(~): 2004
These were a pair of mixes available from a DJ by the name of Zyron at Discogs, not an official release of any kind (and sadly no longer uploaded, though maybe he’ll offer a link if you ask). I don't review online sets here because, as there's no hard copy or proper Discogs entry, I don't count them as part of my current listening project (and Lord knows it'd add a ton more entries to the list, which I certainly don't need if I ever want to get through everything sometime this decade). However, back when I primarily listened to CDs on the go, I had to burn MP3 sets to discs, and as anyone who's done so back in the day can relate, sometimes you wanted special custom-made labels for those special CDs. I actually made several such mix CDs for myself, including a few running series for fun. Since I'm including them in my listening project, I may as well write about the music on these too, since they usually have unique tunes I won't get a chance to talk about otherwise.
Like italo disco! Oh man, is there any form of music more deliciously retro and cheesy than this one? Synth pop may have had the 'credible' groups to its name, and hi-NRG may have had the gay scene in its (front) pocket, but italo found a unique role between the two, bringing infectious tika-tika rhythms, off-beat basslines, tinny brass, and catchy hooks under one triumphant banner. Almost exclusively a European thing, the scene churned out a ridiculous number of hits that you'll swear you've heard somewhere else before (most likely recycled in following dance-pop genres).
The two mixes Mr. Johan “Zyron” Åstrand did were apparently done as a lark, but if you ever wanted a primer on the italo genre, they’re about as solid an introduction as you could ever get. So many classics are included in the mix: My Mine’s Hypnotic Tango, Baltimore’s Tarzan Boy, Scotch’s Disco Band, Fancy’s Slice Me Nice, Baby’s Gang’s Disco Maniac, Primadonna’s Angel You, Digital Emotion’s Get Up, Action... I could go on. It’s not a total italo-fest though, as a few nods to space synth – the (primarily) instrumental ‘proper musicians be here’ branch of eurodisco - crop up too, with cuts from Laserdance, Cyber People, and Hipnosis.
As for the mixes themselves, the first one is a little slower and – dare I say it in any relation to italo – funkier. The second is more upbeat for the most part, with a little ‘ballad-breather’ in the middle. Given the difficulty this music tends to be for smooth blends, Zyron ‘cheated’ by using beat-loops in mixing software, plus gave many tracks some post-mixdown shine so the low-quality nature of those old vinyls wouldn’t wonk things up track to track. All said, a solid job done for music that still has trouble being taken seriously, but who cares what scenester snobs think when the tunes are as delightfully fun as these are!
Sunday, October 27, 2013
Saturday, October 26, 2013
The Irresistible Force - It's Tomorrow Already
Ninja Tune: 1998
I sure got this album in an ass-backwards way. The two singles off here, Nepalese Bliss and Fish Dances, found homes in my racks far sooner, for no better reason than I saw them on store shelves at lower prices than other CDs. And hey, Irresistible Force! He’s a guy I’m pretty sure I like, based on the few old ambient tunes I’d stumbled upon. Not enough to get a proper album from him though, until much later. Guess there was some fear a full LP of Mixmaster Morris noodly psychedelic ambient would grow tedious; plus material from Rising High's rather hard to come by these days at any reasonable price.
Fortunately for It's Tomorrow Already, Ninja Tune's doesn’t appear ready to fold anytime soon, so nabbing a copy of this album isn't hard. As such, it hasn't garnered the same level of 'specialness' in the ambient scene as Morris' early work, but seeing as it remains his final full-length, it should. Even better, compared to Flying High and Global Chillage, it shows musical growth, more emphasis on song-craft than soundscapes.
Mind, I use the term ‘song-craft’ rather loosely, as instead of lengthy ambient wibble, Mixmaster Force opted for something closer to jazz (must be that Ninja Tune influence). So there's structure in these tracks, but still lots of room for psychedelic improvisation. It's an interesting blend, one that you don't hear much of, if at all – truthfully, I haven't come across anything that quite sounds like It's Tomorrow Already, though as its style is quite rooted in the '90s (oh so trip-hop, mang), I wouldn't count on anyone style-biting it soon either.
Since I’ve already sort of talked about tracks like Fish Dances, Power, and Playing Around With Sound, and will be talking even more about Nepalese Bliss down the road (like, a year at best), here’s some details regarding the other tunes on here. The Lie-In King: pure mushroom bliss with gentle keyboards, soft rhythms, flutes, running water – complete chill tent fodder. Oh yeah, in case you weren’t aware of it, The Irresistible Morris is a total goddamn hippie, bless ‘em. 12 O’Clock is almost the chill-out version of Nepalese Bliss, which is weird hearing since it’s sequenced after the other, like the comedown part after indulging in that Nepalese bliss (what did you think it was?). Another Tomorrow’s after that, and is just as blissy as anything else on here (have I said ‘bliss’ enough yet?), floating on burbly acid, sitars, xylophones, and strings. And the titular closer feels more like a straight-up Ninja Tune jam, though high in cloud nine compared to most other street funk offerings from the label.
It’s Tomorrow Already isn’t a critical album to own, but if you’ve yet to dig much into ‘90s downtempo, it’s a safe enough purchase to get your feet wet with. His early work is more genre-defining (helped to be among the first chill tent chaps), but this one’s a worthy addition to Morris’ scant discography.
I sure got this album in an ass-backwards way. The two singles off here, Nepalese Bliss and Fish Dances, found homes in my racks far sooner, for no better reason than I saw them on store shelves at lower prices than other CDs. And hey, Irresistible Force! He’s a guy I’m pretty sure I like, based on the few old ambient tunes I’d stumbled upon. Not enough to get a proper album from him though, until much later. Guess there was some fear a full LP of Mixmaster Morris noodly psychedelic ambient would grow tedious; plus material from Rising High's rather hard to come by these days at any reasonable price.
Fortunately for It's Tomorrow Already, Ninja Tune's doesn’t appear ready to fold anytime soon, so nabbing a copy of this album isn't hard. As such, it hasn't garnered the same level of 'specialness' in the ambient scene as Morris' early work, but seeing as it remains his final full-length, it should. Even better, compared to Flying High and Global Chillage, it shows musical growth, more emphasis on song-craft than soundscapes.
Mind, I use the term ‘song-craft’ rather loosely, as instead of lengthy ambient wibble, Mixmaster Force opted for something closer to jazz (must be that Ninja Tune influence). So there's structure in these tracks, but still lots of room for psychedelic improvisation. It's an interesting blend, one that you don't hear much of, if at all – truthfully, I haven't come across anything that quite sounds like It's Tomorrow Already, though as its style is quite rooted in the '90s (oh so trip-hop, mang), I wouldn't count on anyone style-biting it soon either.
Since I’ve already sort of talked about tracks like Fish Dances, Power, and Playing Around With Sound, and will be talking even more about Nepalese Bliss down the road (like, a year at best), here’s some details regarding the other tunes on here. The Lie-In King: pure mushroom bliss with gentle keyboards, soft rhythms, flutes, running water – complete chill tent fodder. Oh yeah, in case you weren’t aware of it, The Irresistible Morris is a total goddamn hippie, bless ‘em. 12 O’Clock is almost the chill-out version of Nepalese Bliss, which is weird hearing since it’s sequenced after the other, like the comedown part after indulging in that Nepalese bliss (what did you think it was?). Another Tomorrow’s after that, and is just as blissy as anything else on here (have I said ‘bliss’ enough yet?), floating on burbly acid, sitars, xylophones, and strings. And the titular closer feels more like a straight-up Ninja Tune jam, though high in cloud nine compared to most other street funk offerings from the label.
It’s Tomorrow Already isn’t a critical album to own, but if you’ve yet to dig much into ‘90s downtempo, it’s a safe enough purchase to get your feet wet with. His early work is more genre-defining (helped to be among the first chill tent chaps), but this one’s a worthy addition to Morris’ scant discography.
Friday, October 25, 2013
Public Enemy - It Takes A Nation Of Millions To Hold Us Back
Def Jam Recordings: 1988/2000
That this is one of the most essential hip-hop LPs to hear out there, you cannot deny. The only Public Enemy album you should own, however, that's just a ludicrous statement. Really, there's no such album, as everything they released during that Golden Age of hip-hop is something you should own. It'd be like trying to narrow Kraftwerk's peak era to just one, when everyone knows all their material from Autobahn through Computer Age is worth a hear-listen. Same can be said about Public Enemy, their primo albums being It Takes Of Nation Of Millions To Hold Us Back through Apocalypse '91. Wait, I'm missing most of those. To the Amazon!
Okay, that's sorted. While I wait for them to show up, let's get into Public Enemy's sophomore effort. The group had already made quite an impact with their debut Yo! Bum Rush The Show, offering a form of rap that was far more aggressive than what most folks were accustomed to from that scene. Of course, compared to the hyper-violence that would emerge with gangsta rap, Public Enemy’s early work can sound tame, and it would take something more than rock elements (hello, Rick Rubin) to stand out from the growing pack of hip-hop all-stars.
Something must have lit a fire under all the Enemy’s asses, because It Take A Nation improves upon everything that’d come before, and quite literally took the rap game to a whole new level. Chuck D’s lyrics turned more incendiary, charged with fiery words directed at the problems black communities suffered from in the ‘80s and taking to task those who were accountable for them (mostly white-ruling governments). He still finds the time for party lyrics too, but small wonder the political stuff got everyone taking notice, whether you agreed with his assessments or outright feared them (oh, if they only knew what was to come...).
Such lyricism got It Takes a Nation tons of attention back then, but where it’s come to be regarded as a proper classic is in the production. This is where The Bomb Squad came into their own, no longer relying on standard drum kits but raiding whatever funk and soul samples they got their hands on. And they got their hands on a lot, creating dense tracks that were any trainspotter’s wet dream come true, ushering in a sampling arms race that lasted for the next few years after. Again, this album doesn’t sound quite so impressive compared to what followed, but considering most turn to It Takes A Nation as their point of inspiration, its seminal status is well earned. Besides, with all the samples pilfered from this album, whole sections of hip-hop, breaks, and loads more beat-heavy genres owe it a debt of gratitude for setting the standard.
Specific tunes, then? Bring The Noise, Don’t Believe The Hype, Rebel Without A Pause, Night Of The Living Baseheads... Damn, nearly everything off here! Except Cold Lampin’ With Flavor. Sorry, Flav, you’re only good as a hype man.
That this is one of the most essential hip-hop LPs to hear out there, you cannot deny. The only Public Enemy album you should own, however, that's just a ludicrous statement. Really, there's no such album, as everything they released during that Golden Age of hip-hop is something you should own. It'd be like trying to narrow Kraftwerk's peak era to just one, when everyone knows all their material from Autobahn through Computer Age is worth a hear-listen. Same can be said about Public Enemy, their primo albums being It Takes Of Nation Of Millions To Hold Us Back through Apocalypse '91. Wait, I'm missing most of those. To the Amazon!
Okay, that's sorted. While I wait for them to show up, let's get into Public Enemy's sophomore effort. The group had already made quite an impact with their debut Yo! Bum Rush The Show, offering a form of rap that was far more aggressive than what most folks were accustomed to from that scene. Of course, compared to the hyper-violence that would emerge with gangsta rap, Public Enemy’s early work can sound tame, and it would take something more than rock elements (hello, Rick Rubin) to stand out from the growing pack of hip-hop all-stars.
Something must have lit a fire under all the Enemy’s asses, because It Take A Nation improves upon everything that’d come before, and quite literally took the rap game to a whole new level. Chuck D’s lyrics turned more incendiary, charged with fiery words directed at the problems black communities suffered from in the ‘80s and taking to task those who were accountable for them (mostly white-ruling governments). He still finds the time for party lyrics too, but small wonder the political stuff got everyone taking notice, whether you agreed with his assessments or outright feared them (oh, if they only knew what was to come...).
Such lyricism got It Takes a Nation tons of attention back then, but where it’s come to be regarded as a proper classic is in the production. This is where The Bomb Squad came into their own, no longer relying on standard drum kits but raiding whatever funk and soul samples they got their hands on. And they got their hands on a lot, creating dense tracks that were any trainspotter’s wet dream come true, ushering in a sampling arms race that lasted for the next few years after. Again, this album doesn’t sound quite so impressive compared to what followed, but considering most turn to It Takes A Nation as their point of inspiration, its seminal status is well earned. Besides, with all the samples pilfered from this album, whole sections of hip-hop, breaks, and loads more beat-heavy genres owe it a debt of gratitude for setting the standard.
Specific tunes, then? Bring The Noise, Don’t Believe The Hype, Rebel Without A Pause, Night Of The Living Baseheads... Damn, nearly everything off here! Except Cold Lampin’ With Flavor. Sorry, Flav, you’re only good as a hype man.
Wednesday, October 23, 2013
Pink Floyd - Is There Anybody Out There? (The Wall Live 1980-81)
Columbia: 2000
The only rock opera you're supposed to have, even if you're not much of a rock opera fan. What about The Who's Tommy, you ask? Pft, that one never had tunes as wickedly catchy as Another Brick In The Wall, Pt. 2 or Young Lust, nor as emotionally evocative as Hey You and Comfortably Numb. That's four classic rock staples, not to mention a whole bunch more should the station get more adventurous (though you’ll never, ever hear Bring The Boys Back Home, I guarantee ...unless it’s a The Wall tribute).
Oh, you’ve noticed this isn’t The Wall, but a live recording of the same album. Heh, it’s a good album, but I can’t see anyone other than completists needing both. It’s essentially the same thing, only this one comes with crowd noises (pretty cool hearing a cheer when Waters asks whether “they’ll like this song” in Mother), extended versions of some songs (including the awesome What Shall We Do?, cut due to vinyl constraints; not sure why CD versions haven’t added it back in though), and the usual extra energy good live recordings always have. So one or the other, it probably doesn’t matter which you get, but here’s my case for getting the live version.
The whole concept Roger Waters had in mind for the piece was one of audience interaction; or rather, losing contact with the very audience that’d come to see Pink Floyd in concert. What better way to depict such an event than by building a literal wall between the band and crowd? Along the way, a whole narrative came about, mostly based on Waters’ life growing up and alienation with the rock lifestyle. While the specifics may differ, the idea of building emotional barriers in our life is easily identifiable, and it’s no surprise The Wall was as successful as it was as a body of music alone. Taking it to the spectacle of the stage, where Waters could engage in all sorts of call-and-response moments with the crowd, only enhances the concept. A song like Is There Anybody Out There? is a haunting piece on its own, but imagine standing in a darkened stadium with nothing but a faceless wall looming in front of you, the band all but gone from sight. Or being urged on by Waters to tear down the wall at the end, a cathartic release for anyone that suffered from such insular depression. Damn, wish I could have seen that back in the day, but I’d only taken one trip around the sun by that point.
Anyhow, when it came time to pick up The Wall (because it’s a rock opera album- never mind), I went with this live version – it seemed appropriate, given the emotional punch of many songs being intensified with audience interaction. Not as good as being there in person but it’ll do until Waters carts out another tour for it over here. He’s still spry enough to do it at, what, one hundred and three?
The only rock opera you're supposed to have, even if you're not much of a rock opera fan. What about The Who's Tommy, you ask? Pft, that one never had tunes as wickedly catchy as Another Brick In The Wall, Pt. 2 or Young Lust, nor as emotionally evocative as Hey You and Comfortably Numb. That's four classic rock staples, not to mention a whole bunch more should the station get more adventurous (though you’ll never, ever hear Bring The Boys Back Home, I guarantee ...unless it’s a The Wall tribute).
Oh, you’ve noticed this isn’t The Wall, but a live recording of the same album. Heh, it’s a good album, but I can’t see anyone other than completists needing both. It’s essentially the same thing, only this one comes with crowd noises (pretty cool hearing a cheer when Waters asks whether “they’ll like this song” in Mother), extended versions of some songs (including the awesome What Shall We Do?, cut due to vinyl constraints; not sure why CD versions haven’t added it back in though), and the usual extra energy good live recordings always have. So one or the other, it probably doesn’t matter which you get, but here’s my case for getting the live version.
The whole concept Roger Waters had in mind for the piece was one of audience interaction; or rather, losing contact with the very audience that’d come to see Pink Floyd in concert. What better way to depict such an event than by building a literal wall between the band and crowd? Along the way, a whole narrative came about, mostly based on Waters’ life growing up and alienation with the rock lifestyle. While the specifics may differ, the idea of building emotional barriers in our life is easily identifiable, and it’s no surprise The Wall was as successful as it was as a body of music alone. Taking it to the spectacle of the stage, where Waters could engage in all sorts of call-and-response moments with the crowd, only enhances the concept. A song like Is There Anybody Out There? is a haunting piece on its own, but imagine standing in a darkened stadium with nothing but a faceless wall looming in front of you, the band all but gone from sight. Or being urged on by Waters to tear down the wall at the end, a cathartic release for anyone that suffered from such insular depression. Damn, wish I could have seen that back in the day, but I’d only taken one trip around the sun by that point.
