Review by:
Jannick Andersen // DJ pr0fane (Dance N Dust Records)
www.sunrisesupplies.com



Artist: Various
Title: Origin - Stage 3
Label: Nano Records
Format: CD
Released: February 2007
Cover: http://217.160.138.169/pic_b/nar1cd015_b.jpg


Review:

Nano Records has been among my favourite full on labels since their first compilation \"Emergence\", and based partly in South Africa, partly in the UK, they\'ve built a solid reputation among many other DJ\'s and partygoers. The newest release from the label is \"Origin - Stage 3\" - a 9 track soundtrack for the annual Origin festival held in South Africa, featuring a couple of the artists performing at the festival, and compiled by DJ Ans.


01. The Egg - Angel Of My Soul (Allaby Remix) [140 BPM]
First up is UK\'s biggest talent at the moment in my opinion, Allaby, with a remix for \"Angel Of My Soul\", originally found on The Egg\'s album \"Forwards\". Despite not having lots of tracks released so far, Allaby has already appeared on labels like Twisted, Nano, Spiral Trax, Alchemy and Neurobiotic, and he gave a stellar liveset at last years Sonica. His sound can best be described as a mixture of progressive and full on - relentless, pumping drives, but still with a sophisticated sense of buildup and progression, and this remix is no exception. Classy tune.

02. Laughing Buddha - Lightning Games [143 BPM]
Laughing Buddha is another artist from the UK - a long time psychedelic trance producer with releases on labels like Transient, RTTS, Flying Rhino, Dragonfly, TIP.World and the original TIP. Compared to the opener he turns up the psychedelia-meter a little notch, adding a dose of quirkiness, yet still maintaining a good amount of dancefloor appeal. If you liked his tune on \"God Save The Machine\", you\'ll probably like this one as well.

03. A Commercial Hippie and The Electric Ant - Electric Hippy [140 BPM]
Anton Raubenheimer, half of the The Commercial Hippies duo, teams up with Ans aka The Electric Ant on \"Electric Hippy\". It brings back some of the slightly progressive-influenced sounds and grooves, relying on quite subtle melodic tricks in the first half, before going into a more acid-tinged finale. Not among the most distinct tracks on the compilation, but certainly a good tune on its own.

04. Tristan - Depends On You (AMD Remix) [140 BPM]
Next up is Aphid Moon and Dickster (of Green Nuns fame) remixing \"Depends On You\" from Tristans upcoming album \"Chemisphere\". I haven\'t heard the original version yet, but this remix is certainly a massive outdoor festival-anthem, providing a solid wall of groove and Tristan-trademark well-chosen voice-samples. Huge track - also look out for AMD\'s upcoming album \"Big Fish\", which is equally good and pumping.

05. The Commercial Hippies - Queggestion Box [145 BPM]
The full The Commercial Hippies team is up next with \"Queggestion Box\", and fans of their debut album \"If You Can\'t Stand The Heat\" will feel right at home here. It\'s still as uplifting and funky as back then, yet with a slightly deeper and tougher approach than most of the stuff on their album. I found their album among the best psychedelic releases in 2006, so this is definitely right up my alley as well.

06. Zen Mechanics - Disco Pixie [142 BPM]
\"Disco Pixie\" is by the dutch rising star Zen Mechanics, whose productions so far has been featured on such diverse labels as Neurobiotic, Flow, Iboga, Dance N Dust, Crystal Matrix and Aleph Zero. Compared to the majority of the tracks on this compilation, he\'s providing a more typical full on morning sound, but fused with some great grooves and a huge breakdown, it works very well though. Good stuff.

07. Headroom - Artelligent [142 BPM]
Headroom has definitely turned some heads with his releases so far - funky and intelligent seems to be the best keywords to describe his music, and the aptly titled \"Artelligent\" is another great example of his sound. It has wacky breakdowns and very creative use of voice-samples, plus some of the quirkiness that categorized Rinkadink a few years back. Not your everyday rolling full on monster, but great sense of groove and funk that\'ll surely get the dancefloor moving.

08. Hydrophonic - Heckyl\'n Jive [142 BPM]
Nano label-owner Regan and his brother Gareth Tacon is back with their project Hydrophonic on \"Heckyl\'n Jive\". They released an album back in 2004, but haven\'t released much stuff since then, but it seems like they\'ve kept the high standard from back then. Solid, pumping morning track.

09. Eskimo & Madcap - Take A Look Out There (Flip-Flop Remix) [143 BPM]
Last track is a remix of Eskimo\'s \"Take A Look Out There\", from his second full-length album with the same title. Behind the remix we find Flip-Flop - a relatively new duo from the UK, with sideprojects such as Hemi-Sync and Touch Tone - and this remix is really a storming end to the compilation. Starting out pretty anonymously, but after the theme from the original emerges in the breakdown, it\'s high-quality full on all the way. Great stuff.


Bottom line:

Nano Records certainly starts 2007 in top form. \"Origin - Stage 3\" is full of full on goodies, delivering a good dose of very positive dancefloor oriented daytime and morning music, but without falling to the über-cheesy melodic themes and rave-pads. The quality is very consistent, and none of the tracks are even remotely bad, so I can only say that I\'m very pleased with the overall result. In short, this is definitely the best full on compilation I\'ve heard for quite a while, and it\'s probably my favourite Nano compilation since \"Natural Selection\".

Highly recommended.


Favourites:

1 (!!), 4 (!!), 5, 6, 7, 9.


Verdict:

8,5/10


Links:

Nano Records: www.nanorecords.co.uk