ICE MC - Ice' N' Green

Polytel: 1994/1995

I had no idea this Canadian cover for ICE MC's third full-length effort was so unique. I've looked everywhere online for an image of it, yet all I keep finding is the standard 'blue cover'. Maybe I just happened across a rare alternate version, but I recall only ever seeing the 'green cover' in shops around my neck of the woods. It's not like North American covers of other European acts are difficult to find either, but when even the almighty Lord Discogs draws blank (until now!), I have to wonder what's going on. Was ICE MC just not popular enough on this side of the Atlantic for anyone to bother uploading this cover?

That's doubtful. While euro dance in general may not have been the commercial juggernaut current EDM is, it still saw healthy market share on store shelves and radio play, especially here in Canada. ICE MC, one of the hottest acts overseas in '94, was no less in demand here. Hell, I recall seeing cassette tapes of this album in gas stations! When you're sharing rack space with the likes of Shania Twain and Bryan Adams, you must be doing something right on the commercial end of things.

Us Canuckians got more than a new cover (one that made better sense, no less). Ice' n' Green's entire tracklist was re-arranged, spreading the hits out for stronger album flow rather than front-loading everything. Also, as we didn't get this until a year later, an updated remix of Take Away the Colour was added (it's almost German trance!), plus two mega-mixes! Holy cow, if you couldn't get enough of Think About The Way, It's A Rainy Day, and Take Away The Colour, you'll be more than sated by album's end.

Wait, perhaps I should get some background details of ICE MC sorted. First emerging from the hip-house scene behind the tutelage of Italian mega-producer Robyx, Mr. Campbell's early career was respectable enough but hardly anything to write home about. Somewhere along the way, however, the two realized they could have super-hits by jumping on the euro dance bandwagon, but not without some changes. ICE began incorporating more and more dancehall lyricism into his persona, even going so far as to grow dreads and adopting other Rastafarian traits. No longer coming off as some generic rapper, his personality shone through, especially as ragga raps were all the rage in euro dance.

It also didn't hurt that Robyx' productions skills seemingly peaked around this point, every tune on Ice' n' Green memorable in that mid-'90s euro sort of way (having one Alexa belting the choruses didn't hurt either). The Big Three still hold up, the knock-off fillers are charming in their own right (except for Run Fa Cover ...bleh), and stabs at hip-hop (Funkin' Wit You), 'euro' garage (!?), and even world beat (Afrikan Buzz) help give Ice' n' Green a solid assortment of cheesy-fun dance tuneage.

Now, if I could only understand half the words ICE MC's saying.

Markus Schulz - Ibiza '06 (Original TC Review)

Moist Music: 2006

(2013 Update:
Are these the same CDs? Yeah, the problems I bring up in this bloat of an old review (1500 words - you've been warned) are there, but they aren't as big of a deal as I remember them. Was I really so burned out on trance that year? Perhaps, as McProg truly was stale by the end of '06. It's not much of a surprise almost all the jocks, including Schulz, were moving on to other things within the year. Yet after hearing Ibiza '06 out of that context, in the here and now, I find there's a lot more to enjoy than I initially gave it credit for. Maybe that's all it takes, eh? Let an overplayed genre of music sit fallow for a few years, then return to it with fresh ears and (hopefully) matured insight. Then, and only then, can you properly take the music on its own merits, not weighed down by excessive marketing but as the original producers intended. Yeah...

Nah, this stuff's honestly just of higher quality than all the side-chaining, electro, 8th notes, and noise that followed in McProg's wake. If anything, Ibiza '06 can be regarded as the genre's last gasp of glory. If you enjoyed the stuff but passed this by because of genre fatigue when it first hit the streets, maybe take another look. After all, it's not like you're gonna be getting anything new in this style.)

IN BRIEF: Pleasant atmosphere, but little else.

We passed an anniversary of sorts this last week. Prior to November 2005, TranceCritic was still a relatively low-key review site with a small but consistent reader-base. We’d cause a stir here and there with some of our more opinionated reviews, but nothing drastic. That all changed though, when one of our writers, Cobalt, gave a less-than-favorable review on the debut artist album from Miami-based DJ Markus Schulz.

