liked that Timo Maas remix of Doom’s Night anyway).

Not much else to say here. Hearing these tunes again was nice, and worth the price I paid at the used-shop, but, like so many trance mixes from that time, hardly essential listening.

Quadrophonia - Cozmic Jam

RCA: 1991

For a decade, I was obsessed with Quadrophonia (the song that is). It was a track that forever eluded me, my only copy being a backing soundtrack to an NBA Jam Session video I had on VHS. It contained everything that drew me into 'techno' during my honeymoon year: big punchy riff, chunky beat, robot voices, and Michael Jordan! Well, maybe not that last one, but stuff like this was definitely being played out at basketball games.

The 'stuff' in question is proper old school rave music, and Quadrophonia (the duo that is) is considered pioneers of the sound. Far as anyone can tell, their big single Quadrophonia was the first to use orchestral hits as a hook. Listening to it now, it sounds incredibly simple and dated, but in 1990 it was exciting stuff. Throw in raps and proto-hardcore rhythms, and you've got a track that would spawn countless imitators and knockoffs, some of which would go on to be much better produced and memorable than what we have here. But hey, Quadrophonia opened the door, so props for that.

And when you get a hit single, it’s a good idea to follow that up with an album. Trouble is, no one had done a rave album before, so there was no template to follow. And listening to Cozmic Jam, Quadrophonia had no idea what to do either.

Strike that. They had an idea, and it was a good one, the original Quadrophonia. So hey, if people liked that, why not do it again? And again? And again? Nearly every track sounds like I’m listening to the same song over and over, only with something other than orchestral hits as the main hook. Not to say these are complete rehashes - there are differences between tracks like Hardhead, Man With The Masterplan, and The Wave Of The Future - but it’s mostly window-dressing to the fact there’s not much musical variation from tune to tune.

I suspect Quadrophonia realized this, as they litter Cozmic Jam with sonic doodles in an attempt to break up the monotony; it doesn’t work. A little better is Find The Time, which gives Marvin D a chance to rap about relationships instead of how their sound is the wave of the future, but were two versions really necessary on this album? Why of course it was, when there are already half a dozen variations of Quadrophonia.

The closer, Theme Of Quadraphonia hints at what could have been if the duo had tried a little harder. Granted, it’s a style-bite of 808 State’s Pacifc, but dammit, it’s something different, and Cozmic Jam needed that. Maybe the album would have stood the test of time better as a result. As it stands, it's permanently stuck in the first rays of rave dawn it was created in, rendering it suitable only for the curious or fans of that era.

Various - Cosmic Trance 02

Substance: 1997

You know what astounds me about this release? The fact that, should you go to its Discogs page, the image I submitted way back for its cover art is still there. I submitted plenty of cover images in those days, and it heavily contributed to my decent Discogs Rank Score of 367, a Top 500 placing for a brief while (now, I’m not even Top 5,000!), so that’s not out of the ordinary. I am surprised, however, no one’s replaced that image, as it was a poor scan to begin with. Just look at it (to the left …yes, it’s the same one).What’s with those lines? None of the other scans I did were that bad. It’s embarrassing I’m responsible for this CD’s sad visual Discogs legacy.

The reason for this utterly pointless musing is there’s not much to talk about regarding Cosmic Trance 02. It’s a solid trance DJ mix from 1997 that’s mostly on a psy trip, released by a sub-label of Distance, known for the popular Distance To Goa series. Now that I think about it, ‘97 was a curious year for trance as a whole. Everyone could tell that scene was going to go big at any point, but no one really knew which sub-genres would dominate. The classic German sound was pretty much dead, yet the Dutch hadn’t made their mark either. Club trance - which fed off the carcass of a wayward euro dance scene - seemed likely, but those British progressive house DJs were injecting trancey songs into their sets, lending the music proper credibility. And what was the deal with goa? That Oakenfold guy seemed fond of it, so maybe that’s the hot new sound.

It’s the odd meeting ground between tough hard trance and psy that we find this CD. Structurally, it’s about as typical as you’d find for the genre: big opener (Moka DJ’s For Europe’s a lot of fun), chunky goa-psy for a while with plenty of acid to spare, a couple well-placed anthems along the way to keep your attention (De Niro’s Mind Of Man being the biggest one), and mellower tracks to ease out at the end. Oh, and rough mixing, but unless it was a Pro Tools set, that was the norm for these things back then, so it’s fine so long as the momentum is never lost, which it isn’t.

