Bob Marley - Dreams Of Freedom: Ambient Translations Of Bob Marley In Dub

Axiom: 1997

Dreams Of Freedom was something of a stoner’s classic back at the turn of the century, many a pothead owning a burned CD containing tracks from this release cobbled from P2P search inquiries. Heck, I was such an individual, using AudioGalaxy to find more Bill Laswell and ‘ambient dub’ musics, only to discover tunes off here high in search results. It really is a can’t-miss idea: Bob Marley, dub remixes, and ambient textures; the prefect late-night, crash-and-spark album for ganja smokers.

This isn’t just a generic remix album either; rather, it’s a concept album, using classic Marley songs to create a journey of sorts. It helps that the driving force behind everything is Bill Laswell, thus maintaining a consistent tone throughout. There are a couple guest collaborations with Tetsu Inoue, but by and large, it’s Laswell’s show. And yes, his discography is incredibly hit-or-miss, but much of his Axiom output was class, and Dreams Of Freedom's no exception. He treats the source material with enough respect to let it shine through, while his deviations enhance the calming atmosphere.

The best way I can describe Dreams Of Freedom is “Marley In Space”, as Laswell makes ample use of his outworldly pads between the songs. Each segues into the next, as though drifting through alien landscapes before settling at a stage where another Marley song is being performed. Sitting nearby with his bass is Laswell, jamming away between the choruses as dub rhythms dance about. Come for the memorable melodies, stay for the spliffed-out music sessions.

So this is a nice little album, but an elephant doth dwell in the room; or rather, a Mr. Bob Marley is missing from it. Yes, his face is on the cover, that’s his name on the title, and these are songs that he wrote, but aside from Midnight Ravers at the end, he only sparingly crops up during choruses, if at all. Of course, this is because Dreams Of Freedom is a dub album, of the traditional sense. Dig into the works of the genre’s founders, and you’ll find many dub releases were just instrumentals of reggae singles; in fact, the whole notion behind dub music was giving the music itself freedom to breathe between the spaces. This album doesn’t hide the concept, explicitly stating these are ‘ambient dub translations’ right in the title. If you know dub music, the lack of ol’ Bob shouldn’t come as a surprise. Still, I maintain it’s kinda deceiving having a photo of someone known for his singing barely show up in the album proper.

I cannot deny the 'dub translations' scene being at times tedious, producers seldom adding much of note to the originals. And to be fair, Dreams Of Freedom falls in this category too. Fans of vintage Marley won't find anything new, and Laswell's style's long been 'like it or leave it'. Still, this album executes as expertly as one can hope, given the players involved. If anything, it's a great sleepy-time CD.

Robert Miles - Dreamland

BMG Music Canada: 1996

Right, Robert Miles. Children. The Dream Version. *cracks knuckles*.

I hate this whore of a track. Loathe it. Despise it. Every time I hear the first plink of piano, I cringe, but know I cannot escape the saccharine journey that is about to unfold. Maybe, just maybe, it might be okay. There must be something to enjoy, somewhere. Strings? Yeah, those are nice, but- What? That's your rhythm!? Holy hell, I thought the melody was sap, but this is pathetic. How do you ruin off-beat basslines and kick drums all in one shot? I know trance isn't the funkiest groove out there, but there was still some jump to it, some energy. This has nothing. It's just... there, sucking.

And I hate Fable even more.

That's only the first two tracks though, and seeing as I'm reviewing Dreamland, it can't be a total write off, right? I have kept the odd crap CD over the years after a used-shop haul (collector's obsession), but I bought Mr. Miles' debut album when it was new, hence me covering the original version without One & One (thank God!). Part of it was the lack of options living in the hinterlands of Canada while getting into trance-proper. Dreamland was about the tranciest thing one could find in any shop in 1996, and beggers can't be choosers.

More than that, I actually rather like the other tunes on Dreamland. Okay, they don't deviate far from the 'dream house' template Miles made popular, but it’s enough that it shows he can craft a half-decent beat. Fantasya: a bouncy bassline! Landscape: the rhythm has skip to it! In My Dreams: breaks ...that are funky! If you can craft a rhythm like this, why you no be funky elsewhere, Mr. Miles?

