Water cooler trance…

Do you remember the scene around the turn of the millennium? Back then the uplifting melodies of the nineties were long forgotten and minimal tech-trance ruled the scene… Pretty much all labels turned their focus to those grim, stripped down techno-beats – and even the frontrunners of full-on, Tip.World, turned minimal. A few years passed and eventually the melodies returned along with the rise of progressive trance…

Not much tech-trance prevailed though and today pure tech-trance labels are somewhat scarce within psy-circuits… Well, the newly established label, Jester Records from Canada, is on a trance-mission to change that… Compiled by label founder DJ Clown, the first release is a compilation of technoid music destined to raise some eyebrows… The tracklist reveals the return of a couple of old-timers + a bunch of emerging talents… Almost a year after it was first announced, Rewired has finally arrived…

Well colour me tech-tranced pink, if this isn’t a damn impressive debut release from Jester Records… Sure there are a couple of tracks that didn’t really do much for me, but luckily there are also a bunch of really awesome, non-conformist tracks here that I really enjoyed… For me this is a welcomed return of the tech-trance sound that seems to have been somewhat neglected in recent years… Sure there are still labels that push this sound, but unlike other psy sub-genres they are scarce…

The artwork (which reminds me of the Atmos’ 2nd Brigade) is very cool and generally I have a good feeling about the future of this label – it’s destined for something big! I’ll recommend this compilation to both tech-trancers, but also prog-heads into technoid/crossover stuff… Fans of Boshke Beats/Cold Groove/G+ and similar should also take notice… Enjoy!

Favourites: 1(!), 4, 5, 7(!), 8(!), 12