Various - Chilled Kutz I

(~): 2002

Track List:
1. Noiseshaper - The Only Redeemer (Cottenbelly Remix)
2. Bob Marley - Them Belly Full (But We Hungry) (Bill Laswell Ambient Dub Mix)
3. Groove Corporation - Giocoso, Gioioso
4. Bliss - Dunia
5. Sven van Hees - Jupiter's Quest
6. Sven van Hees - Tsunami (Inside My Soul)
7. Groove Corporation - Liberation Dub
8. Groove Corporation - Dub 3000
9. Sven van Hees - Gregorian Lust
10. Bob Marley - No Woman No Cry (Bill Laswell Ambient Dub Mix)
11. Bob Marley - Burnin' & Lootin' (Bill Laswell Ambient Dub Mix)
12. Kenji Kawai - Unnatural City
13. Sven van Hees - Breakfast With Abductees
14. Groove Corporation - A Voyage On The Marie Celestie
15. Rhythm & Sound - No Partial


Of course I'd make my own 'chill-out' series. Heck, it's surprising I didn't make more than four volumes, though I certainly could have. Truth is, most of the ambient techno, Ibizan downtempo, and ambient drone I had raided from AudioGalaxy were artist discographies, the bulk of which appeared on separate, exclusive discs. Almost all of those are long gone now, oxidized and covered with dust, made wholly redundant when I was able to actually buy the original albums that my younger, P2P-sharing ass pilfered from.

So it goes with this one as well. Groove Corporation? Got 'em. Those Dreams Of Freedom remixes? Have it. Even that one, lone Kenji composition, which totally throws the dubby Balearic vibe of this disc off? Yep, even found the Patlabor 2 soundtrack for that. What does that even leave me for the debut Chilled Kutz I?

Well, there's a lot of Sven van Hees, at least. I honestly can't remember how I fell into his stuff, another one of those mini AudioGalaxy raids that turned out a nifty amount of tunes. Though he started out in that R & S Records brand of trancey techno, he eventually migrated over to a Balearic chill vibe that was remarkably dubby as well. There's something about his music that perfectly captures the feeling of relaxing on Mediterranean shores, fancy drink in hand, contemplating existence. Dude's remained active to this day too. I should probably get some of his albums proper-like.

That leaves a couple outliers, most likely nabbed after a Muzik Magazine recommendation. Dunia from Bliss is more of a world beat thing, though remarkably smooth and graceful, almost befitting an aerial vista score. Is the rest of Bliss like this? *checks the Afterlife album* Well by jove. Maybe I'll scope out more from them as well. The Rhythm & Sound track is Basic Channel inching closer towards reggae dub, probably as near to the edge as their techno background would allow. Makes for a solid closer. Bassline gets my head-bobble on.

And there's nothing more I can say about this burned CD that I haven't elsewhere. But don't fret, folks, I've more interesting things to come in the following volumes of Chilled Kutz!

ACE TRACKS:
Bliss - Dunia
Sven van Hees - Jupiter's Quest
Groove Corporation - Dub 3000

Various - Chap. 2 Trans'Pact Productions (2022 Update)

Trans'Pact Productions: 1995

(Click here to read my original TranceCritic review)

Gilbert Thévenet, the man behind Trans'pact Productions, and the bulk of the label's releases, passed away last year. From what I can glean, he suffered from Parkinson's, the disease taking his life just over 50 years of age. A number of artists I enjoy have died around that age, and that freaks me out some. I've no reason to believe my health will fail as I draw closer to my half-centennial, but I'm sure many thought so as well, some illnesses coming on sudden and severe. Don't postpone those physicals, is what I'm saying.

As my original TranceCritic review was excruciatingly detailed, let's talk legacy then. It's a bit of a funny one, in that Mr. Thévenet was among the earliest adopters of goa trance. His works as Asia 2001, Loren X, and Progressive Transe helped lead the genre out of its pure acid roots into something proper India influenced, all the more remarkable considering he hailed from the lands of the francophone. Like, you could understand a UK label like TIP Records getting some Goa vibes on, being a former colony and all, but what influence in South Asia did France have? Vietnam? But yes, Trans'Pact has the honour of being one of the first goa labels, even if it didn't much thrive during psy trance's mid-'90s boom period.

