Above & Beyond - Anjunabeats Volume 9

Written by Richard Ronchetti on 21 November 2011 in Reviews
Above & Beyond - Anjunabeats Volume 9

If it’s true that cleanliness is next to godliness, then my computer desk is going straight to hell. As I sit here to write this, I’m confronted with a mess I think even Keith Richards would be ashamed to wake up to after a night on the naughty water.

To my left is the usual stack of old dusty CDs and random paperwork, between me and the screen are a dozen half finished flat cokes and beers and to my right is a bowl of cereal that's been there so long it's now a plant.

Certainly this is not where I should be on a Friday night, especially as an Anjunabeats launch party will be kicking off down the road at the Ministry Of Sound in a few short hours. Unfortunately though, the fanatical strain of planning and paying for a wedding has left me with about as much free spending money as Greece. So it seems that for a while at least, it's Friday nights in for me.

So what does a guy do who's stuck at home when he should be watching Kyau and Albert tear up the Gallery? Well I could either water my new cornflakes plant and see how big it gets, or have a listen to the album the German duo will be launching tonight, Anjunabeats Vol 9.

Let me set the scene for you:

It's the year 2000, Justin Bieber is just 6 years old and Anjunabeats are about to unleash their debut single "Volume One". Whilst the first of these went on to become one of the top five people I'd like to beat to death with their own stupid fringe (message me for the other four), the latter became one of the most well respected, forward thinking and influential dance music labels in the world.

On almost an annual basis for the last 11 years now, the boys from Above and Beyond have celebrated their label's fine form with a mix compilation packed full of unreleased material, the biggest tracks of the moment and the newest production talent.

I'm pleased to report that Volume 9 is business as usual from the unstoppable trio. On this one Above & Beyond have treated us to a few of their own unreleased tracks, including the CD1 opener (and possibly the most over used track name of 2011) "Tokyo". Add to this exclusive new mixes from Andrew Bayer, Maor Levi and Oliver Smith as well as a brand new Mat Zo & Arty collaboration and its hard to see where this album could possibly go wrong.

Noteworthy moments for me include the Mat Zo Dub of Tate & Diamonds "Electrified" and the totally brilliant "Contrast" by Sunny Lax. To be honest though, the thought of hearing any of the tracks on this album at the Ministry tonight gets me wetter than a sexually frustrated sea bass.

As expected, both mixes celebrate Trance in its many forms and like my bowl of cereal, seem to build and grow organically. But if I only had room for one of the two on my iPod, CD2 would definitely make the cut. I'd love to make room for CD1 also, but that would involve deleting either the Ghost Busters or Top Gun soundtracks. That can't happen.

Thumbs up as usual to the Anjunabeats team then. This album encompasses all the label has stood for over the last 11 years and the young blood featured here points the way towards a bright future, not only for the label itself, but for Trance music in general.

Album out now.

I'm off to feed Justin Bieber a tasty bowl of cornflakes.


About the author

Richard RonchettiRichard Ronchetti is a DJ, producer and reviewer from the UK with an unhealthy obsession for grated cheese.

He plays and produces essentially Trance with lots of House and Progressive influence and will be posting a bi-monthly promo mix on Mixcloud, Facebook and Twitter. Each mix will (if his levels of creativity and grated cheese allow) contain his own tracks, mashups and remixes.

Follow Rich for all of the above including his latest reviews for Trance Podium:

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