Back catalogue: Uplifting Trance

Review: Hyperdrive's label debut was a biggie that brought together old and new-school techno on one fizzing EP. The follow-up comes soon after and this time makes no bones about being a Rave Revival. Anthrophia's 'The Voice' kicks off with what is a hefty breakbeat cut with edgy rave stabs and slamming bass. Dimension 23 - 'Fascination' (Seb G mix) then takes a more stripped-back approach with turbocharged synths layered up over silky drums. Centuras brings plenty of bright, euphoric prog energy to the urgent drum funk of 'Jizz' and last of all Dimension 23's 'The Eagle' then kicks out more dusty old-school breaks with machine gun synth fire. A potent EP, make no mistake.

Review: Armed with analogue and modular synthesisers, Southern Italian producers Marco Cassanelli and Deckard take you on an emotive journey inspired by geometry and symmetry for T.A. Rock Records - a small indie label out of sunny Trani, Puglia established 2010. The Splitted EP starts out with the desolate dub techno textures of 'Abandoned Town' while the spaced-out cut 'Triangle' and the hypnotising 'Rectangle' (part 1) make for more experimentally minded tracks.

Review: Rapidfire techno-trance from Berlin's Changer, in the form of four rogue planetary collisions which, we must admit, we weren't ready for. In fact, it's pretty much statistically impossible for a human body to survive exoplanetary impact; all Changer promises with this EP is to help guide us through the emotional tumult that might ensue, and to perhaps convert said worry to excitement. While opener 'The Carrier' impresses somewhat with its furtive fast-trackings of bass and low-slung yet lightfooted kicks, it's the ensuing 'Undiscovered Expeditions' and jackhammering 'Type 2' that really capture our imaginations, with their relentless cosmic swirls and flustered synths caressing the top edges of things.

Review: Concept Werkstatt is an experimental project, not defined by identity but by pure sound and vision. It offers a space, say the eponymous producer behind the beats, where music exists for its own sake, free from ego and expectation. The first transmission is a useful one that taps into tool-like techno. The opener is in a hurry to get you under its spell with dusty drums and fluttering percussion. 'Stahlwerk 102' is more raw with unsettling vocals beaming in as if down a badly tuned radio and two flip-side cuts keep things wonderfully weird.

Review: Between Stations is branching out with a new series of edits that take trance classics and rework them for modern floors. 'Track 1' is a slow start with percolating drums and fizzing synth energy all suggesting big drama is ahead. 'Track 2' is a speedy sound that takes off to the stars on lush synths full of subtle euphoria and nice pitched-up vocals. 'Track 3' cases down with more astral synths and star-gazing pads over hyperactive drums. Lovely stuff.

Review: Beyond the Outer Limits by Cult of the UFO is a new solo recording produced by Anthony Barker of Overlords of the UFO.

Due to Anthony being an integral contributor to the music of Overlords of the UFO, the four tracks maintain the trademark retro analogue sci-fi vibe of Overlords of the UFO, although with a more contemporary edge.

This is the 3rd release by Enlightenment Records.

Review: Paul Oakenfold's classic Southern Sun from 2002 gets revisited here at a time when trance music seems to be very much back in fashion from the old-school parties that never went away to the new-school techno kids adding it with trendy twists to their sounds. It is the trance titan Tiesto who steps up first and keeps it deep and emotive on his version. The chords are Balearic and sun-kissed with a hint of melancholy that will surely appeal to DJs and dancers across multiple genres. The Gabriel & Dresden unplugged remix is more driving and hard-hitting, with snappy snares and a train track-like groove that builds up and sweeps you off your feet.

Review: Riviera's early momentum continues here with a punchy four-tracker from six on-point artists. Lewis Taylor kicks off with 'Non Stop' which is a straight up and funky peak time then pumper with bright chords and plenty of fun in the atmosphere, Cult keeps the energy high with 'Total Kill' and X Coast & DJ RaDa then offer the acid-laced and turbocharged bass stomps of 'Come Together.' LIL NASSTY then flips the script with some sleazy trap beats with menacing bars and futuristic synth patterns on 'Get It Up So' and DJ Pacifier shuts down with some high-speed ghetto-tech in the form of the relentless 'Fried Again.'

Review: "Remembering is not the opposite of forgetting," Casey MQ sings at the start of Later that day, the day before, or the day before that, his new LP and Ghostly International debut. It's a phrase fittingly misremembered from something the LA-based, Canadian-born composer came upon, as he spiraled into unconscious and subconscious-led writing sessions at the piano. Musing on the joys of the selective-amnesiac tendency of the creative flow state, MQ makes riveting use of classical-synthetic composition - piano parts run through copious effects chains, vocal parts run through subtly humanised, formant-shifted and note-bent pitch correctors - to produce a sublime amnestic union. But to forget is also to forgive: hence the word 'amnesty' and its common root with amnesia. This is a profoundly forgiving record, with 'Grey Gardens' and 'Me, I Think I Found It' finding a profound space of acceptance for the days coming and going, for solitude and for new leaves uncovered in amnestic carvings-out and turnings-over.

Review: Complementing the main LP release of this career-bookending Chicane release comes the CD edition of the new symphonic edition of Far From The Maddening Crowds. The original trance uplifter LP blew us all away at its initial '90s moment, proving producer Nicholas Bracegirdle's fine talents to the world. Now, however, comes the full orchestral version, sating our tireless retroactive desire for symphonies after trance; every track on the original album hears a full-blown symphonic orchestral rerub, utilising the collective talents of members of the The Halle and the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, and combining them with glistening SFX and studio embellishments to lend an epic neoclassical vibe to an all-out classic.

Review: Of course everyone knows Chicane for the epochal chart trance hits 'Offshore', 'Don't Give Up' and 'Saltwater', but the prolific producer has a catalogue which travels well past those hits of yesteryear. Given his last studio album topped dance charts globally, it's a fine time to catch up on some of the incredible music he's crafted in the more recent phase of his career. Spread across two CDs, extended mixes of instrumental club tracks like 'Hiding All The Stars' and 'Going Deep' sit alongside the vocal talents of Christian Burns on 'One Thousand Suns' and Senadee on 'No More I Sleep'.

Review: Chicane's 1997 album Far From The Maddening Crowds not only reappropriated a famous Thomas Hardy literary title, it also helped lay the groundwork for a new form of breaks-driven trance music. Now on Modena comes a brand new version of the album, its Symphonic Rehearsals version: a full rerub consisting of total string versions of each track, with brand new string compositions written and performed by Joe Duddell (whose extant performance credits also include James, Elbow and Daughter). The new versions are utter tearjerkers, and not merely for the nostalgia value either; all build on the originally subtle apogees of the original LP, and remind us of why it was so well-received as a landmark release in the first place.

Review: For fans of euphoric and melodic trance, get locked into this latest edition of ZXY's techno club compilation. Volume 72 is another banger and it features a guest mix by Irish DJ and producer Ciaran McAuley alongside series regular Talla 2XLC. This double CD is packed with the freshest tracks and remixes from top international trance artists while also showcasing both Talla and Ciaran's signature sounds. As a special bonus, the album includes a unique air freshener featuring the faces of Talla 2XLC and Ciaran McAuley-a unique treat next to the electric sounds.