Here you will find some latest trance and progressive trance records reviewed by DJ Tim "Rockafella" Stark!
Last Updated by:Tim, 7:44 AM
Beat Pusher are Finnish producer Jarkko Pietilainen and ex pat with a stage name Simon London. Alongside Shane 54, Airbase, Labworks and others they are part of they are front-runners in the emerging Scandinavian trance scene. Arguably the most original trance production of 2002 ‘Murto’ is now getting the Serious treatment, whatever that means these days! Originally served hot on Graham Gold’s Good As: label, this was already a ‘Sureplayer’ back last summer. And now it’s around again occupying the same slot, and for a number of very good reasons. Firstly it’s the intervening 7 months have done nothing to knock its impact. ‘Murto’ is still an absolutely electrifying listen. The beats are roughly edged and in tandem with the piano something similar to alchemy occurs. The swathing, almost majestic beauty of the effects are sheer heaven. As the new title suggests there is now a vocal in tow. Sounding a touch like the last Sarah Whatmore record, it delivers some pop sensibilities so carefully crafted that you won’t notice until you’re dancing. Remix wise Green Martian pull out of a steep remix dive and produce a formidable mix only fractionally tainted by a muddy move out of the break. Shake B4 Use (whoever they are?) come correct with a massive mix skimming the pop trance border, ripping a riff and making brilliant use of the vocal. Serious instituted a less than graceful retreat from credible dance music in 2002. It’s nice to see them at least dip their toe back in the water here.
TS
A new moniker from Thrillseekers producer Steve Helstrip and another multilevel creation of frankly staggering beauty. The enduring nature of Steve’s solo tracks comes not only from their somewhat limited number but more over the extraordinary attention to detail! On ‘Affinity’ he once again demonstrates his wonderful grasp of heart scorching melody and ethereal qualities. The sheer attention to production detail coupled with the main riff provide once again for an incredible listening experience. And arguably on the floor this is its only drawback. Given the clubbing populations desire for carnivorous E ignition music, this style of melodic trance can suffer against the Cosmic Gate’s of this world. Bring on Backbeat who drum up a fabulous remix, toughening up the production without damaging the theory. Showering the riff with a fine mist of effects, they produce a corking and powerful interpretation.
5/5
TS
Neo & Farina, the trance producers with names like Italian automobiles, have enjoyed a strong following wind over the last 6 months. Mixes and releases on Platipus and an intensive round of getting their names about have led to some just desserts. With ‘Barchetta’ forthcoming on shop label Hotdecks, they again add to the hype. This tune as a single mix release continues, to a degree, their love affair with euphorically fuelled, Binary Finary esqe tunes. The outset offers up a well-built intro and lets the bass do some heavy damage. The melody is pure peak set at PaSSion and is effortlessly delivers the euphoric damage. Good stuff Hotdecks people!
3/5
TS
More finery from Silvester and indeed Holland’s Impetuous label. Silvester has had a hand in a good few Dutch crackers of late and here he shows that standing on his own two feet is not a problem. ‘Believe’ is a good degree tougher than his remixes kicking off with a pacey aggressive sampled loop and not looking back. The simple riff that comes in at the first break is a precursor to Laura Zervaas’s overtly histrionic spoken vocal. Get through the first line without flinching and you should find that it actually gels quite well with the production. The jagged, vigorous FX’s that flywheel in to join it are unquestionably floor filling and top things off nicely. The Midnight Mix takes care of vocal haters with a flawless dub; more ascending in nature but never taking it’s foot off the floor when it gets going. Hard trance heaven!
4/5
TS
Freddie Mercury, circa his most melodramatic, singing ‘The Show Must Go On’ vocally booted over the top of a Push inspired track. A faintly grim prospect in most peoples book I’ll wager. Which makes it pleasurable to find out that this is actually better than it would appear on paper. The backing track itself is easily strong enough as a stand-alone dub. The production is crystal clear with a thunderously good break and riff, damn close quality wise to that of an actual Push record. Freddie unfortunately doesn’t fair quite as well. After a few listens the mixture develops a dubious charm of sorts but the vocal gets heavily lost at the tracks busiest stages. A greater shame though is that as a one sided record the opportunity to provide a dub was a gift horse missed indeed.
3/5
TS
Following ‘Second Sun’ and the near legendary ‘Glass Garden’, Sonorous lose the double-capped titles in favour of ‘Protonic’. What they haven’t lost however is the production skill and imagination needed to deliver an essential 12” release. Indeed imagination seems to be the lacking factor in a lot of productions of late. Many of the new guard of trance producers seem to have it all in terms of equipment mastery but lack an arsenal of new, fresh ideas. Not a criticism that can be levelled at Sonorous though. ‘Protonic’ sets up its stall at the less euphoric end of the scale and yet with tight programming, an amazing vocal and PVD sensibilities. It ends up of course being every bit as powerful on the floor as your regulation hard trance number. Ronski Speed adds his magic touch with a breakbeat mid section and separates the vocals well in the mix. Another belter that should once again have them queuing at Euphonic’s door for copies.
5/5
TS
2 more tough pumping numbers from the home of the man behind the killer ‘Overdrive’. ‘Eyes Wide Open’ is a moody number driven by a hefty bass line and powered further by male and female chanting. The press release describes it as having a ‘creepy and mysterious atmosphere’ wouldn’t disagree with that. On the flip we have ‘Tribal Fear’ which is a more upbeat, up-tempo number. Skipping, hardworking percussion is twinned with a nagging, repetitive vocal sample for a pleasing effect. Sinesweeper and the rest of the Headroom posse excel at (and arguably created) this sound and this is another fiery example of what they are capable of.
4/5
TS
Seemingly rolling back 10 odd years (to when they were good), U2 hand remix duties for their new single to the Brothers In Rhythm. A strong track with a good title has been somewhat elusive to the Irish rocksters of late. ‘Staring at the Sun’ backtracks to their glory days in both style and content and who better to convert it than B.I.R.? How you get on with their mix though depends on where you are using it. As a listening experience it is absolutely immaculate, fulfilling ever demand of a remix. The breakdown encompasses a minute and a half of the original live acoustic version (including crowd noise), which on vinyl, at home sounds superb. I suspect though you might need to be careful which floors you drop it on. There isn’t really anything left to say about the Brothers production that hasn’t already been said. Special note does go to the superbly speedy, flowing manner in which the acoustic break rejoins the riff. Surprisingly not due an immediate vinyl release and mores the pity. Put it out Island people!
5/5
TS
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