Various - Goa Trance - Psychedelic Flashbacks (Part 1)

Rumour Records: 1998

Yay, another four-CD collection. Like hell I’m gonna go through this one disc by disc though. There’s just not enough variety between all these tracks, and despite a few recognizable goa acts floating about, I’d run out of things to say in short order. Nay, I was quite content to do a simple one-off review for this one, whenever I finally plowed through it all; however, due to a weird coincidence of timing, I’ve planned a mini-vacation for this weekend, which means I’ve no idea when I’ll finish listening to this beast. So, here’s a review of at least half of Goa Trance – Psychedelic Flashbacks, and if I somehow find time to complete the second half while on my trip, maybe I’ll post it then as well. Yes, this has been a glorified explanation for the lack of updates in the coming weekend (trudging through four CDs of goa trance ain’t no walk in the park either).

This particular goa trance series – uncreatively titled Goa Trance - comes from Rumour Records, a London outfit primarily known for several other compilation series of various underground electronic music. They were the first to give Nomad their break, though soon abandoned the singles and LP market in favor of collections of old school rave, hardcore, techno, garage, ambient dub, trance… Rumour covered it all, really, with various degrees of success before running dry about a decade ago. As with so many other ‘up for any genre’ labels in the ‘90s, they jumped on the goa bandwagon with a few compilations. Eventually they’d licensed enough material (seven volumes worth) to put together a retrospective box set, subtitled Psychedelic Flashbacks. Of which I found sitting in a used shop for about a tenner. Well, at that price, there’s bound to be some decent stuff, what with names like Prana, ManMadeMan, Green Nuns Of The Revolution, and, um… hmm.

Hey, it's not like Goa Trance is some dodgy series - the first volume alone featured such luminaries as Astral Projection, Man With No Name, and Etnica. And to be fair, this collection holds fine 'second tier' acts. Unfortunately, of seven volumes to gather material up for a four-disc set, the selections are disappointing if Psychedelic Flashbacks is intended as a retrospective.

So what do we get, at least for the first two CDs? Solid enough goa trance – some brisk, others mellow - though rather acidy and under-produced compared to what the best of the genre has to offer. No surprise that the names I recognize right off provide the best cuts, and final track on CD1 - Nervasystem's Zones - is a strong, moody bit of psy. What's with this Jake Stephenson guy though? He crops up several times under a number of different aliases (Shamanic Tribes On Acid, Super Skunk, Mekhala). Lord Discogs has him under dozens more, some even to come in the later half of Psychedelic Flashbacks. You'd think he was some studio guy hired by Rumour Records to-

Uh oh...

Various - Goa Spirit 3

Cyber Productions: 1998

No doubt, the ‘00s saw a glut of psy trance, far too many start-up labels churning out generic Israeli full-on or dark psy. Why couldn’t things be like it was before, in the ‘90s, where instead of countless one-off compilations from quickly forgotten net labels, we’d get countless compilation series from somewhat remembered labels. Distance To Goa, Goa-Head, Psychedelic Goa Core, Goa Trance (yes, that’s all it was called), Sun Trip, Flight, Fill Your Head With Phantasm, Mushroom Trance, Tantrance…

Yeah, I would run out of self-imposed word space before finishing such a list. Point is the ‘90s were no less guilty of flooding the market with psy, but that era tends to hold more fondness for collectors, if nothing for the fact that scene was still in its infancy. It may not have gained as much press as other ‘on the rise’ genres, but there must have been enough interest if nearly every label in Europe dipped their toes into these psychedelic waters.

In this case, we're dealing with French label Cyber Production, who were more known for several 'acid core' CDs and other assorted hard dance than anything psy orientated. Still, they must have heard a kinship with all that acid goodness coming from the goa camps, this Goa Spirit series being the result. I've never even seen the first two volumes (stupid imports), and number 3 came into my grasp by total chance, sitting neglected in some box of CDs underneath the shop's main display shelves. Well hey, I recognized a few names in that tracklist – Koxbox, The Delta, Green Nuns Of The Revolution – so I plucked it out to buy, even if the store clerks didn't even know whether it was part of their inventory or not. Ooh, good karma points for my honesty!

