SYNTHESIS Issue #5

GOA TRANCE ALERT!! One of the biggest names on the Goa Trance scene is Man With No Name, and this label-hopping artist has released two chart-busting singles as well as a full-length album, all out recently and all on different labels..... The "Lunar Cycle" single is out on the Dragonfly label and the other single "Paint A Picture" is released on Perfecto, following up the release of two other titles for that label -- the popular "Floor Essence" single and also a remix of "Stimuli" by The Infiniti Project. Also, the debut album from Man With No Name called "Moment Of Truth" comes out through the Concept In Dance imprint (an off-shoot of XL Recordings). The second volume in the Concept In Dance compilation series, the sequel to the "Digital Alchemy" collection, is also out now and is entitled "Tribal Science". And that's not all..... Man With No Name also contibutes a remix to the new Eat Static EP "Bony Incus" from the Planet Dog label.

Along with the "Bony Incus" EP from Eat Static, the Planet Dog label has released Banco De Gaia's "Kincajou" with new remixes (from Oliver Lieb, Speedy J and Banco De Gaia) and continue to bring more material on CD to America, including the "Epsylon" EP (with bonus tracks) by Eat Static, the "Sirius Sounds" album by Children Of The Bong, Volume 2 of the "Feed Your Head" ambient compilation series, and the dub-style collection called "Planet Dub" (a 2-CD set). And, if you haven't got them already, you can also look for U.S. releases of Banco De Gaia's "Last Train To Lhasa" and the label sampler "Transmissions From The Planet Dog" (both are 2-CD sets).

Orbital have recorded a song using a Greenpeace solar-power generator in their studio, in a move to further explore their interest in alternative energy sources. The track is called "The Girl With The Sun In Her Head" and is the first track of their new album "In Sides", which also features a new shorter mix of their recent epic-length single "The Box". Some versions of the CD also contain a bonus disk featuring the full EPs of both "The Box" and "Times Fly". Something else to look for on Internal Records.... from Orbital labelmates Salt Tank comes the album "Science & Nature", which is a collection of their EP material to date.

UK experimentalists Coil have just completed work on the score for the film "Frisk", based on the novel by Denis Cooper. And, although uncredited, their remix of Nine Inch Nails' "Closer" is heard during the opening credits of the movie "Seven". Other soundtrack work by Coil includes music for Derek Jarman's last film "Blue", and an unused score for the original "Hellraiser".

Mutant trip hop artistTricky follows the release of his "Pumpkin" single with a brand new recording project by the name of Nearly God. The album features appearances by Bjork, Alison Moyet, Neneh Cherry and Stereo MCs and is self-titled "Nearly God", while the first single is called "Poems" and features Terry Hall (ex-vocalist of The Specials) and Martina, who also sang on Tricky's "Maxinquaye" album. Included as a bonus cut on the single is a cover version of "Children's Story", originally by rapper Slick Rick, while the album features a Siouxsie & The Banshees cover song called "Tattoo". Tricky also contributes a remix to the new Intastella single "Grandmaster".

House/techno popsters Sunscreem release their second full-length album, continuing the run of club success they've had with their three recent singles -- "When", "Exodus" and "White Skies". The new album is entitled "Change Or Die", and there's also a new single called "Secrets".

HARTHOUSE UPDATE!! The latest list of releases from the U.S. branch of Harthouse/Eye Q Records:

Der Dritte Raum (aka The Third Room) - Wellenbad CD
Der Dritte Raum (aka The Third Room) - Einsatz 12"
Jiri.Ceiver - Trental (Remix) 12"
Off And Gone - Everest CD
Resistance D - Live At Mayday 12"
Soap - Club 69 Freq. (Remix) 12"
Traveller - One 12"
Various - 5 Years Of Eye Q Music 2-CD set

DJ Food releases an album of remixes to follow up the "Recipe For Disaster" album on the UK trip hop label Ninja Tune. Called "Refried Food", it's been spiced up by the following menu of talent: Wagon Christ, Herbaliser, Squarepusher, Autechre, Vadim, Dr. Rockit, Tongue & Groove, Skint, Fila Brazillia, Ashley Beadle, MLO and (naturally enough) DJ Food..... And that is only the CD version -- there are also three vinyl 12" releases which contain additional mixes from Lemon D (Metalheadz), Jeep Beat Collective, Neotropic, Dr. Jam and Mr. Scruff.

