Saturday, December 26, 2009
Various - A Trip In Trance 4: Mixed by Rank 1 (Original TC Review)
HiBias Records: Cat. # HIB-10272
Released Jan 25, 2005
Track List:
1. Inner State - Changes (6:49)
2. Rachael Starr - Till There Was You (Gabriel & Dresden Mix) (6:42)
3. Ridgewalkers - Find (3:03)
4. Alt + F4 - Alt + F4 (6:19)
5. Benjamin Bates - Whole (4:50)
6. Jan Gustafsson - True Fiction (5:48)
7. Ernesto vs Bastian - Dark Side Of The Moon (5:46)
8. Sherrie Lea - No Ordinary Love (Kyau vs Albert Mix) (5:18)
9. Sandler - Theme Song (Sandler Mix) (3:32)
10. Hemstock & Jennings - Passion (John O'Callaghan Remix) (5:18)
11. Precursor - Pulsar (4:49)
12. Kenny Hayes - Daybreaker (Airbase Mix) (5:46)
13. Rank 1 - Beats @ Rank 1 Dotcom (6:00)
14. Jesselyn - Omnia (Tech-trance Mix) (5:03)
(2010 Update:
Kind of sloppy, this. I think this was a case of my so-called 'chatty' stream-of-thought writing getting the best of me but I didn't really take this release seriously. As all those contemporary trance reviews from earlier in the year can attest to, I'd grown quite cynical of the sound, and wasn't expecting much. Folks thought I was utterly daft in giving this the score I did, though were I to review it today, it'd probably earn a 5 or 6. It's still fun in portions.)
IN BRIEF: The true sound of reverb.
When I saw the promo sticker on A Trip In Trance 4 claiming "this is THE only domestic release to feature the true sound of Trance", you just know I got a little twinkle in my eye. The true sound of trance? Really? You mean to tell me everything in the last ten years is forgotten and we are now offered a compilation that contains the true sound of trance, as the name originally was used? No supersaws? No useless vocals? No halting breakdowns? No Corsten pre-sets? Just hypnotic loops, spacey pads, sci-fi samplings, and acid to spare? Hah! I think not.
I can see you are already thinking, “Oh, great. He's just going to use this review to gush over old stuff while bashing new stuff.” Don't worry, my friends. I'm not that petty.
Having accepted the fact the word trance has come to encompass more music than was initially intended, I've just learned to be a little more wary of anything with the genre's title on it. Unlike the old days where you'd know what you'd get with trance in the comp's title, it's gotten riskier for those preferring either mainstream or underground styles. Granted, you can usually tell what a release will have by track lists or label influence, but sometimes you may be tricked into getting something you hadn't intended.
While this series tends to aim for the more underground side of things, A Trip In Trance 4 is still a commercial release, so I wouldn't expect to hear, say, psytekk, on here. However, I do hope to hear more than just a bunch of euro trying to pass itself off as trance. Fortunately, Dutch producers Bennio de Goeij and Piet Bervoets, more commonly known as Rank 1, have been tapped to compile and arrange this edition, a pair that have had enough experience in the game to have an idea of what the true sound of trance is.
As is my tradition when delving into a new release, I plunked the CD into my player, threw on my trusty Sennheiser 580 headphones, cranked the volume to an appropriate level, and lay back on my couch in preparation to be swept up in the sonic assault. And what an assault! Opener Changes by Inner State sounds mellow enough with its Mediterranean atmosphere, but erupts with a wall of reverb so intense, the details are drowned. What kind of crappy mastering-
Less than a minute in, I slapped my head and turned the surround sound on my player off. I'd forgotten modern trance loves to crank the reverb effects to eleven, rendering the need for surround sound obsolete, especially on headphones.
Ah, now I can hear what's going on with Changes. And you know what? This isn't half bad at all. The hooks are simple and succinct, the vocals are rendered unintelligible enough as to not be distracting from the music, and the downtime doesn't dawdle. Then there's that rhythm! Bottom heavy and driving, it gets you grooving wonderfully despite the floaty effects about. Perfect opener, this song is.
We get a perfunctory mix into the next track, as they will mostly be on here. Really, this is more of a compilation than a DJ mix, so I won't be judging Piet's mixing abilities. I'll still be watching for track arrangement, though, so there'd better not be any lost momentum throughout.
The 21st century versions of Jam & Spoon, Gabriel & Dresden, give us another trancified remix of a pop song, this one Rachael Starr's Till There Was You. The sinister, pulsing synth that growls in the background is wonderfully apt to the song's lyrics about a girl who sings about her growing addiction to drugs. Well, it could also be an addiction to love, but I like my interpretation better. It suits the choking depressive sound of the remix. Till There Was You feeds off the initial thrust of Changes nicely with its sparseness, and the little vocal respite of Find by Ridgewalkers (Andy Moor's remix, I am told, but there's not indication of this on the credits) works decently as a follow-up. Only two and a half minutes of the track is used, though, as were quickly heading off into more energetic territory.
Yikes, but is Alt + F4 ever a cookie-cutter trance track. If The KLF had ever made a book called The Manual: How To Have A Number 1 Trance Hit, this track would have been their blueprint. Corsten rhythms? Check. van Dyk pre-sets (the other overused pre-set)? Check. Harmonizing basslines and melodies? Check. By the numbers breakdowns, builds, echo, reverb and pad effects? Check. A unique melody featured after the main elements have played out for a bit to make this track your own? Check.
Still, it isn't really all that bad. As The KLF proved, you can have fun music even in templates, and Alt + F4 is a fun tune thanks to the one unique element on hand, a twinkling little melody at the peak of the song that you really can't take seriously. Which is a good thing, as the next track is about as silly as it gets.
My God, but is that ever a horrid sound! What on earth is that playing, a vocodered accordion? Haha, it’s great! Benjamin Bates' Whole is the perfect antidote in case you felt Alt + F4 was too cliché, as it seems the true sound of trance has gone on to include Discovery era Daft Punk styled house music. Yeah, it's a stupid song, but comes out on here so unrepentantly, Whole sounds pure genius.
A Trip In Trance 4 has already given me some startling surprises, and things just keep getting better as we again move into completely different territory with Jan Gustafsson's True Fiction. If I was ever to refer to a song as epic, this is definitely one. To me, something epic has to be energetic and adventurous without crossing that line into over-the-top theatrics. True Fiction strikes that perfect balance with an invigorating riff, spacey pads, driving rhythm and just enough reverb to give it a grand feeling.
Onto something completely different again now, as the true sound of trance also includes darkwave with a dance beat. Ernesto and Bastian's Dark Side Of The Moon has more melodrama than any trance track than I've heard but then that's always been the draw of darkwave. This is so incredibly over-the-top, though, it actually works. Okay, so Dark Side Of The Moon is about as gothic as an Evanescence song, but it's also another fun track on this compilation that continues to show how diverse this music can get. Can't complain there.
I can complain on this next track, though. I was afraid of this but, given how much fun A Trip In Trance 4 had been up to this point, I'd held out some hope the diversity would continue. Instead, we get a weak Silence imitation with Kyau and Albert's remix of Sherrie Lea's No Ordinary Love. Despite all the fancy little effects, pads, and reverb thrown about to try and give the song substance, the energy in the compilation is drained nearly to nothing. This song is just far too boring with no vibe at all. Sure, Lea does a competent Dido impression here, but Kyau and Albert's material is limper than soggy noodles. This tends to happen, though, when you follow up songs with good rhythms with weaker ones.
From here, the compilation never regains the spontaneity that was so effective on the first half. There are some decent tracks to be had but for a long stretch, nothing seems to regain the energy lost from No Ordinary Love. The wall of arpeggiating reverb in Sandler's Theme Song can't manage it. The Passion of Christ-theme sampling Passion from Hemstock & Jennings can't manage it (does this track remind anyone else of Gouryella, though?). And the two stuttering supersaw anthems in Pulsar and Daybreaker don't manage it, either, although Precursor's track does pull a valiant effort. There's just not enough attention paid to creating energy in the rhythm, figuring all the arpeggiating melodies and reverb will do the trick instead. Maybe if these were the only types of tracks on here, it would work, but we had a long string of songs doing rhythm right to start out and this last batch just can't compete as a result.
For the climax of this release, Rank 1 decide to give their own release of Beats @ Rank 1 Dotcom the special treatment, more or less mixing it in from the very beginning of the intro percussion. This track builds up the rhythms for quite a while, capping off with a little ode to The O.T. Quartet's (Rollo) Hold That Sucker Down before the breakdown. Maybe.
Anyhow, this track is actually quite interesting. Sure, there's a lot of downtime as they build up the tension for their big riff. However, they pull a nifty little delay trick with the reverb on their main hook, spicing up the usual templates far more than the last five tracks managed to do between them all. It marks a return to the reckless approach to trance that was so apparent in the first half, and I'm actually quite intrigued in this compilation again. It's just a shame this comes right at the end, but Piet finishes out with a wonderful little growling slice of techno from Jesselyn to take us out.
And that, my friends, is the true sound of trance to me. Not supersaws, or reverb, or pads, or loops, or acid specifically, but the willingness to experiment with those attributes. As easily as Rank 1 could have just used a standard synth for Beats, they instead tried something unconventional with the reverb trick, and the songs much better for it. Sometimes such experiments fail but the results are always far more memorable than the same ol'.
For a domestic release, A Trip In Trance 4 has its fair share of eccentric takes on your usual trance templates (aside from Alt + F4 of course, but I wonder if this track is actually a piss-take), but the more commercial aspects of it will probably turn away those wanting underground material. Still, despite that tedious stretch of flat-lined momentum near the end, the mainstream audience will undoubtedly get a kick out of this. Just remember to turn your surround sound off before you play it.
Score: 7/10
ACE TRACKS:
Jan Gustafsson - True Fiction
Rank 1 - Beats @ Rank 1 Dotcom
Written by Sykonee. Originally published 2005 for TranceCritic.com.© All rights reserved.
Various - Turbo Studio Sessions Vol. 1 (Original TC Review)
Turbo Recordings: Cat. # MARCD007-2
Released 1999
Track List:
1. Hans Niewswandt - Mental Madness (6:28)
2. Thomas Krome - The Real Jazz (Erot Remix) (7:31)
3. Turner - Multiorgel (Marathon Mix) (3:29)
4. Universal Tongues vs DKMA - Shiver Me (ADNY Remix) (7:33)
5. Swayzak vs Theorem - Bad Hair Day (8:38)
6. Steve Bug and Acid Maria - Down With Us (6:57)
7. Russ Gabriel Pres. Audio Spectrum - At7 (Live In Detroit) (6:01)
8. Isolée - Beau Mot Plage (DJ Q Remix) (7:18)
9. Dietmar Lehner & Thomas Biebel - Bobby R. (7:58)
10. Blaze - Lovelee Dae (Isolée Remix) (6:32)
11. Nytolbooth - Orange (4:09)
(2010 Update:
This was the first of my Random Reviews, where I would just randomly pluck a release from my collection and review it. I figured it would occasionally and unexpectedly spice up what we covered for TranceCritic. Lord knows it did that, considering some of the Randoms I'd go on to do.
Also, this review has somewhat dated, as Turbo Recordings - and specifically Tiga - has gone on to do much more since I wrote this. Perhaps of interesting note, though, is that much of the minimalist style that was featured on this compilation would go on to be quite popular in the years following this review. That's Turbo for you -always well ahead of the curve.)
IN BRIEF: Get to know Turbo a little better.
So you think you know Turbo Recordings, do ya? Tiga. Sunglasses At Night. International Deejay Gigilo outlet to North America. Swedish, Finnish, and Nordic DJs you've never heard of but are able to spin circles around your usual suspects. 80s revivalists and trendsetters by tapping and exploiting the electroclash and disco punk sound before anyone else. Is that the Turbo Recordings you know and love?
If so, then allow me to introduce you to the Turbo you may have never met.
Starting out as mostly an outlet for Montreal based DJs and producers, Tiga's label managed to make a name for itself using the tried and tested genre of house. Along with simple yet nifty urban photography on most of their releases, Turbo quickly gained notice from house aficionados for providing quality deep, funky music (with a few token releases showing off other genres on occasion).
The Studio Sessions compilations were started up to offer CD buyers a chance to have rare vinyl releases all on one disc, unmixed so you'd be able to enjoy them in all their full-length glory.
It's a wonderful idea, which is often executed by many labels (although not nearly enough these days) but prone to some hiccups. Sometimes there is a reason for tracks to not be released in a more domestic manner: they just aren't as good. However, Turbo's track record of consistent quality even at this early stage of their run was impressive, and I'd be amazed to be let down by them.
Sure enough, things get off on the right foot with the funky, soulful Mental Moments from Hans Niewswandt. Starting off quite mellow with some spoken Rasta words overtop low filtered bass, rhythms are gradually layered as the soulful samples and minute melodies are added. By the time everything builds to a peak over four minutes later, the funk has fully infected us and I deny you to not feel it flow through you. The fun plateau of the track lasts a good two minutes before we are gently brought back down as layers are stripped away, ending on the loops of soulful singing. Mental Moments certainly is a warm, inviting track to get us started on.
Keeping with the upbeat house vibe established by the opener is Erot's soulful remix of Thomas Krome's The Real Jazz. Just like Mental Moments, the rhythm is infectious in its way of moving your body. As the title suggests, the loose melodies of jazz are the name of the game here, letting Hammond organs and flutes alternate in leading the song as they see fit, every so often allowing the percussion to get a little indulgent as well.
So you think you now know the Turbo label sound? Not quite yet, then, as we are taken into slower, chilled tech-house with Multiorgel by Turner. Mind, this track isn't worth getting into. Despite some mellow, loopy vibes to be had, nothing much is really done with it either. It's best served as a transitional track.
Instead, let's focus on ADNY's remix of Shiver Me by Universal Tongues and DKMA. Yeah, gorgeous, those opening strings are, aren't they? Tilt your head back and be swept away in morning-after Ibizan bliss as xylophones and heavenly lyrics sing your troubles away.
