ziatrance
IsraTrance Junior Member
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Posted : Sep 11, 2004 00:55
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Zia-Trance is now featuring New York City's Polarlight Recordings full length progressive trance album, "Soul Reflection". Please read the review written by Dave Henshaw after the link below for a concise and profound critique of this album.
It airs everyday at 3 PM EST and then again at 1 AM EST. You can check the scheduler on the main station page to see the times it airs in your area. It converts the times for you.
It will air from 9/10 to 9/19.
The album can be purchased off their website - polarlightmusic.com
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Soul Reflections review by Dave Henshaw....
They are ideas advanced by seemingly every postmodern philosopher and philospher wannabe from Jean Baudrillard to Rowdy Dawg. They go a little something like this: The identity of no thing is based on nor influenced in any way by that of another OR the identity of all things is based upon that of all other things. These ideas, flying in the face of anyone who supports a "gray area" would have you believe that no nation's psy-culture is influenced by another OR that the cultures of ALL nations influence those of ALL others.
Take one step back, however, and make a logical assumption. The aforementioned ideas presuppose the fact that all nations actually have some defined "identity" to speak of. So I ask, can we logically argue that the American psy-trance community/culture is its *own* entity? Influenced by other nations or not, DOES the United States "psydentity" contain *any* positive substance which can put it on the map with nations like India, Israel, Sweden or Denmark?
I write primarily of progressive psychedlic trance, so forthwith I'll do
just that. It has long been argued that the United States will never be
taken seriously in the global trance culture until two things happen.
First, an American artist must write and produce an album on par with
Atmos' "Headcleaner," Antix's "Lull," or any of the classic albums in the
genre. Second, that album must be mastered, mass-produced, and distributed
globally by an American Record label. Until those events take place,
American trance culture will be nothing more than a *copy* - a wonderful
yet substance-free simulation - of the cultures in Sweden, Denmark,
Switzerland, Germany and other European nations. To date, despite great
efforts from San Francisco, New York, New Haven, and a multitude of incredible artists - it is very difficult to find such an album.
So maybe it's best to give up that idea. Maybe we should just assume there's no self-contained positive substance in "American Psy-Trance Culture." Maybe we should think a little deeper, and in so doing give American trance culture the image and identity it belongs. That image, in my eyes, is of a nation *searching* for its own identity. America is not a nation which has an idenity **yet,** and that fact provides its very identity. America is a nation seeking out a citizens who can write like Tomasz Balicki or the Strom Brothers. America is seeking people who, like they did for Phish and like they do in Europe, will come out in the thousands to hear and experience trance culture. This search has gotten so all-consuming, so all encompassing, that it's actually burned itself in the minds of people across the globe. America's idenity is that of a nation of seekers, a population of idividuals yearning so hard for its own identity that its yearning has literally *become* its idenity!
That said, why bother attempting to write an album like "Headcleaner" (the album with more positive substance than ANY written in the genre) when
American artists could instead focus on writing tracks and albums that
propogate the image others hold of them? American music SHOULD import a
feeling of yearning. It should import feelings of anxiety and excitement for the future. American trance SHOULD sound like the trance of the search. It should sound like the gentle ebbs and flows of all night vigils and midnight chases through the woods. American trance culture is yearning for an idenity, and it has been doing it so long and so vigorously that the yearning has literally *become* (in whole or majority part) its identity. (If you don't think so, just think of how the world views the Boston Red Sox. OK? Now think of how that same team will be viewed when and if they win the World Series.)
The yearn and search I speak of is audible like a midday scream in the
latest release from (believe it or not) an American trance label! New York City's "Polarlight Recordings" has released its first compilation, "Soul Reflection," and, as the title would have you think, it's a series of tracks which reflect on
the very nature of American trance as a nation and a culture.
To my ears, the best two tracks on the album are tracks #1 and #5; both
representing a deep, warm, and seeking atmosphere. Track 1, "Chronoshift"
by B.R.A.Z.I.L and Track 5, "Celedrum" by Oscimon both incorporate a
groove-oriented bassline, a soft kick drum and excellent high-end tribal
percussion patterns - all of which combine to import a feeling of
anticipation, excitement for the future, and a faith that good things are
on their way. Much like "Fill the Hat" opened "Headcleaner" with similar
feelings, "Chronoshift" gives the top end of this compilation very similar
sentiments. Tracks 2 and 3, "Robofarm" by Abstract and "Into the Morning"
by Zorg, augment the same theme nicely while bringing up the tempo just
enough to keep the listening ears interested. Nothing incredibly
energetic, nothing that makes you want to jump out of your chair and dance,
but, in the spirit of the direction progressive trance has been taking
worldwide and the direction of identity formation which American trance *needs* to take, the top end of this album makes it well worth the listen.
Track 7, "Lothe" by Niktule, is one of the slowest and most melodic on the
album; carrying with it excellent piano and high orchestral melodies. It
creates a very supple atmosphere that could almost be labeled "downtempo."
Conversely, track 8, "Breezy Point" by Sonecule, is possibly the most
aggressive track on the album. Reminisecent of "Trouble" from Noma's now
famous full-length, "Navigator," "Breezy Point" incorporates a tight kick
and a comparitively angry synth line which carries through the body of the
track. The compilation closes (in style might I add) with an ambient
track, "To Space" by Stashuk. It opens with a short spoken vocal sample
playing all by itself. Slowly the drums and synth lines enter until the
entire range of sounds are represented in a groovy and atmospheric
composition.
Needless to say, the album is a compilation - respresnting the brilliance
and determination of a incredible group of artists from New York City. That
being said, it is also one of the finest (if not *the* finest) compilation of American artists ever released in this country. After San Francisco-based "Spectral Concepts" released their now buried compilation of American trance a few long years ago, I didn't think American trance production had much of a
chance of ever recovering! Adam Ohana moved off to work solely on breaks and it looked like American Trance was gone. Rumors circulated a few years ago that Spectra Productions had a possible compilation on the way featuring a series of tracks from American artists supplemented with never-before-released tracks from Sweden and Denmark's greatest. However, the project never quite got to the presses and another chance for American artists to be exposed as the talents they are was lost. With the release of "Soul Reflections" on Polarlight Recordings, it is very safe to say that the future of American Trance is as bright as the Texas Sun.
Obviously, if you haven't already, I strongly suggest picking up a copy of
this album from psyshop.com not only to support the artists and producers
who have put their hearts and souls into its creation, but also to support
the burgeoning American Trance scene and its new drive towards a national
identity... |
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