I mentioned in that old review how much of a free-wheelin' experimental vibe permeates Chap. 2, as though ol' Gil' was having a ton o' fun toying about with his drum machines and acid boxes. As many of these productions came out in that first year of Trans'Pact's lifespan, it makes sense the songcraft is so laissez-faire, almost no rules to acid trance such as this existing yet. It didn't take long for trends and formulas to take hold though, so by the time this CD came out, much of that adventurous spirit was lost. 'Martin Cooper' soon settled into a singular project alias, Asia 2001, which stuck to the classic squealin' goa stylee for its duration. Just as well, as the Asia 2001 cuts off here were the best tunes by a fair margin anyway.

Trans'Pact itself wouldn't last, the label's output drying out after '95. When it finally shuttered, Gilbert migrated to Avatar Records, where he remained until the very end. For a time, it seemed his Trans'Pact productions would remain elusive items on the collector's market, but in recent years, Avatar started digitally re-issuing his back-catalogue. Well, the original albums as Asia 2001 at least. Ain't no way they'd resuscitate a woefully outdated collection of proto-goa such as this though.

Then they went and did it! I don't know how I feel about this. For the longest time, Chap. 2 felt like this ultra-obscure item only true heads would ever hear, tunes never given the attention or care they might deserve abroad, forgotten to all but a select few. And now anyone can hear it on streaming whenever they like! Good, is how I should feel.

Bob Marley - Chant Down Babylon

Island Def Jam Music Group: 1999

Posthumous albums from an artist's archives certainly were nothing new, but as Bob Marley's passing was almost two decades old by this point, I'm sure everything from his catalogue had been thoroughly unearthed. Heck, even the Remix Album had been done (thanks, Bill Laswell!), so what other avenue could be explored in further capitalizing on Marley's music? Like, it's such a shame he died so long ago, before he might have had a chance to collaborate with artists inspired by his words and works. If only we had the will, the ability, the technology, to make such a thing possible. Sadly, time travelling and necromancy remain elusive. Eh, there's another way, with studio recordings? What sorcery is this?

I can't remember if this was much of a thing yet – the 'duet' albums featuring 2Pac and Biggie certainly hadn't hit the market yet – but nor do I want to claim this was the first. I also can't recall if there was any controversy surrounding this, if cries of 'desecrating the dead' or whatever floated about. For sure those responsible for producing Chant Down Babylon did so with the Marley estate's blessing, sons Stephen and Damian on hand in the studio. While they may not have as big a profile as brother Ziggy, they still remain a prominent fixture in the reggae family's legacy. The project was in good hands, in other words, no scummy cash-grab vibes going on.

Intentions were positive then, but might the merging of classic reggae singing and (then) modern hip-hop still not work, Bob's voice merely tacked on while others got the spotlight? Considering I still have this CD, and quite often play it when I'm in the mood for some smooth Marely jams with a hip-hop edge, I'd say Chant Down Babylon pulled it off quite well indeed. Yeah, it's still mighty difficult ignoring the critical part of your brain reminding you that Bob isn't really singing in the studio with the likes of Eryakah Badu and Lauryn Hill, but boy they sure sound good together regardless.

Honestly, the only times things sound a little forced is when there's a rap involved. Marley will come in, singing a classic like Concrete Jungle or Survival with some beefier beats, then suddenly, here's Rakim or Chuck D dropping a few bars in support. It's not a deal breaker or anything, and some of these pairings are damn good (MC Lyte on Jammin'; Krayzie Bone on Rebel Music, though undoubtedly helped by his sing-rap style). Others though, don't work quite as well. Busta Rhymes in particular sounds strangely out of place, and having Aerosmith leads Steven Tyler and Joe Perry on this project is a real head-scratcher.

In the end though, Chant Down Babylon remains Bob Marley's show. Hearing him crooning along side Guru or The Roots on strong reggae-hop beats is just a tasty treat. Stick with the originals if you must, but this record is a worthy companion piece to his legacy.

Enya - The Celts

Atlantic/WEA: 1986/1992

The only Enya album I've cared to have, even when I was kinda'-sorta' a fan for a brief time. You know that period, when a parent's musical influence overides everything, before branching out into your own interests. Yet while most of Ms. Eithne Pádraigín Ní Bhraonáin's music wasn't quite to my taste, there's something about her debut album that remains captivating to my ears, a simplicity to the compositions that was lost when future hit songs like Orinoco Flow afforded her grander studio arrangements. Yes, this is totally me saying I prefer Enya when she was underground.