The aftermath of this review resulted in a slew of hate mail from Schulz’ loyal, dedicated, almost cult-like fanbase, a flaming the likes we’ve yet to see since. Of course, for a fledgling site such as ours, that kind of publicity did wonders to increase our profile, and in a weird sort of way, we owe some thanks to The Cult Of Schulz for that. Therefore, it seems fitting we should sit here with a new release from Mr. Schulz a year later, this time in the form of a DJ mix.

Much has happened in clubland this past year, and Schulz’ profile has diminished during this time. For a DJ who was apparently on the road to superstar status, this comes as a bit of a shock. After all, he’d done everything required to be amongst the big players: solid underground reputation; unique accessible style of music; popular internet radio show; cult-like fanbase to preach the Gospel of Schulz everywhere they went. What went wrong?

Two things, by my eyes. Firstly, the aforementioned debut album tanked at a point when a solid release would have cemented his status in clubland. It chased away his underground following and was met with apathy from casual folks, leaving only his newer fans to enjoy the results. Naturally, he continued pandering to this new fanbase, but it lead to the second problem: popular tastes were rapidly changing. His brand of feather-light prog was wearing thin by the end of 2005, especially with dirty tech the burgeoning hot sound. All the hype surrounding Schulz’ rising star faded away, the Swedish House Mafia now the topic of discussion.

It’s safe to say all the momentum his career had been building significantly slowed down this year. Obviously, he still has plenty of tour dates and the Cult of Schulz remains as loyal as ever, but one gets the impression he’s reached a crossroad in his musical direction. Should he carry on with his ‘McProg’ sound that helped him gain all that momentum in the first place, even though it has grown stale? Or might it be best to search new avenues, taking his old ideas along with him?

Ibiza ‘06 is this year’s annual mix from the Schulzer, representing the sort of music he played at his residency on the island this past summer. Additionally, he’s decided to showcase mostly new talent here rather than make a mix with obvious anthems, which as the head of a label (Coldharbour, d’uh) is always smart business practice. If Markus has moved on or stayed the course, we should find our answer here. Into the player goes Disc 1.

And judging from the opening chunk of tracks, Schulz is still playing his ‘twinkle’ prog (heh, there’s a million-and-one terms for it). If you still haven’t heard of it, McProg tends to have heavy grooves, airy sweeping effects, and, the clincher, little melodies that sound like they were sampled from ballerina toy boxes. It makes for pleasant music but doesn’t have the depth of other forms of prog. The fact most of it is similarly arranged like epic trance (lots of long unnecessary breakdowns and builds) has caused many of the progressive elite to disown the sound altogether. Still, it is charming music when handled well.

And Markus does handle this sound very well for the first half of disc one. Benya’s Mimas may have you rolling your eyes, mind, but after that we are taken into some nice, grooving tracks with deep, immersive soundscapes. Progresia and Francis Blaid offer synthy hooks as well in their tracks for those who like something to hum along to.

Addictive brings the rhythmic intensity up, and it seems this mix is ready to be taken to the next level. Then, the breakdown hits; and, God, is it awful. Seriously, that wailing... guitar, is it? Who knows, but it’s terribly hokey (but probably will be a smash anyway) and the complementing trancey hooks in the build are so rote, it kills the mood in an instant. A shame, because Monakhov’s follow-up Feels Lonely is an interesting track, with a nifty grumbling bassline. It certainly would have segued better from Mystery than Addictive.

From here, this mix goes absolutely nowhere. Oh, there’s some nice sounding tracks to be had - Benz & MD’s Turning The Curves is a wonderful euphoric trancer, and Technology & Computer is a decent groover - but Markus seems interested in showcasing songs rather than making any kind of thematic set. If there is a theme, it’s the running amiable atmosphere these tracks provide. Unfortunately, many of them contain lackluster hooks, most of which you’ll forget after the disc finishes. Well, maybe Chuck Luis’ Collision will be remembered, but only because it’s such a laughable try-hard.

