Various Artists mixed by Ferry Corsten - Gatecrahser: Sheffield

Since Ferry Corsten made his comeback - the pinnacle of which, for me, was the free Mixmag CD that went out across the country with the February edition in 2006 - he has gone from strength to strength (again) rocking dancefloors all over the world.

What was unique about that mix was the structure: the funky, slow-building start, progressing to a peak of booming tech beats and trance grooves. The only album to really have attempted this before was Armin Van Buuren’s ‘A State of Trance’ albums from 2004 and 2005, both of which however did not come close to the variety of music that you can find on Ferry’s blinding comeback Mixmag mix.

‘Gatecrasher: Sheffield’, mixed by Ferry Corsten and on none other than the Ministry of Sound label,  provides such diversity and progression and is affected with such skill that this really is an album for every taste – not something that often applies to trance, a style of music that has become so wide-ranging over the past few years moving away from the myths that it is simply sweeping synths and one-note basslines.

It starts slow and electro-tinged, with big percussion, minimal perks and big builds amounting to booming basslines and electro samples rather than synths, strings and key changes. Simple and effective it is - to start with anyway. The mixing is very Ferry - as you’d expect - tight and full of drops rather than blends.  He rises to the occasion to mix an album for one of clubland’s most famous and prestigious institutions. Music like this allows for such a  mixing style. Not much in the way of complex melody, and very simple to lose yourself in on the floor. It’s truly a dancefloor mix for every taste.

The first whiff of a trance melody is 20 minutes into the first CD. And when it does hit, on P.A.F.F’s – ‘From King to Finch’ - it really is worth the wait. A dirty, driving, dark yet somehow happy and smiley tack – everything off the kick bops your head like...what you’d expect from a peak time Crasher mix from Ferry Corsten – class! One thing you can really notice with this mix is the fullness of the sound. The selection of the tracks is seriously impressive. When it’s pumping, it’s big, it’s bold - the sounds are strong and in-your-face. When it’s breaking it’s quiet, peaceful – the silences are the quietest I have heard! It all adds to the effect and leaves you mesmerised and absolutely blown away.

CD 1 really starts to pick up about 25 minutes with Lemon & Einar K – ‘Hold Me Now’. It’s the first real key change, the first real dash of strings, the first real vocal and the first real hint of anything resembling trance as it’s best known. What a contrast to the previous 25 minutes. Clever and catchy. The vocal seems a little ‘Top of the Pops 2’, especially with the electric guitar riffs set in the background - but the build is good and the drop omits the vocal – the way it should be DJ Sammy (wink! wink!).

No Ferry Corsten mix would be complete without that well-loved trance sound. It’s what he’s loved for at the end of the day. However gone are the Pulp Victim, Veracocha, Gouryella days. Oh yes, it’s out with the old and in with the new; the new breed of trance artists like Markus Schulz allow mixes like this to remain grouped within the trance realm. Markus Schultz feat Departure’s  ‘Cause You Know (Nic Chagall Remix)’ is slow and sweet, then long and brave, with a vocal, then a rousing build, then an electrofied poppy drop – it’s a mix within itself and it’s what makes tracks like this corker so interesting. Top marks Markus!

CD2 holds much of the same qualities of the last 30 minutes of the first CD. It’s packed with great tunes. You’d expect to only have to look at the tracklisting to see that. But not quite – although not new, artists like Embrace, Shadowrider, Alan M and Dimitri Federov are dwarfed when their names sit against the likes of Solarstone and Ferry Corsten. Nevertheless the tunes hold their own and it’s refreshing to hear newer talents battling it out with more established names. And despite CD2 comprising the more usual solar-plexus trembling, deep, tech-trance rising into anthemic, unabashed melodic and sometimes cheesy hand-raisers, Ferry still manages to maintain that edge away from the mainstream.

Many mixes attempt to provide this type of contrast, the type of variation that is like a dance (and quality) version of Now 23, but fail. Or at least try for a good stint, but soon get carried away, lost in their own one-dimensional style, and lose the hard work they put in to produce something different. This one doesn’t. While the builds get longer, the key changes get trancier, and the filters ever more strong, the progression from the start of CD1 through to the end of CD2 leaves you wondering how the hell you started off where you did. ‘How the f*** did you do that Ferry; and without me realising you sneaky b*****d?!’  

Click the pic to listen to & buy the compilation:

Tracklisting:

CD 2:
1. André Visior & Kay Stone - Something For Your Mind (Giuseppe Ottaviani Remix)
2. Seth Hutton Feat. Judie Tzuke - Don't Look Behind You (Mike Shivers Catching Sun Mix)
3. Randy Boyer & Eric Tadla Feat. Dan Sanfilippo - Alive (Heatbeat Mix)
4. Lemon & Einar K - Anticipation
5. Ferry Corsten - I Love You (Original Extended)
6. Solarstone Rain - Star Eternal (Agnelli & Nelson Remix)
7. Embrace - Embrace (Ferry Fix)
8. Shadowrider - Blue Horizon (Giuseppe Ottaviani Remix)
9. Alan M - Famicom (Temple 1 Remix)
10. Andrelli & Blue Feat. Hila - Imagine (Mike Nichol Remix)
11. Orjan Nilsen - Black Mamba
12. Dimitri Federov - Falling Of Stars (Paul Miller Remix)