(Bang On!/MRA)

blank (blangk)
adj. blank·er, blank·est

1. Lacking expression
2. Devoid of impression.
3. Devoid of activity, interest, or distinctive character; empty

Hats off to the dictionary on this one. While there are a few flowers amongst the junkyard, these quickly wilt and die, choked by the overwhelming refuse.

German natives Piet Blank and Jaspa Jones (Blank & Jones) have a huge following in the continent, being practical European superstars. Not so in Australia. As one of the lowest fromage consumers per capita, Australian’s enjoy a special talent for spotting and avoiding commercial cheddar. So with their finely tuned senses, hopefully most will avoid this uninspired effort.

Part failure, part travesty, this is prototypical Blank and Jones (B&J) at their worst. Wrapped in a ridiculously crispy layer of pure tosh, this vanilla effort is an embarrassment to the very culture these two try and define. They are a hit and miss outfit at the best of times, occasionally producing great tracks (Cream and Beyond Time anyone?) Often though, their shake and bake attitude produces some utter tripe. Their mixing and track selection is similarly confusing. The last effort from the B&J stable, The Mix Volume 2, was actually not too shabby. Self proclaimed “Druids of Rave” (ahem,) perhaps they should consult their magic crystals and do a bit of soul searching to ensure they don’t release this kind of crap again.

After the amusing Intro, the duo drop their own vocal trancer Perfect Silence. Nothing particularly exciting, it ambles along with a merry vocal and is reasonably enjoyable. The much celebrated Orange Theme makes a welcome appearance here in a driving hard trance guise, courtesy of up and comers Martin Roth and Frank Ellrich. The symphony of strings and heavy basslines are actually quite satisfying! Unfortunately, things start to slip with Welcome to Africa. I’m usually a Paffendorf/Technopunk fan, but somehow all the pieces of this production fail to fall into place, much like the mix in which it is contained.

Things don’t improve, with Hangin’ On A String dangling the carrot but never really delivering on its promises. Sadly its mostly downhill from there. From Dark to Light is a piece of vocal trance garbage while Waiting for the Light is a shocking Madagascar rip-off. If you have the patience to persevere through the rest you might enjoy Go! or the final track Atomic Outbreak. Overall though, it’s pretty grim stuff.

So how does disc two compare? Well its certainly more entertaining! A ridiculously drawn out intro (A New Culture Is Born) is first up and is full of gems like “the quintessential synthesis of silence” and “eyes wide open, drinking from the light of rave.” Unlike the disaster of the first disc, at least on this second one B&J are familiar enough with their own material to create a blend of music that works at some level. The acid break reprise of The Nightfly is pretty darn funky and tracks like The Nightfly, La Luna, Waste Your Youth and Sundowner are all passable trancers. The rest is just crappy, commercial filler.

The Blank & Jones fromage factory continues to churn out products full of holes. Avoid at all costs!