Most telling though, is the second half doesn’t contain any of Schulz’ trademark sound. It would appear he’s moving into standard van Buuren styled trance, although with a thicker groove and slightly less emphasis on the uplift. How does this affect discero numero deux, then?

By going all trance, it would seem, but don’t run away just yet. Ormatie establishes a deep atmosphere, and Joonas Hahmo brings us the groove with a charming hook, which opens the second CD promisingly.

Some pleasant deep tracks go by, including a little bit of twinkle in Glimmer if you still crave it, but these are just warm-ups for YearZero, which is vintage Andy Moor: chopped-up vocals, angelic pads, twinkly melodies, and body-movin’ rhythms. Well, Orkidea has a hand in this track too, but folks will be thinking Moor all the way here. He might have become predictable as fuck, but Andy’s style does work, and YearZero makes for a nice peak in this mix. Achems [sic?] Razor from Kenneth Thomas works nicely as a follow-up, with a simple, pounding lead and mechanical sound effects.

Markus pulls a surprise in throwing down some techno from Roland Klinkenberg, which for a moment made me think we were going to see a completely unexpected tangent from the Schulzer. Alas, it’s not to be, but it does change the focus of this mix, leading us into deeper pastures where lots of floaty pads and minor melodies dominate. It’s an utter bore though, with rudimentary hooks, placid rhythms, and very little sticking in your mind. Sure, I enjoy some atmospheric soundscapes in my trance, but when it’s done in a DJ set, it had better lead to something, and none of these tracks do. It’s just track after track of similarly arranged tunes, and no interesting flow at all.

Even more damning is the fact the final stretch suffers from ‘too-many-breakdowns’ syndrome. This isn’t an energetic set to begin with, so you’d think excessive breakdowns wouldn’t be a problem. Yet by the time Markus’ own First Time hits, it’s become annoyingly predictable. A couple of interesting sounds will briefly draw your attention (Sassot’s Where It All Began probably the best of the lot), but most of it will fade from your memory by the end. Altogether, not a remarkable finish.

It is quite clear Markus has shifted his musical focus, as much of his old sound is absent. While I respect his decision to change, he could have chosen something better than what we have here. Instead of a unique, if simple, form of prog, Schulz seems to have been converted to the Armada trance sound, and most of Ibiza ‘06 follows their manifesto: airy, melodic trance without an original idea in it that hasn’t been aped from the year 2001. In this regard, Markus just sounds like a slightly slowed-down mellow Armin, which isn’t going to do him any favors if he wants to make a bigger name for himself.

Ultimately, there’s very little on Ibiza ‘06 that distinguishes Schulz from the Armada pack. There’s a bit more emphasis on groove and atmosphere, but it’s still Armin’s style of trance, which has been stale for ages. Markus doesn’t bring anything new to the table here, and if he continues down this road, he’s going to be stuck in van Buuren’s shadow for a long time to come.

Del Tha Funkee Homosapien - I Wish My Brother George Was Here

Elektra: 1991

As I continue to wait for that new Deltron album to finally drop (so... bloody... long...), it seems appropriate that I now find myself returning to Del's debut album, I Wish My Brother George Was Here (a reference to Liberace, though the point of using it I haven't a clue). All things considered, it's a surprising album to have come out in the year 1991. Gangsta rap was huge (pop rap even huger, but like hell Del would do that), so not following in his cousin's footsteps in that field probably wasn't the best option if he aimed at making a large career for himself. Then again, the issues Ice Cube often dealt with were worlds apart from the life Del was familiar with, and if there's anything Tha Funkee Homosapien prides himself on, it's sincerity of content. Either that, or he just preferred looking on the lighter side of life.

