V/A - Inner Circle

[DeathPosture]

V/A – Inner Circle

 

 

Hi-res cover

 

Artist: Various

Title: Inner Circle

Format: CD (jewel case w/ 12 p. colour booklet + DJ case insert)

Label: Tribal Vision Records (Czech Republic)

Cat. #: TVRCD003

Distribution: Psyshop.net

Date: 09 September 2005

 

Track listing:

 

01. 02’07” Mladen Glavinic - Intro

02. 08’09” Beat Bizarre – Corrosive Juices (Shaman Remix)

03. 09’23” POTS – Pole Position Club

04. 09’11” Parrket – Science In My Mind

05. 07’38” Kalimax - Demons

06. 09’42” Prosect - Sonified

07. 08’32” NASA – Sloppy Noodle

08. 08’43” Human Blue - Screwdriver

09. 06’39” Etnoscope – Fast Licking

10. 08’04” Tegma – No Time

 

Review:

 

Sleekness!

 

Tribal Vision Records is out with their third compilation – as always it’s compiled by the label bosses Slater & Schwa, so we’re in good hands here… I was utterly impressed by their last compilation Lime Light which was released in April 2005… That was one funky, proggy cross-over bonanza with a high percentage of great tracks… This one is supposed to be a little darker, and once again I’m impressed just by looking at the track-list here… Let’s find out what the Czechs have cooked up for us this time….

 

Let me take you thru the tracks…

 

#01: Mladen Glavinic – Intro [110 BPM]

This compilation is launched into orbit, by an emotional piece by Mladen Glavinic from Zagreb… This is the name of the Croatian producer behind the Parrket act – and he’s got a full track under that alias later on this compilation… This short track is spacey, melodic fusion trance… Interesting, but way to short….

 

#02: Beat Bizarre – Corrosive Juices (Shaman Remix) [136 BPM]

Here we get a remix of one of the classic tracks from the Beat Bizarre album Pandoras Groove Box released in 2004 on Iboga Records… It’s reworked by the Swedish producer Andreas Henning under his Shaman moniker… The raw, corroded Beat Bizarre edge from the original is very much intact but Shaman adds a smoother, more straight-forward flavour to his remix… Floating, driving and with a very dancefloor friendly rhythm-section… But it seems to me as something is missing here… Some action perhaps? This is not a bad track, but I prefer the original…

 

#03: POTS – Pole Position Club [136 BPM]

German producers Thomas Wilhelmy & Joachim Luthje have been part of the progressive scene since it took of right around the millennium, but it’s been a while since I’ve heard new stuff from them… But their second album is due for release on Tribal Vision, and this track is a taste of what we can expect… This is comfortable progressive trance – crossing well over into plain psytrance… Yeah, I like hybrid-stuff like this… Gone are the grim, minimal outbursts from 4 years ago, and we’re left with rich, funky, psychedelic proggy trance… With a darkish edge! Brilliant!

 

#04: Parrket – Science In My Mind [134 BPM]

Mladen Glavinic from Croatia is back with a full track – I kinda liked his track on the Candyflip compilation Levitation released a couple of months back… That was crisp, laid-back, progressive trance… This however, is a little darker – as keeping with the theme of this compilation… But it’s still very much Parrket… After a breezy intro that lasts a little over a minute, we’re treated to a crisp, funky, bouncing progressive number – cruising at a comfortable 134 beats per minute… Very dancefloor and head-bob friendly… I like the little stereo-experiments and the pitched-up voice-samples… Sounds very futuristic! A classy track, with moments that are on the verge of being too clubby though… Borderline stuff, but good borderline stuff!

 

#05: Kalimax – Demons [140 BPM]

To my knowledge, this is the debut release from these Swedish producers…Magnus Forsberg is one of the leading forces behind the mandarin.nu portal and Thomas Comanti (DJ Faceless) is one half of the Moonflower Productions label… This is very much uplifting, futuristic progressive trance – of epic proportions… The vast, melodic pads are endlessly deep and the overall feeling I get from listening to this is… Fluff! Sorry, this is a bit to joyous for my taste – and the name is misleading to say the least… Don’t get me wrong, this is all very nice and well-polished… But there is nothing demonic about this… More edge please! In all fairness I must say the second half of the track has some pretty neat moments – reminds me of Antix with a pinch of electro… But still – only a decent track IMO…

 

#06: Prosect – Sonified [138 BPM]

“It begins very simply, it begins with a house!” Ahh – much better now! Andy Yakovlev is a Ukrainian-born, Israeli-based producer on the rise… And this is one hell of a cracking track – a fusion of all kinds of musical styles, within a progressive framework… I really like how this track fusions progressive trance, psytrance and technoid influences… Very edgy – just the way I like it! That break + climax part @ 5’10 is nothing short of perfection… Holy shit, that one is guaranteed to cause havoc on the dancefloor… I simply adore those tribal steel drums – all in all the rhythm section impress me here… Kick-ass track and one of my fav’es on this compilation!

