Detox (3) ‎– Digital Performers

Full-on. Will the question of its qualities ever be settled? Undoubtedly, I am more into progressive and psytrance (in that order), but if played at the right time you WILL see the SkeletonMan dancing like a mad to the full-on sound. It would be out right stupid to deny this music its ability to move a crowd.

And when it's done the Altom way I have nothing to complain about. All the full-on characteristica you want, the rolling bass, the breaks and build ups, the catchy leads, and - as always when Altom is behind the controllers - without cheesy elements. When it comes to full-on Altom is definitely my choice of honor.

Wizzy Noise is another full-on favourite of mine. Here they are with Opus Drive and we are treated the typical Wizz way. So catchy and pleasing it's almost cheesy, but just when you fear it can be cheesy they repeat the "cheesy" element and it becomes like, hey, we don't give a fuck, this rock! That's when they win me over again :o) This is no way near their best tracks, but has a great ending and should please most Wizzy followers.

Now, with Dino Psaras my feelings have always been mixed. Sometimes I love him, other times find him totally unappealing, the intermediate position never having been an option. Perhaps he should team up with Deedrah more often, cause I like the Dino/Deedrah sound. Evil, repetitious bass and a simple melody structure. This is what I want at night! Great track and my favourite on the album just ahead of Altom.

Astrix is back here and more on track after the Artcore let down. Full on bass, catchy melodies, breaks Astrix style, and nice structure. A little too happy at times, but again Astrix manages to deliver a great end. Hell yeah, promising!

Synthetic has the difficult job of ending this compilation. I think they do an okay job with Mind Splinter. A simple structured melody interrupted by a nice voice sample. Keeping it dark. Well, perhaps not a great track, but it’s closer to my proggy taste and does well after some happy tracks just before.

A couple of fillers are included as well. Orion's Speaker Speaker doesn't really do it for me. Same with Logic Bomb's Deuchland (yes, that is the spelling). Nice elements, nice bass, but boring in the long run.

The following ones I can’t label fillers. They’re just not my taste. Silicon Sound and Jaia gives us Passengers. The track has some great, repeated parts, but also parts that has a melodic, clubbish trance vibe to it which turns me off right away. The same goes with Alien Project’s Alien Technology. Well, this also introduces the most happy synth I’ve heard in a long time (at 3:46 - check it!). What is this – happy shabby clubby techno land?! Space Cat introduces guitars and that’s my turn off. Period.

In conclusion, if you like full-on and on the look out for an album with all the big acts, you should check this one. Also, it’s not total mayheem full-on, so others might enjoy it as well. Certainly there are tracks here to move a crowd. But at home, after a full album, personally, I will look for something a little more challenging ...

Digital performance...

The first release from Greek label Exposure Productions - the compilation All Systems Go - was a positive surprise for me when it was released last year. Musically there were some very nice tracks on it, and I was really impressed with the amount of big, well-established names that Detox had convinced to appear on his compilation. Back then he promised another impressive list of big names to appear on this second release – and with the exception of Astral Projection he has kept his promise… Again the tracklist is very impressive, and with mastering by Space Cat I am pretty sure there is some nice stuff to be found here… Let’s find out…

Let me take you thru the tracks…

#01: Altöm - All Of That [140BPM]
“Strange word like 'psychedelic,' you know - drugs, the whole bit, you know-- 'freak-out music' and all of that” First up is Alexis Cornet & Thomas Dubreuil from France with a very melodic piece, similar in style to their two albums on Neurobiotic Records… This is light and fluffy morning trance… Well-polished and with the old-school Paul McCartney quote as a funny ice-breaker… The melodies run deep here, and I’m inclined to sound the cheddar-alarm at times, but luckily Altöm’s groovy production prevents me from that… Decent track!

#02: Orion - Speaker Speaker [145BPM]
Next up is old timer Jean Borelli from Denmark kicking up some dust… I’m no full-on buff, but this is the kind of full-on I like the best – with driving, building tension… And with enough digital farts, electronic burps and psychedelia to keep me interested… The break-down is good and I’m sure it’ll work wonders on the dance-floor… Ok track!

#03: Wizzy Noise - Opus Drive [142BPM]
Micky & Uriel from Greece have also been digital performers on the scene for quite a while, and naturally they appear on this compilation with a very sweet track indeed… The plot thickens now and this track has the effervescent sweet ZMA-flavour… Groovy, building, funky night-time trance… The heavily vocoded voice-samples are übercool and adds to the overall phat electro-vibe this track has… Fucking awesome track!