But that was for the future. At the time, ol' Cube, already sitting high in the hip-hop pantheon, was more than helpful in giving Del a running start, producing and supplying dialog (mostly banter via gangsta counterpoints) throughout this album. And just as with Death Certificate, the George Clinton and Parliament Funk influences are heavy on here (say, maybe Del and Cube are claiming Clinton's their musical brother-in-arms! ...or something). In fact, it utterly dominates Brother George right from the start. They aren't just raiding the past for samples, they're aiming for recreation of Funkadelic in the early '90s (by, um, sampling a whole bunch of George Clinton and the like). Party rap, then? I guess so, as cuts like Mr. Dobalina, Dr. Bombay, What Is A Booty, and Ahonetwo, Ahonetwo definitely encourage hand wavin' and booty shakin' galore.

Despite using beats that, ultimately, didn't require much lyricism more poignant than “Throw your hands in the air, etc.”, Del wasn't about to sell his skills short. Still being a teenager though, he wasn’t too world-wise, so despite I Wish often getting lumped in the ‘conscious rap’ side of things, there aren’t many deep insights found within. Rather, trivial tales like chilling (Sunny Meadowz), tribulations of taking busses (The Wacky World Of Rapid Transit, a tune I get a kick out of since I rely on public transportation to get around Vancouver – though the events Del describes sounds more like a trip through Surrey), and frustration over lazy friends (Sleepin’ On My Couch) take up a good chunk of the album. Other times, he’s calling out all the poseurs and “fraudulent foes” in the rap game (Pissin’ On Your Steps, Same Ol’ Thing, Ya Lil’ Crumbsnatchers), a theme that he continues to this day, though obviously back then he had much easier targets to disassemble (Vanilla Ice is spared no mercy).

This is definitely a fun album to throw on, but not really a shining example of Del’s rapping skills. Despite the early lyrical potential, Brother George is better enjoyed for the beats oozing with the best of p-funk vibes.

Warren G - I Want It All

Restless Records: 1999

Though he arose from the same g-funk scene as Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg, Warren G took quite a different path compared to his contemporaries. Rather than signing with Death Row Records like the rest of 'em, he took his talents elsewhere, hopping around labels as an independent artist and producer during his '90s run. The gambit paid off, establishing a strong solo career when he could have instead been lost among the Death Row stars (to say nothing about escaping the tribulations that came with being on Suge Knight's label). After a while, his former association with Long Beach faded from the public consciousness, despite having quite the hand in helping define the original g-funk style of music. He may have broke big with the Nate Dogg duet Regulate from the Above the Rim soundtrack (itself released on Death Row), but the biggest hit I recall him having was a take on I Shot The Sheriff in '97, a tune with ‘crossover appeal’ square in its sights.

Still, his former friendships endured even if Mr. Griffin The Third went elsewhere in the world of hip-hop. As the ‘90s drew to a close (and most of his old associates finally freed themselves of Suge Knight), it seemed all the original g-funk party crew were reconvening, collaborating with greater frequency. It was almost as if something big was going to happen, like a return to the glory days of Dr. Dre’s The Chronic. What could it be, mang? Oh, wait, we already know. Chronic 2001. Well shiiite, no wonder then.

I Want It All, Warren G’s third full-length, has collaborations galore, especially from his Long Beach days (or would that be... ‘daze’? Ahahaha! Haha! Ha. Er...Um, what was funny again?). Tha Dogg Pound’s here! RBX is here! Nate Dogg is here! Snoop Dogg’s here! In fact, the inclusion of both Snoop and Nate on Game Don’t Wait marked a proper reunion of the trio’s original group, 213, which existed even before they showed up on The Chronic. Small surprise it’s one of the best tunes on I Want It All, an easy, breezy, spliffy recollection on their music careers and where they may head (though they never properly released anything as 213 until a number of years after).

Most of this album’s like this - laid back and mellow, even for g-funk. Not much in the way of club bangers, ‘hood anthems, or r’n’b crossovers, yet still maintaining the ‘everyday is summer days’ vibes you’d expect of West Coast hip-hop. As for Warren G himself, he mostly steps back into the studio, letting his guests handle the lyrics (also included: Jermaine Dupri, Eve, Drag-On, Slick Rick, Memphis Bleek... holy Hell, I could go on). As Mr. Griffin The Third’s never been an exceptional rapper (similar to Snoop’s drawl, but with less playfully smug sneering), it’s just as well he lets his beats do the talking, as the music’s mint for recalling those warm sunny days you just want to cruise.

