Oh, hey there. I guess I should do one of these, shouldn't I? There may not be enough activity around these here parts anymore to warrant a half-month one but the least I can do is a monthly one. Er, even if my Off-Line Life has made this one a week late. Anyhow...

Reviews? Yeah, there's a few. One for Banco de Gaia's latest collection of odds'n'sods, titled Memories Dreams Reflections, another for Radio Slave's contribution to the Fabric series (this one being number forty-eight), and finally the debut release from rising d'n'b star Sub Focus. Check 'em out if you haven't yet.













Banco de Gaia - Memories Dreams Reflections

Fabric 48: Radio Slave

Sub Focus - Sub Focus

In other news, I've put together another mixtape, an 80-minute collection of personal classics that liberally strays outside EDM's boundaries (hip-hop! metal! classic pop!). I actually hadn't planned on doing one like this, but was asked to do it as a favor for J'. Click here to check out more details if you're interested. And speaking of J', those curious over what he has to say about the new BT album can check out his CokeMachineGlow review here. Go on, we know you're curious.

Half a decade. Not too shabby for a plucky website trying to do things its own way. Perhaps our early aspirations of 'global domination' never quite came to fruitation but at least we managed to carve out our own little niche in the wide world of EDM amateur journalism. So where does that leave us now? Well, before I get into that, let's at least have a look at what we covered throughout December.

After countless requests, J' finally decided to give Sasha's proper artist album - Airdrawndagger - a review. Does it hold up after all this time? Meanwhile, I took in new albums from a pair of individuals who've been making large gains in some of the hottest contemporary scenes. For dubstep, I checked out 2562's sophomore effort, Unbalance; for minimal, Luciano's Tribute To The Sun. Links to all below.













2562 - Unbalance

Luciano - Tribute To The Sun

Sasha - Airdrawndagger


The future, then. Where do we go from here. Well, as has been apparent, us writers have started to branch out a little more from the safe confines of TC. J' got himself an additional gig with CokeMachineGlow, where you'll find more music reviews of current releases. Meanwhile, I've decided to set up a music blog called Electronic Music Critic.

"But wait," you say, "isn't that what TC's supposed to evolve into sometime in the future?" That is the plan -and nor am I leaving here to go entirely solo. Rather, I'm using this blog as an additional and independent outlet for music-related material. I'll post the same reviews for both sites, but use the blog to write EDM-commentaries, post mixtapes, provide links to things of interest ...the usual bloggy things. As such, I'll be focusing most of my efforts on the blog.

Another thing I'll be doing with the EMC blog is uploading all my old reviews to read. Okay, so a lot of the early ones were kind of crummy, and probably not worth re-reading if you got the general gist of them in the first place. That's why I've added a "2010 Update" paragraph to each one, so there's at least something new for the steady TC readers to glance at. I've already posted my first 50 TC reviews, and will post another one each week along with any new material I review. (Additionally, I've posted the previous two month's worth of reviews, though obviously there's no point in doing update paragraphs for those)

Thus, here's to the New Year, and another five, wherever we go from here.

Like, really cruising along. Even for a typical "this month's going by fast", this month's been going by fast. I suppose there is some benefit to it: the quicker we can get through this sloppy-soggy weather, the better. This small chat's already getting dry though, so let's just move right on to the recap.

Four reviews here, and it's an assorted bunch. J' takes a look at prog-house vets Spooky's latest single (The Nebula EP), and I had a listen to a debut single from new trance duo Trend (titled, um, Trend E.P.). On the album front, Fedde le Grand finally comes forth with his debut long-player (Output), while the less-famous Alex Theory offers us a CD of groovy dub-funk on his Saturn Returns. I scoped both of those out, and you can scope the reviews for them in the links below.













Fedde le Grand - Output

Spooky - The Nebula EP

Alex Theory - Saturn Returns

Trend - Trend E.P.

No, really. It's entirely coincidental, it is. We're just going through one of those funny moments where J' and I keep alternating the reviewing load. I'm sure we'll both come correct, working in unison again soon enough. We must! In the meantime, here's what made it into the archives in the second half of October.

It must have been Simon Berry's month, as I took in the other big release from the famed acid-trance man, Union Jack's Pylon Pigs (first, of course, being Art Of Trance). Also, I took a look at Jamie Jones' debut long-player, titled Don't You Remember The Future -does he meet the expectations set out by his hit single Summertime? Plus, a glance at a fresh trance single from a couple chaps from Eastern Eupope, N-Tone and Sergey Romashkin -Need Love's the name of this one.













Jamie Jones - Don't You Remember The Future

N-Tone & Sergey Romashkin featuring Lorraine - Need Love

Union Jack - Pylon Pigs

This time, it's J's turn to take the lead. And hoo, did he ever. Are you trying to outdo me here, bro'? Making up for lost time? Does it matter? Five reviews is a lot tho' -let's see what we got.