The follow-up of Swayzak and Theorem's Bad Hair Day keeps things on the chilled out run, doing what Multiorgel failed to in making a loopy track have feeling. These guys are masters at the minimal sound of house and techno, managing to suck you in with dubby sounds gradually building over the course of the song. Chances are you won't even notice the rhythm doesn't change one bit throughout.
Sadly, Down With Us from Steve Bug and Acid Maria is a step back, not really amounting to much of anything throughout its murky stretch.
So now you think you know what Turbo's all about? Prepare for a bit of a shock, then, as we leave the mellowy house fronts and engage in straight-up techno, specifically of the old, Detroit kind. Strangely enough, despite the obvious synthetic overtones in the bass and somewhat piercing synth, Russ Gabriel's (as Audio Spectrum) At7 will probably get mistaken for another tech-house track due to the funky nature of it. Somehow, someway, it bears a great deal of semblance to the tracks that came before.
In fact, I may as well mention here that this compilation as a whole up to this point has a feeling of sameness throughout. Yes, there are differences from track to track but the atmosphere, one of funky, loungey vibes, has remained persistent. This wouldn't be so bad if it was a themed compilation or DJ mix, but when it comes to studio samplers, especially from one as eclectic as Turbo, I kind of expect a little more variety from track to track. There's a definite quality to what's been on offer but it doesn't feel like they're given the best chance to stand out from one another. Hopefully this will improve on the last third of this CD.
Isolée's Beau Mot Plage (DJ Q doing the re-rub) doesn't offer much hope, as it's another loopy track, more on a techno trip with sampled guitars strumming a Mediterranean ditty as percussion gets filtered throughout. It's definitely a groover, though, and probably a fine set piece as well. Along with the rest of what's come on here, however, it doesn't stick out as much.
Dietmar Lehner and Thomas Biebel seem to be willing to slap us out of this samey vibe with Bobby R. -quite literally. I'm not certain, but it sounds like this song opens up with some women being slapped! By the tone of their voices, it sounds more like it’s done for slapstick than abuse, but they are speaking French so I'm not certain. The song then starts out on an ominous tone, with sinister sounds and grimy synths. Along with simple 808 breakbeats, this comes close to the style of music Turbo came to embrace a couple years later. Best of all, Bobby R. completely changes the vibe of this compilation without interrupting the flow. All fine and good, but perhaps this comes a might bit late with only two more tracks left.
Isolée's mix of Blaze's Lovelee Dae is another step in the right direction. Rather sparse, the simple breakish rhythm and slight, echoing electro synths compliments Blaze's vintage soulful chorus. This is some smooth dub to be had here as little effects on the percussion and synths keep things unique throughout.
And, just in case you think you've finally figured out the early Turbo sound, final track Orange by Nytolbooth finishes off with a bit of ambient techno reminiscent of many an old morning-after chill room setting. It's a pleasant little thing, making good use of thick bass and warm pads as a synth bubbles about.
That’s a wrap for this compilation, then. It's a fine collection of tracks that you can throw on at any time but I don't think it'll make much of an impact on one's personal collection either. With such a long stretch in the middle of tracks dedicated to the more minimal aspects of tech-house, this just doesn't have enough weight behind it to leap out and grab your attention as it plays. However, while Studio Sessions: Vol. 1 may be one of the weaker releases I've heard from Turbo Recordings, it is still a notch above many contenders.
Score: 6/10
ACE TRACKS:
Universal Tongues vs DKMA - Shiver Me (ADNY Remix)
Blaze - Lovelee Dae (Isolée Remix)
Written by Sykonee. Originally published 2005 for TranceCritic.com.© All rights reserved.
Bill Laswell - Sacred System: Chapter One - Book Of Entrance (Original TC Review)
Reachout International: Cat. # RUSCD8225
Released 1996
Track List:
1. Babylon Ghost (6:00)
2. Dread Iternal (9:19)
3. Cyborg Assault (5:37)
4. Galactic Zone (9:31)
5. Sub Terrain (16:12)
(2010 Update:
I stand corrected. Bill Laswell did have a major hit, as he co-wrote Herbie Hancock's Rockit. Oh, and when I refer to this release as 'minimal dub', I'm talking about traditional Jamaican dub played in a very minimal way, not minimal dub-techno. Really, you should know that -it's Laswell, after all.)
IN BRIEF: Blink, and it may be gone.
I love dub, really I do. The way it takes a standard sound and layers it over and over, creating these amazingly cavernous effects, is absolute bliss to a guy who tends to have headphones plastered to his ears most of the time. The resonance in the air of dub music has a way of sucking you in as you become lost drifting on the waves of sonic delights.
Ambient dub is often the more creative domain of dub music. With less attention paid to the immediate rhythms and melodies, producers use the sparseness of ambient music to toy around with resonance, admittedly sometimes with patience sapping, self-indulgent results.
One of the mainstays since the earliest days of this style is bassist Bill Laswell. Through dozens of collaborations and hundreds of releases, he may be one of the biggest names in electronic music you've never heard of, and for good reason. Because of his fairly loose approach to musicianship, he's never really had anything close to a hit in all this time. Much like jazz music, repeating melodies may come and go but are tinkered and toyed with as the song progresses. The idea of repeating the same melody in a traditional verse/chorus method is normally thrown completely out the window, allowing Laswell to feel his way through a song's duration and concluding it when he sees fit.
I came across Laswell via his Divination alias, a dark, minimal ambient side project that I quite liked. When I discovered he'd done a bunch of ambient dub as well, I eagerly began looking for some. Trouble is, because of his huge discography, I was stumped as to where to begin. Due to his ability to leap across musical genres almost at will, recommendations were all over the place. In the end, I did what was probably best anyways: take a gamble and grab whatever caught my eye. As a result, I'm here reviewing Sacred System: Chapter One - Book Of Entrance, the first in a series of dubby releases done for Reachout.
One thing I noticed right away is this is very bass driven music. While there is percussion and keyboards about, they are mostly there to complement Laswell's playing. As a result, I can see a potential audience being quite limited.
This isn't meant as a knock on bass players in general, but fact of the matter is not many people can get into this form of music. A bass guitar's frequency range is so low that, even if you have adequate speakers to do it justice, the human ear is far more responsive to higher range notes when they are played. This is why bass is almost always relegated to accompanying the rhythm or harmonizing with the melody to give it added tonal depth. You have to really pay attention when the bass is carrying the musical weight of a song, as things as simple as a single piano key easily stick out from many of the low tones.
That all said, does Sacred System have enough chops to keep an acute listener paying attention? It's a mixed bag, I have to say.
Opening track Babylon Ghost starts out with some bubbly sound effects (alright, it’s a bong. Don’t ask me how I know) setting up a light-hearted tone. The rhythm and Laswell's bass playing is quite bouncy and repetitive throughout, allowing all of the dubby effects to spice things as the song moves along. No two bars sound identical, but unless you're paying attention to such slight details like a stutter echo or delay effect, you probably won't notice much variation throughout. At points a couple piano chords with a lot of echo and delay effects join, creating an almost strumming sound, but the chords played are mostly the same as well, relying on dub tricks for diversity.
These techniques are played out in the next two tracks as well, offering different styles to utilize them in. As the name suggests, Dread Iternal is slower and darker, making use of sparse percussion and spacey pads that Laswell uses quite nicely. However, the bass does most of the work here, and with an over-nine minute duration, it can be a bit of a tedious excursion. Cyborg Assault is much quicker, leaping into jungle's territory as Laswell's speedy bass tears along. Even the strumming pianos, while sounding a bit muted due to the very brief echo effects, get a chance to play with more than just the two basic chords at times. In fact, Cyborg Assault may just be the most accessible track to casual listeners on here, provided they don't mind speedy rhythms.
Galactic Zone moves into different territory from the previous three. While a slower track like Dread Iternal, it doesn't fall into the repetitive, noodly style the former did. As a clumpity-clump-clump rhythm plays out with plenty of dub tricks, a gentle keyboard serenely moves throughout, improvising along the way to never fall into repetitive staleness the way the pianos did. Laswell's bass playing complements the keyboard nicely, alternating turns at carrying the song for its nine-plus duration.
And, before you know it, we're already at the last track on this release. Wait a moment! How did that happen? I could have sworn I just put this thing on. Sure, this isn't a long album in general (forty-six minutes total) but even old rock albums of shorter length don't go by this quickly. I suppose because the songs sound so similar, it almost feels like you are listening to just one big song, with brief pauses to change the tempo. Is this a good thing? I don't know, but despite the pleasantness of what's been played, I still kind of feel I'm not getting my money's worth if half an hour of music can pass me by without noticing much (and this is when I'm actually paying attention to the bass leads; I'd imagine most other folks wouldn't even notice that).
Speaking of one long song, the last one here, Sub Terrain, inconspicuously breaches the sixteen minute mark. Much like everything else on here, the pleasant keyboard tones, caa-lumpity clump rhythm, benign pads, and groovy bass are nice to listen to as they are playing, but they don't grab your attention for long either as the structureless approach to them has a tendency to let your mind wander. I'll be listening to it, go do something else for a couple minutes, and come back without feeling like I missed anything important. Fortunately, the sounds and melodies are catchy enough to keep Sub Terrain from crossing into dreaded muzak territory, but only just.
So, yeah, I guess this is a nice little album to throw on and sit back to. If you pay attention diligently to the subtle little production tricks, there's some interest to be had. However, knowing the attention span of most folks these days, I can't see them getting into Sacred System all that much. Perhaps it's their loss but minimal dub of this sort does tend to appeal to only a small portion of the EDM community.
Score: 6/10
ACE TRACKS:
Galactic Zone
Written by Sykonee. Originally published 2005 for TranceCritic.com.
DuMonde vs Lange - Memory (Original TC Review)
Superstar Recordings: Cat. # 015 602-2
Released 2002
Track List:
1. Memory (Radio Cut) (3:19)
2. Memory (Original Mix) (7:46)
3. Memory (Lange Mix) (7:56)
4. Memory (Megara vs DJ Lee Remix) (7:05)
5. Memory (JamX & De Leon Mix) (6:34)
6. Memory (Original Dub) (7:07)
(2010 Update:
Alright, so I just wanted to namedrop a little DS9. Can you blame a Niner? Came up with a fairly decent review in the process though.)
IN BRIEF: Vile. Insidious. Just like the Federation
Before I dive into this review, allow me to get my geek on here. Oh, don't look so surprised. Every guy in Western society has an inner geek. Some just use it pursuing things more normally accepted by the populace (like cars, weight lifting, politics… er, music).
Anyhow, back in the 90s there was a little show called Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, a spin-off from the ultra-popular Star Trek: The Next Generation (yeah, I know. Hard to believe anything called Star Trek was considered hip). A bit unconventional for a Trek show, it often showed points of view from non-Federation (re: alien) perspectives, and not always in the most human-flattering ways either.
Take the following discussion from two alien characters, Quark and Garak, a pair that often had self-serving interests for good or ill:
Quark: I want you to try something for me.
Garak: What is it?
Quark: A human drink. It's called root beer.
Garak: I don't know.
Quark: Come on. Aren't you just a little bit curious?
Garak: *Hesitantly takes a sip, then recoils in disgust* It's vile!
Quark: I know. It's so bubbly and cloying and happy.
Garak: *Smiling* Just like the Federation.
Quark: But you know what's really frightening? If you drink enough of it, you begin to like it.
Garak: It's insidious.
Quark: Just like the Federation.
Really, I can't think of a better comparison to Memory by the collaborative efforts of DuMonde and Lange (with Alexis Strum singing). Everything that I've come to despise in Dutch trance is in full effect here: the gargantuan supersaw synths, useless vocals, momentum killing breakdowns, and production techniques that use tons of effects to cover a lack of good song-writing; all style over substance. Yet I just can't hate this song.
How? How could such a seemingly vile song bring a silly smile to my face without a trace of irony or cynicism?
Well, I'll give a large amount of credit to the rhythm. Sure, it's fairly uncomplicated stuff but there's so much resonance in it that it fills in those little sonic gaps with energy. The bass rolls along instead of just bobbing offbeat, making this an incredibly invigorating track.
It's more than that, though. While I've often said I have a dislike of supersaw synths, it isn't so much the synth themselves but the way they are used. Since this type of synth fills out such a wide range of sound, you can often have a serious lack of musical talent and still get away with making a monstrous track. Far too many songs have been produced with nothing more than random notes struck that sound cool, the odd time with an auto-arpeggiator thrown in for variety.
Fortunately, DuMonde and Lange had been at the game long enough to had learned how to write a decent melody when they made Memory, and between the three of them, they managed to create something a little more special than your standard Dutch fare. It's epic without being pompous; it's cheerful without being saccharine; it reminds me of many a euro dance melody.
In fact, Memory further supports my theory that vocal trance is just the new euro dance. Instead of choruses, though, we get the main hook on its own. And where raps used to be, we get a breakdown/build. For that this nu-euro (Whoa! New genre alert!) isn't nearly as good as its decade old predecessor, as I'd rather sing along to a rap than just stand around waiting for something danceable to start up again. It's still fun in a pinch, though, when I'm feeling in the mood for something lighthearted.
But perhaps you don't want that and desire a more straightforward trancer. Lange's mix of Memory should help you out with that, as the bass is more standard, off-beat fare with synth pads slowly building in intensity as Ms. Strum sings. It's a shame he decides to absolutely kill that momentum with a halting breakdown some three minutes in. The ensuing payoff nearly a minute later is okay given the strength of the melody itself (this time a little more subdued), and some of the lost energy is regained once the vocals return in a distorted fashion, but I have to ask whether it was necessary to take us to absolute zero in the first place? The song was doing fine before that dead stop a third of the way through. I mean, could you imagine how intense this song would have been if the rhythm was steadily building throughout as the first bit seemed to indicate it could? It boggles the mind!
