Culture Beat - Serenity

Dance Pool: 1993

Serenity is one of the classic albums of euro-dance, with one of the all time biggest hits of the era in Mr. Vain. Oddly, its fame has diminished in recent years, trendy remixes and rehash efforts going to other hits from back in the day. A peruse of Lord Discogs reveals barely an update of the ‘90s’ club staple, the Abfarht team simply letting the tune fade from public consciousness (CJ Stone remix doesn’t count because… yeah). On one hand, I admire forgoing quick, cheap cash-ins with their back catalogue, but surely Culture Beat’s legacy deserves more than a mere afterthought two decades on. They were right up there with 2 Unlimited and Snap! at one time, so what happened?

The unfortunate death of Torsten Fenslau, sadly - the Abfarht team never recovered from his loss. Until then though, he, Nosie Katzmann, Peter Zweir, and various others were on an unprecedented run of ace euro singles, expertly straddling the line between crossover dance and underground trance long before a pile of Dutchmen tried pulling the same trick. In some ways, Serenity was their peak, a successful album from front to back in a scene where most acts were only good for a hit single or two. Yes, I did just claim a euro-dance LP solid all the way through – come, let me show you the ways.

First off, Mr. Vain. Damn, but this was the anthem of ’93. It hits you with an impossibly catchy, buzzy euro synth riffs, a remarkably heavy rhythm, and a perfect sing-along chorus provided by newcomer vocalist Tania Evans (one Lana E. had the duties in the original line-up). Meanwhile, Jay Supreme, seldom that notable of a rapper, gives memorable lyrics, playing up the gaudy clubber lifestyle with just enough charm to sell the idea of a Mr. Vain in your presence. I’ve no doubt you could still play this single today and it’d get just as strong a reaction as when it was new. Dare it, festival DJs!

Even with the juggernaut that Mr. Vain is though, Serenity is hardly a one-hit euro album. Follow-ups Got To Get It and Anything, higher paced Rocket To The Moon, the pure trance-out of the titular cut, an epic Rollo tune with Mother Earth (environmental message!), and dreamy house anthems The Other Side Of Me and The Hurt are all solid tunes, and could easily have been the lone-hits for any number of the Abfarht team’s other projects. Elsewhere, the requisite downtempo tracks (World In Your Hands, Key To Your Heart) eschew any attempt at sappy balladry, instead cribbing from the Soul II Soul template of groovy urban music. About the only duff track on here is Adelante!, a drab slice of Italian-flavored euro, likely intended for that market and nothing else.

Convinced? Don’t front, I know you’re itching to hear Serenity in full now. Forget that Night At The Roxberry soundtrack, this album captures early ‘90s euro at its absolute best!

Sequential - Sequential

Fax +49-69/450464/Ambient World: 1993/2008

Before he established his own label and started collaborating with everyone that happened by his studio, Pete Namlook released a few records on other labels with a couple other collaborators that weren't always in his studio [citation needed]. Among these earliest efforts was Sequential with Christian Thier, getting their start on Pod Communication before making the permanent move to Fax +49-69/450464 (yep, we're dealing with trance-era Namlook here). It was also a short-lived partnership, existing for only a couple years before ol’ Pete found himself a pile of new friends to work with. Poor DJ Criss, forever relegated to a footnote in the Fax+ legacy. Deltraxx needs more love, yo’.

As with many lesser-known projects from Namlook, it was well over a decade before Ambient World offered up a re-issue of the self-titled Sequential album. Perhaps they didn’t feel it necessary to rush it, some of the better known tunes from the project’s five-EP run having found homes on various Rising High Records compilations. Yet those are super-old now too, only available at obscene collectors price- well no, a cruise of the Discogs Marketplace finds several of them going for less than a fiver, which is just nutty when compared to the money requested of the original vinyls. Limited runs, get ya’ every time.

It’s kinda’ funny seeing this album on Ambient World, since only a handful of tracks off here are ambient. How did that sub-label go about selecting which old Fax+ release needed a re-issue anyway? Just witling down Namlook’s entire back catalogue until nothing remained? Not that I’m complaining, quite thrilled at having vintage classic trance in my collection, but it’s very odd seeing such a release existing in the year of 2008.

