Various Vibraspirit 23 SunDance Records (Germany)

I’m going to stick my neck out here – this is going to be the most important album of the year, from the most significant of 2002’s new labels. SunDance is a brand new outfit set up by “a group of international party people that wish to remain anonymous,” and is run by Franny who steered Demon Tea to become one of the most significant and surprising labels of 2001. The aim is to release full-on party music that’s heavy on the melody but steering clear of Planet Cheese, and on the strength of this jaw-dropping compilation it’s already mission accomplished. Artax kicks things off with Greetings From Psychaosis, he’s Logic Bomb’s Jonas’ younger brother and the sense of dancefloor-rocking trance is obviously a family trait. Cut-up vocals form the backbone, the drums are pure nighttime energy and the progression is perfect. New Serbian artist Talpa steps in with two offerings, Kalashari a wizzy and manic noisefest with a hefty pace and plenty of surprises and Mandragor, a peak-time high-octane cerebrum fuser with hefty acid melodies and a final minute-and-a-half that’ll have you ripping your hair out, it’s so good. Rinkadink’s Rippin’ Laps is frantic and with cartoon sound effects rebounding from the speakers to keep you grinning while you groove, and the manic 16ths in Dark Nebula’s Reach Of Time is enough to get that pineal DMT flowing, before the insanely dark and busy lead riff comes in and mashes you to a pulp. A huge melody rises out of a wonderfully-constructed break before that bassline kicks back in and sends you right over the edge in the biggest tune of the year so far. Quantum State’s sinister Turbulenz is a vile, bouncy blisteringly good bit of trance with ravey hoovers over a tight and techno-ish backbone, while Liquid Launch from Bent Serntient is pure lysergic bliss. A bassline that’d melt concrete, more squelches than two dozen peyote goblins with bad gas and huge great big massive huge amazingly large saw-cut synth riffs. New Canadian artist Nystagmus makes a great initial impression with Desert Of The Real, a heavy and manic motherf*cker that samples that bit in the matrix when the metal goes down his throat, after which it’s a full on and hair-raising rollercoaster ride through sounds you never imagined doing things you never thought possible. Awesome key changes and melody-shifts at the end make for an epic experience – just trust me, you will lose your marbles to this and no mistake. Transdiver from Russia pops up with CZ, and as one half of Psykovsky you know what to expect: the walls are either closing in or they’re falling away, it’s like a bad trip in Super Mario World’s Ghost House, it’s angry, and it eats children. Other half of Psykovsky Ebbanistic closes the album with the delightfully twisted Tripanulo, an Atari-sized dose of weirdness with an orchestra and more twists and turns than ought to be allowed by law in one tune. All of which adds up to a massively enjoyable, massively significant release which will change your conception of what trance is. You need to buy this release, simple as that.