The Higher Intelligence Agency - Colourform (Original TC Review)

Waveform Records:1994

(2012 Update:
I wrote this over five years ago now. At the time, I figured Mr. Bird's brand of dubby electro-ambient was all we'd ever hear from that particular sound. Lo and behold, there's been a minor resurgence of it in recent years, the most notable I've noticed being ASC's occasional dabblings. Mind, none of these producers quite capture The H.I.A.'s quirkiness, but at least there's some attempt to keep the sound alive. More please!)


IN BRIEF: A different sort of downtempo.

Once, long long ago (well, maybe just one ‘long’, but it sounds more dramatic this way, eh?), ambient music with a house or techno rhythm underneath was all the fashionable rage. Compilations filled the EDM market with a mature take on dance music, offering a soundtrack for when the raving ‘mah’sive’ needed to unwind. Many producers were given the green light to show off their creative mellow side without alienating their core audience. In short, it was a good time to be a fan of downtempo.

But that was in the past, and a good chunk of what was considered groundbreaking concept music hasn’t stood the test of time too well. Looking back, it sometimes comes off rather self-indulgent and directionless. However, there are those who’s work sounded so alien to everything else, even their noodly excursions can grip your imagination.

Bobby Bird’s ambient project The Higher Intelligence Agency was formed around the Oscillate Sound System, a collective of music producers and promoters with an affinity for those downtempo techno sounds of the early 90s. The H.I.A.’s profile grew in prominence as word of these events spread, and Bird's tracks were even held in the same regard as Aphex Twin, The Orb, and The Future Sound Of London. Unfortunately, a lack of promotion after the initial ‘ambient dub’ surge relegated him to the underground. And although he’s cropped up in collaborations with similar space ambient names like Pete Namlook and Biosphere, finding new material with the H.I.A. tag has grown increasingly difficult. And now it seems getting his old material is tough as well.

The album you are reading a review on is H.I.A.’s debut, and appears to be out of print now. Being no longer available from its initial label Beyond isn’t surprising though, as it’s been defunct for some time now (although its legacy certainly persists to this day). However, it is quite surprising to see Colourform no longer available on Waveform Records, its American distributor. In fact, it’s the only release that’s ever been deleted from their catalogue, probably due to some sort of legal complication holding it up in limbo. Although this wasn't a terribly rare album at the time, its age has caused a slight inflation of its price through eBay. The question, then, is whether fans of ambient techno should spring those extra few bucks for this release should they be in the market for it.

Frankly, that can depend entirely on how serious you take this kind of music. Although Bird does ambient music as well as anyone, he also has a tendency to allow a quirky sense of humor into his works.

Probably most apparent of this is the breakout track Ketamine Entity. Throughout the entire track is a silly 808 bassline that bobbles about; it does drop in a few some wonderfully thunderous booms as well, but still lends the track to a goofy tone. Throw in tongue-in-cheek spoken dialogue (“This is from the Higher Intelligence; We have concealed the vital evidence; Of the reasons for your existence") and chirpy bleeps and bloops in the background, and you have an ‘anthem’ that’ll make you giggle. That’s probably the most extreme example though. Other tracks like Delta and Speedlearn, while lighthearted, aren’t quite as thick on the stoner humor.

There are those who take their ambient music very seriously though, and have no interest in such tomfoolery. Fortunately for such folks, most of the tracks on Colourform tend to stick to ambient’s strength: easy-going, unassuming, and quite calming. The middle section of the album dwells on such themes, where flowing pads, subtle melodies, and hypnotizing loops glide on gentle rhythms. Of course, this all sounds like any kind of typical ambient, so what makes The H.I.A. noteworthy? Aside from the odd vocal sample, all of Bird’s arrangements rely on the most synthetic of sounds. Most chill music, especially these days, attempts to keep an organic texture in their atmosphere; it keeps us feeling human in our moments of downtime. Bird thought differently though, figuring even the most cold-hearted sounds of technology could bring us the same feelings. And tracks like Influx, Conoid Tone, and Orange make a strong argument in his favor.

