Jori Hulkkonens music is without comparison the best in my cellection of house. In this album he experiments a little with other styles such as electro, but the production is still gentle and sofisticated, and the Hulkkonen magic is always there. I especially like the way he accomplishes high sofistication with a minimum of components. There are no trendy sounds or cheap effects to disturb the graceful, cozy and somewhat melancholic felling of the album as a whole. Some may say that Hulkkonen's version of house sounds a little old (mid 90's), but I'd say they've just misinterpreted the minimalistic method in his composing and production.
Though he had the help of a few musicians, the Rah Band's first album was pretty much the project of multi-instrumentalist Richard Hewson, most famous as an arranger of noted recordings on the Apple label by the Beatles, James Taylor, and Mary Hopkin. In a limited sense, The Crunch & Beyond was ahead of its time, presenting instrumentals with dance rhythms centered around synthesizers. But while the title track got to number six in the U.K. (and was also a hit in several other countries, though not the U.S.), in other ways, the record sounds horribly dated at a few decades' remove. Much of the album presents basic early synth-pop riffs set to elementary dance rhythms, and these are often unmemorably cheesy, sometimes sounding like backing tracks that are missing the vocalist. Jazz fusion and disco influences criss-cross, as well as a slight layer of the kind of novelty associated with earlier electronic-based instrumentals done in hopes of cracking the pop market by the likes of Jean-Jacques Perrey. Some traces of reggae and dub (and, in "Woogie Boogie," rockabilly) are found in some of the more creative tracks, and this is a more serious and artistic endeavor than those by artists such as Perrey. Still, the material's not too substantial, and indeed enervating over in full-album dosage.
I am very happy with Black Marbles direction. I was pleasantly surprised to see they are continuing to put out solid work after the very good "A Different Arrangement" album. "It's Immaterial" is much more uplifting than ADA. If one would have told me that Immaterial was more positive I would have not been pleased as the darkness of ADA is what was so appealing to me. However, to me it works for Black Marble as they stay true to themselves. Although both albums are completely different they are not different that you won't enjoy them both in there own right. They just will leave you feeling different emotions. If ADA leaves you Cold or Mechanical, It's Immaterial will leave you Warm and hopefull.
Back in the pre-millenium days, there was a genre of electronic music called "trance" that at its best was creative, lively, complex, multi-layered, and yes, entrancing. DJ's and producers including Sasha/Digweed, Jerry Bonham, Nick Warren, Paul van Dyk, and (sometimes, at least) Paul Oakenfold crafted brilliantly energetic and uplifting mixes from this music, which slowly but surely built an enthusiastic audience of clubbers, partiers, and headphone freaks in Europe and around the world.
However, as so often is the case in the entertainment business, success brought an overt watering-down of the music. Something called "Euro-trance" or "Dutch trance" almost overnight became the flavor of the month in electronic dance music, and there quickly emerged a horrifying proliferation of dull, samey, paint-by-numbers trance tracks and mixes that essentially ruined the genre almost completely. While "trance" numbers climbed the top 40 dance charts, people who craved something truly creative and original were forced to evolve their tastes toward progressive house, which tended increasingly toward darker-sounding textures and sounds.
Now, even as "progressive" dance music has tended to wither over the past several years, there are signs that higher-energy trance may be experiencing something of a creative comeback. This two-cd mix by Markus Schulz is certainly evidence of this. The music is fresh, uptempo (130+ bpm), complex, rich, and best of all, 100% cheese-free. For those who had despaired that what has become known as "trance" had totally devolved into Limburger, I can only recommend this set. It'll bring a smile to your face and maybe even tears to your eyes.
