Attoya - Based On True Events (Original TC Review)

Trishula Records: 2007

(2020 Update:
Yet another one of those old reviews where I spend a huge chunk of the rambling pre-amble detailing a whole sub-genre of electronic music for the readers, just in case they weren't all that up to speed about the exponentially increasing micro-genres emerging within the psy trance scene. What 2007 Sykonee wasn't aware of is this was just the tip of a fractal iceberg, genre splintering occurring at almost the quantum level - this new nano-genre can both exist and not exist! Not that most would care, but for a scene indulging in reality warping psychedelics, the divisions are razor sharp, crystal clear, and down to the sonic yoctometre.

Attoya would release another album half a decade after this one (so sayeth Lord Discogs). Taking a quick skim through, they apparently took the positive words I had for their debut and explored them further. Whee, I loves me some wobbly, rubbery basslines in dark psy. Not sure where I could find a copy of that CD now though, save the second-hand market. Ooh, there's a decent price on Discogs now. No! Must... resist...!)

IN BRIEF: Results vary.

One of the funnier things about electronic music is how scenes often adopt pet names for their music, names that are seldom referred to anywhere else. Sometimes it’s nothing more than making use of a redundant adjective to describe a variation of a sound, and other times it can be a mind-boggling maze of slang terms (grime in its transition from UK garage, for instance). So, it’s hardly surprising a scene as old and esoteric as the psy trance scene is just as guilty of this too. However, it is surprising there are only two isolated terms to spring up from it: morning and forest.

Without getting too bogged down in technicalities, morning trance refers mostly to the melodic stuff, typically played, um, in the morning of all-night parties. Forest trance, on the other hand, tends to be the darker side of psy, played at night in, er, forests. For the purpose of this review, let’s focus on the latter.

Forest trance can be incredibly hit or miss. The apparent aim is to create an atmosphere where the creatures of the night are welcome to the party, like some kind of gathering in the middle of Fangorn; creepy tones, mischievous sounds, and foreboding moods are often utilized. However, while psy has a tendency to forego conventional song writing in favor of warped soundscapes, it seems producers in this field are all too eager to go overboard when they tap into the dark side; why care about immediate appeal when you can totally trip out your audience with those twisted noises, eh? All fine and dandy to a degree, but the end results are often tracks that end up a rambling, incoherent mess. Even when lost in a tribal frenzy, the need for a point to it all is still welcome.

And now, after some 300 words of introduction for our non-psy readers, we finally get to the Burshstein brother’s debut album, Based On True Events. Going by the name Attoya and hailing from Israel, the duo seem to fully embrace what this style of psy sets out to accomplish. If the cover is anything to go by, they wholeheartedly dig the forest trance mystic.

Sure enough, eerie sounds, disconcerting effects, and twisting synths creates the feeling that everything ain’t quite right in the woods tonight. Unfortunately, it’s rather aimless in the process, with Attoya producing tangents and moods for no reason other than they needed something to support the driving rhythms. Every so often, you get a lead that perhaps hints at a possible intriguing plot, but it soon dissolves into psy’s typical squiggly wibble; The System Of Multiple Language is a great example of this as the opening notes are delightfully paranoid, but are never touched upon again. About the only thing that keeps these tracks from descending into nonsensical noise are the basslines; they’ll leap off the rails of the standard dark-psy drone, creating unpredictable urgency in the process, but even then it isn’t done enough to maintain steady interest.

And then we move onto the second half of this album.

Heh, okay, I apologize for slightly leading you on there, but Based On True Events really does seem like an album of two halves. While there are moments to be had in the early going, that is all they are: moments. Even when the tracks are a bit more structured - as in Our Tasty Part for the best example - the end result is rather lacking, feeling like mere appetizers. That all changes after the mid-way mark.

Green Crop Matured is an apt title, as Attoya seem to have firmly grown into their sound from this track on. Yes, there are still some rambling moments, but not to the degree as before, and they are supplemented by musical ideas that build upon each other instead of compete for trip-out time. In fact, this tune is rather brilliant in execution, layering the intensity on in ever-increasing increments while maintaining a sense of flow from idea to idea.

