Pitch Black - Ape To Angel (Original TC Review)

Kog Transmissions/Waveform Records: 2004/2005

(2019 Update:
I fear I overplayed this when I first got it. I wouldn't say it was a revelation or something so daft, but man, did it ever hit the sweet spot in releasing those fussy pleasure endorphins, music that I needed at a most opportune time in my life. I sadly haven't gone back to it much this past decade though, so much of it now burned in my brain that I just have to think of it and the whole thing plays out in a rapid flash within my mind. I don't like that. I yearn for the lost anticipation of hearing it fresh and new again, but such a time is gone, gone, gone. Maybe I can take a spoon and scoop out wherever the Ape To Angel memories are stored.

Or perhaps it'd be better if I just scope out some more of Pitch Black's music. They've certainly kept active to this day, and apparently even resisted the temptation to jump on the dubstep bandwagon like a lot of unique, groovy psy-dub festival mainstays did. Guess that's more Bandcamping in store for me...)


IN BRIEF: This release coulda been 'electronica'.

“Oh great,” you say. “Here go these TranceCritic writers again, willfully reviewing obscure material and giving it high scores just because it’s underground.”

With that, I’m sure I’ve put a chunk of our readers on the defensive. Don’t play coy. I know there’s a good deal of you out there who figure because we don’t shower certain DJs and producers with unconditional praise, we’re nothing more than elitist music snobs. Of course, such folk rarely see the nice things we have said about said DJs and producers, as it tends to only be the negative that sticks in their mind.

However, it is true we sometimes dig deep into uncharted music territory, where more often than not we come across electronic gold to share with our readers. Such is the allure of the hunt for dedicated music collectors, spending countless hours and funds in the pursuit of those unheralded artifacts.

Our excursions have now taken us to a land most don’t regularly associate electronic music with: New Zealand. The island nation is more known for its Maori heritage, kiwi fruits, and, more recently, the spiritual home of Middle Earth. But an EDM scene? It hardly registers - the lack of any globally recognized names doesn’t help. Fortunately, this lack of worldwide notice hasn’t stopped Zealanders from pursing their interests into the realm of digital dance music.

Production duo Paddy Free and Michael Hodgson have quietly built up a name for themselves over the years, and the dedication to their craft has begun to yield some notice in other corners of the world. Reason is their music has reached a stage where they’re at one with their sound - dubby psychedelia - and aren’t afraid to export it to other styles. There’s a cool confidence in their work, a trait that was quite common in the big ‘electronica’ acts of the 90s like Underworld and Leftfield.

Hmn. Suddenly I have the suspicion this room just got a lot emptier. Was it perhaps that ‘psychedelic dub’ tag that caused the less adventurous to flee? If so, it’s their loss, as Pitch Black’s sound encompasses far more: psy dub is merely a starting reference. Free and Hodgson show an affinity for the cavernous sounds echo, delay and reverb effects can create, but they don’t get caught up in the novelty of it like some dub producers do; providing texture is their main goal with the sound. As for the psychedelic part, it too doesn’t get bogged down with over-indulgence. There’s some loose arrangements and some squiggly sounds, but none of which are a track’s focus.

Still, when Pitch Black does indulge in psy dub, they fire on all cylinders. The titular opener, Flex, the jazzier Freefall, and the ambientish Empty Spaces lazily groove along with dubby effects tingling at your mind. And in case rhythms and effects aren’t enough for your head to chew on, your attention will easily be drawn to the warm melodies bubbling just beneath the surface.

Elsewhere on Ape To Angel, the duo have fun fusing reggae harmonies, techno soundscapes, and brisk breakbeats into their dubbed-out delights. Melt is a little more traditional for this kind of sound, but Lost In Translation’s funky freewheeling and chip-choppy vocal sampling will definitely get your body movin’. And if that’s not enough for you, the gradual build of easy-going grooves to near d’n’b speeds of The Random Smiler should satisfy even the most suspicious of this reviewer’s praise. But wait, there’s more!

Far from content to stick to these styles, Pitch Black tackle techno head-on in Big Trouble Upstairs. This is the kind of track you wouldn’t find too out of place in a WipEout soundtrack, using subtly layered rhythms, burbling acid, and moody future soundscapes to bring the energy up in ever gradual increments. It’s definitely a different kind of track on this album, especially considering the generally psychedelic chill vibe that permeates the proceedings. Yet, it maintains the duo’s style, and shows how adept they are at this electronic music thing.