Anyhow, when it came time to pick up The Wall (because it’s a rock opera album- never mind), I went with this live version – it seemed appropriate, given the emotional punch of many songs being intensified with audience interaction. Not as good as being there in person but it’ll do until Waters carts out another tour for it over here. He’s still spry enough to do it at, what, one hundred and three?
Monday, October 21, 2013
Wu-Tang Clan - Iron Flag
Loud Records: 2001
For a group that usually takes their time between albums, Iron Flag had a remarkable turnaround in the wake of The W, released a mere year after. As I recall, it wasn’t met with nearly the same amount of anticipation as their prior work, though the world did have quite a few other things on their mind late in 2001. Then again, general interest in the Wu-Tang Clan had dwindled, their inability to re-capture the same fire that marked all those ‘90s LPs creating talk of “they’ve fallen off” while fresh hip-hop acts took center stage. That they would feel compelled to quickly release an album called Iron Flag to silence the doubters and haters isn’t surprising, but it did little to stem the public apathy the group suffered from in those early ‘00s.
And yeah, I could be lumped in that group as well. It took me over a decade to finally return to this album, my initial impression from some shitty p2p leaked download (hey, I was flat broke at the time!) doing little to inspire much interest to hear Iron Flag proper-like. This, from a guy who just a year prior couldn't get enough of anything Wu affiliated. If someone in the swoon of their Wu-honeymoon had feelings of 'meh' over it, then good lord, this must be a mediocre album.
Nah, but it is uneventful, something that you could seldom say about any full-on Tang Consortium release. Aside from “yo, we're the Wu, and we're still New York, represent” (something like that), I haven't a clue what the theme of Iron Flag is. Maybe that's all it is, a no frills 'back to the streets' excursion for all the members. The beats are generally bare-bones (though no Hollow Bones), with a whole lotta' wikki-wikki’ from turntablists. Wait, who even is the Wu-Tang DJ? Did he do them, or are they studio add-ons? Ain't no info in the liner notes on that, but whatever, it's awesome. For all the musical innovation RZA’s accomplished over the years, it’s good to know he can make do with the core essentials of hip-hop too.
As for all these MCs, the Clan sounds more fired up than they did on The W. Uzi (Pinky Ring)’s about the closest they reach the highs of Triumph or Protect Ya Neck, but plenty of other tunes hold up well enough. Dashing’s reggae overtones are a nice change of pace from the usual funk and soul loops, Back In The Game brings in producer tandem Poke And Tone for a far different sounding minimalist Wu cut, and Rules shows they can still kick out a standard club-bounce jam when bothered to do so.
If you’re a fan of Wu-Tang Clan, it’s hard to hate anything off this album, as it finds the group hitting a familiar groove most of their work maintains. It’s not breaking ground, but if you’re fine with them no longer bringing the mutha’ fucking ruckus, Iron Flag is worth having.
For a group that usually takes their time between albums, Iron Flag had a remarkable turnaround in the wake of The W, released a mere year after. As I recall, it wasn’t met with nearly the same amount of anticipation as their prior work, though the world did have quite a few other things on their mind late in 2001. Then again, general interest in the Wu-Tang Clan had dwindled, their inability to re-capture the same fire that marked all those ‘90s LPs creating talk of “they’ve fallen off” while fresh hip-hop acts took center stage. That they would feel compelled to quickly release an album called Iron Flag to silence the doubters and haters isn’t surprising, but it did little to stem the public apathy the group suffered from in those early ‘00s.
And yeah, I could be lumped in that group as well. It took me over a decade to finally return to this album, my initial impression from some shitty p2p leaked download (hey, I was flat broke at the time!) doing little to inspire much interest to hear Iron Flag proper-like. This, from a guy who just a year prior couldn't get enough of anything Wu affiliated. If someone in the swoon of their Wu-honeymoon had feelings of 'meh' over it, then good lord, this must be a mediocre album.
Nah, but it is uneventful, something that you could seldom say about any full-on Tang Consortium release. Aside from “yo, we're the Wu, and we're still New York, represent” (something like that), I haven't a clue what the theme of Iron Flag is. Maybe that's all it is, a no frills 'back to the streets' excursion for all the members. The beats are generally bare-bones (though no Hollow Bones), with a whole lotta' wikki-wikki’ from turntablists. Wait, who even is the Wu-Tang DJ? Did he do them, or are they studio add-ons? Ain't no info in the liner notes on that, but whatever, it's awesome. For all the musical innovation RZA’s accomplished over the years, it’s good to know he can make do with the core essentials of hip-hop too.
As for all these MCs, the Clan sounds more fired up than they did on The W. Uzi (Pinky Ring)’s about the closest they reach the highs of Triumph or Protect Ya Neck, but plenty of other tunes hold up well enough. Dashing’s reggae overtones are a nice change of pace from the usual funk and soul loops, Back In The Game brings in producer tandem Poke And Tone for a far different sounding minimalist Wu cut, and Rules shows they can still kick out a standard club-bounce jam when bothered to do so.
If you’re a fan of Wu-Tang Clan, it’s hard to hate anything off this album, as it finds the group hitting a familiar groove most of their work maintains. It’s not breaking ground, but if you’re fine with them no longer bringing the mutha’ fucking ruckus, Iron Flag is worth having.
Saturday, October 19, 2013
Menno de Jong - Intuition Sessions Volume 1: South Africa (Original TC Review)
Intuition Recordings: 2007
(2013 Update:
So much for being the "future of trance". Ol' Menno doesn't even rank in the very poll promoted by the magazine that gave him such accolades way back when this came out. Then again, judging by this year's results, trance itself doesn't have much of a future, at least in the commercial sense it did for so many years. Boy, did a lot of them tank. No, don't check for yourself, you can take my word for it. Still, you know what this means: underground resurgence, woo! One can only hope.
Listening back on this CD, I can hear why some of the newer cats on the trance scene would rank a year that had such utter tripe as Filo & Perio's Anthem so highly, as there are some lovely tunes on here. Hell, I didn't even give Orkidea's Eternal Love an ACE TRACK nod, when it so totally deserves it. If CDs such as this had been their main exposure to the genre, then the kids, they were in alright hands in 2007.)
IN BRIEF: A 'nice' trance set!
Menno de Jong was mostly known only to the ardent fans of a decaying trance scene. A member of the new Dutch generation whom appear primed to take over where the likes of Tiësto and Armin left off, his style wasn’t particularly innovative but consistently solid. Along with producers like Jonas Steur and Paul Moelands, his fame would probably have never reached further than those still living in the year 2001.
In a flash though, Menno became known to far more folks than he could have anticipated this early in his career. Was it that write-up in DJ Mag proclaiming him to be “the future of trance”? Hardly. Rather, it was that picture. Captured at a show where things weren’t exactly going well, it caught the trance DJ in a moment of pure rage, flipping the bird at a bird whom was trying to get him to shut things down early. Menno’s since apologized for the incident, but why? It’s got to be one of the best DJ pictures I’ve ever seen! “Fuck shutting this party down, I’m going to fucking rock this motherfucker!” Well, it's better than yet another Jesus pose in any event.
Still, I can understand his hesitation to be tied to such a photo. This isn’t, say, the drum’n’bass scene, where attitude is just as valuable as the music you play. Besides, Menno has larger plans for his future than to be known as The Punk Trance DJ (not that it’s a bad title, Mr. de Jong!), one of which is to own a successful label. He’s certainly taken the right steps thus far to achieve this goal, as Intuition Recordings has seen a small but respectable number of trance singles released. With Intuition Sessions, Menno has taken the next step: the label compilation.
Much of what you see on disc one’s tracklist is new to this release, as Menno got in touch with a bunch of his trance buddies and asked them to spot him some fresh material for a DJ mix. In return, they’d get their singles released on his label as vinyl samplers. Certainly not an uncommon practice in this industry, but all too often this leads to very bland sets. Far too much emphasis is placed on making the forthcoming singles the highlights, even when the actual tracks themselves aren’t always worthy of such. The rest of the set is then padded out with filler and the odd well-known hit that’s been making the rounds to grab casual interest. Just glancing at the tracklist seems to hint at this being the case with Intuition Sessions as well. Remarkably though, Menno managed to elude this trap and crafted a decent mix in the process.
What aids him here is the fact these tracks are quite good. While this is still mostly melodic trance that hasn’t seen much innovation in years, the stuff on here isn’t the kind of tripe that is drowned in overproduction or sentimental sap; these producers keep arrangements simple and the hooks agreeable. Listening through, I’m hard pressed to find any particular tune sub-par. Honestly, the worst thing I can think to call the weaker ones is ‘nice’. Granted, a couple spots are questionable: the vocal in Cliff Coenraad’s Manjula is useless, and First State’s Evergreen contains an orchestral breakdown that teeters ever so dangerously close to gushing parody. However, they hardly hinder from the rest.
And of the rest? Quite a bit of variety, actually. Of course, you do have typical melodic numbers scattered about, some more on an Ibizan tip (El Cortez’ Desert Rose), others following the standard breakdown/build mold (Menno’s offerings, along with Kimoto Lopez’ Sub Runner and Yarune’s Airballoon). Elsewhere (mostly in the beginning), you get groovey spacers that are quite literally trance-inducing (Coenraad’s Escalate - under the Mulika alias - being a clear highlight). And at various points, techy hitters add some spice to the proceedings: Sjamaan (Menno as Myth) comes through on this, although Maor Levi (as MLV) holds his own as well.
Towards the end of the set, Menno brings in some heavier bangers, and ends on something of a surprise: melodic acid trance. Actually, Whirloop’s Cirrus Station could almost be considered the 'g-worded' sub-genre of psy trance, but I’m afraid to actually call it that, lest I frighten that lovely old style back into the nether regions of the underground again. It’s a sweet tune though, and a wonderful (and proper!) way to close a set on.
It’s a bloody shame Menno didn’t try to make more use of it. Yes, I do realize most of the guys that contributed here don’t produce in that style, but it would have made a good trance set even better. In fact, this is possibly one of the better trance sets I’ve heard in a while now, and certainly far better than what’s come from the superstars clogging up the top of popularity polls (Christopher Lawrence exempt, as always). If there’s any complaint, it’s that there’s a stretch in the middle where the breakdowns grow redundant, but even my calling it ‘redundant’ is small praise in itself - usually words like ‘annoying’ or ‘momentum-killing’ are featured in such instances.
Included with this release is a bonus disc containing four of Intuition’s early singles. Many of these you’ve probably heard in various sets since their initial release. Without getting too detailed, it’s nice to hear these in an unmixed version on CD for the first time, as these were enjoyable cuts to begin with. And Airbase’s For The Fallen remains a standout, in that it’s such a rarity: a breaks tune made by a trance producer that’s actually great!
While Intuition Sessions probably won’t light the trance world on fire, it is nonetheless solid. Menno has provided a release that makes good use of the melodic sound without abusing all the traits that turned the genre into a punchline, all the while adding just enough variety so it doesn’t sound like you’re listening to the same bloody thing over and over. While I don’t quite agree with DJ Mag’s assessment this is the future of trance, he has at least shown the potential to bring the genre some credibility again.
(2013 Update:
So much for being the "future of trance". Ol' Menno doesn't even rank in the very poll promoted by the magazine that gave him such accolades way back when this came out. Then again, judging by this year's results, trance itself doesn't have much of a future, at least in the commercial sense it did for so many years. Boy, did a lot of them tank. No, don't check for yourself, you can take my word for it. Still, you know what this means: underground resurgence, woo! One can only hope.
Listening back on this CD, I can hear why some of the newer cats on the trance scene would rank a year that had such utter tripe as Filo & Perio's Anthem so highly, as there are some lovely tunes on here. Hell, I didn't even give Orkidea's Eternal Love an ACE TRACK nod, when it so totally deserves it. If CDs such as this had been their main exposure to the genre, then the kids, they were in alright hands in 2007.)
IN BRIEF: A 'nice' trance set!
Menno de Jong was mostly known only to the ardent fans of a decaying trance scene. A member of the new Dutch generation whom appear primed to take over where the likes of Tiësto and Armin left off, his style wasn’t particularly innovative but consistently solid. Along with producers like Jonas Steur and Paul Moelands, his fame would probably have never reached further than those still living in the year 2001.
In a flash though, Menno became known to far more folks than he could have anticipated this early in his career. Was it that write-up in DJ Mag proclaiming him to be “the future of trance”? Hardly. Rather, it was that picture. Captured at a show where things weren’t exactly going well, it caught the trance DJ in a moment of pure rage, flipping the bird at a bird whom was trying to get him to shut things down early. Menno’s since apologized for the incident, but why? It’s got to be one of the best DJ pictures I’ve ever seen! “Fuck shutting this party down, I’m going to fucking rock this motherfucker!” Well, it's better than yet another Jesus pose in any event.
Still, I can understand his hesitation to be tied to such a photo. This isn’t, say, the drum’n’bass scene, where attitude is just as valuable as the music you play. Besides, Menno has larger plans for his future than to be known as The Punk Trance DJ (not that it’s a bad title, Mr. de Jong!), one of which is to own a successful label. He’s certainly taken the right steps thus far to achieve this goal, as Intuition Recordings has seen a small but respectable number of trance singles released. With Intuition Sessions, Menno has taken the next step: the label compilation.
Much of what you see on disc one’s tracklist is new to this release, as Menno got in touch with a bunch of his trance buddies and asked them to spot him some fresh material for a DJ mix. In return, they’d get their singles released on his label as vinyl samplers. Certainly not an uncommon practice in this industry, but all too often this leads to very bland sets. Far too much emphasis is placed on making the forthcoming singles the highlights, even when the actual tracks themselves aren’t always worthy of such. The rest of the set is then padded out with filler and the odd well-known hit that’s been making the rounds to grab casual interest. Just glancing at the tracklist seems to hint at this being the case with Intuition Sessions as well. Remarkably though, Menno managed to elude this trap and crafted a decent mix in the process.
What aids him here is the fact these tracks are quite good. While this is still mostly melodic trance that hasn’t seen much innovation in years, the stuff on here isn’t the kind of tripe that is drowned in overproduction or sentimental sap; these producers keep arrangements simple and the hooks agreeable. Listening through, I’m hard pressed to find any particular tune sub-par. Honestly, the worst thing I can think to call the weaker ones is ‘nice’. Granted, a couple spots are questionable: the vocal in Cliff Coenraad’s Manjula is useless, and First State’s Evergreen contains an orchestral breakdown that teeters ever so dangerously close to gushing parody. However, they hardly hinder from the rest.
And of the rest? Quite a bit of variety, actually. Of course, you do have typical melodic numbers scattered about, some more on an Ibizan tip (El Cortez’ Desert Rose), others following the standard breakdown/build mold (Menno’s offerings, along with Kimoto Lopez’ Sub Runner and Yarune’s Airballoon). Elsewhere (mostly in the beginning), you get groovey spacers that are quite literally trance-inducing (Coenraad’s Escalate - under the Mulika alias - being a clear highlight). And at various points, techy hitters add some spice to the proceedings: Sjamaan (Menno as Myth) comes through on this, although Maor Levi (as MLV) holds his own as well.
Towards the end of the set, Menno brings in some heavier bangers, and ends on something of a surprise: melodic acid trance. Actually, Whirloop’s Cirrus Station could almost be considered the 'g-worded' sub-genre of psy trance, but I’m afraid to actually call it that, lest I frighten that lovely old style back into the nether regions of the underground again. It’s a sweet tune though, and a wonderful (and proper!) way to close a set on.
It’s a bloody shame Menno didn’t try to make more use of it. Yes, I do realize most of the guys that contributed here don’t produce in that style, but it would have made a good trance set even better. In fact, this is possibly one of the better trance sets I’ve heard in a while now, and certainly far better than what’s come from the superstars clogging up the top of popularity polls (Christopher Lawrence exempt, as always). If there’s any complaint, it’s that there’s a stretch in the middle where the breakdowns grow redundant, but even my calling it ‘redundant’ is small praise in itself - usually words like ‘annoying’ or ‘momentum-killing’ are featured in such instances.
Included with this release is a bonus disc containing four of Intuition’s early singles. Many of these you’ve probably heard in various sets since their initial release. Without getting too detailed, it’s nice to hear these in an unmixed version on CD for the first time, as these were enjoyable cuts to begin with. And Airbase’s For The Fallen remains a standout, in that it’s such a rarity: a breaks tune made by a trance producer that’s actually great!
While Intuition Sessions probably won’t light the trance world on fire, it is nonetheless solid. Menno has provided a release that makes good use of the melodic sound without abusing all the traits that turned the genre into a punchline, all the while adding just enough variety so it doesn’t sound like you’re listening to the same bloody thing over and over. While I don’t quite agree with DJ Mag’s assessment this is the future of trance, he has at least shown the potential to bring the genre some credibility again.
Thursday, October 17, 2013
L.S.G. - Into Deep (Original TC Review)
Superstition: 1999
(2013 Update:
Woot! And finally, I now have a review of every single L.S.G. album on this blog. Except Best Of. And Unreleased. Hm, and that Hooj Choons Collected Works too. Okay, every official LP of L.S.G., and no, Unreleased is still sort-of un-official, at least to me. Give us a proper hard-copy version, Mr. Lieb, and then we'll talk.