After something a little more subdued, Attoya finish the album out with a couple brisk psy offerings, and quite strongly in the process. While nothing revolutionary, they are solid tracks, especially so when the basslines seems to freewheel with abandon at this late stage.

All being said, Based On True Events is a tentative recommendation. Despite a couple choice cuts to be had, a great deal of Attoya’s debut falls upon bog-standard psy execution, making this a pick-up that'll interest fans of the forest sound but very few others.

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

Various - Base Ibiza 2003

Base Ibiza Records: 2003

As the early Hed Kandi brand grew, the temptation to spin off sub-labels couldn't be helped. Aside from Stereo Sushi, however, these didn't take root, folks content sticking to the label and artwork they were most familiar with. The Acid Lounge tried getting in on that underground downtempo gig, with a grittier, pulpier comic stylee, but only lasted a few releases. Then there's this, Base Ibiza Records, a tie-in with the Ibizan bar of the same name. That's... remarkable, that Hed Kandi never really paired up with any established club for a proper residency, instead letting their brand tour about. It wasn't a long partnership though, lasting just half a decade. Base Ibiza 2003 is smack dab right in the middle of the run.

With my last exposure to the Hed Kandi discography a pair of utterly abysmal World Series mixes from much later in their lifespan, these CDs were such a refreshing reminder of the class once associated with the label. House music! Real, honest-to-God house music! With the disco loops and the soul sista's and the fiesta chants and the club monologues and... the trend-whoring remixes and... the euro anthems (?), and the.. cover songs? Wow, they really couldn't clear the rights to X-Press 2's Muzikizum? That track was everywhere, so it couldn't have been that expensive. Why settle for a knock-off version?

Speaking of, you remember what song got huge around this time? Talk Talk's It's My Life, is what, though thanks entirely to No Doubt's cover resurrecting interest in it. Then radio stations started playing the original version again, and folks realized the O.G. '80s style was better (retro revival sure helped). Thus is the only reason I can fathom hearing a Liquid People remix of It's My Life on here. Cool bassline added though. Speaking of basslines, Junior Jack sure did love him some of Daft Punk's Burnin', but hey, throw some Latin vibes over it, call it E Samba, and no one will ever tell the difference!

As should be abundantly clear, I'm not giving Base Ibiza 2003 that much of a serious critical overview. Nor should I, the music within about as deep as the beach shallows of the Ibizan shores. It is fun music though, at least the first disc wherein the disco vibes and garage shuffles and floppin' funk is felt. It's got a StoneBridge remix in there, mang', and you can't have a proper Hed Kandi outing without at least one tune with StoneBridge at the console.

CD2 aims for the 'later in the night' club outing, but is all over the place as a result, sounding like a mish-mash of left-over tunes that just wouldn't fit in the first CD. Some mild McProg (iiO's At The End), a little tech-house (4Tune 500's Dancing In The Dark), and a nod to the burgeoning 'eurotrash house' sound (Andrea Doria's Bucci Bag). Oh, and all those aforementioned cover/remixes are here too. Yeah, I think I'll stick with CD1 in this outing. It's funner!

Blue Amazon - The Javelin

Jackpot: 1997

(a Patreon Request from Omskbird)

The only other 'epic house' album you're supposed to have, even if you're not a fan of 'epic house', since between this and BT's Ima, there were no other such LPs. You'd think with two years separating them, someone else might have had their hand at style-biting the sound that Sasha was rinsing out, but album release dates can be deceiving. Seems Jackpot, the label behind The Javelin, sat on Blue Amazon's debut a tad longer than Lee Softley and co. wanted, the record almost ready to go in conjunction with BT's debut. Instead, by the time 1997 rolled around, clubland was already moving onto the Next Hotness, when Next Hotnesses were emerging at a monthly clip.