A couple of other tracks round out this album with something a little more uptempo, and while they bring interesting variations on the H.I.A. sound, you can tell such tracks really weren’t Bird’s strength. Opener Spectral sounds just like that, an opener putting most of his eggs into the same basket: it has all the trademark synthetic texturing that you’ll come to expect on Colourform, but with a tighter arrangement than the wandering tracks you’ll encounter later in the album. Meanwhile, Re-Echo is Bird’s go at more traditional techno. It’s quite good for what it is, with nifty trancey sounds and bubbling acid; however, it’s not really that different from what you’d hear from any number of similar acts of the era: H.I.A.’s uniqueness is noticeably absent here.

That overall uniqueness, though, is what makes Colourform the intriguing album that it is. There really isn’t much out there that sounds like H.I.A., and despite some of the patchiness on here, this is still a recommended release. One can hope we’ll eventually see a re-issue, but even at slightly inflated eBay prices, fans of ambient techno will be satisfied with Colourform.

Bone Thugs-N-Harmony - The Collection (Volume 2)

Ruthless Records: 2000

Why release one collection of previous work when you can release two and charge twice the price! Alright, this isn’t that cynical of a comp’, but it is bizarre to see a second volume of Bone Thugs but two years after the last one. How could there even be enough material for this? Well, there’s more to the Bone Thugs story than their main singles and albums. Solo projects! Extended posse albums! Unreleased songs! All quality! Well, maybe not Ghetto Cowboy. That one’s just too silly.

Still, you get some tracks that simply didn’t make the cut on the previous collection (Thug Luv), collaborations where they appeared on other’s albums (Don’t Hate On Me was on a Jermaine Dupre album, and Hook It Up featured on a No Limit movie soundtrack -yes, Master P made movies, and yes, you’re allowed to laugh at that), cuts from the Mo Thugs Family, and remixes of tunes from the BTNHResurrection album that came out the same year.

Meanwhile, unless Discogs is lying to me, nearly a third of Volume Two features unreleased material, though whether old or new, the inlay don’t say. Probably the best of this lot is Sleepwalkers, which features an Eazy-E verse that’s fire, and makes for a suitable bookend to the whole Collection saga considering it was the Eazy-E featured Foe Tha Love Of $ that opened Volume 1.

Of course, you’re likely thinking this has the hallmarks of a ‘Thugs Fan Only’ release, and you’d be right. Though the quality of music’s still high, unlike the previous collection, this one doesn’t flow nearly as well, likely due to the disparate origins of these tracks. If you’re looking to get acquainted with Bone Thugs-N-Harmony, Collection: Volume One or the 2004-released double-disc Greatest Hits are better starting points.

As for the group itself, their legacy’s diminished since the high times of the 90s. Internal conflicts and spotty output has rendered their last decade of material almost inconsequential, while keeping up with solo projects became a chore for all but the most ardent fan. Maybe there’ll be another series of Collections to round up the better cuts, but considering how scattered across several record labels their later music is, that would prove legally difficult.

Hm, this review’s come up a bit short… I know, let’s play a game! The members of Bone Thugs all had ‘bone’ as a part of their aliases: for instance, Krayzie Bone, Wish Bone, Bizzie Bone, etc. For your reading distraction, here’s a list of potential members that could have been considered. Bone Dogg. Ice Bone. Bonestarr. Scooby Bone. Bone Digweed (this makes total sense, given the group’s fondness for the herb!). Bonecrusher. What, there’s already a rapper called that? Dammit, I lose then.

Bone Thugs-N-Harmony - The Collection (Volume 1)

Ruthless Records: 1998

I admit I was a late-bloomer when it comes to being a fan of hip-hop. Sure, there were songs and names I liked throughout my teenage years but it wasn’t until my 20s that I became properly hooked. As such, I missed out on most of the glorious output offered by the 90s and had quite a bit of catching up to do.

One of those “must hear” acts were Bone Thugs-N-Harmony, possibly among the most distinctive groups to emerge from hip-hop’s legacy. Their brand of soulful croon mixed with rapid-fire raps stood in stark contrast to the overt aggression most ‘thug rap’ offered, luring you in with a wonderful harmony, and then stunning you with violent content. Their backing tracks, mostly produced by DJ U-Neek, were similarly distinct, thick G-funk rhythms coupled with sparkling bells or pitched Moogs. Even their origin was different, hailing from Cleveland and thus never becoming affiliated with any particular coast, despite Eazy-E providing them their initial break.

