The Phil-Harmonic Podcast Episode 38

Hello all,

Since posting the 4 hour marathon that was ‘Requests Of The Villa Guests’ a few weeks ago, the name of the game has been tackling the almost fatal scourge of Ibiza blues and getting life back to normal. ‘Normal’ is what it’s about this week for the podcast, as I take us back to our trance ‘bread and butter’.

First up, I did say last time out that I would post a link to my review of our Ibiza 2012 holiday on this blog. I have done a typically lengthy review but I’ve decided against posting it here. The savvy amongst you will probably be able to search it out anyway.

Right - down to business. Obviously, with there being so many Ibiza Specials this year, the podcast has a lot of catching up to do in terms of new material. The next two episodes (this week’s and Episode 39 in two weeks) are essentially the very best of what’s been getting me going from about mid-June through until the end of August. As you can imagine, there’s absolutely shitloads to cram in and get through. My list of possible tunes was approaching 70 by the time I sat down to do the tracklists.

The week’s episode really does have a little bit of everything in there. But the trance purists amongst you will be delighted to hear that the pace picks up very quickly and I’ve really taken advantage of what has been a glut of fantastic 137+ melodic trancers over the last two months. For once, the fast, uplifting stuff has outshone the progressive by a mile.

We do, however, kick off things with something complete unorthodox, playing two tracks from an artist you definitely wouldn’t expect to see starting up proceedings. I’m a huge fan of Infected Mushroom and have followed them avidly since seeing them live in Bristol in 2005. Despite their obvious psy-trance roots, they have very carefully evolved their sound over the years but always remaining as ‘fucked up’ as ever.

Their new album, Army Of Mushrooms came out in May but I didn’t get around to giving it a full listen until about July. I then had it on repeat right up until leaving for Ibiza. To me, it’s a truly insane sonic masterpiece and an album I can’t recommend enough to those open-minded enough to embrace it.

Here I’ve gone for I Shine, a track with lyrics that seem very much appropriate post-Ibiza, and Swingish, the bonus track from the digital release that has never failed to pick up my mood however bad my day has been in recent months.

"I shine, to make you smile

I try, to save you one more time

For a lonely place, you need a friendly face

When your options low, I lift you from below"

- Infected Mushoom - I Shine 

In our slower, more progressive opening 40 mins, we also have one of our group’s big Ibiza anthems in Sander Van Doorn’s Kangaroo – no doubt that will bring back plenty of memories from Space – and there’s a sideways nod to my hard trance days through Justin Fry & Technikal’s remix of classic 4AM – feels good to play a Technikal record again after all these years.

After that, there’s just far too much uplifting trance to even begin describing properly. Watch out for the very ballsy Paradigm Shift on Bryan Kearney’s label, the darker touch of James Dymond’s remix of Pharaoh and, of course, serious ‘Tune Of The Year 2012’ candidate, Daniel Kandi & Ferry Tayle – Flying Blue. Stunning!!

Really not a lot of room for oldies in the next couple of episodes, but here we end on one of Jonas Steur’s old aliases, Fable. Not necessarily a track that really grabbed me when it was released in 2006, but it was a very popular record at the time and I’ve very much grown into it over the years – all of 6 years in fact. That touch of melancholy suited the pre-Ibiza comedown, I thought.

THE PHIL-HARMONIC PODCAST EPISODE 38

1. Infected Mushroom - I Shine [Dim Mak Records]

2. Infected Mushroom - Swingish [Dim Mak Records]

3. Wezz Devall - We Are The Future [Mainstage Music]

4. Sander Van Doorn & Julian Jordan - Kangaroo [Doorn Records]

5. Fisherman & Hawkins - Nightshift [Coldharbour Recordings]

6. Da Urban Outlaws - 4AM (Justin Fry & Technikal Remix) [Fryed Up]

7. Heatbeat - Extra Bacon [Captivating Sounds]

8. Chris Schweizer - Xeon [Soundpiercing]

9. Solis & Sean Truby - Strength To Strength [Infrasonic Recordings]

10. Sean Tyas feat. Lo- Fi Sugar - The World [Future Sound Of Egypt]

11. Fast Distance - Alpine [Digital Society Recordings]

12. Gradian - Valkyrie (Philip Mayer Remix) [Unearthed Records]

13. Estiva feat. Tania Zygar - Death Of Me (Ferry Tayle Remix) [Enhanced Recordings]

14. The Noble Six - Sundown In Dubai (Ahmed Romel Remix) [Blue Soho Recordings]

15. Daniel Kandi & Ferry Tayle - Flying Blue [Enhanced Recordings] <<<(Phil's Tune Of The Episode)>>>

16. Poshout feat. Ange - Beside (Daniel Kandi's Upper Class Mix) [Timeline Music]

17. James Dymond - Paladin [Soundpiercing]

18. AYDA - Pharaoh (James Dymond Remix) [Alter Ego Records]

19. TrancEye - Sunset In Your Eyes [Redux Recordings]

20. Darren Porter - Sparkles [Trancefixion Digital]

21. F-6 - Paradigm Shift [Kearnage Recordings]

22. Fable - Above [Intuition Recordings]

In two weeks. we plough ahead and carry on reviewing the very best of June-August, while a 5^th and final Ibiza Special also takes shape in my mind. Until then, take care!