But wait, there’s still more!

Forget all that talk about psy and dub and techno and breakbeats. Pitch Black throw in a spacey bit of acid jazz with the track Elements Turn, including full lyrics provided by Sandy Mill (her voice is also used in Freefall, but only for a few repeated words). Were it not for some of this duo’s dubby sound lightly lurking in the background, Elements Turn could easily fit snugly in a Kruder & Dorfmeister-styled set. Hell, it still could, should such DJs feel a little adventurous in their track selection.

A diverse album? Ape To Angel certainly is that. Even if the general mood tends to remain consistent, Pitch Black have no trouble flirting with other styles, keeping the variety on this full-length fresh as it plays through. Many acts often attempt this, but all too often sound like they are merely checking off a list of types of tracks they should have - even more often for the sole reason of trying to distribute their material to other genre scenes they don’t normally associate with. However, because Free and Hodgson aren’t really a part of any predetermined scene, they don’t feel inhibited by what is expected of them, which allows them to produce the music they desire. As a result, the songs on here are strong and fearless, and shouldn’t be missed by anyone who fancies themselves a fan of electronic music.

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

Bandulu - Antimatters

Infonet: 1994

And thus, I've completed my Bandulu albums collection! Except Black Mass, the LP that launched their short-lived Foundation Sound Works print, but that was only on vinyl, a format I must resist to my dying days (I ...must). I guess there's also technically New Foundation, though at a mere five tracks long, more an EP. Maybe someday, the lads behind Bandulu will reconvene to release their stuff via Bandcamp, though with their music on so many different labels, getting all their rights back might prove tricky. Plus, if I'm really jonesing for some more Bandulu product, I could always check out that Sons Of The Subway side-project they did. Ooh, that's a tidy little price on the Discogs market there. (I'm so weak ...oh God, I'm so weak!)

So I've finally come to Antimatters, the album that, if things had played out normally, should have been the first Bandulu CD I got. It has the lone tune I was familiar with, after all, the sublimely spacious ambient dub of Run Run (that reverb! D'at bassline!). I wonder what Teenage Sykonee would have thought of the album though, had he been fortuitous in finding it way back when. Was he ready to hear roots techno of this sort? For sure I was stunned to hear it on that Millennium Records Ambient Dub compilation that had it instead of ambient dub. A similar scenario could have happened here, me going in expecting ambient dub, and not getting it at all. Ah, I'd probably have been more forgiving, since I'd have been tickled pink over even finding a Bandulu CD at all. You've no idea how many patient years I've waited to see them all come down to affordable prices in the Amazon market.

Right, enough blog-blather about my music consumption practices. How is Bandulu's Antimatters, their sophomore follow-up to the well regarded debut? Definitely different, the aforementioned nods to reggae dub far more prominent than before. Guidance had the dub vibes going too, but there was more adherence to the UK's take on Detroit techno and Afro-fusion there. But here, what can you expect from an album opening with a track called Agent Jah?

There's also more explorations of ambient techno, and not just with Run Run. High Rise Heaven gets in on a little Artificial Intelligence action of its own, Phaze In is over ten-minutes of shimmering, cascading synths, with nary a rhythm in earshot. Industrial Orchestra sounds like Bandulu took field-recordings of a busy transit centre, then looped and over-dubbed them for a two-minute jaunty. And let's not overlook experimental interlude doodles scattered about. Oh, you already did, because they're so short.

That's fine. We still get plenty of techno bangers too. Whether the roots influenced stuff (Agent Jah, Original Scientist) or thumping minimalist numbers (Close Ups, Presence, Downstairs Somewhere), Antimatters has a little something for everyone. Why, I'd even say this is Bandulu album you're supposed to have, even if you're not a Bandulu fan.

Paul Oakenfold - Perfecto Presents Another World

Thrive Records: 2000

Rinsing out another clutch of trance anthems wasn't exciting anymore. Everyone was doing it, CDs of the stuff flooding the shelves of all your major retailers. No, to stand out from an over-saturated market, you had to get conceptual in your mixes, add a unique spin on your art of spin.