But perhaps you'd just rather have something with more bounce. Then Megara and DJ Lee's remix will be the answer for you. Rather than synthy pads, we are treated to punchy Corsten-chords thrusting forth brazenly, making this mix far more exuberant. Oddly enough, without as much emphasis on big melodies, the lyrics stand out better, even to the point they actually begin to make a bit of sense. It seems this song's about a gal who can tap into the hidden secrets of the cosmos via the memories stored in her very DNA! Then again, it could just as easily be about past love as well.
Perhaps the breakdowns in these mixes haven't been long enough for you, though. Then DuMonde's own mix (as their JamX and De Leon selves) should be right up your alley, as you get to wait a whole ninety seconds for the payoff. Alright, the payoff is bordering on garishly theatrical, but it is insidiously catchy, taking the bounciness of the Megara/DJ Lee remix and cranking the effects to overdrive. Good stupid fun to be had with this mix, if you can just ignore the useless intro rhythm leading to the breakdown. Really, this would have been a better track if they got rid of it and made the breakdown a, *gasp* intro. Hey, it's a radical idea, but it could work. It's not like you'd be caught stealing techniques from old school trance since hardly anyone who'd enjoy this probably wouldn't give the stuff ten plus years old a glance.
Oh, and there's a radio cut at the beginning and an instrumental at the end of this release, but since they're basically the same song as the original, you can figure out how they go for yourself (hint: one's short, the other's got no vocals).
In the end, Memory is a fine enough bit of non-consequential fluff. I'd have liked to have seen a little more variation on the remixes, as they all basically follow the exact same structure while injecting the featured remixer's trademark sounds, but they are all serviceable without detracting from what makes Memory better than standard euro fare: energetic rhythms, and a vile, bubbly, cloying, happy, insidious melody that you can't help liking no matter how much you detest everything it stands for.
Score: 7/10
Written by Sykonee. Originally published 2005 for TranceCritic.com.
Miss Kittin & The Hacker - First Album (Original TC Review)
Emperor Norton: Cat. # ENR 7052-2
Released 2004
Track List:
1. Life On MTV (4:22)
2. Frank Sinatra (3:54)
3. Walk On By (5:04)
4. 1982 (5:17)
5. Stock Exchange (5:22)
6. You And Us (4:25)
7. Flexibility (6:25)
8. L'Homme Dans L'Ombre (4:15)
9. Slow Track (2:55)
10. Nurse (5:13)
11. Stripper (4:58)
12. DJ Song (3:03)
13. Walking In The Sunshine (5:14)
14. Frank Sinatra (2001) (4:55)
15. Stock Exchange (Adamsky Remix) (6:32)
(2010 Update:
I never did strike up a conversation with the sexy business women...)
IN BRIEF: Sometimes the simplest ideas are the best.
What is it about seemingly unproduced EDM that instantly conjures up the 80s? Simply put, because such sounds were created, and thus heavily used, in that era, the images associated with the decade have a tendency of springing to mind. In addition, because electronic production has improved by leaps and bounds since those early, innocent years, the notion of making any music with such dated technology seems absurd unless you are deliberately making music in tribute to the era.
Such seemed to be the main draw of the emergence of electroclash and disco punk at the turn of the century. With its raw, tinny, primitive soundscapes, one could not help but draw comparisons to 80's music, allowing trendy hipsters to enjoy it, in the very least, on an ironic level. But one can only push their tongue in their cheek for so long before it pokes right through. The whole scene died a quick death, with indie rockers picking up the pieces to create a new wave of, er, new wave bands.
That electroclash sputtered out isn't all that surprising; most EDM micro-scenes normally have a lifespan of two to three years, depending on how quickly talentless hacks flood the market with piss-poor knock-offs. However, looking back on it, what's quite surprising is that a great number of these acts that spearheaded the whole movement managed to create such catchy music with the barest of musical production, an almost knee-jerk punkish reaction to the over-the-top theatrics of the most popular EDM of the time, trance (specifically of the Dutch variety).
Take Miss Kittin & The Hacker. The music on their first album is EDM stripped down to its most raw elements of 808 rhythms, analogue synths, and bubbly acid bass. Meanwhile, Miss Kittin's lyrics are delivered in a rather emotionless monotone of the barest substance. At the time of its initial release in 2001 (and even earlier with a few singles off here), First Album was the perfect antidote to all the pretentious bombast causing several EDM scenes to suffocate on their own self-importance. Four years on, however, music scenes seemed to have clued in and a wave of tighter song writing with less emphasis on over-production has taken over. Has Miss Kittin & The Hacker's collaborative debut managed to hold its own and remain relevant in a sea of copycats? Let's take a listen and see.
The album doesn't waste any time with pleasantries. Life On MTV jumps right into raw, simple percussion and ugly synths playing a simple, bleak melody. When this isn't going on, Miss Kittin (real name Caroline Herve) takes over with robotic spoken words regarding, well, life on America's music station I guess. This is an incredibly sparse track but The Hacker (real name Michael Amato) manages to fill in the gaps with just enough resonance to suck you in, if only briefly. However, Life On MTV is as good a gauge for this album, as nearly the rest of the songs follow this production technique. If you don't get much out of this opener, chances are you won't get much later either.
Not with Frank Sinatra, though. Even if you despise the musical aspect of it (which is rather minimal, really), you can't help but laugh at the lyrics, "Suck my dick/Lick my ass." I mean, c'mon! The fact it's delivered by a woman is enough to incite giggles by itself, but when said in such a sincere method, you're going to get instant sing-a-long satisfaction from a crowd. And the fact it appeals to whom can relate to this song's theme of decadent celebrity behavior, and those who like to mock such people, you have a guaranteed hit on your hands. Shame it took nearly four years for people to catch on.
Walk On By continues the thread of living the fa-beau-lussM life as an ode to catwalk modeling. While Miss Kittin's heavily distorted lyrics aren't much to get excited about (they sound about as enthused as the expressions on some of those model's faces, which is the point I suppose), this is definitely a cool sounding track despite its repetitiveness. Those synthetic tinging hi-hats never fail to please ardent techno fans.
As one of the first singles the duo produced, 1982 still holds up remarkably well thanks to some funky rhythms but I'm just not feeling it quite as much as these last two tracks. I guess the electro vibes and kitschy lyrics are already starting to sound too same-y despite the fun themes present. There are some nice synth sounds on this track but compared to what's to follow, they really don't stand out all that much.
Especially compared to the ones on the next track, Stock Exchange. Do they sound old? Sure, but that's the absolute beauty of these synth chords. It's amazing despite their rather cold sound that they can contain such a rich range of warmth. They wonderfully complement the song's tale of an escort's sad life pleasing businessmen (one interpretation, anyways). The rhythm's quite perky as well with offbeat bass quite typical in trance music. In fact, Stock Exchange is something I'd be more willing to call "electro trance", far more than what normally gets branded as such.
Alright, time for a slight tangent here as I tell a little story relating to this song. While Stock Exchange may be about an escort, sometimes I can't help but think of it in a more literal sense, as about an actual woman working on Wall Street, and sick of the rat-race it involves. Why? On the bus I take home from work, sometimes I see this one particular woman who fits the description of the character from Miss Kittins lyrics, including a pink business suit! When I first heard Stock Exchange, this woman was sitting beside me on the bus, which I could not help but think it was strangely coincidental. Sure, you see familiar faces all the time when you take the same bus routes almost daily, and I'd seen this businesswoman countless times before. But to have her sit down beside me as Stock Exchange is playing? Strange. Oh, and to answer the obvious questions: yes, this woman is rather lovely; no, she's probably ten to twenty years my senior; and no, despite sharing the same bus on occasion, I've never actually talked to her before as I'm usually worn out from work anyways. Hmm maybe I should change that one day...
Oh, yeah. This review. Um, let's get back to it, shall we?
The duo take a bit of a departure from the style that opened the album up with the next couple of tracks. Instead of aloof observations about pop culture, Miss Kittin takes the opportunity to talk about the pair themselves while Amato's synth chords get darker and de-tuned. You And Us and Flexibility are very similar in this regard, as they are strictly dancefloor material without much emphasis on lyrical content. The same could be said about L'Homme Dans L'Ombre, although my French is pathetic, so I really haven't a clue what Kittin's going on about for half this breakbeat-ish song. Despite the similarity to these songs, I quite enjoy the synths. Yeah, I'm a sucker for analogue synths. Sue me.
The three song run of murky dance beats ends with Slow Track, as much of a filler track as I've ever heard since nothing much of interest happens here. Even Kittin can't seem to think of anything interesting to say to complement this one. Perhaps it's workable for a downtempo set in a pinch but there's plenty of better material to be had out there. I guess Amato wanted to show he could do more than just dancey songs?
Enough with the gloom, you say? How about some tracks with a little more zest then? Nurse and Stripper certainly are more playful to listen to and Miss Kittin gets more involved than simple droning. Nurse especially should please those looking for more of a return to the subject matter in the earlier portions of the album.
On this 2004 edition, one of three bonus tracks is featured next in DJ Song. Something of a B-Side, I guess Emperor Norton figured they might as well include it on the re-issues. It's not too bad of a song, baring similarities to Life On MTV (but then, don't most of these anyway?) but doesn't add much to the plate either. I'd imagine it's to the DJ culture what Frank Sinatra is to the celebrity culture.
Walking In The Sunshine is as pleasant a song as this album is going to have, providing an optimistic outlook on life after all the self-loathing (intentional or acted) filled to the rim with all the desolate soundscapes. On the original release of First Album, it was a nice capper to end on but we get a couple more bonus tracks on the 2004 edition, both remixes of the top hits.
Frank Sinatra (2001) is basically a revamping of the original to make it more club friendly when this music was blowing up big. Miss Kittin also cranks up the snootiness of her dialogue, making it even more fun to sing along to than before. The Adamsky (also known as Adamski to the old-schoolers) remix of Stock Exchange is wonderful. Taking the heartrending theme of the original and running with it, the song sounds even more tragic than ever before. Little guitar strums harmonize with a frailer sounding Miss Kittin (who re-sung the lyrics and by sung, I do mean she actually sings this time) while the fills in between get funkier and dirtier. In particular, this track stands out from the rest because it's so much more different.
Yeah, that's the thing about this whole First Album. Aside from a few standout poppy hits, the similarities of all these tracks will please fans of this style of music, and bore the rest. Since I like it, the ranking here goes up a little. If you don't, it'll go down a little more for you. More variety would have been nice but it's solid enough for what we get.
As for whether Miss Kittin & The Hacker's debut has dated four years later, I'd give my answer as a definite no. After all, the sound on First Album was dated to begin with. It isn't going to date any more but considering the current trend of infusing dated sounds in EDM to give them more grit, it may just be one of the most modern sounding releases around.
Score: 7/10
ACE TRACKS:
Stock Exchange
Frank Sinatra (2001)
Written by Sykonee. Originally published 2005 for TranceCritic.com.© All rights reserved.
L.S.G. - Volume 2 (Original TC Review)
Superstition Records: Cat. # 2069 CDM
Released 1996
Track List:
1. Can U Hear Me? (3:54)
2. Hear My Voice (3:40)
3. Novastorm (7:48)
4. Get Out (5:48)
5. Lectrolyte (8:20)
6. Microfish (2:46)
7. Netherworld (11:00)
8. Freakme (6:36)
9. Firefly (12:17)
10. Centurion (11:01)
(2010 Update:
Nothing much to update here. The grammar's still a little clunky but a huge improvement over my early reviews nonetheless. Hey, I'd had over half a year to get the hang of it by now!)
IN BRIEF: Starring Netherworld! Co-starring a bunch of really good songs you've probably overlooked.
This is the one. From this album on, the face of trance music would never be the same and the man behind it, Oliver Lieb, for so long hidden in obscurity behind various guises, would be propelled into the club spotlight whether he wanted it or not. And the song that would accomplish this was dubbed Netherworld.
I'm sure it may be difficult for some of the newer fans of trance to realize this but, before Netherworld became the anthem it did, the structure of trance wasn't quite as set in stone as it is today. The concept of dropping all rhythm to allow the main melody to be presented after some lead-in, while done at times, was hardly indicative of where trance stood during those years. For the most part the genre was quite content to remain the more hypnotic, melodic, or acidy offshoot of techno.
A funny thing started to happen around this time, though. A number of prolific DJs who had been making a name for themselves playing various forms of house music for so long (though mostly progressive) started to catch ear of some of these other-worldly songs and began to incorporate them into their sets. Thanks to heavy hitters such as Netherworld, very soon these forms of trance (dubbed progressive trance, probably because the songs fit best in prog house sets; why bother creating a whole new adjective when a previous redundant one will do) would dominate clubland, making gods of guys who play records.
Of course, things took a turn for the worse in small part when attention-seeking DJs overplayed it in hopes of deity-like worship, but in large part from hundreds of imitators flooding the market with cheap knock-offs, perhaps striking upon the winning formula that spearheaded the initial wave once out of every five hundred attempts (they're still trying, too).
Okay, maybe that's unfair. The fact remains, though, there hasn't been many songs that have managed to emulate the stormer that Netherworld is, and for good reason. There simply are very few producers out there that are as talented as Oliver Lieb when it comes to trance. The recent re-release with new remixes of the track guarantees its legacy will continue for the new generation of trance lovers.
So what does one of the defining prog trance anthems sound like? Structurally about the same as nearly any prog trance: a couple minutes of lead-in, followed by a breakdown featuring the main melody on its own before percussion is brought back with renewed intensity; some embellishing of either rhythm or secondary melodies for a bit, then right back into the main course before finishing out. Yeah, sounds familiar, doesn't it?
What makes Netherworld stand out from the pack, though, is Lieb's unique synth patches. Most of the percussion is abrasive and mechanical, something that wouldn't sound too out of place in an industrial track. If it weren't for the main melody, this song would have probably remained on the fringes of trance music.
