Tom Middleton - The Sound Of The Cosmos (Part 2: Music Review)

Hooj Choons: 2002

Rhythm, melody, and harmony: our most basic understanding of music. The beats stimulate the body, the notes stimulate the brain, and the chords stimulate the heart. Entire cultures have centered their arts around any one of these tenants, some even finding fascinating ways of combining them into works of creativity for the ages. Studies, essays, lectures and philosophies have spent countless words detailing and describing just what it is about these things that drive so much of humanity’s inexplicable appreciation of aesthetics. I, for one, shall not bore you with such ramblings, as I know we’re all listening to The Sound Of The Cosmos for a little bit of boogie action, and a nice afternoon chill sesh’ on the weekend. Plus quips. I know you love the quips.

As pretentious as a triple-disc set exploring aspects of rhythm, melody, and harmony may sound, Tom Middleton's approach is rather middle-of-the-road for such a concept. The tunes dug up don't stretch far beyond his comfort zone, much of it coming off like a mixtape rather than an industry changing ultra-set. I guess the fact this is a 3CD DJ mix was unique, made more so in that there's very little bandwagon jumping of trendy genres here. In fact, with all the deep house and downtempo jazzy vibes throughout, The Sound Of The Cosmos is incredibly noncommercial for its time, which likely helped sweeten the “Best Mix Of 2002” accolades every journalist was throwing Middleton's way. A high profile release lacking a pile of recognizable hits, where music comes first? Have all the ribbons, mate!

Still, a few high-profile tunes do make their way over the course of these three hours, none more so than Middleton's mash-up of Tiga & Zyntherius' Sunglasses At Night and New Order's Blue Monday. Quirky mash-ups of old and new hits were already buzzing in the underground, but this one crossed far enough into the public's awareness, it kicked off a brief period of everyone trying their hand at mash-ups; even Madonna! It's the sort of tune that works brilliantly as a climax, so it's hilariously cheeky on ol' Tom's part that he dumps it so early in CD1 (Rhythm), as though getting his one obvious anthem done and dusted so he can carry on with fresher tunes in his crate.

CD1 carries on with more rhythm-centric tunes, though if I’m honest, all this acid jazz and 2-step garage doesn’t do much for me. Maybe I’m just spoiled for the funkier electro earlier Middleton music offered, but any set that includes MJ Cole always gets a big ol’ “meh” from me. CD2, Melody, is all deep house all the time. Familiar names include John Beltran, Herbert, Ananda Project, Schmoov!, and Télépopmusik’s one big hit (also played out early in the set). It’s a good mix, but nothing I haven’t heard before.

Then there’s CD3, Harmony. It is one of the best morning-after downtempo and trip-hop mixes I’ve ever heard. ‘Nuff said.

Tom Middleton - The Sound Of The Cosmos (Part 1: Historical Musings)

Hooj Choons: 2002

The Sound Of The Cosmos was a big deal when it dropped in ye' olde year of 2002, though I'm hard pressed in giving adequate reasons from a modern perspective. It's a class mix all around, no doubt, but were we really so enamoured by 3CD DJ mixes at the turn of the century? Not at all, the format actually rather rare as the 2CD route was the traditional method of letting a jock stretch their skills behind the decks (turntable or studio). Besides, with a market thoroughly saturated in DJ mix CDs and a consumer base not exactly flush with funds at the time, it was simply commercially viable sticking with a proven formula, folks more than willing to spring on double-disc sets. Anything more and you’re looking at box set compilations on the cheap(ish).

Let’s put it this way: even though a triple-disc set from Sasha, Digweed, Tenaglia or Cox would be a sure-fire money maker at the turn of the millennium, none of them did the deed, the buying public content with the 2CD format. Even after Mr. Middleton’s The Sound Of The Cosmos earned all the plaudits, praises and Best DJ Mix accolades, the market still stuck things out with single and double-disc rinse outs. A few triple-disc releases cropped up in Balance and Renaissance 3D, but it wasn’t until recent years that we’ve seen far more examples of the 3CD DJ mix, even if only as something intended for hardcore collectors. And yes, you may point out the irony what with the ol’ aluminum’s dwindling prospects as the public’s preferred playback method.

