Various BPM 3 Agitato (Israel)

File under: "pleasant surprise" dept. Nine tracks selected by Space Buddha, and on this basis yup its true that you'll either love it or you'll hate it, but the ideas and changes in the vibes on this CD are impressive. S-Range kicks off with Broadband, more fullon than his normal stuff, an interesting groove with a kinda sideways-shuffle going on; psyreviews confesses he did a bit of a cha-cha-cha across the living room. Xerox's Outside World builds up slowly, to rebounding energy stabs a bit like star wars phasers ricocheting around the room. Onward into a sliced-vocal breakdown, quick stop at the 7-11 for some tasty acid lines and off into a neat, oldskool-frien dly finale. Skip past Mekkanika's frankly half-arsed Cool And Da Gang, and while

we're at it let's also skip Space Monkey's Online Pleasure (too many notes in it basically, a disappointment after that delightful alubum). Here on in, things get very nice indeed. Cyber Cartel's Radio Future has a sheer, clean sound. Veried bass patterns aplenty, there's a big classic morning-y vibe to it until it picks up the chi and unfolds into a high-legged stompathon. Psydrop comes up trumps with Surfing In Noises, an epic vibe and a wicked 'everybody to the dancefloor!' call to arms. Energy like this in psytrance is rare -- and something you'd be forgiven for thinking just didn't happen anymore. Suria's Thinking Forever maintains that energy, with fresher a nd fresher ideas on the theme coming into play. Keep an ear out for this one on the summer's dancefloors -- definite classic potential written all over it. Space Buddha sticks one

of his own on, The Viper having a 303 'bark' pinning it along. There's great lines and swirly swirls, then a big breakdown and... well, then it gets B.I.G. Nice buddha! Big buddha! Verging on the cheese but just about getting away with it, it concludes four truly excellent tunes, great examples of the style being showcased. Safi Connection fades things away with Goa Amsterdam, some cute samples and playful lines here, but there is a feeling that the best bits have gone. So it's a nice collection, better than you might expect it to be. Four killer tunes, and the rest aren't bad by any means. Israeli trance ain't over yet.