Seriously, it's unfathomable how fast things evolved back in the '90s, and I say this as someone who lived through it! How can a record that sounded cutting edge in '95 be showing signs of dustiness when it was finally released in '97? Can you imagine something similar playing out in the last decade? You'd think with the infinite tools available and infinite means of distribution, we'd be hearing tons of new and exciting developments in electronic music almost weekly now. Instead folks keep returning to formulas that worked in the past, nurturing them to the point of perfection such that we don't need no new-fangled ideas sullying up a good thing. Like, they tried forcing it back in the '00s, and look how that turned out.

Calling The Javelin “dated by '97” is probably a gross overstatement, but it's hard not to draw comparisons to BT's Ima with this album. Then, when you stack it against BT's 1997 outing of ESCM, you can hear what I mean by club music, erm, progressing rapidly. Then again, BT always was leaps beyond his contemporaries.

Anyhow, what made Blue Amazon's singles such huge hits within prog circles (re: favs of Sasha) was how all-encompassing of 'the journey' they were. Tunes breaking double-digits in runtime, with lengthy, rhythm-heavy builds to endorphin-rushing climaxes filled with pianos and synth riffs and ear-wormy breathy vocals. Man, as the first track plays out, I couldn't wait for my headspace to sing “And then the rain falls” again, such a-

No, wait, this is a different track. Sorry, I meant when the second track plays, I couldn't wait to sing “And then the rain falls” again, where- Wait, it's not this one either? Ah, the one after The Runner then, that's the one that- Huh, not this one either. Wait, it's not until the last track we get And Then The Rain Falls?

So if there's any real criticism to be had with The Javelin, it's that for as wonderfully written and produced these tracks are, Blue Amazon essentially has only one song in their repertoire. It's a hum-dinger of a tune, with some aesthetic differences between each iteration (ooh, such gnarly acid in No Other Love!). When every track has me subconsciously anticipating “And then the rain falls”, however, well...

Various - Balance 027: Magda

Balance Records: 2015

The only reason I'm reviewing so many Balance mixes, this. Yeah, I've said I kept tabs on the series, but wasn't inspired to look back either. Magda though, I'm always on the look-out for more mixes from her, so when I heard she'd been tapped for the venerated prog and tech-house brand, you bet I double spit-taked. Ms. Chojnacka's aesthetic is so outside the traditional Balance wheel-house, it may as well be on a different planet. I suppose one could made a distant connection to Joris Voorn, in that they've both done Hawtin-esque ultra-mixes, but that's about it.

Maybe Balance felt the need for another change though, having used up just about all the prog veterans to this point. Perhaps Danny Tenaglia's heavy techno outing had the Balance staff feeling that pull (which would explain why this was followed by Stacey Pullen). Or supposedly they realized they'd never had a woman do a mix for them. With an utter dearth of prominent lady jocks within prog circles, however, they had to reach beyond the genre aisles to make amends.

So this doesn't come off like a typical Balance release, instead seemingly celebrating Magda's own history in the commercial mix domain. The cover art is like a scrapbook of her prior outings (open mouth for Fabric 49; creepy doll/mannequin from She's A Dancing Machine). As such, the music within adheres to no past trends within Balance canon, no established genres carried upon. This is a Magda set through and through, and if you only come to this series' style of prog and tech-house, you're gonna' have a bad time.

Yet I feel so hypocritical enjoying the weirdo minimal and odd-ball nu-jazz of CD1, because isn't this the sort of stuff that soured me on Agoria's set? A little, yeah, but Magda just does it better. Really, she does better what a lot of her peers do (for sure a lone bright spot during 'mnml's suffocating dominance), and its a crying shame she never got the due others received, but perhaps appearing on Balance would help endear her to a fresh audience. Or not, her quirky selections being a bit much for the prog faithful. Heck, some of the 'tunes' toward the end of CD1 were a bit much for me, and I'm usually more than willing to take the ride on whatever strange road Magda drives us on.

Anyway, CD1's traditionally the 'indulgent' set in these Balance releases, but does the clubbier CD2 deliver in any shape or form? If you like your stripped-down tech-house and acid boogie, most definitely! It's more straight-forward compared to Magda's older commercial mixes – no super-dense mash-ups of four minimal techno tracks at once, or something – but gets my shoulders shufflin' and my bottom wigglin' in my chair just the same. Once again, Ms. Chojnacka remains one of the few who delivers exactly what I like to hear in this style of music. To be fair though, it's been a very small sample size.