I'm probably a little gushy in this review, but dammit, Into Deep just doesn't get the love it deserves. What does it take, huh?)
IN BRIEF: His best.
And then Oliver Lieb peaked.
Oh, I’m sure many out there could point to several different singles across several different aliases that are better than anything on here but in terms of full-length albums, the veteran trance producer has never been better than he was on Into Deep. It seemed, having purged any and all instinctive id with The Black Album, Lieb felt free to explore his meditative ego in this follow-up - it’s the logical musical yin to the previous yang. Or he’d been working on this material alongside the Black Series but never found a proper time and place to release it until after the fact. Who’s to say at this late stage?
Point of the matter is despite the release of Into Deep making artistic sense, it was nonetheless unexpected to hear the L.S.G. moniker taken down this road (though perhaps not nearly as shocking as The Black Album was). This is, after all, the alias of such classic trance cuts like Netherworld, Hearts, and Hidden Sun Of Venus (the trance version). Didn’t Lieb already have an alias for his downtempo stuff? (kinda, but who remembers ‘O.Lieb’?)
The thing that truly was astounding about Into Deep was in how, upon hearing it, folks’ perspective of Lieb changed. He’d garnered plenty of praise for years, yet could never quite shake the stigma of being regarded as “that really good trance producer”. Though many figured he was capable of it, no one really thought he’d actually go and make an album that could be held in the same regard as any of the best efforts from such ‘90s luminaries as The Future Sound Of London, The Orb, or Massive Attack. Yet he did.
For starters, this is one of the few instances you’ll find original lyrics of any sort on an Oliver Lieb album, here provided by one Cybéle de Silveria. Whether it’s to digitally-treated spoken dialog - Spanish for No Causalidad and El Tiburon, and English for Give Me Your Hand - or verses (I’m Not Existing), it adds a fresh angle to the L.S.G. moniker, bringing a proper human element to a project that was already well known for strong emotional music.
And it almost goes without saying, but the emotional punch of this album is of the highest quality. You have tender synthy soundscapes in Jillanity, Into Deep, and Give Me Your Hand; deeply meditative atmospherics in Concatenation, Tiburon Citriño, Quick Star, and I’m Not Existing; and riveting climaxes with El Tiburon, Phorus, and Westside. We’ve heard Lieb strike gold in this field several times, yet seldom with the same level of poignancy as he does here. The whole album ebbs and flows with these moving passages as only the greatest chill releases have. Remarkably, Lieb manages to blend the best of both electronic and organic textures together so they wonderfully complement each other, never compete. In almost all cases, producers have a difficult time accomplishing this, often letting either or overtake in prominence. The closest I’ve heard in recent years that hits this delicate balance comes from the Ultimae camps, but even they have a tendency to let the organic nature of their music take over. Into Deep amazingly stands tall and alone in how it sounds.
All this, and I still haven’t even gotten started on the rhythms. My God, the rhythms! Lieb’s always been excellent in this department but, again, he’d generally been constrained to the techno-trance side of things with tantalizing teases into other beats – breaks in Get Out from Volume Two, for instance, or something experimental like Fontana on Rendezvous In Outer Space and A Day On Our Planet as Spicelab. In producing a purposefully downtempo album, Lieb got to indulge himself with fresh patterns, time signatures, and effects, once again with remarkably stunning results. From steady heartbeat throbs that either pulse (Quick Star) or rumble (Phorus) to layered builds (El Tiburon and the dubbier Bengal Rose), Lieb gives us plenty of wonderful patterns that are just as effective in tapping into the primal recesses of your brain as anything else he’s done.
The two real highlights, though, have to be I’m Not Existing and Westside. The former, having been segued beautifully from the spacey tension-builder that is Quick Star, brings us some of Lieb’s grittiest beats ever, executed with trip-hop proficiency and supported by a disconcerting melody that would have Tricky approvingly bobbing his head along. Meanwhile, Westside, in being the album closer, opts for the pure positive vibe of communal chant, inviting you to clap in unison as the song plays out.
Into Deep is one of those rare albums that tends to occur only once in an artist’s career, if at all; where a musician will tap into the best of their inspiration and execute it with all the experience of a cagey veteran. Though Oliver Lieb successfully carried on, it was never to heights of what was offered here. Even the Best Of album, where he reworked a bunch of L.S.G. singles in the vein of Into Deep, wasn’t quite as good, as it lacked this album’s sublime narrative flow.
Despite bestowing this much praise on Lieb’s masterwork, there’s probably still a number of skeptics out there; after all, Into Deep is seldom namedropped when discussions of Best Electronic Chill Releases are brought up. I honestly don’t have an answer for this. Perhaps the trance association really was too much for folks unfamiliar with Lieb’s work to get over. Whatever the reason though, it’s their loss. Don’t let it be yours too.
(2013 Update:
Woot! And finally, I now have a review of every single L.S.G. album on this blog. Except Best Of. And Unreleased. Hm, and that Hooj Choons Collected Works too. Okay, every official LP of L.S.G., and no, Unreleased is still sort-of un-official, at least to me. Give us a proper hard-copy version, Mr. Lieb, and then we'll talk.
I'm probably a little gushy in this review, but dammit, Into Deep just doesn't get the love it deserves. What does it take, huh?)
IN BRIEF: His best.
And then Oliver Lieb peaked.
Oh, I’m sure many out there could point to several different singles across several different aliases that are better than anything on here but in terms of full-length albums, the veteran trance producer has never been better than he was on Into Deep. It seemed, having purged any and all instinctive id with The Black Album, Lieb felt free to explore his meditative ego in this follow-up - it’s the logical musical yin to the previous yang. Or he’d been working on this material alongside the Black Series but never found a proper time and place to release it until after the fact. Who’s to say at this late stage?
Point of the matter is despite the release of Into Deep making artistic sense, it was nonetheless unexpected to hear the L.S.G. moniker taken down this road (though perhaps not nearly as shocking as The Black Album was). This is, after all, the alias of such classic trance cuts like Netherworld, Hearts, and Hidden Sun Of Venus (the trance version). Didn’t Lieb already have an alias for his downtempo stuff? (kinda, but who remembers ‘O.Lieb’?)
The thing that truly was astounding about Into Deep was in how, upon hearing it, folks’ perspective of Lieb changed. He’d garnered plenty of praise for years, yet could never quite shake the stigma of being regarded as “that really good trance producer”. Though many figured he was capable of it, no one really thought he’d actually go and make an album that could be held in the same regard as any of the best efforts from such ‘90s luminaries as The Future Sound Of London, The Orb, or Massive Attack. Yet he did.
For starters, this is one of the few instances you’ll find original lyrics of any sort on an Oliver Lieb album, here provided by one Cybéle de Silveria. Whether it’s to digitally-treated spoken dialog - Spanish for No Causalidad and El Tiburon, and English for Give Me Your Hand - or verses (I’m Not Existing), it adds a fresh angle to the L.S.G. moniker, bringing a proper human element to a project that was already well known for strong emotional music.
And it almost goes without saying, but the emotional punch of this album is of the highest quality. You have tender synthy soundscapes in Jillanity, Into Deep, and Give Me Your Hand; deeply meditative atmospherics in Concatenation, Tiburon Citriño, Quick Star, and I’m Not Existing; and riveting climaxes with El Tiburon, Phorus, and Westside. We’ve heard Lieb strike gold in this field several times, yet seldom with the same level of poignancy as he does here. The whole album ebbs and flows with these moving passages as only the greatest chill releases have. Remarkably, Lieb manages to blend the best of both electronic and organic textures together so they wonderfully complement each other, never compete. In almost all cases, producers have a difficult time accomplishing this, often letting either or overtake in prominence. The closest I’ve heard in recent years that hits this delicate balance comes from the Ultimae camps, but even they have a tendency to let the organic nature of their music take over. Into Deep amazingly stands tall and alone in how it sounds.
All this, and I still haven’t even gotten started on the rhythms. My God, the rhythms! Lieb’s always been excellent in this department but, again, he’d generally been constrained to the techno-trance side of things with tantalizing teases into other beats – breaks in Get Out from Volume Two, for instance, or something experimental like Fontana on Rendezvous In Outer Space and A Day On Our Planet as Spicelab. In producing a purposefully downtempo album, Lieb got to indulge himself with fresh patterns, time signatures, and effects, once again with remarkably stunning results. From steady heartbeat throbs that either pulse (Quick Star) or rumble (Phorus) to layered builds (El Tiburon and the dubbier Bengal Rose), Lieb gives us plenty of wonderful patterns that are just as effective in tapping into the primal recesses of your brain as anything else he’s done.
The two real highlights, though, have to be I’m Not Existing and Westside. The former, having been segued beautifully from the spacey tension-builder that is Quick Star, brings us some of Lieb’s grittiest beats ever, executed with trip-hop proficiency and supported by a disconcerting melody that would have Tricky approvingly bobbing his head along. Meanwhile, Westside, in being the album closer, opts for the pure positive vibe of communal chant, inviting you to clap in unison as the song plays out.
Into Deep is one of those rare albums that tends to occur only once in an artist’s career, if at all; where a musician will tap into the best of their inspiration and execute it with all the experience of a cagey veteran. Though Oliver Lieb successfully carried on, it was never to heights of what was offered here. Even the Best Of album, where he reworked a bunch of L.S.G. singles in the vein of Into Deep, wasn’t quite as good, as it lacked this album’s sublime narrative flow.
Despite bestowing this much praise on Lieb’s masterwork, there’s probably still a number of skeptics out there; after all, Into Deep is seldom namedropped when discussions of Best Electronic Chill Releases are brought up. I honestly don’t have an answer for this. Perhaps the trance association really was too much for folks unfamiliar with Lieb’s work to get over. Whatever the reason though, it’s their loss. Don’t let it be yours too.
Wednesday, October 16, 2013
Solieb - Integrale / Inside
Maschine: 2006
Solieb is Oliver Lieb, a not so important person in the world of techno, even though by all rights he should- Eh? You say this is redundant information? Well, sure, I did a Solieb review half a month ago, but did you read it? No, not you, the other you, standing behind you, creeping, stalking, waiting for that perfect moment to whap you with a comedy inflatable mallet that squeaks upon impact. What do you mean that's bizarrely specific? Look, until you turn around, can you claim this person in a clown-ninja outfit isn't there? I realize this is one of those 'fallen tree, can anyone hear?' questions, but if you don't look behind, you can't disprove any more reliably than I can prove. And surely you're here at this blog because you trust me on something; most likely opinions on electronic (plus other) music, but still.
Anyhow, here's the gist of this release for all the cyborg-ninja-clowns that have joined us in the past couple weeks. Solieb is Oliver Lieb, a not so important person in the world techno, even though by all rights he should be. Dude’s been a part of the German club culture since even before the Berlin Wall came down, and was highly instrumental in helping establish the burgeoning Harthouse label. Yet, he didn’t quite mesh with Sven Väth’s outlook. One kept looking to the stars, the other kept having weird parties in Frankfurt basements. And besides, all that spacey sci-fi techno wasn’t going to fly in the ‘techno are serious’ scenes. So off on the Starship L.S.G. ol’ Oliver flew away on for a while, reaching stars he’d seldom seen in that old lab filled with spices (Väth was into some weird things). After returning to Earth, however, his re-entry had some complications, and the Starship L.S.G. crashed and burned after a glorious ten years of service. Somehow, Captain Ollie ended up near his old Harthouse haunt and, reminded of the wacky-doo times his former compatriot Väth would get up in, made a new track called Circus Maximus. But... the old bitter resentment persisted so, so to make sure no one knew who was behind the track, Mr. Lieb crafted a new alias to hide behind, that no one could trace back to him. The new alias was Solieb. Uh... did I mention ol’ Oliver wasn’t the most creative chap in those regards?
Okay, enough made-up silliness (been whapped upside the head by inflatable comedy mallets too much, methinks). How is this particular Solieb single? The A-Side features Integrale, which I recall being my first exposure to Lieb’s new stuff, appearing on Jimmy Van M’s Balance mix. For plinky-plonk minimal, it’s alright, certainly better than a lot of other stuff that was to follow. Inside on the B-Side is more fun, a skippity-skip marching rhythm and machine-lovin’ electro-clop sounds. It might even make sense in one of Väth’s sets from around the time. Say, an olive branch from Oliver Lieb? New alias alert!
Solieb is Oliver Lieb, a not so important person in the world of techno, even though by all rights he should- Eh? You say this is redundant information? Well, sure, I did a Solieb review half a month ago, but did you read it? No, not you, the other you, standing behind you, creeping, stalking, waiting for that perfect moment to whap you with a comedy inflatable mallet that squeaks upon impact. What do you mean that's bizarrely specific? Look, until you turn around, can you claim this person in a clown-ninja outfit isn't there? I realize this is one of those 'fallen tree, can anyone hear?' questions, but if you don't look behind, you can't disprove any more reliably than I can prove. And surely you're here at this blog because you trust me on something; most likely opinions on electronic (plus other) music, but still.
Anyhow, here's the gist of this release for all the cyborg-ninja-clowns that have joined us in the past couple weeks. Solieb is Oliver Lieb, a not so important person in the world techno, even though by all rights he should be. Dude’s been a part of the German club culture since even before the Berlin Wall came down, and was highly instrumental in helping establish the burgeoning Harthouse label. Yet, he didn’t quite mesh with Sven Väth’s outlook. One kept looking to the stars, the other kept having weird parties in Frankfurt basements. And besides, all that spacey sci-fi techno wasn’t going to fly in the ‘techno are serious’ scenes. So off on the Starship L.S.G. ol’ Oliver flew away on for a while, reaching stars he’d seldom seen in that old lab filled with spices (Väth was into some weird things). After returning to Earth, however, his re-entry had some complications, and the Starship L.S.G. crashed and burned after a glorious ten years of service. Somehow, Captain Ollie ended up near his old Harthouse haunt and, reminded of the wacky-doo times his former compatriot Väth would get up in, made a new track called Circus Maximus. But... the old bitter resentment persisted so, so to make sure no one knew who was behind the track, Mr. Lieb crafted a new alias to hide behind, that no one could trace back to him. The new alias was Solieb. Uh... did I mention ol’ Oliver wasn’t the most creative chap in those regards?
Okay, enough made-up silliness (been whapped upside the head by inflatable comedy mallets too much, methinks). How is this particular Solieb single? The A-Side features Integrale, which I recall being my first exposure to Lieb’s new stuff, appearing on Jimmy Van M’s Balance mix. For plinky-plonk minimal, it’s alright, certainly better than a lot of other stuff that was to follow. Inside on the B-Side is more fun, a skippity-skip marching rhythm and machine-lovin’ electro-clop sounds. It might even make sense in one of Väth’s sets from around the time. Say, an olive branch from Oliver Lieb? New alias alert!
Tuesday, October 15, 2013
Faithless - Insomnia
Blow Up: 1995
There has to be a zillion versions of this single out there (“Sixty-one,” gruffs Discogs. “Get your facts straight.”), with just as many remixes. The one I have in my possession is among the earlier copies, though not the earliest. No, those ones have the smiling Cheeky boy mascot on their covers, released at a time when the notion of Faithless as some sort of super-group was nowhere near folks' minds. Then, of course, everyone heard Insomnia (no, not hyperbole – everyone did, whether you liked it or not), and lo', Faithless was off and running. However, that old cover just would’t do, far too tacky for one of the biggest club singles ever. Quick, what’s available as a replacement? A group shot? Fine, perfect, whatever, it’ll do, just go, go! Get that tune in the stores pronto. And start figuring out something better for later. It must be far more eye-grabbing than the group standing around laughing. Something artful, and reminiscent of the forthcoming album, yes?
As someone residing in North America, it feels odd having this ‘middle version’. We got Insomnia two bloody years after it first hit the streets, which is understandable to a degree. Faithless’ shtick was unlike anything marketable in the big U.S. of A. Heck, they were still trying to figure out groups like Chemical Brothers and Prodigy, and now here’s something that has elements of that cheesy euro dance stuff, yet is stupidly popular and somehow seen as artistically credible. What is it, those barely sung lyrics from Maxi Jazz about suffering from insomnia?
Yeah, funny thing about those lyrics. You can take them at face value, about a poor chap who just can’t get no sleep, but gander at this theory: how many of you out there have had a night of partying or clubbing where, at some point, you’ve consumed a substance that was just a bit too stimulating. Woo, that rush was fun, but fun-time’s over and you’re feeling kinda tired now. Off to home, get some sleep, recharge, recoup, twist, turn, what the Hell, why can’t I fall asleep? It’s been hours, there’s daylight, twist, turn, and still nothing. Good Lord, what was in those things? Am I ever gonna sleep again? This is ridiculous! Wait, did I just fall asleep now, only to pop awake scant minutes later? I’m… not sure. Greasy insomnia, please release me!
I’m not saying Insmonia is an ode to all those poor clubbers who took too many stimulants, but that, coupled with that oh-so memorable anthem hook at the peak of the tune, definitely made it a club classic that Faithless seldom ever topped in their following career. Not bad for a tune that, fundamentally, could be called ‘epic garage’.
