It's not uncommon for fans of techno or house to turn their noses up when they even hear the word "trance" as applied to club music. It conjures up associations with obnoxious arpeggios, epic breakdowns and shamelessly out of the box sawtooth synth leads which, in the wrong hands, can sound tedious at best. Still, "trance" was not always a dirty word; one need only look back to the earlier days of Sven Väth et al to see that what was once called trance is now usually just referred to within the techno catch-all.
Aril Brikha's newest album for Peacefrog succeeds in the face of the trance tag, and perhaps because of it; these songs have some things in common with the subgenre without being tedious or derivative, and without being defined by any specific subset of the electronic dance arena. Perhaps it's the large scale of some of the best tracks here, shifting from something inspiring to complete anthems. "Lady 707" has a repetitive melodic pattern that works well over its midrange drum kit, an unusual combination that reflects Brikha's affinity to the dance music of the past along with current trends. The same is true for "Leaving Me" which is truly epic in its 11-minute play time and big melodic swells, again reflecting elements of trance without the cheese factor. "Room 337" has the same tendency toward melancholy melodic patterns, but is a bit more urgent and a bit less dramatic. It helps provide a sense of movement through the album, starting with a couple songs that point toward vintage Detroit, then toward the more melodic trance sound and then something different... "Contact" is a chunky groove with a thick bassline and cool melodic phrase while I'm assuming "Kind of Nitzer" is a nod to the UK EBM duo, with a dark buzzy bassline and needling high-end pattern. What's refreshing here is that regardless of what direction Brikha is pointing toward, the past, present or future, nearly every track is slickly assembled and shares his knack for strong chord progressions and synth pads that have a high gloss about them. This love of melodic drama unifies all of Ex Machina's disparate tracks, nearly all of which work just as well on a dancefloor as off. There are no throwaway tracks here, and so Brikha successfully dodges the bullet that is so often the downfall of the techno full-length.
mp3s: Lady 707 | Leaving Me
more information: Peacefrog | Myspace
buy it: Boomkat | Amazon | iTunes | Emusic
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