There aren’t a lot of well-known tracks here (fourteen in all), but most of them come from well-known labels: Transient, Tunnel, Superstition, Flying Rhino, Trans’pact, and Blue Room to name the most prominent. If you’re looking for a primer, I suppose Cosmic Trance 02 is reasonable, as it’s affordable either as a download or CD (at least according to that Discogs page). Sure is much cheaper than the near $30 I paid when it was new. Hey, don’t judge me, man. Owning imported trance CDs from Europe was a status symbol for West Coast Canadians in ye’ olde mid-90s, yo’ (not really).

Sven Väth - Contact

Ultra Records: 2000

Sven Väth is Sven Väth, a very important person in the world of techno, though that wasn't always the case. For the early part of his career, he was a very important person in the world of trance, running the influential Harthouse label. Right around the time trance was blowing up, he abandoned it, pursuing a fashionable German infatuation with techno instead. Also changing was his fashion sense itself, foregoing a harlequin-rave style and diving headfirst into doofy eurotrash, literally. He dunked his bleached hair into industrial-strength superwet-gel, and became synonymous with the look until a geeky Canadian named Richie co-opted it for himself, forcing Sven to adopt yet another persona, the grizzled Papa Sven we know today.

That’s jumping ahead. For Contact, he have to focus on the doofy eurotrash era. This was when Sven established his Cocoon parties in Ibiza, along with his new label Cocoon Recordings. It took a bit for it to properly take off, as the brand of techno Väth was pushing was seen as too hard and underground for mainstream acceptance. You’d think, in an effort to promote this particular brand of German techno, he’d release an album filled with such bangers. Oh, silly you.

Väth had shown eclecticism before, but there was a sense he had a specific vision in mind on his previous albums. Mind, he did have Ralf Hildenbeutel as co-producer on them, which quite likely helped guide a wayward muse. Contact instead brings in different co-producers, who were well known, true, but leads to a disjointed album.

Most prominent is Alter Ego, helping out on nearly half the tracks. On the other half is Anthony Rother, who was something of a rising star in the electro-proper revival going on at the time. Two more or handled by Johannes Heil, and two Sven went solo on (the goofy electro Apricot, and the beatless ambient-techno throwback Privado). Quite a collection of talent, and each tune they work on has its own unique charm. Unfortunately, there’s no cohesion among them. The Rother tracks mostly maintain an electro vibe (Pathfinder and Once More especially so), but are totally out of place when paired up with the minimal techno Alter Ego offers. Smuggler, which only Roman Flügel contributed to, is a fine techno workout, then clashes bizarrely with the Heil-hemmed hard breaks of Contact.

If this is sounding more like a compilation than an album, it’s because that’s what it’s like listening to this CD - a sampler of various techno sub-genres. To be fair, techno itself was going through something of an upheaval in 2000, fresher European sounds finding their way into playlists. Perhaps Sven was hedging his bets, experimenting to find what worked best for him. Or maybe he didn’t care, and rushed this out to meet label quota demands (he was signed to Virgin) while diverting most of his attention to DJing. Whatever the case, Contact is an odd listen with good moments, but not one enjoyed in a single sitting.

Kraftwerk - Computer World

Elektra: 1981

Computer World was the last album of Kraftwerk’s Fabulous Five (or second to last of the Sensational Six if you include Electric Café). What else is left to say about it? How about, of those seminal mid-career albums Kraftwerk put out, this is my least favorite.

Of course I still enjoy it, but compared to the albums that came before, it’s a muted joy, a nodding appreciation rather than giddy fulfillment. Problem is by the time I got around to hearing it in full, I’d heard it so bloody much that its potential luster had worn away long ago.

I’m not even talking about the actual songs themselves. Without a doubt, Computer World is the most influential Kraftwerk album within EDM’s sphere. These songs have been sampled, interpolated, pilfered, recontextualized, ripped-off, and paid tribute to so often, it’d be neigh impossible to make a reliable list of where they’ve cropped up. Trans-Europe Express may have been an inspiring catalyst for the Soul Sonic Force, but Numbers and Home Computer pretty much formed the backbone of electro (and by extension, freestyle and bass music). Also, much of the synth-pop world had caught up to the group’s sonic tricks by this point so all those weird, wonderful robotic sounds they produced weren’t as cutting-edge as before. Though few could match their attention to rhythmic detail and knack for charming melody, Kraftwerk no longer stood alone as the 80s took form.

