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.
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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
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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
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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
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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
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Last Updated by:Tim, 5:21 PM
A multitude of odd names spread across this four track white label, which has been raising a few eyebrows of late. 'Tempus Fugit' kicks us off with a bonkers organ sample, which quickly melts into a doubly powerful bass and drum build. Dropping down into a soloed and distinctly unusual piano drop it slowly builds back up to a furious climax. 'Rattlesnake' is next up with another curious intro (quite how were supposed to mix these I have no idea!) before opening the throttle to allow the disco loops and driving arrangement do the damage. 'Helicopters' on the B-side allows more of a build before employing horns and synths to fire things off. A very strong debut from Quija.
4/5
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Jan Johnson, old golden tonsils herself, is once enjoying a renaissance at the hands of UK producers. Alongside the forthcoming re-release of her finest hour 'Calling Your Name' on Platypus we have 'Flesh 2002'. Noel Sanger provides the new remix in a deeper style backed by Tiesto's remix from late last year. Noel dubs up Jan's vocals for the intro throwing haunting effects over to increase the mood. The breaks are nicely judged episodes making quirky use of the chopped vocals. In a deeper trance style this works reasonably well and as part of a raft of remixes would serve a real purpose. However as it appears to be a stand-alone item it might make it a little optimistic to increase its chart position from its last ride out.
3/5
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For a while it appeared that this belated follow up to the mighty 'Sunrise' might have got stuck permanently in pressing hell. A full six months after it was given to Scott Bond as an exclusive for the last Gatecrasher compilation, we are finally seeing some copies emerge. 'Accession' is a stomping slice of trance split nicely in to two halves. The build is all picture perfect programming dropping nicely into a lusciously dealt breakdown. Scant female harmonies overlay the superb pads and chords to highly engaging effect. Out of that it pumps into euro trance terrain with a hugely energetic riff, well-placed key changes and stunning piano respites. Long overdue and fingers crossed in a store near you very shortly!
5/5
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One of a plethora of tracks slated to launch ID&T's new Hardstyle trance label. Mr Diablo has been turning out the odd track here and there for five years or more now. 'Cloud 9' is a fairly punchy number which seems to be paying some reference or other to 'ResuRection' in its initial moments. A morbid and overly satanic vocal drifts into play which, to be fair, is more disturbing than anything else! 'Acceleration' on the flip is a monster, male vocoded, hard trance/house excursion. Loads of the usual staples are in place alongside enough fresh ones to give it credence. Well worth looking out for but probably more for the b-side.
3/5
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Following the stunning 'Epic Monolith', Mirco De Govia returns with a utterly worthy follow up. Many would have predicted a path of remix credits and co-production work post 'Epic'. Apparently Mr De Govia enjoys such a lucrative job outside the industry and music is mealy his pleasurable pastime. A rather good (if unusual) maxim for these excessively corporate times. Anyway for that reason alone 'Things That Matter' has taken longer to reach us than one would have expected. Following on from where his debut left off, 'Things' is another power trance number packed full of effects and reverb that will delight floors across the country. The riff appears to start off a touch unconvinced before lifting off into a stunningly beautiful arrangement. PVD favourites Kyau vs Albert provide more goodness on the remix. Initially less euphoric but none the less highly provoking, it doubles as the perfect complement to the original.
5/5
TS
Once the pairing of Tiesto & Ferry, it now appears that the partnership has morphed into Mr Corsten & one John Ewbank. It matters not; the pedigree should still see us through to a happy conclusion. The bass drum and percussion are quickly joined by a mild pitching synth and then backed up by a far more powerful one. It drops into a melancholic and vaguely Barber-ish mid section before throwing its full weight in and exploding back off into full blown euphoric territory. While it might not be Ferry's most original moment it's hard to see it failing on ANY trance floor in the UK. Hiver & Hammer line up to put down the remix. The beats are immediately tougher and packed with vigour. The breakdown is largely the same, playing on the heart-rending chords to very strong effect. Outside of that their production is slightly more shifting than the original. Choosing between the two though will be a style decision over the actual quality of the mixes. Top stuff!
4/5
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That motley duo of James Christopher and Ashley Casselle (Ashtrax) debut on Fuju with the rather lovely 'Midnight Sun'! Featuring the vocal delights of the modestly named Tyrone 'Visionary' Palmer, this housey groove is top stuff indeed. Chugging it's way through the first three minutes; it takes the very briefest snatches of vocal to introduce Tyrone's tribally appealing lyrics. From there on in production and lyrics blend seamlessly for a very enjoyable trip. Apparently already working up a storm for the Digweed's & Fontaine's of this world, and in all likelihood for you too!
5/5
TS
Two mixes on the mucho hyped S.D.B. from the Cream / Subusa link up.
There can't be many funky jocks not spinning this record at the moment. With these new interpretations I imagine that a good few of us who prefer it darker and tougher could well fall into place as well. Oliver Klein keeps the tempo down while adding aggressive bass and filtered synths. Slicing apart the vocal, he weaves it in and out of the production for a fine floor effect. Over on the other side Doublefunk retains the disco sentiments but couple it with a pleasing pumping nature. A convincing pair of variations for one of the summer's finest offerings.
4/5
TS
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