This was no doubt running through Oakenfold's head as his brand had reached near global peak. Yes, he was the highest paid DJ in the world, but those two lads, Sasha & Digweed, kept getting the highest critical praises. How could it be, Paul had to wonder, why they were seen as light years ahead of him? They'd both had DJ mixes out on superclub tie-ins (Renaissance, Cream), both had entries in the Global Underground series. Surely they were on the same level, right? No, because Sasha & Diggers still had the critically lauded conceptual Northern Exposure series, and Oakenfold had no such items to his brand, nor could he, Paul's skill as a DJ incapable of such immaculate sets. What do?

Do a conceptual mix his way, is what. People laugh at your mixing abilities? Then make a mix where mixing isn't a main focus at all, just track selection. And of those tracks, make sure you get some upfront tunes premiered, like Max Graham's Airtight, or Quiver's rub of Led Zeppelin's Babe I'm Gonna Leave You. Plus, folks seemed to love that Silence track on Northern Exposure: Expeditions, so include that too, but with a fresh remix from that new hotness Dutch guy named Tiësto. Finally, do something no one was doing in their commercial DJ mixes, and include transitional pieces featuring music from Bladerunner, Dead Can Dance, and that recent Al Pacino and Russell Crowe flick! Top that, Misters Coe and Digweed! Oh, c'mon, pay attention to me! I tried this time, really I did! There's even a long blend with Timo Maas' Ubik and L.S.G.'s Into Deep - surely enough for proper prog-props.

Actually, that's something that strikes me about Another World, just how much of the 'dark prog' sound is in this. Yeah, Oakenfold can't help himself in having some of them also feature operatic vocals or Balearic vibes, but tell me tunes like Skope's Back And Front or Lost It.Com's Animal couldn't fit in a Bedrock set too. And ooh, there's some proggy-breaks action in Brancaccio & Asher's Darker. Yeah, having pieces like The Host Of The Seraphim and Tears In The Rain may be obvious to connoisseurs of such music, but ain't no one playing them in 'radio sets' like Another World; and I quite like Lisa Gerrard's Sacrifice, thank you very much.

Frankly, I like a lot of this set, even the cheesier moments like Jan Johnston's Flesh and the silly 'interviews' praising Oakenfold. The music's top-notch throughout, while Oakenfold's weaknesses are played as strengths in his track arrangement. For a brief moment here, he finally seemed on par with the critical darlings of progressive trance. It was mostly downward after.

KMFDM - Angst

TVT Records/Metropolis: 1993/2006

I've decided the best way to experience KMFDM's discography is to jump back and forth from their critical peak Nihil. Or forth-and-back, in this case. I do this because, well, why not? Most often folks will do the chronological dive into a discography, or the 'best reviewed' descent. Why not change that up a little? Sure, I'm technically also starting from the band's agreed-upon pinnacle, but how about I spread out my exploration like an expanding glacier? Simultaneously discover where KMFDM went from Nihil while also learning of their growth. At the very least, it's a different way of doing this.

Thus I've come to Angst, KMFDM's seventh album and regarded as a major turning point in the band's history. Wait, doesn't every one of their albums leading up to this one have that claim as well? Rephrasing: the final step in a lengthy staircase of musical evolution. This was where the heavy industrial rock that marked much of their '90s output fully solidified, getting them noticed by all the metal heads who never really jived with the electronic side of industrial before. Just throw some screeching guitar shredding in there, and the long-hairs will feel right at home with the rivetheads. Also, make sure you let it be known that, despite coming from Germany, you're currently residing in Seattle – the instant credibility of the city made it the '00s Montreal of early '90s rock, or something.

Weirdly, I don't have much to say about Angst. For sure the guitar licks are a hoot, and apparently the band became so enamoured using them that they'd bring multiple guitarists on stage during the tour. Unfortunately, KMFDM don't quite sound at the level I'm most familiar with, the production still a tad flat and basic compared to Nihil and Xtort. Which shouldn't be unexpected, since this is an earlier album than those. And I'm sure when I finally deep dive into KMFDM's actual early, under-produced work, this will sound light years ahead of the game. Whatever, tunes like A Drug Against War and A Hole In The Wall shreds with the best of industrial thrash, and what metal lover wouldn't get tingly feels over the solos in Move On? This is a guitar album above all else, the backing drum tracks and lyrics secondary to the glory of the ol' six-stringer.

