I just bought this release from Juno and was listening to it the car on the way to work - awesome tunes from the early electronic pioneers. One problem though the tracklist is completely false - every single track is wrong and i don't mean they are in the wrong order. Not one of the tunes listed appears on the album and i have cross checked 12 of 14 on youtube. Take track 10 for instance which is the one that originally raised my suspicion as i have it on vinyl listed as 'Mike Anthony - Why Can't We Live Together'
Check Juno for mp3 samples - i would love to know what the real tracklisting is so i might email the record company.
Cheers
James

The B side tune is actually a really great remake of 'Schneider TM - The Light 3000' with extra oomph added to the bass and a more 4/4 beat structure. I just discovered that Schneider TM's version is actually a cover an electronic cover version of "There Is A Light That Never Goes Out" by The Smiths. It's always interesting to hear the original version of a tune when you have been loving the cover for so long and the title is actually a play on the original lyrics 'Take Me Home Tonight'

The B side tracks are nothing to write home about, B1 is a generic acid techno track and B2 a plodding dubby beat with some lame effects. The A side is a whole different kettle of fish however. A1 is like the best combination of jacking chicago rhythm, soulful detroit chords with a bassline that sounds very familiar but damn fresh - somewhere between Mr Fingers and Derrick May but with a totally modern production style that would fit right in with any current 'electro house' or 'acid revival' track trying to recall the glory days of the originators. A2 is not quite as immediate but brings to mind early Neil Landstrumm And Christian Vogel stuff - really bleepy bouncy techno with high pitched squelches and flanged chords, a tad annoying if listened to repeatedly but would seriously go mental if played to the right crowd. Sounds like it could have been produced yesterday as well, halfway between Roman Flügel's 'Geht's Noch?' and Audion's recent smash 'Mouth To Mouth'. Definitely a keeper.

I felt i had to comment on this cd after listening to it for the second time this morning - initially i gave it a 5/5 rating. It's mixed by Damian Lazarus and Matthew Styles without mentioning if they both did a disc each or all of it together, but i'd hazard a guess and say Mr Lazarus probably mixed the first disc which is very much the sound of now - what will it be next year i wonder. The sound of 2006 i'm referring to is that whole german minimal sound, great for a sweaty basement and all, very well-produced crisp tracks that you seem to forget five minutes after hearing them, all smoothly gliding into one another and forming a rather pleasant and danceable mix. However, the highlight for me (and the only tune that isn't really a minimal techno tune) would have to be the last track R:AX 'Opium Den (Part V)' a mid-paced melancholy electro track with a bassline / melody combination that nods to the past - both chicago house and italo disco - but is very futuristic at the same time. The second disc starts of in a similiar style after the brief intro with the crunching technoid sounds of Naum then delves into abstract breaks (Four Tet), folky ambient weirdness (Position Normal) amazingly chunky electro with jazzy keys (Trickski) experimental hip-hop (Anaerobic Robots) and by track 7 we are back to the funky tech-house music of John Tejada. Now don't misinterpret me here, i like most of these songs, its just that mixing is totally non existant and the order of the tracks makes no sense whatsoever - i have nothing against being eclectic, just check out my collection for proof. Eclectic and well mixed is fantastic if u can pull it off. The remainder of the cd is a similarly mismatched collection of music that i either love or hate - Moonstarr's brilliantly titled 'Detriot' being an extremely powerful homeage to the Motor City pioneers. It just sounds like someone with a very broad tastes pressed shuffle on their ipod and recorded it. Despite this its still an enjoyable listen, but when i read "Mixed By.." in the title i expect to hear some actual mixing not an unmixed set by a someone bordering on schizophrenic in their ability to make a tracklisting flow cohesively.

The A side of this awesome record also appears on a late 90's trance compilation listing it as a track named 'Birdy' by Outlander. Maybe the people who licensed it just assumed that the tune was by outlander, who was involved with almost all the releases on TZ and named the track themselves because of the chirping bird calls in the intro. I guess its a mystery that only the artists could explain.

This blew me away the first time i heard it at Fabric, deep melodies that keep on rising and growing and a huge balllsy bassline that compliments it perfectly. Could almost be considered a trance tune, but not the modern tiesto version of trance - think more along the lines of your Harthouse/Eye Q circa 93-94 type of trance. Quality.

This is ground zero for me - the beginning of my journey into the amazing world of underground electronic music, or 'techno' to be more precise. It was 1997 and i had just entered my final year of high school, Pearl Jam and Nirvana were still on heavy rotation on my stereo, but for some unknown reason i was searching for something else when i entered the CD store and still can't remember how or why i bought this cd. I still have vivid recollections of listening to this disc for the first time - on the bus on the way to school in my own little detached universe, minimal rhythms pulsing through the headphones talking to me in an entirely new language. It was just so refined and undiluted - completely devoid of superfluous detailing and decoration which is the downfall of so much mainstream music. The sounds were alien and otherworldy yet at the same time felt so comfortable like i'd been waiting to hear this music my entire life. As you can see from the tracklisting this is just another techno mix from that era in time, all the usual suspects that i would later explore in depth, all the respected labels that have stood the test of time and some local talent that encouraged me to explore what the nightlife in Melbourne had to offer. I'm listening to the second disc right now and a feeling of deja vu is creeping up on me with the transition from Funk D'Void's 'Bad Coffee" into Luke Slater's remix of 'Forklift' - it's that sense of absolute magic and sheer joy in the appreciation of music. I guess its just one of those cd's that just encapsulates a special time in your life, not a very rare or valuable disc (in Australia, at least) but an amazing time capsule for me personally and one i will never part with.

French DJ's album of techno/house club stormers that is a rather hit and miss affair. Don't get me wrong i don't hate this cd, but the main reason i aint loving it is the amount of very obvious samples the guy uses: from vocal snippets of the Beastie Boys, the ubiquitous Toddy Terry house rhythms, played-out James Brown drums, familiar loops from the SLS/Ben Sims archives and the almost bordering on blasphemy of stealing great chunks of E-Dancer era Kevin Saunderson classics. There's so many more that i recognize but can't name and the annoying part is that he obviously has some talent in the way he arranges and builds his tunes it's just wasted because of the familiarity of the sounds he's using. At least i found it in the bargain bin!

Far and away my favourite fax release of all time. I know it sounds cliched but this really is a 'journey' if there ever was an album fit for that description. Conjours up images of ancient civilisations, the lost music from a thousand years ago, made without electronic gadgetry as if the various tribes and races of the world collectively conceived this music almost telepathically. The rise of the morning sun portrayed through cascading waves of celestial synths, the pained crys of a million slaves, the gentle rhythmic motions of nature itself - the animals, the ocean and the wind. Switch of the lights and reach that inner place where time stands still and all your troubles just dissapear. Essential!

Hakan track is pretty nice but rather generic deep house journey of which he has produced much better elsewhere. The Thomas Krome tune on the other hand is a blinder, totally mental stop-start electro techno breaks fusion with lots of cool edits and freaky swedish vocoders. Unlike anything the man has ever produced before and the perfect fit for that transition from a detroit electro set into the harder swedish techno sounds. Brilliant!