Oh, this CD? It’s got all the ‘first generation’ mixes on it (Moody, Tuff, Original, CEC, and Monster mixes), though the Monster Mix is edited. Only thing unique about it is the cover. Guess that’s why I was sucker enough to snag it.
There has to be a zillion versions of this single out there (“Sixty-one,” gruffs Discogs. “Get your facts straight.”), with just as many remixes. The one I have in my possession is among the earlier copies, though not the earliest. No, those ones have the smiling Cheeky boy mascot on their covers, released at a time when the notion of Faithless as some sort of super-group was nowhere near folks' minds. Then, of course, everyone heard Insomnia (no, not hyperbole – everyone did, whether you liked it or not), and lo', Faithless was off and running. However, that old cover just would’t do, far too tacky for one of the biggest club singles ever. Quick, what’s available as a replacement? A group shot? Fine, perfect, whatever, it’ll do, just go, go! Get that tune in the stores pronto. And start figuring out something better for later. It must be far more eye-grabbing than the group standing around laughing. Something artful, and reminiscent of the forthcoming album, yes?
As someone residing in North America, it feels odd having this ‘middle version’. We got Insomnia two bloody years after it first hit the streets, which is understandable to a degree. Faithless’ shtick was unlike anything marketable in the big U.S. of A. Heck, they were still trying to figure out groups like Chemical Brothers and Prodigy, and now here’s something that has elements of that cheesy euro dance stuff, yet is stupidly popular and somehow seen as artistically credible. What is it, those barely sung lyrics from Maxi Jazz about suffering from insomnia?
Yeah, funny thing about those lyrics. You can take them at face value, about a poor chap who just can’t get no sleep, but gander at this theory: how many of you out there have had a night of partying or clubbing where, at some point, you’ve consumed a substance that was just a bit too stimulating. Woo, that rush was fun, but fun-time’s over and you’re feeling kinda tired now. Off to home, get some sleep, recharge, recoup, twist, turn, what the Hell, why can’t I fall asleep? It’s been hours, there’s daylight, twist, turn, and still nothing. Good Lord, what was in those things? Am I ever gonna sleep again? This is ridiculous! Wait, did I just fall asleep now, only to pop awake scant minutes later? I’m… not sure. Greasy insomnia, please release me!
I’m not saying Insmonia is an ode to all those poor clubbers who took too many stimulants, but that, coupled with that oh-so memorable anthem hook at the peak of the tune, definitely made it a club classic that Faithless seldom ever topped in their following career. Not bad for a tune that, fundamentally, could be called ‘epic garage’.
Oh, this CD? It’s got all the ‘first generation’ mixes on it (Moody, Tuff, Original, CEC, and Monster mixes), though the Monster Mix is edited. Only thing unique about it is the cover. Guess that’s why I was sucker enough to snag it.
Monday, October 14, 2013
Various - Influence 2.2: A Hardtrance Experience (2013 Update)
Hypnotic: 1995
(Click here to have your eyes glaze over attempting to read my stupid long original review.)
No, really, what in God’s green and blue Earth was I thinking in writing such a ridiculously bloated review for Influence 2.2? I spend over 200 words detailing some tracks, and Argon-X’s Little Gamma’s Adventure gets a whopping 300 words. While some of them do hold up as good examples of classic mid-‘90s hard trance, they were by no means super-ultra-mega classics or anything. And Hell, it sure wasn’t like I wasn’t cutting a few corners with other reviews at the time, seeking brevity on some of the more repetitive CDs I’d be handed.
Right, right. I’m a big sucker for most things Music Research related. And, I suppose in my enthusiasm to share my thoughts on more music from the label, I went totally and utterly overboard on this one. Thing to remember is, in 2005, there weren’t many handy options for sharing audio, at least by any grey-legal means. TranceCritic was more than happy to provide Amazon links to these CDs, and if they just happened to have a thirty-second clip of it, all the better. But as we were trying to be something of a legitimate website, hot-linking to file-sharing services was totally out of the question, to say nothing of uploading such tunes ourselves (oh hello, you be shut down now). These days, it’s no th’ang to give a [Spotify] link – in fact, there's [the entire CD] for you down below right now. There, done, no three-hundred bloody words to let you know how it sounds; just my thumbs up required.
[edit: this whole section is clearly no longer valid, after Spotify became available in Canada, but here it is for posterity sake]
[edit2: Deezer as well, but I'm too lazy updating the link here]
This is why I [didn’t] bother uploading any audio to this here blog. Finding music online is ridiculously easy, a simple “_______ YouTube” search inquiry in your little Google bar all that’s required. If folks want to hear music for themselves, it’s not hard. Still, and call me a curmudgeon traditionalist on this, I believe there remains some value in the hunt for music, a certain satisfaction attained when that search turns out results. Don’t want to make things too easy for the kids these days.
So where does this leave us with Influence 2.2? Kind of forgotten and redundant, now that I think about it. The best tracks off here are worth having, for certain, but they’re coupled with some totally forgettable stuff too. Another benefit of modern music gathering compared to years ago is not having to get a whole CD for a few choice cuts, and believe you me Little Gamma’s Adventure, Influid’s We’re Always Behind You, and Phoenixx’s The Mongolian Rider are worth the pennies it takes to buy an MP3 these days. Maybe Retroflex’s Family Nightmare too, for the silliness of it all (woo epic gabber trance!). Of course, if you’re just some sort of crazy CD collector (*cough*), you’re gonna have to settle for Influence 2.2 because, believe it or not, this is one of the only places you’ll find Argon-X's cut (so sayeth The Discogs). Hey, maybe its rarity makes that old ginormous review worth- pft, nah!
(Click here to have your eyes glaze over attempting to read my stupid long original review.)
No, really, what in God’s green and blue Earth was I thinking in writing such a ridiculously bloated review for Influence 2.2? I spend over 200 words detailing some tracks, and Argon-X’s Little Gamma’s Adventure gets a whopping 300 words. While some of them do hold up as good examples of classic mid-‘90s hard trance, they were by no means super-ultra-mega classics or anything. And Hell, it sure wasn’t like I wasn’t cutting a few corners with other reviews at the time, seeking brevity on some of the more repetitive CDs I’d be handed.
Right, right. I’m a big sucker for most things Music Research related. And, I suppose in my enthusiasm to share my thoughts on more music from the label, I went totally and utterly overboard on this one. Thing to remember is, in 2005, there weren’t many handy options for sharing audio, at least by any grey-legal means. TranceCritic was more than happy to provide Amazon links to these CDs, and if they just happened to have a thirty-second clip of it, all the better. But as we were trying to be something of a legitimate website, hot-linking to file-sharing services was totally out of the question, to say nothing of uploading such tunes ourselves (oh hello, you be shut down now). These days, it’s no th’ang to give a [Spotify] link – in fact, there's [the entire CD] for you down below right now. There, done, no three-hundred bloody words to let you know how it sounds; just my thumbs up required.
[edit: this whole section is clearly no longer valid, after Spotify became available in Canada, but here it is for posterity sake]
[edit2: Deezer as well, but I'm too lazy updating the link here]
This is why I [didn’t] bother uploading any audio to this here blog. Finding music online is ridiculously easy, a simple “_______ YouTube” search inquiry in your little Google bar all that’s required. If folks want to hear music for themselves, it’s not hard. Still, and call me a curmudgeon traditionalist on this, I believe there remains some value in the hunt for music, a certain satisfaction attained when that search turns out results. Don’t want to make things too easy for the kids these days.
So where does this leave us with Influence 2.2? Kind of forgotten and redundant, now that I think about it. The best tracks off here are worth having, for certain, but they’re coupled with some totally forgettable stuff too. Another benefit of modern music gathering compared to years ago is not having to get a whole CD for a few choice cuts, and believe you me Little Gamma’s Adventure, Influid’s We’re Always Behind You, and Phoenixx’s The Mongolian Rider are worth the pennies it takes to buy an MP3 these days. Maybe Retroflex’s Family Nightmare too, for the silliness of it all (woo epic gabber trance!). Of course, if you’re just some sort of crazy CD collector (*cough*), you’re gonna have to settle for Influence 2.2 because, believe it or not, this is one of the only places you’ll find Argon-X's cut (so sayeth The Discogs). Hey, maybe its rarity makes that old ginormous review worth- pft, nah!
Sunday, October 13, 2013
Various - Influence 1.1: A Hardtrance Experience (Original TC Review)
Cleopatra: 1994
(2013 Update:
This was something of a turning point review for yours truly, in that I figured out how to detail a whole pile of music without resorting to the ol' track-by-track method. It wasn't the first time I did it, mind, nor would I totally shake the habit for a number of months later, but at least the result here was far more concise and easier to read. I really could write an informative review under 1,000 words! When you compare it to the hideous bloat I wrote about the other Influence Records compilations, it's night and day in quality.
Kinda crazy to consider most of the music here's now twenty years old. I wonder if it's the same feeling our parents had when they realized their hard 'dance' music (metal! punk!) had reached the two-decade mark. Does this mean we should be on the lookout for hard acid trance's version of Green Day soon?)
IN BRIEF: The start of Influence.
(2013 Edit: removed a pair of paragraphs that are no longer relevant)
So. Influence Records. The beginning. The was yet another of the many sub-labels of Talla 2XLC’s Music Research label. The main goal of this one was to provide an output for the burgeoning hard techno and trance sound spawned from the earliest hardcore days, a grittier edge to satisfy those growing tired of the goofier slant hardcore was being infected with. With Music Research’s goth and industrial background handy (sub-label Zoth Ommog), it was a tidy little marriage for a while.
Mind, it wasn’t all hard music in the early 90s. Influence also did some traditional trancers (traditional as in loopy, hypnotic stuff, kids), although most of which didn’t garner as much notice as the aggressive material. This compilation gives us a tantalizing taste of Influence’s various sounds from ‘92-‘94, all arranged in a decent little narrative to keep the diversity fresh (Cleopatra/Hypnotic were always great at this facet of their compilations).
Since the hard techno was the initial Influence output, let’s take a look at those tracks first, starting with the debut Influence release, Swamp from Influid. It’s grimy, abrasive, and noisy, with distorted, out-of-tune synths forming what could be construed as a hook. It ain’t pretty, but then what swamp is? Besides, Influid keeps the noises constantly shifting and tweaked with effects, a pretty nifty trick for hard techno in ‘92, though perhaps a bit dated today.
The track by Distortion is pretty similar in this regard, and you can definitely pick out the beginnings of full-out hardcore in Milk; although cruising along at a decent pace, the drum kicks are thick with resonance. When the song allows just the rhythm to get funky, their pummeling power is potent. Full Spectrum by Probe is effective with its aggressive rhythms as well, their rapid pace complementing the choking, mechanical soundscapes to be had within the track. The Postman’s Elysium plays ‘nice’ though, giving us a distorted hook for us to get into while his rhythms thrash away.
When not relying on abrasive noises, some Influence tracks went with the always reliable acid tweakage. Pain from Vene has some big hardcore beats, but the acid workout to be had eats the best offerings from Hardfloor any day. The amusingly titled track from Marble Cybos lays the acid on fiercer, although an accompanying ominous hook and dodgy quality of the track kind of dilutes its effect. For some reason, Fucked By A Vibrator sounds horribly flat. Did someone forget to master it, or was this just a crummy transfer? Who knows at this point.
As for the trancers, there are two types to be found on this compilation: spacey, minimal loop-fests, and brisk, upbeat melodic numbers. The latter are both produced by Reel X, and quite the classics as far as German trance is concerned. As for the former, the two cuts form Norman Fellar (as Phasis and with DJ Ufuk as Surface) have his stamp all over them: they both start out fairly unassuming with loops that don’t sound like much. However, as these tracks progress, the layers of loops that come and go draw you in regardless. The foreboding atmosphere of them in particular should be a nice bonus for those who like their trance sinister.
The two remaining tracks I’ve yet to mention, Unit 99 and Lighten Up, are also of the typical trance variety, and are probably some of my favorites from this time. Yeah, yeah, I’m always going on about how great trance was before the supersaws, breakdowns, plinky pianos, and so on, but when you listen to these two, their simplicity in sound truly is far more hypnotic. Gradual subtlety, spacey pads, and slight hooks: what more can an old trance fan ask for?
Well, consistent quality on a compilation I suppose. Despite the diversity on Influence 1.1, it really is all over the map with the types of music you hear. You’ll be cruising along nicely to a mellow trancer, only to be thrust into a distorted assault of techno without warning. Also, a number of these tracks really are starting to show their age, and their effectiveness as dancefloor weapons are probably going to have to rely more on nostalgia when played against current offerings of hard techno.
Still, as an archive of where this music stood in its beginnings, Influence 1.1 can be quite the fascinating listening experience. Times may have moved on, but it’s still fun to indulge in the past every so often.
(2013 Update:
This was something of a turning point review for yours truly, in that I figured out how to detail a whole pile of music without resorting to the ol' track-by-track method. It wasn't the first time I did it, mind, nor would I totally shake the habit for a number of months later, but at least the result here was far more concise and easier to read. I really could write an informative review under 1,000 words! When you compare it to the hideous bloat I wrote about the other Influence Records compilations, it's night and day in quality.
Kinda crazy to consider most of the music here's now twenty years old. I wonder if it's the same feeling our parents had when they realized their hard 'dance' music (metal! punk!) had reached the two-decade mark. Does this mean we should be on the lookout for hard acid trance's version of Green Day soon?)
IN BRIEF: The start of Influence.
(2013 Edit: removed a pair of paragraphs that are no longer relevant)
So. Influence Records. The beginning. The was yet another of the many sub-labels of Talla 2XLC’s Music Research label. The main goal of this one was to provide an output for the burgeoning hard techno and trance sound spawned from the earliest hardcore days, a grittier edge to satisfy those growing tired of the goofier slant hardcore was being infected with. With Music Research’s goth and industrial background handy (sub-label Zoth Ommog), it was a tidy little marriage for a while.
Mind, it wasn’t all hard music in the early 90s. Influence also did some traditional trancers (traditional as in loopy, hypnotic stuff, kids), although most of which didn’t garner as much notice as the aggressive material. This compilation gives us a tantalizing taste of Influence’s various sounds from ‘92-‘94, all arranged in a decent little narrative to keep the diversity fresh (Cleopatra/Hypnotic were always great at this facet of their compilations).
Since the hard techno was the initial Influence output, let’s take a look at those tracks first, starting with the debut Influence release, Swamp from Influid. It’s grimy, abrasive, and noisy, with distorted, out-of-tune synths forming what could be construed as a hook. It ain’t pretty, but then what swamp is? Besides, Influid keeps the noises constantly shifting and tweaked with effects, a pretty nifty trick for hard techno in ‘92, though perhaps a bit dated today.
The track by Distortion is pretty similar in this regard, and you can definitely pick out the beginnings of full-out hardcore in Milk; although cruising along at a decent pace, the drum kicks are thick with resonance. When the song allows just the rhythm to get funky, their pummeling power is potent. Full Spectrum by Probe is effective with its aggressive rhythms as well, their rapid pace complementing the choking, mechanical soundscapes to be had within the track. The Postman’s Elysium plays ‘nice’ though, giving us a distorted hook for us to get into while his rhythms thrash away.
When not relying on abrasive noises, some Influence tracks went with the always reliable acid tweakage. Pain from Vene has some big hardcore beats, but the acid workout to be had eats the best offerings from Hardfloor any day. The amusingly titled track from Marble Cybos lays the acid on fiercer, although an accompanying ominous hook and dodgy quality of the track kind of dilutes its effect. For some reason, Fucked By A Vibrator sounds horribly flat. Did someone forget to master it, or was this just a crummy transfer? Who knows at this point.
As for the trancers, there are two types to be found on this compilation: spacey, minimal loop-fests, and brisk, upbeat melodic numbers. The latter are both produced by Reel X, and quite the classics as far as German trance is concerned. As for the former, the two cuts form Norman Fellar (as Phasis and with DJ Ufuk as Surface) have his stamp all over them: they both start out fairly unassuming with loops that don’t sound like much. However, as these tracks progress, the layers of loops that come and go draw you in regardless. The foreboding atmosphere of them in particular should be a nice bonus for those who like their trance sinister.
The two remaining tracks I’ve yet to mention, Unit 99 and Lighten Up, are also of the typical trance variety, and are probably some of my favorites from this time. Yeah, yeah, I’m always going on about how great trance was before the supersaws, breakdowns, plinky pianos, and so on, but when you listen to these two, their simplicity in sound truly is far more hypnotic. Gradual subtlety, spacey pads, and slight hooks: what more can an old trance fan ask for?
Well, consistent quality on a compilation I suppose. Despite the diversity on Influence 1.1, it really is all over the map with the types of music you hear. You’ll be cruising along nicely to a mellow trancer, only to be thrust into a distorted assault of techno without warning. Also, a number of these tracks really are starting to show their age, and their effectiveness as dancefloor weapons are probably going to have to rely more on nostalgia when played against current offerings of hard techno.
Still, as an archive of where this music stood in its beginnings, Influence 1.1 can be quite the fascinating listening experience. Times may have moved on, but it’s still fun to indulge in the past every so often.