I should also bring up that plinky piano. I’m not a fan of it (shock), but Miles does sometimes put it to good use as a melodic counterpoint. In My Dreams starts with lovely, mournful string pads, which thus become the focus of the whole song - the piano merely dances around it to wonderful effect. He pulls a similar composition with In The Dawn, once again backing pads driving the melody, with his piano making only a brief appearance; not to mention the rhythm in this track’s got a nice shuffle to it. It’s not revolutionary, but for the ideas Dreamland presents, it’s far more intuitive than the big hits.

And that’s not even getting into the two tracks just about everyone agrees are good, the Original Version of Children and Red Zone. They’re closer to the sort of trance most folks enjoyed at the time and worth a look-see even if you wrote Robert Miles off because of Fable and the like.

Oddly, most of Dreamland has been forgotten, many disappointed there’s not more generic ‘dream house’ bilge. My God, those are the crap tunes. When Miles goes beyond the ‘limp-beat-plinky-piano’ template, that’s where this album get’s interesting.

BKS - Dreamcatcher

Quality Music: 1993

Wow, another Chris Sheppard release. Over-exposure, much? Now you know what it was like living in Canada if you followed the pop end of dance music. In this case, however, we’re dealing with his early production group, BKS, an acronym of all the members’ last names. At around the time their second album, Dreamcatcher, came out, EDM was growing quite popular, so damn straight their label, Quality, was gonna promote the ever loving hell out of the group.

First, it was a tie-in with the Don Cherry home video series Rock ‘Em, Sock ‘Em, which showed NHL highlights of the Canadian blowhard’s choice (mostly big, bruising hits). Since Quality was also responsible for VHS distribution, they thought it’d be fun to get BKS, then just a rave act, to make a theme for it, with Mr. Cherry guest... talking, or something. The result was one of the all-time hilarious-worst videos MuchMusic ever put out (if you’re wondering, Shep’s the one with a tuque). That could have sunk the group right there, but Quality was undeterred, getting the group to be less ravey and more commercial friendly.

Dreamcatcher certainly is that, hopping on a few early 90s house bandwagons. The titular track has an undeniably catchy chorus, sort of a meeting point between italo house and euro dance. The two big singles, Living In Ecstasy and I’m In Love With You (plus a remix of Can We Dance from Legion Of Boom), are modeled after the sexy deep house made popular by Lil’ Louis’ French Kiss and, um, Madonna’s Erotica. There are also a couple stabs at garage, but nothing Strictly Rhythm would tremble over. In all, it was quite a departure from their earlier sound.

Almost like a bone thrown, the second half of Dreamcatcher features remixes and B-Sides that are about as rave as the music could get in ’93. They’re fun, but two in particular stand out. The Moons Of Saturn (The Abbeywood Trance Mix) is, as the title suggests, something of a tribal-trance stomp, while dialog from an old documentary about Saturn’s moons plays out. It’s amusing to hear such dated theories, and since it involves Saturn’s system, it’s fucking awesome! Joey Beltram also shows up to provide a remix on Talkin’ Bout Love, a tune from the first BKS album (and which already had a rub earlier on Dreamcatcher). He does the bangin’ hoover techno thing, which is light-years better than anything BKS manages to kick out with their remixes (okay, that Do It Again, Vivaldi track’s spiffy as well - the ending feels like I’m riding Falkor!).

So overall Dreamcatcher is a mixed bag, and frankly I can’t see anyone outside Canada having much interest in it (boy, I’m saying that a lot lately). I won’t deny having fun nostalgia trips hearing Living In Ecstasy and the like, but only because BKS was so ubiquitous on Quality compilations, I can’t help but reminisce of my early ‘techno’ explorations.

Nine Inch Nails - The Downward Spiral

Nothing Records: 1994

One of ...oh, who knows number of industrial albums you're supposed to have, even if you're not a fan of industrial music. I've barely scratched the surface of that scene, so there may be at least two dozen releases the discerning rivethead will point you to. The Downward Spiral, however, received critical acclaim across the rags, properly exposing the rock world to the world of industrial ...again (oh, how the originators were forgotten because of EBM). All hail Reznor, then, for bringing respect back to the industrial scene! ...for a few years anyway.