They also cracked the mainstream with Tha Crossroads, a tribute to their deceased mentor Mr. Wright. With the highly popular (and somewhat controversial) video in heavy rotation, there was no way I could not have noticed this group. But eh, I was in the throes of ‘techno’ - nice song, cool vid, back to my German trance. It was an oversight I intended to rectify when I started my hip-hop exploration, and what better place to start than a greatest hits package?

At the time of this release, Bone Thugs had only released two albums, one of which was a double album (because that’s just what hip-hop artists did for sophomore efforts in the 90s). Fortunately, there were enough assorted EPs, remixes, and guest appearances to fill out a respectable, if not comprehensive, collection of Bone Thugs music.

Appropriately, things kick off with the Eazy-E featuring Foe Tha Love Of $, which is pretty good, but not the best offering here. The first chunk of tracks showcases the group’s melodic side, and just how amazingly tight of a vocal unit they could be. After a couple tracks they were guests on - including the Notorious B.I.G.’s Notorious Thugs - we delve into the tougher side of Bone Thugs. Oh, there’s still charming harmonies to be had, but one feels a degree of menace to their words that wasn’t present in the earlier cuts. Body Rott is a perfect example of their ability to switch between regular and double-time rapping to a G-funk groove. Closing out, there’s some curiosos like remixes and covers, plus the requisite bliss-out weed song that also became something of a trademark. In all, Collection, Vol. 1 is a solid primer to the Bone Thugs story.

Yet, there are still omissions. For instance, where’s Tha Crossroads? There’s a version of Crossroads here, but it’s definitely not the one from the video. And the 2Pac collab’ Thug Luv? Only one weed song?

Yeah, about that…

Octagen - Collected Works Vol. 2

Five AM: 2007

Well, that was a fun little detour, but we’re back to our regular listening order now. What’s next in the pipeline? Hm, Octagen… Collected Works… How did I get this again? Ah, I remember, it was one of several trance singles I never got around to reviewing for TC.

Yes, friends, it’s true. We at TranceCritic didn’t review everything that was handed to us, and the truth is EPs slowly but surely became low-priority releases for us. The reasons were two-fold. One, the turnover rate for singles is just too damn high, with very few making enough of a mark for us to dedicate our time to - those that did would often appear on albums or mixes that we’d eventually talk about anyway. Two, I think we all preferred writing reviews of substance, to come up with creative angles, and EDM singles, primarily being functional tools for dancefloors, seldom allows for such creativity.

So yeah, this one slipped through, but reflecting on it, I think there was a third reason in this particular case: Collected Works was an MP3-only release, and I was still in my “boo, paying for MP3s are bad!” phase. I still sort of am, but I’ve accepted it’s become a viable medium for music consumption. This one came out when MP3 business was properly taking off for dance music chains, yet shows one of the dated artifacts of the era: the laughable lack of any image tagged to the files, hence the picture of Saturn instead.

Why Saturn? Because the planet’s fucking awesome, that’s why! I mean, those rings! They’re spectacular, and make crazy weird sci-fi sounds musique concrete composers would cream their khakis over. Did you know they’re only as thick as a typical skyscraper? Holy shit, it boggles the mind! And let’s not get into Saturn’s major moons, each with such uniquely quirky characteristics, it practically makes Saturn its own ‘planetary’ system. Methane lakes! 10km tall equatorial mountain ranges! Geysers! Death Stars! Potatoes!

Where was I? Oh yes, Octagen. He’s Paul Moelands (also known as Re:Locate), who released several minor trance hits during the mid-00s and appeared to have a bright future ahead of him. Not sure why his output dried up in recent years though; maybe he became yet another disgruntled trance producer because of that scene’s recent direction? Ask him for me if you happen to see him, yo’.

The three tracks on this single are quite typical of epic trance of those years: production’s excellent, there are dutiful breakdowns, and all were lost within the annual glut of releases. Same old story, though I quite like Renegade, as it’s a no-nonsense banger with the sort of bleepy hook I can vibe on. The other two are more peak-time anthems - High Tension’s melodic, Continuous is supersawic - that work for what they do, but probably come off antiquated compared to what passes for popular trance these days. Oh well.