Various - Balance 026: Hernán Cattáneo

Balance Records: 2014

For a decade, one man, and one man alone, ruled the Renaissance (brand): Hernán Cattáneo. Sorry, Dave Seaman, but when it comes to the '00s, it's hard thinking of the venerated label's many DJ mix collections without automatically thinking of the Argentinian. While Seaman would often have flights of fancy with Global Underground, Hernán stayed true to Renaissance, contributing seven sets until the label... Well, didn't exactly close doors, but certainly aren't in any rush to release DJ mixes anymore either. Where was Mr. Cattáneo to go, then? Start his own label? Ah, he's a pretty popular DJ, but not that popular, such that he transcends his niche. Surely there's another brand that's still chugging along though, that's been quite open in taking in the prog elite? You bet there is!

So finding his way into the arms of Balance was inevitable, but who'd have thought Hernán would go full Thanos and dominate this label too? Not only did he make his premiere on the mainline series, but became the first DJ to have a (proper) repeat showing in the newer Balance Presents sub-series with Sudbeat. And then he did it again with Balance Presents Sunsetstrip, becoming the first DJ to have three outings with the brand. Not even Jimmy Van M accomplished that! (note: Jimmy was indeed the first jock to have a 'sequel' with Balance, Balance Issue N. 10.1, but no one ever mentions that).

You know what else Hernán does here that Jimmy already did before? Include a Boards Of Canada track, is what (that Jimmy, always the trailblazer). Mind, the track included here is probably the most obvious BoC tune anyone could have used (“Orange.”), but if it means we're in for another unconventional mid-tempo outing from one of prog's luminaries, I'm down for that.

It's... not quite that. If anything, CD1 feels like a prog set played at 33, or with a lot of Kompakt influence (hi, The Field!). There's a little synth-pop and indie croon (Weval's Out Of The Game; YEWS' Believe, Belong; Mercurio & Catnapp's On My Way To Hell), but we're mostly in mildly groovy, quite melodic, ultra blissy music here, with occasional quirky flourishes to keep things a little spicy. Just wish much of it would stick in my mind after, beyond a general feeling of “eh, that was nice while it played”. Like, maybe two non-BoC tracks really leaped out for me, but not much else.

And it's weird that such a quibble should hold CD1 back, but not Hernán's second set, because CD2 is exactly the sort of proggy outing where I can't really recall highlights either. Yet, from start to finish, I'm all in for the ride, rhythms powering on with melodic peaks and valleys to spare. Maybe I'm just held in awe that, even this late in the game, Mr. Cattáneo still finds records serving up that vintage prog style that so many (so very many...) thought long since dead and buried. How he do, mang'?

Various - Balance 024: Danny Howells

Balance Records: 2013

Did I misremember things? Wasn't Danny Howells part of some famed group, like Nick Warren with Way Out West or Darren Emerson with Underworld? There was Science Department (with Dick Trevor) and Squelch (with Tim Cook), but neither released more than a handful of singles, much less timeless, genre-defining club anthems. Maybe it's just the name “Danny Howells” looking like the most typical of British names you'd find in the credits of so much '90s Britronica.

But nay, Mr. Howells main avenue of revenue is disc jockeying, also among the newer breed of prog DJs that came up in the wake of Sasha and Digweed's dominance. He became a regular contributor to the Renaissance series, did occasional spots for Global Underground, plus had his own short-lived outings called Nocturnal Frequencies (no, not Nokturnel). When those respected series fell by the wayside, Balance was there to scoop up the alum for a rinse out on their brand, and Danny was no less tempted within.

At which we find ourselves at an interesting juncture within the prog-osphere. The dark, tribal sound of yesteryear was long gone, the 'minimal' bandwagon derailed into a ditch, and no clear future of where things would go next. No longer so counted on to be clubbing tastemakers, jocks like Danny could indulge themselves down less-travelled roads, and with Balance still holding onto some rep' as being the series to do as you wish, Danny does indeed.