Oh yeah, I guess that's another thing that's kinda' lacked for me on Angst, the lyrics. Most of it revolves around the same ol' industrial tropes of evil overlords, fighting revolutions, and the like, but played seriously almost to a fault, lacking the sense of fun other KMFDM songs have. About the only tunes that lyrically stood out for me was anything Dorona Alberti sings on, 'cause that gal's got some pipes, and really shines on The Problem. Then there's Sucks, KMFDM basically having a jolly ol' pisstake at their own expense, including such nuggets of comedy gold as name-dropping some of the artists their acronym supposedly hates. I LOL'd.

Motorbass - Pansoul

Motorbass: 1996

(a Patreon Request from Omskbird)

There's folks that claim without Motorbass, there'd be no Daft Punk, or even a French house scene vital enough for Daft Punk to have succeeded. Bollybark is what I say to such claims, though it's undeniable that Monsieurs Cerboneschi and de Crécy got a good head start on most in the lands of francophone. How can someone not hear the old UMM cut Home and think, “yeah, that's some fine French action right there and wha...? 1993??”

Yet while the chaps behind Motorbass would go onto bigger things in separate projects (Ceroneschi as part of Cassius; de Crécy's own solo output), their Motorbass material didn't get much notice outside their homeland. It was Daft Punk's success that had everyone digging through France's back-catalogue of house releases, after which some realized that hey, there was more going on around Paris clubs than most realized. There's a reason why their lone album Pansoul became hailed one of the best “lost albums” by NME, and “the most important album in French house” by Spin. Magazines love proclaiming something earlier and comparatively 'underground' such things. Still, those are indie rock rags, and what do they know? It's not like Muzik Magazine was bigging this album up (did they? I can't find it in the .pdf archives; lots of Daft Punk love tho').

Now, I did come to know of Pansoul's existence, mostly thanks to the slew of reissues in 2003 (Virgin and Astralwerks got in on that action). Of course, I didn't buy the album, but with all that hype of it being some long-lost precursor to Daft Punk's success, my curiosity was indeed piqued. And what I heard was indeed house music with a French slant, but hardly the ultra-filtered sample 'n loop stuff that came to define it (somewhere, DJ Sneak once again angrily shakes a fist). Except Les Ondes and Wan Dance anyway, which does the filter funk better than many that came later.

Coming back to this over fifteen years later and without those stupid expectations the re-issue hype sullied me with, I hear Pansoul as less a landmark French house album, but rather a house record that finds itself on the crossroads of what house music was doing in the '90s. There's unmistakable influence from the Masters At Work bump-n-grind vibe (Flying Fingers, Pariscyde, Bad Vibes), plus the dubby cinematic European soul that marked much of that continent's forays into deep house (Ezio, Neptune, Genius). Throw in an obligatory trip-hop opener with Fabulous, and you'd think the Nineties-ness of Pansoul is complete.

Yet it doesn't really sound stuck in that decade either. By not necessarily adhering to any given trend, nor catapulting a burgeoning one as their French countrymen did, Motorbass released an album that stands unique and apart, a melting-pot of what was and was to come. It's the sort of record you'd expect released after all the dust had settled, not before. Which it did, once the reissues kicked in. Crafty marketing, that.

Modeselektor - Hello Mom!

BPitch Control: 2005

(a Patreon Request)

T'was neigh impossible missing out on Modeselektor throughout the '00s, if anything because of their unique logo. By the time they established their own Monkeytown Records print, you couldn't go anywhere within German tech-house circles without stumbling upon some variation of it. Then they teamed with Apparat to form Moderat, and hoo, were the tech-haus press ever a'twitter over it. They've actually kept that group together ever since as their creative output, Modeselektor receding to the background of DJing and label management. It all had to start somewhere though, so let's go back to beginnings of the Modeselektor empire, all the way back in ...1996? Whoa, too far back! Better at least fast forward to the current millennium, when Misters Bronsert and Szary actually started releasing music under the guise.