Goa Spirit 3 turned out better than I expected. While I knew I was in good hands with a classic like the early full-on monster As A Child I Could Walk On The Ceiling, the duo Quirk stunned me with their crunchy freak-out Dark Matter and gloriously bonkers Ping (holy cow, that final build!), where samples of a ping-pong game are actually used for the percussion – so delightfully daft, even the early wibble’s fun. Elsewhere you get other examples of the emergent full-on sound from the one-off acts like Prometheus Process and Twisted Travellers, while Green Nuns and Kox Box keep the proper psy trance vibes alive (not to mention a surprisingly strong remix of Killing Joke’s Intellect from Johan). Overall, there’s not a duff cut found on this tidy nine tracker, a strong blend of fierce beats, fun psy-trips, and memorable acid. Only complaint is the CD’s title is misleading, as there’s barely any proper goa on here (yes, there’s a difference).

That all said, Goa Spirit 3 shares the same fate as so many psy compilations: lost in the goa glut. It’s a fine disc should you happen across it, but unessential if you already have these tunes.

Various - Goa Box: Trance 4 Motion (Original TC Review)

Hypnotic: 1997

(2013 Update:
Neglected to mention this before, but many of these tracks were licensed from Outloud Records. Even though the label's logo is quite prominent on the back, for some reason I never made that connection. In my mind, Outloud was responsible for dull hard acid techno at the time, and part of the reason Hypnotic kept releasing poorer and poorer CDs. Guess it's not entirely Hypnotic's fault though, as they'd pretty much tapped out Music Research once Talla 2XLC got back in the studio and DJing.

I'm also surprised to see this entire collection uploaded to YouTube - yes, the full three discs for a single playthrough! I know that's become something of a trend, but surely all the music on this compilation wasn't worth it.)


IN BRIEF: Very budget.

The cover is hideous, of that there is no doubt. The tasteless streamers, the ugly computer model, the annoying text - even kiddie rave flyers aren’t this bad. It’s the kind of thing you’d expect from low-budget bargain-bin box sets (often provided by Beechwood Music). Were this from a no-name quick-buck label, it’d be understandable, but this is from Hypnotic Records. Their cover-art could at least be counted on for being spiffy, at least through the mid-90s. And therein lays the key to the puzzle.

This compilation is from 1997, a time when Hypnotic had all but run out of material to import from Europe (mostly via Talla 2XLC’s Music Research label). Many of their releases in the late 90s were dismal, and it could be argued they’ve never recovered beyond a few contractual big names keeping them afloat. With so many new and old labels able to capitalize on the growing interest in the rave scene at the time, Hypnotic appeared tired, under-produced, and unable to keep pace. This ‘goa box’ is quite indicative of the problem.

First off, there are no big names to be found, from the goa scene or otherwise. Possibly Michael Kjeldgaard - aka: Psygone - had the most recognition, mainly due to him being one of Hypnotic’s few original psy acts and thus featured on nearly every psy compilation they made. Kjeldgaard also contributes other tracks here under alternate aliases such as Nature Bug and Biller. Another name some may know of is Claus Larsen, who made a minor impact on the 90s industrial/EBM scene as Leæther Strip. Seeing him here making rudimentary goa tracks as Sunglory (along with Martin Nielsen, whom I’ll get to in a bit) and Phobia is quite surprising given his musical history. And Fuzzy Logic had seen the rounds on a few other labels, with Rumour Records being the most notable. Aside from that, Trance 4 Motion contains a whole bunch of tracks featuring complete unknowns that you’ll find nowhere else, or the same producers working under several aliases.

Chief among these producers is, yes, Martin Nielsen. The man is on about a third of these tracks, and that’s just what is actually listed in the credits (B.F.B Inc., O Zone, Spirit, Evaporator). It’s entirely possible he’s on even more. Chances are he’s an in-house producer for Hypnotic churning out goa trance at a quick clip to fill out their compilations. It would explain why so many of these tracks sound very similar to each other.

And yes, that’s another huge problem with this compilation. While maybe half of these tracks have some charm, the other half are very weak examples of goa, the kind of crap most kids knock out in their early attempts on Fruity Loops or other freeware studio programs. The hooks are hilariously rudimentary, the acid tweaks useless, and the atmosphere uninspired. Mind, this isn’t quite so apparent in the first disc, where the music tends to maintain a level of competence throughout. Beyond there though, many of the tracks have ‘filler’ written all over them, with the odd gem littered about.