Thing is, she practically did start from the ground up. After a brief stint with traditionalist Irish folk outfit Clannad, she joined up with producer Nicky Ryan for a shot at a solo career, working in a studio built from scratch and very few prospects. Mostly sticking to classical music and Irish folk, they contributed a few tunes to local projects, developing a rather unique style heavily reliant on synths and multi-tracking reverb on her voice, making it more of a choir. About the only comparable artist around at the time was Constance Demby, which undoubtedly played a huge part in Enya getting lumped into the New Age market.

Among these contributions was a piece called March Of The Celts, a moody little number offered to a BBC documentary about the Celts. So impressed were they by it that they commissioned her to score the whole series, the result of which being this here debut album. Well, initially self-titled debut, released to little fanfare, but soon highly sought after with the successes of Watermark and Shepherd Moons, prompting a spiffy re-issue. Aww, but why lose the original bad-ass cover art of Enya posing with wolves?

It's tunes like March Of The Celts that brings me back to Enya's debut. Yeah, the titular opener is more what you'd expect of an Enya piece, a bit bouncy and chipper. Gosh though, there's something captivating about those swelling, ethereal voices and cold synth tones. Then you get to minimalist pieces like Deireadh An Truath, Triad, Dan Y Dwr, and especially Boadicea, and it feels like you're transported to a whole different realm. A gothic-Celtic realm? Despite the nods to traditional music of the ancient tribes, not really, no. The synths strip out any vestige of proper folk, even on tracks like Bard Dance and Fairytale. When tracks do feature normal instruments - various piano pieces, Uilleann pipes in The Sun In The Stream (James Horner undoubtedly noticed) – there's still that icy '80s synth sheen to it all. And I adore it all the more for it!

In many ways, Enya's debut reminds me of Kitaro's work for the Silk Road series. Hired to make music for a documentary, traditionalist works crafted with ancient synth technology, couldn't be replicated even if tried. And, of course, both became giants of a New Age market, even if it wasn't their intent.

Various - CB4 (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)

MCA: 1993

CB4 is a cutting satire of the early '90s gangsta rap scene, specifically the rise of N.W.A., peeling back the macho facade that was often presented to Johnny-Q Public. As a hopelessly white teenager from the suburbs of Vancouver, however, I had no clue of what the Chris Rock movie was revealing. I thought it was just a funny comedy about rap music, of which I had barely begun digging into beyond whatever pop radio deemed appropriate. The 'hardest' I'd gotten for myself included some tracks off Ice-T's O.G. Original Gangster, and I came ever so close to nabbing Naughty By Nature's latest, had 2 Unlimited not intervened at the eleventh minute.

Truthfully, the only reason I got this soundtrack was from a little goading by peers while browsing a music shop. Yeah, we were fans of the movie, especially all the funny, dirty language as heard in such classics like Straight Outta Locash and Sweat Of My Balls. No way that I'd get this tape though, not with a musical taste that mostly consisted of music from the likes of “Weird” Al, Wayne's World, and whatever that “techno shit” was. Well, joke's on them, as not only did I buy that CB4 tape right then and there, but even pulled a 'prank' on our science teacher in getting him to listen to it too! Haha, oh, such rebellious youth, we was.

Enough anecdotes about buying my first rap album. What's even on this thing, and does it hold up nearly three decades on now? As a collection of hip-hop from the latter years of the Golden Era, it certainly does, but also kinda' ...doesn't? If we're being totally honest, there isn't anything on here considered an essential classic. And although some bonafide legends of rap in Public Enemy, KRS-One, and MC Ren show up, they were kinda' on the downswing of their careers at this point. Meanwhile, shining the spotlight on up-and-comers like Fu-Schnickens and Parental Advisory may have seemed beneficial at the time, but sputtered into nothing after. Still, keep an ear on that Blackstreet group, if they can shake the dated New Jack production from Teddy Riley for someone fresher.

