Trance/Techno Review
by Louk



Cyber Steve + Ant - "Body Shock" (Snap + Crackle) 
Anything Snap + Crackle have done I'm usually raving about and this 
release from Steve and Ant is CERTAINLY no exception. Already being 
a tune of the week on Yorkshire's "Trance + Techno Show", what's on 
offer are two furious slices of hard techno with Bodyshock being the 
preferred choice. Steve's awesome collaboration with Leicester's Matt 
Walkabout is on the flip too! 10/10 

Narcotic Thrust - "I Like It" (Free2Air) ??? 
The last effort from Narcotic Thrust (Safe From Harm) ended up in many 
a DJs boxes, with yours truly spending many a time dancing to it in 
warm up sets and the follow up from Andy Morris and Stuart Chrichton 
is another cool house tune. With remixes from Sinewave Surfers and 
Tom Mangan, It's the 12" Vocal mix that does it for me. 8/10 

DJ Spoke - "Contact" (Progressive State) PSR2004-1 
It seems Mr Spoke has taken a change in direction as I was expecting 
this to be a hard trance monster, yet this isn't a bad thing because 
what's on offer are two very uplifting trance tracks just lacking 
that hard edge we've come to rely upon. Both mixes of this are wicked 
but the Spoke + Vespa 63 mix edges it for me. Cool stuff. 8/10 

A.M Truck - "Hard Rock" (G.A.S Europe) 
Andrea Montorsi returns under his alias for making really twisted 
tech-trance hybrids and like the previous release, this one is amazing, 
deciding to feature hard thrashing guitars over two very tough tracks. 
With Skilled Punk being my favourite, this EP Is certainly worth checking 
out. Fantastic. 10/10 

G.D - "Meri Jaan" (Mondo) 
While I am the first to admit that all the Mondo releases before this 
one have made me stop whatever I'm doing to play them and leap around 
ecstatically, this ethnic vocal trancer from G.D however fails to maintain 
any interest, the thing is, this is actually an OK tune but the vocals 
totally ruin it for me..and alas there is no instrumental mix. 2/10 

The Imposters - "Dirty Dancing" (Stay Up Forever Remixes) 
Using the very popular "Do you know where your teenagers are at 5 in the 
morning" vocal thats been used more times than WD40 on a squeaky door 
hinge, the Imposters belt out two fantastic techno tracks with London 
boy Ant providing the better rework in my opinion. A nice slice of acid 
techno thats definitely worth checking.8/10 

Marcos - "My World" (Blueprint Audio) 
Boy wonder Marcos has been producing some right gems of late and I have 
a positive bias towards the majority of things he has produced considering 
most of my wages from work went on his tracks last year. Here he delivers 
two uplifting belters that are definitely the sort of sound you'd expect 
to find in any Eyecon or Gatecrasher night. Wicked stuff! 9/10 

Beppe Barilli - "The Answer" (G.A.S Europe) 
I am usually a huge fan of Beppe Barilli's productions but for some reason
 I can't get my head around this one. With the A side being far too floaty 
for me to even consider liking, there was hope in the Igor S like Electo 
Trance remix, the only negative thing with this one is a really odd vocal 
and the fact this mix stops and starts far too much. Not a fan. 5/10 

Kontrasequenz - "Protoplasmatech" (Hadshot Haheizar) 
Hadshot Haheizar are one of those label that I rarely see tunes from but 
when they do appear I'm always raving about them, this is certainly the 
case as "Protoplasmatech" and "Apfel Z Live" are nothing short of sheer 
brilliance. Receiving a huge amount of DJ Support from the likes of Judge 
Jules and many more, this is quality material. Love It!!! 10/10 

P.S.R Dream Team - "Far From Hell" (Progressive State) 
Progressive State are a label usually syndicated with quality and this 
month they've come up with two favourites of mine. All three tracks on 
this release are excellent uplifting numbers with Far From Hell being 
the standout track for me. Not the usual hard stuff released on this 
label but quality nevertheless. Brilliant. 9/10 

Leigh Green + L-E-V8 - "Freedom" (Distructiv) 
Those Yorkshire boys deliver another wicked hard energetic trancer and 
have pulled off a coup by getting Pants + Corset to provide a remix for 
this one on the Distructiv label. Definitely proving their worth as two 
of my favourite producers of the moment this track is quality. Check 
this out !! 10/10 

Darren Tate vs Blue Amazon - "No Other Love" (Direction) 
Being termed by a good friend of mine as a "Warehouse" (in Plymouth) 
Classic, this piano trancer has resurfaced with a new mix by Darren 
Tate. I actually prefer the Original mix to the Darren Tate rework 
but this is certainly one that is worth looking out for if you are 
after anthemic stuff. Very Impressive. 8/10 