Still, if you are a fan of older goa, the tracks that aren’t toss-offs are worth a look. When the spacey synth pads, acid builds, and punchy rhythms work, they do so as fine as any old school trance did. Unsurprisingly, the Psygone and Larsen tracks tend to be of the most interest, and Nielsen does manage a few decent cuts as well. Of the no-namers, I-Conez’ Rasta In My House is a fun enough track that bounces along cheerily, and Solar 5 from Raver’s Fantasy is a gosh-darned fun anthem, even if it is a cliché rave tune.

Ultimately though, for three discs worth, there honestly isn’t much cop. Nothing comes remotely close to a classic, and only a few tracks would be consider good by a casual fan of trance. As for the goa squad, they may get more out of this but there is clearly far better material to be found in the psy scene. Mind, for the price of this, you’ll definitely be getting your money’s worth.

Had Trance 4 Motion been a concise fifteen tracker rather than a bloated thirty, it would have been at least a more agreeable listen. Instead, the decent stuff is lost amongst the useless excess, making this a chore to sit through. Proceed with the utmost caution.

Rascalz - Global Warning

BMG Music Canada: 1999

Every few years, the Canadian media jumps on some home-grown hip-hop act as our country's ambassador for that scene. So long as that one act is at the top, nearly every other one is seemingly forgotten about. Currently that title is owned by Drake, but this phenomenon stretches back at least two decades. The earliest I can recall receiving the MuchMusic push was Dream Warriors, who were then supplanted by Choclair as the Most Important Canadian Rapper. Rascalz soon followed him on the success of their second album Cash Crop (not to mention a Juno Award they famously snubbed), but their time in the spotlight was swiftly usurped by Swollen Members. The media finally gave K-OS a bump once folks grew tired of Swollen Members, and now we're with Drake. *Phew*... did I miss anyone?

As for these Rascalz, they'd been around since the early '90s, existing as a complete 'Four Pillars Of Hip-Hop' contingent based out of Vancouver. As such, it's no wonder it took so long for folks outside the Lower Mainland to notice, their strengths often lying within the live scene (sure can't capture breakin' and graffiti on a CD). Their talents couldn't be kept hidden forever though (especially when Canadian media's always dying for that next Great Rap Hope), and after the collaborative hit Northern Touch (which included Choclair and Kardinal Offishall) got them all the plaudits, anticipation was high for their follow-up album, Global Warning.

And why not? With their new found fame, they also had new found funds, able to bring in guest collaborations and slick production while remaining true to their underground roots. KRS-One! Barrington Levy! All those Canadian rappers too! Heck, even French rappers Consice and Sazon show up – how Canadian is that? Pre-fame comedian Russell Peters also gets a couple appearances with skits, and final track Sharpshooter samples Bret “The Hitman” Hart. Oh my God, I’m gonna Canadagasm!

Guests aside, the music on hand maintains mostly an Eastcoast conscious flavour (well, aside from that Beatnuts collaboration Can’t Relate, their stock gangterisms sounding totally out of place following the smart raps of Priceless). DJ Kemo handles most of the music, but rappers Misfit and Red 1 get time in the producer’s chair too. As Misfit and Red 1 share a strong dynamic between the former’s regular flow and the latter’s dancehall toasting, the music also plays to their strengths. Reggae jams, minimalistic funk (hello, Wu-Tang influence), boom-bap, all mint for those who crave their hip-hop underground and streetwise, not thugged out.

Whoops, maybe that’s why Global Warning didn’t perform as great as expected. Conscious hip-hop was still firmly in the underground, and despite strong singles in Top Of The World and Gunnfinga, not to mention the ridiculous amount of Canadian promotion, folks soon forgot about Rascalz’ efforts (to be fair, Dr. Dre’s resurgence that year overshadowed nearly all of hip-hop). While I wouldn’t call this album a lost classic, it’s held strong after all these years, as only timeless underground hip-hop can.

Various - Global Underground Departures

Boxed: 1998

There they sat on the shelves, so many Global Undergrounds, so little money. You've heard a few from some friends who splurged on a volume or three, and the name recognition these jocks garnered as the century drew to a close was top of the tier, untouchable, Godlike even. You wanted to experience the Global Underground phenomenon for yourself, but cash, man, cash. Hello, what's this? Global Underground Departures? Hm, a collection of music from previous volumes of the series, and all for such a significantly low price. Well, with so many great tunes you've heard on those Digweed, de Vit, and Oakenfold discs, who can argue with this bargain?

