Un Autre Côté

Side 2 of a mixtape labelled "The Best Of Trance Europe Express" and compiled sometime in 1998.

Trance Europe Express was an off-shoot of the Volume book/magazine/CD series, with five 2CD volumes between 1993 and 1997, totalling 120 tracks, many of which were exclusive to the series.

 

As I said in my original post in June 2022, the mixtape is intentionally misleading, The quality throughout the five volumes remained of a such a high standard that calling this 13-track cassette a "best of" was a bit tongue-in-cheek. It's a good primer though, especially as you can track them down for a few quid these days. The book and the slipcase may be a bit battered but the quality of the music within will be intact.

 

Alaska was initially a duo of Laurent Garnier and Nic Britton, later music solely credited to Garnier and released on his own F Communications label. Unreleased Project 1 appeared on Alaska's Deuxième EP around the same time as Trance Europe Express 4. The EP version is eleven and a half minutes long, a couple shaved off for this exclusive TEE edit.

Pluto was another non de plume, this time for Rolo McGinty, better known for his work with The Woodentops. On this 1994 track, Rolo is joined by Leslie 'Bullet' Lawrence and Steve 'Dub' Jones. Rockefeller appeared (misspelt as Rockerfeller) the following year on Pluto's debut album, Rising.

Barbarik by William Orbit is another TEE-exclusive but containing all of the bleeps, tinkles, beats and spoken word sections that he'd made his stock in trade from Water On A Vine Leaf through to megastardom, producing Ray Of Light with Madonna. I love it.

Outcast (not OutKast) were Beaumont Hannant and Richard Brown. The former came to my attention via his superb remixes for Ned's Atomic Dustbin and his solo Tastes And Textures EPs. Whereas that music's closest and laziest comparison was trip-hop, Peach Taxi featured here is a much more housey affair.

Speaking of which, Glasgow legends Slam bring the house down with the mighty Soul Power. It's a testament to how much good music they were producing in the 1990s that this track would be a standalone TEE exclusive when other artists would have placed this firmly on a 12" A-side or album. The flow of new music has not slowed in recent years with Orde Meikle and Stuart McMillan still producing the goods, as June's Activate EP ably demonstrated.

Jörn Elling Wuttke and Roman Flügel formed Alter Ego in 1992, continuing with some success until a final album in 2007, with a posthumous remix album the following year and the release of a lost album in 2012. Sex And Gender is an exclusive track from their early(ish) period and a bridge between their first two albums.

Closing the compilation and bringing things full circle to the first volume of Trance Europe Express is the fittingly-named Trance Induction aka Tjeerd Verbeek. According to t'internet, these days Tjeerd is a biohacker and professional tai chi teacher, which seems a far cry from the urgent, pulsating N which seems purpose-built for a substance-enhanced club experience. 

 

Not your typical Sunday morning fare, but maybe this will transform your weekend chores and get the neighbours worked up. You know it makes sense!

1) Unreleased Project 1 (Trance Europe Express Edit By Laurent Garnier): Alaska (1995)

2) Rockefeller (Album Version): Pluto (1994)

3) Barbarik: William Orbit (1995)

4) Peach Taxi: Outcast (1997)

5) Soul Power: Slam (1997)

6) Sex And Gender: Alter Ego (1995)

7) N (Trance Europe Express Edit By Tjeerd Verbeek): Trance Induction (1993)

 

1993: Trance Europe Express: 7

1994: Trance Europe Express²: 2

1995: Trance Europe Express 3: 3, 6

1995: Trance Europe Express 4: 1

1997: Trance Europe Express 5: 4, 5

Side Two (45:47) (KF) (Mega)

Side One here