I knew I had to do something
different this week. The question was, what? The choice was to go softer or
harder... No, not a euphemism, just your dirty mind at work.
Well, going into the summer,
I'm bound to be in a sunny, chilled out mood at some point - probably just
before the Ibiza Specials roll out. We'll save the slower, summery vibes for
May and June. For this week, we are shifting into 5th gear for some much needed
bosh - a la episode 26.
I intended to make this
episode pretty nasty and aggressive but in the end it's turned out more as a
pure euphoria-fest. There is a nastier side in the shape of Jonny Haslett’s
‘Patterson-esque’ Full Effect and Matt Skyer's Throwing Swords and we do kick
off with half an hour or so of techier, proggier material. For the most part
though, I'm treating you to the very finest in uptempo melodic trance music.
I've been secretly bemoaning
the lack of truly outstanding 138+ trance recently, hence why so many episodes
of late have been on the slow side. But a concerted effort to actually dig some
out has uncovered some of the most impressive big room records of the year so
far. This episode is proof that there IS fantastic uplifting trance out there;
you just have to look beyond the big names and work a lot harder to find it.
It’s all too easy to sit on Beatport and pull out the latest releases from
Armind, Anjuna or High Contrast, missing what is going on under the surface.
Seriously, genuine fans of
trance music will be pretty astounded by the melodic goodness I have in store
here. Be careful if you’re drinking any hot beverages while listening to this –
Don’t spit them out all over the person next to you in astonishment.
If any liquids are going to
emergency exit your mouth during this set, it will almost certainly be during the
rather epic middle section from RAM’s incredible RAMplify through to Ronny K’s
release on Motiv8, Rush Hour. All 4 are perfect, if slightly differing,
executions of effective trance music. ‘Tune Of The Episode’ could have gone to
any of those 4 – in the end, I gave it to Legion, if only for that sledgehammer
of a bassline. There's also a double dose of Thomas Datt, some Touchstone and a Pulser Dub remix for good measure.
Oldies? We have two this
week. One that barely qualifies as old because it only came out last year.
Ronny K’s remix of Bach – Air On The G String went straight in when I found it
though – firstly, because it has distinct touches of personal favourite
SoundLift – On A Mission on it and secondly, because it just further reaffirms
my long held belief that trance and classical music have a solid musical
connection which, in a pretentious way, elevates trance culturally. Not that my
parents would ever accept that!
And our ‘oldie at the end’
(which I tended to call it these days) had to be something a little different.
I went for some full on, deep-bassed, German-sounding action in the shape of an
Alphazone remix from 2002. I’m really not sure whether Alphazone are still
producing these days, but back in the day whey were just a conveyor belt of
mind-blowing hard trance music and definitely an early gateway artist in my
journey into the underground echelons of EDM in my mid-teens.
THE PHIL-HARMONIC PODCAST EPISODE 30
1. KhoMha – The Sky Is Inside
You [Coldharbour Red]
2. Mark Norman - Never Let
The Party Stop [High Contrast Recordings]
3. Dazzle - Royal 69 [High
Contrast Nu Breed]
4. Oleg Espo - Back To
Generation [Interstate Recordings]
5. Tenishia - Always Loved,
Never Forgotten (The Day Will Come) [Armind]
6. Facade & Qbass -
Intensity (Nic Toms Remix) [In Trance We Trust]
7. Wellenrausch - Shape Of
Berlin (Enoh Remix) [Afterglow Records]
8. Solarstone & Clare
Stagg - The Spell (Pulser Dub) [Black Hole Recordings]
9. RAM - RAMplify [Digital
Society Recordings]
10. Abstract Vision &
Elite Electronic vs. Photographer - Legion [Music En Route] <<<(Phil’s
Tune Of The Episode)>>>
11. Danyella & Cygnus X-1
– Snow Leopard (Matt Bukovski Remix) [Crystal Source Recordings]
12. Ronny K. – Rush Hour
[Motiv8 Recordings]
13. Jonny Haslett - Full
Effect [Vibrate Sounds]
14. Chris Porter - Till
Tomorrow [Borderline]
15. Paul Oakenfold - Full
Moon Party (Thomas Datt Remix) [Perfecto Fluoro]
16. Woody Van Eyden - 10.5
(Thomas Datt's Full 11 Remix) [Discover Digital]
17. Ronny K. vs. Bach - Air
On The G String [Defcon Recordings]
18. Kenan Teke - Omega
(Touchstone Remix) [Nile Tunes Recordings]
19. Matt Skyer - Throwing
Swords [Discover Dark]
20. Dave Joy - Second Chase
(Alphazone Remix) [Planet Traxx]
Hope that fills your void this week! Once again, see you in 2 weeks!