This was the first in a sort of ‘greatest hits’ series Boxed would put together every couple years, highlighting the most memorable cuts that’d be featured on various prior main releases. Though this sounds like the best thing ever, part of what made tracks like Greece 2000 and Lose It so memorable on the Global Undergrounds they were featured was the context of their respective sets. In other words, those big name DJs knew how to utilize music for maximum enjoyment (even if their technical skills weren’t always the best), but taking a bunch of ace tracks of disparate styles and cramming them into an entirely separate mix… well, it doesn’t quite work the same.

For starters, duo The Forth aren't exactly high on the radar of most folk, almost exclusively known as remixers during the '90s. Even then, their task can't be an envious one: “Hey, you know how Tony had all this hard dance music, Oakenfold had these trancey tunes, Digweed had some tech house, and Nick used breaks? And they all had two CDs to create strong context within those sets? Yeah, mash all that into a single CD, chaps!” They do as good of a job as they can, going from a nice Balearic opening, then deep grooving tech, before capping off with a few trance anthems, but for a series often priding itself on computer-perfect programming on nearly every edition (*cough*), the rough transitions and awkward flow are noticeable.

Can't fault any of the music though. Ferry Corsten's “holy cow, he did real trance?” track Air (under his Albion guise) is here. Tekera's Breathe In You is here, care of the M&M remix. Tech house stormer Bombay from Dave Randall is here (oh, how I miss tribal tech house!). The Forth’s own prog-breaks smasher Reality Detached is here, and not shameless plugging either as Warren used it on GU8: Brazil. Pink Bomb's Indico is here, a track that brings back a ton of nostalgic memories (that whole second disc of GU8 does, really).

Ah yes, nostalgia, now the only real selling point to GU Departures if you already have the original volumes (also, super-cheap prices typically found for this disc) - a pleasant, brief trip through Global Undergrounds past. A might better tagline than “Tracks You’ve Already Got, Now In A Different Order!” anyway.

Various - Global Underground 31: Dubfire - Taipei (Original TC Review)

Global Underground, Ltd.: 2007

(2013 Update:
Well, doesn't this capture a moment in a time, written in that uncertain in-between of Dubfire's career, post Deep Dish, pre-Ribcage. I mentioned at the end of the review that ol' Ali had to do something more significant than continue peddling this brand of deep prog-house if he was to have a memorable solo career, and boy did he ever, deciding instead he are serious techno producer, making serious underground music. If you hated that turn, guess this mix will still serve you fine. Heck, I found myself enjoying the tribal-groove far more this time out.

And yeah, this is the only proper edition of the Global Underground series I actually have. Never saw much reason to pick them up in the series' glory years, as all my peers had copies anyway. Fortunately, as with the Fabric series, I've decided to pick up those that can be found at Bargain Bin prices on Amazon, to see which editions have been brought low by disinterest and- what, only Sharam's solo outing is that cheap? Oh fuck it then.)


IN BRIEF: Where the ‘deep’ part of Deep Dish comes from.

It looks as though Global Underground has come to the end of an era. For longer than anyone can remember (five and a half years, specifically), the once premiere DJ mix series has been the Deep Dish/Nick Warren show. With Ali ‘Dubfire’ Shirazinia (aka: the non-bearded member of Deep Dish) tapped to do #31, word has it this will be the final time we’ll see any of them on a GU compilation. I’m sure I speak for many when I say this: it’s about fucking time!

Seven out of the last eleven editions of Global Underground have seen this trinity strut their stuff, and unless you were a big fan of either, it grew tiresome five releases ago. Although GU often had repeated talent crop up in the past, at least it wasn’t to the laughable extent we’ve seen lately; nor was the recent token nods to Lavelle and Howells going to cut it for old fans. Small wonder many began to flock to newer DJ mix series like Fabric and Balance for cutting-edge DJ mixes.

How did Global Underground let it happen though? Did they sign some sort of binding contract to these guys? Were they afraid to take risks on smaller names? Was Deep Dish’s commercial clout too tempting to pass on? Are too few DJs playing the sort of house GU prefers to champion now? Sure, Deep Dish and Warren are good, but not that good so you’d want them to carry a highly respected series for half a decade.