Despite those criticism, there's still dope jams on here. Public Enemy may have seen better days, but Livin' In A Zoo (plus a Very Important sermon from Chuck D prior) kicks all kinds of ass. MC Ren's Mayday On The Frontline brings the proper gangsta menace to the show, while the Fu's Sneaking Up On Ya offers the lighter side of fancy world-play. Elsewhere, the Beastie Boys make a cameo in the DJ Hurricane led Stick 'Em Up, a tune about robbing people, and rather strange considering they were trying to shake off their younger, bratty attitudes. And for the “WTF?” records, here's P.M. Dawn's Nocturnal Is In The House, the spiritual group's own foray into hardcore. It's... not bad? The fact it also appears on a compilation that includes KRS-One makes it even more ironic.

Loop Guru - Catalogue Of Desires

North South/Hypnotic: 1996/1999

It took me damn near a decade, but I finally got another Loop Guru album! Not that the group is some ultra-obscure, super-underground, impossibly niche act with a music catalogue rarer than cerium, but they haven't much luck in North American distribution either. For whatever reason, Waveform Records only brought over Duniya, while alt rock and industrial print World Domination Recordings handled Amrita. Not exactly the most compatible fusion of genres there, though considering alt rock label Mammoth Records distributed Banco de Gaia's early albums here, maybe that's just how things rolled for world beaters in the States.

By the end of the '90s, however, World Domination had folded, so Loop Guru turned to “release whatever we can get our hands on” print Hypnotic for State-side handling of their album The Fountains Of Paradise. Guess that has them rubbing shoulders with 808 State, System 7, and FSOL in that department. The label also re-issued Catalogue Of Desires Vol 3, an album a few years old by that point, and had seen limited distribution by World Domination prior. Swell beans for those who may have missed it the first time around, which is about the only reason I can see for this one getting a re-issue, as I doubt anyone but fans of Loop Guru would be interested in this record.

Don't get me wrong, it's certainly an interesting outing from the group. Though quite adept at uptempo tunes, Loop Guru truly gained their rep with long-form, meditative, ambient dub jams, so it's only natural they'd take the concept to LP length. The Catalogue Of Desires series was their outlet for exploring such sonic roads, the first two originally only available on tape (they've recently been uploaded to Bandcamp). Vol. 3 was the first to try making some hay from these excursions with CD roll-outs, but since that'd be too confusing for Americans, Hypnotic just called this one Catalogue Of Desires.

Twenty tracks in total make up this album, but calling them all 'tracks' is being generous, several minute-long interludes breaking things up between the groovier centrepieces. Even then, many longer tracks are mostly ambient outings with manipulated orchestral sections or sampled Far East music. Long stretches will pass by where you'll either feel lost in a deep trance, or spinning wheels. I'm naturally more of the former, making Catalogue Of Desires a bit of a challenge to indulge a full listen without completely zoning out. Fortunately, proper world beat tracks like Catalyst, Almost, Susleone, and Out Of The Dark Room do a good job knocking you out of such a doze.

In some ways, Catalogue Of Desires reminds me of FSOL's many Environments albums. There's the loose, free-form music making, multiple tracks of wildly varying length, and psychedelic tongue-in-cheek titles (After Dark With The Reef Tones, Nature Of The Whole, The Pear-Tree Illusion). Obviously, Loop Guru are rougher around the edges on the production department, but still, conceptually kindred spirits with latter-day FSOL just the same.

LongWalkShortDock - Casual Tea (Original TC Review)

Lunarian Records: 2009

(2022 Update:
Talk about a flashpoint in time. While I can't say Mr. King's career ever took off at a global superstar level, he's certainly become one of the premiere fixtures on the American West live P.A. circuit. This was written shortly after his first, almost innocuous performance at the Shambhala Music Festival, but it wasn't long before his annual sets turned into one of THE weekend highlights every year. Not too shabby indeed.

As for the music, this has held up pretty well. Yeah, it's definitely a product of its time, but the songcraft holds strong-style in spite of whatever Ed Banger-era attributes drip through. It almost feels like a forgotten album in Dave's catalog now, his profile growing much larger after the fact with the headbangers as heard live. No time for sentimental downtime when moshing away with stage flailers, I guess.)


IN BRIEF: Criminally overlooked.

(2022 Edit: Removed an overlong, unneccesary anectdote that served as a lead-in; just get to the point, 2009 Sykonee!)