Man, what the hell am I supposed to say about this one? I've only just recently heard this album in full, although I'm familiar with the big hits like Closer, Hurt, and March Of The Pigs. The fact it's taken me this long to check out an album that's hailed as a classic of the 90s – of any genre – leaves me soundly kicking myself. It even falls into my sphere of musical interests, being electronic and all. Yeah, there's thrashing metal and other elements of rock throughout, but that shouldn't have shied me away from it. I liked The Prodigy and The Chemical Brothers, after all, and Trent Reznor's a far better producer and musician than either of those acts.

I have only the music industry to blame. 1994 was still reeling from the loss of their current rock poster child, Kurt Cobain, and left scrounging for another Next Big Thing. Instead of scouring for potential new stars in other scenes, they stuck things out with grunge, hoping acts like Pearl Jam, Stone Temple Pilots, or, if you were Canadian, Our Lady Peace would be the next Nirvana. Or hey, how about that Brit-wave thing, with Oasis and Blur maybe rescuing rock from post-grunge doldrums! Oh please, anything but industrial, where only weird computer hackers enjoy it. They are the only ones that enjoy it, right?

After all, who could like this? Okay, so The Downward Spiral has some amazing production going on; an incredible attention to all the little details, yet keeping things smoothly flowing as each song progresses. If Reznor’s a good musician then, why can’t he make something more radio friendly? All that choking industrial distortion, creepy sound effects, eerie ambient passages, counter-pointed acoustic melodies, and shout-singing that sounds as though the machinery of society is holding all his angst back - that no matter how much he tries to make his voice heard, it will forever come through only in a digitized, garbled mess of noise. Geez, none of that can be played on any respectable airwave. Maybe that “fuck you like an animal” song, if he cleans up the language.

So thus, The Downward Spiral was initially relegated to the fringes, where yours truly never noticed it until the momentum it caused for industrial rock made it impossible to ignore. Would I have liked it had I heard it the year it came out? Hell no, I had ‘techno’! *kick, kick*

Jamie Jones - Don't You Remember The Future (Original TC Review)

Crosstown Rebels: 2009

(2012 Update:
Yikes, but am I ever confrontational in this one. I couldn't help myself though, as the PR hype for Jamie Jones' debut album pissed me off to no end. A few years removed from it now, I actually found myself enjoying most of this album, if only marginally. There's an undeniable level of competent groove going on, which is fine if that's what you're aiming for. I think I alluded to such merit somewhere in all that snark.

As it turns out, Jamie Jones managed to last a little bit longer than the last deep tech house hero, enough to earn #1 DJ status at Resident Advisor. He's starting his drop-off though, the new hotness being Art Department and all things Seth "He So Crazy" Troxler. I wonder if it's backlash...)


IN BRIEF: Minimal-deep-tech’s latest hero. With luck, he’ll last longer than the last one.

What’s this? A concept house album? Oh my, whoever does that? Okay, so Kerri Chandler has (Computer Games being the most recent example). And Mark Farina (Air Farina). Also-

So there are a lot of house producers who do concept albums. It’s just not the expected thing to do, is all. That said, despite the spotty track record such endeavors hold, folks often look forward to seeing their favorite producers show a little musical ambition when it comes to the LP format. Simply hearing a clutch of old and new singles can be rather uninspiring when you’ve got a CD playing for an hour-plus-ten.

So, good on Jamie Jones, giving us something a little challenging with his debut artist album. After the near-ridiculous praise his hit single Summertime earned this past spring, it could have been an easy affair to simply ride that song’s coattails into an album format. Instead, it’s smartly placed into the k-hole trudge of Jones’ deep-tech offerings, turning a rather simple tune into an epic anthem. I mean, my God! Melody! Real melody!