Well, whatever the reason, that’s all in the past. Fortunately, it does indeed appear everyone is ready to move on, and Ali has been given the honor of closing this bizarre chapter of Global Underground’s legacy. Although he’s often done productions away from his longtime partner Sharam, this is only the second time we’ve seen Mr. Dubfire do a commercial DJ mix on his own (the first being an Afterhours special to an earlier double-release, with Sharam naturally doing the other). Since the duo have claimed their partnership as Deep Dish at an end, Ali has taken this opportunity as a chance to make a mix that will distinguish him from his former DJing buddy. The music, he says, has a more personal connotation and draws from his early influences of new wave, acid house, and other similar sounds.

For fans of Deep Dish, this may prove to be an intriguing plan: an upfront DJ mix that also lets you get to know the guy behind the decks a bit better. For non-fans... well, this still may be intriguing anyways. Just how much will Dubfire distance himself from the house music that made him famous? Are there significant enough differences as a solo DJ to raise him above the famous Deep Dish sound?

(2013 Edit: removed a pointless paragraph)

Taipei is the locale chosen for Ali’s mix, and as with Global Underground releases this usually factors in what you’re going to hear. The house clubs in southeastern Asia have gained a reputation for often playing out deep tribal tech house, and that’s what the first disc provides. To be honest though, there isn’t a whole heck of a lot going on here. It opens promisingly, with some catchy house tunes that suitably move you, and BarBQ’s Myself is a synth-poppy delight. Unfortunately, the mix never takes off in any major way. It lays out the groove early, and keeps it on an even keel for the duration. There are nice moments along the way, mind: And If’s lush Finest Dream; Deetron’s devilish The Afterlife; Markus Schulz’ bumpin’ remix of Yoshimoto’s Du What U Du (did I just give the Schulzer props...?). But with Ali maintaining a running theme of moody atmosphere throughout, it’s little more than a pleasant listen. There’s just not enough variation in this mix to get excited about.

Should I also mention his semi-debut track I Feel Speed, which comes near the end of disc one? Well, it’s a decent house track, and Ali’s gentle voice is suitably unassuming for the tone of it, but hardly a standout. I’m straining to think of much more to say about it, as there’s nothing terribly unique about it other than the fact it’s by Dubfire. How about I just move onto disc two, then?

So here we are in disc two, and we are off to another promising start. Bringing some murky techno to get us on our way, it seems Ali is ready to take us into grimier pastures, perhaps leading to something more thrilling than what was on the first disc. It’s not to be; instead, he seems content sticking with this sound for the duration. Interesting to listen to, certainly, but the mix suffers for the same reason the first one does: it doesn’t go anywhere. Actually, that’s not entirely accurate. Some of the scenery along the way is better here - the remix of Depeche Mode’s Everything Counts being a highlight - and there’s better groove to be had. However, until we get to the final stanza of this mix - where nifty remixes from Extrawelt and Kalkbrenner take us out with class - Dubfire’s set merely maintains the mood without lifting us out of the techno murk.

I suppose this is to be expected though. Many times when a DJ makes a mix more personal, the emphasis on ‘paying attention’ is stronger than laying out the bangers. Unfortunately for Ali, his offering is hardly unique. In fact, there are plenty of DJ mixes already out there that cater to this deep-tech-tribal-minimal-progressive-yada-yada-house sound, and the Taipei association doesn’t do much to distinguish it either. Hell, I could go down to the local semi-underground club in town here and listen to this stuff live for cheaper than what you’d have to pay to purchase this release. Why should one get this if it can be heard anywhere?

Well, it is a nice mix to listen to, of that there is little doubt. Nice though doesn’t necessarily mean memorable, and if you’ve been following this sound for the last year, you won’t find much new in Dubfire’s take on it. For the most part, he keeps his mixing and track selection so steady that surprising or exciting moments are few and far between. It’s going to take more than this to emerge from the shadow of his Deep Dish legacy.

Jim 'Shaft' Ryan - Miss Moneypenny's Glamorous Grooves (Original TC Review)

Beechwood Music: 2001

(2013 Update:
This probably shouldn't have come up here, but for some reason Windows Media Player has this listed as Glamorous Grooves only, so whatever. Get it over with, right?