Banco de Gaia - I Love Baby Cheesy

Six Degrees Records: 1999

Windows Media Player has some odd organization. Ignoring articles in titles, that makes sense to me – who wants long strings of ‘the’s, ‘a’s, and ‘an’s? Yet here we are in the ‘I’s, and it regards the pronoun ‘I’ as its own entity, lining up all my albums starting with “I…”. On the other hand, it treats the word ‘is’ as lesser than ‘I’, as demonstrated when Khooman’s album Is A Flexible Liquid cropped up in the ‘F’s. All of this, of course, has nothing to do with the music on Banco de Gaia’s I Love Baby Cheesy. If you’ve actually been wondering how this alphabetical thing works though, here’s your answer, since there’s not much to discuss regarding this single, and I have to eat up self-imposed word count somehow.

Truth is, aside from one or two cases, Toby Marks' project doesn't translate well to the singles format. His albums generally are enjoyed as a whole, and the odd tune that does get plucked out for EP use often comes off weaker without the surrounding tracks as context. Still, DJs gotta DJ, and they'd much rather have a shorter piece of wax or disc without all the fuss of partial blends and multi-tracks.

I Love Baby Cheesy was the lead single off Magical Sounds Of Banco de Gaia (and the lead track, incidentally), marking a return to big, exuberant fun-time music from Marks after the relatively somber Big Men Cry. As a jump off point for that album, it's fantastic, the combination of funky rhythms, catchy nonsensical vocal samples, hooky synths, and dashes of world beat grabbing you by the lapels for a flailing good time on the dance floor or open field. It's about as light-hearted as you'll ever find Banco de Gaia (and if you don't believe me, gander at those goofs in the video). Shame the stupid Radio Edit on this single ruins all of that, but his Skippy Mix makes up for it (aside from a few cosmetic changes, it's the same as the album version).

Two remixers join in on the cheddar love, the first care of Dub Pistols, a group who broke out during the big beat era and are still kicking it today. Best way to describe their take on this tune is… ‘hard-step’ breaks? Whatever, it’s typical late-‘90s fodder, and mostly forgettable.

The second comes care of a chap going by Wayward Soul, offering two rubs here. Lord Discogs says this is actually Anthony Thorpe. *blink* Wait, original acid house Thorpe, he of Addis Posse, Moody Boys, and such? You sure of that, oh Lord? Huh, if so, that’s quite a coup on Marks’ part to snag him. His remixes are pretty cool too, the first (Electric Cheddar Remix) a dubby, tribal breaks thing, and the second (The Afro-European Remix) going deeper into the dub and tribal haze. Yeah, I can vibe to these. They’re definitely unique offerings within the Banco discography, even for those who are not completists. (*tugs at collar*)

Various - I Love 1992: Underground Anthems

Mixmag: 2001

More free music from a magazine, though this time care of Mixmag. I only bought the one issue, primarily to sate my curiosity over who’d earned the honors of their “Top 100 Tracks …Ever” vote (no, really, Energy 52’s Café Del Mar was deemed the best of all time – could it win such a poll today though?). Beyond that, the issue was crap, and I saw no reason to ever buy another again (I soon had Muzik for my Brit-biased journalism anyway). Still, if Mixmag included CDs as fun as this one, maybe I sold the magazine too short.

Promoted as a two-disc series celebrating the original peak of old school rave (where buying two issues was required, bastards), one disc featured the ‘very important’ tunes of ’92 dance, and the other highlighted underground anthems of the same year. In a way, it was just an excuse for them to jump on the “Hey, remember these classics?” market, though admittedly a profitable one with a decade’s worth of nostalgia finally creeping into the UK clubbing consciousness. Now that I think about it, why isn’t there much of the same thing going on right now for 2002? No ‘I love 2002’ retrospectives? ‘Best Of Dark Prog’? I guess UK Garage is kind of having a retro return, but that’s it. Funny how those genres don’t feel so comparatively old today as vintage ‘ardcore did when this CD came out.

