Search - Forced Mass Motion :: Future Groove Collection

Obscure but high-quality tech-trance and progressive mix

Douglas A. Greenberg | Berkeley, CA USA | 07/31/2001

(4 out of 5 stars)

"A few years ago Mike Wells (aka Force Mass Motion) released an excellent album of trancey electronic dance music entitled, *At Excess*, a disc that has remained one of my very favorites. So when I discovered that FMM had put together a new nonstop mix on the British Mute label, I purchased it immediately. This mix will not be everyone's cup of tea, but I think it's an excellent example of the fine tech-trance and progressive sounds that are being produced in the U.S. and Europe in 2001. The first section of the mix comprises tech-trance tracks that are similar to the type included by Oliver Lieb in his recent two-cd mix set, "Phuture Tech Trance." The sound is beat-heavy and seemingly repetitive, but it establishes a deep, trancey groove that leads the listener toward the (slightly) more melodic tracks that follow. Make no mistake, however, there are no real "songs" here at all; the style here is to establish musical textures and progressions in which the beats, loops, and layered effects ARE the music. Fans of epic trance and pop music of all stripes will likely find the sounds here alien and forbidding, but those who have grown to love the deep, dark, hypnotic style that overall has come to termed "progressive" should give this disc a spin. And of course, all fans of Force Mass Motion's particular style of dance music will especially enjoy the mix."