Aerocruz

Aerocruz is the fourth compilation release from the Japanese label Groove Zone, following up on Magnetic Storm, Back To The Future, and the original Groove Zone. As with those previous compilations, Aerocruz has a theme. In this case, the focus is on melodic morning trance with a progressive psychedelic touch. These songs are designed for DJs to lay down some good vibes in the early morning hours while the sun shines overhead at an outdoor gathering.

Side-A opens the compilations with Hybrid Rise, a luxurious epic perfectly suited for a blissful morning romp. With a creative use of a staggered breakbeat pattern, powerful melodies, and a smooth progressive arrangement, Side-A has composed another masterpiece. I was thoroughly impressed with his contribution on Back To The Future, and this is just about as good. Fantastic stuff!

Natural Flow’s Flying Toasters is a sleek morning tune with a pumping drive strongly influenced by Chromosome and Andromeda. Talking synths, casual chord strikes, and mystic melodies combine to build an emotional journey into trance. The steady progressive build towards the last minutes is lovely. I enjoyed this track enough to put it in my Heliocentric mix.

The Vibrasphere remix of Son Kite’s epic morning anthem Let Us Be was previously released on the Colours Remixes single, but I appreciate it being included here as well. This is easily one of the most euphoric trance tunes of the last few years. The song churns along with a fat and steady groove for the first few minutes while the key thematic elements slowly unfold. The atmosphere that develops is simply stunning, especially when the song reaches the intensely euphoric breakdown, capped with a magnificent double build-up. This is deeply powerful!

The title track Aerocruz is provided by Japanese producer Counter Tech, previously unknown. The fat chugging rhythms provide a nice counterpoint to lazy chimes and layers of dreamy melodies, and it certainly has an epic quality to it. Ultimately it feels like a bit of a knock-off, but it isn’t such a bad attempt.

Soul Surfer’s Bonzai Beach of Magic is a powerful morning anthem from Anders Nilssen, best known from his work with Chromosome and Andromeda. This is a gorgeous tune full of bubbling leads and serene atmospheres. Sadly, this song has a tragic flaw—it is marred by some nasty metal guitar riffs that feel completely out of place.

The Mexican artist Visua has an anonymous style that blends right in. Stage of Evolution is nicely made, even if it is a bit dull. The beats are all quite tight, the sample usage is well integrated, and the style really suits this compilation. Decent stuff.

Triptych serves up a nauseating brew of crappy samples and pop trance beats on Two Ears and One Mouth. I find this terribly annoying.

Sync (Hannes Klitta) is one half of the German progressive act Vaishiyas. As with most productions from this crew, Cursor doesn’t really stand out in any way. This is chunky melodic prog-psy with a lack of affect.

S>Range feat. Z-Man round it out with a tune called Wonderful. This does not sound like the S>Range of the Spiral Trax years; this is a bright and happy song with simple melodies and an easy flow. The production is tight, but the arrangement is not dynamic enough to make this a favourite. Still, it does stand out from the rest.

Aerocruz starts strong with a trio of excellent tunes but can’t maintain such a high level of quality. The remainder of the compilation is a mix of filler and junk, for the most part. Visua and S>Range provide some of the better material, but it isn’t enough to make my list of favourites. Due to the unequal distribution of quality tunes, this is a compilation for active DJs and music collectors, not casual listeners. It is worth picking up for the better tunes, but is not built to last.

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