Kris Needs of Secret Knowledge has remixed "Now Is The Time" by The Crystal Method, and also joins Dave Clarke and Meat Beat Manifesto on the list of remixers for the "Narcotic Influence" single by Empirion. Meanwhile, Empirion do a bit of remixing for XL Recordings labelmates The Prodigy on their recent "Firestarter" single.

The Hypnotist (aka Caspar Pound) releases remixes of his techno classic "This House Is Mine" with mixes from Baby Doc, Humate, Mijk Van Dijk and Kid Paul on the Rising High label.

Early Chicago acid house innovators Phuture issue some updates to one of their classic tracks "We Are Phuture" with new mixes by Slam, CJ Bolland, Joey Beltram and Straylight.

Tom Bailey and Allanah Curry of Thompson Twins get the remix treatment from Todd Terry as their Babble project returns with a new single called "Love Has No Name". The second Babble album, the followup to "The Stone" (which sounds like a cross between The Beloved and "Screamadelica" period Primal Scream), should soon be released as well.

Killing Joke are back with a new album entitled "Democracy" which is available in a limited edition double CD format which includes not just the album itself, but also a disk of industrial strength remixes by Carcass, The Orb, Hallucinogen, Black Sun and OTT. There is also a "Democracy" 12" single release.

An impressive new remix project that should command the attention of all industrial dance music fans is a series of CDs called "The Remix Wars". Each CD features two artists 'battling' each other by remixing three of each other's tracks, with excellent results. Volumes 1 and 3 are available through the 21st Circuitry label in the U.S. while Volume 2 is out on Cleopatra, and they are as follows: #1) Wumpscut Vs Haujobb #2) Die Krupps Vs Front Line Assembly #3) 16 Volt Vs Hate Dept. On a related note, Haujobb also have their own remix album entitled "Frames" which features mixes by Cevin Key (of Skinny Puppy), Adi Newton (of Clock DVA), Mentallo & The Fixer and Forma Tadre.

Psychic TV follow the chilled psychedelic sound of their new "Trip Reset" album with a remix version called "Cold Blue Torch" which features a more industrial approach, with mixes from Skinny Puppy, Prong, Leather Strip, Pigface, Spahn Ranch, Alien Faktor and Oneiroid Psychosis.

Industrial aggro-dance group Birmingham 6 find a dozen different ways to slice up their industrial club hit "Policestate" on their new remix release "To Protect And To Serve - The Policestate Remixes", including mixes by Bigod 20, Nerve and Swamp Terrorists.

REVIEWS

MEGALON'S REVIEWS (#5)

The Grid - Music For Dancing (on Deconstruction /BMG) ---- U.S. release

An excellent collection from one of the techno realm's most underrated acts....well, at least within so-called 'serious techno' circles. The Grid have an almost uncanny ability to adapt different styles of music to their own crowd-pleasing electro-pulse and make it all sound so natural and so effortless (much more so than it really must be, of course). Given the popularity of certain singles, especially their huge hit "Swamp Thing", this has unfortunately led people to perceive them as a novelty act -- not a good thing to be apparently, in this age of genre-conscious trainspotting 'intelligent' techno types and all -- but hey, it works; and, they deliver the goods in a Grade A fashion....and that's what counts! The only semi-drawback here is that the three big singles from their album "Evolver" are all repeated here again in virtually identical mixes. However, there's plenty more here, including remixes from Andy Weatherall, Justin Robertson, Todd Terry and Global Communication. Their god-like classic "Floatation" is worth the price all by itself, in fact - so if you don't have this stuff already, you should definitely count this as an essential purchase.

_1 ) Floatation (Subsonic Grid Mix) ---- Andrew Weatherall / Richard Norris
_2 ) Crystal Clear (446 Mix)
_3 ) Boom! (Freestyle Mix)
_4 ) Figure Of 8 (Tribal Trance Mix)
_5 ) Rollercoaster (Nemesis Mix)
_6 ) Texas Cowboys (Ricochet Mix)
_7 ) Swamp Thing (Southern Comfort Mix)
_8 ) Crystal Clear (Prankster Prophet Mix) ---- Justin Robertson
_9 ) Figure Of 8 (Todd's Master Dub) ---- Todd Terry
10 ) Diablo (The Devil Rides Out Mix)
11 ) Rollercoaster (Yellow Submarine Retake) ---- Global Communication

Karma 99 - Karma (on Ekstacy) ---- U.S. release