This leads us to our next quandary: why Tom Middleton? For sure he’s a respected name in the world of electronic music, his discography already filled with classics by the time this came out (Jedi Knights, Global Communication, Cosmos, Secret Ingredients), but not exactly well versed in the commercial DJ mix business. A couple outings for Mixmag aside, The Sound Of The Cosmos was his first proper release in the market, and Hooj Choons saw nothing less fitting than giving the Muzik Magazine Q&A columnist a three disc concept release as a debut. I guess they had no choice if he was to see his vision to fruition - centering mixes around the three main tenants of music wouldn’t do if relegated to portions of two CDs. Maybe Mr. Middleton was owed a few favours from Mr. Red Jerry.

More likely though, ol’ Tom had garnered so much positive karma within the industry that it was only appropriate that he get such a project green-lit by Hooj Choons. It also garnered him plenty of kudos from everyone who came within earshot of The Sound Of The Cosmos, an epic DJ mix that wilfully defied standards of the time, even setting off a few trends of its own. For details on that, however, check out Part 2 of this review. Hey, if In Trance We Trust 020 gets a two-parter, so does this.

LCD Soundsystem - Sound Of Silver (Original TC Review)

DFA: 2007

(2015 Update:
Even though this review is nearly one-thousand words long, I feel it doesn't say much of anything anymore. Regarding how the music sounds, it isn't terribly informative, as I was desperately avoiding all the talking points and namedrops every other rag (printed and online) were throwing out; so, for all you completists, here's "Talking Heads" finally. My opening angle comes off silly now, given 'EDM' actually found its way back to the covers of rock magazines. Hell, Spin named Skrillex one of the Top 100 guitarists of all time, a feat that makes their Prodigy front-cover look positively quaint. Lastly, the writing's just clunky overall, my enthusiasm for the album sending me into ramblematic mode all too often.

But who cares about the content of this old review. Given the faddy hype that propelled LCD Soundsystem to the talk of tinsel town is well in the rear mirror, does Sound Of Silver hold up at all? You bet, guy, though more for the themes James Murphy supplies than the music itself (does new wave punk ever date though?). Thoughts of an ever-changing music scene passing you by is a notion any fan can relate to, and coupling that with general trepidation of growing old makes for a bittersweet collection of songs, one that becomes more poignant the older you get. Ah well, at least we can still rabble-rouse with fellow North American scum.)


IN BRIEF: Stunning sophomore effort from the Soundsystem.

For as long as the indie rock media had to acknowledge ‘electronica’ as legitimate music, it’s been begrudgingly so. Granted, they by no means feel synths and sequencers are the bane of all music, and some of the more eclectic names have earned well-deserved praise. However, it’s been plainly obvious the electronic scene at large holds very little appeal to them. What, after all, is so exciting about watching a guy play records? Seeing a marginally talented rock band giving their all is far more electrifying than some guy jumping around behind a rack of gear as a couple of oddly-haired MCs shout nonsense (oh yes, you know Spin Magazine is still kicking themselves over their Prodigy cover story).

Which is why James Murphy has been a godsend for the indie rags. Here is an individual who embodies everything you’d expect in a Gen-X hipster, taking the very best qualities of disco dance and punk partying, and fusing them into his LCD Soundsystem project. His sound captures the spirit of rock better than any of the ‘electronica’ bands did, purely for the simple fact Murphy’s as much a part of New York City’s underground punk scene as he is the dance club circuit. Although he’s still more of an ambassador for EDM, he hardly feels constrained by that scene’s commandments.

For his sophomore effort, Murphy decided to blend styles even further rather than repeat LCD’s debut. If you’re looking for a tidy genre to lump Sound Of Silver in, you’ll leave a broken man. Disco punk is welcomed back to the party for sure, but funk, glam, house, acid, and even lounge are brought along for the ride this time. Nothing is too outlandish if Murphy feels it suits his muse.

Example? How about the first track Get Innocuous then? It starts out sounding like some sort of muffled techno, but as the song gets underway, loops of stuttery synths and pianos are added, with building crisp percussion injecting infectious vigor as it progresses. And then, once everything’s chugging along nicely, in comes Murphy, sounding like he’s tapping into some kind of Bowie inspiration. To top the track off, off-kilter orchestral arrangements swell as Nancy Whang - the female backing vocalist for LCD - speaks some dialogue to the rhythm. It’s definitely a strong opener, equally able to stand on its own but also builds the anticipation for what kind of eclecticism Sound Of Silver will bring next.

