Got this excellent sampler of tunes from the London-based Rising High Records here that was put out by its New York-based sister label, Instinct Records, in 1993. An awesome slice of mostly spellbinding trance tracks that lean heavily on wondrous, string-filled atmospheres, with a couple great ambient techno/IDM offerings from The Black Dog too, before they'd land on Warp Records and put out their acclaimed Spanners LP in 1994. Also, how can you not love this vaporwavy, fluorescent, pink-fucshia-purple-yellow-green album art? It's fantastic!
Anyway, hard to pick out just a couple tunes to really highlight from this, but Rising High Collective's 1991 song, "Fever Called Love," is probably the most mainstream club-friendly tune on here. It could probably be best described as a trance record, but it doesn't sound like the trance that we'd come to know over the ensuing decade. That's because before we'd even collectively agreed on a word to describe trance music and its repetitive synth lines and melodies that wound up fleshing themselves out into their own definitive genre, those synth lines were getting applied to other types of dance music instead. And "Fever Called Love" is one of those songs that represents a mishmash of a bunch of different things that were lighting up the UK's post-acid house dancefloors back in '91; it's got a female house vocal, a techno backbeat, some of those lovely rich keyboard stabs that were huge in the early 90s, breakbeats, and it also has those repetitive trancey synth lines. It's a tune from a very interesting and experimental time for dance music, before a bunch of its different strains would wind up somewhat segregating themselves from each other and go on to develop their own dedicated subcultures.
But by the time 1993 had rolled around, trance had literally found its name, and so a good portion of this album consists of straight-up early 90s trance gems. This type of stuff still often got lumped in with techno at the time, and much of it sounded like techno because of its high tempos and foundational four-on-the-floor kick drums, but the basic structurings of trance tracks—from their backbeats to their drawn-out progressive build-ups and eventual swellings in intensity—can still be heard within them. Friends, Lovers & Family's big and epic, intense adventure of "Doppelganger" is chock full of unpredictable twists and turns, and the duo of Sequential, which consisted of German ambient god Pete Namlook (RIP) and the much lesser known Christian Thier, basically lays one of those divinely stringy and emotive ambient soundscapes that Namlook was known for creating over a contemporary trance beat. A pretty breathtaking piece of music there.
People really seem to sleep on a lot of this early 90s trance stuff, but a lot of these artifacts are actually fucking brilliant. Not only were they trailblazing, but they still bang to this very day because of how nicely they're layered. And if you love string synths in your dance music like I do, you'll probably really enjoy a lot of this particular slate of tunes 😊.
Highlights:
Rising High Collective - "Fever Called Love"
Black Dog - "Flux (Balil & Arno)"
Bi-Face - "137 Ambience"
Friends, Lovers & Family - "Doppelganger"
Black Dog - "Otaku (Atypic)"
Sequential - "Prophet"
Get Up and Up in Spirit
Read just one
Should have read multiple scores of spine backs and paper
Start with Scovel Shinn
Woah an ss, it’s okay have start for better
Virtue can help bring about fantastical reality, if believed, that’s Doreen V
The Deeksha can help you see more
Masters of the Far East, life & teachings of
Make a start read in, sure even when found
You can find it audible
Celestine Prophecies
All in audible
Fun & exciting
Give a read as fictional
Give a listen as the nonsensical
It’s okay
Your own development will follow
Even if you claim just one book
It’s cool, you’ll see yourself
You’ll see!
Get up & up
Before columns
In Spirit & Consciousness
It’s a parallel not flip flop but a better upstanding understanding too
Mark 11:24
Spot for tattoo saved since 2005
I could knock it out in home
Now that I think upon It
The Whip from Australia
I’ll make a new blog for
My Whip upon entry of multiples of Skin
I even purchased a second Whip
Did some, purchased a third
Whippings for entry into bunches of skin
My best entered, I give my all
Even under conglomerates
Before I gave colors for all
Never price gouging
Speak up some one
I saw the ride
Not the box
I love you
I’m sorry
I love you
I’m sorry I love you
I saw the ride not the box
I love you
After understanding
I love you
I
Love You
A month behind on my end of summer themed batch for my Patreon ‘Reactor Mode’ supporters but will be shipped next week finally. Was real fun making this one out of my Fluid / Depth (a literal dolphin DAW for PS1) stream from last year. Not pictured: a bonus EP for the two longish tracks that couldn’t fit onto 1 CD. Next release will be sent in December which is usually PS1 themed month for me so probably be based around that... anyway, thanks @ the current and future patrons!
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