And is there anything special about I Love 1992: Underground Anthems? Not particularly. The tracklist is obvious as fuck, featuring The Hypnotist (twice), Praga Khan, Human Resource, Blame, 2 Bad Mice, Origin Unknown, and Q Project, amongst others. If you don’t know which tunes by these acts were used, let me be the first to welcome you to this scene called raving (keep it tidy, please). It’s definitely a CD where the term “all the same tracks you got, in a different order” is apt, as I can’t think of any old school hardcore aficionado that wouldn’t already have these tracks in some fashion.

That said, I fucking love having all these tracks in this particular order! The opening salvo of The House Is Mine, Injected With A Poison, Hardcore You Know The Score, and Dominator is as perfect a rave anthem whore-out as you can get – hell, Adam Power’s mix of Injected’s so worth the price of admission, gloriously capturing every single old school cliché at their best (Pianos! Divas! Hoovers! Samples! Breaks! ‘hoo-hoo’s?). From there, we take a journey into the dark side of hardcore, a pile of proto-jungle tunes offering glimpses of how quickly that scene would take over. The transition to Valley Of The Shadows is rather sudden, mind, but considering this is just a freebie from Mixmag, that’s a pointless quibble, especially when the rest of the CD’s been so much fun.

Since the tracklist’s hardly unique, I wouldn’t recommend seeking this disc out for more than a dollar. At that price though, it’s a bargain!

Aphex Twin - ...I Care Because You Do

Sire Records Company: 1995

Whauh! Don’t look at me like that. We all know you’re operating on some other wavelength compared to your musical peers (pft, as if Aphex Twin has a comparable variable), but there’s no need to be smug about it. Plus, are we to believe you have teeth that pearly white? Come on, you’re from the British Isles – we all know what’s up. It cannot be denied, though, that …I Care Because You Do has one of the most unique album covers out there in Electronic Music Land, such that ol’ Richard’s grinning visage became a running theme for his ‘90s output. It seems, no matter what he does, Mr. D. James’ will always leave a lasting impression.

Speaking of music, how about dictating the change of a whole scene? As Aphex Twin, he’d already helped define ambient techno, leading to the intelligent dance music (IDM) branch at large. Yet as everyone jumped on that bandwagon, he was already moving on. There were still melodic and calm musics found in his releases, but hardcore beats, abrasive acid, and sonic noise crept further and further into his sound. The On EP properly introduced his new 'drill'n'bass' style, and this here album explored it further, even as folks pondered whether such ventures were wise in the first place. It definitely caught those only familiar with Selected Ambient Works off guard.

…I Care Because You Do tends to go forgotten when it comes to Aphex Twin albums, probably due to the slipshod way the packaging comes off. The vinyl barely looked better than a white label, and the CD cheekily uses the original 'compact disc' logo with pen scratchings for labeling; Richard D. James sure does care about this, doesn't he. Plus, few classic tracks were culled from it, most of the Aphex glory going to former or latter offerings. Who could even enjoy tracks with weird titles like Mookid, Cow Cud Is A Twin, or Wet Top Hen Ax anyway? Farmers?

No, that’s not right. This is a great collection of off-kilter music, skillfully flirting through lovely melancholy, aggressive freak-outs, and funky experimentation. It’s almost impossible to get bored playing this, each track sounding totally odd and unique from what came before, urging the listening to keep going and discover what delightful devilishness Mr. D. James creates next. Lovely orchestral passages like in Next Heap With and The Waxen Pith rub shoulders with glorious beat freakouts like Start As You Mean To Go On and Wax The Nip. Childlike whimsy as found in Alberto Balsalm has a wicked counterpart in Ventolin (ooh, my ears …yet I can’t turn it off!). Other assorted styles are tinkered and toyed with, almost bizarre parodies as played through ol’ Richard’s mangled and abused analog gear.

Despite a lack of any unifying concept, this is easily Aphex Twin’s most complete album in terms of diversity. I wouldn’t want to start an exploration of his discography here, but I’ve definitely returned to it more often than his other works.

