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Powerplant - With Or Without You - 09-Aug-08 02:25 AM
The flip couldn't be more different than the original, but both tracks are amazing on their own terms.

Vancouver wunderkids John Morgan and Kiki Stewardson offer a steady, pulsing brooder in their original cut, with an understated baseline & a melody that grows stronger, more insistent and haunting with every 32 bars. The tune never really peaks (there's no breakdown to speak of) but it still builds energy beautifully.

Blackwatch takes a completely different approach--after a fairly quiet introduction (which, by the way, is rather difficult to mix into) and sparse use of the vocal sample, his drums simply explode into a punishing, driving groove that is reminiscent of his work with Dave Gardner under the Gardner & Thomas moniker. Sparse piano samples float in the background, punctuating the breakdown.

Narcotik - Blue / 12 Miles - 09-Aug-08 02:07 AM
Sasha used Blue to open his second CD for the seminal Global Underground 009: San Franciso, & the track put its producers (Gab Olivier, later of Digby & Olivier, & CJ Dolan) as well as the then-fledgling Aussie label, Zero Tolerance, on the map.

Zero Tolerance went on to release fantastic progressive tunes until it folded in 2004/05, but this record stands the test of time.

Blue is a slow-building affair with echoing vocals and melodic, trance-like lead. Wonderful saxophone stabs begin to crop up somewhere midway through the track, and then it's back to driving, Breeder-like progressive house that can be best described as making you want to take a swim into infinity.

12 Miles is a slightly more confused affair, still good enough to serve as filler in any set, but certainly lacking the flair of the A-side.

All in all, a classic. Use Blue to open with, or 12 Miles to keep up the energy mid-set--this is a record well worth your money.

Sphere & Accorsi* - Set The Mood / Take It Hard - 09-Aug-08 01:57 AM
There's no joking around with this record: both tracks kick your ass with driving, syncopated percussion & eerie, unsettling ambiance. Melody? Look somewhere else--this is all about primal rhythms.

Set The Mood is a suitable name for the A side, since the track has a long (3 minutes +) intro mainly consisting of moody sound effects, panning stabs and slowly coalesce around a rumbling groove.

Take It Hard raises the stakes with a dirty, thunderous baseline that drops at the 2 minute mark. Over-reverbed effects fade in & out, ghost-like whispers whispering to a manic peak around 5 minute peak.

For those looking to build a darker-than-average progressive or tribal set, this is an absolutely fantastic record, & it fits very will with tribal-hinted works from the likes of Moshic or older Zero Tolerance releases.

Zero Tolerance Recordings - 06-Aug-08 12:38 AM
One of the best progressive labels in Australia if not the world, ZT pushed out quite a few deep & dark tracks before folding in 2004. Primarily focused on local (that is to say, Australian) producers, the label garnered serious buzz after the early success of their Narcotik (Gab Olivier & CJ Dolan) release Blue, featured on Sasha's Global Underground 009: San Francisco.

Andy Page provided two contributions under his ASAP name, & Luke Chable scored some of his early hits here (Eat Static//After the Storm) also collaborating with fellow Aussie Ivan Gouch under the Digital Mind Control moniker.

Those who dabble in progressive house should compile a full collection of ZT releases, as they are uniformly strong.

Kate Bush Vs Infusion - Running Up That Hill - 18-Oct-04 04:31 PM
An impressive prog-house effort by the Aussie wunder-kids. It all begins mellow enough--subdued percussion, with sharp claps, a lone sharp bongo & soft pads in the background--but things pick up in a hurry when a warm, monstrously thick moogish baseline drops around the 2 minute mark. The track builds slowly to the point where the baseline begins hitting its three notes. The lead explodes, the filtered vocals come full on & then we get what can only be described as a couple of minutes of complete aural bliss. "Let me steal this moment from you now" indeed.

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