And Murphy does not disappoint. The snappy funk workout of Time To Get Away keeps this party going, followed with the lead single North American Scum, an unapologetic rabble-rouser much in the same vein of previous DFA disco punk offerings. Although it may hint at a dissatisfaction of having to deal with New York’s less-than-stellar party scene, Murphy seems to shrug it off and encourage his fellow continent-men to celebrate their scummyness nonetheless. After all, why should the Europeans have a monopoly on hedonism?

Most of the tracks from here show no compromises in eschewing conventional song forms. Some are mellower, some rowdier, and sometimes wildly disparate form beginning to end. If there is any kind of predictability to them, it’s they often start out simple and build to a riveting climax. Of course, this isn’t an uncommon method of song writing, and was even apparent in the previous album. However, the sound collages on this album are far more unique than the ones on LCD were. The addition of Tyler Pope (from !!!) into the writing mix along with Patrick Mahoney certainly can be felt from this.

What really sets this album apart from its predecessor though, is a sense of maturity in Murphy’s lyrics. They tend to be more reflective, even somber at times, often painting a picture of “A Day In The Life Of...” with his musings. This combination with the already strong instrumentation creates an enthralling listening experience as you can often hear his voice cracking under his attempts to reach the notes his emotion reaches for. Fortunately, Murphy wisely keeps his tongue in cheek, balancing things with his sense of playfulness so the songs don’t drown in melodrama.

As Sound Of Silver heads into the final stretch, Murphy provides a pair of tracks that will appeal more directly to his two main fanbases: Watch The Tapes for the punks; Sound Of Silver for the clubbers. And to cap the album off, he does a quaint serenade to his home city. With its unassuming start leading into a cacophony of aggression, New York, I Love You... is a fitting exclamation point on this spirited release.

Normally at the end of these Recommended Reviews, we will throw in some justifiable reason as to why, if you aren’t a fan of a particular genre, you should check out the album anyway. In Sound Of Silver’s case though, I don’t even have to do this. Sure, some of the anally retentive genre-whores may scoff at the idea of LCD Soundsystem’s ‘rocktronica’ nature having actual appeal to them, but I’m sure that would change the moment they throw this on. Murphy’s sound encompasses such a wide palette with irresistibly catchy music, fans of good-natured tunes will enjoy this regardless of their dedicated following.

If there can be one complaint, it’s that the album is a bit short. Oh, not in the sense that he needed to pad this out with filler or something. Rather, Sound Of Silver feels like a party that you wish could have kept going longer, had the cops not come in and busted it early... here in North America...

Written by Sykonee for TranceCritic.com, 2007. © All rights reserved

Various - Sound Of Acid Core 3

Cyber Production: 1997

For years I saw this – or some volume of it – advertised in another compilation of mine. It sat alongside titles like Illegal Techno and Acid Trancecore, all sporting similar cheesy CGI art featuring smiley faces turned scowling, menacing, or looking like hooligans in cartoon settings. And I was fascinated by these CDs, believe you me. They weren’t on local shelves, and the eye-catching stamp of 'Techno Import' gave it that extra Old World allure, that I was dealing with something from the Proper Underground of clublands I'd never have a chance of visiting. Plus, how could I not find appeal in such a daftly titled compilation like Acid Sound Of Core? What even is the acid sound of ‘core? Like, hardcore music with acid? Or psychedelic music that’s so ‘core, I could never know the score? What weird, mysterious sounds might I find on these discs? Eh, what do you mean I'm saying it wrong?

Actually, if I may be so bold as to start out of traditional reviewing sequence, ‘Acid Sound Of Core’ pretty much sums up CD2. The first few tracks are your standard bangin’ acid techno of the mid-‘90s, including a right squelcher from Acrid Abeyance’s Minimalistic with Commander Tom on the rub. Following that though, the acid retreats in favour of pure bosh by the likes of Scarecrow, DJ Edge, and Dyewitness. Okay, I don’t know much about any of these guys, only that this is straight up hard to the core music, and initially caught me off guard for some reason. I should have expected the gabber beats, hoover anthems, and old school spastic breaks to show up in a compilation with “core” in the title, but not stuff that was sounding a tad dated by 1997. It doesn’t even seem like the compilers were searching for the greatest, overlooked underground hardcore anthems, just whatever they could licence that had some acid tweakage available.