Blend - Echo Warrior

Shadow Records: 2002

I’ve apparently known about Blend (George Mandas on his Greek passport) for a while now, appearing on the 2002 Shadow Records compilation Hed Sessions 2. Among original cuts and remixes, he makes up a third of that CD's tracklist, and is easily a highlight of all that funky, downtempo niceness (shouldn’t I have reviewed Hed Sessions 2 already?). It was just recently, however, that I re-stumbled upon Blend, while scouring through Shadow’s discography at Lord Discogs. Say, the samples of Echo Warrior sound good, but fat chance finding a hard copy over a decade- whoa, Amazon does have one available!

The album turned out as I expected, a solid collection of downtempo tunes borrowing influences from trip-hop, dub, nu-jazz, and broken-beats. In fact, you could say Mr. Mandas manages to 'blend' them quite excellently! Eh? Eh...? Oh come on, you have to give me that pun - it was too tempting to pass up, the most succulent of low-lying fruit.

Seriously though, the name Blend as an artist title is apt, as ol' George displays quite the craftsmanship for his chosen sound. Each track typically features a specific genre of the downtempo scene, but borrows enough elements from others such that they never drown in cliché. So whereas you may prefer pure dub vibes over jazz noodling, even when Blend gets his saxaphones or standing cellos in the spotlight, it’s always accompanied by rivers of reverb and smokey space.

Thus, Echo Warrior gets to indulge in a surprising bit of diversity: Green Tea Blues and E-Funkt have funky hip-hop flavor going for them (kind of reminds of a Gorillaz instrumental); All That Dub, Plan Zero, and Moods For Mr. D get heavier into the bass ’n’ echo end of things; Blue Man and World Dot Com play up urban jazz tones, such that you just might handle those beatniks and their poetry after all; a couple nods to trip-hop and illbient (really, ‘trippier-hop’) crop up in Addicted, Soulcentrik, and Bleep, Human, Bleep; and even drum ‘n’ bass gets represented with Sunset Cream and Strictly Nowhere. I should mention that this summation of Echo Warrior is far from sequenced; in fact, every stylistic variant is nicely paced from one another, giving this album an equally class listening experience when played from beginning to end.

Okay, high praises all around, but if what I say is true, why have so few (including myself, until now) heard a thing about Blend’s decade-plus old debut album? Unfortunately for Mr. Mandas, his timing in releasing an album like this wasn’t the best. Had Echo Warrior somehow managed a late-‘90s street date, it may have stood out as something far more unique. By 2002, however, the downtempo scene was flooded with options for music suitable for lounges and late-night smoke sessions. Blend couldn’t help but get lost in the glut. Perhaps this little review will turn some ears his way though, as Echo Warrior shouldn’t be lost to indifference and passing of time.

Juno Reactor - Bible Of Dreams

Blue Room Released/Metropolis: 1997/2008

First, some well-deserved props to Metropolis for reissuing all the Juno Reactor albums released prior to the band joining their label. It couldn’t have been easy gathering up the rights to them, as Ben Watkins’ group saw distribution across several labels in several countries throughout the ‘90s. That said, I cannot deny some disappointment with the reissue of Bible Of Dreams. I never had an original copy myself, but a couple friends did, and the combination of a slick digipak (back when they weren’t as common) with modified Renaissance artwork in the booklet gave the album a degree of class few psy-leaning CDs of the day could compete with. Well, the booklet remains for the reissue, but comes within a boring old jewel case now. Poor form, Metropolis. This is a classic, treat it as such, eh?

Actually, Bible Of Dreams isn’t quite the classic many make it out to be. For sure it's another strong album in the Juno Reactor legacy, arguably even their best from front to back. A critical release within electronic music as a whole, however, is debatable. My impression's long been it was an LP that happened to drop at the right time, and got noticed by a wider audience thanks in large part to their signing with TVT Records for Stateside distribution. TVT also had a lucrative deal with Hollywood, licensing out music for all sorts of action movies (hence why so many of them featured industrial acts from their roster). This greater exposure rescued Juno Reactor from psy trance obscurity, and with tracks like Conga Fury and God Is God leading the way, drew in a ton of new fans who'd never have given them a second thought. “Holy shit, dude, there's music like this being made out there!?” Yeah, you silly metalhead, it's been around for years.