This may be why Computer World always feels short to me. As Kraftwerk’s computer futurism would go on to be thoroughly explored in the ensuing decade by other artists, what’s offered here comes off as little more than a glimpse. It's unfortunate, considering their other albums provided far more compelling ‘journeys.’

Three types of songs are featured: the Theme, the Pop, and the Robotic. The latter is explored in the two I’ve already mentioned, plus closer It’s More Fun To Compute. Given their straight-forward rhythms and weird sound effects, it’s easy to see why they were so heavily sampled. Still, even in their original context, they’re solid tunes, plus anytime Kraftwerk breaks out the voice boxes is a win. Less effective are the two Pop ditties, Pocket Calculator and Computer Love, both too cute for my taste though the latter does feature pleasant synth melodies. Finally, the overriding Theme of this album stems from titular opener Computer World, which has a reprise midway through, and something of a return in the closer. As Kraftwerk list off government watch dogs, you get the sense the intent of this album is to convey a world where Big Brother’s always watching. Why yes, 1984 was just around the corner, why do you ask?

It’d be highly remiss of me to not recommend this album, but anyone breaking out from their early electronic music exploration should know Kraftwerk is essential listening. Just don’t be surprised if, like me, you’ll find an overwhelming sense of familiarity with Computer World.

Kerri Chandler - Computer Games EP (Original TC Review)

Deeply Rooted House: 2007

(2012 Update:
Kerri Chandler still remains one of those house producers everyone comes around to once the latest trend-house fad passes, which is cool. As for why this has come up in my list rather than the album proper, um, well, funny thing that.

See, I initially had Computer Games as a download, but lost it when the former laptop I had it stored frizzled on me. Oddly enough, I managed to retain the EP from which I wrote this review for, plus the track Locked Out, of which I've included as part of the ACE TRACKS, because dammit, that retro-cool cruisin' vibe's just so delicious! I've been meaning to get a hard-copy proper of the album, but it don't come cheap anymore. *sigh*)


IN BRIEF: Vintage, not dated.

It’s a good time to be a deep house producer again. Although veteran names like Kerri Chandler have long held respect within the clubbing community, recent years have seen growing interest in their output from a broader listening base. Might it be that, after so long having to endure rowdy nu-electro and navel-gazing minimal-tech, house fans have been clamoring for something with more soul? Or perhaps everyone really is just getting old.

Whatever the reason, the sub-genre’s uptick in popularity has given producers an opportunity to try their hand at concept albums, and in Chandler’s case we have the two-disc Computer Games as a result. That’s not what this particular review is about though.

Instead, let us focus on the EP of the same name that was released a little over a year ago. Why? To be frank, much of the strongest material was initially produced on this vinyl, and seeing as how the full-length album is filled with little inconsequential skits that aren’t worth getting into, we may as well just turn our attentions here anyway. Besides, I rather prefer the cover to this one, heh.

Chandler is, if nothing else, a true traditionalist. The music contained here is about as vintage a sound as you’re likely to find within the realms of house. Even with synthy elements like sci-fi zaps and sine-wave pads scattered about, the roots of the genre are ever present. You won’t find anything innovative or groundbreaking in Computer Games, but Chandler isn’t out to reshape the nature of house music - he’s here to provide you with some funky grooves and soulful licks.

And sure enough, he delivers on those grounds. The Invaders builds bleeps along some fine beats; Last Man Standing ups the funk quotient to some degree; Vector Graphics goes deep and spacey on us; and Moon Bounce, as per its name, bounces along to shuffling rhythms as Chandler improvises some jazzy melodies alongside. All said, an enjoyably agreeable assortment of house music.

Still, if you don’t mind having to sift through a bunch of little skits, the 2CD release of Computer Games is probably the one for you. Although most of the best cuts are found on this EP, it’s also unfortunately lacking a couple more that are quite good too (Locked Out, Fortran, Pong, to suggest a few). While this single is a tasty sampler of the project, it’s unfortunately not quite the full package.