I think I should make it clear right now that, contrary to what the PR blurbs have purported, there isn’t much concept going on with Don’t You Remember The Future. This is supposed to be a futuristic-sounding album, but aside from a few electro zaps, sci-fi samples, and bloopy bits, it’s about as contemporary as deep-tech gets. Frankly, there’s examples of tech-house from the 90s that’s more forward-thinking than what Jones offers here. What I can buy into, is the idea that an injection of retro-funk and soul is required to rescue the future from soulless music. Quite obviously, the Egyptian Lover featuring Galactic Space Bar works wonders in selling this notion, but again, it’s nothing we haven’t heard before from retro-futurism seekers. If you’re going to go on about how this is a concept album, actually go full-out with it - simply making use of synthy sounds that have been used in house music for years and calling it a future-concept album isn’t enough.

Unfortunately, that isn’t the biggest handicap on this album; rather, it’s the very nature of Jones’ music. Much of it is loopy, aims to be deep, but is executed as serviceably as deep-tech typically gets. Summertime aside, the opening half of Remember The Future amounts to little of consequence. Oh, I’m sure there will be plenty of excuses from the ketamine-crowds to proclaim its brilliance: “it works better on the dancefloor”; “you just have to really pay attention to get it”; “it rewards repeated listens”; etc. Fine and all, but the main complaint remains: it’s all just functional music, the kind of stuff that easily fades from your memory once the next track takes off, and easily overshadowed by tunes that have more funk, melody, or soul in them. Arranged so the vibe is continuously inclined, cuts Deep In The Ghetto through Sand Dunes have little quirks and shifting elements to keep them from being total write-offs, but it’s merely a simmer compared to where house music’s been and can go. That’s minimal-deep-tech for you though: never awful, but seldom riveting. Once we leave that segment, however, and Jones branches out a little, we finally see things pick up for the better. Absolute Zero is more of an icy-cool jazz outing, and I’ve already touched upon Galactic Space Bar; both serve as a welcome detour before we get back into the deep-tech again. Once in, Jones brings more funk to the proceedings with Tuning Tables, does the k-hole plod-step ‘menace’ thing with Belter, and brings the two together in Mexico, a track that suggests the album is about to take off for a strong climax. Alas, Mexico is the climax, a decent one considering where Remember The Future’s been (oh my God, it’s melody again!), but coming off more like a coda with its mournful tones. Still, it’s an effective way to wrap the album up.

Given Jones’ huge rise to stardom this year, there was a large amount of expectation going into Remember The Future, and some seemed eager to force themselves into finding the ‘classic’ they wanted to hear. It isn’t, though. Jones has crafted a deep-tech house album that basically keeps things at a competent level, and very easily becomes lost in the sea of competent deep-tech house releases that have come out over the years. His idea of doing a concept album is partly to blame for this, as he simply doesn’t shoot far enough with the theme; we’re offered little more than a cursory peek into this future of his, one that fails to offer anything unique in the process. You can still reasonably enjoy this on those chill days when you don’t want anything to assault your ears, but with hundreds of releases catering to that sort of thing, it places Jones’ offering squarely in the glut.

Various - Dogwhistle: The Life & Times Of An Afterhours DJ

Quality Music: 1995

For my un-Canadian readers, Dogwhistle was an alias of Chris Sheppard, one of the biggest DJs to emerge from my country’s dance scene during the 90s. He’s been relegated to something of a footnote now that he’s retired, but to any young Canuck discovering underground dance music back then, it was likely a Shep’ compilation opening the door. Primarily a radio jock, he’d play the occasional rave as well, which is where Dogwhistle comes in.

This came out around the time Sheppard was crossing over to the mainstream, so I suppose Life And Times Of An Afterhours DJ was an attempt at keeping some underground cred. The result is this odd little DJ mix, recorded live at the Outlaw Rave in Toronto, and somewhat schizophrenic in its attempt at straddling the underground and mainstream.

It opens with trance. Not just any ol' trance, but acid trance. Spacey acid trance. Hardfloor trance! Kick ass, but Armand van Helden's classic Witch Doktor is only two tracks after. How will Shep' transition to- ...oh, he doesn't. He just lets Into The Nature play out in full. What... kind of DJing is that? And this was done live? No, I can't believe it. It has to be a studio edit, for time considerations. Yes, that's it.