And what a melody it is. Hitting all the right emotional notes to sweep you off your feet, a stuttering synth with plenty of trailing echo contrasts wonderfully with the hard-hitting rhythm. Throw in sweet supplementary bits like ethereal voices (the same ones sampled by The Orb in their song Blue Room, although I have no idea what the original source is), secondary melodies that would have been strong songs in themselves, and electro bridges, and you have yourself a track that hasn't diminished nearly a decade since its creation. I've yet to come across a fan of trance that doesn't enjoy Netherworld to some extent. Whether you like the rhythmic or melodic aspects of the genre (or better yet, both), you'll find something to sink your teeth into here.
But wait, my good friends! Don't hit that back button just yet. While Netherworld may be regarded as the main attraction on Volume 2, there is still a whole album's worth of material to enjoy. However, if you are expecting more Netherworlds or even just a continuation of the L.S.G. debut Rendezvous In Outer Space, you will be in for a bit of a shock.
This may just be a rumor but some believe Lieb was a bit pressed to release this album due to the initial buzz over the main single.
While I cannot confirm this, I certainly can believe it, as the facts pointing towards a slightly rushed release seem evident. A weak album title notwithstanding, for one thing Volume 2 comes just a mere year after the first L.S.G. album. You might have thought Lieb would want to focus on a different project for a while. Well, perhaps he had been, because for two things, a number of these tracks bear a striking semblance to Lieb's more experimental alias, Spicelab, than the simpler L.S.G. works. Indeed, the credits state this album was "mixed and mastered by O. Lieb & Spicelab." Who does he think he's kidding? One may be led to think this album was padded out by Spicelab material sitting in the reserves.
Still, I can't think of a better source for padding.
Mind, the opening two tracks Can U Hear Me? and Hear My Voice (really, they could be called Hear Me: Parts 1 And 2, as they have much in common) don't contain many Spicelab sounds, but then they really are nothing more than intro tracks to the album: the former being more ambient and grand sounding, the latter setting up the pace with shuffling rhythms and echoing synth stabs, amongst other tidbits of effects. No, it's with Novastorm where L.S.G. meets Spicelab.
Right off the bat, you can tell Novastorm is unabashedly old school trance. The rhythm is simple so as not to distract you from all the hypnotic loops in effect. Layers of strings stabs, spacey pads, and eerie effects that have been heard in many a Spicelab track come and go throughout this song, none of which attempts to make itself more pronounced than the rest. Without any major melodies at work here, this track is trance music that one can easily get lost in. As the loops are gradually stripped away towards the end, a little electronic arpeggio emerges alongside the pads, fading away.
Don't let this calming ending lull you into a false sense of security, though. Futuristic soundscapes start to drone ominously at the beginning of Get Out, growing in intensity as bits of percussion are gradually added. Finally, some two minutes in, fierce breakbeats suddenly pummel you as added, bassy effects energize you. This promises to be something special but, sadly, the payoff doesn't quite live up to the lead-in. Sure, there are some wonderfully menacing moments to be had in the second half of Get Out, but this track seems to almost serve as more of a lead-in to the next track, Lectrolyte, than an individual song of itself.
As for Lectrolyte, this is another wonderfully simple, loopy little trancer, and the most melodic number yet on Volume 2 as it features those splendid stuttering synth chords Lieb's a master of. However, the middle portion of this track is mostly used up with embellishing sound effects and, because the rhythm is unwaveringly repetitive throughout, casual trance fans may overlook the nice parts of this track if they are impatient.
The bubbly bass of Lectrolyte repeats itself on its own for a minute towards the end of its run as the ambient track Microfish starts out, an interesting little excursion of synthetic sounds slowly mimicking the songs of orca (at least, that's what it sounds like to me). However, it's more of an intermission of a track before we get back into the heavier hitters, and the heaviest hitter of the lot on Volume 2, Netherworld, follows.
As I've already gone on about this song, let me just mention it in the context of this album. Considering how loopy, hypnotic, and relatively unmelodic this album's been thus far, Netherworld really leaps out at you. In fact, it's a stark contrast compared to what's come before. Lieb was quite correct in placing the more ambient Microfish before it, as I don't think Netherworld would have been able to fit within the context of this album otherwise. Likewise, following it up with the rhythm-heavy Freakme is just as clever, as Netherworld is a tough act to follow as well.
With the main melody of Netherworld trailing off for a minute or so, the grumbling bass of Freakme that emerges from it can be quite startling, but it fits perfectly. We are entering more Spicelab-y territory, though, so don't expect anything that sounds immediate. You're going to have to do some serious paying attention to hear anything beyond random, bubbly sounds and bottom heavy rhythms.
The rest of this album carries on with the Spicelab influences, sucking you into a deep, deep trance with the floaty Firefly and the even more experimentally rhythmic Centurion. To try and describe these songs would be a challenge in itself, one I doubt I know enough adjectives to utilize. I will say, however, those looking for big melodies to cap off Volume 2 will be severely disappointed. Aside from some very catchy mechanical percussion sounds in Centurion, everything on this final stretch is built around subtlety and hypnotic soundscapes; trance in its purest form.
Now, I'd be lying if I said this was a perfect album. Despite the strong collection of individual tracks on hand, that sense of album flow that is common in nearly every other L.S.G. full length is missing. Rather, it feels as though Volume 2 goes from section to section, with hardly any relation to previous ones. In one sense, this isn't too bad of an idea as it can help take the listener on different journeys through the course of the CD instead of dwelling on the same theme throughout. In fact, it plays quite wonderfully for those keener on individual tracks.
However, if you are looking for individual tracks, that’s what singles are for.
When I - and I'm certain many others - go into an L.S.G. album, there is a tendency to expect the whole to encompass a specific theme -why else would you bother to have all the tracks mixed together? Volume 2 just doesn't have that, and it is a bit of a letdown when songs at the end of the album bare no semblance to songs at the beginning without a logical bridge between them.
I still highly recommend this album, of course, if anything because the individual tracks are quite enjoyable for fans of nearly any kind of trance. Just be prepared for a bit of a disjointed listen if you play this release through.
Score: 8/10
ACE TRACKS:
Netherworld
Firefly
Novastorm
Written by Sykonee. Originally published 2005 for www.TranceCritic.com.© All rights reserved.
Electrovoya - Days Like These/ICO (Original TC Review)
Fundamental: Cat. # FUN 521
Released July 4, 2005
Track List:
A: Days Like These (7:38)
B: ICO (7:45)
(2010 Update:
Holy anecdote, Batman, but hey, it's a breezy read, right? While the group seemed to disappear shortly after this, we definitely would be hearing more about that 'minimal click house' stuff I quipped about in the review.)
IN BRIEF: Days often forgotten.
So, I'm just relaxing in my palatial Marpole apartment (can't beat the sound of heavy traffic right out your patio!) on a fine Vancouver summer afternoon when something occurs to me. This fine Vancouver summer afternoon really isn't all that fine at all.
You see, us here in the North American northwest have been spoiled rotten these last couple years by unusually great weather. Sure, we've had to deal with forest fires in some areas and drought warnings, almost unheard-of events in a rainforest climate such as ours, but we took it in stride in favor of the sun.
It couldn't last, though, as it seems our typical weather has returned at the most inappropriate time. We've had spurts of sunshine and heat but for the most part, us poor Vancouverites have had to deal with drizzly rain, overcast skies, and muggy temperatures - or, as we've come to call it, "a typical Vancouver day."
Those of us who've lived on the Canadian west coast for long periods of time are quite aware of having sunny days, and we can even recall enjoying having those intense rays of sunlight beating down on us while we lounge around on a beachfront or outdoor park. Yet, once that good weather retreats and we are back into our typical climate, and the exact notion of it fades from our memory.
It's a strange feeling, to say the least, but not unlike listening to Days Like These.
Electrovoya seem to be quite new on the block, combining the talents of Greg Murray and Andy Hagerty. I've never heard any of their works prior to this one but they definitely know how to make a good trance record. Days Like These is a pleasant little ditty of bliss, as it really isn't too concerned about slamming you about with over-the-top theatrics. Instead, a simple melody loops throughout, subtly manipulated with effects to gently raise the atmosphere without ever peaking into absurdity. Synth washes complement the track to give it that added feeling of ecstasy washing over you (no, not the drug... well, maybe).
Damned if I can remember how it sounds seconds after the song ends, though. Days Like These is one of those odd-ball tunes that you enjoy listening to, you remember you enjoyed listening to it, and you know if you ever hear it again, you'll enjoy it just as much, but how did that melody go again?
Part of this problem probably has to do with Electrovoya's subtle production. Despite being played throughout without much interruption for breakdowns, builds, bridges, and other bric-a-brac (aside from your standard DJ-friendly intro and outro), the main melody doesn't really leap out at you in any significant way. Of course, this isn't really a bad thing, as it serves as a nice little interlude from whatever ails you during the day. However, unless Days Like These is placed in a minimal click house set (or something similarly unmelodic), chances are the song isn't going to light trance sets on fire anytime soon.
ICO on the flip has some of the same problems but has an easier time sticking in my mind for one big reason: it surprised me.
More old school in sound, this b-side makes good use of acid squelches, galloping string synths, and tough rhythms. The use of a more modern sounding synth for the main hook should appeal to the newer fans of trance, and it fits nicely with all the older sounds, but it doesn't really stick in the mind all that well either.
Also, there's a halting breakdown used to introduce it but to be honest, this breakdown isn't all that bad.
It sounds quite characteristic of most builds at first with layering synths and percussion, but Electrovoya pull a nifty little trick with the big kick build. While it may start as you'd expect, just when you figure it'll peak out, the kick begins to fade instead along with the rest of the building layers, lulling you into a false sense of security before everything, all at once, blasts forth with renewed intensity. I've listened to this a number of times and it still catches me off guard, probably because it so effectively plays against the conventional trance build template I've grown accustomed to.
So in the end, I enjoyed both these cuts, probably ICO a little more since it appeals to those classic trance sounds I fell in love with early on, but there isn't anything amazingly remarkable about them either. Functional is the best way to describe them, which is what it seems Electrovoya set out to do anyways. Best enjoyed on a typical Vancouver summer day.
Score: 7/10
Written by Sykonee. Originally published 2005 for TranceCritic.com.© All rights reserved.
Various - Techno Nights - Ambient Dawn (Original TC Review)
EMI Recordings: Cat. # 724383598229
Released 1995
TRACK LIST:
Disc 1
1. The Shamen - Destination Eschaton (Hardfloor Vocal Mix)
2. David Holmes - Minus 61 In Detroit
3. The Chemical Brothers - Leave Home
4. Dave Clarke - Winter (Armani Mix)
5. Red Snapper - Hot Flush
6. The Sabres Of Paradise - Smokebelch II (Beatless Mix)
7. DJ Hell - Sprung Aus Den Wolken
8. Plastikman - FUK
9. Moby - Go (Woodtick Mix)
10. 808 State - Pacific 707
11. N-Joi - Papillon
12. EON - Spice
13. Bizarre Inc. - Playing With Knives (Quadrant Mix)
14. Inner City - Big Fun
15. The Grid - Texas Cowboy
16. Adamski - NRG
17. The Prodigy - Weather Experience
18. Yello - S.A.X.
Disc 2
1. Orbital -Lush
2. Enigma - Age Of Loneliness (Carly’s Song)
3. William Orbit - Water From A Vine Leaf
4. Sven Väth - L'Esperanza
5. Phillip Glass - Labyrinth
6. Jam & Spoon - Hispanos In Space
7. The Age Of Love - The Age Of Love (Jam & Spoon Remix)
8. The Black Dog - Raxmus
9. Carl Craig - Landcruising
10. Aphex Twin - Donkey Rhubarb
11. Scanner - Mass Observation (Crackdown Mix)
12. Apollo 440 - Film Me And Finish Me Off
13. Björk - One Day (Sabres Of Paradise Mix)
14. The Orb - Oxbow Lakes
15. A Man Called Adam - Barefoot In The Head
16. The Beloved - The Sun Rising
17. Coldcut - Autumn Leaves
18. Vangelis - Love Theme From Bladerunner
19. Brian Eno - An Ending (Ascent)
(2010 Update:
That long break I took in 2005 must have did some good, as my writing had definitely gotten better, at least in the preamble and conclusion portions. Even the track-by-track stuff isn't too bad, kept quite brief considering how many tunes there are here. I also recall I felt we were selling TranceCritic's opportunities short if we didn't get as many major names into the archives as soon as possible, hence reviewing this particular release. It seemed like a quick and easy way to get some potential web search results. Heh, it didn't quite work out that way though.)
IN BRIEF: As diverse a compilation as I've ever heard.
The term 'electronica' never sat well with a large number of electronic music fans. The fact the music had been around since the 70s begged the question why, after two decades of distancing itself from all things entirely electronically produced, the rock media suddenly felt the need to join the pack in the mid-90s by creating an entirely new term.
There are probably a number of reasons I could detail here but I'll just address the one that pertains to this release. Fact of the matter is electronic music is hardly the simple 'ndds ndds ndds' cliché most rock circles would have you believe. While the more mainstream forms certainly do this, there are several forms that do not. So many, in fact, that their respective followings were growing far larger than isolated raves and clubnights could contain. Electronic music was diversifying, and the mainstream was catching on.
So what was the rock media to do? Their last big movement, grunge, had sputtered out from overexposure. Nothing seemed ready to take its place and all these other forms of music were making inroads. They did the only thing they could: bite the bullet and finally accept EDM as a legitimate form of music, only calling it a name they made themselves in the hopes of still being a trendsetter. 'Electronica' caught on briefly with the press, but not enough with the public to stick and was more or less forgotten as folks still used the old 'techno' tag instead (which is fine by me, as at least it's usually 20% accurate when talking about EDM). It's quite amusing to still see the rock media cling to the 'electronica' name when talking about new electronic music releases, as though they just couldn't accept the fact their term didn't catch on; they, the trendsetters of music culture!