First though, the obligatory nitpick of both sets: these are some soft-ass beats here. Like, real mellow music, with such smooth mixing even the peaks and valleys are edged down to rolling hills. There are times when I wished things could crank up another notch or three, but it is what it is. If Mr. Howells is feeling chill in his aging years, who am I to complain about tunes kept at a relative simmer.

CD1: That is the disc where Danny does his most exploring, providing tunes that work in small bunches but don't coalesce into a narrative whole. Going from future garage to deep tech to techno to deep house isn't the daftest of directions, and the tunes doing the work all sound fine. I just sense these are tracks being played for their own sake, because Mr. Howells had them, wanted to showcase them, but lacked the time and space to do the styles more justice. It doesn't help that CD2: This starkly contrasts with its laser-focused celebration of all things space disco.

We've heard spots and hints of this stuff in previous Balance sets, but the opening half of disc two goes whole hog on the glittery cosmic funk. Somehow, Danny even throws in Balearic touches, such that you feel like you're disco dancing on an Enceladus beachfront overlooking Saturn's rings. Even when he detours for some de-e-e-ep house (Brotherland) and classic prog (Pages), he brings it back with a pair of Prins Thomas remixes. Overall, a lovely outing, and quaintly retro at a breezy fourteen tracks.

Various - Balance 020: Deetron

Balance: 2011

Venturing into unknown territory here, in more ways than one. Yeah, this is the first time I've wandered beyond Agoria's Balance set, but as mentioned, I did keep tabs on which DJs would come and go. Pretty nearly all, I was somewhat familiar with. The vets of old (Timo Maas, Nick Warren, Funk D'Void), the newer cats gaining buzz (Nic Fanciulli, Henry Saiz, Radio Slave), and such. Deetron, however, is a comparative blank for me. Like, I'm sure I've seen the name pop up here and there, but there were no tracks or remixes of his that nabbed my attention, no massive hype cycles proclaiming this or that set as decade defining. I won't deny some of that may be due to my own lack of exploration of some scenes, but considering I haven't had this problem with most other jocks in this series (within the main line, at least), it does feel odd having this much of a blank regarding Deetron.

And Lord Discogs isn't much help either, simply stating Swiss-born Sam Geiser as having been using the Deetron alias for a good two decades now. The bulk of his singles came out through famed Belgian print Music Man Records, and appearing on numerous DJ mixes from jocks ranging quite the spectrum (Pete Tong, Carl Cox, Adam Beyer, Ken Ishii, Stanny Franssen, Knee Deep, Frango (2)). Boy, folks sure liked that I Cling tune. Was that the bump that got Deetron enough notice for a Balance set?

Though the series had drifted away from mega-conceptual mixes, Mr. Deets brings a couple different approaches with each disc he's given: one done digitally, the other analogue. Won't deny seeing a twenty-six tracker for the Digital CD1 had me a little side-eyed with visions of Joris Voorn, but the analogue set has one track more, so why should I worry? And disc one is fine enough, though changes pace in tone so many times it's hard to gain any moment. It felt like Sam was using digital's abilities to coerce transitions between tracks that really had no business being together, but it didn't create a disjointed mess either. Besides, it worked well enough for Jimmy Van M, so no sense niggling the inconsequential details. Speaking of Jimmy, Deetron opens CD1 with Autechre's Egg, which Van M also used, marking this, I believe, the first instance of a repeat song within Balance canon. Of course Jimmy would do it first.

Digital may be more diverse with its deep house and nu-jazz and downbeats and Throbbing Gristles, but I'm fully on the train with Analogue, a proper house 'n' techno ride that keeps the pace steady and on the up. I can almost feel Deetron riding the wheels of steel with each transition, and gosh, wouldn't you know it, kinda' makes me want to check out those Fabric and DJ-Kicks outings of his, if it's more of this! Not so much the first disc though. Would definitely need to try before I buy.