Anyhow, only the first two tracks are trance. The rest is house, some prog, some garage, some... tech, I guess? Not sure if tech house was a much of a thing in '95. The big tracks, Atlantic Ocean's Waterfall and Pizzaman's Trippin' On Sunshine, come in the middle, one after the other. Try and imagine that transition. There's also an example of the brief 'country twang' house micro-genre that was popular in the mid-90s (of which Sheppard was responsible for a few such tracks no less), in Bravado's Harmonica Man. Don't worry if you've never heard of it, because it was just a one-off novelty tune.

In fact, there are a lot of one-off tunes on here. Twangling's Twangling, Rollo Goes Camping's Get Off Your High Horse (yes, that Rollo), Lovechild & Rolfe's Time Travelers, Chameleon's Larger Than Life, Thats-A-Noise's Livin My Life. Not that this is the only CD some of these tracks have appeared on, but you have to give some credit to Shep' for selecting a few obscure tunes, wonky mixing and all.

Speaking of firsts, here's a funny story. My post-drinking puking virginity was taken while Life And Times happened to be playing. Hoo boy, was that ever a mess the morning after! I can't listen to Helicopter's On Ya Way anymore without the hint of corn chips affecting my nostrils. Ah, the follies of youth.

That's about all I have left to say about this CD. Canadians are likely the only folks who'd be interested in a Dogwhistle mix, and aside from the odd curiosity in the tracklist, there's very little here to recommend that you couldn't find elsewhere (and without that annoying MC).

Snoop Doggy Dogg - Doggystyle

Death Row Records: 1993

One of one Snoop Dogg albums you’re supposed to have, even if you’re not much of a Snoop Dogg fan (say what!?). Yeah, ol’ Cal’s released tons of albums since, but ask any discerning fan of hip-hop, and they’ll immediately point you to this one, and let you figure out the rest later. Doggystyle was huge the year it came out though. Along with Dr. Dre’s The Chronic, it properly kicked off the G-Funk era of hip-hop, and cemented Death Row Records as the West Coast label to be reckoned with. And while an album’s legacy can distort some viewpoints, this one’s rep is totally deserved. Everyone got a kick out of Atomic Do- …whoops, I mean Who Am I? (What My Name).

So once again, I’m left with a classic album to talk about without much to add to the chorus. Eh, you noticed something odd about the title? I’m sure everyone knows Snoop Lion initially went by Snoop Doggy Dogg while still on Death Row. Technically, all copies of Doggystyle should still carry his original moniker, so here it is thus. Yep, even these reissue copies that came out in 2001. Speaking of this reissue copy, why was Gz Up, Hoes Down removed from the tracklist? To make room for the Who Am I? video? Curse this still limited turn-of-the-century ‘Enhanced CD’ technology. One benefit of the reissue is having most of the skits merged with the tracks, but they’re stupidly put at the beginning of each one. Dammit, that’s annoying if you want to skip W Balls, funny though it is.

Right, less ramble, more music talk. Gin & Juice. Classic! Seriel Killa. Classic! Doggy Dogg World. Classic! Hell, they’re all classics, perfectly capturing the ‘every day is summertime’ vibe that persists throughout Doggystyle. Even with darker moments like Murder Was The Case, this is one of the quintessential summer albums to own. Bouncing electro-funk basslines, squealing Moogs… you can practically smell the ganja smoke wafting by your nose as you drive past palm trees.

One thing that makes me double-take while listening to Doggystyle today is how much Snoop’s voice has changed over the years, and for the better. He’s always had a charming drawl with a touch of menace, but as he’s aged, the drawl’s now more lyrical, turned deeper, and filled with less venom. Understandable, as Mr. Broadus of 1993 was a very different individual compared to Mr. Broadus of 2012. Wow… nearly two decades since Doggystyle came out, huh. Can’t wait to see what the next reissue will have in store for us!

You don’t need me to tell you this is a classic album that you should own. Either you already know that and have it in your collection in some format, or you haven’t heard anything beyond Gin & Juice and Who Am I? I suppose some might be turned off by the gangsta overtones, but compared to the misogyny the dirty south promotes, Doggystyle is downright quaint.