Some of the best bangin’ techno albums I’ve heard - Speedy J’s Loudboxer or L.S.G.’s The Black Album, f’st’nce - lose something at a purely primal level when listening to them from the comfort of home, which unfortunately also loses part of the appeal of what makes such music work. It’s rather impractical to be lazing on a couch with tea while beats are blasting out of your speakers, urging you to get your flailing mosh on.

Such concerns arose when it came to the debut album from up-and-coming local-scene hero Dave King; aka Longwalkshortdock. Given the Northwest’s isolation from the rest of the world, it wouldn’t surprise me if our overseas readers haven’t heard of him, especially so because King has made his reputation mostly on the live circuit (ask anyone who’s seen him at the Soundwave Music Festival, and you’re sure to be met with an outpouring of hyperbolic praise). Without a doubly-doubt, he is a sight to behold live, as King seemingly turns into rubber, flailing about as he serves up an excellent entre of ready-made maximal techno mosh and chip-tune thrills. His stage energy is highly infectious, with tunes that tap into the best aspects of techno bedlam, any show quickly turning into a rockingly rowdy gathering. How, then, can you possibly transplant that intensity onto an album format?

Frankly, you can’t. So it’s just as well that King hasn’t tried. Instead, Casual Tea presents itself as a proper album, with tracks of various styles, tempos, and length. Hey, it worked for Liam Howlett, and while this truthfully is no Jilted Generation, there are plenty of things about LWSD’s music that still works in an album context. Let me detail a few such things!

Actually, the opening track is as good an example as any. Will I Dream contains a bunch of elements that sum up King’s tunes nicely: nu-electro-funk, maximal-aggressiveness, 8-bit glitch, dreamy melodic backings. Okay, so that sounds par for the course for a lot of electronic music these days, but here’s the catch: King does it better than many another. His beats, though admittedly brick-walled in the production department, hit you with force and purpose, urging you to wildly wobble about just as much as the man himself. When his synths are cranked to the red, it still sounds clean and clear, not cartoonishly distorted like many an Ed Banger tune. The chip-tune bits are effectively handled and the backing melodies are just trancey enough to let your mind float on. What makes all this better though? It’s the fact that the track keeps moving forward, constantly building upon what came before. After some six minutes, from where you’d expect a track of this sort to wrap up, King unleashes an extra assault of funky goodness. Why he do that? He don’t need to do that. But he did do that, and Will I Dream is so much better that he did do that.

Many of the cuts on here work this continuous build, sending his tracks to energetic highs few contemporaries seem willing to go. Horse Fly, I’m So Bad I Make Medicine Sick, High Expectations, Knowin’ That You’re Goin’ - all strong examples. Beyond that, though, King keeps his album fresh throughout by dabbling outside this field. Of course, you have your electro-funk numbers, but how’s about something more on the industrial side in Born At Night or I Will Kill You With Techno, where he drags his synths through gravel pits and distorts his voice in such a way that would make Cabaret Voltaire happy. Melodically blissful tracks Keep It Round, Sara Purple, Warm Girls, and Why Do I Bother prove King’s more than just a one-trick maximal pony, and the all-out chip-tune closer You Can Have It is a hoot, only missing some actual NES themes as has been known to be heard in his live sets.

And dammit, some of King’s tunes are just undeniably catchy. The clear highlight - High Expectations - is already a wildly fun bit of warbled techno, but I dare you to resist bellowing out in unison “I want someone who grabs my soul, and sets my heart on fire!” during the track’s chorus. Go on, try. Ah-ha, I knew you couldn't.

Casual Tea is as strong as any EDM debut you’re likely to come across these days - it easily trumps several other albums that have received gratuitous amounts of promotion in recent years. Even if you’ve grown rather sick of nu-electro tropes, the infectious energy King has infused his music with will have you throwing such cares to the cliffs. Despite LWSD’s profile being nearly nonexistent outside of his local scene right now, an album like this clearly proves he has the chops to make it on a larger stage. With luck, Casual Tea will help push his career to higher pastures (even without the need to resort to a gimmick like a mouse-head). If not, well, you can always say that you managed to grab your hands on a true underground classic, one that will end up being worth stupid amounts of coin at Discogs a decade on.

