Anything U Want is the landmark final album from Yuli Fershtat’s BLT project. Yuli is a veteran of the Israeli trance scene who has been producing his own original style of trance since the late nineties, and his experience shines through on this album, which could easily be considered his masterwork. He’s not alone though – alongside Yuli’s expert electronic manipulations you will hear the live drumming talent of Danny Makov. He provides a very organic character to the rhythms all across this album and is apparently responsible for pushing for more melody in the music. Perhaps there’s something to this, as BLT’s last album God is Love was far more sublime and never reached the energetic heights evident here on Anything U Want. A quirky cover and 71 minutes of sound cement this album’s status as a quality release.

Mind the Gap provides an excellent introduction to the unique sound of this album with a ten minute long journey arranged in several stages. The opening sequence is a smoothly flowing set of sounds that gradually lets a funky beat glide in with an excellent assortment of lively drum sounds. Until sometime after the five minute mark the song has a staggered groove laced with plenty of tribal sounds and a bluesy sort of vibe with riffs and atmospheric twangs from a guitar, all masterfully integrated with a wide assortment of sneaking psychedelic effects that contribute harmoniously to the irresistable rhythms. A lush breakdown lets the song readjust to a steady rhythm coloured by a very appropriate usage of female vocals, expertly fused into the growing synthetic headspace. Serene strokes from the guitar and tribal drumming continues to remain a feature of the song, cohesively holding the long journey together. This is a fabulous way to open the album as well as a unique song in its own right, though it’s too bad about the abrupt ending.

The Calling has been remixed several times already, but this is clearly the ultimate version. I’m not certain how live this edit actually is, but it certainly benefits from the addition of all sorts of different drums and other more esoteric percussive sources. The pumping beat is initially held back as a wild array of cymbals, toms, shakers, and other noises coagulate on the rhythmic plane, complimented by hints of the song’s distinctive theme. As the pace picks up, all the additional drumwork becomes extremely enjoyable; this is the track where Danny’s touch can best be heard. The mystic tones crafted by BLT nicely evoke a magicalfeeling as the spoken sample suggests. Overall this edit features some of the finest drumming ever heard in psytrance – the primal sounds merge beautifully with the electronic side of the production. Guaranteed to make a crowd shake!

The title track Anything U Want is another intriguing fusion of psytrance styles and other influences, straying towards full-on without ever abiding by the formula. The beat rolls with snide abandon, infectious and groovy as hell. The clean synthetic atmospheres that emerge could be described as portraying the sophisticated impression of future living. It is certainly a strong contrast to the dirty sounds that are to follow! Soon enough the vocal hook can be heard sliding in over the rolling beat. The lyrics are a simple repetition of the song’s title, in a variety of intensities and surly iterations. Out of this a guitar comes rocking down the scales to incite the big breakdown. The riffs are pure rock & roll, well integrated with the continuous bass line and an assortment of percussion. After the bridge, a dazzling set of bubbling sounds becomes a feature as the spacious atmosphere later returns, with infrequent stabs from the guitar to keep the song stitched together. This unlikely array of elements – rock guitar, feisty vocals, clean atmospheres, rolling groove – all fuse admirably to create a unique dancefloor hit with some potential mainstream appeal.

The Rain Song takes a step back into the heavy rhythms of the last BLT album with a deep organic journey through the rain forest. The development follows a subtle course: building percussive energy with intricate rhythmic patterns, ripping saws and psychedelic effects fleetingly passing over the frothing rivers of liquid bass. Small melodies creep along to the sound of light choirs, raising tension with layering and intelligent placement. After nearly five minutes of persistant building, the song breaks for a short time, filling the air with big tribal drums and the sound of rain shimmering down from the cloudy heights. The beat returns as the storm continues, and then the track reaches a point where I would make a small criticism. The rainfall sample abruptly drops out without a smooth fade or particularly artful transition. This sudden halt sounds out of place, but the feeling of loss is only temporary, as a huge percussive riff comes leaping out of the speakers to fill the void soon thereafter. The vocals in this section are haunting and beautiful, and there is a curious machine noise used here that works perfectly as a counterpoint. A late break smashes and then resurrects the tension one more time, leading into a timely conclusion. Danny’s drumming is once again quite stunning, and Yuli’s electronics masterfully conjure the spirit of the concept. The Rain Song is another excellent tune despite one minor point of contention.