So the lads Gernot and Sebastian got chummy with Berlin tastemaker Ellen Allien, whom in a city filled with so-called tastemakers, actually does make hay with her taste. They signed to her BPitch Control print and released a few EPs of left-leaning IDM wonk techno and electro, even getting in on that trendy micro-glitch stuff. Not much of which would have any commercial appeal, is what I'm saying, so the fact they seemed to settle down on the experimentation leading up to this debut album must have had their long-standing fans concerned. Or maybe not, eager to finally hear Modeselektor bust out some club-friendly jams.

I don't know if they expected 'euro-crunk' though, as the Mode-boys likened their opening few tunes off Hello Mom! It sure ain't American crunk; more like 'glitch-grime', but hey, can't let those Brits think you're style-bitin' for a minute. So tracks like Dancingbox, Silikon and Fake Emotion cut up and glitch up their beats and vocals in a super-micro sort of way. Some other tunes are clearly in line with what German clubbers were flailing about to (before the ketamine kicked in), Tetrispack a jolly bouncy electro-house ditty and Kill Bill Vol. 4 reminding you that Alter Ego's Rocker was barely a year old still.

Then there's the IDM stuff. Oh lordy, is there every IDM stuff, sounding as though it's coming from an entirely different album than one with the above tunes. Vote Or Die is the one you all know, a lovely ambient-electro ditty that needed more compilation shine than just James Zabiela's Renaissance set (the great one!). And how can you not adore the retro-Aphex vibes of Ziq Zaq? Or the gothic electro-funk of The Rapanthem? Or the crunchy organ shuffle-crunch of In Loving Memory? Or the Artificial Intelligence techno bliss of I Love You?

Oh, it's because you just wanted more Kill Bill Vol. 4s? Don't worry, mang, there will be plenty of such tunes in the half-decade following this album, though not from Modeselektor. I think. I dunno', I haven't listened to all their output yet. If it's more the middle of Hello Mom! than the outer portions of the album (save closer I Love You), count me intrigued.

Sakanaction - Documentaly

Victor Entertainment: 2011

(a Patreon Request from Philoi)

I've mentioned plenty my enjoyment of 'foreign speaking' music is typically at a surface level. Like, I'll dig a French rapper riding a beat just as much as any Jamaican toaster, even if I don't have much clue of what either are saying (and one of them raps in English! ...kinda'). And as I've sifted through various Japanese indie and pop singers, so too have I come to at least appreciate their singing cadence in relation to the music, if not so much the lyrical content. Not that I really had much to dig through anyway, most topics dealing with the same things much of Western music does (love, reflections, historical figures). This Documentaly though, this one I was informed that it was imperative that I not only check out the lyrics involved, but also how they came about. Great, homework. Whatever happened to just feelin' the music? Ack, no, must... resist... jazz... snobbery!

Sakanaction is a five piece rock band that incorporates electronic elements, seeing their star shine ever brighter as the years went on. For the past decade, their singles and albums have consistently lay within the Japanese Top 10, with the self-titled fifth one finally hitting that always coveted number one spot. Sakanaction's previous two albums come close though, and as is so often the case with indie bands with humble roots, that increased fame and fortune started weighing on the members' minds, especially so lead singer Ichiro Yamaguchi.

The first half of Documentaly features songs with titles like Identity, Monochrome Tokyo, and Mask Town, and without even reading the lyrics, I can already tell they deal with the desaturated existence of celebrity, where coming into contact with so many faces causes a disconnect with your fellow person, humanity bleeding into a mass of near-nothingness. Heck, one just has to live in a large city to feel that, passing by countless people without knowing or caring who they are. Even some of the attempts at connectivity (Rookie and Anteres To Hari) are met with self-doubt and loneliness. Still, all this doesn't distract from the musical content, mostly peppy indie rock and dance-pop tunes (damn, some of those synths are mint).

Then the album takes a startling turn. There's a curious moment of silence at the mid-way mark, a somber, slower shoegaze jam with minimal lyrics following (Streamline Wave). The following tracks are mostly humbler in tone too, with titles more abstract. I thought it an interesting change of tone, but when I did the background research, it all became far more poignant.