 

#07: NASA – Sloppy Noodle [137 BPM]

NASA is Mikkel Rasmussen (one half of Gnome Effect) from Denmark, and he has also been in the game since minimal was tha main thang… And the minimal roots are very much present in this track, though this can’t really be described as minimal trance… It’s more like deep progressive trance with a crisp bassline and trippy little FX… Not as funky as the NASA track on the Posse compilation released on Domo Records earlier this summer… This is very tight and with a digital-slash-tribal feel to it… Hard-hitting and trance-inducing… Something to be played during the darker hours of a tight, progressive set… Tasty!

 

#08: Human Blue – Screwdriver [140 BPM]

Human Blue is Dag Wallin from Gothenburg, Sweden – a very influential, experienced producer with an impressive roster of releases: 4 albums, 10 x 12” and 60 (sixty!) compilation tracks! This is pretty much the style you’d expect from Human Blue – uplifting, yet edgy progressive trance… The real gem of this track is the drum-programming with is something close to perfection… Reminds me of older Electric Universe – so fucking groovy! I can’t make out the words of the Swedish voice sample here, but apparently it’s from a 1960s instructional video about how to handle colour TVs… Haha! Funny shit! This is a brilliant, epic track – with enough edge to keep me happy! Sweet!

 

#09: Etnoscope – Fast Licking [142 BPM]

We stay in Sweden with a track by another legendary act – the percussion people from Etnoscope (Martin Colin, Rasmus Alanne & Ludwig Engelbert)…Their debut album Drums From The Dawn Of Time (Digital Structures 2003) is legendary and rumour has it that they are working on a follow-up… Cool! As you might have guessed by now, this is a percussion-driven progressive rhythm-bomb… Drums are everywhere! Mixed with a good portion of nightly, half-melodic trance – a joyous etno-tribal crowd-pleaser! We’ve got a winner! I’ll never get tired of this kind of music… Yummy!

 

#10: Tegma – No Time [140 BPM]

And blimey, more Swedish progressive royalty here… Omar Chelly & Jason Orfanidis released their second album 002: Avant.Garde on Candyflip earlier this year, and that album still rocks the hell out of my living room in all its funky hybrid-glory… One of the best albums of 2005 for sure! And I’m happy to say, that this track is just as good as what was on the album… Progressive trance mixed with psytrance, electro, acid stabs, teKkno, trance and house - A true hybrid-track if there ever was one! … So fucking energetic, so uplifting, so daring, so evolving… So amazing! The perfect way to end this compilation!

 

Well, I’ll be damned if the Tribal Vision guys haven’t gone and done it again… Released another benchmark compilation of hi-quality music… There are a couple of tracks that doesn’t really do much for me – and track #5 is a total miss for me… But luckily the less-good tracks are by far outweighed by the large amount of brilliant tracks here… I’m really impressed – especially by the last half of this compilation… It is one kick-ass track after another – made by some of the heavy-weights of the genre… Hats of to Slater & Schwa for keeping such a high quality level!

 

Again the artwork is simply stunning here… I really like the extensive booklet with info on all artists… The artwork by Quapim is among the best I’ve ever seen… Very classy – somewhere in between H.R. Giger and Terry Gilliam stylewise… Also the easy-rip DJ case insert will come in handy for the DJs out there… All in all a very impressive compilation… Darker than Lime Light, but equally good… Recommended to all fans of progressive trance with diverse cross-over influences! Enjoy!

 

Favourites: 3, 6(!!), 7, 8, 9(!), 10(!!)

 

DeathPosture

 

External links:

Tribal Vision: http://www.tribalvision.cz

Beatspace: http://tinyurl.com/ba5nl

Wirikuta: http://tinyurl.com/bop55

Psyshop: http://tinyurl.com/ch9ma

Wakyo: http://tinyurl.com/c6bjm

[djgreen]

Excellent Review DeathPosture!

