Future Navigators 1

Future Navigators is the first compilation from the Israeli label MDMA Music. Compiled by DJ Dede, it features an assortment of energetic tunes from the end of the golden age of Goa trance. Some tracks are unabashedly old school whereas others have the feeling of something new—for the time. Most of the material on this release can also be found on vinyl, albeit in a variety of roundabout ways. Most critical is The Next EP, released by Sphere Records, which features four of the best tracks found here (others will be noted in the text of the review). Finally, it is worth noting that the compilation is very lightly mixed and contains numerous spelling errors (which I will correct for clarity).

The compilation opens with a question: Are We Happy? Xerox & Freeman explore the matter of how science has or has not benefited our experience of life in a rip-roaring, dance floor-pleasing fashion. This classic tune also appears on the Israeli DAT Mafia EP from Balloonia despite not appearing on the corresponding HOMmega CD release.

First Tour unites Itsik Benisti of Maskalin and DJ Dede under the banner of Cosmic Navigators. This is decent Israeli trance from 1998, notable mainly for the peculiar sample usage heard later on: a man rapidly reciting the alphabet. It was hailed as one of the highlights at the time of its release but I find it to be no more than a curiosity.

Tarsis teams up with DJ Kaaja to deliver Synergy Thrill, a charming, cheerful, and blithely innocent old school floor burner. Although the production quality is raw and the style unoriginal it still manages to please.

The Next. What can be said about this monster from Tim Schuldt? I still recall with clarity the obsidian tendrils of its influence on the dance floors of 1999, the delicate unfolding of its irresistible theme, its sinister beauty. This is the very definition of “underrated classic.”

The remix of Cellurian is a frantic tribal-tinged mind-melter loaded with peculiar samples and high-energy acid riffs. I remember liking it years ago but this is perhaps too crazy and incoherent to appreciate a decade later.

Lagoon is an obscure side project of Christof Drouillet (Absolum, half of Transwave). I’ve not heard a Lagoon track I will admit to liking so I sometimes wonder if this alias was setup to release music that even Christof found to be substandard. At any rate, it fits the compilation but fails to make a good impression on me.

Dark Horse by Nucleus is taken from a vinyl single from Atomic Records. Muddy drums and stodgy breakbeat patterns form menacing rhythms heavily influenced by the work of sound engineer Nick Smith (Menis). No matter; this track rapidly builds excitement with a howling lead melody, the phantasmal screams of some ancient being from the beyond. Excellent.

The release to a close with Polynesian Lion, one of the early Talamasca productions, back when it was more than just Cedric at the helm. This is tribal Goa trance with a bit of a “victory trance” (Nitzhonot) feel to it. Strong melodies and energetic breaks will have old school fans jumping, but it doesn’t really rank up there with the classics as far as I am concerned. Still, it is a nice effort.

The first Future Navigators compilation was very well-received in 1998. If you’ve heard it before, chances are that you might like it. If not, I have my doubts—the dance floor focus renders much of this release a less appealing for psytrance fans who aren’t nostalgic about partying back in the day. Still, there are a few classics here that should be heard—The Next and Are We Happy? for starters, and Dark Horse if you’ve not come across it elsewhere. Overall, Future Navigators 1 is above average for 1998 but not essential.

Release Data

Title: Future Navigators 1
Label: MDMA Music
Format: CD compilation
Released: 1998

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