Neo::caine

Crikey. I’d heard this was good, but nothing quite prepared me for quite how good it actually is. Slow again on this review, as it was sent to my old address on the other side of the planet (and yes i did tell everyone.) Fullon is still alive and breathing folks, and while there are some pretty duff moments, and one downright awful one, overall the quality is high enough to pique anyone’s interest. Tristan & Prometheus’ Supernature has one of the most exhilarating intro’s in quite a while. You’d expect good stuff from these two heavyweights, but on hearing that initial first drop I betcha can’t get at least a tiny bit excited. The track progresses nicely, gnarlier than you might expect, but with that trademark Prometheus stretchiness sitting nicely in the middle. One quick breather later, and the fireworks start again: this, ladies and gents, is what’s known in the trade as a fucking gem.

Likewise Allaby’s Aurorae: reminds me a little of Blue Planet Corp in the progression stakes. There’s an awful lot going on here, the escalation is enough to get even me excited, and the melodic fluffy tickles happening over the top are just dazzling. Zen Mechanics’ New Propulsion Technology has a sturdy backbone, plenty of acid, a sharp progression and a subtle little melody for the final run that’s quality all the way. Jaia does surprisingly well with Electricity, a glistening piece of morning fullon that also captures the wonder and energy of his more recent progressive output. The production here really does wonders, with the topend melodies not being far off the sound of endorphins being released into the brain. Utterly love it.

Silicon Sound’s remix of Wrecked Machines & Pixel’s RPNGC is another goodun – although I anticipate being shut down by SOMEone out there because it’s fluffy, it’s melodic, and it’s a bit gay. This aside, the production and movement will stagger you – it’s a slow-paced bit of dream house, at the end of the day, but fuck me it’s good, well-executed, dream house. Wrecked Machines & Pixel have another bash with Tea Time, which is chunkier than their other material and sounds limp and predictable compared to what’s just come before it. Likewise Orion’s Welcome To Reality Remix is characteristically decent-but-missable.

Polaris’ 25 sees the quality come back. It’s all about the groove here, and bloody nice it is as well. The sounds are varied here, the acid sounds wonderful, and everything about it is cause for some sort of celebration. Tikal’s Experience is completely dreadful. The breakdown at 1:50 is the most offensively eurotrance thing I’ve heard since I last listened to Eurotrance. We’ve seen Tikal’s gradual slide in the last year or so, and I hope to God (but somewhat doubt) that this is the lowest point he’ll hit. Utterly offensive psyretard music that’s an offence to anyone who hears it. There’s even the worst ever use of an eminem sample in the history of anything.

Finally, Altom pick it up again with Viper, very in keeping with their polished French style but nice use of acidlines keep it buoyant: it may not be the most original tune in the world, but it’ll get a dancefloor moving. The high points, then, are extremely high – which sort of balances the low ones out. Neo::caine is the closest thing to an essential fullon album you’ll hear at the moment.