Nomad - Changing Cabins

Capitol Records: 1991

Nomad’s ultra-mega hit Devotion was among the first EDM tunes that I noticed, even before 2 Unlimited. The reason for this was Devotion placed higher in the tracklist of the CD they were both featured on (Dance Mix ‘92, for those who care - man, was that ever an influential CD…). I didn’t think much of it then, figuring it just a filler track compared to the up-tempo jams on offer, and would skip it whenever I threw that disc on. Of course, I was a silly young teenager who had a lot to learn about electronic music, but we all start somewhere.

Now, I think Devotion is brilliant, a perfect blend of many wonderful things that made cross-over house popular in the early 90s. The oh-so soulfully sweet chorus, simple enough that it’ll lodge in your head and have you repeating it long after the track’s passed by. Charming production tricks like stadium cheers (thanks, KLF), tinny hooks, bobbing baselines, and subtle bloops abound, plus a rap by a white Brit that’s far from embarrassing. And pads! My god, those perfect pads! They’re barely noticeable, tucked well in the background, yet the dreamy vibe of the song would be utterly lost without them. Even the video’s got that “only in ’91” magic. Yes, I do say Devotion deserves its classic status.

So who the devil was Nomad, and why didn’t they have any more classics? Well, Damon Rochefort, the main brains behind Nomad (name’s a giveaway) seemed to have several other interests he wanted to pursue, and charting big may have given him the financial security to do so. Makes sense, but it’s also possible he explored all he wanted to with this album, Changing Cabins.

Simply put, nearly every variation of house that existed by ’91 can be found here. You got the American-influenced diva stuff, with Sharon Dee Clarke providing most of the pipes. There’s Balearic vibes in Higher Than Heaven, Latin rhythms in Barcelona, and Jamaican toastin’ with The Raggamuffin Number. Devotion also has an upbeat sibling, Just A Groove, which was initially just as successful but is now mostly forgotten, never finding its way onto ‘Old School Anthems’ comps.

Yet, with all these influences on display and production to back it up, Changing Cabins lacks any real identity of its own. In a market that had competition from The KLF, 808 State, and The Shamen - not to mention the burgeoning underground rave scene - simply paying tribute to your inspiration wasn’t enough to stand out from the pack. British acid house had the distinction of being a melting pot of several forms of music, often within the same track. Aside from Devotion and Just A Groove, there’s little of that here, merely playing things straight on a track to track basis.

Changing Cabins isn’t a poor album, but it doesn’t hold surprises or hidden treasures time somehow forgot. If British house of the early 90s holds little interest, just stick with Devotion. Nearly everyone else has.

Black Rebel Motorcycle Club - Beat The Devil's Tattoo

Vagrant Records: 2010

This is a rock album.

*waits for 90% of readers to leave*

More specifically, this is a ‘rawk’ album.

*waits for half of remaining readers to leave*

In fact, I’d even peg this as Brit ‘rawk’, though some may call it ‘shoegaze’.

*waits for nearly everyone else to leave*

For those left, don’t expect this to be much of a review. I don’t know anything about this group, beyond what their Last.fm bio provides (based out of West Coast of America, been around for over a decade, some tumultuous issues with band members over the years). Nor am I much inclined to do more research than that. This is a style of music that barely registers on my Interest Barometer, perhaps due to an overexposure of it during the 90s when Oasis and Blur were Next Big Things.

So why do I have this? Simple answer: their name piqued my curiosity, as I’m sure it did yours. How could it not? Black Rebel Motorcycle Club? Oh, God, I just got’s ta’ hears what they sounds like! Maybe it’ll be an awesome Steppenwolf tribute. Or maybe crazy-ass metal! Perhaps it’s some quirky IDM experimental thing using a totally ironic handle. Come on, Record Shop Man, let me hear some!

Really, all I wanted to hear was rock music that ‘rawked’, guitar tones that either built intense walls of distortion or were dragged through gravel pits, and drumming that wouldn’t sound out of place in a pub or garage. Expectations were met, and I gave Record Shop Man some digital dimes for a copy.

There were some nice bonuses too. Peter Hayes, their singer, gets plenty of treatment on his vocals, sounding like something you’d expect to hear at Glastonbury dawn (or a Chemical Brothers collab’). A definite influence of 60s rock is present, with folksy ditties and psychedelic sounds creeping in here and there. And plenty of catchy hooks and charming choruses abound, rounding out a solid overall listening experience.