Saturday, October 12, 2013
Nirvana - In Utero
DGC: 1993
Isn’t this a nice coincidence, what with all the 20th anniversary versions of Nirvana’s third and final album floating about now? I get to enjoy being on the pulse of contemporary-retro music discussion and- oh, everyone’s already moved on from In Utero’s re-re-release (start saving for the 25th anniversary version now, kids!). In fact, it’s growing rather tiresome to hear the same ‘Nirvana changed a generation of music’ narrative trumped out every opportunity the rock media gets some loosely connected release to tie it into. I get it, Nirvana was a very important band in the world of rock, but we all know, had they (re: Kurt Cobain) kept their shit together, they’d just end up like the Foo Fighters or whatever other post-grunge act you have. Or worse, attempting nu-metal! No, not really. Ol’ Kurt would never have succumbed to that. Guy was a rocker through-and-through, but was totally caught between worlds following Nevermind. Do you maintain that slick studio polish that won you a gajillion fans, or do you prove you still have your underground roots within, untainted by money and fame.
Both, it would seem! Bringing in “I’m real punk” producer Steve Albani is as clear of intent as it gets, coercing as much raw, honest emotion from their music as they could. If you ignore the band’s legacy (hard, I know), it left an album that leaves most listeners divided, as it did way back in ’93. Between the obvious ‘grunge by numbers’ cuts like Rape Me, Dumb, and Frances Farmer Will Have Her Revenge On Seattle, you’re also assaulted by pure noise freakouts like Scentless Apprentice, Radio Friendly Unit Shifter, and Tourette’s. Oh, and an acoustic number at the end called All Apologies, that gained quite a bit of notoriety following Kurt’s death (was he directly apologizing to us for what was to come?). Well Hell, that’s a frustrating album to get into if you only came expecting a bunch more Heart Shaped Boxes. Or the most awesome album if you feared it’d just be a bunch more Heart Shaped Boxes. Those people tend to get divided between Nevermind or Bleach, respectively, being the true authentic Nirvana experience.
Which leaves In Utero in limbo, an album that, aside from the big hits, disappointed when it first came out. Now it’s hailed as a neglected classic, because that’s just what you do with final albums that capture a band at the height of their fame. I personally get a kick out of it, probably more the noisey thrash numbers since it’s easier to feel angry than mopey these days. Ultimately though, what we’re getting with this album is blues music for the pissed-off Gen-X crowd, which is how it’s endured when so much other grunge music hasn’t (much less get multiple anniversary re-issues). When it comes to the blues, authenticity of emotion is always key, and there were few people who came across as depressed and angry as Kurt Cobain did when this came out.
Isn’t this a nice coincidence, what with all the 20th anniversary versions of Nirvana’s third and final album floating about now? I get to enjoy being on the pulse of contemporary-retro music discussion and- oh, everyone’s already moved on from In Utero’s re-re-release (start saving for the 25th anniversary version now, kids!). In fact, it’s growing rather tiresome to hear the same ‘Nirvana changed a generation of music’ narrative trumped out every opportunity the rock media gets some loosely connected release to tie it into. I get it, Nirvana was a very important band in the world of rock, but we all know, had they (re: Kurt Cobain) kept their shit together, they’d just end up like the Foo Fighters or whatever other post-grunge act you have. Or worse, attempting nu-metal! No, not really. Ol’ Kurt would never have succumbed to that. Guy was a rocker through-and-through, but was totally caught between worlds following Nevermind. Do you maintain that slick studio polish that won you a gajillion fans, or do you prove you still have your underground roots within, untainted by money and fame.
Both, it would seem! Bringing in “I’m real punk” producer Steve Albani is as clear of intent as it gets, coercing as much raw, honest emotion from their music as they could. If you ignore the band’s legacy (hard, I know), it left an album that leaves most listeners divided, as it did way back in ’93. Between the obvious ‘grunge by numbers’ cuts like Rape Me, Dumb, and Frances Farmer Will Have Her Revenge On Seattle, you’re also assaulted by pure noise freakouts like Scentless Apprentice, Radio Friendly Unit Shifter, and Tourette’s. Oh, and an acoustic number at the end called All Apologies, that gained quite a bit of notoriety following Kurt’s death (was he directly apologizing to us for what was to come?). Well Hell, that’s a frustrating album to get into if you only came expecting a bunch more Heart Shaped Boxes. Or the most awesome album if you feared it’d just be a bunch more Heart Shaped Boxes. Those people tend to get divided between Nevermind or Bleach, respectively, being the true authentic Nirvana experience.
Which leaves In Utero in limbo, an album that, aside from the big hits, disappointed when it first came out. Now it’s hailed as a neglected classic, because that’s just what you do with final albums that capture a band at the height of their fame. I personally get a kick out of it, probably more the noisey thrash numbers since it’s easier to feel angry than mopey these days. Ultimately though, what we’re getting with this album is blues music for the pissed-off Gen-X crowd, which is how it’s endured when so much other grunge music hasn’t (much less get multiple anniversary re-issues). When it comes to the blues, authenticity of emotion is always key, and there were few people who came across as depressed and angry as Kurt Cobain did when this came out.
Friday, October 11, 2013
Colette - In The Sun
Afterhours: 2000
Now here’s a gal with an interesting career. Blessed with the looks you’d associate with euro-dance pop tarts, Ms. Colette Marino instead carved out a career in the relatively underground side of house music. She initially made her mark through the DJ circuit, but would often sing her own vocals over top tracks, helping her stand out from an already overstuffed DJ market (that whole ‘being a woman’ thing probably didn’t hurt either). She produced a few tracks for various labels in her early career, and OM Records eventually gave her an opportunity to let her singing and song-writing take front-and-center, releasing a pair of albums to mild success within the deep house scene. They were rather poppy, true, but a lot of that West Coast bumpin' vibe already skewed that way, ties to disco and funk of yesteryear undeniable. They weren’t crossover attempts (though if it had happened, I doubt anyone would complain), but simply enjoyable moments of clubbing fluff the house faithful could get down to. Y'know, Hed Kandi fodder.
Given the general reactions some scenes have towards their lady DJs indulging in their pop potential, it's a testament to the classiness of house-heads that they never turned their backs on Colette (like, say, the jungle scene did to DJ Rap). It certainly helps she earned more than enough respect at the turn of the century with her DJing, honoring the deep, soulful vibes inherent to Chicago's legacy in her chosen style. This here In The Sun, released on near-Chicago label Aftermath, is as fine a representation of her talents as any.
Right, so coming off that DJ Dan mix CD, she isn't quite that good. Occasional forced mixes do crop up, but I can live with them so long as the shoes are kept out of the dryer. If you think it unfair of me to compare the two, it’s not my fault that this disc features music of pretty much the same vein. And hey, what are the odds we’d get another mix of loopy, filtered disco house one after the other in this alphabetical stipulation of mine? Okay, so it could happen if it was a running series, or both happened to be named after the similarity of genre, but that’s not the case here. In The Sun and In Stereo are two totally different releases on two totally different labels by two totally different DJs of two totally different sexes. Released but a year from each other, and just happens to have very similar taste in music. THE ODDS!!
Colette’s take on this sound is definitely more Chicago-based though, so the disco gets dubby for durations while those filter knobs get their tweak on. One of the few things that helps In The Sun stand out from all the other disco-dub house mixes of the time is the inclusion of a Sombionx’s jazzstep remix of Colette’s own Try Her For Love. Ending your set in such an unexpected fashion? That takes some balls, woman!
Now here’s a gal with an interesting career. Blessed with the looks you’d associate with euro-dance pop tarts, Ms. Colette Marino instead carved out a career in the relatively underground side of house music. She initially made her mark through the DJ circuit, but would often sing her own vocals over top tracks, helping her stand out from an already overstuffed DJ market (that whole ‘being a woman’ thing probably didn’t hurt either). She produced a few tracks for various labels in her early career, and OM Records eventually gave her an opportunity to let her singing and song-writing take front-and-center, releasing a pair of albums to mild success within the deep house scene. They were rather poppy, true, but a lot of that West Coast bumpin' vibe already skewed that way, ties to disco and funk of yesteryear undeniable. They weren’t crossover attempts (though if it had happened, I doubt anyone would complain), but simply enjoyable moments of clubbing fluff the house faithful could get down to. Y'know, Hed Kandi fodder.
Given the general reactions some scenes have towards their lady DJs indulging in their pop potential, it's a testament to the classiness of house-heads that they never turned their backs on Colette (like, say, the jungle scene did to DJ Rap). It certainly helps she earned more than enough respect at the turn of the century with her DJing, honoring the deep, soulful vibes inherent to Chicago's legacy in her chosen style. This here In The Sun, released on near-Chicago label Aftermath, is as fine a representation of her talents as any.
Right, so coming off that DJ Dan mix CD, she isn't quite that good. Occasional forced mixes do crop up, but I can live with them so long as the shoes are kept out of the dryer. If you think it unfair of me to compare the two, it’s not my fault that this disc features music of pretty much the same vein. And hey, what are the odds we’d get another mix of loopy, filtered disco house one after the other in this alphabetical stipulation of mine? Okay, so it could happen if it was a running series, or both happened to be named after the similarity of genre, but that’s not the case here. In The Sun and In Stereo are two totally different releases on two totally different labels by two totally different DJs of two totally different sexes. Released but a year from each other, and just happens to have very similar taste in music. THE ODDS!!
Colette’s take on this sound is definitely more Chicago-based though, so the disco gets dubby for durations while those filter knobs get their tweak on. One of the few things that helps In The Sun stand out from all the other disco-dub house mixes of the time is the inclusion of a Sombionx’s jazzstep remix of Colette’s own Try Her For Love. Ending your set in such an unexpected fashion? That takes some balls, woman!
Labels:
2000,
Afterhours,
Colette,
deep house,
DJ Mix,
filters,
house,
jazzstep
Thursday, October 10, 2013
DJ Dan - In Stereo
Kinetic Records: 2001
At the turn of the century, if you lived on the West Coast of the Americana-Lands, DJ Dan was the man. Already a hotbed of deep house action, Mr. Daniel Wherrett was tops on the scene when it came to bringing the funky disco vibes at the peak hours of any party he played at. Or maybe it was just Moonshine Music recognizing his skills in a long-simmering underground capacity and giving him that extra promotional push as far into the mainstream as any house DJ could achieve back then (not that far, all things considered). Whatever the means he used to reach that star status, it couldn’t be denied DJ Dan brought the goods. He may not command the same level of hype now, but any West Coaster knows a show with ol’ Needle Damage on the decks is a guaranteed good time.
During that heyday, Danny boy released mix after mix through Moonshine, most of them respectable enough if you were a fan of his brand of house music, but lacking something truly special as far as this listener was concerned (not enough Olav!). He eventually branched out from their arms, establishing his In Stereo imprint – and not a moment too soon, as Moonshine folded shortly after that (hey, it’s like he was carrying Moonshine! …not really). So as expected with such things, he released a mix CD showcasing all the new tunes that were to be released on- What? There’s nothing from his label on here? Wait a moment…
*sacrifices bootleg vinyl of Sasha and Tenaglia mash-up titled Elements Of Gravy to Lord Discogs*
Oh, this mix came out a year before In Stereo was launched. Not only that, but barely anything was released on the label for the first few years, and has since become a sluggish digital vehicle. Can’t blame Dan for not focusing on running a label though, since he’s undoubtedly kept proper-busy touring. The struggles of DJing.
Alright, enough of that. Is In Stereo, the CD, any good, you ponder? Damn straight it’s good, even if there’s not a whole lot here anyone familiar with disco house won’t have heard before. Not so much in the way of familiar tunes – though there are a few of those too – but just in the execution. You got your samples, your filters, your loops, your repeating vocals, and all that. Ill Concepts from The Street Preacherz shows up, as does the original version of TDR’s Squelch - you do remember that one, right, before the Sander van Doornering of it?
The biggest peak of the set hits with Liquid People’s electro-funk of I Am Somebody and Scanty’s breaks of Get Next To The Opposite Sex, perfectly complementing each other. There’s a couple French house leaning cuts in this mix too (from Joey Beltram, no less), and DJ Dan eases things down to a deeper disco-dub house vibe towards end, the likes of Junior Sanchez and Todd Terry leading the way. But still not enough Olav. Fail!
At the turn of the century, if you lived on the West Coast of the Americana-Lands, DJ Dan was the man. Already a hotbed of deep house action, Mr. Daniel Wherrett was tops on the scene when it came to bringing the funky disco vibes at the peak hours of any party he played at. Or maybe it was just Moonshine Music recognizing his skills in a long-simmering underground capacity and giving him that extra promotional push as far into the mainstream as any house DJ could achieve back then (not that far, all things considered). Whatever the means he used to reach that star status, it couldn’t be denied DJ Dan brought the goods. He may not command the same level of hype now, but any West Coaster knows a show with ol’ Needle Damage on the decks is a guaranteed good time.
During that heyday, Danny boy released mix after mix through Moonshine, most of them respectable enough if you were a fan of his brand of house music, but lacking something truly special as far as this listener was concerned (not enough Olav!). He eventually branched out from their arms, establishing his In Stereo imprint – and not a moment too soon, as Moonshine folded shortly after that (hey, it’s like he was carrying Moonshine! …not really). So as expected with such things, he released a mix CD showcasing all the new tunes that were to be released on- What? There’s nothing from his label on here? Wait a moment…
*sacrifices bootleg vinyl of Sasha and Tenaglia mash-up titled Elements Of Gravy to Lord Discogs*
Oh, this mix came out a year before In Stereo was launched. Not only that, but barely anything was released on the label for the first few years, and has since become a sluggish digital vehicle. Can’t blame Dan for not focusing on running a label though, since he’s undoubtedly kept proper-busy touring. The struggles of DJing.
Alright, enough of that. Is In Stereo, the CD, any good, you ponder? Damn straight it’s good, even if there’s not a whole lot here anyone familiar with disco house won’t have heard before. Not so much in the way of familiar tunes – though there are a few of those too – but just in the execution. You got your samples, your filters, your loops, your repeating vocals, and all that. Ill Concepts from The Street Preacherz shows up, as does the original version of TDR’s Squelch - you do remember that one, right, before the Sander van Doornering of it?
The biggest peak of the set hits with Liquid People’s electro-funk of I Am Somebody and Scanty’s breaks of Get Next To The Opposite Sex, perfectly complementing each other. There’s a couple French house leaning cuts in this mix too (from Joey Beltram, no less), and DJ Dan eases things down to a deeper disco-dub house vibe towards end, the likes of Junior Sanchez and Todd Terry leading the way. But still not enough Olav. Fail!
Wednesday, October 9, 2013
Deltron 3030 - Event 2
Bulk Recordings: 2013
Yeah, it came out, been on the shelves for a week now. Not a big deal, though, nope, uh-uh. I mean, do you see massive hype plastered all over the interwebs for it? True, the first Deltron album has always been something of a cult-classic, a release that never garnered much praise beyond those who actually heard the damn thing (a might too few, it seems). Plus, it's not like a monumental musical leap forward was necessary. Deltron 3030 was well ahead of its time, practically timeless, but it never spawned copycats – really, who could top it but the original crew of Del Tha Funkee Homosapien, Dan The Automator, and Kid Koala. That said, why should the group re-invent the wheel when most of the hip-hop world still seems stuck with rolling boulders?
So if you're expecting Event 2 to be light-year leap forward from its predecessor, forget it. Instead, they’ve narrowed their focus, opting to tell a specific story rather than provide a broad overview of our world in the 31st Century. Gone are Deltron's excursions into intergalactic rap battles, chilling on the downswing, or fighting the mega-corporation-man. For sadly, the mega-corporation-man blew it all up, leaving Earth in a sorry state for Deltron's crew to survey the aftermath.
As such, quite a bit of melancholy permeates Event 2. There are still moments of that Futurama humor – The Lonley Island turn in a skit that sounds like really old Beastie Boys dropping mad science skills from head-jars – but by and large we’re visiting a world that, having barely survived utter disaster, has seen better times. If you need proof, just gander at opening track The Return, a piece far less triumphant than the first album’s 3030, but no less epic in narrative scope.
Lyrically, Del’s sci-fi wordplay is as strong as ever, though not quite as ridiculously unpredictable since he’s not jumping between so many topics. He’s settled into more of a storyteller’s role, one that he seldom does (observational and battle raps are his main strengths), a loss of energy the result; yet, it perfectly adds to the somber outlook of Event II. Automator, too, has taken a step back from his various hip-hop fusion antics, opting for symphonic flourishes and guest collaborations. He can still write a damn catchy hook though (The Agony, What Is This Loneliness, City Rising From The Ashes, so many more), but those dense, sampling hip-hop cuts that thrived on the first album have mostly been jettisoned in favour of tighter song writing. Kid Koala, meanwhile… is still Kid Koala. Don’t you ever change, Kid.
Has it been worth the wait? Yes. They were never gonna replicate Deltron 3030, as the creative forces involved (all three players at the top of their game) made it an LP that could only be created once. By building upon the concept with a fresh environment to play in, however, Event 2 owns just as an unique place within hip-hop’s canon. What more could you ask for?