Next we have the incredible Graceful Dead, a stirring emotional tribute to the late Avihen Livneh (Cosma). The sound is lighter now, with a progressive morning feel to the arrangement. After slight introductory hints to future melodic themes, the song gets down to the percussive explorations that have been so successful thus far. Sneaking and creeping melodies languidly waver across this growing assemblage of sound, and soon the bass line formally drops in to say hello. A sprinkling of guitar hints at further developments, while pleasant melodies smoothly sweep past with a delicate sonic caress. The highlight has got to be the stunningly beautiful breakdown in the last third of the song which cycles back in with awe-inspiring beauty. Yuli expresses a genuine passion in this powerfully emotional production. There is no question in my mind that this will last as an enduring classic of psychedelic trance throughout the years to come.

Patterns Of… is a curious experimentation, clocking in at a staggering 13 minutes in length. This sounds like a return to territory that BLT has covered in previous years – groovy psychedelic trance with a hypnotic arrangement. Despite being the longest track on the album, it leaves this reviewer with much less to write about than the rest. Aside from some solid work with a fat wriggling bass line, as well as the usual top-notch drumming, the song itself is active primarily on a subliminal level. The arrangement develops in an intelligent way, but one needs to listen closely to hear all the details. This approach causes this song to be quite hypnotic; it’s easy to tune out and drift off when this megalithic monster comes flowing out of the speakers. The story culminates with a massive surge of energetic rhythms and a well-suited sample that aptly concludes this tale of mathematical exploration.

The Missionary Mix of Space Boogie revisits another old classic from the BLT discography. Originally composed with DJ Nadi, it also happens to be the first BLT song I really enjoyed. This remix is the ultimate version no doubt, fleshing out the funky themes of the original into a dancefloor thrilling epic! Wild organs clash with menacing synthetic sounds to create a wicked fusion. James Brown samples perfectly compliment the eventual breakdown, and what else is there to say? This music is pure enjoyment distilled into an ideal blend of groove and energy – crank it up!

Epitaph features lyrics written and performed by the man behind the machine. This final song is composed by Yuli alone and, fitting for an album of this calibre, carries a strong personal meaning. I will leave the interpretation of the message up to the listener; I think it is enough to say that it suits the conclusion of the project as no other gesture could. The music itself is an ad hoc mixture of melancholic choirs and upbeat rhythms, exhibiting the depth of production and nearly unrivaled ingenuity heard all across the album. The final segment introduces an entirely different tone, getting down to business with a wonderfully funky lead for a minute or so. After that it’s all downhill, as the structure of the song unravels into the simplicity of the beat and finally echoes off into silence.

Anything U Want represents the final album of BLT, who announced the retirement of the project shortly after it was released. Only remixes and other leftover material remains to be featured on compilations around the world. Luckily, Yuli’s days of producing are not yet over, for he continues on in the guise of Perfect Stranger, crafting deep tribal progressive trance with the same level of quality one can expect from this master sound manipulator. I can think of no better way for Yuli to have laid the BLT project to rest, as this album possesses a nearly unparalleled level of quality. Anything U Want is a serious contender for the best album of 2004. BLT & Danny Makov set a high standard for all other psytrance releases to measure up to, without question. This future classic is essential listening for all psytrance fans; it seems improbable to me that the brilliance of this album would be lost on anyone at all. Highly recommended!

Dynamo is the collaborative project of two big names in full-on psychedelic trance: Dynamic and Eskimo. Dynamic is one of Israel’s many formula-driven artists, and I can’t say I’ve ever flagged any of his released work as worth a second listen. Eskimo is another story entirely; as the son of John Phantasm, he was raised into psychedelic trance culture and began producing at an uncommonly young age. Together they have put together a whole album full of tunes for Phantasm Records which went largely unnoticed in online reviews. The market is simply saturated with this stuff, so it’s no real surprise. I ended up snagging it as a freebie on an order at Saikosounds long ago, and decided to write the review to sort out if there was anything worth saving from the batch. At 74 minutes in length, I figure there’s got to be some dope-ass tracks in here somewhere.

I’d have to disqualify the opening track Here They Come for the use of Anne Clark’s “Castles in the Sky” speech. It didn’t work for Black & White, and it doesn’t work here. Additional insult is caused by some stupid sample about stereo tuning in another break later on. It’s not looking good, but don’t despair!