Anyhow, electronic music was now finally being accepted as something legitimate for the music crowd (despite the fact 2 Unlimited alone had number one hits in several countries already) thanks to the boundaries being pushed by several eclectic producers and acts within the field. No longer regulated to dirty warehouses and gay clubs, music makers were realizing the potential of sequencers and synthesizers.
This compilation reads almost like a who's who of the electronic music world of 1995, and is easily a testament to the music's only limit being one's imagination. Separated into two discs -one featuring more rhythmic tracks, the other more melodic- Techno Nights - Ambient Dawn makes a strong case against all the naysayers that claim all EDM sounds the same.
Okay, so maybe The Shamen's Destination Eschaton isn't the best example to show how diverse it can be. All the elements that get mocked seem to be present: fey vocals, limp 4/4 rhythms, and fruity melodies. Hey, I'm not gay bashing here, just telling it as it sounds. Sadly, even Hardfloor's chunky acid build can't eliminate the glaring stereotypes present. I suspect it may be a clever ploy on the compilers' part though, as the next song showcases that other techno cliché: repetition. However, David Holmes' Minus 61 In Detroit shows off just how effective gradual builds through repeating riffs and layering percussion can be once everything peaks out.
Having gotten the main stereotypes out of the way, we start to get into some of the more interesting tracks. The Chemical Brothers' Leave Home is an excellent example of why they became the rock media's darlings, as their distorted guitar samplings from early in their career would be a natural bridge. But why follow it up with perhaps one of the poorer examples of hard techno in Dave Clarke's Winter? The beats are fine but, man, are those bird noises ever hokey. Couldn't they find a better track? I enjoy a good ol' bosh session as much as the next guy but not when the sounds are this bad.
If Winter showed off how fake electronic music can sound, Red Snapper's Hot Flush does just the opposite. Okay, so Red Snapper actually uses real instruments since they are more of a jam band than your typical one or two man techno crew buried behind racks of gear -the fact they use any gear gets them lumped into the EDM camp though. However, you wouldn't know it from this track, especially with a saxophone wailing along.
Taking a break from the danceable tunes is the childlike bliss of Smokebelch II by The Sabres Of Paradise. Content to hang out on cloud nine, this little slice of heaven has probably served as a pleasant comedown favorite for many clubbers. As such, it's with wonderful irony to have DJ Hell's Sprung Aus Den Wolken come next on this compilation, dragging you back to the depths of the underground with a no-holds barred pummeling hardcore track. The riff is unapologetically grimy, the beats fiercely distorted, and the hellish sounds are in full effect. Bwahahaha! Oh, pardon me...
Keeping things down and dirty is Plastikman's funky FUK and Moby's Go. Huh? Moby down and dirty? When it's the rarer Woodtick Mix, you bet. The only thing retained of his seminal original is the vocal samples. The rest is taken up by thumping rhythms and distorted synths.
Okay, time for another break from the intense tracks and 808 State's lush, jazzy Pacific 707 is a suitable respite. Unlike Hot Flush, who's jazz elements overwhelmed it and made it stick out like a black sheep, Pacific 707 makes good use of its jazz influence to meld it with electronics so nothing seems out of place. When that saxophone croons over sweeping pads and funky bass lines, it takes you floating over an ocean-washed beach as the sun rises over the horizon in the morning.
N-Joi's Papillon is fairly typical of most techno from the mid-90s in that the sounds and arrangements are interesting but eventually go nowhere in particular. It isn't that it's a bad song but considering just how unique every other song has been on this compilation thus far, you'd be pretty hard pressed to remember exactly how it went later on. Fortunately, EON's Spice comes correct by making use of the tried and true tradition of pilfering old sci-fi flicks for samples (Peter Hyam's Dune, just in case the title wasn't a dead giveaway) and creating a thumping bit of sound-effect drenched techno. Mind, the hoover riff that alternates with a trancey riff sounds horribly dated now but don't let that turn you off from the rest.
Not to be outdone by all the techno on hand, house gets a moment to shine with the next pair of tracks. While Bizarre Inc.'s Playing With Knives is best described as a collage of various house tracks, Inner City's Big Fun stands out with an irresistible bassline, catchy vocals, and an embellishing piano to finish off.
Now things start to delve into more quirky territory on this disc. The Grid's Texas Cowboy is hardly what I'd call conventional techno with its country influenced melodies. Fortunately, it doesn't get bogged down in novelty (like, er, nearly every other EDM song that tried it) so it works fine enough. Adamski's NRG, though, is so filled with goofy sounds and samples, the fun, funky house track underneath tends to either get buried or overlooked. And then we have Experience-era Prodigy, which would have been unique in itself (no one else managed to emulate the hyper-fast breakbeat sound Howlett spearheaded) but Weather Experience was an odd track even for The Prodigy; it wasn't very often you'd hear ambient intros or hip hop rhythms from them in those days. And finally, we have a track from Yello (more commonly known as the Oh Yeah guys), a group that, despite making electronic music, never felt constrained by standards as evidenced by the salsa influenced S.A.X. Truly, an odd, if eclectic, quartet of songs to finish the first disc off.
However, just in case you are still feeling a bit of groove in your system, the Ambient Dawn disc opens with Orbital's Lush, a fairly dancey track that's main feature is a flute melody played throughout. The rest is more or less Orbital styled techno.
Enigma, William Orbit, and of all people, Sven Väth, bring us a run of the more meditative aspects of EDM. The latter two are quite indicative of where BT-styled trance would be headed in the years to come. As such, these offerings are far simpler in their delivery than the overblown varieties to be had lately.
Moving on to the more noodly aspects of ambient music, classical composer Phillip Glass makes use of minimal synth arrangements in the avant-garde Labyrinth. While it sounds interesting for a while, the song meanders far too much. The rare ambient track Hispanos In Space from Jam & Spoon fares better, even if the EQing on it seems odd. The only element that really jumps out is a Spanish guitar periodically strumming throughout. The rest of the song, from singing conquistadors to spacey pads, is heavily subdued and distant sounding, as though Jam & Spoon only allowed the reverb past the mixdown. It's an interesting experiment but I can't see anyone other than dedicated fans of ambient getting into this.
Just in case the last two tracks had you dozing a bit, the energetic Age Of Love will snap you back to attention. A radio edit of the original Jam & Spoon remix (so no drawn out lead-in or grating acid noises), the song leaps right into the sweeping vocal build and climax that still has ravers reaching for the lasers once it peaks out.
Still, this is supposed to be the chill out disc between the two so we dive right back into slower BPM territory with The Black Dog's Raxmus. After a THC-drenched intro, trip-hop rhythms dominate this dubby affair. Not to be outdone, electro gets a chance to show off how mellow it can be as well in Carl Craig's Landcruising. While there is some tempo to this track, the blissy pad work keeps things on a gentle cruise control.
Diving headfirst into more experimental territory is Aphex Twin's Donkey Rhubarb, an incredibly odd track that has a decent song lurking somewhere underneath all the glitchy noises and faux-steel drum sounds. James' music is often praised, and for good reason, but if you are new to the Twin, this isn't the song to start with.
A ho-hum track with Scanner passes by without much notice but segues quite nicely into Apollo 440's Film Me And Finish Me Off. The bass is instantly catchy and various elements such as flutes and high-note guitar strums harmonize wonderfully to create a vivid portrait of the disposable nature of Hollywood. Think Depeche Mode with more bump to it.
The Sabres Of Paradise give Björk a little re-rub on her song One Day, essentially stripping away all musical elements to allow the Icelandic singer to carry the song on the strength of her voice alone, with a thick, meandering beat providing a little tempo. It's still more experimental territory though, so some folks may be thrown for a loop. The Orb keeps us in this region with Oxbow Lakes, a track that starts out ordinary enough with a little piano melody but soon descends into dubby, submerged electronics bubbling to the surface from the depths of soundwaves.
Okay, you say, enough with the experimental tracks. How about some nice songs that you can easily get into? The next pair of tracks should be right up your alley then, as A Man Called Adam and The Beloved provide some dreamy examples of after-hours house. Oh, and in case you are wondering why the vocal sample in The Sun Rising sounds so familiar, it's because it's the same one Orbital would go on to use in their track Belfast (the original being from Hildegard Of Bingen of Hyperion Records).
R&B and jazz influences dominate in Coldcut's Autumn Leaves as organic sounds and samples are used to give this track a Hollywood production quality. Different percussion elements are used as needed, drawing from both hip hop and jazz roots, as soulful lyrics are sung with subdued passion. Although sampling is evident, it is woven with such skill that the song sounds as though it was performed with live instruments inside a smoky jazz hall. Perhaps the only drawback is the lack of any electronic elements (although some of the percussion uses a few, minor filters) but then that's kind of the point of this track.
And, just as with the first disc, we come to the end of the second disc with a pair of musicians that aren't normally associated with your typical electronic music producers. It's a bit sad that many kids these days don't even know who Vangelis or Brian Eno are but these guys are some of the pioneers of ambient music (heck, Eno was the one who coined the term) and, as such, are deserved to be put on this compilation with the more well known artists. After all, Eno's An Ending (Ascent) is probably one of the most perfect pieces of music to end any collection of songs with.
Looking at the track list on this release ten years since it was first released, it's amazing to see how many of the acts on here turned out. It reads as a veritable who's who of the EDM world these days but, for its time, a great number of these acts were either brand spanking new or even obscure. Who in their right mind could predict Moby, The Chemical Brothers, The Prodigy, or William Orbit (with Madonna) going on to dominate the music charts the way they did just from judging their material here? Who could have foreseen DJ Hell going on to spearhead an 80s revival just from listening to his gabber offering here? Who'd have thought dynamic producers such as Red Snapper, Adamski, Apollo 440, and The Grid would fall off the way they did shortly after?
Still, for as dynamic a line-up this compilation contains, there are some glaring problems to be had.
First and foremost, while I applaud the desire to make a compilation showcasing the wide range EDM encompasses, there is simply way too much covered here without much logical flow between tracks. As a result, things tend to sound disjointed when playing through. It can be quite jarring to be listening to one style of music for a couple songs only to be thrust into something completely different with the next few.
Second and middlemost, these are not all well-known songs from these acts. While some of them wouldn't make their more memorable music until later, some of the track selections still seem odd for the time this compilation was made. Weather Experience for The Prodigy instead of their Jilted material? FUK instead of Spastik for Plastikman? Oxbow Lakes from the more experimental Orbus Terrarum Orb album? I'll grant it's quite wonderful to see some real rarities like Jam & Spoon's Hispanos In Space get attention but if you're making a compilation of EDM showing off as many artists as possible, wouldn't you want to include stronger material than some of the tracks selected?
Third and rearmost, a number of these songs are cut short. Some aren't as bad as others, of course, but hearing only a couple minutes of, say, Orbital's Lush or The Orb's Oxbow Lakes begs the question why bother including these songs at all. I understand in order to cram thirty-seven tracks onto two discs some editing on the length of tracks would need to be made. However, if one is already familiar with a track, to hear it end sooner than normally expected can leave a souring effect on the rest of the release. I sometimes get the impression this is more of a sampler release than a commercial one.
And really, perhaps that's all one should treat this compilation as: a sampler of the wider world of electronic music. Chances are if you have already immersed yourself into EDM, you won't find much more here than what you'd already own in one form or another. However, if you are just starting to branch out by all means give Techno Nights - Ambient Dawn a go. It's best treated as a crash course in electronic music as the variety present here is immense. While there are still stereotypes to be had, they are by no means to rule.
Score: 6/10
ACE TRACKS:
David Holmes - Minus 61 In Detroit
Apollo 440 - Film Me And Finish Me Off
Coldcut - Autumn Leaves
Written by Sykonee. Originally published 2005 for TranceCritic.com.© All rights reserved.
Loop Guru - Amrita (...All These And The Japanese Soup Warriors) (Original TC Review)
North South: Cat. # GURU 200CD
Released 1995
Track List:
1. Sheikh (3:58)
2. Yayli (7:29)
3. Diwana (5:38)
4. Soulus (4:48)
5. Papasus (6:04)
6. Often Again (5:07)
7. Sun (5:01)
8. Epic Song (4:47)
9. Gianyar (7:45)
10. Fumi (13:32)
11. Plane Shift (6:10)
(2010 Update:
Track-by-track is still a chore to read, but at least the preamble to these reviews was getting better. I was a bit surprised by the resurgence of ethnic sampling in hip techno circles in recent years, though very little of what they did was as vibrant as what we have here. Mind, they are very different scenes.)
IN BRIEF: World samplings from the gurus of loops.
Truth be told, I wasn't a one-genre whore from the get-go. While I may say a great deal of the early 90s euro wave initially sparking my enthusiasm for EDM, there was yet another style I was enjoying along side it, though I didn't make as big of a deal about it -which is kind of strange, really, considering this style is probably one of the most commercially successful worldwide. I guess as a young, rebellious teenager, I almost felt guilty for enjoying the same music my mother did.
Dabbled with as far back as Peter Gabriel, and perhaps even The Beatles, it wasn't until the emergence of such acts like Enigma and Deep Forest that the genre loosely termed 'world beat' gained mainstream notice. The idea of throwing ethnic influences over techno rhythms sparked an amazing wave of producers attempting to cross cultural boundaries with music, a most novel idea considering our enjoyment of rhythms and melodies is one of the few things all of humanity seems to have in common.
However, because of the cultural diversity on this planet, fusing disparate music styles can be trickier than it seems. What may make sense in one part of the world will not necessarily meld fluently with another region. It isn't enough to just take a chanting pygmy sample and stick it with a sitar sample -there needs to be some cohesion between the two. Often the best producers in this field (Delerium, Banco de Gaia, etc.) will take such samples and create rhythms and melodies around them. The bad producers (too many goa trance artists to name) just lump samples on top of each other and hope for the best.