Well, some trance. Art Of Trance, to be specific, in the form of a Retrospective. However, J' being J', he very well couldn't let a bunch of new progressive releases go unnoticed, one in the form of breaks (Retroid's DJ mix Evolved Breaks), another in the form of house (the Jackpot Reunion EP), and yet another by way of association (Way Out West's We Love Machine -not really prog, but they're known for it, so...). Oh, and also some album called Kaleidescope by a guy named Tiësto -perhaps you've heard of him?













Art Of Trance - Retrospective

Blue Amazon & Shango - Jackpot Reunion EP

Retroid - Evolved Breaks

Tiësto - Kaleidoscope

WayOut West - We Love Machine

I mean, I surely couldn't have done this update on Thursday -that was opening night of the NHL. Gotta, like, watch hockey. Just... gotta. Then, mini-crisis involving roommate and car being towed. There goes that Friday.

So, here we are, on Saturday, finally with our update. Nothing from J' at this time, as he's been on a bit of a reconnaissance into the heart of England (re: club hopping in Man), but I have three reviews nonetheless. A debut album from the collaboration of John '00' Fleming and The Digital Blonde (00.db), titled Heaven & Hell; a sophomore effort from Montreal native Tiga, titled Ciao!; and the latest released from Israeli transplants Infected Mushroom, Legend Of The Black Shawarma. Click below to check 'em out.













Infected Mushroom - Legend Of The Black Shawarma

Tiga - Ciao!

00.db (John '00' Fleming & The Digital Blonde) - Heaven & Hell

Things keep moving along here at TC at a steady pace, despite a brief bout of the flu impeding some progress. Mostly an assortment of odds'n'sods here, as we wait for the fall release schedule to finally kick in full force. We have some trip-hop care of Flying Lotus' Los Angeles, an entree of electro-mosh from Longwalkshortdock's Casual Tea, a side-helping of progressive house served up from Domased Electronica's Mermaid, and a Random Review dessert of, er, 'electronica' with the Deepwater Black compilation. Hmm... I suddenly could use some sushi...













Deepwater Black: Inclonation Vol. 1

Domased Electronica - Mermaid

Flying Lotus - Los Angeles

Longwalkshortdock - Casual Tea

Honestly, I can't explain it. Sure, we've had some largish updates in the past, but more than half-a-dozen? That's some serious writing going on here. Perhaps it helps that, instead of just covering another in an endless stream of quickly-forgotten releases that comes out during the summer (labels seldom expect to sell records now, as everyone's blowing money on vacations instead), we've taken the time to look back at older releases. Some of it ties into what's happening in the EDM sphere at large (Warp 20th anniversary), while others are just done at whim (though with a little more forethought than a typical Random Review). Anyhow, there's a lot to get into here, so let's not waste time.

As mentioned, Warp has reached its 20th year of existence, so what better time than now to check out a couple releases from their peak years as leaders in the electronic music domain (well before they decided to sound like any other indie rock label with post-rock albums). In this case, J' had a listen to the little-known Sabres Of Paradise release Haunted Dancehall, while I delved into the fourth album from Aphex Twin, Richard D. James Album. Rounding out a few more older releases is Goldie's Saturnz Return (reviewed by J') and Tiga's American Gigolo (reviewed by I).

Fast-forwarding to more recent times, J' checked out a couple overlooked prog albums from Dousk (Kind Of Human) and Jaytech (Everything Is OK), while I had a look at a single by newcomer Asuuma (Seventh Level).













Amuuna - Seventh Level

Aphex Twin - Richard D. James Album

Dousk - Kind Of Human

Goldie - Saturnz Return

Jaytech - Everything Is OK

The Sabres Of Paradise - Haunted Dancehall

Tiga - American Gigolo

Sorry about that. Got a bit of Tiga on the brain lately, though it's been unbearably hot lately. Figures as soon as I decide to go on vacation, my destination predicts rain showers.

Yep, going away for a little while here, so this will be the last update for a week or two. Leading us into this month of August are a few reviews too. J' checked out another single from Iyla Mosolov, this one in the form an EP titled Chilled Colors; also, J' got his hands on yet another 'trance anthems' compilation from Gatecrasher -how does this one stack up against the rest? Meanwhile, I had a listen to The Field's sophomore effort Yesterday And Today. Plus, I finally got around to part four of my wildly infrequent five-part series of reviewing the entire works of Oliver Lieb's L.S.G. project, this entry being his foray into downtempo, Into Deep.













The Field - Yesterday And Today

Gatecrasher's Trance Anthems 1993-2009

L.S.G. - Into Deep

Ilya Mosolov - Chilled Colors EP