In the Igloo works well precisely because the producers really let their love for the old school sound shine through. Highly synthetic drum patterns churn up substantial energy to begin with, and the leads grow to reach intense sparkling peaks, further compounding the exciting rush that this track may provoke. The arrangement is solid, there are no samples to be heard, and overall it feels as if Dynamo hit the jackpot with this one. It is easily the best track of the album.

Wildstyle starts setting off my bad sample usage warning signals fairly early. It sounds like every other Eskimo tune, with the same belligerant bass lines and sharp leads. There’s a rather cool lead thrown in there for a while, sounding somewhat like the “speaking synths” of Hallucinogen and early Double Dragon, but it seems tacked on. The arrangement is sort of all over the place, going through the motions without delivering a very cohesive tale. Mediocre.

Dyn-E-Motion is an incredibly intense full-on track full of aggressive sequences and hyperkinetic hooks. While it can get very busy at times, the artists break the tension now and then, boosting the power of the far more active segments. There is no shortage of sudden drops and filter tricks on incoming beats, so anyone who isn’t into that is going to be mighty pissed. The sample isn’t bad for once: “I think for almost human being, the picture of another Earth orbiting another star would be like looking in the mirror, but not the mirror you see in the morning…” The return from the breakdown that follows is full of more trickery, surging forth with ecstatic energy in back-to-back build-ups. It really could have used a huge new melody to top it all off, but I still think this works fairly well for high energy trance.

Into the Magic is much more typical of the duo, dabbling around with straight epic leads and some disagreeable sample usage. It seems to lack some of the liveliness of a few of these other tunes, and it doesn’t seem worthwhile to write much more beyond that. The same goes for Maniac Saiko, which is another unremarkable exhibition of the usual formula.

Spun Dry hypes it up with a 150 BPM blaster, returning to the old school influenced leads which worked so well on the second track. They aren’t quite as effective at this speed, or perhaps it’s just way too frantic to really make an impact. In any case, the song is too short and undeveloped for it to make much of a difference.

The title track The Acid Daze is a mash-up of classics; the artists are clearly paying tribute to some of psychedelic trance’s biggest crowd pleasers. Themes and sequences from Astral Projection’s People Can Fly, Man With No Name’s Teleport, 1200 Mics’ Ayahuasca, Infected Mushroom’s Roll Us a Giant, Transwave’s Land of Freedom, The Overlords’ God’s Eye on Goa, and Deedrah’s Reload, are put to good use. In addition, they coyly make use of two of their own bigger tunes: Eskimo’s Party Pooper as well as Dynamix from Dynamic. Does it work? I’m not convinced, but it could go well at a party. It does seem a bit schizophrenic at times, but that’s part of the fun of it. Somehow the producers manage to hold all these different themes together and make it sound like a somewhat cohesive journey through the history of trance. As a DJ tool it is sure to spice up some full-on sets with a blast from the past, but surly fans are just as likely to declare a cheap rip-off as dance their asses off. It’s bold and unprecedented, that’s for sure. There’s nothing else quite like it!

Say That You Love Me is the rather cheesy finale, and it’s another popcorn tune in a hurry to get somewhere. There’s more of an emotional approach exhibited on this one, but with daft samples like “this is how it feels to fuck on cocaine” it requires a tremendous show of effort to stay with the storyline. Though it may sound hollow, at least it takes sweet time leading out into the silence that follows.

Predictably enough, The Acid Daze is not a very good release. A few of these tracks really kick it, but most of them are too indistinct, bogged down by questionable sample usage, or otherwise unsatisfying. Though it may be obvious that these producers (mostly Eskimo, I suspect) have considerable talents for throwing together high-tech sounds, there is definatly something lacking in terms of overall musicianship. Overall it sounds very rushed, despite the slick polish that is sometimes in evidence. Some people are really into this superficial plastic sound, but it takes a rare song to really appeal to me. In the Igloo manages to come across as a great piece of trance, and the title track is certainly noteworthy. Dyn-E-Motion is okay for filler, but the rest I wouldn’t bother with. It’s not a release I’d recommend to anyone, but some full-on DJs could make use of it for sure.

FX was the first really light progressive compilation from the acclaimed Danish label Iboga. Previous releases had mainly focused on a darker more minimal sound, in line with the trends of the post-millenial era. With a clean and simple cover design they introduced a fresh new style to the world with these tracks in early 2003. While Iboga has polished the deep progressive sound in the years since, this transition release featured a healthy share of experimentation and variety.