Of course, ask almost any world beat producer what kind of music they make, and they'll immediately claim they produce anything but world beat. I suppose they have a just reason for it. The term world beat (or even worse, world music) is even more ambiguously useless than 'electronica'. What exactly makes a song fall under that category? Certain sounds may be ethnic to one region but not to another. Maybe it's referring to music that isn't region specific, but there are several forms of music like that that don't fall under the umbrella of world beat. Ah, well. Humanity has never been all that good at giving names to music.
Anyhow, as I was saying, world beat held just as much interest to me as nearly any other style of EDM and, over the years, I'd come across some incredible acts in the process. One group that eluded me, though, was Loop Guru.
As a huge fan of Banco de Gaia, I'd often heard of Loop Guru mentioned in conversations of similar artists, sometimes even seeing them appearing together on compilations. I'd been curious, of course, but never really gave it much thought to seek out any of their albums until just recently. Having heard a few offerings of their work on compilations, a part of me feared they'd turn out to be nothing more than a Banco de Gaia-lite. However, after time and time again hearing the praises of the group, I decided to give in and check them out.
Starting out this particular album called Amrita is Sheikh. First thing I notice is this is very sample heavy music, looping over and over and over throughout this song. Mostly utilizing Indian sitars, woodwinds, and chants, not much really happens on this song as things more or less loop for four minutes without much variation. And, unfortunately, the samples used don't mesh all that well either. It doesn't inspire much but the rhythm is fairly energetic, if unwaveringly loop-refic, so I get the impression Loop Guru made this track merely as an opener to the album. At least, I hope this is the case. I'd hate to have to sit through an album of stuff like this. If I wanted that, I'd purchase some bad goa trance.
Yayli brings things more into focus, opening with chants and wails as rhythms gradually build for some two minutes. Once we get settled into alternating looping samples that feed off the tribal energy established, we are treated to quite an infectious track. While most of the guitar and woodwind samples are established early on, there is a great deal of mixing them up throughout so they never get redundantly repetitive as it did in the opener. Strangely, though, once the song ends, a little interlude plays out which sounds like something you might have heard on an old Super Nintendo RPG. At least, it does to me -damned youthful nostalgia.
Diwana does the same trick as heard in Yayli but the samples used are even better! The chant is quite nice, the rhythm more funky, and a haunting flute plays off of Indian pipes wonderfully. There are a bunch of other samples floating about providing texture and gives this track much needed depth that wasn't quite as prevalent as in the first two. Of note, I might add, is aside from some of the rhythms, I've yet to hear much in the way of actual electronic sounds in these tracks. It seems Loop Guru are more interested in using the samples they've come across to do the music for them rather than augmenting them with other hardware. It's ballsy, I have to admit, but Sheikh notwithstanding, it's worked so far. Hopefully it doesn't catch up to them later, though.
We get treated to a bit more of a Western feel rather than the Far East in Soulus, as the samples used here consist mostly of Gregorian chants and orchestral bits. Not too much else gets thrown in, though, as this is a fairly simple, loopy track like Sheikh. Fortunately, the elements in use are more cohesive and Soulus doesn't run out of steam before it's over.
Loop Guru slows things down now with Papasus, a wonderful little grooving number of dubbed out rhythms and simple, subdued melodies (including a sampled voice of Sussan Seihim). I'll admit I have a real weakness for music of this sort (most commonly referred to as ambient dub) but a number of others will find this a bit too noodly for their tastes.
Often Again is a rather mellow excursion of shuffling rhythms, chants of both folksy and Gregorian in nature, and lo-fi flutes that wouldn't sound all that out of place in a Boards Of Canada release. Beyond that, this is still a mostly loopy affair, although the flutes do sound more natural thanks to the longer length of those loops. Also, has anyone noticed those tweeting birds hiding throughout this album so far? I thought it was coming from outside at first but then I remembered that birds don't tweet in the middle of the night.
Loop Guru has managed to lull me into a blissful sense of serenity with these last two tracks but Sun opens up with something a little more paranoid sounding. Then, quite suddenly, brisk, crisp percussion leaps out at you, startling you into alertness again. Good thing too, as Sun is a fun track you wouldn't want to sleep through. Plenty of samples get thrown about here, mostly of an energetic nature to rile you up for a good ol' hippie dance. If I was in a flower field listening to this, or even just an outdoor festival, I could definitely see myself leaving a hacky-sack, drum, or bong circle to get my shake on to this track.
And this next one as well! Epic Song really doesn't have much to offer melodically with all the folksy singing and flutes, but I quite like the rhythm to this one. Much more tribal and less loopy than what else has been on offer with Amrita.
Of course, by this point I'm getting a little cocky about figuring out Loop Guru's tricks, namely making use of a wide assortment of ethnic samples arranged into interesting, even enjoyable songs. And Gianyar starts out just as expected with some peppy rhythms and lo-fi flutes samples. Less than a minute, though, I'm thrown for a 'loop' (hohoho!) when an orchestral sample starts to play, but in reverse! Playing tape loops backwards can be musically disastrous in many instances but it works here. Even better, though, is an additional melancholy eastern flute melody that follows it, and a rousing orchestral sample at peaks. This is some great stuff to listen to, even if the rhythm section barely changes at all from beginning to end.
Fumi is more noodly ambient dub but, unlike Papasus, this one goes for more jazz influences than anything else. At over thirteen minutes long, it does meander at great length between bass guitar, low Eastern woodwinds, and Gregorian chants (always good in a pinch) while sparse percussion bobbles along. It is nice to listen to for a while but, really, it does go on for an almost tedious amount of time if you pay too much attention to it. Best to just zone out while it is playing. Smoke a bowl if that's your game, too.
And, finishing off, we have Plane Shift, a mellow outro of a track that makes use of those always reliable Gregorian chants while Arabian flutes and percussion loop along at a steady pace. Yeah, it doesn't really go anywhere but it's pleasant enough to listen to in any event.
And really, that kind of sums up the whole experience of listening to Amrita; aside from a couple of tracks that create some much needed depth, most of what's on here is more about what Loop Guru can do with their samples rather than creating songs around them. Yet, for all the lack of diversity in each of these tracks, there is an undeniable enjoyment to listening to their music as many of the samples do stick to your mind. This being an earlier example of their work, I'd have to hear some of their more recent work to see if they refined this template more to make their more energetic tracks not quite as, well, loopy.
Incidentally, if you are wondering if they give sample credits here, I believe they do but write them out in such cryptic ways ('astoral music', 'mythical mellowflutes', 'the sound of one hand clapping', 'heavy metal guitar with so many effects that it doesn’t sound heavy, metallic or guitar-like or anything else from our realm of understanding the nature of multidimensional matter transfer', 'a very big fish'), you'd have a hell of a time figuring them all out. Probably how they like it, too.
Score: 7/10
ACE TRACKS:
Diwana
Papasus
Written by Sykonee. Originally published 2005 for TranceCritic.com.© All rights reserved.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Things I've Talked About
...txt
10 Records
16 Bit Lolita's
1963
1965
1966
1967
1968
1969
1970
1971
1972
1973
1974
1975
1976
1977
1978
1979
1980
1981
1982
1983
1984
1985
1986
1987
1988
1989
1990
1991
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2 Play Records
2 Unlimited
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
2022
2023
2024
20xx Update
2562
3 Loop Music
302 Acid
36
3FORCE
3six Recordings
4AD
6 x 6 Records
75 Ark
7L & Esoteric
808 State
A Perfect Circle
A Positive Life
A-Wave
a.r.t.less
A&M Records
A&R Records
Abandoned Communities
Abasi
Above and Beyond
abstract
AC/DC
Ace Trace
Ace Tracks Playlists
Ace Ventura
acid
acid house
acid jazz
acid techno
acoustic
Acroplane Recordings
Adam Beyer
Adam Ellis
Adam Freeland
Adham Shaikh
ADNY
Adrian Younge
adult contemporary
Advanced UFO Phantom
Aegri Somnia
AEI Music
Aes Dana
Afgin
Afrika Bambaataa
Afro-house
Afterhours
Agoria
Aidan Casserly
Aira Mitsuki
Airwaves
Ajana Records
Ajna
AK1200
Akshan
album
Aldrin
Alex Smoke
Alex Theory
Alice In Chains
Alien Community
Alien Project
Alio Die
All Saints
Alpha Wave Movement
Alphabet Zoo
Alphaxone
Altar Records
Alter Ego
alternative rock
Alucidnation
Ambelion
Ambidextrous
ambient
ambient dub
ambient techno
Ambient World
Ambientium
Ametsub
Amon Amarth
Amon Tobin
Amplexus
Anabolic Frolic
Anatolya
Andrea Parker
Andrew Heath
Androcell
Anduin
Andy C
anecdotes
Aniplex
Anjunabeats
Annibale Records
Anodize
Another Fine Day
Antendex
anthem house
Anthony Paul Kerby
Anthony Rother
Anti-Social Network
Anzio Green
Aoide
Aphasia Records
Aphex Twin
Apócrýphos
Apollo
Apollo 440
Apple Records
April Records
Aqua
Aquarellist
Aquascape
Aquasky
Aquila
Arcade
Architects Of Existence
Archives
Arcturus
arena rock
Arista
Armada
Armin van Buuren
Arpatle
Artifact303
Arts & Crafts
ASC
Ashtech
Asia
Asian Dub Foundation
Astral Engineering
Astral Projection
Astral Waves
Astralwerks
AstroPilot
AstroPilot Music
Asura
Asylum Records
ATB
ATCO Records
Atlantic
Atlantis
atmospheric jungle
Atom Heart
Atomic Hooligan
Atomine Elektrine
Atrium Carceri
Attic
Attoya
Audiobulb Records
Audion
AuroraX
Autechre
Autistici
Autumn Of Communion
Auxilary
Auxiliary
Avantgarde
Avatar Records
Aveparthe
Avicii
Axiom
Axs
Axtone Records
Aythar
B.G. The Prince Of Rap
B°TONG
B12
Babygrande
Balance
Balanced Records
Balearic
ballad
Bålsam
Banco de Gaia
Bandulu
Barker & Baumecker
Battle Axe Records
battle-rap
Bauri
Beastie Boys
Beat Buzz Records
Beat Pharmacy
Beatbox Machinery
Beats & Pieces
bebop
Beck
Bedouin Soundclash
Bedrock Records
Beechwood Music
Benny Benassi
Bent
Benz Street US
Berlin-School
Beto Narme
Beyond
bhangra
Bicep
big beat
Big Boi
Big Dada Recordings
Big L
Big Life
Bill Hamel
Bill Laswell
Bill Leeb
BIlly Idol
BineMusic
BioMetal
Biophon Records
Biosphere
Bipolar Music
BKS
Black Hole Recordings
black metal
black rebel motorcycle club
Black Swan Sounds
Blanco Y Negro
Blasterjaxx
Bleep
Blend
Blood Music
Blow Up
Blue Amazon
Blue Hour
Blue Öyster Cult
blues
blues rock
Bluescreen
Bluetech
BMG
Boards Of Canada
Bob Dylan
Bob Marley
Bobina
Bogdan Raczynzki
Bombay Records
Bone Thugs-N-Harmony
Boney M
Bong Load Records
Bonobo
Bonzai
Boogie Down Productions
Booka Shade
Botchit & Scarper
Bows
Boxed
Boys Noize
Boysnoize Records
BPitch Control
braindance
Brandt Brauer Frick
Brasil & The Gallowbrothers Band
breakbeats
breakcore
breaks
Brian Eno
Brian Wilson
Brick Records
Britpop
Brodinski
broken beat
Brooklyn Music Ltd
Bryan Adams
BT
Bubble
Buffalo Springfield
Bulk Recordings
Burial
Burned CDs
Bursak Records
Bush
Busta Rhymes
Buttertones
bvdub
C.I.A.
Calibre
calypso
Canibus
Canned Resistor
Canopy Of Stars
Capitol Records
Capsula
Captain Hollywood Project
Captured Digital
Carbon Based Lifeforms
Caribou
Carl B
Carl Craig
Carlos Ferreira
Carol C
Caroline Records
Carpe Sonum Novum
Carpe Sonum Records
Castroe
Casual
Cat Sun
CD-Maximum
Ceephax Acid Crew
Celestial Dragon Records
Cell
Celtic
Centaspike
Cevin Fisher
Cheb i Sabbah
Cheeky Records
chemical breaks
Chihei Hatakeyama
Children Of The Bong
chill out
chill-out
chiptune
Chris Duckenfield
Chris Fortier
Chris Korda
Chris Liebing
Chris Sheppard
Chris Witoski
Christmas
Christopher Lawrence
Chromeo
Chronos
Chrysalis
Ciaran Byrne
cinematic soundscapes
Circle of Pines
Circular
Ciro Berenguer
Cirrus
Cities Last Broadcast
City Of Angels
CJ Stone
Claptone
classic house
classic rock
classical
Claude Young
Clear Label Records
Clementz
Cleopatra
Cloud 9
Club Culture
Club Cutz
Club Tools
Cocoon Recordings
Cold Spring
Coldcut
Coldplay
coldwave
Colette
collagist
Columbia
Com.Pact Records
Coma Eye
comedy
Compilation
Comrie Smith
Congo Natty
Conjure One
Connect.Ohm
conscious
Control Music
Convextion
Cooking Vinyl
Cor Fijneman
Corderoy
Cosmic Gate
Cosmic Replicant
Cosmo Cocktail
Cosmos Studios
Cottonbelly
Council Estate Electronics
Council Of Nine
Counter Records
country
country rock
Covert Operations Recordings
Craig Padilla
Craig Richards
Crazy Horse
Cream
Creamfields
Creedence Clearwater Revival
Crockett's Theme
Crosby Stills And Nash
Crossing Mind
Crosstown Rebels
crunk
Cryo Chamber
Cryobiosis
Cryogenic Weekend
Cryostasis
Crystal Moon
Cube Guys
Culture Beat
Curb Records
Current
Curve
cut'n'paste
CYAN
Cyan Music
Cyber Productions
CyberOctave
Cyclic Law
Cygna
Cymphonica
Cypher 7
Cypress Hill
Cyril Secq
Czarface
D York
D-Bridge
D-Fuse
D-Topia Entertainment
Daar
Dacru Records
Daddy G
Daft Punk
Dag Rosenqvist
Damian Lazarus
Damon Albarn
Damon Wild
Dan Terminus
Dan The Automator
Dance 2 Trance
Dance Pool
Dance With The Dead
dancehall
Daniel Heatcliff
Daniel Lentz
Daniel Pemberton
Daniel Wanrooy
Danny Howells
Danny Tenaglia
Dao Da Noize
Daphni
dark ambient
dark disco
dark psy
darkcore
darkside
darkstep
darksynth
darkwave
Darla Records
Darren Emerson
Darren McClure
Darren Nye
DAT Records
Databloem
dataObscura
David Alvarado
David Bickley
David Bridie
David Cordero
David Guetta
David Morley
DDR
De-tuned
Dead Coast
Dead Melodies
Deadmau5
Death Grips
death metal
Death Row Records
Decimal
Deconstruction
Dedicated
Deejay Goldfinger
Deep Dish
Deep Forest
deep house
Deeply Rooted House
Deepwater Black
Deetron
Def Jam Recordings
Del Tha Funkee Homosapien
Delerium
Delsin
Deltron 3030
Denshi Danshi
Depeche Mode
Der Dritte Raum
Derek Carr
Detroit
Deviant Records
Devin Underwood
Devroka
Deysn Masiello
DFA
DGC
diametric.