Various - Balance 016: Agoria (2020 Update)

EQ Recordings: 2010

(Click here to read my original TranceCritic review)

Three things I need touching upon. First, and probably most important for a supposed 'review blog', how has Balance 016 held up? Pretty good I'd say, in that this was already such a marmite set, there's no way one's opinion of it would change a decade later. Like, maybe if you dismissed it after an initial spin, then returned to it with a different perspective, that might improve it for some. Or you forced yourself to enjoy it from the outset for 'reasons', then never gave it another play because 'other reasons'. That's certainly a possibility. Can't say either has happened to me though.

My thoughts on Agoria's contribution to the Balance series are about the same as they were in my original review from a decade ago (holy cow!). Some great highs (that The Field track!), some lows (French Kiss, just... no), and a lot of meandering middles that I don't mind while playing, but aren't in a rush to replay either. I will reiterate, however, that I do prefer Agoria's sloppier approach to genre-mashing compared to Joris Voorn's clinical take. It's somehow more exhilarating, like you're always anticipating the wheels coming off the tracks at any moment.

Second off, where did Agoria go from here? He got tapped for Fabric a year later, which isn't surprising since that series gets everyone eventually. Another album followed, but he pretty much floated around the DJ circuit with sporadic singles on various trendy labels throughout the '10s (Hotflush, Innervisions, !K7 Records). Eventually he set up his own print in Sapiens, and just this past year released another LP, which included... hip-hop? Huh, well, you do you.

My thirdly item doesn't have anything to do with Agoria, but rather the Balance series itself. Seems Balance 016 was the end of a particular era, where ultra genre-showcases and challenging DJ mixes went by the wayside. Following this, Balance started tapping veteran jocks of the proggy tech-house scene with more regularity, only a few token nods to newer cats taken in the ensuing decade. I'm not sure why this sudden change occurred - perhaps due to the series branching off from EQ Recordings into its own independent label? Gotta' draw in new fans with old reliables, I guess. Won't get you high marks with Resident Advisor anymore though.

It was this change of distribution when I stopped following Balance, no longer so attainable through Canadian shops (not that they were before). I kept in touch with the series just to see who'd do a set and all, but it wasn't until much later that I reconnected, thanks to one particular, and surprising DJ coming in. At that point I figured some older releases had come down in price enough to warrant a splurge. A few, which is where all these non-TranceCritic reviewed Balances are coming from (sans 007). Obviously, Holden was not among the 'Balance on a budget' spree, though I've heard upon the southern winds that a reissue happened this past orbital cycle...

Various - Balance 015: Will Saul

EQ Recordings: 2009

Won't deny, I had low thoughts about this one when I first saw it advertised a decade ago. I generally liked the Balance series to that point, but Joris Voorn's contribution had me wondering whether things were taking a turn for the over-indulgent, hipster-baiting path. Glancing at the tracklist didn't allay my suspicions either, what with inclusions from Ricardo Villalobos' Minimoonstar, Hercules & Love Affair, Seth 'he so crazy!' Troxler, and that new-fangled 'dubstep' the kids wouldn't shut up about, b'gar. Throw in a cover shot that has Mr. Saul looking like he's posing for Craft Beers Monthly (“This Issue, The 20 Best New IPAs From Mercer Island You MUST Try!”), and yeah, my totally sad first impression wasn't good.

But Will Saul's 3CD set for Balance is good. Real damn good. Ignore what Late 2009 Sykonee thinks. He was getting disillusioned about things anyway.

Besides, my ignorant thoughts were mostly due to ignorance of who Will Saul is. I assume he's a fairly big deal in the UK, though I hadn't heard of him before, and haven't heard much of him since. Has a couple labels behind his belt. Recently released his second album. Look, I've limited word count here, and I'd rather spend it discussing these CDs over Mr. Saul's biography.