Yeah, it came out, been on the shelves for a week now. Not a big deal, though, nope, uh-uh. I mean, do you see massive hype plastered all over the interwebs for it? True, the first Deltron album has always been something of a cult-classic, a release that never garnered much praise beyond those who actually heard the damn thing (a might too few, it seems). Plus, it's not like a monumental musical leap forward was necessary. Deltron 3030 was well ahead of its time, practically timeless, but it never spawned copycats – really, who could top it but the original crew of Del Tha Funkee Homosapien, Dan The Automator, and Kid Koala. That said, why should the group re-invent the wheel when most of the hip-hop world still seems stuck with rolling boulders?
So if you're expecting Event 2 to be light-year leap forward from its predecessor, forget it. Instead, they’ve narrowed their focus, opting to tell a specific story rather than provide a broad overview of our world in the 31st Century. Gone are Deltron's excursions into intergalactic rap battles, chilling on the downswing, or fighting the mega-corporation-man. For sadly, the mega-corporation-man blew it all up, leaving Earth in a sorry state for Deltron's crew to survey the aftermath.
As such, quite a bit of melancholy permeates Event 2. There are still moments of that Futurama humor – The Lonley Island turn in a skit that sounds like really old Beastie Boys dropping mad science skills from head-jars – but by and large we’re visiting a world that, having barely survived utter disaster, has seen better times. If you need proof, just gander at opening track The Return, a piece far less triumphant than the first album’s 3030, but no less epic in narrative scope.
Lyrically, Del’s sci-fi wordplay is as strong as ever, though not quite as ridiculously unpredictable since he’s not jumping between so many topics. He’s settled into more of a storyteller’s role, one that he seldom does (observational and battle raps are his main strengths), a loss of energy the result; yet, it perfectly adds to the somber outlook of Event II. Automator, too, has taken a step back from his various hip-hop fusion antics, opting for symphonic flourishes and guest collaborations. He can still write a damn catchy hook though (The Agony, What Is This Loneliness, City Rising From The Ashes, so many more), but those dense, sampling hip-hop cuts that thrived on the first album have mostly been jettisoned in favour of tighter song writing. Kid Koala, meanwhile… is still Kid Koala. Don’t you ever change, Kid.
Has it been worth the wait? Yes. They were never gonna replicate Deltron 3030, as the creative forces involved (all three players at the top of their game) made it an LP that could only be created once. By building upon the concept with a fresh environment to play in, however, Event 2 owns just as an unique place within hip-hop’s canon. What more could you ask for?
Tuesday, October 8, 2013
Tiësto - In Search Of Sunrise 7: Asia (Original TC Review)
Songbird: 2008
(2013 Update:
In Search Of Sunrise was Tiësto’s series, of that no one can debate. Doesn't matter if you figured it was a good series or not, when you thought of DJ mix CDs from the Dutch icon, you thought of this one. Hell, he even named numerous remixes of his after it, almost as a means of cross-promotion. So while it wasn't in the realm of implausibility he'd move on from it, you sure didn't think Black Hole would be so presumptuous that they could carry on In Search Of Sunrise with an even doofier twat afterwards. Way to ruin the legacy, Black Hole.
Re-listening to the collection of pure uplifting trance vibes of CD2, I wonder if Mr. Verwest had already planned his musical change of direction that was soon to follow. It almost comes off as one last hurrah for his long-time faithful, a sort of "This be the last time ya'll gonna eat off my trance plate, bitches!" If you've never liked the vocals in his mixes, it's definitely the best (and only) In Search Of Sunrise disc you're likely to find.)
IN BRIEF: In search of consistency.
Although Tiësto’s never hidden the fact he is an ambitious individual, it would seem he’s no longer satisfied with conquering specific locales like Los Angeles and Ibiza. No sir, now he aims to make his mark on a continental level, and settling with nothing less than the biggest continent on the planet: Asia. At this rate, subsequent releases of In Search Of Sunrise will probably be subtitled Earth, Sol (now there’s a concept, searching for sunrise on the sun!), Andromeda, and finally Sloan Great Wall.
All joking aside, the Asia tag affixed to the seventh edition of Mr. Verwest’s annual DJ mix doesn’t have much to do with this release, as the continent's various cultures - from the Middle East to Siberia to Indonesia to nearly everything in between - aren't touched upon. Rather, this is still very much Ibizan in nature, with your usual plethora of acoustic guitars, poppy vocals, and melodic-driven dance beats. And although one could probably conjure some vague Far-Eastern imagery at various points, there’s only one track that seems to directly draw influence from the continent (the sitar use in Get Lifted). As it turns out, the main reason provided by the man himself for the subtitle was he happened to be touring through Thailand when he compiled this - so Thailand would be more accurate, although with so few actual ethnic aesthetics contained on this double-disc, it could just as easily have been subtitled Turkmenistan.
Specifically, My Hotel Suite In Thailand is the locale - and the first disc of this release certainly does sound like a bedroom mix, as there isn’t much of a theme or structure to the set. Tiësto seems to have rounded up a number of his current favorite summery vocal and prog house cuts and arranged them in quite an erratic fashion. We jump from Balearic house to girly prog to instrumental tunes to folksy male vocalists to... you get the idea. Each mini-segment, mostly lasting a couple songs, bares scant resemblance to a previous one, with transitions into the next that are usually abrupt and jarring. Tiësto’s mixing has long been quite noticeable and telegraphed, but he can often hide his technical limitations with at least agreeable set flow; however, with even this lacking, CD1 comes off as a mish-mash of mostly randomly selected tunes plunked in to fill up seventy minutes of playing time.
It doesn’t help some of the songs aren’t that good to begin with, Tiësto’s own remix of Cary Brothers being the worst offender - the lyrics and music don’t mesh at all and it's an unfortunate waste of an otherwise good bassline. Plus, having the set end with yet another Christian “Will Shed Tears For Sunrise” Burns guest vocal reinforces the fact over-emotional male singers in dance music does no favors for the genre’s credibility. Overall, despite strong tracks from Three Drives and 16 Bit Lolita’s (as Kamui and Dokmai, in a very obvious attempt on their part to help Mr. Verwest add some legitimate Eastern Asia attributes to this release) that are worth your attention, CD1's rushed feeling creates a lack of polish you’d expect from a high-profile name the likes of Mr. Verwest holds.
Oddly enough, the opposite holds true for the second disc. Here, the music is divided into two sections: current-sounding trance at the start, and classic epic trance afterwards. There isn’t much of a theme to this set either, but by sticking to a very specific style, the flow is stronger, especially so in the second half. In fact, the biggest highlight of ISOS7 is this ‘return to the roots’ section.
Although CD2 starts promisingly with a nice intro (the intro and outro tracks that bookend each CD, and are produced by Daniel Joaquin and Javier Rodriguez, are quite lovely) and a nifty little number from Zoo Brazil, it quickly descends into a trudge through overproduced, side-chaining, plodding music. Yet, just as you figure it can’t get any more wrought with Carl B’s cloying Just A Thought, all that is significantly scaled back into something far more, well, simple - and this is a good thing! Kimito Lopez’ Melkweg isn’t interested in assaulting your senses with vertigo-inducing side-chain washes or overdosing with ultra-melodies; nay, just a good groove, pleasing melody, and trancey backdrops. It completely changes the tone of the set, leading us through a string of one solid track after the other. The melodies are strong and to the point, easily outclassing Carl B’s effort; in comparison, Just A Thought comes off like a hyper-sensitive child desperately seeking attention, screaming “oh please please PLEASE love my super-wonderful mega-melody!"
And yes, by playing simpler trance tracks that get back to the basics rather than bumping and clawing at each other to be THE set highlight, the rest of CD2 does take on a pure trance-inducing attribute. Each song has the strength to stand on its own, yet expertly feeds off the previous one to maintain the energy; even the breakdowns and builds are tastefully executed, seldom coming off excessive (although Casa Grande does teeter close to the edge). Granted, even this section has some problems with transitions but the strength of the music helps gloss such quibbles away.
Ultimately though, this latest edition of the ISOS series is once again one disc too many. If you were to take the highlights from the first CD and couple it with much of the second half of CD2, you’d have an incredibly solid set of summery energetic progressive trance vibes. As it is, however, you have to wade through a bunch of overbearing mediocrity and sketchy arrangements to get to the good stuff. This still may be worth a pick-up on the cheap but with chances being only the last third getting consistent play-through down the road, you’d be better off just buying your top picks individually instead.
(2013 Update:
In Search Of Sunrise was Tiësto’s series, of that no one can debate. Doesn't matter if you figured it was a good series or not, when you thought of DJ mix CDs from the Dutch icon, you thought of this one. Hell, he even named numerous remixes of his after it, almost as a means of cross-promotion. So while it wasn't in the realm of implausibility he'd move on from it, you sure didn't think Black Hole would be so presumptuous that they could carry on In Search Of Sunrise with an even doofier twat afterwards. Way to ruin the legacy, Black Hole.
Re-listening to the collection of pure uplifting trance vibes of CD2, I wonder if Mr. Verwest had already planned his musical change of direction that was soon to follow. It almost comes off as one last hurrah for his long-time faithful, a sort of "This be the last time ya'll gonna eat off my trance plate, bitches!" If you've never liked the vocals in his mixes, it's definitely the best (and only) In Search Of Sunrise disc you're likely to find.)
IN BRIEF: In search of consistency.
Although Tiësto’s never hidden the fact he is an ambitious individual, it would seem he’s no longer satisfied with conquering specific locales like Los Angeles and Ibiza. No sir, now he aims to make his mark on a continental level, and settling with nothing less than the biggest continent on the planet: Asia. At this rate, subsequent releases of In Search Of Sunrise will probably be subtitled Earth, Sol (now there’s a concept, searching for sunrise on the sun!), Andromeda, and finally Sloan Great Wall.
All joking aside, the Asia tag affixed to the seventh edition of Mr. Verwest’s annual DJ mix doesn’t have much to do with this release, as the continent's various cultures - from the Middle East to Siberia to Indonesia to nearly everything in between - aren't touched upon. Rather, this is still very much Ibizan in nature, with your usual plethora of acoustic guitars, poppy vocals, and melodic-driven dance beats. And although one could probably conjure some vague Far-Eastern imagery at various points, there’s only one track that seems to directly draw influence from the continent (the sitar use in Get Lifted). As it turns out, the main reason provided by the man himself for the subtitle was he happened to be touring through Thailand when he compiled this - so Thailand would be more accurate, although with so few actual ethnic aesthetics contained on this double-disc, it could just as easily have been subtitled Turkmenistan.
Specifically, My Hotel Suite In Thailand is the locale - and the first disc of this release certainly does sound like a bedroom mix, as there isn’t much of a theme or structure to the set. Tiësto seems to have rounded up a number of his current favorite summery vocal and prog house cuts and arranged them in quite an erratic fashion. We jump from Balearic house to girly prog to instrumental tunes to folksy male vocalists to... you get the idea. Each mini-segment, mostly lasting a couple songs, bares scant resemblance to a previous one, with transitions into the next that are usually abrupt and jarring. Tiësto’s mixing has long been quite noticeable and telegraphed, but he can often hide his technical limitations with at least agreeable set flow; however, with even this lacking, CD1 comes off as a mish-mash of mostly randomly selected tunes plunked in to fill up seventy minutes of playing time.
It doesn’t help some of the songs aren’t that good to begin with, Tiësto’s own remix of Cary Brothers being the worst offender - the lyrics and music don’t mesh at all and it's an unfortunate waste of an otherwise good bassline. Plus, having the set end with yet another Christian “Will Shed Tears For Sunrise” Burns guest vocal reinforces the fact over-emotional male singers in dance music does no favors for the genre’s credibility. Overall, despite strong tracks from Three Drives and 16 Bit Lolita’s (as Kamui and Dokmai, in a very obvious attempt on their part to help Mr. Verwest add some legitimate Eastern Asia attributes to this release) that are worth your attention, CD1's rushed feeling creates a lack of polish you’d expect from a high-profile name the likes of Mr. Verwest holds.
Oddly enough, the opposite holds true for the second disc. Here, the music is divided into two sections: current-sounding trance at the start, and classic epic trance afterwards. There isn’t much of a theme to this set either, but by sticking to a very specific style, the flow is stronger, especially so in the second half. In fact, the biggest highlight of ISOS7 is this ‘return to the roots’ section.
Although CD2 starts promisingly with a nice intro (the intro and outro tracks that bookend each CD, and are produced by Daniel Joaquin and Javier Rodriguez, are quite lovely) and a nifty little number from Zoo Brazil, it quickly descends into a trudge through overproduced, side-chaining, plodding music. Yet, just as you figure it can’t get any more wrought with Carl B’s cloying Just A Thought, all that is significantly scaled back into something far more, well, simple - and this is a good thing! Kimito Lopez’ Melkweg isn’t interested in assaulting your senses with vertigo-inducing side-chain washes or overdosing with ultra-melodies; nay, just a good groove, pleasing melody, and trancey backdrops. It completely changes the tone of the set, leading us through a string of one solid track after the other. The melodies are strong and to the point, easily outclassing Carl B’s effort; in comparison, Just A Thought comes off like a hyper-sensitive child desperately seeking attention, screaming “oh please please PLEASE love my super-wonderful mega-melody!"
And yes, by playing simpler trance tracks that get back to the basics rather than bumping and clawing at each other to be THE set highlight, the rest of CD2 does take on a pure trance-inducing attribute. Each song has the strength to stand on its own, yet expertly feeds off the previous one to maintain the energy; even the breakdowns and builds are tastefully executed, seldom coming off excessive (although Casa Grande does teeter close to the edge). Granted, even this section has some problems with transitions but the strength of the music helps gloss such quibbles away.
Ultimately though, this latest edition of the ISOS series is once again one disc too many. If you were to take the highlights from the first CD and couple it with much of the second half of CD2, you’d have an incredibly solid set of summery energetic progressive trance vibes. As it is, however, you have to wade through a bunch of overbearing mediocrity and sketchy arrangements to get to the good stuff. This still may be worth a pick-up on the cheap but with chances being only the last third getting consistent play-through down the road, you’d be better off just buying your top picks individually instead.
Monday, October 7, 2013
Sounds From The Ground - High Rising
Waveform Records: 2006
Now this one, this is where one should check out Sounds From The Ground first. I can’t go so far as to say it’s the London duo’s best album, but of their Waveform releases, it’s definitely one of their most consistent LPs from front-to-back. With a title like High Rising, you might expect soaring sonics and uplifting melodies, but this is an incredibly subdued CD, executing ambient dub in ways that sounds boundless despite not venturing stylistically far. I guess Jones and Woolfson had finally got their sound… down to the ground? Ah heh… um, yeah, no.
I should make something clear right off the bat: if you've never had an ear for ambient dub, High Rising isn't likely to change your mind on the genre. Frankly, I'm unsure what sort of album would. Like so many dub variants of music, it's the sort of sound you're either into, faults and all, or figure just a bunch of mindless, middling musical-fluff only spliff heads could vibe on. This is a good album for those who enjoy the music, for sure, but if you're in need of something easier to get acquainted with, maybe start from the source in those classic Beyond Ambient Dub compilations.
Back to Sounds From The Ground, they'd been in the game for a good decade, and though occasionally exploring other forms of downtempo and chill, their bread and butter remained ambient dub. So if fans were to be treated to a full album of them doing what they did-done best, it must have been oh-so sweet catnip. Like if Oliver Lieb were to make a trance album again. Or Markus Schulz playing McProg again. Or Deltron making any music again (ooh, it’s finally here!).
Even within its relatively narrow confines, High Rising does offer some diversity of style for the discerning ambient dub head. There's the slight touch of bleepy techno on tracks like Rotorblade and Slate Grey. Viper Style has dashes of world beat, while Gaudi shows up in Palmprint for a proper reggae dub jam. As the cover art might hint at, some city-cool trip-hop action crops up in Beautiful Feeling and Blink. Finally, showing they were also clued into the growing popularity of psy dub, final tracks Speedbumps and Allsorts sound like they’d fit snuggly on an Ultimae collection.
In some ways, that the follow-up of Brightwhitelight coming off mediocre isn’t so surprising anymore. How could Jones and Woolfson top High Rising when everything on here is superbly crafted while staying true to just the essentials? (yeah yeah, I’m probably overhyping it) Small wonder they released an ‘odds-n-sods’ collection after that one, then started properly exploring different roads of downtempo with their next few albums. Those are reviews for much later though. Meanwhile, if you’ve just a passing curiosity about Sounds From The Ground, High Rising’s definitely the one to scope out first. Unless, of course, you can afford to splurge on the whole lot.
Now this one, this is where one should check out Sounds From The Ground first. I can’t go so far as to say it’s the London duo’s best album, but of their Waveform releases, it’s definitely one of their most consistent LPs from front-to-back. With a title like High Rising, you might expect soaring sonics and uplifting melodies, but this is an incredibly subdued CD, executing ambient dub in ways that sounds boundless despite not venturing stylistically far. I guess Jones and Woolfson had finally got their sound… down to the ground? Ah heh… um, yeah, no.