Despite Namlook not being much known for trance, there are a few minor hits of the era on this CD. Starry-eyed tribal Everything Is Under Control and its ambient B-side Duane Sky I’ve mentioned before, both on previous Rising High collections. Another winner here is X-Ray Delta One, a pure spaced-out offering of hard trance with a cosmic bit of squelching acid in the latter portions, coming off like one of the early links to goa trance. On the more subdued end of the trance spectrum is Saturn Cruises, all subtle groove, burbling acid, and floating synth pad work for eleven-plus minutes of hypnotic bliss; the additional Tetsu Inoue touch on this one can definitely be felt. A couple more standard early trance cuts in Sequential and A Trip To Paradise wraps up that genre on this album, while oceanic adventuring 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea goes for an ambient techno vibe of moody atmospherics and soft rhythms.

Speaking of ambient offerings, this LP also provides a medley of the remaining Sequential ambient B-sides titled Ambient Block. It includes the droning space pad work of Sequenchill, bleak soundscape of Lost In The Sea, and a sludgy EBM go at Mission Control #2. No bonus points for guessing their A-side counterparts.

ACE TRACKS: June 2015

Epic road trip was epic. Didn’t listen to too much new material while driving about Western America though, as the man behind the wheel, my father, typically doesn’t care much for that techno stuff. And even the sort he doesn’t mind is often far too chill for long stretches of driving across empty desert roads in Nevada and California. I tried one of my favorite CDs though, Tiga’s American Gigolo - he barely tolerated while it played, eventually quipping right after it played, “That was painful.” *sigh* So it goes with the generation gap, but I sure had no problem enjoying the Yes, Billy Idol, and Beatles albums we brought. I wonder if he might have liked some of the Aphex Twin found in ACE TRACKS: JUNE 2015?


Full track list here.

MISSING ALBUMS:
Various - The Secret Life Of Trance: Episode 2
ADNY - Selections: 1997-2000

Percentage Of Hip-Hop: 7%
Percentage Of Rock: 0%
Most “WTF?” Track: Not even Richard D. James is that weird in this playlist.

This month was pretty much a Selected Ambient Works and Sci-Files showcase, what with a two-week gap and all. Funny enough, I still managed more content than June of two years past – guess it helps focusing on a string of singles rather than several multi-disc releases. While I’ve no doubt folks wouldn’t mind hearing some of these classics again, I mixed things up a bit with another alphabetical arrangement. Hear all your favorites, but in a different order now!

Delerium - Semantic Spaces

Nettwerk: 1994

It was a perfect point in my musical development that I stumbled upon Delerium's first forays into crossover ethno-pop. The acts that had served as my introduction to the genre weren't doing it for me anymore, the allure of thicker, dubbier beats drawing me deeper to the underground. Yet I hadn't ventured that far from familiar shores either, a compilation or two about my only exposure to the likes of Orb, FSoL, and BdG. How could I know Bill Leeb and Rhys Fulber raided a ton of famous beats and sounds from prominent acts and famous tunes? Besides, it's not like Semantic Spaces' intended audience would know either, the album marking a reinvention of the Delerium brand for a potential new listener base of New Age stay-at-home mothers.

Or not. Whatever commercial roads the duo travelled in the wake of Karma doesn’t really apply at this earlier point in their career. Front Line Assembly was still their biggest draw, Delerium mostly relegated to dark ambient noodling, a chance to explore weird soundscapes and abstract songcraft. The label Nettwerk itself was also in transition, moving away from the EBM and ethereal synth-pop acts that defined its ‘80s output (Skinny Puppy, Moev, Single Gun Theory). Even Nettwerk’s biggest star, Sarah McLachlan, had yet to break out of local stardom, mostly making music that wouldn’t sound out of place on 4AD.