Written by Sykonee for TranceCritic.com, 2009 © All rights reserved

The Future Sound Of London - Cascade 2020

fsoldigital.com: 2020

You knew this was high on FSOL's 'remake classics' list. Cascade already had the distinction of being the first in their 'every single is now a mini-album' manifesto, and it kinda' showed. For all the elements in play with the track proper, Brian and Garry didn't take it down terribly divergent 'paths' compared to later efforts with their EPs. Which is expected, still in a feeling out process of just what they could potentially do with all the new gear they acquired after signing with the mighty Virgin. Brian even says they simply didn't have the technology or know-how at the time to create the sort of music sloshing about in their brains. Still, capital effort in the results, y'know.

Time munches on and hey, wouldn't you know it, technology and know-how finally caught up with ambition, such that FSOL can't stop releasing material if they tried! Having seemingly exhausted their Environments muses for now, it seemed appropriate to revisit some of their back-catalogue, give tunes the sort of care they only dreamed of back in the day (or in the case of Yage, never got the chance in the first place).

If it seemed like I didn't get into the finer details of the original Cascade, it's because I knew there'd be ample opportunity to do so here. The opening track, appropriately enough, is the original track, claiming to be a 'recreation'. It honestly sounds very much like the version as heard on Lifeforms (so sans the little electro bridge two-thirds through), though obviously beefed up in the production department. And yet, I can't help but notice a slight filter on everything too, as though I'm hearing it from another era. Nah, must be some trick on my brain's nostalgia centres, I'm sure.

Now we get into some truly divergent paths, Flood Of Reflection, Deep Sea Of Clouds, and Things That Mattered stripping things down to spare rhythms, subtle pads, and sample collagist works. Meanwhile, Amid The Overwhelm, Dark Hours Of your Being and Sluice get their psychedelic acid stomp on. Elsewhere, techno's pulse can still be felt with Multiple Falling Objects and Brief Silence In The Distance, while What Falls Away Is Always gives the trancey arps of the original's bridge some solo shine. It's funny how such synths almost come off the most dated attribute of Cascade, a relic of the early '90s.

And hey, if you still prefer the older sound of London, we do get some continuation of the original EP, with Part 6 and Part 7 sprinkled about (plus another 'recreation' of the grittier Part 4). Part 6 certainly sounds of that era, an airy rendition that isn't much removed from The Orb's most ambient moments. Part 7 ends Cascade 2020, which really isn't much more than a coda to everything that came before. And hoo, if there wasn't a lot that came before. More than anyone who liked Cascade could probably want, but eh, that's been FSOL's ideology for a while now.

The Future Sound Of London - Cascade

Virgin/Astralwerks: 1993/1996

I do wonder, just how much of a shock this EP was when it dropped. The lads behind Stakker Humanoid and Papua New Guinea going full sample-heavy world beat? Why we never! Yeah, yeah, calling Cascade that is almost blasphemous in some quarters, but let's be real here: 1993 was peak world beat. You already had two juggernauts of that sound making bank across the globe (Enigma and Deep Forest), with many quarters of dance music raiding all manner of sample libraries and fusing them with club rhythms. FSOL, who's omnipresent hit single was no less guilty in doing such, had to feel some pressure to move beyond the association. They had greater artistic aspirations than what rave culture was offering, so time to head back to the lab and start concocting something more evolved from their Earthbeat era (big advance money after signing with the mighty Virgin helped).

Which all seems academic from our lofty vantage point three decades on (holy COW!), but not so much in those short few years of the early '90s. Far as '93 folks knew, FSOL were crafting proper follow-ups to the warehouse techno stompers as heard on Accelerator, not conceptual art music. Oh, that Tales Of Ephidrina thing? Well, they used a different alias for it, Amorphous Androgynous, so clearly it's an album satisfying their expressionist outlet, not a sign of things to come with their most profitable pseudonym. Besides, Tales still had somewhat of a techno pulse, here and there. Nothing to suspect, oh no.

So Cascade drops, the glistening digital rendering of a neuron drawing you in. Glancing at the back cover, you notice something strange for a lead single: it's all in parts, as if one long musical piece. What, were there no remixes commissioned? Not at all, son, marking the start of FSOL handling their singles as nothing less than mini-albums in their own right, demands of clubbing culture be damned.

Still, listening through this EP, and comparing it to where they'd go with future singles, it's apparent Garry and Brian were still in a feeling-out process with this idea. Part 1 is the version most know of (if nothing else than for getting featured in the first Northern Exposure), while Part 2 is mostly the same, just in a slightly extended and dubbier version – so, the Extended Remix. Part 3 goes weirder, sounding like an extended take of sound effects and alien landforms. Why yes, they were already getting the Tangerine Dream comparisons, why do you ask?