Actually, this CD's held up fine, even with a laughable mono-mixdown (how'd you neglect mentioning that, 2007 Sykonee?). I think I might have oversold the glitz Miss Moneypenny's advertises, but the brand is still kicking it around, Jim 'Shaft' Ryan still holding residency. Good for them, especially in maintaining the funky disco vibes in an era that would have it coming off dated. Proper house music will never die! Or something.)


IN BRIEF: Not as bad as you’d expect.

Miss Moneypenny’s. Expensive cover and cocktail drinks. V.I.P. lines longer than the regulars at lesser clubs. Tarted up barbie-dolls. Shirtless clubbing guidos. The very epitome of style-over-substance. Where the most fabulously fabulous go to bask in each other’s fabulousness. Oh, and apparently they play house music too.

In all seriousness, the clubbing franchise has done well for itself considering its humble beginnings as boat parties near Birmingham over two decades ago. It made Ibiza’s euro-trashiness its divine ethos and has remained unapologetic about the high-class standards it places on its patrons. They believe Studio 54 had the right idea, and along with Mediterranean hedonism indulge in the disco-glamour fantasy that legendary club made for itself. All fine and dandy, I suppose. For as many artistic or spiritual attributes folks place on the clubbing culture, there are still far more out there who prefer the skin-deep good times a place like Miss Moneypenny’s provides. It can make you feel like a million bucks because you’re forced to look a million bucks to even attend, and are often surrounded by folks- sorry, la beau monde dressed in similar fashion.

At the turn of the century, the night was finding huge success with a booming club culture, and like nearly every other mega-brand, they started making sponsored DJ mixes. But whereas most were jumping on the trance bandwagon, Miss Moneypenny’s stuck with the sound that made them who they were: funky disco house. In hindsight, that was unusually wise for a club typically known for expensive shallowness; the brand remains as consistent as ever whereas other superclubs like Gatecrasher and Slinky have fallen off.

And so we come to Glamorous Grooves, one of a few DJ mixes cheapo label Beechwood released for Miss Moneypenny’s before the club established it’s own label. Considering all the factors that should have made this a dodgy release (superficial club, crap label), it turned out not half bad.

Chalk it up to the fact funky disco house is just, well, fun! Granted, the music is often secondary compared to the patrons of Miss Moneypenny’s, where they be far more interested in flaunting their styles to each other than discussing the subtleties of a filter effect. However, such concerns have no bearing when throwing on a CD at home where the music can be judged on its own merits. And here Glamorous Grooves yields plenty of housey delights that saw the rounds at the turn of the century. Rui Da Silva’s Touch Me; The Face’s Needin U 2, in the guise of a then-modern update; remixes of chart toppers from Fatboy Slim and Moby; other remixes from singing legends like Grace Jones, Barry White, and Loleatta Holloway; plus plenty of cuts from usual house favorites like Olav Basoski, Junior Jack, Harry “Choo Choo” Romero, Robbie Rivera, Joey Negro, and so on.

Disco, tribal, Chicago, garage, latin, and even jazz are all blended into the funky bowl, effectively making the music on here dateless. It’s certainly more entertaining to listen to than most of what passes for popular house these days. Give me the filtered disco build over a stomping fart bassline any day.

Unfortunately, whereas the music itself holds its own, the presentation of it leaves something to be desired. If anything, Jim ‘Shaft’ Ryan, who’s long been the main resident for Miss Moneypenny’s, handles his trade well but is unremarkably routine.

He knows his role as a club DJ and that translates onto disc one’s sequence. Opening with the instantly catchy All I Do, he works a slow burn to peak out on his own Happy Daize. Things subside for a bit, and this usually means easing the crowd down from their dancing euphoria to grab a drink at the bar. Some simple groovers play out while you wait in line for your cocktail, drink it down, share a chit-chat with some hot minx or thick stud; maybe make a quick bathroom run too, for whatever reason you see fit. Soon enough, the groove gets more infectious, and DJ Disciple’s It’s Easy hooks you back in, where the disco delights continue on the dancefloor for the rest of the mix. But what’s with that slam-mix into Let The Music Play? Just yipes.