Dido
Dieselboy
Different
DigiCube
Dillinja
Dirk Serries
dirty house
Dirty South
Dirty Vegas
Dis Fig
disco
Disco Gecko
disco house
Disco Pinata Records
disco punk
Discover (label)
Disky
Disques Dreyfus
Distant System
Distinct'ive Breaks
Disturbance
Divination
DJ 3000
DJ Brian
DJ Craze
DJ Dag
DJ Dan
DJ Dean
DJ Gonzalo
DJ Heather
DJ John Kelley
DJ John Storm
DJ Merlin
DJ Mix
DJ Moe Sticky
DJ Observer
DJ Premier
DJ Q-Bert
DJ Shadow
DJ Soul Slinger
DJ-Kicks
Djen Ajakan Shean
DJMag
DMC
DMC Records
Doc Scott
Dogon
Dogwhistle
Dooflex
Doom Poets
Dopplereffekt
Dossier
Dousk
downtempo
dowtempo
Dr. Alban
Dr. Atmo
Dr. Dre
Dr. Hook & The Medicine Show
Dr. Octagon
Dragon Quest
dream house
dream pop
DreamWorks Records
Drexciya
drill 'n' bass
Dronarivm
drone
Dronny Darko
drum 'n' bass
DrumNBassArena
drumstep
drunken review
dub
Dub Pistols
dub techno
Dub Trees
Dubfire
dubstep
Dubtribe Sound System
DuMonde
Dune
Dusted
Dyadik
Dynatron
E-Mantra
E-Z Rollers
Eardream Music
Earth
Earth Nation
Earthling
Eastcoast
Eastcost
Eastern Dub Tactik
EastWest
Eastworld
Eat Static
EBM
Echodub
Ed Rush & Optical
Editions EG
EDM World Weekly News
Ektoplazm
Electric Universe
electro
Electro House
Electro Sun
electro-funk
electro-pop
electroclash
Electronic Dance Essentials
Electronic Music Guide
Electrovoya
Elektra
Elektrolux
em:t
EMC update
EMI
Emiliana Torrini
Eminem
Emmerichk
Emperor Norton
Empire
enCAPSULAte
Encym
Engine Recordings
Enigma
Enmarta
Ensiferum
Enya
EP
Epic
epic trance
EQ Recordings
Equal Stones
Erased Tapes Records
Eric Borgo
Erik Vee
Erol Alkan
Escape
Esko Barba
Esoteric Reactive
Espacio Cielo
ethereal
Etic
Etnica
Etnoscope
Euphoria
euro dance
eurodance
eurotrance
Eurythmics
Eve Records
Everlast
Ewan Pearson
Exitab
experimental
Eye Q Records
Ezdanitoff
F Communications
Fabric
Facture
Fade Records
Faex Optim
Faint
Faithless
Falcon Reekon
Fallen
False Mirror
fanfic
Fantastisizer
Fantasy Enhancing
faru
Fatboy Slim
Fax +49-69/450464
Fear Factory
Fedde Le Grand
Fehrplay
Feist
Fektive Records
Felix da Housecat
Fennesz
Ferry Corsten
FFRR
Fictivision
field recordings
Filter
Filteria
filters
Final Fantasy
Firescope
Five AM
Fjäder
Flashover Recordings
Floating Points
Flowers For Bodysnatchers
Flowjob
Fluke
Fluxion
Flying Lotus
folk
Fontana
footwork
Force Intel
Fountain Music
Four Tet
FPU
Frame
Frame Of Mind
Francis M Gri
Frank Bretschneider
Frankie Bones
Frankie Knuckles
Frans de Waard
Fred Everything
freestyle
French house
Front Line Assembly
Frou Frou
fsoldigital.com
Fugees
full-on
Fun Factory
funk
future garage
Future Sound Of London
Futuregrapher
futurepop
g-funk
G-Prod
gabber
Gabriel Le Mar
Gaither Music Group
Galaktlan
Galati
Gang Starr
gangsta
garage
Gareth Davis
Gary Martin
Gas
Gasoline Alley Records
Gee Street
Geffen Records
Gel-Sol
Genesis
Geometry Combat
George Issakidis
Gerald Donald
Get Physical Music
ghetto
Ghostface Killah
Ghostly International
Glacial Movements Records
glam
Gliese 581C
glitch
Glitch Hop
Global Communication
Global Underground
Globular
goa trance
Goasia
God Body Disconnect
God's Groove
Gorillaz
gospel
Gost
goth
Grammy Awards
Gravediggaz
Green Bay Wax
Green Day
Grey Area
Greytone
Gridlock
grime
Groove Armada
Groove Corporation
Grooverider
grunge
Guru
Gustaf Hidlebrand
Gusto Records
GZA
H:U:M
H2O Records
Haddaway
Halgrath
happy hardcore
hard house
hard rock
hard techno
hard trance
hardcore
Hardfloor
Hardly Art
hardstyle
Harlequins Enigma
Harmless
Harmonic 33
Harmonic Resonance Recordings
Harold Budd
Harthouse
Harthouse Mannheim
Hawtin
Headphone
Hearts Of Space
Hed Kandi
Hefty Records
Helen Marnie
Hell
Hercules And Love Affair
Hernán Cattáneo
Herne
Hexstatic
Hi-Bias Records
Hic Sunt Leones
Hide And Sequence
Hiero Emperium
Hieroglyphics
High Contrast
High Note Records
Higher Ground
Higher Intelligence Agency
Hilyard
hip-hop
hip-house
hipno
Hollywood Burns
Home Normal
Honest Jon's Records
Hooj Choons
Hope Records
horrorcore
Hospital Records
Hot Chip
Hotflush Recordings
house
Howie B
Huey Lewis & The News
Human Blue
Humanoid
Hybrid
Hybrid Leisureland
Hymen Records
Hyperdub
Hypertrophy
Hypnotic
Hypnoxock
I Awake
I-Cube
i! Records
I.F.
I.F.O.R.
I.R.S. Records
Iboga Records
Icarus Music
Ice Cube
Ice H2o Records
ICE MC
IDM
Iempamo
Ignis Fatum
Igorrr
Ikjoyce
illbient
ILUITEQ
Imogen Heap
Imperial Dancefloor
Imploded View
In Charge
In Trance We Trust
Incoming
Incubus
Indica Records
indie rock
Indisc
Industrial
Infastructure New York
Infected Mushroom
Infinite Guitar
influence records
Infonet
Inhmost
Ink Midget
Inner Ocean Records
Innovative Leisure Records
Insane Clown Posse
Inspectah Deck
Instinct Ambient
Instra-Mental
Intellitronic Bubble
Inter-Modo
Interchill Records
Internal
International Deejays Gigolo
Interscope Records
Intimate Productions
Intuition Recordings
ISBA Music Entertainment
Ishkur
Ishq
Island Def Jam Music Group
Island Records
Islands Of Light
Italians Do It Better
italo disco
italo house
Item Caligo
J-pop
Jack Moss
Jackpot
Jacob Newman
Jafu
Jake Stephenson
Jam and Spoon
Jam El Mar
James Blake
James Holden
James Horner
James Lavelle
James Murray
James Zabiela
Jamie Jones
Jamie Myerson
Jamie Principle
Jamiroquai
Javelin Ltd.
Jay Haze
Jay Tripwire
Jaydee
jazz
jazz dance
jazzdance
jazzstep
Jean-Michel Jarre
Jefferson Airplane
Jerry Goldsmith
Jesper Dahlbäck
Jessy Lanza
Jimmy Van M
Jiri.Ceiver
Jive
Jive Electro
Jliat
Jlin
JMJ
Joel Mull
Joey Beltram
John '00' Fleming
John Acquaviva
John Beltran
John Digweed
John Graham
John Kelly
John O'Callaghan
John Oswald
John Shima
Johnny Cash
Johnny Jewel
Jon Hester
Jonny L
Jori Hulkkonen
Joris Voorn
Jørn Stenzel
Josh Christie
Josh Wink
Journeys By DJ™ LLC
Joyful Noise Recordings
Juan Atkins
juke
Jump Cut
jump up
Jumpin' & Pumpin'
jungle
Junior Boy's Own
Junkie XL
Juno Reactor
Jupiter 8000
Jurassic 5
Kaico
Kay Wilder
KDJ
Keith Farrugia
Ken Ishii
Kenji Kawai
Kenny Glasgow
Keoki
Keosz
Kerri Chandler
Kevin Braheny
Kevin Yost
Kevorkian Records
Khetzal
Khooman
Khruangbin
Ki/oon
Kid Koala
Kiko
Killing Joke
Kinder Atom
Kinetic Records
King Cannibal
King Midas Sound
King Tubby
Kitaro
Klang Elektronik
Klaus Schulze
Klik Records
KMFDM
Koch Records
Koichi Sugiyama
Kolhoosi 13
Komakino
Kompakt
Kon Kan
Kool Keith
Kozo
Kraftwelt
Kraftwerk
Krafty Kuts
Kranky
krautrock
Kriistal Ann
Krill.Minima
Kris O'Neil
Kriztal
KRS-One
Kruder and Dorfmeister
Krusseldorf
Krystian Shek
Kubinski
KuckKuck
Kulor
Kurupt
Kwook
L.B. Dub Corp
L.S.G.
L'usine
La Luz
Lab 4
Ladytron
LaFace Records
Lafleche
Lamb
Lange
Large Records
Lars Leonhard
Laserlight Digital
LateNightTales
Latin
Laurent Garnier
Layer 3
LCD Soundsystem
Le Moors
Leaf
Leama and Moor
Lee 'Scratch' Perry
Lee Burridge
Lee Norris
Leftfield
Leftfield Records
Legacy
Legiac
Legowelt
Lemony Records
Leon Bolier
Les Disques Du Crépuscule
LFO
Linear Labs
Lingua Lustra
Lionel Weets
Liquid Frog Records
liquid funk
Liquid Sound Design
Liquid Stranger
Liquid Zen
Literon
Live
live album
LL Cool J
lo fi
Loco Dice
Lodsb
LoFi
Logic Records
London acid crew
London Classics
London Elektricity
London Records 90 Ltd
London-Sire Records
LongWalkShortDock
Loop Guru
Loreena McKennitt
Lorenzo Masotto
Lorenzo Montanà
loscil
Lost Language
Lotek Records
Loud Records
Louderbach
Loverboy
Lowfish
Luaka Bop
Lucette Bourdin
Luciano
Luke Slater
Lunarian Records
Lustmord
M_nus
M.A.N.D.Y.
M.I.K.E.