For you see, this album was made at the same time as the Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, an event so disastrous, Yamaguchi suddenly felt his songs about personal isolation were no longer so poignant. The back-half of Documentaly touches upon these topics less directly than the material in the first half, but man, one can't help but feel the empathy coming from these guys as they hope their countrymen can rebuild from nature's indifferent destruction.

ACE TRACKS: January 2019

Bandcamp has turned into one hell of a drug. There I go, browsing Discogs for artist information, and notice there's a Bandcamp link. I follow that link, and lo', said artist not only has a few items for sale, but shares a label with similar artists. But oh no, it looks like some albums have already sold out, and if I'm not swift, I may miss out on some of these other items that look so appetizing. I better buy a bunch of them, even if there isn't a bulk-buy discount; helps with the shipping cost over time, right? And wouldn't you know it, I get automatically added to a mailing list, thus consistently informing me when another hit of new music becomes available. How handy, reminding me so I don't subconsciously forget.

I swear though, because of Bandcamp, my music collection has ballooned to a size it never would have even if local music shops still existed. For sure the 'ease of access' factor plays into that, but not even my Amazon binges yielded such a bounty of music as Bandcamp has. I typically use Amazon to get things I specifically want, whereas Bandcamp has served as an exploratory resource, discovery artists and labels I wouldn't have otherwise, except for those times I randomly browsed a traditional store (say, A&B Sound, Virgin Megastore, or HMV). It's this perfect combo of A&B Sound and Amazon that Bandcamp has become for yours truly, providing an insidious, insatiable hit of music consuming endorphins that... well, hasn't made me broke or anything. Sure have difficulty exercising self-control though. With that sobering thought, here's the ACE TRACKS of January 2019.


Full track list here.


MISSING ALBUMS:
Alter Ego - Alter Ego
Aira Mitsuki - C.O.P.Y.
Tiga - American Gigolo
The Oak Ridge Boys - American Harmony
Loop Guru - Amrita (...All These And The Japanese Soup Warriors)
Divination - Ambient Dub, Volume II: Dead Slow
Various - Ambient Auras: Diverse Dimensions In Ambient Dub
Various - Ambient Dub: Futuristic Techno Dub & Electronic Roots
Various - Ambient Dub Volume 1: The Big Chill
Various - Ambient Dub Volume 2: Earthjuice
Various - Ambient Dub Volume 3: Aqua
Various - Ambient Ibiza

Percentage Of Hip-Hop: 14%
Percentage Of Rock: 0%
Most “WTF?” Track: Bogdan Raczynski or Death Grips, whichever catches you off guard first.

Whoa, been a while since I had one of these playlists, where half the stuff I covered isn't on Spotify. Not that I'm surprised, quite a bit of this coming from the early '90s, and existing in legal limbo as original labels have long since folded. And to be fair, some of the big hits from these albums have also appeared on other Ace Tracks playlists (ie: the electroclash hits as found on American Gigolo), so it'd be redundant of me to re-include them here. No, let's stick to the jams I haven't added to my Spotify library yet.

With so few tunes to work with, I played around the track order some, creating more a proper flowing listening experience rather than a lazy alphabetical order. Well, no, not really. I just felt like hearing three Alrights in a row was too silly.

Markus Schulz - Amsterdam 08 (Original TC Review)

Armada: 2008

(2019 Update:
Man, is there anything left for me to update regarding the Schulzer? I already did one of these with Ibiza 06, actually went back and surprisingly enjoyed his earlier mixes, and am pretty sure touched on all his activities of the past decade. Did I mention his mid-life crisis pairing with Ferry Corsten as New World Punx? That should be reiterated, absolutely. He did release another artist album this past year, where he poses in all white while glancing at a piano, touching a single key as though... y'know, I've no idea what sort of message that's supposed to portray. Seems either hilari-bad, or ineptly pretentious. Almost curious of what the album sounds like though, just to hear where his muse has wandered in all this time. His go at the creaky In Search Of Sunrise series too, if I'm being honest.

Most of the complaints (and faint praises) I had with this set remained intact as I replayed this. It's funny though, how without even looking at the tracklist again, I instantly knew which tracks Carl B had his fingers in. Very definition of hilari-bad eurotrance excess.)


IN BRIEF: I dub thee Side-Chain Schulz.