Disc two, meanwhile, tries to go deeper into the tribal funk. For the first half, Ryan mostly succeeds, and Sharem Jay’s remix of Honey makes for a nice little peak. Sadly, the mix takes a steep drop in the momentum after that, and never recovers with any sense of flow. It seems Ryan has a pile of tracks he wants to play out but can’t figure out how to make these cuts fit together, so he just hodgepodges it. And while Sax Heaven from The Italian Connection (a pre-shit Robbie Rivera project) makes a valiant effort to rescue this mix for the end, it’s not enough to erase the memories of bland that came before.

And then there’s the general sound quality. Of course, this being Beechwood, it won’t be the best mixdown, but even the DJing sounds rough in places. I’m all for authentic DJing but surely some of these mixes could have used a couple different practice spins to make them work better?

Still, I suppose the real question lingering is whether this older release is worth your time. In all honesty, only if you see it for bargain-bin cheap and you have a bit of spare change burning a hole in your pocket. There are tons of funky disco house mixes out there, and while Glamorous Grooves is a decent enough product, it’s hardly essential listening. The Miss Moneypenny’s faithful may find more worth in it, mind, but for the rest of us it’s merely a passing fancy.

Kevin Braheny - Galaxies

Hearts Of Space: 1988

This CD first came out way back in 1988, yet even here there's a plea within the inlay to not pirate the music within. Well, not so much not pirate, but a request to send Hearts Of Space two dollars royalty for every copy you should happen to make for your friends – tape copies, that is, as there were no other means of replication from CDs (the digital revolution must have given the label fits). I wonder if anyone actually did send the two dollars. And what about those with a tape copy? Were they karma-obligated (yes, that's the excuse they're using in the inlay) to do the same if they made a tape-to-tape copy? And used shops, what of those? Wait, don't answer that. Tangential musings of quirky booklets, that's all.

Kevin Braheny's been brought up a few times at this blog, but this is the first proper album of his I've had a chance to talk about. Truthfully, Galaxies is a soundtrack for a planetarium show that made the rounds in the '80s, based on the book by science and physics author Timothy Ferris. I highly doubt it's still being shown two decades on, unless they've constantly updated information with each new astronomic discovery. Mm, nah, easier to just make a whole new show.

Despite that, Galaxies has endured as a minor classic of space ambient, the music within generally strong enough to stand on its own without context or Mr. Ferris narrating overtop. Ancient Stars twinkles with a sense of awe, Milky Way Rising is calm and soothing before erupting in grandeur, Intergalactic Space feels cold and desolate, and Ice Forests Of Orion shimmers with crystalline beauty. I imagine such music goes splendidly with images of drifting stars, floating nebulae, and sprawling galactic bodies splashed across a planetarium’s ceiling. You wouldn’t even need the Pink Floyd lasers to enjoy it! Say, what’s playing at the ol’ H.R. MacMillan Space Centre anyway? “Harold’s Solar System”? Oh, how boring, a tour of those spiral empires is what we need here!

Anyhow, while the music on Galaxies generally holds up, there are a few moments that clearly were made for the feature. Main Theme’s almost muzaky overtone has “opening credits” written all over it, while the four Starflights were likely transitional pieces within the show (it’s quite funny hearing the THX Deep Note in Starflight 1; gotta make sure the planetarium’s speakers are workin’ too!). And then there’s the final track (and presumed credits roll background), Down To Earth, which brings Braheny’s jazz background into play. It’s... um... well... ‘80s and jazz, that’s, er... ugh...

Right, it shouldn’t be surprising New Age attributes would be present on a Braheny collection, but aside from the last cut, Galaxies skilfully flirts between the sap and the sublime, much like Vangelis’ often did (yeah, the Cosmos comparison was inevitable). Obviously this album won’t appeal to Lustmord disciples, but it’s pleasant enough as a bit of light, space ambient fluff.

Nine Inch Nails - Ghosts I-IV

The Null Corporation: 2008

This is the last one, I promise. Well, at least until we get around the ‘P’s, if I decide to pick up Pretty Hate Machine (might as well, right?). I’m astounded that I now own this much Nine Inch Nails material, gathered up in such a small frame of time (helps when friends are offloading their old CDs). I mean, there were odd tunes here and there that I liked, thought were interesting, didn’t mind if they happened to air, but little that’d make me go, “Okay, let’s do this!”, and properly dive into Trent Reznor’s discography. Something had to be a catalyst though, to finally pique my curiosity enough to take that leap, and that would happen to be this here album, Ghosts I-IV.

