031. Reflekt feat. Delline Bass - Need To Feel Loved (12" Club Mix)

Need To Feel Loved was a feature of the soundtrack to 2004’s, It’s All Gone Pete Tong, a wistful morality play about a DJ who loses his hearing. At the time, I was probably busy being way too cool and elitist to bother with such mainstream nonsense. Films about ‘clubbing’ and ‘dance culture’ never really seem to capture the real essence of it all. However, I’m not so elitist to ignore when I’m wrong. Seb Fontaine, the co-producer, has a habit of popping up now and then with really solid tracks, this being a prime example. Need To Feel Loved is a blissful and relaxing number which straddles the Balearic area between trance and house. Full of summer charm, the recently pleasant weather a few weeks ago made me hunt this one down.

Reflekt feat. Delline Bass - Need To Feel Loved (12" Club Mix)
[Positiva : 12TIVDJ213]

Discogs: £8.00

010. The Space Brothers - Heaven Will Come (Lange Vocal Mix)

One should always be weary of vocal club tracks. Dance music is not about lyrics. For the most part, it’s music without words. If lyrical effervescence and wordsmanship are what you seek, you would be wise to look else where. Inevitably, vocals imply inherent commercial appeal. Frequently we witness a track which has such a large underground following that a attempt to cross over with a release on a major commercial label is prompted. In order to garner popular support some impoverished vocals, often written on the back of a napkin after a heavy night out, are hastily pasted to the top of the track. As such, you’ll forgive such inherent scepticism of vocals. But very occasionally, things work out.

From the off, lets not get confused here. I’m not for a second suggesting this track was released without commercial intent. But as such tracks go, this isn’t all that dire. What makes things work is the vocal intent; it’s designed to facilitate vocals from its inception. Moreover, the vocals have one idea in mind; to strike a pertinent chord with those who choose to ingest certain chemical substances when on a night out. The lyrics centre around personal development and happiness. If your ‘safe place’ had a soundtrack this would be on the playlist. It’s the kind of track someone on a bad trip wants dropped so they can get a handle on things. If it was released now, I’d no doubt be dismissive; the almost sacrosanct influence of late 90’s trance being what it is. But play this one in the early hours a safe distance from other vocals and just watch the arms raise to the sky.

The Space Brothers - Heaven Will Come (Lange Vocal Mix)
[Manifesto : FESX61]
(1999)

003. Technique - Sun Is Shining (Mash Up Matt Remix)

In the annuls of music history, the name of Matt Darey is unquestionably one of the most underrated ever to be associated with the genre of trance. He doesn’t headline major festivals, nor get booked for multi-arena nights. Instead he’s left to consistently produce to the highest calibre, slog away with his own syndicated radio podcast, run his own record label and promote his own club night while the ‘A list’ DJs snap up the peak time slots, and Mr. Darey is stuck with an mired reputation caused by the inclusion of his more accessible productions on old commercial trance mix cds. The man’s never even had an essential mix, yet they offer them out to just about anyone these days. Such is the ‘state’ of trance.

Mr. Darey’s remix of Technique - Sun Is Shining is a precise and exact simile of his career. An absolutely blinding production, but one which people never mention when reminiscing over that ‘golden age’ of trance: 1999. The concept is simple, an unpretentious lead against an atmospheric backdrop. However, it’s the bass line which really makes this track stand out. The programming on the simple square wave patch hypnotically runs through its rhythm before unrepentantly filling up the room in its entirety as the change in notation hits during the peak of the track. It’s sudden, out of nowhere, and leaves you wondering just where the hell did that come from?

Technique - Sun Is Shining (Mash Up Matt Remix)
[Creation : CRE 306T]
(1999)