CD2 finishes with two tracks that are acid, but definitely not ‘core; in fact, they’re trance, Microwave Prince’s Cycle Evolution has a strong enough beat, barely fitting the ‘core theme, but not so with Emmanuel Top’s Stress. Compared to all the boshing boosh prior, it’s downright minimal, subdued, and absurdly long at nearly eleven minutes in length. I never thought I’d say this about having an E.Top track in a compilation, but I feel cheated here.

As for CD1, there’s not a whole lot of surprises. Hard acid techno pretty much has one mode, and though the 303 may alter its patterns, effects, and knob twiddling from track to track, the rhythms remain in forward drive and go. Some names of note here are Dave The Drummer, Lochi, Dr. Octopus, plus assorted well knowns under one-off pseudonyms. Caspar Pound’s hiding with Temple Of Acid, Liberator and DDR opt for A+E Dept, and Manu Le Malin gets an assist from... Draft Ponk? Lord Discogs, are these the same French guys you’re suggesting? Never would have expected them on a hard acid techno collection.

ACE TRACKS: March 2013

Man, how did September fly by like this? Normally I get one of these backtrack Playlists out by mid-month, yet here’s end-month rearing its head, and I’m way behind on this. I blame Spotify. No, not because another one of their updates buggered things up again, but the fact it’s running decently now, and it’s given me an opportunity to obsess over minutia in my collection. That got me itchin’ to re-organize my CDs once more, which needed some work anyway. I prefer keeping things together by music type, but I’ve gathered so many releases from particular labels now (Ultimae, Waveform, Moonshine, Fabric …um, In Trance We Trust), that it’s only right to stack them as a family too. And what of different eras of a particular genre? House alone has gone through numerous stages of development, so shouldn’t they be organized as such too? Then there’s the matter of artists and comp- ah, forget it. No wonder so many go the Big Cardboard Box In A Storage Locker route. Meanwhile, here’s some music from The Cloud that I reviewed back in March 2013.


Full track list here.

MISSING ALBUMS:
Samim - Flow
Zenith - Flowers Of Intelligence
Khooman - Is A Flexible Liquid
Carol C - First Impressions
Nobuo Uematsu - Final Fantasy VII: Original Soundtrack
The Dust Brothers - Fight Club
Various - Family Tree
Überzone - Faith In The Future

Percentage Of Hip-Hop: 3%
Percentage Of Roc k: 5%
Most “WTF?” Track: The Fight Club tracks I guess, though that’s intentionally so on the Dust Brothers’ part.

Wait, I can’t put my CDs in storage. Just look at all those albums that Spotify doesn’t have! Good ones too, like Flowers Of Intelligence, Faith In The Future, Fight Club, and the OST of Final Fantasy VII! I guess Samim’s Flow was supposed to rest in that pedigree too, but as all records of his existence disappeared a year after having that summer hit, I don’t blame Spotify for not knowing of its existence. And if my digital backups suddenly go *poof* in a moment of external harddrive failure, how will I satisfy a whim in hearing Carol C’s delicious atmospheric jungle mix again? Back in the towers you all go!

As for the music that did make it, this was the month I reviewed all the Fahrenheit Projects from Ultimae, so expect a huge chunk of that. There’s also Vitalic’s Flashmob right at the very end, and scatterings of electroclash, metal, rap, and not much else. Yeah, sorry, the unavailability factor seriously nerfed the diversity of another playlist.

Coldcut - Sound Mirrors (2015 Update)

Ninja Tune: 2006

Click here to read my original TranceCritic review.