 

This VA is spectacular; A big benchmark for the (scando) progressive psy scene. The tracks are neatly crafted to perfection and sequenced and arranged wonderfully by the compilers.

 

The dark mood setting of this VA is something I am always in the look for in the progressive psy scene. Not enough of it is coming around, for some reason most of the progressive tracks out there are a bit too fluffy as were written for the morning time. That can be a little too epic for many people who are into psytrance.

 

I was explaining a friend that the reason I love progressive-psy so much is because it has a lot space in it. More room to expend and grow, but the sounds are phat and very filling so the space doesn't feel empty. It feels mature, structured and emotional.

 

So back to this amazing compilation:

 

Beat Bizarre - Corrosive Juices (Shaman remix) - Groovy, Deep and sexy beats full of crunchy whooomping fx sounds and phattty basslines. The melody rides this track farther and farther away into unknown realms that just sound so good with those tight hi-hats. This track really touches my heart, good job!

 

POTS - Pole Position Club: Uplifting, techy, and housey beat joined by drum-n-bass sounding amens (pure acid sounds). Nicely chopped voices bring in a change into a more rolling bassline and a thumpier kick. The sounds are screaming something in a language I cannot understand, but i can for sure hear the track trying to tell me something. pretty intensly. Amazing precaution work going on here. oh i can speak about this track for ever but let's continue on.

 

Parrket - Science in my Mind: Melodic kick drum with off beat hi-hats and atmospherically ocean sounding pads welcome in a distinguished kick/bass combo that makes this track progressive!!! Here land the melody, sounds like a sad victory song from France. it comes in and flips this track into a mind bending sonic sensation that keeps unfolding deeper and deeper throughout some harder parts like screams of war. But the progression continues and the hope is near (3:13) – melody is back telling us not to worry, things are sad, things are hard, but the beat is there, the snare is here, and we got to keep marching (3:43). The sounds interact, dialect and the beat becomes stronger. I’ll leave it up to you to find out the rest…

 

Kalimax – Demons: Here comes my favorite track in this compilation. The mood setting is dark and spooky from start. Long lasting pads lead you through far tribal soundscapes. The beat kicks, fast strong and rolling. Like a wild flying horse going through the skies. Faster, faster the hi-hats demand. Wait, look (1:45), and keep rolling!!! Something is chasing you- a Struggle, a cry, a whispering sound tearing through the air. (2:45) Wait, keep going, a ray of sunshine and hope is inspiring the rider to continue riding. Don’t be scared (3:30). Keep riding. You have arrived (4:30) – draw out the sword and prepare to fight. Your heart is pumping, but you keep cool. You see them; all around you, inside of you, your heart keeps beating. DEMONS!!!!! (5:40)

 

To be continued…

 

Lovely!!!!

 

A must buy

 

9/10

 

All tracks are favorites but the prosect track took me out of mood a little.

 

 

 

 

[amphiton]

Good to hear it's a bit darker... Lime Light was a very good compilation but really light and too clubby

[ProSect]

Lovely review, happy to see that you liked my track DP. My copy should be here soon (Israel allways last)

 

All tracks are favorites but the prosect track took me out of mood a little.

337229[/snapback]

Sorry pal, someone had to do this here to you

 

ND

[pr0fane]

Artist: Various

Title: Inner Circle

Label: Tribal Vision

Format: CD (Jewelcase with 12 page inlay and DJ-inlay)

Released: September, 2005

Cover: http://quapim.sinfin.cz/ot/inner_circle_800.jpg

 

Review:

 

Czech-based progressive label Tribal Vision have already made huge impact on the scene with their first 2 releases "Urban Legends" and "Lime Light". With a mix of progressive trance and progressive house of sensationally high quality they impressed a lot of people, and therefore the expectations for the labels 3rd compilation "Inner Circle" have been enormous. But where the first 2 maybe where on the fluffy and melodic side, "Inner Circle" has more focus on the forgotten side of progressive trance - the dark side. Let's check out the result.

 

 

01. Intro by Mladen Glavinic [110 BPM]

The compilations starts with an intro by Mladen Glavinic from Croatia, also known as Parrket. A short, organic piece of tribal chillout with some very sweet piano-melodies - fine intro.

