| Phil York's Tranzlation label leading the way for hard trance across the globe and striving to push through new acts along the way! For our 22nd release we bring you the new collaboration by partners in crime Phil York & Dark by Design. Electric Cabaret is a great example of both producers individual sounds shining through, Phil's epic uplifting yet dark and twisted hard trance sound can be heard through the breakdown of this track with Gaz's dark heavy undertones shining through on the drop's! An essential track for any hard trance lover which can even crossover into hardstyle territory! On the flip side we welcome back south west legend 'Louk' to the label taking things in a darker techier sound to reflect the current sound coming out of Holland and Germany! We are also proud to welcome a debut for welsh newcomers Shock:Force on the label taking things down a more oldschool sounding hard trance route keeping the power throughout! - germany |
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Kicking 2010 off with a bang is this, the fourth release on Compulzion. A Hard Trance and Techno label ran based in Plymouth and ran by Louk. Here he teams up with one of the biggest up and coming producers at the moment, Busho, with two very different yet VERY dark productions. Busho has proved his worth spectacularly in 2009 with tracks and releases on German Trance, Theracords, Nutty Trance and many more, with a multitude of DJs playing his material worldwide! With a busy release schedule on the main imprint and the buzz around the initial copies of both tracks being so huge, the duo decided to put this release out.
First up is '15 Volts' which is a slice of dark hard tech chaos. Hugely inspired by the sounds coming from Holland at the moment, the title, inspired by the frustration of trying to produce on a laptop miles from home with a forgotton laptop charger, suits the track, which features twisted electrostatic noises and layers of percussive mayhem. Vocals repeating the title bring the tune to the break nicely where not one but two menacing riffs come into play and all hell breaks loose! From the very limited copies given out this has received multiple plays from Mark EG (usually as his starting tune) and A*S*Y*S (who played the track on his Filter'd radio show) and both Louk and Busho have cained the hell out of it in their sets!
On the flip is the rather tweaked 'Believe'. Taking a more techno influence in production with buzzy synth work, a break that builds and builds, haunting strings and one of the most eerie and disturbed vocals you can find talking about believing in life, this one is designed to scare the hell out of you, but in a rather dancefloor orientated way!
For the remix of Believe, Hollands 'Geck-O' was called upon after impressing Louk with his fantastic remix of 'Busho vs Joe-E's 'This Is Not Techno'. He was given only one brief, to make the remix as dark and twisted yet uplifting as possible, and he's done that exceptionally well! What we have is a mix of reverse basslines, an uplifting break and so much energy that on first listen it's hard not to smash the fuck out of the nearest speaker! This mix has also received early support from Fausto and the Organ Donors. - germany |
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Well what can I say it's been a long time coming but this is the new release on German Trance, and although 13 is very unlucky for some it's really lucky for me! Already having some plays from leading tastemakers with a copy, here is my Acid Beast track, which started life as a remix of Dumonde - See The Light before the 303's came out and I went all dark and hard in a rather foul mood. Combine this with a sinister sample from the movie 'The Crow' and the result is a very pacey acid inspired and energetic hard trancer! On remix duties comes 'Busho', a lad from Looe who has released tracks on Theracords and Nutty Trance. He delivers a hard as nails reworking that really pounds and punches its way through the speakers. The grit on this is second to none and I'm well happy with his reworking.
Louk - Acid Beast has been a firm favourite of mine since I was lucky enough to get given as an extremely early promo, so naturally I was delighted when I heard it had been signed to GermanTrance.com, one of the only labels still churning out quality Euro on plastic. And it's not difficult to see why this was signed to the label as everything here is great. The kicks have plenty of pre-delay reverb on them and sound seriously fat. So fat in fact, that no bass line is needed to carry the track at all. The percussion is quite minimal, but the real star here is the 303. Essentially this is Acid Techno at its meanest, only with a Germanic twist to proceedings. The breakdown takes a simple pad and a sample from 'The Crow', and uses them to excellent effect. It works so well yet it's essentially such a basic track that I almost can't believe what I am hearing.
In all honesty, I didn't see how the Busho remix could improve upon what is, for me, a 9/10 tune. Well, what can I say, I was wrong. Somehow, the kicks are even fatter, the 303 is crisper and there are more layers to the percussion. It's made much more in the style of a Hardstyle track rather than Acid Techno, as this one is full of dirty, distorted bass kicks, and it even has a menacing bass line underneath. I really can't state just how good these are, I'll be rinsing these for a long time yet!
Dean Zone. - germany |
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Three names to get the taste buds of Hard Trance enthusiasts all over the globe absolutely sopping. The Italian Stallion Luca Antolini comes at us full throttle with his new release 'We Belong' but it's the remix from our French friend Spaceraven & Giotto DJ of S.H.O.K.K. that reminds us why we love this music so much! The melody of this track was enough to dampen our eye sockets and raise every single hair on our bodies, (and Jon is well hairy). This is definitely our favourite tune of the year so far. The fusion of the two styles from the remixers is perfectly blended with flawless accuracy, and Space Raven continues to have his tunes at the front of our CD wallets, which has been the story of the last 12 months! If you love your Hard Trance uplifting and 'rushy', this one is for you!
Jon The Baptist & Chuck-E - Core Magazine. - germany |
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Lashed Music has been dominating the harder sounds over this past year with a shift towards the growing European sounds that have been sweeping the world with the hardstyle global takeover! For her 9th release on the label Lisa teams up with fiery haired hard trance legend Phil York to produce one of the most powerful tracks of the year 'Bondage & Whips' featuring an almighty powerful bassline, massive drops and distorted vocals!
On the remix front we welcome hard trance pioneer and true veteran to the scene Scot Project; responsible for undoubtedly the biggest hits over the past decade as well as numerous remixes on every label worth its salt in the hard trance world! Frank takes things on an experimental trip for this remix; starting out with electro vibes mixed up with tech trance, before thunderous kicks emerge taking us into a euphoric tinges breakdown, where that true hands in the air 'Scot project sound' shines through, before dropping with serious power!
In the days of digital downloads, any reviewer or DJ will tell you a similar story of trundling through hundreds of sub standard tracks that will barely see the light of day, to simply find that hidden gem that will be the highlight of the magazine column or the weekend's forthcoming set. That is why it is such a joy to see a fresh Scot Project track or remix landing in my inbox, as we all know he hits the spot in such fine style. In this interpretation of Lashes' rather kinky new solo track, he flips the original on its head with uber cool synth lines and stripped back techy rhythms which will leave any hard dance fan with their jaw on the floor in total amazement.
Alex Kidd - germany |
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