Is this a great album? Well, I like it, and though it’ll only cross my ears once every year or two, that’s still far more often than anything I’d be willing to hear from bands like Coldplay or post-2000 U2. For all I know, Devil’s Tattoo has been lauded and bestowed multiple kudos from Pitchfork, NME, and several trendy rock publications. Or maybe it’s been heavily criticized as derivative and cheap, a shameless sell-out of an album that decries their earlier output. Again, that’s research I don’t care to do.

After all, the music here gives me warm, fuzzy feelings, and in the end, isn’t that all that matters?

302 Acid - 302 Acid 0005

em:t: 2005

I’ve been listening to my music alphabetically for nearly a year now, yet am only in the middle ‘C’s. Even if we assume I listened to an album a day (absurd) it seems like an inordinate amount of time with very little gain. I don’t have that much music, do I? Heh, you’d be surprised, but no, not that much. One thing has held up the queue on occasion though, and that’s the acquisition of new music. An early rule was, were I to purchase something that fell before my current position, that release would be next instead, then carry back on in order where I left off. Simple enough, but for the point I have a habit of buying music in bunches. As I did this past day. So, we leave the ‘C’s for the time being to go back to the beginning, all the way to numbers in fact.

This also presents something of a challenge for yours truly. Reviewing material that’s been sitting in my collection for awhile, that’s easy. Even if I’ve only listened to it once or twice, I’ve still had plenty of time to form thoughts on it. But tackling fresh music doesn’t offer such luxury. Unless it’s some bona-fide classic I’ve already heard tons, chances are I’m heading into these cold and, unlike my TC days, won’t be listening to it repeatedly before writing about it. After all, I only listen to these once on my portable before moving on (Rule #2!), and I’ll need to crank out a review for that too.

Dang, that’s half my self-imposed word count already. Alright, 302 Acid. Lessee…

Well, I’m in luck. Discogs lacks info about this trio, and Last.fm isn’t much help either. Apparently a live PA act, they haven’t released anything since this debut full-length. That simplifies things.

Not an easy sound to pin down, they run the gamut of downtempo and chill. You got abstract glitch (Six), droning synth washes that cover the full spectrum of mood (Mortariggus and Nocturnum be dark, Calibrations be high in the clouds), bubbly psychedelic dub that seems influenced from either Bill Laswell (Push Button) or Simon Posford (Quest), and various other dabblings scattered throughout. Don’t take these comparisons as suggestion that 302 Acid lacks a style of their own though, as everything on this album is distinct enough to stand out from the crowd. Trouble is, in showcasing their diversity, the album lacks cohesion, moving through different segments that, while interesting, can be jarring.

It’s a shame there’s little else to be found about them, as the ideas present hint at something that could have developed into intriguing possibilities - a melding of early Warp records experiments and Twisted Records chill, if you will. As it stands, 302 Acid is a fine pick-up should you be curious, but not an essential one.

Michael Brook - Cobalt Blue

Virgin: 1992

So here’s the story. I was discovering ambient proper for the first time and, like all doe-eyed newbies to a genre, didn’t know who I should be looking for. Fortunately, there was this thing called the internet and, by typing the word “ambient” into search engines like Alta Vista and Webcrawler, I stumbled upon various text-only websites consisting of lists and the odd review. “Sweet,” says I, “look at all these albums.” But, a dilemma!

Being on such a thrifty teenager budget, I can afford only one CD at a given time (stop sniggering, you kids, this is pre-Napster era). Even worse, I’m stuck in the hinterlands of Canada, where the only non-Top 40 music you’ll find in a given shop is country or blues rock. Fortunately, there’s an ace up my sleeve; or rather, a mother in Vancouver. By sending her a request, she can pick anything up in the city's many record shops. What to get, though? Hm, this Brian Eno guy appears highly on all the Top 10 lists. Music For Airports? Guess I’ll give that a shot. Time passes, and Mum informs me that the shop she went to didn’t have Music For Airports. They did recommend something else, however, that’s like Brian Eno: Michael Brook’s Cobalt Blue.

And that’s how I’m talking about it in the here and now. Though an incorrect purchase, damn if it wasn’t a good one.

Heck, the Eno brothers even show up on a couple tracks (Slow Breakdown, Red Shift, and a few others listed later), lending Brook their talents with distinctive Eno sounds. Ol’ Michael’s the real star of his album though, crafting several wonderful, lovely pieces with various guitar tones as the main focus. There’s the odd dabble into something wordly (Skip Wave) but Mediterranean moods dominate. And don’t let the Eno association fool you, as this isn’t noodly drone ambient. Nay, there’s percussion to be found, bass slaps, a multitude of different instruments, tempos, and even vocal samples, all served up with ethereal production gloss that’s astounding for the year it was released in.