I should make something clear right off the bat: if you've never had an ear for ambient dub, High Rising isn't likely to change your mind on the genre. Frankly, I'm unsure what sort of album would. Like so many dub variants of music, it's the sort of sound you're either into, faults and all, or figure just a bunch of mindless, middling musical-fluff only spliff heads could vibe on. This is a good album for those who enjoy the music, for sure, but if you're in need of something easier to get acquainted with, maybe start from the source in those classic Beyond Ambient Dub compilations.
Back to Sounds From The Ground, they'd been in the game for a good decade, and though occasionally exploring other forms of downtempo and chill, their bread and butter remained ambient dub. So if fans were to be treated to a full album of them doing what they did-done best, it must have been oh-so sweet catnip. Like if Oliver Lieb were to make a trance album again. Or Markus Schulz playing McProg again. Or Deltron making any music again (ooh, it’s finally here!).
Even within its relatively narrow confines, High Rising does offer some diversity of style for the discerning ambient dub head. There's the slight touch of bleepy techno on tracks like Rotorblade and Slate Grey. Viper Style has dashes of world beat, while Gaudi shows up in Palmprint for a proper reggae dub jam. As the cover art might hint at, some city-cool trip-hop action crops up in Beautiful Feeling and Blink. Finally, showing they were also clued into the growing popularity of psy dub, final tracks Speedbumps and Allsorts sound like they’d fit snuggly on an Ultimae collection.
In some ways, that the follow-up of Brightwhitelight coming off mediocre isn’t so surprising anymore. How could Jones and Woolfson top High Rising when everything on here is superbly crafted while staying true to just the essentials? (yeah yeah, I’m probably overhyping it) Small wonder they released an ‘odds-n-sods’ collection after that one, then started properly exploring different roads of downtempo with their next few albums. Those are reviews for much later though. Meanwhile, if you’ve just a passing curiosity about Sounds From The Ground, High Rising’s definitely the one to scope out first. Unless, of course, you can afford to splurge on the whole lot.
Sunday, October 6, 2013
Various - Four A.D.
Waveform Records: 2003
Dammit, my alphabetical stipulation strikes again. Instead of delving into Waveform's A.D. (Ambient Dub) series in any sort of practical order, here we are dealing with the fourth (and likely last) edition first. And it's not like this gives me an opportunity to get all the history out of the way, saving me valuable self-imposed word count for the earlier volumes later - the next one's all the way down in the 'O's. It's taken me nearly two years to make the progress I have already. By the time we hit One A.D. (if ever), this review'll be long forgotten.
Or maybe not, but to be honest, Four A.D. didn't garner the same sort of buzz as its predecessors, for reasons that are both obvious and not as much. A.D.s One through Three had the benefit of being rather unique when they came out, the idea of ‘chill-out’ compilations for the clubbing generation still in its infancy. Heck, the Ambient Dub series from Beyond is often credited as kicking off the whole enterprise way back in ’92, and Waveform essentially served as their Stateside distributor for those releases. Taking things a step further, however, Waveform snagged a few exclusives of their own, setting themselves apart from their UK brothers while memorably launching their label.
So that Waveform would see fit to make an ‘anniversary’ fourth edition’s fair play; unfortunately, the dubby downtempo market had long since been flooded with options when Four A.D. came out, so standing out from the glut would take some doing. Which this does not, sadly.
Check that: this CD will get your attention, though in a way you’re not expecting. First, that Jake Stephenson guy’s on here, twice under two more aliases (of course). Okay, so only I really noticed that, but only because I couldn’t escape the chap on those Goa Trance 4CD packs. Long-time listeners of ambient dub, however, will be surprised by the inclusion of two cuts from the original Beyond series, G.O.L.’s Angelica In Delirium (think early Enigma in dub) and Rockers Hi-Fi’s Push Push, a remake of Underwater World Of Jah Custeau which they did as Original Rockers. Again, a nice nod to A.D.’s source, but considering how up-to-date the rest of Four A.D. is, their inclusion’s rather odd.
How up to date are we talking? Following right after G.O.L.’s ’92 cut is Asura’s XP Continuum. Yes, that Asura (if there’s another, Charles Farewell may be interested to know). If that’s not enough of a coincidence to Ultimae, Mystical Sun’s Blue Magnetic Ocean also appears here, which first saw compilation duty on Fahrenheit Project, Part 3 the year prior.
And I get it, Waveform linking a pioneering chill label of the past to one of the leaders of the present. In doing so though, Waveform sold themselves short, Four A.D. almost coming off gimmicky rather than standing tall and unique like the earlier A.D.s did. Pretty much only a completist’s option, this. *cough*
Dammit, my alphabetical stipulation strikes again. Instead of delving into Waveform's A.D. (Ambient Dub) series in any sort of practical order, here we are dealing with the fourth (and likely last) edition first. And it's not like this gives me an opportunity to get all the history out of the way, saving me valuable self-imposed word count for the earlier volumes later - the next one's all the way down in the 'O's. It's taken me nearly two years to make the progress I have already. By the time we hit One A.D. (if ever), this review'll be long forgotten.
Or maybe not, but to be honest, Four A.D. didn't garner the same sort of buzz as its predecessors, for reasons that are both obvious and not as much. A.D.s One through Three had the benefit of being rather unique when they came out, the idea of ‘chill-out’ compilations for the clubbing generation still in its infancy. Heck, the Ambient Dub series from Beyond is often credited as kicking off the whole enterprise way back in ’92, and Waveform essentially served as their Stateside distributor for those releases. Taking things a step further, however, Waveform snagged a few exclusives of their own, setting themselves apart from their UK brothers while memorably launching their label.
So that Waveform would see fit to make an ‘anniversary’ fourth edition’s fair play; unfortunately, the dubby downtempo market had long since been flooded with options when Four A.D. came out, so standing out from the glut would take some doing. Which this does not, sadly.
Check that: this CD will get your attention, though in a way you’re not expecting. First, that Jake Stephenson guy’s on here, twice under two more aliases (of course). Okay, so only I really noticed that, but only because I couldn’t escape the chap on those Goa Trance 4CD packs. Long-time listeners of ambient dub, however, will be surprised by the inclusion of two cuts from the original Beyond series, G.O.L.’s Angelica In Delirium (think early Enigma in dub) and Rockers Hi-Fi’s Push Push, a remake of Underwater World Of Jah Custeau which they did as Original Rockers. Again, a nice nod to A.D.’s source, but considering how up-to-date the rest of Four A.D. is, their inclusion’s rather odd.
How up to date are we talking? Following right after G.O.L.’s ’92 cut is Asura’s XP Continuum. Yes, that Asura (if there’s another, Charles Farewell may be interested to know). If that’s not enough of a coincidence to Ultimae, Mystical Sun’s Blue Magnetic Ocean also appears here, which first saw compilation duty on Fahrenheit Project, Part 3 the year prior.
And I get it, Waveform linking a pioneering chill label of the past to one of the leaders of the present. In doing so though, Waveform sold themselves short, Four A.D. almost coming off gimmicky rather than standing tall and unique like the earlier A.D.s did. Pretty much only a completist’s option, this. *cough*
Saturday, October 5, 2013
Loop Guru - Duniya (The Intrinsic Passion Of Mysterious Joy)
Waveform Records: 1995
Well of course I’m gonna buy more than just one act’s collection of music from Waveform this past week - it’s not called ‘splurging’ for nothing. Loop Guru’s another in a long list of acts I mean to gather more of, but never get around to doing so. Their relationship with Waveform isn’t as extensive as others, however, this here Duniya album their only offering. It’s also a re-release of the album of the same name that came out a year prior on Nation Records, a tidbit of info not so surprising since most of Waveform’s early artist albums were primarily Stateside re-releases.
Also not so surprising – at least where the ‘90s are concerned – is how this version of Duniya is quite different from the original. Whether due to licensing issues, copyright claims, or oddball label marketing, European and American copies of albums seldom matched each other, and it seems Loop Guru were no less a victim (benefactor?) of this business. Tunes Hymn and Senseless are gone, though we get a new cut, Shrine Of Sringar, in their place. Also, aside from the final run of three tracks, everything’s been re-arranged. Whether this makes for stronger album flow, I haven’t a clue, since I’ve never heard the Nation Records version of Duniya.
But to be fair, this is the first time I’ve heard the Waveform one too, so I've no basis of comparison. That said, Duniya sure reminds me of the Guru's follow-up album Amrita. Since they came out within a year of each other, some similarities would be inevitable, but this is almost down to a t', in song arrangements and track sequencing (at least the Waveform version).
This being the earlier album though, Duniya's rougher around the edges. The whole endless world-beat loop production is if full effect, but many of the beats used sound directly lifted from early '90s UK acid house, unfortunately rather dated for a '94/'95 collection of ethno-fusion tuneage. I know Loop Guru's whole shtick in those days was to invoke a tribal, meditative trance with all the repetition, but it’s difficult getting into the chakra flow with beats reminding me of EMF instead. Whatever. It's only a problem for the first few tracks anyway, after which the songcraft does get better (or sucks you in despite itself), so I guess Waveform were smart in getting the duff cuts out of the way early.
Another similarity between the two is the inclusion of an extended dub jam at the end (did Loop Guru do this for every album?). On here, it lasts whopping twenty-one-plus minutes, putting your patience for such music to its ultimate test. Geez, even Bill Laswell isn’t that indulgent. No wonder Part 4 isn’t on the original Third Chamber CD – there's no damned room for it! Tune's fine for what it is though, as is the rest of Duniya. Some of the world-beat attributes will definitely come off dated, but that’s never stopped folks from enjoying Deep Forest’s early work either.
Well of course I’m gonna buy more than just one act’s collection of music from Waveform this past week - it’s not called ‘splurging’ for nothing. Loop Guru’s another in a long list of acts I mean to gather more of, but never get around to doing so. Their relationship with Waveform isn’t as extensive as others, however, this here Duniya album their only offering. It’s also a re-release of the album of the same name that came out a year prior on Nation Records, a tidbit of info not so surprising since most of Waveform’s early artist albums were primarily Stateside re-releases.
Also not so surprising – at least where the ‘90s are concerned – is how this version of Duniya is quite different from the original. Whether due to licensing issues, copyright claims, or oddball label marketing, European and American copies of albums seldom matched each other, and it seems Loop Guru were no less a victim (benefactor?) of this business. Tunes Hymn and Senseless are gone, though we get a new cut, Shrine Of Sringar, in their place. Also, aside from the final run of three tracks, everything’s been re-arranged. Whether this makes for stronger album flow, I haven’t a clue, since I’ve never heard the Nation Records version of Duniya.
But to be fair, this is the first time I’ve heard the Waveform one too, so I've no basis of comparison. That said, Duniya sure reminds me of the Guru's follow-up album Amrita. Since they came out within a year of each other, some similarities would be inevitable, but this is almost down to a t', in song arrangements and track sequencing (at least the Waveform version).
This being the earlier album though, Duniya's rougher around the edges. The whole endless world-beat loop production is if full effect, but many of the beats used sound directly lifted from early '90s UK acid house, unfortunately rather dated for a '94/'95 collection of ethno-fusion tuneage. I know Loop Guru's whole shtick in those days was to invoke a tribal, meditative trance with all the repetition, but it’s difficult getting into the chakra flow with beats reminding me of EMF instead. Whatever. It's only a problem for the first few tracks anyway, after which the songcraft does get better (or sucks you in despite itself), so I guess Waveform were smart in getting the duff cuts out of the way early.
Another similarity between the two is the inclusion of an extended dub jam at the end (did Loop Guru do this for every album?). On here, it lasts whopping twenty-one-plus minutes, putting your patience for such music to its ultimate test. Geez, even Bill Laswell isn’t that indulgent. No wonder Part 4 isn’t on the original Third Chamber CD – there's no damned room for it! Tune's fine for what it is though, as is the rest of Duniya. Some of the world-beat attributes will definitely come off dated, but that’s never stopped folks from enjoying Deep Forest’s early work either.
Friday, October 4, 2013
Sounds From The Ground - Brightwhitelight
Waveform Records: 2008
I’ve been buying music from Waveform Records since the label’s earliest years, but not everything they’ve ever put out – such is life when you’re younger and without ample income or ability for online shopping. These days, however, it’s no big to splurge, and while taking a look at their latest offerings, I came to a stunning conclusion: I’ve never picked up anything by Sounds From The Ground. The London duo’s been a core act of Waveform since its earliest years, having released over half-a-dozen albums through the label along with frequent compilation duty. Why have I ignored them for so long? That’d be like buying from Ultimae Records, but bypassing everything Solar Fields related. Damn, time to rectify that oversight. I should pick up a couple- no, wait, I can afford all the albums now! Well, the ones on Waveform anyway (holy cow, have they released a lot of music).
So I'm properly all caught up on Sounds From The Ground, but due to my alphabetical restrictions, ya'll only get to read about a portion of my listening labour for now. And, unlike a proper 'chronological' retrospective, we're starting way up in the currentsies, their 2008 (and seventh) album Brightwhitelight. Huh, with a title like that, maybe it's a nod to the Moontribe parties.
Oh wait, I should explain these GroundSound guys. Comprised of Elliot Jones and Nick Woolfson, they've essentially continued the ambient dub banner seminal label Beyond pioneered, so it makes sense they'd find a home on Waveform for Stateside distribution. By the time this album came out, the duo were primarily releasing exclusive material through Waveform, which given the global reach labels could achieve in the '00s, makes good sense, keeping one's discography tidy. I guess.
Not that they haven’t done other music. Just last year they released a mostly ambient LP on their own imprint called Ready Steady Slow. Going through their Waveform output, however, I’ve noticed they haven’t changed their sound much or explored other genres beyond typical dubby downtempo and chill. Brightwhitelight’s no exception, playing about as straight your ambient dub as you’re likely to find. It’s certainly well produced and pleasing to the ears, with occasional variations (psy, lounge, etc.) keeping things from getting repetitive. It’s just… there’s nothing on this album that I haven’t heard before executed with similar competence, either from similar artists or Sounds From The Ground on previous albums. I admit I’m not giving Brightwhitelight much of an opportunity to warm itself to me, but stellar albums will always stand out no matter how many others you’re plowing through, and this one unfortunately passed by my ears with little fanfare compared to the rest of the batch I picked up.
Not the best way to warm you up to this duo, I know. Any group with a large discography has at least a couple middling albums, and this blog’s silly stipulation simply brought up one such from Sounds From The Ground’s first. Better luck on the next one, then.
I’ve been buying music from Waveform Records since the label’s earliest years, but not everything they’ve ever put out – such is life when you’re younger and without ample income or ability for online shopping. These days, however, it’s no big to splurge, and while taking a look at their latest offerings, I came to a stunning conclusion: I’ve never picked up anything by Sounds From The Ground. The London duo’s been a core act of Waveform since its earliest years, having released over half-a-dozen albums through the label along with frequent compilation duty. Why have I ignored them for so long? That’d be like buying from Ultimae Records, but bypassing everything Solar Fields related. Damn, time to rectify that oversight. I should pick up a couple- no, wait, I can afford all the albums now! Well, the ones on Waveform anyway (holy cow, have they released a lot of music).
So I'm properly all caught up on Sounds From The Ground, but due to my alphabetical restrictions, ya'll only get to read about a portion of my listening labour for now. And, unlike a proper 'chronological' retrospective, we're starting way up in the currentsies, their 2008 (and seventh) album Brightwhitelight. Huh, with a title like that, maybe it's a nod to the Moontribe parties.
Oh wait, I should explain these GroundSound guys. Comprised of Elliot Jones and Nick Woolfson, they've essentially continued the ambient dub banner seminal label Beyond pioneered, so it makes sense they'd find a home on Waveform for Stateside distribution. By the time this album came out, the duo were primarily releasing exclusive material through Waveform, which given the global reach labels could achieve in the '00s, makes good sense, keeping one's discography tidy. I guess.
Not that they haven’t done other music. Just last year they released a mostly ambient LP on their own imprint called Ready Steady Slow. Going through their Waveform output, however, I’ve noticed they haven’t changed their sound much or explored other genres beyond typical dubby downtempo and chill. Brightwhitelight’s no exception, playing about as straight your ambient dub as you’re likely to find. It’s certainly well produced and pleasing to the ears, with occasional variations (psy, lounge, etc.) keeping things from getting repetitive. It’s just… there’s nothing on this album that I haven’t heard before executed with similar competence, either from similar artists or Sounds From The Ground on previous albums. I admit I’m not giving Brightwhitelight much of an opportunity to warm itself to me, but stellar albums will always stand out no matter how many others you’re plowing through, and this one unfortunately passed by my ears with little fanfare compared to the rest of the batch I picked up.
Not the best way to warm you up to this duo, I know. Any group with a large discography has at least a couple middling albums, and this blog’s silly stipulation simply brought up one such from Sounds From The Ground’s first. Better luck on the next one, then.