Part 4 is where the idea of 'different paths' really takes hold, a harsher, grittier IDM tone prevalent as the base melodic elements contort around gnarly electro basslines. Part 5, meanwhile, edges closer back to the domain of regular techno, surprisingly almost vintage Detroit in execution. Jettisoning most of the 'world beaty' elements (woodwinds, ethnic drumming, etc.), there's still sonic weirdness going on along with sci-fi synths, and man, gotta' love the ol' tikkity-tik-tik drum programming there too.

Phynn - C U Smile (Original TC Review)

Black Hole Recordings: 2007

(2022 Update:
I know I seem to say this often about trance artists from the '00s, but seriously, what happened to Phynn? He seemed to do everything an up-and-comer of the Dutch eurotrance scene was supposed to do to have a lengthy career. Have a couple break-out singles playlisted by the Very Important trance DJs of the day, get his name out into other ventures such as DJing, get some snarky blog reviews written up leading to a debut album (okay, maybe not that one), and then... Profit, I guess?

Honestly, having listened to said debut and only album, Metamorphosis, I'm not surprised Phynn's future prospects sputtered. The first half, which includes C U Smile, is quite the blatant jump on Sander Van Doorn's brand of acid-fart bosh (the back-half is more traditional euro-trance fare, but only marginally better). Who knows if it was Mr. Jager's intent, or Black Hole Recordings forcing him to go in a new direction the scene was desperately hitching their wagon on, but regardless, it proved a musical dead-end for all involved as the new decade took hold. Phynn eventually left Black Hole, started his own short-lived digital print Lunary Records featuring music with a tougher, deeper techno edge, but all other social media and Discoggian info on him dries up by 2016.)

IN BRIEF: Marco V lite.

These past couple years have seen quite a few trance producers fleeing their past to embrace the chunkier nu-electro sound. Ferry Corsten, Marco V, Cosmic Gate, just to name a few. However, their transition isn’t terribly surprising, as these folks had done all they felt they needed to in that old sound. They’d prefer to move forward rather than stay in the past (even if moving forward doesn’t always translate to producing better). What does come as a surprise though, is seeing some of the names of the new generation of trance already doing the same.

Finne Jager - aka: Phynn - was early-on expected to be part of this fresh breed; his productions and DJ mixes seemed to indicate he’d be perfectly fine to carry on the Dutch trance mantle. Heck, just a year ago he was tapped to take on the long running In Trance We Trust series, a release filled to the rim with epic anthems. Surprisingly, his first single in nearly two years (not including two download-only tracks from last year, but then it's still up in the air whether those count as true singles [2022 Edit: oh, 2007 Sykonee, you silly git]) finds the young man instead leaving that sound behind and joining the ranks of producers making march-a-long tech. Is this a case of bandwagon jumping? Or perhaps Finne’s already bored with epic Dutch trance and is also looking to try something different. Fair play if the latter is so, but his offering isn’t much to get excited about.

C U Smile does everything we’ve come to expect from tracks like these, with very little innovation to distinguish from the pack. As mentioned, the rhythms are standard march-a-long in nature, causing the track to plod for large chunks at a time. The main hook is very simple, but does benefit from playing in a slightly different time signature, thus helping turn your head somewhat. Beyond that, this is a bland, forgettable techno; his club version is the better offering by a significant margin. There’s more energy and doesn’t completely rely on the main hook to sell it, with additional hooks doing a nice job between the peaks. Mind, it’s still an overly simple track, but at least doesn’t plod like the original does.

DJ Preach brings chunkier rhythms with his remix, letting his techno influences overtake the track with workable results. Aside from the additional sounds though, there isn’t much difference between his and Phynn’s club mix. Well, aside from an extended breakdown where Preach stretches the riff out somewhat, but it’s nothing more than a novel trick that adds little.

Ultimately, considering how much potential he showed in the past, C U Smile is something of a disappointment from Phynn. The track is functional but functional is very, very common in the world of dance music, and Mr. Jager hasn’t produced anything here that demands to be snatched up. It’ll work in your sets but you could find any number of tracks that do the same.

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