Wait, scratch that. Bible Of Dreams did have fresh sounds on it when the album first dropped in '97. For sure there's some regular ol' psy in the latter half of the CD, but Juno Reactor almost sounds bored with these tunes, like they're going through the motions or were left-overs from previous work. No, Bible Of Dreams made its impact within the psy scene with its opening salvo, showcasing a radical change of musicianship for Ben Watkins' band that none foresaw coming (orchestral swells, in goa trance!?).

Opener Jardin de Cecile is blissy but brisk, almost progressive trance; God Is God is practically world beat with an evil, industrial bent; Komit finds something of a meeting ground between Watkins’ forward outlook and goa of old; and Swamp Thing predicts prog psy’s techier moments a decade early (gotta have those triplets!). Oh, and tribal beats. Especially tribal beats. Lots of tribal beats. This is Watkins tapping into the primitive parts of your brain, giving all who ventured into this album – hippie and metalhead alike – something unexpected and unforgettable. He definitely succeeded in that regard, as Juno Reactor’s star flew ever higher after this one.

Juno Reactor - Beyond The Infinite

Blue Room Released/Metropolis: 1995/2008

Fortunately for me, I didn't have to spend much time getting re-caught up on Juno Reactor's discography before hitting Beyond The Infinite, as the group had released only one standard LP prior, Transmissions (does Luciana count as a proper album?). Then it’s off to Bible Of Dreams right after this, and my ‘90s Juno resuscitation will be complete. Ironically, Beyond and Bible come one after the other in my collection’s alphabetical order, so it’s almost like I’ve gone back to the ‘B’s again!

Beyond The Infinite finds the band Ben Watkins built further refining the psy trance sound they helped popularize on their debut. What had once been a quirky trance offshoot music journalists struggled to identify (“goa techno”, really?) had now turned into a full-blooded scene with major names, labels, and parties blowing the doors of possibility open. Blue Room was among the early UK adopters specializing in the sound, and their manifesto lured in all the hot acts: Kox Box, Etnica, Total Eclipse, and, of course, Juno Reactor. There was something different going on with Watkins' group though, their industrial roots lending less of an India-on-acid tone to their tunes in favour of straight-ahead thrashing, spacey numbers.

It'd still be a few years before the group truly started exploring the potential of genre experimentation though, but we find hints of it in Beyond The Infinite. Cut Samurai throws in woodwinds and bit of Japanese dialogue, Rotorblade is practically a precursor to all the 'buttrock goa' the likes of S.U.N. Project would fully indulge in (to say nothing of the proper rock elements Juno Reactor would eventually do themselves), and Magnetic started their short-term trend of heavy tribal beats on the second album track (Conga Fury and Hule Lam on following albums; or was that just a coincidence?).

The rest of the album falls more in line with psy trance’s style, though still retains that Juno Reactor aesthetic. You know the one: somewhat flat, as though, no matter how hard they try, the band just can’t shake those EBM sonics. Hey, it gave them an identity, but it's honestly a sound quality not for everyone, especially if you prefer your psy filled with chunky acid galore. If it’s not a problem though, there’s a decent amount of stylistic variety on Beyond The Infinite: blistering cuts like Guardian Angel, Feel The Universe, and Mars (ooh, voice pads, like German trance – no wonder Hypnotic initially picked up Stateside distribution!), or slower number like Ice Cube and Silver.

Long time Juno Reactor followers tend to remain divided over which is the group’s ultimate best album, but for those who prefer and continue to long for their straight-forward psy sound (holy cow, guys, let it go, Watkins ain’t going back to it), Beyond The Infinite is about as good as it gets. It hits hard when it needs to, takes time to ease off the reigns for a breather, and not a duff cut in the lot.