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 ARMIN VAN BUUREN – A State Of Trance 2009
(405 Recordings/Stomp)
Armin Van Buuren’s star isn’t on the rise anymore, because it’s been stuck to the ceiling like a wayward pancake for several years. This double disc set is the Dutch trance king’s pick of the trance world so far this year, and as expected, panders to the usual melodic, progressive style that rings in listeners by the millions each week on the radio show. So once again, you’ll find little to differentiate this from the ASOT 2008 Yearmix that came out six months ago. It’s just the current crop of Armada and Anjuna releases jammed together in a sequencer – and not even that well, as Armin drops the next track in like a bag of bricks, with little care apparent. No wonder people think trance is one-dimensional; when the only DJs you can hear easily are Armin and Tiesto, it’s not hard to get such an impression.
** ½
 PACHA – Pacha Classics
(EQ/Stomp)
Pacha resurfaces with its latest three-disc set. Classics discs have been gaining popularity lately; I’m sure none of us care why, so let’s have a look to see what we’ve got here. From early stuff like New Order to late hits from Hard Fi and Axwell with bit of everything in between, I’ll pay the track selection – it’s got a house party vibe. Every punter will be pleased, except for the ones that continue to whinge, “play some rock or anyfin’ from the ‘70s!” And like a DJ at your standard house party, the mixing is very, very average. Sure, we’re talking about songs produced in an almost three-decade span, but with the way Paul Taylor did it, you may as well just source these songs and stick it in a playlist on your PC. How do comps make it to retail sounding like this?
**
 DIMITRI FROM PARIS PRESENTS – Night Dubbin’
(BBE/Inertia)
In the ‘80s, New York suits, freaks and the chic converged on nightspots in Manhattan pumping out an equally eclectic mix of music. The problem is that unless you were there, pushing the underground sounds from your decks, it’s going to be hard to recreate what was happening on a comp. Dimitri From Paris has compiled some of the formative dubbed house tracks that came about when remixes were still relatively new – and raw. Two discs are unmixed; a third is mixed by London upstarts The Idjut Boys. There’s plenty of floor fire from pioneers Francois K, Martinelli & Todd and Paul Simpson, and the Idjut disc feels thought out rather than treated like a quick mix (no pun intended). It won’t be everyone’s scene, but a quality comp of real nostalgia, made by people who were on the ground, is something worthy of a listen - even if it was of a time long ago in cities far away.
***½
 TURBO – Omnidance
(Turbo/Inertia)
While avoiding Tamiya’s legal wrath with the laziest logo change ever, Tiga and Thomas Vonparty’s Turbo label has managed to go strong for a decade, and this two-disc unmixed comp is more or less a bit of housekeeping – a general update of the label’s talent and releases, of which there are no shortage of. Electro-tinged techno is today’s special, and those that order it are set for a feast – Proxy, Popof and Chromeo are all administered in big doses on the comp, and a Konrad Black mix of Tiga’s Sunglasses At Night ensures that the boss gets in there as well. Though some parts of the comp sound like little more than a couple of square waves being pulverised into a paste, this is more an indicator of the overall leftfield techno sound the label is pushing – and generally doing very well at, if this is any judge.
***½
SCOTT HARMS
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