 

02. Beat Bizarre - Corrosive Juices (Shaman Remix) [136 BPM]

After the intro Shaman provide a remix of Beat Bizarres "Corrosive Juices", featured on the Danish duos 2nd album "Pandoras Groovebox". I personally consider the original one of the only highlights from an otherwise disappointing album, and Shaman does an ok job on the remix but without impressing at all. The track feels a bit more polished and there's more emphasis on the melodies, but can't say that I really liked it.

 

03. POTS - Pole Position Club [136 BPM]

POTS, short for Prisoners Of The Sun, was one of the biggest German minimal projects some years ago, but haven't since then received nearly as much attention as back then."Pole Position Club" is a taster for their upcoming album on Tribal Vision, but unfortunately proves to be a disappointment - fine production, but extremely dull in atmosphere and doesn't seem to really go anywhere. I didn't connect to it at all.

 

04. Parrket - Science In My Mind [134 BPM]

Mladen Glavinic appears once again as Parrket - maybe not my favourite project, but still I find him quite interesting, due to the variety of his productions - from the 130 BPM laidback groover "Through The Never" on Candyflips "Levitation" compilation to the almost darkpsyish 145 BPM stomper " Harlequin’s Guard " on Pukkas "Trancelvania" compilation. "Science In My Mind" is somewhere in between, mainly with quite techish elements, but also a sweet melodic synthline. Best track so far on the compilation, though without really impressing.

 

05. Kalimax - Demons [140 BPM]

Kalimax is a new Swedish act consisting of Tony Comanti (from Moonflower Records) and Magnus Forsberg behind the successful Swedish portal mandarin.nu. "Demons" is a very pleasing tune, but maybe feels a bit out of place on this mainly night-oriented CD - very uplifting progressive trance with soft pads-a-plenty, perhaps not with the best production on the CD, but the ideas are definitely there, and I find it quite enjoyable. My favourite so far.

 

06. ProSect - Sonified [138 BPM]

One of the hottest names at the moment is Andy Yakovlev, involved in several different projects like Sonify, Sound Field, ICO and, probably the most well-known, ProSect. "Sonified" is one of his better tracks, mainly building on some very funky percussion. The Israeli influences become apparent after approximately 3 minutes with some epic melodies, building up to a crowd-pleasing break around the 5 minute mark. Great track.

 

07. NASA - Sloppy Noodle [137 BPM]

Mikkel Rasmussen from Denmark, old member of Gnome Effect, but now working on his own as NASA has been quite busy lately, releasing on Iboga, DOMO, Moonstone, Psytropic and Sinn Tec in the last year alone. "Sloppy Noodle" starts with a very promising dark intro (possibly the best I've heard by him), very atmospheric and with some delicious wet percussion. The rest of the track works pretty good as well, with lush soundscapes and a quite psychedelic sound to it.

 

08. Human Blue - Screwdriver [140 BPM]

To me Human Blue stands as one of the pioneers of the Scandinavian sound, having no less than 3 albums and numerous singles and compilation-appearances in his discography, and with "Screwdriver" he deliver yet another storming tune. The overall theme is a Swedish sample (I'm almost ashamed to say I don't understand what it means) and some subtly sexy samples, which in some ways reminds me of some of the tracks from the album by the German duo New Age Hippies.

 

09. Etnoscope - Fast Licking [142 BPM]

Etnoscope are probably some of the most talented artists in our scene when it comes to percussion, and their mix of natural percussion and deep, progressive forest trance led to the release of the "Drums From The Dawn Of Time" album on Digital Structures a few years ago. Since then they haven't released an awful lot, but when they do release something, it oozes with quality - "Fast Licking" is no exception, again with massive emphasis on a heavy, tribal kick and of course the percussion, which constantly raises in intensity before unfortunately finishing way too early. Great forest trance.

 

10. Tegma - No Time [140 BPM]

To finish the compilation we have a truly floor breaking track by Tegma from Sweden. "No Time" is somewhere between their 2 albums - the techish, relentless sound from "Encoded/Decoded" combined with the more full on oriented sound from their last album "002: Avant Garde". But where "002: Avant Garde" maybe was a bit fluffy for some of the older Tegma-fans, "No Time" is a lot darker and harder - a heavy, pumping progressive peak time stomper.

 

 

Bottom line:

 

"Inner Circle" doesn't fully live up to its predecessors "Urban Legends" and "Lime Light". Where it especially fails compared to those two is on the fillers - a few of the tracks where simply way too dull for my liking. That said, "Inner Circle" is not a bad release - It's especially noteworthy that Tribal Vision tries to vary their releases, and where the vast majority of progressive trance at the moment is overly fluffy, "Inner Circle" generally has some quite good night-oriented progressive trance - especially the last 3 tracks.