And what a lovely assortment of CDs we have here. We're deep in Balance's 'No Genres Off Limits!' era, and with three discs to indulge himself, Will indulges himself indeed. Instead of making each CD strict genre exercises though, Mr. Saul works a general theme while dedicating significant chunks of his sets to specific styles. CD1 gets in on that deep house and space disco vibe, with a tasty acid and Chicago closer. CD2 is the more (then) conventional set of the three, sticking to trendy, minimalist tech-house before taking a slight detour into Detroit's back alleys. Then, in a total tonal shift, Will finishes the set out with future garage (still called 'dubstep' back then). Yeah, that's probably just as trendy, but I like this stuff, so it coo'.

Opening CD3 with reggae dub though? Oh... oh my! Who in the history of Balance has done that? Okay, Jimmy Van M, kinda', but that was just one song, whereas Will spends eight. Some of it is modern 'reggae dub', sure (re: dubstep that actually honours its Jamaican roots), but as found elsewhere across Balance 015, he mixes these (then) contemporary styles with vintage stuff quite nicely. Things move on from there into funk and soul (old and new, including Wolf + Lamb), plus garage and house, with mostly (then) new stuff trying to sound like way old stuff. The retro was in full swing by the late '00s, absolutely.

So yeah, I quite like Will Saul's CD3 here, and even enjoy CD1 despite not having quite as much to say about it. CD2 feels quite of its time though, but is fine for what it offers. Plus, very little of Minimoonstar was used. I LOL'd.

Various - Balance 014: Joris Voorn (Original TC Review)

EQ Recordings: 2009

(2020 Update:
Probably the Most Important release in the Balance series, and I don't claim that with snark, believe me. There had already been critically lauded releases before, but none of them got everyone buzzing quite like this one did. And despite Balance carrying on to this day, there hasn't been another grabbing the same level of attention as Voorn's contribution did. In fact, after a run of releases that served as a sort of Trilogy in DJs showing off the extreme side of genre eclecticism... well, I'll get to that when I get to it. Ultimately though, 014 was pretty much the peak of Balance being regarded as the premiere DJ mix series lauded by music journalists.

Can't say I've come back to this much. It was fine re-listening to it again, favoring CD2 over CD1 a little more now. Voorn's set still feels too reliant on the gimmick over the track selection though, and if I'm gonna' indulge in one of these massive mix-n-mash ultra-sets, I'd sooner throw on Magda's She's A Dancing Machine - it's 'funner'! (yes, I had to get that name-drop in there as another obligatory 'it's been done' snipe)).


IN BRIEF: A trainspotter’s wet-dream.

Whether it be paid journalists, obsessive bloggers, or casual commentators, this is the kind of release such folk eagerly anticipate adding their two cents about. With a track list this big and eclectic [102 in all], Joris Voorn’s contribution to the Balance series screams for opinions, and plenty of people were ready to cast judgment on his mix sound unheard. Commercial DJ sets, after all, are traditionally done as a means of providing new music for the home listener or to promote said DJ to a potential wider audience, and you only need around ten to twenty-five tracks on a CD to accomplish this (dependent on the style of music, of course). To do something more, however, tags the mix with a bright neon “Artistic Statement” sign, from which folks will debate the merits of such a statement well before it’s even released.

Mind, Balance has long been an outlet for DJs to indulge themselves with concept mixes. EQ Recordings practically encourages it, and it’s certainly paid off for the label, in that it’s established itself as one of the premier DJ mix series – fans now tend to come away somewhat underwhelmed if the chosen jock(s) doesn’t do something unique. So, the fact Voorn seems to have willfully dove into a concept mix of this sort got all the commentators giddy. After all, here was once again an opportunity to discuss the merits of commercial DJ mixes as a something uniquely artistic which, in this age of podcasts and radio sets aplenty, does seem to be a dying artform; and this was the same reason commentators feared tackling Balance 014 as well.

Voorn’s tracklist seems to gleefully taunt any kind of criticism. Indeed, how can one be critical of something that has apparently been crafted with such passion and care? To say anything negative about Balance 014 automatically paints such a critic as someone who doesn’t appreciate artistic endeavors, thus rendering their opinions on such matters moot. Forget whether the music is actually good or not, it must be praised on concept alone.

