Password Is Love

The Password Is Love compilation grew out of the parties of the same name that were held by the French organizer Gaia Concept back around the turn of the millennium. It is not all that uncommon for a particularly successful or ambitious series of events to spawn a CD release such as this, as it serves well in marketing the parties as well as the artists that play at them. The tracks were selected by long-time resident DJ Ninja (Stéphane Djani), who has, in recent years, made a number of promising releases of his own original material. The packaging is standard stuff: a digipak with simple rainbow-coloured designs all over.

A French artist by the name of Link (Arnaud Barquin) opens the compilation with Dub Sluck, a chunky progressive groover with hints of guitar and tribal drums. One might not be inclined to associate this with the psychedelic side of trance (in fact, it might be more accurate to call this a good piece of pumping house music), but the production quality is good, and the sound is refreshing. It makes for a nice beginning.

Astrontik Challenger is a one-off project from François Cribier (of Section-X) and Thierry “XDR” Thion (who collaborated with Ninja on the Synthese Teaser EP). Their association probably extends back to the mid-nineties, when Section-X began releasing with X-DR, a French hard trance and techno label. Electric Kool is a mean piece of dirty techtrance with raw production and plenty of attitude. It sounds somewhat like early work from N-Tropic, another French act that had a few good releases on Atomic and Blue Room Released. Not bad.

Wizzy Noise were one of the hottest acts in psytrance back in 2001, fresh from the success of their debut album Cybermancy. The turn of the millennium encompasses an explosive phase in their career; in that time they released many massive tunes that won them an ecstatic response from the dance floors of the world. Sunday Morning is one of their finest tunes from 2001 and is exclusive to this compilation. Although it lacks one of those anthemic Wizzy hooks that made tracks like Twisted Love and Deeply Unexpected classics in their day, the heavy groove on this one is bloody well irresistible. Slick drum programming deploys chrome-plated techno loops that shift and cycle in a smooth, futuristic fashion. The killer bass line and sleek atmospheric effects provide the finishing touch. Listening to this old track is sure to remind all Wizzy Noise fans what it was about their sound that made them so invigorating back in those days. Wicked.

The Violet Ray was the last song released by Four Carry Nuts (Tim Schuldt and Detlef Funder) before they entered into three years of inactivity eventually broken by the release of their debut album Mechanical Age. True to their style, this track is a blinding blend of menacing industrial techno and ripping hard psytrance. Although it lacks a strong melodic presence, there is still a tangible sense of storytelling going on. The results are very good.

Bus (Gus Till) released the original version of Bullet on Velocity, the Fourth Flight from Flying Rhino Records, in 1998. The remix that appears here on Password Is Love is not significantly different; the duration remains the same, and the track structure is very close to the original. This track is as brilliant as it is subtle. It draws from the same reservoir later tapped by Native Radio on their album Chiba City Blues: elegant cinematic futurism at its cerebral best.

JLK, short for Jean-Loup Kehrig, was one half of the famous French trance duo Spectral. Pluggy sounds similar to what was heard on their debut album Diffuse, released on Blue Room in the year 2000. The style of this track is completely original; no other artist has accomplished this exact mix of funky grooves, tribal beats, and spacious atmospheres. It feels very natural and uninhibited, defying expectations while delivering pure satisfaction. This is fantastic stuff!

Secret Vibes and Hilight Tribe are a pair of “natural trance” acts from France more known for their live performances than their released material. In each instance, the band members use real instruments such as didgediroo, acoustic and bass guitar, panpipes, flute, and a variety of tribal drums to create hypnotizing trance music. There is an electronic basis to their work, but each piece is much more organic than what you would hear from any regular psytrance artist.

Kirsten Sky is a beautiful piece of work reminiscent of some of what I have heard from Astralasia. This is soft without lacking impact, mystic without seeming corny, and genuinely emotional. The band exhibits a high degree of musicality, smoothly shifting between thematic elements without sacrificing the intrinsic complexity of the composition. It all sort of flows together into a blissful ball of hypnotizing goodness, which really surprised me. I was not expecting much from this tune but it really sounds nice to my ears half a decade later.

Trancer is much more energetic, sounding like something from Bodh Gaya. While it certainly manages to be trance-inducing, I am not convinced by the style or the production quality on this one.

Arketype, a collaboration between Ninja and Vanessa Esposito, wraps up the compilation with Nuclear Sun. Ninja was more known for his techtrance productions in this time, but this song is more like tribal Goa trance. It sort of floats along without making a huge impression, but it isn’t really bad. I suspect it might grow on me if I gave it the time.

The Gaia Concept team found success with Password Is Love. This compilation is diverse, covering everything from hard techtrance to the natural sounds of Secret Vibes. JLK, Bus, Four Carry Nuts, and Wizzy Noise each supply a great song, and several others are interesting if only for their novelty value. I feel as if the track ordering would have benefited from a slight rework, but this is not bad. For a purely promotional CD release Password Is Love manages to provide a good listening experience years down the line, especially for anyone who enjoys the tribal side of trance music.

Release Data

Title: Password Is Love
Label: XIII BIS Records
Format: CD compilation
Released: 2001

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