Thursday, October 3, 2013
Tiësto - In Search Of Sunrise 6: Ibiza (Original TC Review)
Songbird: 2007
(2013 Update:
In hindsight, writing such an overlong intro detailing my opinions of Tiësto's DJing was pointless, at least where TranceCritic was concerned. The website had been up for over two-and-a-half years and, through the other writers, our piece had pretty much been said. Of course, I couldn't resist getting in my 'official' say of the matter, but if it'd been that important, why hadn't I just done a review of a Tiësto mix CD long before this one? On second thought, maybe that wouldn't be so good an idea, considering the quality of those early-early reviews.
Most of the time I find myself enjoying these sorts of mixes more than before, but I can't say the same here. I gave CD1 pretty high praise in this review, but it didn't grab me the same way this time. Not sure why. Maybe the surprise of a strong mix from Tijs is no longer so novel? CD2's still dross though.)
IN BRIEF: The sun keeps rising.
When I mentioned a long while ago that I’d eventually have my stab Tiësto, I never thought it’d be all at once. It seems this is the year I finally have to deal with everything the Dutch icon offers the music industry. First it was his studio work, the result of which was Elements Of Life. Now it’s his DJing, courtesy of the kind-of annual In Search Of Sunrise series.
As a DJ, Mr. Verwest’s skill isn’t exactly stellar, though hardly the disgrace some would have you believe. For the most part, he is an above-average jock, with typically good track selection in his chosen field and just enough competence on the technical end to keep things grooving. However, it must be said he has an infuriating tendency to force some of his mixes, which makes him appear amateurish when compared to the technical geniuses of the profession. (I’ve heard him describe this as ‘on the edge mixing’, a term that is incredibly laughable - if this is stellar DJing, then I could have been a DMC champion when making mix tapes with CD players lacking pitch control) Mind, it isn’t a completely damning trait, but certainly enough to raise the eyebrows of those who aren’t swept up by his ultra-hype machine.
Anyhow, let’s not dwell on this. Rather, let us look at what his latest attempt to find that ever-elusive sunrise offers us.
In choosing the location to be featured for this edition, Tiësto has scoured the globe for potential sunny lands. After much deliberation and thought, he settled on the completely unpredictable island of Kerguelen. No, just kidding. It’s Ibiza, which while a cliché choice is nonetheless a suitable one for an end-of-summer mix. You can’t beat tapping into the blissful Mediterranean atmosphere to re-capture warmth as the long cold of winter sets in. Rumor has it he specifically chose the vacation island as a means to rekindle his inspiration for DJ mixes. Has it, then? Let’s stick them CDs into the player to find out.
As usual, we start with the first disc. Straight-up, I’ll say this is the best commercial set I’ve heard from Mr. Verwest in quite some time, easily since Nyana’s Indoor CD. Tijs nails the Ibizan atmosphere right out of the gate, with gentle waves lapping at the beach while calming tones and pleasant synths emerge. From there, a nifty sequence of Balearic grooves, melodies, and vocals create an upward climb of dance music delights. And the mixing? Well, he telegraphs a number of them, but they hardly hinder from the overall atmosphere created. As for the actual tracks themselves, they’re a classy bunch, mostly on a housey tip with sprinklings of prog for good measure.
And worry not about all the lyrics, as none of them come loaded with the sentimental pap his peers seem to inject their sets with. Yes, they’re mostly about love, and the last bunch are unapologetically girly, but they are delivered in such a manner that is nonetheless pleasing to the ear. In fact, some of them are quite exhilarating; Ohmna’s The Sun’ll Shine, for instance. With a rhythm that could carry the track on its own (that bassline!), the energy in this tune is cranked further with a vocal that completely steals the show. Throw in a properly utilized breakdown at the climax of the song, and you have a clear highlight of this disc.
A point of contention though: Tiësto seems at a loss on how to segue his mix into the final sequence of mellow vocal tunes. Granted, Moonbeam’s offering is relatively subdued coming off of The Sun’ll Shine, but it’s still a rather bumping track, and makes for a questionable choice to lead into Somewhere Inside Of Me. The two don’t match at all, and the transition is jarringly abrupt.
Nitpicks aside, Mr. Verwest’s first disc is a definite keeper. Wish I could say the same about the second disc though.
Somewhere in there is half a CD’s worth of a decent prog trance set. Marzenit, Cloud, and Levi bring solid offerings, while Rio, Deadmau5, and Schössow deliver intriguing quirkiness with their tracks. And Tiësto’s own Dancing Water (as Jedidja) is a fun bit of nostalgia despite a cornball melody towards the end. Unfortunately, it also seems Tiësto had a bunch of tracks he really wanted to use for the first disc but couldn’t fit, so he hodge-podges them into here as best he can. The result is a mix that is quite erratic compared to the first.
And frankly, some of them aren’t even any good. Chief among these culprits are the inclusions of trite vocal cuts Falling and Imagination (is it just me, or is the industry trying to groom JES to be the next Jan Johnston?) and plodding nu-electro numbers Don’t Speak and Falling (yes, again; it really is an awful track). And then there is Nic Chagall, once again bringing the worst habits of his hard trance past (ridiculously long breakdowns and builds; grating siren-like hooks), slowing it down, and trying to pass it off as prog. Yeesh.
There’s been some debate over whether the In Search Of Sunrise series would benefit more by returning to a single-disc format, as the previous double-disc efforts have had a feeling of unnecessary bloated excess. I find this to be the case once again, although for a different reason: the inclusion of the second set diminishes the presentation of the whole. As a stand-alone, the first is a winner, and would have made for a lovely release under the Tiësto banner. However, it has this unruly messy sibling tagging along that, while at times entertaining, is lacking the kind of charisma that makes you want to hear it again (save for the generous use of a ‘track skip’ feature on your player).
Despite this, I still give Mr. Verwest’s excursion to Ibiza a strong recommendation. Eh? You find this surprising? Is it because of the more venomous things I’ve said about him in the past? True, I may not have much regard for the traveling circus he calls a concert, but that’s beside the point. I’m here to judge this here product, and by gum it’s pretty good. In Search Of Sunrise 6 probably won’t convert his staunchest critics, but those yearning for a return to form after the disappointing Elements Of Life will certainly enjoy.
(2013 Update:
In hindsight, writing such an overlong intro detailing my opinions of Tiësto's DJing was pointless, at least where TranceCritic was concerned. The website had been up for over two-and-a-half years and, through the other writers, our piece had pretty much been said. Of course, I couldn't resist getting in my 'official' say of the matter, but if it'd been that important, why hadn't I just done a review of a Tiësto mix CD long before this one? On second thought, maybe that wouldn't be so good an idea, considering the quality of those early-early reviews.
Most of the time I find myself enjoying these sorts of mixes more than before, but I can't say the same here. I gave CD1 pretty high praise in this review, but it didn't grab me the same way this time. Not sure why. Maybe the surprise of a strong mix from Tijs is no longer so novel? CD2's still dross though.)
IN BRIEF: The sun keeps rising.
When I mentioned a long while ago that I’d eventually have my stab Tiësto, I never thought it’d be all at once. It seems this is the year I finally have to deal with everything the Dutch icon offers the music industry. First it was his studio work, the result of which was Elements Of Life. Now it’s his DJing, courtesy of the kind-of annual In Search Of Sunrise series.
As a DJ, Mr. Verwest’s skill isn’t exactly stellar, though hardly the disgrace some would have you believe. For the most part, he is an above-average jock, with typically good track selection in his chosen field and just enough competence on the technical end to keep things grooving. However, it must be said he has an infuriating tendency to force some of his mixes, which makes him appear amateurish when compared to the technical geniuses of the profession. (I’ve heard him describe this as ‘on the edge mixing’, a term that is incredibly laughable - if this is stellar DJing, then I could have been a DMC champion when making mix tapes with CD players lacking pitch control) Mind, it isn’t a completely damning trait, but certainly enough to raise the eyebrows of those who aren’t swept up by his ultra-hype machine.
Anyhow, let’s not dwell on this. Rather, let us look at what his latest attempt to find that ever-elusive sunrise offers us.
In choosing the location to be featured for this edition, Tiësto has scoured the globe for potential sunny lands. After much deliberation and thought, he settled on the completely unpredictable island of Kerguelen. No, just kidding. It’s Ibiza, which while a cliché choice is nonetheless a suitable one for an end-of-summer mix. You can’t beat tapping into the blissful Mediterranean atmosphere to re-capture warmth as the long cold of winter sets in. Rumor has it he specifically chose the vacation island as a means to rekindle his inspiration for DJ mixes. Has it, then? Let’s stick them CDs into the player to find out.
As usual, we start with the first disc. Straight-up, I’ll say this is the best commercial set I’ve heard from Mr. Verwest in quite some time, easily since Nyana’s Indoor CD. Tijs nails the Ibizan atmosphere right out of the gate, with gentle waves lapping at the beach while calming tones and pleasant synths emerge. From there, a nifty sequence of Balearic grooves, melodies, and vocals create an upward climb of dance music delights. And the mixing? Well, he telegraphs a number of them, but they hardly hinder from the overall atmosphere created. As for the actual tracks themselves, they’re a classy bunch, mostly on a housey tip with sprinklings of prog for good measure.
And worry not about all the lyrics, as none of them come loaded with the sentimental pap his peers seem to inject their sets with. Yes, they’re mostly about love, and the last bunch are unapologetically girly, but they are delivered in such a manner that is nonetheless pleasing to the ear. In fact, some of them are quite exhilarating; Ohmna’s The Sun’ll Shine, for instance. With a rhythm that could carry the track on its own (that bassline!), the energy in this tune is cranked further with a vocal that completely steals the show. Throw in a properly utilized breakdown at the climax of the song, and you have a clear highlight of this disc.
A point of contention though: Tiësto seems at a loss on how to segue his mix into the final sequence of mellow vocal tunes. Granted, Moonbeam’s offering is relatively subdued coming off of The Sun’ll Shine, but it’s still a rather bumping track, and makes for a questionable choice to lead into Somewhere Inside Of Me. The two don’t match at all, and the transition is jarringly abrupt.
Nitpicks aside, Mr. Verwest’s first disc is a definite keeper. Wish I could say the same about the second disc though.
Somewhere in there is half a CD’s worth of a decent prog trance set. Marzenit, Cloud, and Levi bring solid offerings, while Rio, Deadmau5, and Schössow deliver intriguing quirkiness with their tracks. And Tiësto’s own Dancing Water (as Jedidja) is a fun bit of nostalgia despite a cornball melody towards the end. Unfortunately, it also seems Tiësto had a bunch of tracks he really wanted to use for the first disc but couldn’t fit, so he hodge-podges them into here as best he can. The result is a mix that is quite erratic compared to the first.
And frankly, some of them aren’t even any good. Chief among these culprits are the inclusions of trite vocal cuts Falling and Imagination (is it just me, or is the industry trying to groom JES to be the next Jan Johnston?) and plodding nu-electro numbers Don’t Speak and Falling (yes, again; it really is an awful track). And then there is Nic Chagall, once again bringing the worst habits of his hard trance past (ridiculously long breakdowns and builds; grating siren-like hooks), slowing it down, and trying to pass it off as prog. Yeesh.
There’s been some debate over whether the In Search Of Sunrise series would benefit more by returning to a single-disc format, as the previous double-disc efforts have had a feeling of unnecessary bloated excess. I find this to be the case once again, although for a different reason: the inclusion of the second set diminishes the presentation of the whole. As a stand-alone, the first is a winner, and would have made for a lovely release under the Tiësto banner. However, it has this unruly messy sibling tagging along that, while at times entertaining, is lacking the kind of charisma that makes you want to hear it again (save for the generous use of a ‘track skip’ feature on your player).
Despite this, I still give Mr. Verwest’s excursion to Ibiza a strong recommendation. Eh? You find this surprising? Is it because of the more venomous things I’ve said about him in the past? True, I may not have much regard for the traveling circus he calls a concert, but that’s beside the point. I’m here to judge this here product, and by gum it’s pretty good. In Search Of Sunrise 6 probably won’t convert his staunchest critics, but those yearning for a return to form after the disappointing Elements Of Life will certainly enjoy.
Wednesday, October 2, 2013
Tiësto - In Search Of Sunrise 2
Songbird: 2000
I knew almost nothing about Tiësto way back in 2004, beyond a few class remixes and that he was ridiculously popular among the trancecrackers of the world. I’d moved on from trance as the new millennium took form, so all his accolades didn’t matter much to yours truly. Unfortunately, that’s an incredibly ignorant stance to take when you’ve been brought on as a writer and editor for a burgeoning website called TranceCritic. Shit, son, ya’ll better get caught up to speed on this Tijs Verwest fella’ in a hurry, and what better way than to buy the DJ mix CD that tends to top fans’ favorites lists. Alright, fine, it can’t be all that bad. I mean, it was released in the year 2000, when the genre still had good material being cranked out along all the Dutch cheddar. There… won’t be much of the cheese here, will there…?
Nope. The In Search Of Sunrise series was meant to showcase a mellower, Balearic side to Tiësto’s DJing, and this second volume has that in spades, so no room for über-anthems here. The opening run of tracks are about as fine a collection of summery, breezy tunes as one could hope for, including Summerbreeze from the Tijs and Benno de Goeij pairing of Kamaya Painters. Rui da Silva’s overplayed Touch Me follows it, but it wasn’t overplayed when ISOS2 came out, so, um, fair play?
Things go wonk after that, the mix from Touch Me into Salt Tank’s Eugina just abysmal, a horrible clashing of genres despite keeping the Balearic tone. Whatever, the tune’s mint and such a rough transition’s easily forgotten. After that though… God, it’s that stupid, pointless vocal mix of Cass & Slide’s Perception. I’ll admit I’m hopelessly biased against it since I heard the original instrumental on Sasha’s GU13, and by slapping some useless singing from Naimee Coleman overtop, it reeks of desperate commercial pandering (doesn’t help matters it was done without Cass & Slide’s consent). Oddly, I don’t hate the vocal version either, as I find the singing easy to ignore, my brain almost subconsciously tricking me into thinking it’s the original version. Funny how that lump o’ gray matter can do that.
From there the mix goes through various offerings of progressive trance – including more vocals that at least aren’t so useless as the ones in Perception - that anyone familiar Oakenfold’s output of the same time will have heard. Tracks like Mekka’s Diamondback, Fortress’ An Angel Saved My Life, Breeder’s Tyrantanic, and Max Graham’s Airtight all make the cut, and while undoubtedly sounded great brand new, most have seen duty elsewhere plenty times since, and ISOS2 doesn’t do much to elevate them from the glut.
In fact, wait a moment… *checks previous reviews* Well I’ll be damned, Max Graham literally used three of the same tracks for his Cream CD2, in almost the same order! Both mixes also came out around the same time too. Quite a coincidence, if you believe in such things.
I knew almost nothing about Tiësto way back in 2004, beyond a few class remixes and that he was ridiculously popular among the trancecrackers of the world. I’d moved on from trance as the new millennium took form, so all his accolades didn’t matter much to yours truly. Unfortunately, that’s an incredibly ignorant stance to take when you’ve been brought on as a writer and editor for a burgeoning website called TranceCritic. Shit, son, ya’ll better get caught up to speed on this Tijs Verwest fella’ in a hurry, and what better way than to buy the DJ mix CD that tends to top fans’ favorites lists. Alright, fine, it can’t be all that bad. I mean, it was released in the year 2000, when the genre still had good material being cranked out along all the Dutch cheddar. There… won’t be much of the cheese here, will there…?
Nope. The In Search Of Sunrise series was meant to showcase a mellower, Balearic side to Tiësto’s DJing, and this second volume has that in spades, so no room for über-anthems here. The opening run of tracks are about as fine a collection of summery, breezy tunes as one could hope for, including Summerbreeze from the Tijs and Benno de Goeij pairing of Kamaya Painters. Rui da Silva’s overplayed Touch Me follows it, but it wasn’t overplayed when ISOS2 came out, so, um, fair play?
Things go wonk after that, the mix from Touch Me into Salt Tank’s Eugina just abysmal, a horrible clashing of genres despite keeping the Balearic tone. Whatever, the tune’s mint and such a rough transition’s easily forgotten. After that though… God, it’s that stupid, pointless vocal mix of Cass & Slide’s Perception. I’ll admit I’m hopelessly biased against it since I heard the original instrumental on Sasha’s GU13, and by slapping some useless singing from Naimee Coleman overtop, it reeks of desperate commercial pandering (doesn’t help matters it was done without Cass & Slide’s consent). Oddly, I don’t hate the vocal version either, as I find the singing easy to ignore, my brain almost subconsciously tricking me into thinking it’s the original version. Funny how that lump o’ gray matter can do that.
From there the mix goes through various offerings of progressive trance – including more vocals that at least aren’t so useless as the ones in Perception - that anyone familiar Oakenfold’s output of the same time will have heard. Tracks like Mekka’s Diamondback, Fortress’ An Angel Saved My Life, Breeder’s Tyrantanic, and Max Graham’s Airtight all make the cut, and while undoubtedly sounded great brand new, most have seen duty elsewhere plenty times since, and ISOS2 doesn’t do much to elevate them from the glut.
In fact, wait a moment… *checks previous reviews* Well I’ll be damned, Max Graham literally used three of the same tracks for his Cream CD2, in almost the same order! Both mixes also came out around the same time too. Quite a coincidence, if you believe in such things.
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