Published on Jul 22, 2001
I never was one who got into the club scene. My wardrobe was
such that I would never make the cover of
GQ – it’s not often a cover model is overweight and
unshaven, wearing an Anthrax “Not Man” t-shirt and ripped, faded
jeans, as I did in college. I don’t dance; as my wife would attest
to at our wedding reception, I have what’s called “terminal white
man’s disease”. And with the stories of ecstacy being passed around
raves like a bottle of Boone’s Farm on Skid Row, I would definitely
not fit in, since the only drug I abuse is caffiene.
So why do I like
A Voyage Into Trance, a disc self-proclaimed as “a non-stop
DJ mix” handled by turntable sensei Paul Oakenfold? Maybe because
the music is indeed hypnotic, which is what the ultimate goal of
this genre is to become. Maybe it makes me think of what a work
like
Tubular Bells would have sounded like had it been written in
2001. Maybe it is because Oakenfold does know just how to create a
groove using the records in his crates to keep the energy going.
Whatever the case, this is a surprisingly good disc.
To credit this disc strictly to Oakenfold is incorrect; all he
does is take the work of 11 “trance” artists and spins them into an
almost symmetrical pattern (with the occasional brief outro here
and there). Besides, to proclaim Oakenfold the hero here would do
an injustice to the artists whose music is featured.
But what’s interesting is that who originally performed the
music becomes second nature – and that’s not intentional on
Oakenfold’s part. If anything, the work of such artists as Genetic
(“Trancemission”), Total Eclipse (“Aliens”), The Infinity Project
(“Feeling Weird”) and Man With No Name (“Sly-ed,” “Teleport”) flows
so well together that the groove becomes all-important. No
disrespect is meant towards any artist featured.
A Voyage Into Trance is a unique disc in that you don’t have
to be into dance or trance music to appreciate what’s going on
within the boundaries of this disc. Yes, the structures of the
songs and the instrumentation is minimal, but there is something
about the music that lures you in and wins your mind over. It’s
quite refreshing, really.
I can’t say that
A Voyage Into Trance will make me go clubbing – hell, I
still wouldn’t make it up to the velvet ropes, much less
past them. But Oakenfold’s work on the turntables will make any
listener – long-time followers of trance or first-time visitors –
smile, and it makes this disc that much more special.