2 Unlimited - Do What's Good For Me (BioMetal - Pt. 1)

Popular Records: 1996

(Click here to read my original TranceCritic review)


“I take it you're Anita.”

“Yes, sir,” she replied, offering a timid hand for a shake. “And you're the pilot, Ray, correct?”

“Sure am, babe,” he said with a wink, scratching his chin.

Babe? “They say you're the best,” Anita said after an awkward pause, withdrawing her hand. “Have you ever flown a ship of this sort before?”

Ray laughed. “Not at all. A few test simulations, but I'm getting thrown into this contraption raw just like you, babe.”

Anita rubbed the back of her head. “It's unfortunate they're forcing us to do this,” she mumbled. “I'm an exo-biologist, not a fighter pilot.”

“Don't worry,” Ray said, placing a reassuring hand on her shoulder. “Just handle those shields and tell me which BioMetals I need to worry about. I'll take care of everything else.”

“Very confident, aren't you,” she giggled.

He scratched his chin again. “Gotta do what's good for me,” he chuckled.

The elevator halted, its doors opening and revealing the starship's docking bay. Nearby, they both could see the HALBRED, a sleek red and white fighter-class vessel being fitted with the latest armaments WASP could provide them. General Wilde, whom gave them private briefings prior, was waiting. “Good to see you're both ready,” he said, turning to the pair.

“Yes Sir!” Ray and Anita replied in unison.

“Do you have any questions before launch?”

“Why the urgency, sir,” Ray asked, in a far less informal tone Anita would have guessed allowed.

General Wilde smiled, as though he'd long been used to Ray's casualness. “Just how familiar are you with the BioMetals, kid?” he asked.

Anita held back a snicker. Kid Ray, she thought with a glance over her co-pilot's youthful but embarrassed face. Seems appropriate.

“Only that they were responsible for the Armageddon, during the last Galactic Alignment, sir.”

“Right,” the general nodded. “With reports of their species in the process of re-multiplying, we have to strike at the heart of their nests before they overrun the galaxy again.”

“If I may, sir,” Anita said, “but why must we attack this moon of UP457 first?”

“The BioMetals only have a small colony here,” he replied. “It's the logical base to attack first.”

“Don't tell me you're afraid of a little atmospheric turbulence, babe,” Ray chortled.

Why's General Wilde tolerating him like this? “No, Kid Ray,” she shot back. “It's hardly a 'little' turbulence. They don't call it 'the twlight zone' for nothing.”

“All the more reason to destroy this nest before it grows too infested with BioMetals to launch another attack,” General Wilde stated, his voice firm and snapping the two back to attention. “We're counting on you two. Dismissed.”

“Yes sir!”

Once the general left, Ray turned to Anita and smirked, “'Kid' Ray?”

“Sorry, I just-”

“No, it’s fine,” he said, smiling. “I kinda like it. Come on, let’s get on board. Fame and glory await us!”

At that, he rushed to the HALBRED, Anita close behind.


(If you're hopelessly lost as to what's going on, click here.)

Various - DJmixed.com / Keoki

Moonshine Music: 2000

Oh, Keoki, what a wild and wonderful career. The first self-proclaimed superstar DJ, at a time when the very notion of superstar DJs was ludicrous (though there were a number of very famous ones), and all the while giving Moonshine Records a proper face in releasing his DJ mixes, singles, and albums. Whatever faults you can lay on him (and believe me, he had plenty of detractors from the old school), he undoubtedly had a profound effect on the tastes of several young American ravers throughout the 90s. Then Moonshine folded and Keoki was left homeless. He tried to reinvent himself in the electroclash vein with Hypnotic, but that didn't work and hasn't released anything of note since.

This particular mix was probably a sign of things to come, for many reasons. If you're not familiar with DJmixed.com, don't worry, as it didn't last long, coming out during the transitional period between Web 1.0 and Web 2.0. You have to give them credit for an attempt at translating the EDM magazine experience for the internet, but the technology simply couldn't accommodate all the things they wanted. I'm not sure if Keoki was to have a major hand in it, but he, along side Micro and Charles Feelgood were tasked in promoting the site through this series of CDs. Seeing as how nothing of note came of it, DJmixed.com is barely a footnote in Moonshine's history, much less the whole of electronic music.

