Parsec

Sunrise music!

The parsec is a unit of length used in astronomy. It stands for �parallax of one arc second� and now it�s also the name of a morning trance compilation. Czech label Oxygen Records is out with their 2nd release � compiled by DJ T.V. The first release Satellite got rave reviews, and by the looks of the tracklist on this � the second one � it�s another batch of jolly morning trance� Let�s find out!

Let me take you thru the tracks�

#01: Braincell aka. Rastalians � Underwater
Braincell equals Rastalians minus J�rgen Kassel equals German producer Ralph Knobloch� This guy knows his shit � he�s been in the game for a long time and has countless releases under his belt� This is liquid space trance � uplifting, banging and full of nice little melodies� Not overly exciting to be honest, but good solid music� Would come in handy as a DJ tool for building a nice, uplifting morning set� An ok track!

#02: Aphid Moon vs. Protoculture � Systematic Anomally
�There are only two possibilities � either no one told me or no one knows!? �Precisely! As you are undoubtedly gathering the anomaly is systemic. Creating fluctuations in even the most simplistic equations!� Now here�s a very interesting collaboration between Jules Hamer from the UK and Nate Raubenheimer from South Africa� Between them, these guys have produced some of the most critically acclaimed morning trance in recent years� And now they are in cahoots! This sounds just as you�d hope � the phat, wall-of-sound signature sound from Aphid Moon mated with the unquestionable, melodic morning appeal from Protoculture� A match made in heaven! This is highly melodic, futuristic full-on � skilfully executed by these sound magicians! Check out the trippy break-down + following climax� Pure bliss! A sweet, sweet track!

#03: Ninja � Show Time
Woow � it�s been quite a while since I last heard anything from French producer St�phane Djani aka. Ninja� But this guy still masters the good old, clinic sound from the early millennium� This is crackling, bubbling and stiff psytrance � with both hints of progressive and epic, melodic full-on� A hybrid really � leaning mostly towards the epic, uplifting side� Pretty good, but not a stand-out track�

#04: Hydraglyph � Aural Sex (Rmx)
This is actually my first encounter with the works of South African producers Mark Ackermann & Andrew Morgan, but I�ve heard good things about them� And rightfully so � this is very nice, colourful morning trance� Full-on in structure, but instantly trippy! Experimental to the core and has a massive acid mid-section�. Reminds me of the Digital Psionics sound � sweet stuff! A very nice full-power, blasting track�

#05: Freakulizer & DJ Moodra � Freaky Mood
Another collaboration here. This time between Swiss producers Simon Schwendener & Martin Baur� I haven�t heard much of their previous stuff, but I can tell you that this is more uplifting morning trance� Very reminiscent of the previous track and almost as good � almost! It�s gets a little too happy towards the end of the track� But still a nice little track!

#06: Setherian � Angelic Debris
Setherian is DJ Seth aka Christian Zahn from Sao Paulo, Brazil. His debut album Multiverse was a balanced mix of progressive and full-on � and so is this track� Kinda like Etic really! And yeah, this is pretty good too � I like the soft, yet murky voice samples and the nifty progressive reverb effects� But still I feel something�s lacking here� Can�t quite put my finger on it though� Decent track!

#07: Sound Field � No Roots
�Some journey never meant to end!� This is Israeli producers Andy Yakovlev (ProSect) & Liron Atia� ProSect really, really impressed me with his progressive masterpiece on the recent Tribal Vision compilation Inner Circle� And sure enough, this track has enough progressive touches to qualify as a true hybrid track� I mean, just check out the impressive percussion section here � mated with big, fat uplifting melodic pads� Nicey nice! Sunrise music for sure! A totally unique track � and totally sweet!

#08: Lucid SounD � 8.5 Light Minutes
To my knowledge, this is the first track released by Hungarian producer Andr�s Benk�czi� This is something close to minimal morning trance! Sounds weird, but so is this track� I mean, sure it has some nice moments but generally I have a hard time connecting to this track� The kick sounds blunt and the melodic pads don�t do much for me� Sorry, I don�t like it � at all!

#09: Spectra � Split
Paulo Oliveira & Francisco Oliveira from Portugal finishes things off � and if it wasn�t morning before, it�s definitely morning now� This is by far the most uplifting track here� Easily crossing over into fluffy, commercial stuff� To be honest, I don�t really like this flavour of cheesecake � I liked their tracks on Ketuh Records better� They were a little more edgy than this�

Well, well � this is actually a very mixed CD � despite the overall framework being uplifting morning trance� We get all kinds of acid-, progressive- and cheese influences here� It doesn�t come as a surprise, that I�m not particularly fond of the most cheesy bits here� And the last two tracks don�t really do anything for me� But I do like edgy, futuristic morning-trance � and thankfully we�re treated to a number of really good tracks too� And the great stuff here really *is* great!

The artwork by Mike Comandeer is really excellent and stands out nicely from the crowd. I�m impressed! To conclude, there are a handful of really excellent morning tunes here � but unfortunately also a couple of less-good, cheddar-tracks� But it still beats the crap out of most full-on compilations coming out of Israel these days� So - it�s not the best compilation I�ve heard this year, but it�s not the worst either� Fans of uplifting, joyous morning trance with a pinch of psychedelic will most definitely take well to this� Enjoy!

Favourites: 2(!), 4(!), 5, 7(!)

DeathPosture


External links:
Oxygen Records: www.oxygenrecords.com
Discogs: www.discogs.com/release/540821
Saiko Sounds: tinyurl.com/cq72z
TranceShop: tinyurl.com/b27ev
Beatspace: tinyurl.com/dnp3y
Wirikuta: tinyurl.com/86d33
Psyshop: tinyurl.com/df37r
Chaos: tinyurl.com/8qu3u
Ajuca: tinyurl.com/buy6h
Juno: tinyurl.com/ccwpg