Track Reviews: Anjunabeats Grab Bag Edition

It took two days, a couple gigabytes of software updates, and installations of McAfee's security suite and some petty Windows anti-virus program for me to get back on the internet. My bane- a silly application wanting to scan my laptop to access to my campus internet (they think I might have a virus...right). Anyway, on to the good stuff:

1. Boom Jinx & Jaytech - Milano [Anjunadeep]

@Beatport // @YouTube // @Discogs


Boom Jinx & Jaytech's latest progressive house hit sounds like it fell through a time warp- it oozes this 70's disco vibe that makes you want to put on an afro wig and bob your head to the music.

Finger-snaps, bass distortion effects, and odd female vocalizations accompany the main melody, which is a tremendous amount of fun.

However, the song loses quite a bit of steam during a short breakdown where the duo can't seem to figure out what to do.

Rating: 8 out of 10 [Great]

2. Evbointh - One Wish (Daniel Kandi & Mark Andrez Remix) [Anjunabeats]

@Beatport // @YouTube // @Discogs


Polish 17-year-old Evbointh wrote "One Wish" in 2007, a pair of remixes in 2008, and another song in 2009 before vanishing off the radar. He isn't releasing material on another alias and I don't know why he's fallen out of the production game, but I wish he didn't.

Daniel Kandi and Mark Andrez's remake of his trance classic is nothing short of spectacular. The song gets off to a slow start (my pet peeve- boring, beatmatch-friendly intros), but once that epic melody comes out of the breakdown, Kandi and Andrez hold nothing back.

A warm-pitched, soft-edged synth blares through the back half of the song for an awesome few minutes of uplifting trance.

The end of the song is just as dull as the beginning, but the breakdown and minutes following it warrant the high score.

Rating: 9 out of 10 [Choon]

3. OceanLab - Sirens Of The Sea (Above & Beyond Club Mix) [Anjunabeats]

@Beatport // @YouTube // @Discogs


Everything you need to know about this song is in the title- it's a club mix of a song with lyrics containing imagery of the world's seas and oceans. Only in trance, folks:

"Out beyond the water's edge,
far out past the coral ledge,
underneath the diamond and sunlight.

Chase the world from far below,
silent, sleeping indigo,
drifting down into the endless light"

sings Justine Suissa, the vocalist of this Above & Beyond collaboration. Her voice floats effortlessly (no pun intended) over an atmospheric sound accented by subtle piano notes.

Outside of Solarstone's "Seven Cities", this is one of the better underwater-themed trance songs, and another OceanLab remix that sounds better than the original version.

Rating: 8 out of 10 [Great]

[Image credit: Junodownload.com]