Trancefuzion

As an occasional Features contributor to the site, and an aficionado of the more uplifting side of the dance spectrum, I've been asked to try and put a bit of trance into Tranzfusion! A first trip to Ibiza back in '96 set the wheels in motion, with Oakie et co at Cream and the debauchery of Manumission proving to be the starting point of an affair with warm, melodic tunes that's now into its tenth year. This was reinforced by regular attendance at London's long standing Friday nighter, The Gallery at Turnmills from early 2000 until I arrived at these shores four years ago.

Over Christmas and New Year I was back in the UK, and managed to sneak in a visit to my old stomping ground. Considering it was the first weekend after NYE, the crowd was very healthy, no doubt bolstered by the final ever Fandango party in the second room T2 with Nic Fanciulli (who rocked Room 680 for Renaissance in November). With Paolo Mojo cancelling, Fanciulli played solo for 6 hours, and even kept a trancer like me away from the main room, where the line-up read like a who's who of top trance talent featuring the likes of Adam Sheridan, Cor Fijneman, Smith & Pledger and resident Gavyn Mytchel. Gavyn has cemented his reputation as a production talent to match his DJing skills, and serves up an excellent remix for Zirenz' new single Utopia on Mondo records. Beefing up the original courtesy of more chugging beats and toughening it with some darker touches, he also reduces the vocal content which amplifies its spine-tingling effectiveness.

Another hot new trance track to get a release, Scorcher, on Propulsion Records, is from potential Melburnian and America's undisputed Trance Master, Christopher Lawrence. CL teams up this time with Nicolas Bennison, on a swirling 140BPM tech-trancer which is likely to cause mayhem on even the most munted floors out there! Amidst the mayhem of the festive season, Christopher managed to spare us a few moments and features as the inaugural guest spot for the column:

What are your New Years Resolutions-
To start drinking.

3 tracks that are destroying floors the most right now-
DJ Ray - Sleepless
Z Machine - Floating in the Void
Christopher Lawrence & Nicholas Bennison - Scorcher

Any plans to Tour Oz in 06-
I will be heading to Australia in March.

The remix is provided courtesy of Finnish wunderkid Miika Kuisma, who is John OO Fleming's protege, and usually releases and remixes on the JOOF imprint. Good news with regards to John himself, who has recovered fully from a horrendous boating accident sustained on Brighton Beach last summer. He's back with a bang, and on an unlikely project too with him transforming the Flash Brothers' follow-up to Amen, again released on Mondo, from a soft, warm, exotic melodic house track into a sizzling psy-trance special by upping the tempo, adding the trademark kick drum and filtering the vocal.

With regards to trance Internationals touring, the calendar is pretty blank until Two Tribes, with Armin van Buuren headlining and bringing his Armada label-mate Marcus Schultz with him. Max Graham's unique brand of warm uplifting prog will also be well worth a watch as will my pick of the night, Steve Angello. The Swede's a key part of the influential new wave of talent from his homeland which is now known as the Swedish mafia, who have really given house music the kick up the arse it needed, infusing it with a tough electro-techno edge, and as Tall Paul recently commented, bridging the gap between trance and house whilst sounding awesome on a good sound-system. Angello's latest production with Sebastian Ingrosso under their Mode Hookers alias, Breathe, shows they can even add a moody breakdown of almost trance-like proportions to their repertoire. Labour Day sees Israeli psy-trancers Infected Mushroom play live for Earthcore in the park, and trance legend Paul van Dyk visits us for the first time in nearly th Tags