Mack 10
Madonna
Magda
Magik Muzik
Mahiane
Mali
Malignant Records
Mammoth Records
Mantacoup
Marc Simz
Marcel Dettmann
Marcel Fengler
Marco Carola
Marco V
Marcus Intalex
Mark Farina
Mark Norman
Mark Pritchard
Markus Schulz
Marshmello
Martin Allin
Martin Cooper
Martin Nonstatic
Märtini Brös
Marvin Gaye
Maschine
Massimo Vivona
Massive Attack
Masta Killa
Master Margherita
Masterboy
Matthew Dear
Max Graham
maximal
Maxx
MCA
MCA Records
McProg
Meanwhile
Meat Loaf
Median Project
Medicine Label
Meditronica
Melusine Records
Memex
Menno de Jong
Mercury
Merr0w
Mesmobeat
metal
Metal Blade Records
Metamatics
Method Man
Metro Area
Metroplex
Metropolis
MF Doom
Miami Bass
Miami Beach Force
Miami Dub Machine
Michael Brook
Michael Jackson
Michael Mantra
Michael Mayer
Mick Chillage
micro-house
microfunk
Microscopics
MIG
Miguel Migs
Mike Saint-Jules
Mike Shiver
Miktek
Mille Plateaux
Millennium Records
Mind Distortion System
Mind Over MIDI
mini-CDs
minimal
minimal tech-house
Ministry Of Sound
miscellaneous
Misja Helsloot
Miss Kittin
Miss Moneypenny's
Mistical
Mixmag
Mixmaster Morris
Mo Wax
Mo-Do
MO-DU
Moby
Model 500
modern classical
Modeselektor
Mohlao
Moist Music
Moljebka Pvulse
Moodymann
Moonshine
Morgan
Morphic Resonance
Morphology
Moss Covered Technology
Moss Garden
Motech
Motionfield
Motorbass
Mount Shrine
Move D
Moving Shadow
Mr. Scruff
Mujaji
Murk
Murmur
Mushy Records
Music link
Music Man Records
musique concrete
Mutant Sound System
Mute
MUX
Muzik Magazine
My Best Friend
Mystery Tape Laboratory
Mystica Tribe
Mystified
N-Trance
Nacht Plank
Nadia Ali
Nano Records
Napalm Records
Nas
Nashville
Natural Life Essence
Natural Midi
Nature Sounds
Naughty By Nature
Nav Bhinder
Nebula
Neil Young
Neo Ouija
Neo-Adventures
Neon Droid
Neotantra
Neotropic
nerdcore
Nervous Records
Nettwerk
Neurobiotic Records
neurofunk
Neuropa Records
New Age
New Beat
New Jack Swing
New Order
new wave
Nic Fanciulli
Nick Höppner
Night Hex
Night Time Stories
Nightmares On Wax
Nightwind Records
Nimanty
Nine Inch Nails
Ninja Tune
Nirvana
nizmusic
No Mask Effect
Nobuo Uematsu
noise
Noise Factory Records
Nomad
Nonesuch
Nonplus Records
Nookie
Nordic Trax
Norken
Norman Cook
Norman Feller
North South
Northumbria
Not Now Music
Nothing Records
Nova
NovaMute
NRG
Ntone
nu-italo
nu-jazz
nu-metal
nu-skool
Nuclear Blast
Nuclear Blast Entertainment
Nulll
Nunc Stans
Nurse With Wound
NXP
Nyquist
Oasis
Ocelot
Octagen
Offshoot
Offshoot Records
Ol' Dirty Bastard
Olan Mill
Old Europa Cafe
old school rave
Ole Højer Hansen
Olga Musik
Olien
Oliver Lieb
Olivier Orand
Olsen
OM Records
Omni Trio
Omnimotion
Omnisonus
On Delancey Street
One Little Indian
Onyx
Oophoi
Oosh
Open
Open Canvas
Opium
Opus III
orchestral
Original TranceCritic review
Origo Sound
Orkidea
Orla Wren
Ornament
Ostgut Ton
Ott
Ottsonic Music
Ouragan
Out Of The Box
OutKast
Outmosphere Records
Outpost Records
Overdream
Owl
P-Ben
Pale Glow
Paleowolf
Pan Sonic
Pantera
Pantha Du Prince
Paolo Mojo
Parental Advisory
Parlaphone
Part-Sub-Merged
Pascal F.E.O.S.
Past Inside The Present
Patreon
Patrick Dream
Paul Moelands
Paul Oakenfold
Paul van Dyk
Pendulum
Pentatonik
Perfect Stranger
Perfecto
Perturbator
Pet Shop Boys
Petar Dundov
Pete Namlook
Pete Tong
Peter Andersson
Peter Benisch
Peter Broderick
Peter Gabriel
Peter Tosh
Phantogram
Phonothek
Photek
Phutureprimitive
Phynn
PIAS Recordings
Pinch
Pink Floyd
Pioneer
Pitch Black
PJ Harvey
Plaid
Planet Dog
Planet Earth Recordings
Planet Mu
Planetary Assault Systems
Planetary Consciousness
Plastic City
Plastikman
Platinum
Platipus
Pleq
Plump DJs
Plunderphonic
Plus 8 Records
PM Dawn
Poker Flat Recordings
Polar Seas Recordings
Pole Folder
politics
Polydor
Polytel
pop
Popular Records
Porya Hatami
positivesource
post-dubstep
post-punk
power electronics
Prince
Prince Paul
Prins Thomas
Priority Records
Private Mountain
Procs
Profondita
prog
prog metal
prog psy
prog rock
prog-psy
progress house
Progression
progressive breaks
progressive house
progressive rock
progressive trance
Prolifica
Proper Records
Prototype Recordings
protoU
Pryda
psy chill
psy dub
Psy Spy Records
psy trance
psy-chill
psy-dub
psychedelia
Psychick Warriors Ov Gaia
Psychomanteum
Psychonavigation
Psychonavigation Records
Psycoholic
Psykosonik
Psysolation
Public Enemy
Pulse-8 Records
punk
punk rock
Pureuphoria Records
Purl
Purple Soil
Push
PWL International
Quadrophonia
Quality
Quango
Quantic
Quantum
Quinlan Road
R & S Records
R'n'B
R&B
Ra
Rabbit In The Moon
Radio Slave
Radioactive
Radioactive Man
Radiohead
Rae
Raekwon
ragga
Rainbow Vector
raison d'etre
Raja Ram
Ralf Hildenbeutel
Ralph Lawson
RAM Records
Randal Collier-Ford
Random Review
Rank 1
rant
Rapoon
RareNoise Records
Ras Command
Rascalz
Raster-Noton
Ratatat
Raum Records
rave
RCA
React
Rebecca & Nathan
Recycle Or Die
Red Fog
Red Jerry
Redman
Refracted
reggae
ReKaB
REKIDS
remixes
Renaissance
Renaissance Man
Rephlex
Reprise Records
Republic Records
Resist Music
Restless Records
RetroSynther
Reverse Alignment
Reverse Pulse
Rhino Records
Rhys Fulber
Ricardo Villalobos
Richard Durand
Richard Stonefield
Riley Reinhold
Ringo Sheena
Rising High Records
RnB
Roadrunner Records
Robert Hood
Robert Miles
Robert Oleysyck
Robert Rich
Roc Raida
rock
rock opera
rockabilly
rocktronica
Roger Sanchez
ROIR
Rollo
Roman Ridder
Rough Trade
Rub-N-Tug
Ruben Garcia
Rudy Adrian
Ruffhouse Records
Rumour Records
Running Back
Ruptured World
Ruthless Records
RX-101
Rykodisc
RZA
S.E.T.I.
Saafi Brothers
Sabled Sun
Sacred Seeds
SadGirl
Saitoh Tomohiro
Sakanaction
Salt Tank
Salted Music
Salvation Music
Samim
Samora
sampling
Samurai Red Seal
Sanctuary Records
Sander van Doorn
Sandoz
Sandwell District
SantAAgostino
Saphileaum
Sarah McLachlan
Sash
Sasha
Saul Stokes
Scandinavian Records
Scann-Tec
sci-fi
Science
Scooter
Scott Grooves
Scott Hardkiss
Scott Stubbs
Scuba
Seán Quinn
Seaworthy
Segue
Sense
Sentimony Records
Sequential
Seraphim Rytm
Setrise
Seven Davis Jr.
Sghor
sgnl_fltr
Shackleton
Shaded Explorations
Shaded Explorer
Shadow Records
Sharam
Shawn Francis
shoegaze
Shpongle
Shuta Yasukochi
Si Matthews
Side Effects
SideOneDummy Records
Sidereal
Signature Records
SiJ
Silent Season
Silent Universe
Silentes
Silentes Minimal Editions
Silicone Soul
silly gimmicks
Silver Age
Simian Mobile Disco
Simon Berry
Simon Heath
Simon Posford
Simon Scott
Simple Records
Sinden
Sine Silex
single
Single Gun Theory
Sire Records Company
Six Degrees
Sixeleven Records
Sixtoo
ska
Skanfrom
Skare
Skin To Skin
Skua Atlantic
Slaapwel Records
Slam
Sleep Research Facility
Slinky Music
Slowcraft Records
Sly and Robbie
Smalltown Supersound
SME Visual Works Inc.
SMTG Limited
Snap
Sneijder
Snoop Dogg
Snowy Tension Pole
soft rock
Soiree Records International
Solar Fields
Solaris Recordings
Solarstone
Soleilmoon Recordings
Solieb
Solieb Digital
Solipsism
Soliquid
Solstice Music Europe
Solvent
Soma Quality Recordings
Songbird
Sony Music Entertainment
SOS
soul
Soul Temple Entertainment
soul:r
Souls Of Mischief
Sound Of Ceres
Soundgarden
Sounds From The Ground
soundtrack
southern rap
southern rock
space ambient
Space Dimension Controller
space disco
Space Manoeuvres
space music
space synth
Spacetime Continuum
Spaghetti Recordings
Spank Rock
Special D
Specta Ciera
speed garage
Speedy J
SPG Music
Sphäre Sechs
Spicelab
Spielerei
Spinefarm Records
Spiritech
spoken word
Sport
Spotify Suggestions
Spotted Peccary
Spring Hill
SPX Digital
Spy vs Spice
Squarepusher
Squaresoft
Stacey Pullen
Stanton Warriors
Star Trek
Stardust
Statrax
Stay Up Forever
Stealth Sonic Recordings
Stephanie B
Stephen Kroos
Stereolab
Steve Angello
Steve Brand
Steve Lawler
Steve Miller Band
Steve Porter
Steven Rutter
Stijn van Cauter
Stimulus Timbre
Stone Temple Pilots
Stonebridge
Stormloop
Stray Gators
Street Fighter
Stuart McLean
Studio K7
Stylophonic
Sub Focus
Subharmonic
Sublime
Sublime Porte Netlabel
Subotika
Substance
Suction Records
Suduaya
Suicide Squeeze
SUN Project
Sun Station
Sunbeam
Sunday Best Recordings
Sunscreem
Suntrip Records
Supercar
Superstition
surf rock
Susumu Yokota
Sven Väth
SVLBRD
Swayzak
Sweet Trip
swing
Switch
Swollen Members
Sykonee Survey
Sylk 130
Symmetry
Synaptic Voyager
Sync24
Synergy
Synkro
synth pop
synth-pop
synthwave
System 7
Tactic Records
Take Me To The Hospital
Tall Paul
Tammy Wynette
Tangerine Dream
Tau Ceti
Taylor
Tayo
tech house
Tech Itch Digital
Tech Itch Recordings
tech-house
tech-step
tech-trance
Technical Itch
techno
technobass
Technoboy
Tectonic
Telefon Tel Aviv
Telstar
Terminal Antwerp
Terra Ferma
Terror Cell
Terry Lee Brown Jr
Tetsu Inoue
Textere Oris
The 13th Sign
The Angling Loser
The B-52's
The Beach Boys
The Beatles
The Black Dog
The Boats
The Brian Jonestown Massacre
The Bug
The Chemical Brothers
The Circular Ruins
The Clash
The Council
The Cranberries
The Crystal Method
The Digital Blonde
The Dust Brothers
The Field
The Frozen Vaults
The Gentle People
The Glimmers
The Green Kingdom
The Grey Area
The Grid
The Hacker
The Herbaliser
The Human League
The Irresistible Force
The KLF
The Micronauts
The Misted Muppet
The Movement
The Music Cartel
The Null Corporation
The Oak Ridge Boys
The Offspring
The Orb
The Police
The Prodigy
The Real McCoy
The Roots
The Sabres Of Paradise
The Shamen
The Sharp Boys
The Sonic Voyagers
The Squires
The Stills-Young Band
The Stray Gators
The Tea Party
The Tragically Hip
The Velvet Underground
The Wailers
The White Stripes
The Winterhouse
themes
Thievery Corporation
Third Contact
Third World
Tholen
Thrive Records
Tiefschwarz
Tiësto
Tiga
Tiger & Woods
Tijuana Panthers
Time Life Music
Time Warp
Timecode
Timestalker
Tipper
Tobias
Tocadisco
Todd Terje
Toki Fuko
Tom Middleton
Tom Tom Club
Tomas Jirku
Tomita
Tommy '86
Tommy Boy
Ton T.B.
Tone Depth
Tony Anderson Sound Orchestra
Too Pure
Tool
tools
Topaz
Tosca
Toto
Touch
Touched
Tourette Records
Toxik Synther
Tracing Xircles
Traffic Entertainment Group
trance
Trancelucent
Tranquillo Records
Trans'Pact
Transcend
Transformers
Transient Records
trap
Trax Records
Trend
Trentemøller
Tresor
tribal
Tricky
Triloka Records
trip-hop
Triquetra
Trishula Records
Tristan
Troum
Troy Pierce
TRS Records
Tru Thoughts
Tsuba Records
Tsubasa Records
Tuff Gong
Tunnel Records
Turbo Recordings
turntablism
TUU
TVT Records
Twisted Records
Type O Negative
Týr
U-God
U-Recken
U2
U4IC DJs
Überzone
Ugasanie
UK acid house
UK Garage
UK Hard House
Ultimae Records
Ultra Records
Umbra
Underworld
Union Jack
United Dairies
United DJs Of America
United Recordings
Universal Motown
Universal Music
Universal Records
Universal Republic Records
UNKLE
Unknown Tone Records
Unusual Cosmic Process
UOVI
Upstream Records
Urban Icon Records
Utada Hikaru
V2
Vagrant Records
Valanx
Valiska
Valley Of The Sun
Vangelis
Vap
VAST
Vector Lovers
Venetian Snares
Venonza Records
Vermont
Vernon
Versatile Records
Verus Records
Verve Records
VGM
Vibrant Music
Vice Records
Victor Calderone
Victor Entertainment
Vidna Obmana
Viking metal
Vince DiCola
Vinyl Cafe Productions
Virgin
Virtual Vault
Virus Recordings
Visionquest
Visions
Vitalic
vocal trance
Vortex
Voxxov Records
Voyage
Wagram Music
Waki
Wanderwelle
Warmth
Warner Bros. Records
Warp Records
Warren G
Water Music Dance
Wave Recordings
Wave Records
Waveform
Waveform Records
Wax Trax Records
Way Out West
WC
WEA
Wednesday Campanella
Weekend Players
Weekly Mini-Review
Werk Discs
Werkstatt Recordings
WestBam
Westside Connection
White Cloud
White Swan Records
Wichita
Will Saul
William Orbit
Willie Nelson
Wintersun
world beat
world music
writing reflections
Wrong Records
Wu-Tang Clan
Wurrm
Wyatt Keusch
Xerxes The Dark
XL Recordings
XTT Recordings
Yahgan
Yamaoka
Yello
Yes
Ylid
Youth
Youtube
YoYo Records
Yul Records
zakè
Zenith
ZerO One
Zoharum
Zomby
Zoo Entertainment
ZTT
Zyron
ZYX Music
µ-Ziq