Not that the music contained on these mixes was bad, just terribly redundant at the turn of the century when DJ mix CDs were multiplying like raver rabbits. Moonshine was one of the stronger American labels promoting such releases, but even they started showing fatigue.

As for Keoki’s mix, it mostly features breaks, much of which is on a progressive tip. Y’know, like The Light’s Expand The Room. Looking back, I’m surprised there wasn’t more Florida breaks on this (Tony Faline’s Mind Over Matter the lone offering), as that was an immensely popular sub-genre at the time, before Adam Freeland and nu-school breaks took over.

There’s also some trance, including Ravelab’s cover of Send Me An Angel, that used to cause whiplash among my partying compatriots. I’d tell the joke, but it involves a lot of knowledge of the party scene of British Columbia’s northwest - yes, there really was a party scene way out there. Short form, it’s got a breakdown that’s so stupidly over the top, it’ll roll your eyes to the back of your neck; yet, it follows with an incredibly catch hook that you can’t resist. Interestingly, Keoki mixes the track at the start of that breakdown. He could create clever mixes on occasion, though this set’s a bit sloppy.

I can’t give this CD much of a recommendation, but if the idea of a DJ mix ending with an epic trance remix of the Skywalker theme doesn’t curdle your blood, give it a try.

Various - DJ-Kicks: Tiga

Studio !K7: 2003

For much of his early career, Tiga remained safely sheltered within his Turbo label. His cover of Sunglasses At Night may have appeared on numerous compilations, and Tom Middleton’s mash-up of it with New Order’s Blue Monday gave it more life than anyone thought possible, but by and large the Montreal native was forever associated with his label. By 2003, however, his star had raised high enough that other labels came calling for his talents. Studio !K7, seemingly in an effort to steer their DJ-Kicks series away from all the broken beat DJs they’d featured in the few years prior, gave Tiga his opportunity to branch out. He wasn’t about to let it go to waste, knocking it out of the park in the slap-dash way only he could make work.

First, I should mention my copy of Tiga’s DJ-Kicks entry lacks Hot In Herre, which is almost unfathomable seeing as how that was his second biggest pre-Sexor hit. I can only assume Studio !K7 released this copy first, Tiga made the single after (including a charming video based on a Czech marionette duo called Spejbl & Hurvinek), then shoehorned it into this mix later. Looking at its placement on other copies, I’m not sure how that would have worked, as it’s lodged amongst several disco punk cuts in the beginning of the mix.

Whatever. Tiga’s mix truly takes off at Soft Cell’s …So, a B-Side to their single What?. It’s enough to get heads turned with an obscure bit of early 80s gold, but following it with the impossibly catchy Sacrifice from Break 3000 (That bassline! Those vocals!), all the while Antonelli Electr.’s Dubby Disco is running underneath them. Chances are you'll barely realize it unless you’re an expert trainspotter. Such DJ tricks aren’t new or revolutionary, but Tiga has a way of riding mixes such that it comes off thrilling, ready to go off the rails at any moment. Or maybe I’m just a Turbo fanboy. Could be, could be.

I’ll make no apologies for enjoying this CD though, as Tiga finds the right blend of kitsch and contemplative throughout. I’ve often found the set drags a little after Codec & Flexor’s Time Has Changed (why weren’t these guys more popular?), but Mr. Sontag hits the sweet spot again with his own haunting Man Hrdina, a rare-ish B-Side to Hot In Herre that was only included as part of the DJ-Kicks singles package. Folks talked plenty about Tiga’s partnership with Jori Hulkkonen, but co-producer Mateo Murphy deserves just as much praise.

And there’s more! Bang Bang Lover, My Biggest Fan, Tiga’s cover of Madame Hollywood (it's like Tom Cruise is singing it!)… Of course, if the whole post-electroclash/disco punk sound of 2003 never appealed to you, then there’s little point in recommending this edition of DJ-Kicks. It very much is a product of its time, but oh what a fun time it was.