Trance Atlantic 2

Volume: TACD2

Jamie Myerson’s opener is Philly flavor drum-n-bass which starts off sounding like a lush Goldie track, and ends up sounding like a lush Goldie track. Beautifully ambient strings and snappy junglist rhythms, but this one never really evolves. Good track.

Kelli Hand’s Music By Numbers is a stompin’ war dance battle anthem. Driving and punching throughout, with just the right amount of squirty breakdowns, this one will fill the floor. Good track.

Just a Track should have been titled Just 2 Notes. Pure 2 finger 303, over a nice drum line. The experiments in squelching make this one fun, but there’s a marked difference between minimal and simple. Anyone else but Josh, and we’d call this one a pisstake. Filler. (The copy in the booklet doesn’t help Josh win the"Sell Out" argument either.)

Stepping Stone teams up K. Hand with Dego and the 4Hero boys for some tasty intelligent junglism. The depth and complexity and rhythmic sensibility of what goes on here reminds one of recent Orbital and it works like a charm. Great track.

Wamdue Kids lay down a kickin’ house mantra with a very tribal drum circle feel. The combo of ambient breaks, strong 4 on the floor beats, obligatory diva chanting"People” and the tribal drumming makes this one a mover, but the bubbly , jazzy trancey flavor that’s infects near the end throws this one over the edge. Great track.

Stacy Pullen’s sound makes it clear our tour is passing through Detroit. This is a minimal exercise in kick drum and lush, fat, dripping wet chords. There’s not a lot here, and it almost feels like an unfinished rhythm track to a grander outing, but even on its own this track kicks. Good track.

Blake’s vocoderized Barry White is present as usual on his homework assignment, this time over a backdrop of climbing arpeggio bass , a tense cymbal line, bleepy synths and occasional soft strings. Somehow, this one lacks the sweaty horniness we’ve come to expect from a BB track, so it doesn’t get all the way there. Good track.

Crystal Clear, is as minimal as it comes, one bass note pulse, handclaps and muted kickdrum and clickdrum. It’s a Morse code mayday to the dance floor, kind of a"y-o-u d-o-n-t n-e-e-d m-e-l-o-d-y, r-h-y-t-h-m i-s r-h-y-t-h-m, m-o-v-e i-t". It’s amazing that this thing comes off at all, given it’s simplicity, but it does. Good track.

Woody’s AB FAB! is an acid drenched builder, a caustic acid rain bird sprinkler, spinning , building and squirting all over the dancefloor. It’s uncut 303 at it’s most tasty, with a building tension that will ensure all the hands are in the air. Great track.

Lenny Dee’s offering starts off very texturally and builds and broods slowly. This one is a techno spaghetti western soundtrack, you can hear the wind howlin’ through the tumbleweeds, and there’s this super-taut rhumba bongo roll at the end of each figure that keeps the suspense high. Good track.

Epitaph opens with a very Moogy sounding analog intro, and a nice squirty 303 line creeps in underneath and basically stays in the background throughout. Has a creepy kind of Addams Family vibe line with a very live ad lib feel to it. For some reason, it just doesn’t do it for me. Filler.

Roy Davis Jr. opens disk 2 with"I Have Just Begun!", a dark and sinister electrofied Chicago house squirter over a backdrop of handclaps and 4x4 kickdrums. Not a happy track, but a good track.

Armando’s Darkside track is minimal hard-as-nails Chicago hardcore house. Tries hard not to sound too like a Millsart knockoff, but the influence is pretty obvious. Sinister, 4 on the floor cortex melting throbbing. Good track.

TA is 808 fueled, with a gutter level synth measure and a stuttering sample capping the 1 and 3 of each go round. Kicks and hi-hats galore and not a whole lot more. Cajual new skool Chicago groove. Fun, but filler.

Boo’s Jaggin Off starts off with a filter sweep rhythm track with an ever present chime which sounds like the elevator in the Sears Tower clockin’ digits at hyperspeed. A delectable little organic loopin’ jig of a melody and an occasional acid wrapover help this one gahroooove. Great track.

Single Cell Orchestra’s Threefold is probably the highpoint of the collection for me. This track is riveting, a pissed off electro rattlesnake looking for something to unleash upon, as it wanders through waves of prismatic rainbow lights and tinkling spring drizzle. Tension and beauty, interwoven masterfully. Great track.

True to its name, Terry Mullen’s Majestic Ruins comes out of the box pretty majestically with slow washes of strings and a tense snare & hi-hat line. You catch a whiff of 303 and then the race is on. This one’s derisive acid over a probing ambient backdrop. A tasty great track.

Derrick Carter helps us Move, with housey drums, looping synths and a variety of samples, including"Big Bones","As luck would have i"”, and the obligatory title sample. There’s enough going on here that you have to do what Derrick wants you to --Move it. Good track.

Felix da Housecat leaves Chi-town behind with a very Euro-flavor track. Sounds for all the world like a B12 track to me, with a very cool clinical feel and mechanical nu-beats. Filler.

Cajmere godfather Green Velvet lays down a stomper with Help Me. This one really recreates the feel of a close to the edge allnighter. You’ve got pulsing rhythms and disorienting melodies that come in , drive by, and sweep out again as quickly as they arrive. All the while, the track title sample morphs in and out, with a spooky, desperate voice sounding like a spent Jak-o-Lantern fragment. Balls out rollin, all night jackin’. This one goes on and on, truly a great track.

Mike Dunn drops a slab of new Chicago house with Halla. Nice 808 programming, battling waves of synths, diva drops, but not too much that we haven’t heard before. Filler.

Dubtribe sneak the luvbus van in to do the after-hours to this 2 1/2 hour excursion. It's a vibey, jazzy affair, with a positivity that’s affable, but not too hippyish. Sounds like they brought the whole jazz orchestra, and it’s a nice way to end the collection. Good track.

All in all, it’s a pretty good comp. I like it better than TA1 (which I liked a lot, by the way), although this one is aimed more strongly at the dancefloor than the listening chair. It’s again frustrating in that none of the artists submit their "best" trax, and several clearly don’t represent close to what they’re capable of (Derrick Carter, Blake Baxter, Stacy Pullen). The 192 page time capsule booklet is worth almost the cover charge on it’s own, and includes some sweet coverage of the mw-raves scene, if from a jaded uk-dance perspective. Pick this one up for the dancefloor (especially in the limited 6 x 12’ deep groove thick slab vinyl format.)

1995: all rights reserved, all wrongs reversed.

Jeff Davis (pHlow)

jjdavis@xnet.com

http://www.xnet.com/~jjdavis/