Here we are, nearly a decade since Coldcut dropped what thus far looks to be a final album. They still may make room for another – Sound Mirrors and their previous LP, Let Us Play!, had a similar gap – but I guess their muses haven't needed an indulging of the production console lately. Did they turn jaded their Big Issues Album didn't garner much impact? All the Important Messages and sloganeering amounted to one big 'meh' from club culture, to say nothing of disinterest from the rest of the music world. Not that they had much chance. Green Day couldn't do it. Dixie Chicks couldn't do it. Hell, if even Neil F'n Young couldn't get folks riled enough to impeach the President, Coldcut sure ain't gonna' turn the tide in the face of such overwhelming apathy. But ooh, look at the glowing pyramid those Daft Punk robots made. Oooh, such shiny, much jangly!

Maybe we should have listened though. Playing this ten year old collection of music and lyrics again, my God how did we ever survive the ‘00s? The world was in total collapse, decaying before our very ears as heard in A Whistle And A Prayer. Corporations were running amok, controlling our every whim (Man In A Garage), providing us absolutely soulless escapism in canned mainstream music (Just For The Kick). Government spies and spooks lurked everywhere (Boogie Man), obviously controlled by higher powers above, abroad, underneath, and ether-wheres (Everything Is Under Control). Even those who proclaim doing good in the world are shady fucks, milking and bilking the wretched for personal gains (Aid Dealer). Dear lord, no wonder poor ol' Mr. Nichols wanted to jump from a building – either all of society was doomed, or you had to flee to the outbacks and live your life as a dirty hippie, essentially isolated and in denial of global issues.

Obviously, that isn’t an accurate portrayal of the haughty Aughties. Hell, I'm sure many would argue that we're worse off now than in that cheery year of 2006, what with crippling recessions, rapid climate change, increased racial strife, and endless sectarian violence. Pity Mr. Nichols if he decided the things worrying him weren't enough to end his life. Are things truly so dire though? We got problems, no doubt, but an abundance of protest music there doth lack in our current climes. Maybe artists only get riled up when there's a Republican President.

Or perhaps with global shrinkage comes greater understanding of the world we live in. A better track off Sound Mirrors, the Robert Owens featuring Walk A Mile In My Shoes, is one of the few times the album provides an actual solution to solving issues instead of just ranting about all that’s wrong. While it may not be possible to literally live the lives of others, social media certainly gave us more access to understanding the people in such positions. And more knowledge will only help the march of progress for all. (weee! Soapboxing is fun!)

Tau Ceti - Somnium

Umbra: 2004

Tau Ceti is a star that shares spectral characteristics with the sun, and is one of the closest to our solar system. Though slightly smaller in mass, the fact it's a single-star system has tantalized many a speculative fiction author into suggesting Earth-like worlds exist there. These worlds may serve as outposts for a human race on the cusp of galaxy exploration, or they may even have life of their own. Come to think of it, Spock's home world is located in the Tau Ceti system! What's cool is astronomers have recently detected planets about Tau Ceti, though as the system is apparently clogged with debris, it’s not the most hospitable locale as we know it. Where is though, in the cosmos? Where can we as a species venture that isn't out to deep freeze us, suck us into oblivion, or shred our DNA with impossibly small, radiated projectiles? I mean, if Tau Ceti is one of the better nearby options, what would hangin' out near Sirius be like? Seriously dangerous, I don't doubt!

All of this has nothing to do with Tau Ceti, the producer, one Enrico Cosimi to the Italian Information Bureau. Okay, maybe he was inspired by the T.C. system as depicted in sci-fi stories, but far as I can tell, it's simply an alias plucked for how cool sounding it is. I’m honestly surprised it hadn’t been taken by a one-off techno or trance producer (though Lord Discogs notes a hopelessly obscure ‘80s goth band). There is a light space theme with Mr. Cosimi’s music, other releases coming with names like Frozen Planet, Pulsar, and Borealis, but that’s about par for the course when it comes to drone ambient of this sort.

Yep, once again, we’re in the realm of super-long single track albums, this time taking in something from the Umbra print, an Italian ambient label set up by the late Oöphoi. In fact, Tau Ceti often collaborated with Oöphoi, while also participating in a ‘super-group’ of sorts called Nebula that included Klaus Wiese, Mauro Malgrande, and Lorenzo Pierobon. Any ambient follower should have heard a couple of these names, most emerging in the ‘90s following in the footsteps of Steven Roach and (namedrop, namedrop, etc.), carving out a significant slice of history’s droning ambient pie. Flooding the market with limited run CDrs will do that for a label.

