always log in:

cancel

Submitted by Charlee on 25th September, 08:41PM

This is the second Australian In Trance We Trust compilation and this time around was mixed by Lange and Australian trance scene stalwart Steve Strangis. Between the 2 discs they cover some of the biggest names in trance with tracks by Menno De Jong, Ferry Corsten, Thomas Bronzwater and John O'Callaghan to name a few. Often compilations run the risk of trying to squash too many tracks onto the cd limiting the depth, sometimes coming off plain cheesy. Not a problem here as Lange and Strangis get to take us on a journey through warm and fuzzy, arms in the air style anthems, brooding moody breakdowns through to more driving sounds and even a couple of slightly harder style beats... With 13tracks on disc 1 and 14 on disc 2 most tracks get a chance to stretch their legs.


CD1 - Lange
Lange is famous for his characteristic dirty electro basslines layered with angelic melodies and his fans won't be disappointed with a few of Lange’s own remixes featured. Starting with Andy Duguid - Signals, we get a good idea of what we're in for; farty bass and hands in the air melodies. But then we're briefly dropped into a deeper brooding kind of trance in Last Light Tonight by Menno De Jong and Leon Boiler and I'm a little bit disappointed to be awoken from my meditative state when the next track fades in with more of the electro sound. At this point I should make it clear that I'm slightly biased against electro basslines in trance as I feel like it detracts from the wonderful relaxed feeling that the angelic melodies give me but from various big room events I've been to it's obvious I don't represent the majority of trance lovers with this opinion.

If you're getting ready to go out with mates this cd will go down pretty well as the tracks flow and ebb without ever really occupying the same sound spectrum for too long and after the halfway mark the bass is quite chunky. The Lange remix of Ferry Corsten’s 'We Belong' even had me reconsidering my stance on electro sounds in trance and halfway through Fractal Universe I was almost convinced. After the warmth that Fractal Universe delivered I was disappointed by the hard thumping bass used in the last 30 seconds as an intro to Air Guitar, especially when Air Guitar has its own beautiful warmth that feels like it could have just flowed seamlessly. Minor gripe though, as before I know it I'm whisked back into the rhythm of brooding breakdowns and the massively chunky bass of 'The Sorcery Within'. Time for the last track of Lange’s disc and ‘I Am What I Am’ feels very final, like a good way to close a big room. The lyrics "Stop trying to change me, I am what I am" is an obvious attempt to tap into the common human emotion of yearning for acceptance and would probably come across as an epic mantra depending on state of mind and setting. In my livingroom, far removed from the uplifting vibe of a big club or festival it came across as a bit cheesey though.

Overall a good cd by Lange and if you're a fan then it comes highly recommended. The massive main room electro basslines will make it easy to get into but might detract from replayability... I don't really see myself keeping this one in the cd player for too long which is a shame because the angelic melodies really can drag you in and leave you in a daze. I kept getting sucked in by the massive buildups and moody breakdowns and had a hard time reviewing this cd as I'd get lost in the rhythms and delicate strings.


CD2 - Steve Strangis
Steve Strangis or Australian Van Buuren, as his promo material refers to him, wastes no time in throwing down some banging trance. After feeling mixed emotions through Lang (but not all that fast) beats of Strangis' own production Dradis. The beats ease off for the breakdown and are replaced with a very stripped back, warm atmospheric drone, punctuated by what could be mistaken for a windchime. Tes cd it's a bit of a relief to let the thumping bass take over and I find it difficult to keep still. Tracks 2 and 3 fly by like a dream and I awaken to the quite hardhe beat picks up, we're back on our journey aDradis flows effortlessly into Mac & Mondays 'Touching The Sound' and I begin to wish I could. I also wish I wasn't sober and my housemates weren't asleep so I didn’t have to listen to this through my headphones.

The rhythm continues through Everythings Been Written, Look Ahead and Sieze The Day before I find my favourite track of the compilation Gone South by Cliff Coenraad. I must admit I was unfamiliar with Coenraad but this is a storming track, with a catchy as hell hook, lots of intricate layers and just such a cool breakdown/buildup in the middle of the song. Signum's Come Around Again follows shortly after and I'm a bit put off by the lyrics (something about 'one last kiss before you leave') but I'm not left cringing for long as the buildup pitches the vocals into something unrecognizable (in a good way) as the track lifts off like a rocketship heading to space, the beat drops and this time things have been kicked up a few notches.

From here on out the cd had won me over, except for two parts. The chorus to 'Find Yourself' and the end of the cd. Sarah Howells singing on Find Yourself felt like torture, not due to any lack of ability on her behalf but simply because I knew her singing was standing between me and some driving, banging beats and I wanted to get back into it. The Sun Decade dub of 'Are You?' seemed like a weird choice for last track to me as towards the end the elements are stripped down leaving a dull thudding beat for the last minute. I just wish the journey had finished with a bang.

Both Lange and Strangis have chalked up over ten years in the scene and their experience shows, leaving us with a compilation that is at times both mesmerizing and uplifting. Strangis' cd has a more enjoyable flow and structure, feeling like the pieces of a puzzle that just fell into place and Lange’s is more accessible.