Maybe I’d be willing to fall sway to this massive tracklist like so many others have if I thought there was something truly uniquely clever going on here. Yes, for a series that typically caters to the progressive house sect (whatever sound ‘prog’ currently represents), a CD1 with fifty-plus tracks does look impressive. But it’s not like Voorn’s playing all these as individual songs; rather, he’s cherry-picked bits and pieces to create a collage of dubby tech-house that plays out quite like a traditional prog set (re: atmospheric lead, groovy build, mid-set peak, indulgent third-act, climax/outro). On one hand, this does make it somewhat more impressive than Richie Hawtin’s DE9 mix (and indeed, Voorn’s own Fuse, a similar technical showcase), as there is ample amount of actual melody involved that creates a definite narrative. Yet compared to the wild-yet-cohesive ‘cut’n’paste’ antics of turntablists like Coldcut, Z-Trip, and DJ Shadow, Voorn’s effort here seems timid.

“Enough,” you say, “just fucking tell me if this is worth my pennies or not, f’er crissakes!” The Mizuiro disc most definitely is. As mentioned, it flows seamlessly from beginning to end, taking your ears on a lovely little journey through various atmospheres, pleasing melodies, groovy passages, and sinister soundscapes. Although the ketamine-murk of the second half may not be everyone’s cup of chamomile, Voorn ends the disc on a lovely bit of psychedelic ambiance from an obscure Alter Ego side-project, making it worth your while to let the whole disc play out – after all, such tranquility is only enhanced by the menace that comes before. The only quibble to be had is the lead into this ambient outro, as it makes use of a mild tease of a build, suggesting a more vigorous climax to Mizuiro. All is forgiven once you realize where Voorn aims to take you instead, mind, but a tease it remains.

The Midori Mix, on the other hand, comes across as a mish-mash of leftover ideas. It opens strongly with bright house beats and fresh funk, but quickly drops back into the k-hole with dark, dubby minimal-tech. This of itself is nifty head music, yet comes off redundant if you’ve just listened to Mizuiro; and makes the vigorous beginning of CD2 seem rather pointless, especially so since Voorn keeps lowering the tempo until we’re floating in beatless lounge-chill mid-way through. From there, Midori keeps jumping all over the place: disco-funk makes a return, then is promptly dropped again in favor of ambient; some jazzy-soul passages come by, yet don’t seem to relate to the rest of the mix in any way. Of course, the actual music is perfectly fine –the lack of a cohesive narrative to it all is what holds CD2 down in terms of an endearing listen.

I’m sure you’ve noticed I haven’t really been highlighting titles Voorn as used. Truthfully, there’s very little point in doing so, in that his mix isn’t about individual tracks. And to be perfectly honest, the music works better the less familiar you are with the tunes he’s used – you’ll end up just letting yourself go with the flow of his set rather than endlessly trainspotting the bits and pieces he’s used. Frankly, I found myself distracted by playing too much “I See What You Did There” with the tracks I was most familiar with. Example: Leftfield’s Rino’s Prayer: I kept waiting for the beats of the original to drop, and felt hanging when he instead just looped the dub-throb effect of the original. I’m sure there are a number of similar examples others could point out with their listening experience of this. Granted, some folks thoroughly enjoy doing so. Much like Boards Of Canada fans love hunting for sonic easter eggs, or Star Wars Prequel fans love scouring the background of Lucus’ effects-laden scenes, some could spend hours dissecting what Voorn has done with what during the course of his sets (spoiler alert: if you go to his website, you can watch a Flash animation that lays it out for you). Yet, in doing so, we’re praising production gimmickry, not musical merit.

In that regard, I cannot in good conscience give Balance 014 the super-high marks others have given it. Yes, the technical aspects are awesome, but I’m here to judge the final musical product, not studio tricks. And Voorn’s mix is musically good, not great. While I can’t fault the ambition that went into this, it unfortunately comes across as needlessly overcooked across two discs. And ultimately, were I to throw on a hour-long mix with forty-plus tracks, I’d sooner grab a Soulwax set – it may be messier, but it’s definitely more fun.

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