Somnium was part of one such flooding on Tau Ceti’s part, when he released around a half-dozen LPs in 2004 (he’d go the ‘shorter’ single track EP route after). Don’t let the cover art fool you into thinking this is some angelic New Age meditation outing, Somnium quite dark in its droning ways. Essentially four parts, the first focuses on minimalist vibrations, then morphs into a quiet, slow drone oscillation. Some forty minutes deep, it abruptly changes into layered droning timbres, then proceeds with the obligatory long fade-out. Not much going on in all then, but at least there’s some sense of progression throughout.

John O'Callaghan - Something To Live For (Original TC Review)

Discover: 2007

(2015 Update:
This was something of a flashpoint review for yours truly, where my bitter resentment of gratuitous Dutch trance and all its associated marketing and such started to wane, allowing my tentative steps back into covering the world of eurotrance. Good thing too, since that was kinda' the point of a website called TranceCritic anyway; plus, I don't know how much more dark, twisted psy trance our readers could take anyway. You can still see some of my cynicism come through, especially when I get to DJ Governor's remix of Exactly, but I was definitely more forgiving of O'Callaghan's sappier moments on this album. What's funny is I've rather softened on the remix, while I don't much care for the original Exactly anymore.

That's generally the case with much of Something To Live For though. A few moments do continue tickling the nostalgia endorphins, but the production comes off more amateur and sloppy now, especially with the all-pervasive Discover Kick. Man, a lot of trance guys were going hard with their kicks around that time. All said though, I still like this one far better than the tepid tunes off O'Callaghan's second LP, Never Fade Away. Assembler chews up Big Sky and spits it into the gutter drain, yo'.)


IN BRIEF: Quite nostalgic, I have to admit.

Trance seems to be migratory. A favored sound will spring up somewhere in Europe and that region’s style will dominate for a while. Eventually, a new region will repeat the process, usurping the previous one as the leading tastemaker, and so it goes. For a long time though, the Dutch dominated trance when they outshined (and out-market) the British, the former leaders. But as the Dutch empire begins to crumble around them, other regions have started to scramble for the coveted prize as trance’s tastemaker. At first it appeared the Germans were poised to retake their thrown after years of playing second fiddle to other nations, but their victory parade may need to be put on hold for a moment. For an unlikely upstart beckons from the northwest: the Irish! ...kind of.

Okay, really it’s just Discover Records, and half their roster is made up of Englishmen anyway. But their associates form the Isle Of Guinness Ale were responsible for a hefty chunk of the big trance singles of 2006, and you can be assured they’ll use that momentum to carry them through this year. The reason for their success is simple - or rather simplicity. They aren’t interested in grand theatrics or overwrought compositions. Discover’s trance is only out to supercharge the party with simple hooks, driving rhythms, and ‘no bullshit’ attitude. Oh, and that kick! It punches hard, and overpowers everything in its path. They’ve certainly gotten plenty of mileage out of it.

Leading the charge of Irish producers is John O’Callaghan, who through various aliases, collaborations, and remixes has built up a sizable back-catalogue these past few years. Time for a full-length album then, eh?

Opting to provide as much old and new material in this release as he can, John offers two discs: the pretentiously titled Concept CD, and a Club CD containing extended, alternate, and additional tracks, mainly for DJ usage. Since Concept is the main show though, let’s dig into that first.

Straight up, there is very little concept going on here. O’Cally has simply taken his tracks and made a makeshift DJ mix out of them. And he even doesn’t do much in that department either, only using quick cross-fades for his transitions. And in an act that will probably annoy his fans, the tracks aren’t given much breathing room, usually left in the dust in under five minutes. Yeah, basic ideas going on here. If you want a trance album with some actual concept behind it, try some L.S.G.

However, where Something To Live For succeeds is in track arrangement. Aside from the first few songs, the flow on this album is quite good. Sure, the transitions are often herky-jerky, but most of the tracks go well one after the other. Stretches of John’s techier bangers are every so often broken up with a welcome slice of epic trance, allowing their melodies to shine brilliantly. And for all you young DJs out there, this is a GOOD THING! Don’t let an epic moment be wasted by drowning it with redundancy in your mixes, kids. Space those peak tracks out.