There is a gripe to be had, however: song length. They just don’t last long, and each tune seems filled with musical ideas that beg to be further explored but instead come across like dense jams. It’s no surprise the best songs (Andean’s otherworldliness, Ultramarine’s other otherworldliness, Urbana’s tribalism, and Ten’s tranquility) have proper beginnings and ends, containing cohesive musical narratives throughout their running times, short though they still may be.

Fortunately, it isn’t a deal breaker. Chances are you’ve heard Michael Brook's style at some point - what, you thought The Edge came up with the Infinite Guitar sound in With Or Without You? - but any true connoisseur of ambient music needs to seek this album out. You may not be so lucky to have a mother accidently get it for you.

Various - Club Europa (Original TC Review)

Quality Music: 1994

(2012 Update:
So this was going to happen eventually, coming across something I've already written a review for in my alphabetical listening order. Like those other old TranceCritic reviews, I'll just repost them here with an 'Update' paragraph.

To be honest though, there's not much to update - my thoughts on an 18 year old compilation isn't going to change much in a few years. It's interesting to note, however, that electronic music is currently seeing a commercial push that definitely exceeds that of the euro-dance era. Not that I'm surprised, as most current dance-pop reminds me of euro-dance, save production quality ...and the unfortunate loss of galloping rhythms.)

IN BRIEF: Typical.

These Random Reviews can be cruel sometimes, as it might expose material in our collections that we may be a little embarrassed to own. There certainly are a couple choices since TC’s inception that I’ve nearly shirked from doing, but I am wholly committed to honoring the rules of this unique feature we offer (for those just joining us, a Random Review is quite literally picked randomly from our personal music archives; I personally just close my eyes and reach out for one). I suppose one could argue if I don’t really care for such releases anymore, why do I still own it? Well, once you start a serious music collection, it’s very difficult to part with anything, even if you only pull it out to listen once every few years anymore. Humans: aka The Illogical Pack-Rat.

We all have to start somewhere, though, and for many North Americans first discovering electronic music, euro-dance from the early 90s was their catalyst. Simply put, the stuff was everywhere, promoted to a degree electronic music has seldom seen since. Mainstream radio stations had dedicated programs, music channels had regular hours showcasing videos, and it certainly was accessible for all to enjoy at safe gatherings like weddings, sports events, and high-school dances (unlike that questionable ‘rave’ music where people want to do, like, drugs, and stuff, heh). It also didn’t hurt that the music had some of the best pop-hooks ever written for electronic music in the post-italo era. A glance at the tracklist above will undoubtedly bring the choruses to songs like Get-A-Way and Go Go (Love Overload) rushing back into the heads of anyone who was within earshot of them fifteen years ago.

So, yeah, ridicule if you want that I still have something like this in my collection. I take no shame in occasionally enjoying the musical equivalent of Paxil, especially when the 21st Century variety of euro-dance is utter crap.

That bit of bloggy confessional said, Club Europa honestly isn’t that remarkable of a compilation.

Fact of the matter is there were tons of dance compilations at the time of its release, and many of the big hits on here could be found on countless other CDs. Get-A-Way, Let The Beat Control Your Body, The Key, The Secret, Go Go, Piece Of My Heart, Take A Freefall - all saw regular compilation rotation in Canada alone. A smattering of minor hits essentially rounds out the rest (Face II Face’s I Want You being the best of the lot), most of which is standard euro-dance fare: buzzy synth riffs, a chick singing on the chorus, a silly rap verse or two... Ultimately, Club Europa is a worthy used-shop pick-up if you’re missing a few key songs for your collection, but hardly essential.

With the critical analysis out of the way, now for some fun. It’s time to play Amazing Euro Trivia!

