Articles
Slow Six
Label Profile: Fällt
Alexander Turnquist

Albums
4 Bonjour's Parties
AGF
Atlas Sound
Autistic Daughters
Baja
Evan Bartholomew
Sylvain Chauveau
Destroyalldreamers
DoF
Dot Tape Dot
Fessenden
Floriana vs. Màcro
Florian Hecker
I Am A Vowel
Jaermulk Manhattan
Steve Jansen
LabField
Liar's Rosebush
Eliot Lipp
Luminous
Mojib
Monocle
Nicolay & Kay
Panda Riot
Ghislain Poirier
Prosumer & Murat Tepeli
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Sambassadeur
Starting Teeth
Carl Stone
Strings of Consciousness
Suite Crude Revue
Text Adventure
Alexander Turnquist
Valet
Viirus
Willits + Sakamoto
Yaporigami

Compilations/Mixes
Armin Van Buuren
Caroline
Goodbye Said the Rain
Sieben Mal Solo
A Weevil in a Biscuit

3"/ 7"/ 10"/ 12"/ EPs
0>1
A Setting Sun
The Bug ft. Warrior Queen
Myungho Choi
Deadbeat
Entsounds
Itosha
JDSY
l'Objet
Noah Pred
Repair
The Retail Sectors
Socks & Sandals
Someone Else
Trembling Blue Stars
.xtrak

Armin Van Buuren: Universal Religion 2008
Ultra

Dutch trance-meister Armin van Buuren recorded Universal Religion 2008 at the Amnesia nightclub in Ibiza in August 2007 so no one should be surprised by the deep Balearic vibe of the set. Sunlounger's “Another Day On the Terrace” opens the almost eighty-minute set with synth tones so warm and lush, they verge on shameless, after which Dash Berlin deepens the trance vibe with the bass-driven raver “Till the Sky Falls Down.” The surging swing of Dubfire's “Roadkill” soon follows, as does Terk Dawn's blazing “Barent Blue.” The set catches its breath for a few moments in Aly & Fila vs. FKN's “How Long?” before resuming its charge. By the time we reach The Doppler Effect's “Beauty Hides In the Deep,” van Buuren's mix stampedes so furiously it's almost ridiculous. True to form, van Buuren's set continually winds itself up to the standard peaks and gallops relentlessly throughout. Female singers (like Audrey Gallagher, who graces John O'Callaghan's anthemic “Big Sky,” Jennifer Rene, who drapes her fragile whisper across the pumping groove of Jose Amnesia's “Invincible,” and Susana, who gets the closing spot in van Buuren's “If You Should Go”) emote rapturously over pounding 4/4 kick drum patterns and sweeping washes while bubbly, chiming synths swell into grandiose flourishes. To this listener at least, the live elements prove more a distraction than enhancement; while they do (as intended) bolster the set's live feel, the one-dimensional crowd whistles and claps quickly wear out their welcome. File Universal Religion 2008 under “populist dance music.”

February 2008