Tom Vain vs Jan Vervloet - "Trance4cast" (Nitrox) 
Nitrox are shaping up to be quite a cool floaty trance label and this 
release from Tom + Jan reminds me of a cross between Visionaire's 
stuff on Altitude Recordings and also DJ Tiesto's Flight 643. It is 
a bit on the slow side but that aside this is actually quite a good 
warm up tune. It's all good. 7/10 

Pavo + Zany - "Porn" (Nukleuz) 
Being a part of the fifth volume of the Nukleuz DJ Nation series 
(The X-Rated Edition infact!), Pavo and Zany have collaborated to 
provide us with this orgasmic hardstyle number, unfortunately the 
vocals ruin it for me. On the flip is a tough hard house number 
entitled "Tie Me Up" by Lisa Pin Up that's not so bad. Check it. 7/10 

DJ Amethyst - "Fire" (Hinotori Sound) 
I've waited for the return of this label for some time and it's fair 
to say that both Fire and Belgium 2004 are nothing short of amazing 
fast trancers. As you can guess the BPM's are quite high but I can 
imagine the vast majority of hard and fast trance DJs and Nu-Energy 
Fans snapping this one up. Laaahvely!!! 10/10 

Tom Muir - "Come Get Some" (Hotwax Traxx) 
I'm a sucker for anything this label is putting out of late, the last 
three or four releases have instantly found their way into my record 
box to be played out loads and this is no exception. Tom Muir is 
promoter of Insomniacz which is also up this way and both 'Come Get S
ome' and 'Nose Bleed' are tough speaker damaging monsters. Wicked!!! 10/10 

Misja Helsloot feat Shane 54 - "Back From Your Past" (First Second) FIS007 
I'm normally a fan of this label's material and this track is quite 
cool, the only negative thing is it features Male Vocals and in general 
Male Vocals on trance records are a huge pet hate of mine. The other 
mixes on here from Neo + Farina and Shane 54 are worth a listen but 
the vocals have generally put me off this one I'm afraid. 4/10 

Smurref - "First Aid" (Loud + Clear) 
Dutch boy Smureff has gone all hard on us, not that this is a bad thing. 
The last release I heard by him was Check My Base on Fevah Trance and 
this EP features four tracks of extremely hard trance that works wonders. 
The Ultrasonix mix of Baseline of the Century is the strongest tune on 
here in my opinion but all four are quality. Mental Stuff!! 10/10 

The Freak - "Addictive" (Terratrax) 
First Surfacing two years ago when I reviewed this on the Jinx UK imprint, 
the Freak's classic "Addictive" launches the Terratrax Imprint. Surprisingly 
there are no new mixes, but for those who missed it the first time, this is
 definitely worth checking out. Excellent tough trancer. 10/10 

Jaydee - "Plastic Dreams 2004" (EMI Belgium) 
Adding to the thousands of remixes of this already available, EMI in 
Belgium have put out two more tougher reworks of Plastic Dreams. Both
 aren't too bad actually and I find it hard to resist tapping my foot
 to either of them in such a way! Not the most subtle of Reworks but
 still worth a spin. 8/10 

Ant - "We Rock This" (Powertools) 
Coming up with yet another fantastic two tracker, Ant goes for the
 funky yet driving and percussive route with this release, I can't 
decide which side I like best as both are fantastic but it has to 
be said that anything on Powertools of late has been wonderful stuff. 
Check it out!!!! 10/10 

Billy Daniel Bunter + Jon Doe - "Power Of Life" (UK Hard) 
Continuing their trend of releases that make me stand back and utter 
something about how amazing they are, Jon and Daniel team up again 
for the 13th release on UK Hard. As usual with this label I find 
myself preferring the B Side and Power Of Life is a wicked energetic 
trancer with a riff that has some of the best key changes i've heard 
in a while. Exceptional! 10/10 

Colin Barratt - "Magnifique" (Short Circuit) 
Short Circuit deliver a top tune this month. Featuring a Mark Gray 
tune on the A side that is also really good, I'm finding myself 
drawn to the hypnotic techno tune from Colin on the flip. Certainly 
proving his worth as one of the most versatile techy influenced hard 
house producers, he is certainly the boy! Quality. 10/10 

Peter Luts - "Long Island 2004" (Nitrox) 
Despite being one of the production team behind Lasgo, Peter 
produces a rather cool trance number for Nitrox. Both mixes have 
quite a nice riff to them that takes a while to come in. Nothing 
that stands immediately out in my opinion but nevertheless still
worth a spin as a warm up tune. 7/10 

Chris Liberator - "Scarlet 1807" (Maximum Minimum) 
After accidentally playing the Minimum side of this and then kicking 
myself (even though it's a damn good track), the Maximum mix on this 
one deserves all the praise in my opinion! Two lovely slices of mental 
techno that it is irresistable to stop tapping your foot to. To quote
 an expression, i'm loving it! 10/10