It’s that influence, more than anything, that marks Semantic Spaces style. There was no real crossover attempt here because neither the name Delerium nor Nettwerk had much impact yet beyond the scenes that already nurtured them (and even rejected by hard-line industrial sorts). Some of the sampling that goes on here is a bit much though – Flatlands is basically a beefed-up early Enigma tune, and it’s difficult hearing Consensual Worlds without thinking of The Orb, much less the bell hook and native chants in Sensorium without thinking of Origin Unknown or Deep Forest. Yeah, quite a few of these came from sample discs used throughout the industry, but sometimes an act uses it so definitively, anything after comes off like a cheap copy. That said, I fully endorse the use of that Meat Beat Manifesto break in Resurrection. Paupa New Guinea’s a classic, but it don’t have no Vangelis choir chant, mang!

Semantic Spaces finds its proper stride when Leeb and Fulber write music with less emphasis on the samples they crib. The two vocal tracks with Kristy Thirsk are some of Delerium’s best, Flowers Become Screens hitting great gothic grooviness (!?) and Incantation a ridiculously catchy club cut (that chorus!). The remaining instrumentals - Metaphor, Metamorphosis, and Gateway - ride ethno-ethereal trip-hop vibes as expertly as you’d ever find in the early ‘90s, never coming off sap or cliché.

Aw man, those darn nostalgia headphones are on my head again, aren’t they. Whatever. Semantic Spaces doesn’t demand fastidious critiquing – it is what it is, and you can either despise it for that, or embrace your inner Wiccan goddess. Or something.

ADNY - Selections: 1997-2000

Turbo Recordings: 2000

A significant CD in Turbo Recordings' history, this was the label's first ever spotlight on a single producer. I'm hesitant to call this an album though, as ADNY already had such an LP to his name, released the year prior on Plastic City. I suppose that one - The Way Eye See - wasn't technically an ADNY album either, placing his name alongside a “Presents Leiva” credit, but it's all the same guy anyway, Mr. Alexi Delano. He's worked under a few aliases over the years too, including A.D.1010 for Harthouse Mannheim during the mid-'00s, and earlier as Bob Brewthbaker. Yeah, he's another European who made house music with an American-sounding pseudonym – what do you expect from a resident of Plastic City (home of Terry Lee Brown, Jr. and The Timewriter, yo').

Long time Turbo (and Tiga!) fans might be asking, “Wait, what’s all this ‘house music’ you speak of with regards to the label? Aren’t they known for electroclash and trashy acid techno?” To which I first reply, “Haven’t you read any of my prior Turbo reviews?” Or secondly: “Huh, guess you aren’t that long of a Turbo fan.” But to reiterate for my umpteenth time, Tiga’s label That Could got its start in the realms of fashionable house and techno, a dash of electro thrown in for the occasional spicing (or a drum ‘n’ bass tangent because Montreal nepotism). Among the earliest hits of any sort for Turbo came care of two ADNY cuts, Dreaming and his remix for Universal Tongues & DKMA’s Shiver Me, which I’m almost certain I’ve talked about before because they featured on several mixes and compilations.

So let’s instead focus on the remaining ten tracks selected for ADNY’s Selections: 1997-2000. First off, none of these appeared on that Plastic City album, so no sign of repeats here. As far as I (and Lord Discogs) can tell, these are previously unreleased tunes, with a few smatterings of vinyl cuts from other licensed labels. It provides a nice assortment of house vibes then, never settling for the some ol’ thing over and over (though I wouldn’t mind that from Shiver Me, no sir).

Primarily we’re in the deep end of soulful house, though with more of a thick, tribal East coast groove than the style Naked Music and OM Records were churning out at the time. And what deep house tune isn’t complete without some additional musicianship thrown in, whether some xylophone tones (I’m Still Here), brass section licks (What If I Love), or smooth vocal come-ons (Never Leave You, ICU). Elsewhere, ADNY stretches his muse to incorporate a little slow-jam synth-pop (Desierto de Atacama) and voxed-out Balearic bliss (Precious Lady).

Is Selections: 1997-2000 an essential addition to your deep house collection? Probably not, as there’s oodles of the stuff for grabs out there. Still, Tiga had an ear ADNY, and if you have faith in the Montreal tastemaker’s, um, taste, you know he wouldn’t steer you wrong here either.