Are we tough on ol’ Markus Schulz? Certainly, but it’s tough-love we deliver, not spiteful rage. Whether in his distant producing past or recent remix work, we hear the potential he has to do something more with his career beyond merely pandering to the watered-down popular taste. I suppose the reason we continue to scope out his output is the hope that some of that unrealized talent surfaces again, but the returns have been ever diminishing.

His DJ releases haven’t fared much better. The last major offering, Ibiza ‘06, was a bland trudge through melodic trance mediocrity, indistinguishable from the glut and hobbled by his insistence on giving much of his label’s singles undeserved spotlight (save a couple decent tracks). Since then, the Schulzer’s career has seen something of an uptick thanks to an album [Progression] that, while still treading water, was better received than his debut [Without You Near] (probably due to expectations being sufficiently lowered after his abysmal ‘first time’). The general assumption has been Markus would capitalize on that momentum to reinvigorate his DJing career as well. After some delays denying him a proper 2007 release (to keep with the idea of an annual DJ mix), we finally have Amsterdam ‘08, where the answers to this question shall be given.

The opening of the first disc is promisingly interesting. Some pleasant sounds, laid-back rhythms, and agreeable melodies are featured here (although why is Beyond The Shadows making that out-of-sync beeping sound? Reminds my of my discman's pause feature). Glenn Morrison’s two offerings of Blue Skies With Linda and Rubberband easily steal the show: his tracks have some wonderful sounding synths on display, and the melodies he crafts are quite lovely, even if Blue Skies does draw a bit closely to over-sentimentality. Also, there is a rather lazy tone to this mix; not so much haphazard or sloppy, but more lethargic and mellow (no, not stoned... or k-holed, to be more contemporary within the current clubbing scene). Overall, it’s quite nice.

...and all downhill from there.

Rubberband makes for a great mid-set peak, but Schulz obliterates all those warm fuzzy feelings the tune leaves in its wake by following it up with one of the most abysmal sequences of tracks I’ve heard in a DJ set in some time. Rex Mundi tries some ‘piano trance’ breaks, and fails miserably in the process (break-beat rhythms should never sound this bland, my friends); Mr. White features annoyingly aggravating hookless hooks care of Ruben de Ronde’s remix; tiDi’s silly attempt at clicky minimalism screams of Schulz trying to get a piece of the ketamine crowd; and let’s not even mention the atrocious side-chaining going on in the latter two (we’ll be dealing with this abused effect in a bit anyway). The shell-shock of these three awful tracks leaves a very sour aftertaste, ruining the set’s momentum and instilling general apathy for the rest the first CD's final stretch. There’s little to mention there anyway: straight-forward trance number Azaleas from Supüer has a better-than-average hook, and Sonic Division’s If I Had Wings will turn your head since it apes the memorable chorus from 80s classic (I Just) Died In Your Arms Tonight by Cutting Crew.

Any hopes of recovery on disc two is put to rest with the opening tracks, where Schulz under aliases treats us to awful side-chaining effects. Eh, you’re not sure what side-chaining even is? Although it’s long been an attribute associated with bass kicks canceling out equal frequencies, Markus and his McProg associates have been known to apply the effect on everything from backing pads to lead synths, creating a distinctive ‘pulsing, throbbing’ sound. When handled effectively it gives tracks some decent rhythmic pump, but when handled poorly, it wrecks any sense of sonic flow with constant aural interruptions. Repeatedly hearing frequencies cutting out and springing forth at full volume can be incredibly disorientating, the audio equivalent of someone continuously zooming in and out when recording a video. Markus has been a big proponent of it, and made good use of it when it was first being championed, essentially relegating it to the background as he let the twinkly melodies McProg was derided for claim the stage. On Amsterdam '08 though, many of the pulsing synths are blatantly front-and-center, as it seems some of these producers rely heavily on it to create hooks (instead of, y’know, writing a goddamned melody rather than depend on pre-set effects doing the work). The opening of disc one avoided the problem based on the strength of melodies grabbing your attention, but from there on, and especially so on the second disc, it turns intolerable.