#04: Logic Bomb - Deuchland [145BPM]
“Coloured particles. Colours running down like waterfalls..” Watch Detox pull out another ace… Jonas & Johan a.k.a. Logic Bomb are from Ørebro, Sweden and I consider them a vital part of the evolution of psychedelic trance during the last five years with their unmistakeable style… This is just what you’d expect – highly complex, rich, multilayered psychedelic trance – with swedisch spelling errors!?… Loads of twisted FX on top a stomping bassline… The break with the Shponglesque voice-sample is just what the doctor ordered! Brilliant track!

#05: Dino Psaras vs Deedrah - Hellraiser [145BPM]
And I’ll be damned if Detox doesn’t pull out another couple of old-schoolers from his psychedelic tophat… This time it’s Ibiza-freaks Dino & Dado… Dino Psaras has been in the game for at least ten years – and the same is true for Frederic Holyszewski… To be honest, I haven’t been particularly impressed with most of the stuff these guys have released individually lately… Too formulated for my taste... But it’s like something wonderful happens when they combine their strengths… This track is actually pretty good… Its full-on but with a distinct slightly darker edge… Yeah, this is guaranteed to raise hell on the trancefloors this summer… Nice track!

#06: Astrix - Oranda [142BPM]
Avi Shmailov’s neo full-on is among the top exports of Israel – his popularity is huge and so is the crossover appeal into cheesier territory… Personally I kinda enjoyed the debut album Eye To Eye but since then I’ve sought more challenging music to satisfy my needs… So this is my first encounter with the Astrix sound for a while – and I gotta hand it to the guy – he’s no stranger to the well-tested full-on formula… This is 100% fast-paced, joyous, full-on flavoured bubble-gum trance… Highly melodic and energetic – and quite catchy despite the skin-deep hollowness… Decent track!

#07: Silicon Sound feat. Jaïa - Passengers [142BPM]
Ahh… I thoroughly enjoyed the Silicon Sound (Johannes Reigner) track on the last Exposure compilation All Systems Go… And now he’s working with another French full-on master – Jaïa (Yannis Kamarinos)... Both are among my fav’e French artists, so my expectations for this track are high… Sadly they are not really met until halfway too the track… The first half is a little too fluffy, but luckily the direction changes into more deep morning trance for the second half of the track… Pretty good track...

#08: Alien Project - Alien Technology [145BPM]
Up next is another neo full-on advocate – Mr. Ari Linker who’s been a steady TIP.World regular for the last couple of years… As with his track on All Systems Go, I’m not particularly impressed… Well, it’s well-produced and immensely happy – and I’m sure this suit the neo-crossover-glowstick-waving crowd, but I just can’t to get fully into it… It’s mainstream, light, fluffy full-on… Like a lollipop really – it’s good for the first couple of minutes, but then the flavour starts to annoy you… Full-on anno 2005! Lots of people like it – I don’t!

#09: Space Cat - H2O [145BPM]
Avi Algranati a.k.a. Space Cat from Israel used to be awesome, but to a nostalgic trancer like myself I feel like he’s lost some of his golden touch as over the years… But it’s not all bad… At least this isn’t overly formulated neo full-on as the last three tracks here were… This is very well produced experimental full-on with the distinct Space Cat sound... Guitars usually piss me off, but in this track I can cope – and the odd-ball climax part is pretty cool… Decent track!

#10: Synthetic - Mind Splinter [140BPM]
The last track is also by Frederic Holyszewski, this time under his darker Synthetic moniker… Yes, much better now… Razor-sharp cuts and murky, introvert pads helps add to the darker atmosphere put forth by Dado here… The techy electro-bits are very well-fitting! Oh yes, how refreshing it is to hear some good, anti-cheesy night-trance from this guy… Good job putting this track at the end of this compilation… Sweet!

Right, let’s settle the score… Unfortunately there are fillers on this album – as you can tell I’m not a big fan of neo full-on, but even I can appreciate the value of most of the tracks here… There are three very good tracks and a couple of pretty good tracks here… The rest is decent, but should definitely please fans of modern full-on… Luckily tastes differ and diversity rules!

So to conclude: Again Detox manages to release a full-on compilation filled with above average quality music… Well done! Again I’m looking forward to the next compilation… The anti-cheddar crowd might want to listen before purchase, but the general dancefloor posse will love with compilation endlessly… Enjoy!

Favourites: 2, 3(!!), 4(!!), 5, 10(!)