Actually, it was a single track off here that did it, used as the backing score to this fucking awesome video of the Cassini Mission to Saturn, created by Chris Abbas. The images are already lovely, but the accompanying music stunned me when it was revealed as a Nine Inch Nails piece. The band was doing music like this? And not as a simple one-off filler, but a whole album’s worth? Wait, two CDs worth!? I’ve misjudged you, Nine Inch Nails, may I experience more?

To be fair, nearly two hours of pleasant, ambient doodling can get tedious (yet Brian Eno’s had a long career peddling such stuff), even with such a tantalizing piece as 2 Ghosts I leading the way. The whole project isn’t really about that though; rather, having finally freed himself from any and all record contract obligations once his deal with Interscope ended, Reznor desired to free himself of any and all creative direction. In other words, no specific themes or album concepts, just musical expression and experimentation, letting the muses of everyone involved to go where it may. Swell… jazz, then.

Heh, no, but Ghosts I-IV does get rambly after a while. As one can expect with drifting muses, the music comes off like half-formed ideas, bits and pieces of something that could have been made into a greater whole had Reznor went down that road instead. With so few breaking even the four-minute mark, it’s the sort of music you’d expect to hear as transitional pieces on a proper album, or weird experimental remixes on Side B. I can’t say I was ever bored with Ghosts, as there’s enough stylistic variation – glacial piano drone, brief industrial freak-outs, distortion-fuzz rock jams – that’ll keep your attention, just to hear what odd-ball sounds will come with the next cut. At the same time though, so much of it comes off like teases, musical ideas deserving of more care.

Apparently Ghosts was intended as a one-shot EP, and perhaps it should have remained as such despite Reznor and co. enjoying all the results. It’s akin to one of those ‘studio sessions’ rock bands often release as bonus discs to their classic albums, only missing the classic album. Interesting and oddly enjoyable, but unessential.

The Police - Ghost In The Machine

A & M Records: 1981

2 Unlimited was incredibly influential in developing my musical tastes – it’s possible I might not even be writing electronic music reviews were it not for them (what would this blog be instead? Rap Music Critic? Grunge Music Critic? Country Music Cri- oh, God no!). There is a group, however, that I heavily enjoyed well before that, predating even the obligatory Raffi stage we all go through as children. Well, two, but no point in getting into Boney M right now, as this review’s already in danger of getting lost down Anecdote Alley.

Right, The Police. I’m surprised how ingrained memories of playing Ghost In The Machine are. Fiddling through my father’s record collection, always looking for that distinct black cover with the weird LCD markings (it's the band's faces, Toddler Sykonee). Putting it on the turntable, instantly being mesmerized by the opening synth stabs of Spirits In The Material World, feeling giddy over the pop-romp of Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic, and eagerly anticipating that haunting, emergent pulse of Invisible Sun. I don’t recall listening to much beyond that. I was only ever after the opening salvo, the rest of the tunes going way over my young head.

I could also point to this album as planting seeds for my fascination for things electronic based, but that's stupid, exposure to themes of technology overtaking humanity an inevitability growing up in the '80s (well, where such technology existed anyway). Maybe it was the recession of the time souring moods, but Ghost In The Machine finds The Police (re: Sting, mostly) far more contemplative than they'd been in the years prior. Sure, they still have time for uptempo rock numbers like Rehumanize Yourself, reggae jam One World and the like, but aside from Hungry For You (a sort of sister track to Everything...), the themes of fear for the future and where mankind's heading persist. End the album with a melancholy track titled Darkness? Yeah, definitely far more mature topics than I could have hoped to understand.

Significantly older now, I've not only come to appreciate the themes of this album (if somewhat snicker with the benefit of hindsight), but the musicianship as well. The Police have long been one of those remarkable bands where their talents were often overshadowed by their hit-making ability. Four albums deep now, and they've started experimenting with jazz fusion (oh, Sting loves to honk on that sax throughout) and prog rock (Secret Journey has lovely guitar effects in play); and yes, more synthesizers than ever used before. And damn, that bassline in Spirits In A Material World is bonkers, utterly remarkable how such a screwy hook gels with the rest of the song. I got to catch their reunion tour, and Sting couldn't get it right, causing a muddled rendition of the song.

Ack, that's yet another anecdote. Too many, gotta abort this review now. Check out Ghost In The Machine if you haven't already, it's easily the darkest of The Police's efforts.