Of course, plenty of O’Cally’s previous gems are included here: The Chamber, Vendetta, Elevator Dance-Off, and, naturally, Exactly. As for the new stuff, most of it seems made to complement this disc’s flow rather than stand out on its own; they don’t get much of a chance making an impression with these short running times. Fortunately, most of the better offerings can be found on the Club disc. How are they, you ask? Space & Time spaceily chugs and bangs, Sunday 1am tranceily drives and bangs, and Assembler grimily really fucking bangs. Er... yeah. They do bang a lot, these tracks. All of them, for that matter, and if you want more to your rhythms than pumping energy, you’ll have to look elsewhere.

This is John’s style though: simple bangin’ tech-trance. As mentioned, the kick pounds, and he’d be foolish to try and out-match it. Instead, he makes ample use of working around it with effective rhythms and supplies subtle trancey hooks or throbbing riffs to complement them; the few times any melody takes the lead is usually in a collaboration. And none of this is terribly innovative either. In fact, aside from the better production values (re: shit be louder, son!), a great deal of the material on Something To Live For sounds like it could have been produced in 1998, right down to the same synths. You’d be forgiven for thinking this was some kind of throwback album, right down to the cheesy cover.

But you know what? Even though I’ve often been critical of others for not moving with the times, it’s actually okay here. If you’re going to tap a former year of trance for your inspiration, you could do far worse than 1998. Trance in those days was doing just fine: hooks were catchy, rhythms had power, and breakdowns were far from the ridiculous lengths they would become. John seems to be fully aware of how important keeping some semblance of momentum in your tracks is during a lull. This is probably how trance would be sounding had that whole Dutch wave never occurred (incidentally, not that different from Paul van Dyk’s older style, so I guess the Germans are still poised to take over after all).

If you need proof of how much better this simpler form of trance is over the bloated forms that would come later, look no further than the big hit on here, Exactly. The original produced by O’Cally and Bryan Kearny is a classic epic tune, with a simple catchy melody introduced without dawdling on the way to get to it, and neither milking the moment with grotesque theatrics. And on the Club disc, we have DJ Governor’s remix, and it’s a bloated beast indeed. Like so much Dutch trance, there are tons of extraneous whooshes and washes all over the place, very little of which serves much purpose. Eventually the full-stop breakdown starts, and it lasts a long time before we’re back into the action - I lost count after the three minute mark. During the breakdown, Governor introduces an additional wanky guitar bit that is horrid. His remix is only salvaged once Exactly’s main hook is finally - finally - brought in during the build, and even then all the fluff dilutes its effectiveness. This is a pompous piece of trance bombast that anyone with a clue will see right through. *whew*

So, with all this in mind, should you get John O’Callaghan’s debut album? Simply put, he doesn’t overreach his bounds, and serves up his bangin’ trance as is; it’s a fun disc to throw on if you prefer the simpler techier side of trance. So long as you don’t think too much about The Big Picture and let the beats to do their job, Something To Live For will serve you fine.

Written by Sykonee for TranceCritic.com, 2007. © All rights reserved

Dieselboy - A Soldier's Story

Moonshine Music: 1999

Few DJs are as influential in America's jungle scene as Dieselboy. There were some respectable names, sure, but as most d'n'b trends were dictated by the hierarchy of the UK, any rinser in the lands of eagles were obligated to follow suit. For the most part, so did one Damien Higgins, but as tech-step of yore started its morph into darkstep of yaye, the Dieslely One somehow turned those aggressive sounds into his own, rising to the high ranks of all jungle jocks throughout the Western Hemisphere. Few could match his furious mixing skills and relentless track selection, often hoarding all the best, unreleased material from the genre's elite (Technical Itch, Decoder, Dom & Roland, etc.). Of course, it didn't hurt he was among the first to truly push darkstep as jungle's future, setting himself apart from his contemporary late adopters. Savvy move on his part, that particular style still finding plenty of fans fifteen years on.