Aphex Twin - Selected Ambient Works Volume II

Sire Records Company: 1994

For many out there, this was their first Aphex Twin album. Mine too, in fact, though I bought it along with …I Care Because You Do and Richard D. James Album - when you’re diving into the Aphex’d one’s catalog, there’s no sense half-assing it, right? Selected Ambient Works Volume II was most fans’ first LP experience with the man from the lands of Cornish though, thanks in no small part to the abundance of recommendations it continuously received. Liked that droning ambient track off Radiohead’s Kid A? SAW II. Want more music like Boards Of Canada? SAW II. Need to complete your Very Important Ambient Albums collection? SAW II. Curious about Aphex Twin but hate ‘techno’ beats? Come To Daddy EP.

The internet has no shortage of metaphoric write-ups and poetic praise gushed upon this double-LP. Hell, I recall a PR blurb on the wrapping stating something like “if the Monolith from 2001 could make music, it’d sound like this album”, which is about as pretentious an assessment of droning ambience as you can get. Couple that with packaging that screams “THIS ARE ART!” (non-titles, abstract track depictions), and you’ve an album from the ‘rave ranks’ highly instrumental in electronic music’s continued ascent into credible discourse.

Not that it’s undeserved. The compositions crafted across these two CDs truly are remarkable in their bizarre, warped approach to tones and timbres. You often do feel like you’re navigating realms of the outworld, occasionally brought back to an earthly grounding only to be charted off to alien dreamscapes shortly after. At times Mr. James creates pieces of such lovely, soothing calm, you feel like being wrapped in a warm blanket of sonic bliss (Cliffs, Rhubarb, Lichen, Z Twig). Other times he’ll drag you through weird scenery, images distorted into lucid abstractions (Spots, White Blur 2, Radiator, Domino, Grass, Parallel Strips, Curtains, Tree). Some tracks offer a guiding rhythm, and thus a bit more structure to the proceedings (Blue Calx, Shiny Metal Rods, Blur, Hexagon, Weathered Stone). And in a few more pieces, it sounds like the Aphex’d one is just messing around with sounds and effects for their own sake, getting his musique concrete on because why not (White Blur 1, Grey Strip, Tassels). Yes, I’m referring to these compositions by their assumptive picture names – it’s easier that way.

Selected Ambient Works Volume II can seem a daunting excursion for some, a two-hour plus dive into various sonic doodles with no real rhyme or reason for their being. No doubt a few of the ultra-abstract sorts could have been jettisoned while lengthier pieces shortened. And yet, despite some tracks not sticking to my brain matter as memorably as others, I can’t imagine this album as less than its current sum. There’s honestly enough variety across twenty-four works (twenty-five for vinyl enthusiasts, lucky bastards) that you’re constantly engaged by each piece, just to hear where Aphex goes next with it. No wonder everyone keeps hoping for Selected Ambient Works Volume 3.

ACE TRACKS: June 2013

Oh hey, it’s another throwback ACE TRACKS playlist that coincides with the month it’s being made in. Probably the final time that’ll happen too, though maybe the possibility exists things will line up again in October, if I slack off on these enough. Since it took almost no time putting this one together (you’ll see why), I could have posted it earlier this month, but I felt it best doing this now, just before leaving for a two week holiday. Where else would I announce such a thing, eh?


Full track list here.

Missing Albums:
Various - Global Underground: Paul Oakenfold - Live In Oslo
Various - Global Underground 003: Sasha - San Francisco
Various - Global Underground 014: John Digweed - Hong Kong
Various - Global Underground 29: Sharam - Dubai
Del Tha Funkee Homosapien - Golden Era
Various - Goa Trance – Psychedelic Flashbacks
Various - Goa Trance – Psychedelic Flashbacks 2
Various - Goa Spirit 3

Percentage Of Hip-Hop: 31%
Percentage Of Rock: 0%
Most “WTF?” Track: ICP. Always ICP.

Well, this was one seriously nerfed playlist. June of two years past was already a lean month for reviews to start with, what with so many double, triple, and quadruple CD releases. Then there’s the lack of old Global Underground material on Spotify, so many classics of the progressive era now lost to a generation of online streamers. Why must you make us seek alternative methods of hearing your CDs, defunct labels of the past? Then you got way obscure psy-trance, though much of which is best left forgotten anyway. Surprised Del’s Golden Age wasn’t available on the Spots tho’ – guess he likes keeping his shit proper underground that way.