 

Overall a good release, but maybe my expectations where a bit too high.

 

 

Favourites:

 

5, 6, 7, 8, 9 (!!), 10 (!!)

 

 

Verdict:

7,5/10

 

 

Link:

 

Tribal Vision Records: http://www.tribalvision.cz

[Tox]

What is there left to say after such elaborate reviews?

Well al lot because I seem to disagree with most others here.

Then again I really enjoyed Limelight aswell unlike some hardcore psyheads.

I really liked the first & middle part of the compilation but imho some tracks could have been better.

 

The overal feel of Inner Circle is tribal trance & quality progressive.

The main ingredients are djembes, bongo’s & conga’s rather than melodic layers or multiple climaxes.

 

After the intro we immediately strike gold with a rmx of a recent Beat Bizzare-track

It's always difficult to rate a rmx without knowing the original track.

But Shaman's version of Corrosive Juices is such a nice tune that it's hard for me to imagine the original being much better than this. Constantly expanding before getting locked into a swirl of sounds that could go on until eternity… yummy!

 

Then come Prisoners Of The Sun…

Oh My Good GOD this is tasty!

“Pole Position Club” alone makes this compilation worth buying

It starts of with a very scary & deep growling, . Don’t think dark-psy please.

More like the scary sounds from old D&B tracks

This is pure progressive nastiness, dirty to the bone.

No need for melodies or synth-lines, just rhythmic layers percussions that are added on.

Repetitive but not boring or dry!

A late break gives you the impression it’s all over but there’s still some venom left in the tail.

It kinda reminds me of “The Force” by Laurent Garnier & that’s a huuuge compliment in my book!

Can’t wait to hear their 2nd album!

 

Parrket makes yet another good impression here.

This man can probably make any style of trance he wants.

The music is absolutely great, but the vocoder-voice samples kinda take from it.

I’m difficult with vocals in trance tracks, for me it’s either great or so-so.

It doesn’t ruin the track, but

 

Kalimax, Prosect & Nasa are all new names to me.

I wasn’t to impressed by the Kalimax track, not really my cup of trance.

I did like Prosect & NASA, although they’re more of the melodic side of trance.

 

Prosect brings an Israeli touch (melodic prog, not standard-full on) kinda similar to Echotek. Good to get some melodies & smooth climaxes every now & then, it gives this compilation a little more diversity. Great that the track comes to a full stop before exploding again. Only minus on his track is the recycled "Some Simple Sounds"-sample that Ticon also used.

 

The Human Blue & Tegma Tracks are OK, but for me nowhere near as epic or moving as their previous stuff.

Especially the Tegma track seemed like it was lacking some more build-up’s or breakdowns although it DOES have very nice stereo-FX. I don’t mind stompers, I just prefer to have a little more “content”.

 

Etnoscope are of course the kings of tribal-trance & they deliver a nice piece of work here.

If you know their stuff from “Drums from the dawn of Time”, you know what to expect.

About time they produce a follow-up to that little gem too.

 

In Conclusion:

 

There’s something in here for everyone who likes quality music.

Personally I think this time the lesser-known acts (like Shaman & Prosect) make a better impression than some of the bigger names.

Biggest track on here is "Pole Position Club" the come-back of P.O.T.S. I’m very curious about their new album also out on Tribal Vision!

 

As mentioned before the artwork is yet again fingerlicking good.

Really worth taking a closer look at the informative booklet!

[Basilisk]

Review: http://www.ektoplazm.com/reviews/inner-circle/

[ProSect]

Thanks for the reviews, keep 'em coming!

 

Expect my track on the next Tribal Vision's VA, from my new housy project "Sonify". The cd will be more progressive, funky and clubby with top notch artists. That's it can't say more

 

ND

[Guest The Journey Man Project]

Love this cd... a much more deeper side of the proggy seen... not a bad track at all and the intro is pure bliss!! Wish it had been extended to a full lenght track tho!! My Fav's are 1, 2, 3, 9 and 10... the Human Blue track is interesting but a little bit to chaotic for me, seems to be a bit to much of shoving as uch in as possible and not enough focus on structure... Etnoscope just rocks, it's quite like their Drumsession track off Digital Emission but a bit less techy... cannot wait for the next Tribal Vision, this label is just the best thing to happen to the progressive scene since Zenon!!