The compilation opens with Jaïa’s Peter Pan Syndrome, a surprise solo return by Yannis K., continuing the sound first heard on Flying Rhino’s Something for the Weekend CD in 2001. The style is clubby progressive with plenty of light melodic atmospheres and echoing samples of children speaking en Français. The rhythm has a housey groove to it, with shuffling drums and alternating up-down bass lines. Overall it possesses a naive and innocent quality which makes for easy listening. Back in the day it went over well with some people, but I never got into this track. Still, it’s all right.

Frogacult’s Lucky Strike is a soothing deep progressive track with the Scandinavian touch. Rumbling beats and chord strikes combine to emphasize a dub-influenced style similar to that of Vibrasphere. There are a lot of nonsensical samples throughout the song that I don’t quite understand the exact significance of, but luckily they don’t detract from the music that much. This one is polite and relaxed; not an unwelcome guest to my stereo.

Oryx, a project of former Reefer Decree member Olivier Beirlich gone solo, delivers the most psychedelic track on the compilation with the excellent This Goes Back. Reefer’s unique style is written all over this one! Crispy drums and percussive details flood the speaker with irresistable rhythms. Effects and noises creak, wail, and squelch their way through swampy organic passages sprinkled with screaming liquid melodies. One of the best tracks here!

Filur, a side project of Son Kite’s Seb Mullaert, delivers a gem with Underrated. A lengthly intro sets the tone, with a lush female vocals sweeping by alongside small emergent melodies and a spoken sample: “it’s just a fantasy.” Breakbeats herald the incoming beat – a slow drifting groove with all the rich character you’d expect from Seb. Smooth atmospheres, pleasant melodies, and slick dazzling effects bubble throughout the first several minutes, then the track goes into an incredibly deep breakdown full of more luscious vocals and emotional atmospheres. After the return, floating melodies and the rolling beat are casually re-integrated with incredible skill. The driving rhythm perfectly compliments the strong leads and beautiful atmospheres that are reached at the climax. Truly, it’s a gorgeous piece of music, and one of the more powerful pieces of morning-friendly progressive out there.

Double Dragon is one of my favourite psytrance artists, and the slow and ultra-funky Seperated is a sick piece of work. The song is full of wicked drums from the very beginning, dripping with thickly coiled psychoactive properties. The slap bass goes very well with the quiverring rhythms. A grinding noise from his side project Bubble Dragon’s Hentai can be heard from time to time – is this an easter egg for fans perhaps? A woman’s voice recites some numbers throughout the track – “one, seven, eight.” It’s excellent work but that’s no surprise from this brilliant producer.

Emok, Coyle & Jokke’s Cex is a very straight-forward progressive tune – you will recognize Emok’s trademark sound all over this one. It is nearly 12 minutes long so it takes quite a while to get anywhere – the first three minutes is mostly just the beat clattering on without much to nourish it. Afterwards, some shimmering chords enter the mix and start to give the track some character. This goes on for another three minutes as the atmospheric sounds delicately dance around the beat. The break features some haunting choirs and a questionable sample: “I want a man tonight.” Hmm… I find this particular piece too drawn out given the actual musical contents. Though well-produced, the length is not justified, nor is there enough happening to really maintain interest.

True To Nature’s Pulsar continues in the repetitious tradition, but the composition is much more appealing. The beat and bass are a bit muddy by design, ping-pong percussion with tribal touches keeping things lively in those quarters. The atmosphere develops in small measures with intricate detail, gradually unfolding with soothing harmony as the track progresses. The beat is non-stop – no breaks or drops. It makes for a slow progressive tune with a sensual and emotional feel, which is very nice for the right moments.

Flowjob round out the album with Fluff Me Tender, another soothing morning-time treat. The production here is accomplished with a lighter touch, relying less on thick beats and more on the charming composition of friendly melodies. Leads spiral in time to groovy bass drops, and the song develops a pleasant atmosphere as the title might describe. Transitions are handled with a nice twist, as the melodies start to spiral out of control and come crashing into the next sequence. The beautiful sunshine vibe on this one makes it a great song even though the production quality is not up to contemporary standards.

FX is a milestone in the development of progressive trance from the psychedelic side. Some of the material hasn’t endured quite as well as the rest, but there are several excellent tracks on this compilation nonetheless. Filur and Oryx provide some stellar tunes, and I have a real weakness for the intelligent production style of Double Dragon. I feel that this compilation remains fresh and interesting, even years after its release. Fans of the lighter styles of deep progressive psytrance should certainly check it out.