Sometimes one of the fun things when looking back at these old compilations is to see where a lot of the names ended up and who was often ghost-writing in the studios. For instance, 2 Unlimited producers Phil Wilde and Peter Bauwens were behind C.B. Milton, a singer who had quite a powerful soulful delivery considering he was performing dance-pop. Tatjana, who’s Feels Good introduced the former model to the world of euro (and would go on to have the hit Santa Maria), continues to release albums to this day. Most surprising is the inclusion of Eartha Kitt, a legend in the world of film, cabaret, and Batman; here, her disco hit Where Is My Man? is given a rather bog-standard euro spin, but her unique singing/purr is just as memorable as ever. And of course, dedicated happy hardcore fanatics should be aware of Q-Tex and their Power Of Love (presented here in what might be daftly described as ‘epic-euro’).

Perhaps one of the few things that does make Club Europa a little more distinct from your run-of-the-mill euro compilation is the inclusion of so many releases from Abfarht Records. Seekers of old-school house are probably quite aware of that collective’s classic moody single Alone (It’s Me), but Torsten Fenslau, Jens Zimmerman, and Nosie Katzmann would go on to produce several euro-dance hits before Fenslau was prematurely killed in a car accident. Their most famous, of course, was Culture Beat’s Mr. Vain, but Piece Of My Heart and River saw some decent chart action as well. Unfortunately, some of their other material offered here - The Sunny Side Of Life and Kim Sanders’ Tell Me That You Want Me - just don’t hold up well at all.

And I guess that wraps up this Random. Not really much here, to be honest. Club Europa is about as straight-forward a euro compilation from the mid-90s as you’re about to find in your used shops. I can’t give it a high recommendation since it doesn’t offer anything terribly unique, but euro fans will probably still enjoy it if they happen to have a couple extra bucks burning a hole in their pocket.

As for these Randoms, hopefully the next one will be better. Maybe I’ll pull that two-CD Platipus Records compilation next time. Worryingly, though, I know I have a Trance Voice lurking about somewhere too...

Various - Club Cutz Volume 7

BMG Music Canada: 1996

Ah, Club Cutz. Now there's some history! Fine, it was strictly a Canadian thing, but at one point it was among my country’s premiere compilation series, rubbing shoulders with other greats like Dance Mix, DJ Line and Chris Sheppard’s Pirate Radio Sessions. After moderate interest in early editions mostly featuring house, the comp producers changed gears when euro-dance gained steam, and found a simple formula for success: be the first to have that hot new dance single everyone needed, and watch the sales skyrocket. What Is Love, Tonight Is The Night, Another Night, More & More …um, Cotton Eye Joe - all made their major Canadian debuts on Club Cutz.

Then, to earn the truly big bucks, the CDs also featured well-produced dance covers of 70s rock staples, an effective tactic in attracting the ‘housewife looking to let her hair down’ demographic that I guess existed in the early 90s. At least, they were the ones requesting “that dance version” of More Than A Feeling and What’s Up at weddings.

Club Cutz 7 truly was the series’ last great hurrah. The must-have hit single? Shut Up (And Dance With Me) from Sin With Sebastian. Even my non-dance friends fell sway to its goofball charm. Me, I preferred the unabashed euro fare of First Base’s Love Is Paradise.

Half the other tracks consist of fun but otherwise forgotten slices of euro. Chances are their hooks have been cannibalized by whatever contemporary dance-pop beast exists at a given time, but those wonderful galloping rhythms could forever be lost to the 90s.

The rest features big gay house and garage, including that Deep Dish remix of De’Lacy’s Hideaway that was making the rounds. Yep, there be divas galore, something of a retro return for the series, and thus no dance cover of 70s rock. No, Tainted Love doesn’t count. Besides, Senor X’s version’s not that good, and whenever I hear it, I can’t help but think of giant squid. Yes, there’s an amusing anecdote there, but I’m running out of self-imposed word-count space.

Even with this edition’s success, one could tell the good times at the Club Cutz camp were ending. Not only cannibalistic, dance-pop is a fickle beast and the tides of change were well under way in ’96. Euro dance was stuck in a creative rut, follow-up singles and albums failing to reach the highs of two years past. European shores started noticing fresher sounds from the lands of trance, while American clubs saw glamour in hip-hop. The main series lasted one more edition, then the label tapped Chris Sheppard to re-invent it in ’98 as Club Cutz 101, mashing together urban and club trance into continuous mixes. They made it all the way to 606, so I guess it was successful, but it clearly lacked the charm of its euro years. Thanks to downloading, gone were the days of track exclusivity, and so too was the anticipation of seeing what a new Club Cutz would feature.