Seriously, CD2 is rendered practically unlistenable by how bad the side-chaining effect is abused, persisting for well over the first half and much of the second. After only three tracks it’s become a painfully predictable gimmick, where a perfectly fine eerie peak-hook in Schulz’ own Fly To Colors is ruined by unnecessarily throwing this effect on it. You can’t enjoy any of the nice synths on display when they’re constantly cutting out (and no, this does not create a ‘strobe’ effect like multi-tap delays do; more like a vertigo effect), and by the time Agnelli & Nelson’s pleasant little trancer Sleeping In Airports hits, I keep imagining I’m hearing synth throbs despite there being none, so ingrained into my psyche the pulses have been.

As for the actual music, decent moments seem few. Coldharbour’s Next Big Anthem in Forsaken will either having you reaching for the lasers or rolling your eyes, depending on your taste for cloying tunes such as these; the tech-y finish has some fine grooves in tracks like Avalon (now there’s some good use of side-chaining!), but equally cringe-worthy bits as found in More Manners Please (idiot electro-fart nonsense) and Formulation (now there’s more of that poor use of side-chaining...). Ultimately, not the greatest finish, but then given the lead-up, it isn’t that surprising.

Reading back on this, it may appear my bitching is focused mostly on technical attributes, something that really shouldn’t factor much when reviewing music. However, the very fact I’m ranting so much about it highlights one of the overlying problems, in that the music on hand either isn’t terribly interesting or is ruined by overdone pulsing-synth wank. Glenn Morrison aside, few of the melodies make a lingering impression, and the tracks that jump on current trends (nu-electro farts; minimal clicks) are quite forgettable. Seeing as how Markus’ commercial sets are as much a promotion vehicle for upcoming Coldharbour cuts as they are standard DJ sets, this doesn’t bode well for his label. Sure, his loyal Cult will lap it all up, but if you’ve grown weary of Schulz’ shtick, Amsterdam ‘08 will only reinforce your distaste for his sound.

Written by Sykonee for TranceCritic.com, 2008. © All rights reserved

Loop Guru - Amrita (...All These And The Japanese Soup Warriors) (2019 Update)

North South: 1995

(click here to read my original TranceCritic review)

It's been over half a decade since I last talked up Loop Guru, and I still haven't gathered any more of their albums. Not that they're super-hard to find or anything, most going for a tidy pop on the Amazon market now, but something keeps me from finally diving into their domain proper-like. Trepidation, that's it. A worry that they just won't live up to whatever expectation I have on them, even with the limited amount of exposure I've thus far provided myself. Wait, how is that even an excuse now? Most of their albums are also on Spotify (though not this one, oddly), so if I want to hear them to confirm my unfounded fears, I can at any time. No, there must be something else, something buried deep in my subconscious that's holding me back. I wonder what it is?

Actually, I think I know: no matter what, I will never recapture the feeling I had when I first heard Amrita. It's not a terribly significant event, but it's a vivid moment, furiously flashing across my memory membranes every time I hear Diwana or Often Again. It was a few months after I'd moved out on my own into Vancouver, and I'd just gotten this CD on one of my trips to an A&B Sound (RIP), intended for a TranceCritic review because why not.

Sometime in the wee minutes past midnight and feeling the buzz of a smoked bowl, I got the munchies and decided to walk the five blocks to a 7/11 for some snackables. As I'm strolling in the clear spring evening, the swinging tribal sounds of Loop Guru playing from my discman, I come to a startling revelation: I'm honestly and truly free, the boundless opportunities of bachelorhood open before me. I'm living in my own apartment, doing recreational drugs when I want without worry of neighbours or roommates, going for strolls in the middle of the night with nary a care or concern of where I wander, in a city I hadn't even dreamed to live in but a few years past. And this all dawned upon me while listening to this album. Now, I'm not saying it wouldn't have occurred to me if I hadn't been playing Amrita at the time, but I cannot deny something about the music here made everything click right in that moment.

And without a doubt, there is a freeing jubilation in Amrita, the sort of tribal exuberance that makes you want to kick off your shoes and dance up a dust storm in the sandy floors of an outdoor party. Yeah, Papasus and Fumi show their dubbier, chill side too, but damn, those drums in Gianyar! That chant in Yayli! That flute in Diwana! That rhythm in Sun! Can you blame me for being hesitant in exploring Loop Guru's discography further? How could anything else they do top such ebullience?

(sorry, that seems like the sort of cheeky word they'd use in liner notes)