Making his debut with America’s former preeminent electronic music label Moonshine Music is A Soldier’s Story ...kinda’. Though much of Dieselboy’s early career was marked by the mixtape circuit, he released a couple CDs as well, though most flew well under the radar. One was even released on Philly-based Sixeleven Records, a print almost entirely known for house music. Another came care of Sub Base Records, but as Moonshine handled their distribution, that could technically be considered Mr. Higgins’ first major exposure. But no, this one, right here, right then, was Dieselboy’s proper coming out party for the greater U.S. of A. (plus Canadaland), ready to stand toe-to-toe with other American favourites like AK1200 and DJ Dara. He, um, didn’t quite knock it out of the park.

Oh, A Soldier’s Story definitely is a manifesto on Dieselboy’s part, coming in early with the burgeoning neurofunk style before letting a few Tech’ Itch cuts drop serious damage on your ears. Jump up is dead. Jazzstep is dead. All the old jungle genres are dead; obey your darkstep overlords. Jonny L and Danny Breaks can join in the celebration feast though. Some of the scene’s newer blood also make appearances with DJ Friction, Markus Intalex (or ‘Mark Da Intallex’ as he’s credited here), and, um, Kosheen. Hey, it was Decoder’s pet, that group, and we at least get a proper fierce remix on Yes Man for that cut. It’s also about as ‘vocal’ as A Soldier’s Story gets – Dieselboy ain’t having none of that sing-along E-Z Rollers anthemy shite, mate.

So a solid set in the darkstep mold, but that’s pretty much all it is straight through, little variation or twists thrown our way. That’s fine if you just want a pummelling CD, but a strong, memorable mix knows when to drop tangents without losing flow. Some might suggest that’s just the way Dieselboy does things, but his follow-up mix for Moonshine, System_Upgrade, did provide those spicy variants, making for a much stronger CD in the process. Damn, wish I still had that one.

Photek - Solaris

Virgin: 2000

Photek’s Solaris is almost legendary in how it divided a jungle nation. It didn’t have to be so. Drum ‘n’ bass was in fine shape at the turn of the millennium, though could have used more of Mr. Parkes’ refined approach to the craft of intelligent tech-step drum programming. Despite a few doing their own spin on the Photek stylee, (word to the Source Direct crew, yo'), other producers weren’t replicating it en masse. Still, for as generally healthy the d'n'b scene was, it had lost much of the commercial and critical clout it once earned in the '90s, Mr. Parkes' absence perhaps partly responsible for those dwindling times. That junglists were expecting- nay, counting upon another Modus Operani to remind the general club 'n' rave populace of their chosen sound's supreme standing is understandable. No less so, then, the betrayal many felt when Photek said nuts to all that, going his own way down paths no true junglists ever dared ventured.

An ocean and sky blue cover notwithstanding, fans had to suspect something was up when lead single Terminus dropped. Also the opener on Solaris, it’s a seriously funky outing with banging and clanking drum work, sounding more like some of Orbital’s output than much of Photek’s prior work (seriously though, that bass drop in the middle!). Infinity was more in line with the sort of tech-step d’n’b heads enjoyed from Mr. Parkes though, so perhaps the full album would offer up more like it. Oh, such innocent thoughts those were.

Second track Junk carries on with the Terminus style, though creeping much closer to techno’s realm than Photek had wandered before. Then Glamourama hits and, oh my God, it’s a house beat! How dare he! How dare he! How dare he? Wait, why is my head bobbin’? Ergh, argh, must. Resist. Deep. Groove.

Haha, foolish junglist, Photek has you in his house clutches now, and to keep you there, here’s Mine To Give, as vintage a Chicago throwback as you could get in the year 2000, including a guest vocal from Robert Owens, a singer featured on many classic Trax Records tracks. As if throwing a bone to the ‘deebee’ faithful, Can’t Come Down gets back to the d’n’b side of things, though on a much chiller scale than anything heard in the Photek discography before. Was he daring LTJ Bukem to play one of his records? The second half of Solaris isn’t nearly as dynamic as the first, if anything flickering down with more claustrophobic house (Solaris) and trip-hop (Halogen, Lost Blue Heaven), but hoo, what an impression side one imparted.

Of course, given this would be the last Photek album for over a decade, the vitriol leveled on Solaris faded, folks wondering if he’d ever drop another LP again. Mr. Parkes would occasionally return to jungle in that time, and his genre explorations garnered him more respect abroad for taking such a chance with his music, succeeding even in the face of predictable backlash.