So that leaves with very little left, less than two hours worth of music. Almost wasn’t worth making a playlist for, but whenever else will you get to hear Canadian conscious hip-hop, ancient goa trance, and Oliver Lieb all in the same short span of time?

Aphex Twin - Selected Ambient Works 85-92

R & S Records: 1992/2011

I’ve already ranted on about R & S Records’ utterly derped idea of replacing classic covers with their logo when they did the deed on Model 500’s Deep Space. At least in the case of Aphex Twin’s Selected Ambient Works 85-92, it wasn’t that much of a difference. The stark white background is retained, and the cover logo remains black provided you keep the shiny portions tilted away from the light. Yeah, the R & S stallion isn’t as dope as the Aphex ‘A’ ( or ‘A+T’, or ‘λ’, or saw, or half-starfish, or rip-off of the Yellow Pages logo, or whatever crackpot theory that’s out this week), but at least the simplistic style remained. It’s not like the original’s packaging was much to get fussed over anyway.

That’s the only fresh take I can offer with this review. Everything else that can be said about SAW 85-92, has been said, including me saying what I just said. Of course, there’s also my personal thoughts about this album, so if you’re after any proper critical analysis of Aphex Twin’s debut LP, scurry on over to one of the zillion other reviews online. Heck, even the new liner notes from Will Troup in this re-issue might suffice, even though they’re unashamedly fanboyish.

What I find so remarkable about this classic album is how it’s not really an album at all. Yes, Mr. Richard D. James often toyed with the LP convention, but most of his subsequent full-lengths had some structure to them, encouraging you to play them front-to-back so each track was taken in with the context of its surrounding neighbors. SAW 85-92 doesn’t have that, tracks coming and going as they mean to go on. Nor should there be any rhyme or reason to their sequence since the whole release is literally nothing more than a collection of tapes he’d made over the years. After giving them to an eagerly curious Renaat Vandepapeliere, the R & S head set up a new sub-label (Apollo) to release some selections upon realizing how far ahead of the curve these tapes were. He couldn’t put it on his techno print, after all; they were just too ambient for that. Yet, they weren’t proper ambient either, were they? So many weird, rough rhythms, taking well-worn drum machines and feeding them through filters and distorters and reverbers. Ah well, those lovely melodies and alien synths were close enough to ambient to make it count for the time being. Folks would shortly come up with a proper new genre tag anyway.

Of all Ricardo de Santiago’s output from the ‘90s, it took me the longest to hear this one in full. For sure I’d heard a few tracks here and there (Xtal, Schottkey 7th Path, Pulsewidth), but as SAW Early-Years came out on Apollo, it always sat stupid expensive on Canadian shelves. I knew the legend of this album, but no way was it worth thirty-plus bones for old ambient techno.

Nah, guy, even then it totally was.

Fallen - Secrets Of The Moon

Tranquillo Records: 2015

Why did neo-folky Lorenzo Bracaloni choose the alias of Fallen for his new project? There’s so many Fallens out there. Lord Discogs lists at least a dozen who’ve taken on the moniker prior to Bracaloni. For that matter, why even use a whole new alias? Is his material as The Child Of A Creek just too different from what he provides in this CD? Huh, I guess I should take a listen to some of those albums just to be sure. With five LPs out there, a couple ought to be on the Spotifys or Bandcamps for a quick perusal. I’ll be right back.

And I’m back. Wow, Lord Discogs wasn’t kidding when it described The Child Of A Creek as neo-folk. Half the time I feel like I’m in some medieval fantasy book or a quieter moment out of the Witcher series, but with added contemporary treatments like ambient synth washes or prog-rock guitar echoes. Neat stuff, though I can’t say it’s a sound I actively search for. Oh, and aside from similar influences in instrumentation, nothing like the music on this album of Secrets Of The Moon.

