Advanced Technologies of Amsterdam

Input Records was an obscure label with offices in London and Amsterdam in the late nineties. Alongside 21-3 Records (UK), Input were knee-deep in the UK acid techno and Dutch “break-trance” scenes. While most of their discography is unlikely to be of interest to psytrance fans, Input did manage to make one significant contribution to the movement: Advanced Technologies of Amsterdam. With this CD-only compilation, Input harvested tracks new and old from a variety of Dutch producers. The variety of selections runs the gamut from previously released classics to complete obscurities, with a few exclusive pieces thrown in for good measure. This excerpt from the liner notes elaborates on the concept:

Amsterdam – Traditionally Northern Europe’s favourite psychadelic outpost and free thinking city, also home to some of the worlds most respected acid trance DJ’s and producers. The international psychadelic techno trance scene is currently heading off in a new and improved direction featuring more breakbeats and advanced acid programming, with Amsterdam leading the way.

This “new and improved direction” became the hot sound of 1998 for many UK psytrance labels. TIP, Matsuri, Symbiosis, and Blue Room all got in on the act, releasing full-length albums from Metal Spark, Sibilant, Cwithe, and Synchro, all of whom are featured here. Despite the hype that had blown up around the “psybreaks” sound, this particular compilation never seemed to have made much of an impression. I probably would not have discovered it were it not for the ever-insightful Jason C @ TRiP. An excerpt from his original review, written in late ‘97:

An excellent first trance compilation from Anglo-Dutch techno X trance label Input, featuring the best from a number of Netherlands-based artists. Some tracks here such as the lead-in “Screecher Creature” will be familiar from other places but this doesn’t detract from the overall run of the mix, which binds ’straight’ but chunky psy trance with breakbeats, techno and, of course, lots of acid.

Here is a bit more about each individual track…

Sibilant (Lorenzo Zoetar, one of the most influential producers in the field) provides the perfect introduction with Screecher Creature. It was originally released on a vinyl single from Symbiosis Records in 1996 and later featured on the Funk compilation from the same label. Discerning listeners will immediately take note of the intelligent drum programming in this track. Tightly layered organic rhythms intricately flow, wobble, and shake through a dynamic array of mutating synthetic noises. This should make your brain dance!

Based on his work as Sibilant, I have the impression that Zoetar was the driving force behind Metal Spark, a group that also featured Lucas Mees (DJ Lucas of The Mazzo, a famous club in Amsterdam) and Patrice Van Den Berg (aka Syrinx). Metal Detector, originally released on a 12″ single from Blue Room Released, is fairly similar to Screecher Creature in many respects. Complex rhythms in constant motion maintain an impeccable flow for the duration. As the theme would suggest, jagged metallic noises whip through the air and bubble up from the depths to give this track a truly psychedelic feel. Wicked stuff.

Cwithe consists of Anthony “Ton” Koppenaal and Jens Waldebäck, a former Juno Reactor collaborator. Together they have two tracks featured on this compilation, both sourced from vinyl singles released back in 1995. Karmachanics is a slick and stylish piece of work, exhibiting the kind of cool reserve seldom seen in trance music from this era. Jumpy breakbeats provide an effective foil for the bubbling psychedelic atmospheres. This one still sounds great years later.

Germinating Seeds of Doda (Steve Rivett) provides the first completely exclusive contribution with Sloworm, a track lifted from Input’s debut vinyl single. Alongside Lorenzo Zoetar, Rivett was one of the very best producers of the psytrance-breakbeat crossover style. It should come as no surprise that this fat and funky tune is a scorcher. The mood is upbeat, and the trippy effects are cerebral in the extreme. The liner notes describe it as “a pumping bass line laden acid gem.” Excellent!

Blacklight deliver the first disappointment with Radar, an ugly tune that was eventually released on Koyote. The beats are raw and partially distorted, and the rhythmic programming doesn’t really flow. Despite Jason C declaring Radar “intriguingly mellow,” I would pass on this one.

Cwithe’s Seas of Pitch (sometimes spelled with an additional ‘e’ at the end) doesn’t charm nearly as much as their first offering. The melodies are not so smooth, and the droning arrangement falls into a loop towards the end rather than achieving any sort of denouement. It sounds awkward to me, but I know of some old school fans really like this tune.

Synchro (Jeroen van Garling) is another big name in the Dutch trance scene—he was signed to the prestigious TIP Records for his debut album Science Friction (1998). White Powder is exclusive to this compilation. An assortment of breakbeats and rounded acid lines lay the foundation in this one, but it is an extended set of vocal samples that is most likely to draw the attention of the listener. Most of the words sound like incomprehensible gibberish–”voices, voices, paranoia!”–although there are a few clear phrases in the bunch, such as “I can feel insects crawling under my skin.” The effect is uninspiring; this is not one of the better tracks from Synchro.

Digital Dent is an older track from Metal Spark; it was originally released in 1996 on the 2LP vinyl version of the Platform 1 compilation on M-Track, and later featured on DJ Tsuyoshi’s Dada Funk mix. The production is not nearly as tight as what was heard on Metal Detector, but it takes the same general approach—what Jason C describes as “elastic, squelchy, superb.” This is not bad at all, but I prefer the more stylish side of Dutch break-trance.

X-Plane Me This is one of the very first releases from Cosmoon (Ramon Sterman aka DJ Indian), an artist also known for his Twisted Travellers side project on Flying Rhino. This particular track is much faster than anything else on the CD, what Jason C referred to as “pounding Dutch style tech-trance.” I don’t agree, but it illustrates how our understanding of techtrance has changed over the years. In my view, this is an energetic form of acid trance with a gritty edge. It is just the sort of thing teenagers would have enjoyed in the late nineties, but it has no real lasting value. It seems to skip at the 6:46 mark—this may indicate a pressing error, or it might just be my copy. At any rate, it is no great loss.

Da Brotha’s T round out the album with something a little different. “Brothers David and Daniel Testas are well known on the live scene in Amsterdam,” the liner notes declare. Jason C describes On Fame by saying “[t]his ain’t psy trance but a magnificent, super-acid stomper, guaranteed to leave you out of breath and with pupils askew.” Truth enough: this sounds like energetic UK-style acid techno with the ghost of a Goa trance influence. The production is rough and the style isn’t quite as interesting as some of the other offerings, but it isn’t inherently bad.

Advanced Technologies of Amsterdam will appeal to anyone fascinated by the psybreaks sound of the late nineties, but it is by no means one of the finer releases in this style. Most of the good tracks are re-releases, and the last half of the compilation doesn’t measure up to the first. It would have been different back when this was first released, but time has taken its toll on these creations. Having said that, old school collectors are likely to find this release reasonably interesting. Advanced Technologies of Amsterdam documents the earliest days of a curious phase in psychedelic trance history that has never since been repeated.

Release Data

Title: Advanced Technologies of Amsterdam
Label: Input Records
Format: CD compilation
Released: 1997