Street Art

Street Art is the fourth compilation release from Tribal Vision, a label which has enjoyed incredible success in the past two years. This one picks up where Lime Light left off, dealing with the upbeat side of progressive crossover trance down around 130 BPM. As always, Tribal Vision provides the best packaging and liner notes, featuring informative bios, a DJ insert, and some highly appealing cover art. The CD itself is stuffed with value as well, as there are 76 minutes of sound to feed your ears.

Swiss artists Absolut & Greed begin the compilation with The Other Side, a track licensed from Greed’s lacklustre debut album released on ACDC. This is a mundane blend of two similar styles resulting in a standard proggy stomper with hints of morning light. There’s nothing really wrong with it, but I still find it redundant and unremarkable.

Tribal Vision introduced the world to the beach-side sounds of Rai with their first compilation release Urban Legends. Let’s Dance is another gorgeous piece of luscious progressive house with an uplifting trance feel to it. The smooth drifting flow of elements is what makes this track great; every bright and shimmering sound is laid down with extreme care. Rai has a very passionate style which imbues his creations with a tremendous emotional power. Phenomenal!

Jet Lag Slave is another electro-progressive anthem from D-Nox & Beckers. It lacks any kind of vocal hook, making it a prime a choice for DJs seeking pure music to rock the floor. The arrangement is an ideal trip through several stages, gradually introducing the cheeky hooks and alluring rhythms that make this so delightful. After nearly six minutes of satisfying grooves the track drops out into one of the most massive build-ups of seething electro-lines I’ve heard in the progressive domain. Far from being serious, this is a fun-loving tune without any shame. It’s one of the best from these incredibly successful producers and a definite favourite from this release!

The evolution of Son Kite’s side project Minilogue has been interesting to track. Originally founded to provide the two Swedish masters with a guise under which lower tempos and more linear rhythms could be explored, they have grown to represent truly progressive music in the forward-thinking sense of the term. Seb & Marcus have been instilling their creations with a deeply intelligent approach, exploring the fashionable borderlands of electro, minimal, techno, and trance, and amassing fans far outside of psychedelic circles. Spam is one of their more successful experimentations, laying down crispy rhythms laced with glimmering electric textures topped with sparse emotional melodies. The distinctive bridge in the heart of the song throws down light breakbeats and a very touching sample: “Do you love yourself? You may think that you do – but do you really?” I’ll admit I didn’t like this at first, but it has improved with repeated listening. It took some time to get used to the different approach, but now I really enjoy this a lot!

Sonify is the progressive project of the versatile Andy Yakovlev, who has previously released on Tribal Vision’s Inner Circle as Prosect. Sonifunk is the new manifesto for this particular project, shaking things up with a hearty mixture of progressive house and electro-funk with a psychedelic touch. The ragga samples and vocoded track title might otherwise dissuade my discerning ears, but they really work in the context of this particular tune. There is no shortage of fat rhythmic hooks to get your hips thrusting, and the bold melodic elements keep the upper levels interesting as well. The original style and thick production result in a solid groove and another highlight.

SAN & Sebastian Moore’s collaboration yields Inceptor, a sparkling progressive trance piece with well-placed tribal drums and a mystic flavour. The production quality isn’t quite as full as the material hailing from the psychedelic side, but it remains adequate. Once the initial themes are exposed, progression is pre-ordained, causing this material to seem a bit weak when compared to the rest. It’s fine for home listening but isn’t something I would play out when I reach for this compilation.

André Absolut’s remix of Cloud Buster by Sonic Cube is taken from the very first Tribal Vision vinyl single. This is a bright and appealing track with a quirky character, suitable for clubs as well as open air festivals. Absolut’s rhythmic production shines with vitality, as the clanking tribal percussion and warm bass riffs weave an enticing storyline. In an interesting deviation from the usual script, the climax emerges just after the half-way point rather than near the end. Gorgeous cinematic pads provide a euphoric atmosphere for slightly more than a minute, and then the track is on its way out. The structure is clearly devised for long-mixing DJs; consider this a great tool for a deep progressive set.

Flowjob delivers another sweet and easy progressive morning tune with Life Extensions. It is far softer than Wadley or Cloud Politics, sounding closer to some of the good-natured material on their debut album Support Normality. There’s nothing too remarkable about this one, but it could easily be used in the mix, and makes for very nice listening at home.

Jaïa wraps it up with the most uptempo track of the release at 135 BPM. This is a remix of the dubby chill-out track Manzanilla from Vibrasphere’s excellent 2003 album release Lime Structure. Could this song be any more perfect? Beautiful electro-lines, ecstatic melodies, and the silky smooth guitar of the original combine to make a modern-day masterpiece of morning trance. I don’t think anything more needs to be said; this is an amazing piece of music!

Slater and Schwa at Tribal Vision have once again put together one of the most thoroughly enjoyable progressive compilations in recent memory. The style is on the deeper, more accessible side of progressive; less related to the psychedelic roots, but great nonetheless. After the rather dry introductory track, each song is engaging in its own way, with many highlights to elevate the listening experience far beyond mere satisfaction. The versatility displayed by the artists keeps the journey interesting even though the tempo and style remains within a relatively narrow range. In essence, this release is overflowing with talent, and any self-respecting progressive fan is going to have to give this a listen. Highly recommended!

Release Data

Title: Street Art
Label: Tribal Vision Records
Format: CD compilation
Released: 2005

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