For one thing, there’s no singing for the Fallen – we’re dealing with instrumental-only pieces here. I wouldn’t call it pure ambient though, as there’s a steady, rhythmic pulse throughout most of these tracks, either as traditional percussion but sometimes complemented with an electronic bassline too. It takes elements of New Age meditation folk and jettisons all the bits that makes that music so tepid and sap, rather like TUU in their heyday (please tell me you still remember TUU). I also get something of a krautrock vibe here, mostly of that genre’s quieter moments with synth effects and echoing guitar. By and large though, we’re in the realms of outdoor chill music as enjoyed in the cool, summer twilight, a light mist obscuring the moon high in the sky. Oh, what secrets Luna holds on this particular night, wonder thee (rocks; it’s mostly rocks).

Particulars, then, because I need to burn a little more word count here. A mere six tracks make up Secrets Of The Moon, each lengthy but not tediously so, placing the album at about a breezy fifty-five minutes. The longest of these (and the titular cut) goes through a few movements but generally returns to a somber oboe melody with dark pads in support. The second longest track, Cosmos, opens with minimalist drone, soon giving way to Middle Eastern percussion and lengthy synth passages before finally erupting in bright synth-drone washes and distant guitars. Elsewhere, shorter pieces Ravenhand prominently features a santoor, Of Dreams allows the electric guitar centre stage, and Golden Dust has a very ethereal gothic vibe going for it.

So this was a fun little bit of exploration. Like The Child Of A Creek, I can’t say I’m inclined to check out future Fallen (14) efforts, but it was worth getting out of my comfort zone for Secrets Of The Moon.

Various - The Secret Life Of Trance: Episode 2

Imperial Dancefloor: 2000

Awww, yeah. Now we're talkin'. A compilation of Rising High trance, one of the O.G. labels of that scene, with a bonus DJ mix CD from the Godfather of trance, Oliver Lieb. I spy Cygnus X's Superstrings in that mix - not the Rank 1 remix or Corsten remix (or whatever), but the original, old-school version. You bet the boys behind this revitalized Secret Life Of Trance series were about to lay some serious knowledge on all them 'crackers of the year 2000. Nothing could possibly go wrong with this.

The first track on here is Lost 22 from Starecase. Hey, I've seen that name on a few DJ mixes before (Bill Hamel, Timo Maas, and some dude by the name of Tijs). I'm also fairly certain I've heard the Max Graham Remix of Lost 22, but the original version is what we get here. It’s a charming little prog-trance number, the sort you’d hear in plenty of set openers of the time. It also sounds very much of 2000, which I wasn’t expecting from a Rising High compilation. Guess Casper Pound had to placate the masses’ expectations for a trance CD regardless, but at least Lost 22’s classy enough.

Following that is nu-skool breaks from XPD’s Titty Twister. Wait, what the Hell? What on earth is a breakbeat track doing on a trance CD? These aren’t even ‘trancey breaks’ like Hybrid or something, but full-blown nu-skool, including those buzzy basslines everyone enjoyed mocking. This is the sort of stuff Adam Freeland was playing, and has no place on a trance collection, even if Mr. Pound is one of the producers. Would the breaks scene accept an ATB cut in a Krafty Kuts mix? Hell no!

Following that is... oh God. Moonrunners’ Fathom is a such a lame pinch of the Balearic trance fad, including a synth rhythm that sounds like a watered-down version of Tekara’s Breathe In You. The whole track’s insipid bilge, with an overlong breakdown playing out Zamfir’s The Lonely Shepherd on Spanish guitar – dudes, you don’t diss the Zamf’s panflutes like that! The rest of CD1 amounts to little else of note. Chris Cowey (as F2) turns in an agreeable bit of techno on Dominca, Silvio Ecomo’s Standinghas a solid tribal pulse, and Lieb goes deep with Light It Up as Phools Inc. Beyond that, generally a balls disc, sadly.

With such weak music to work with, ol’ Oliver would have to transcend even Sasha’s skills on the decks to salvage the CD2 mix. He does what he can, but even at best Mr. L.S.G. has only been a functional jock. He spices things up with a few of his own productions, almost all under obscure one-off aliases like Mindspace and Multiplicity. The mix even turns enjoyable once he’s finished playing out the obligatory CD1 material, finishing out with an old-school vibe I thought Rising High would deliver. Unfortunately, it’s not enough for another play of Secret Life Of Trance: Episode 2 anytime soon.