Following the success of Central Energy Nxt Generation, the trio of Amber Savage, Archie and Baby Gee are back with XX: Level 20.

Amber’s contribution starts surprisingly soft. Apocalypse, her production work with Archie, is reminiscent of ‘The Answer’ (In Qontrol 2004 anthem by Tommy Pulse). Eden Project ‘Mummy’ is a solid, yet uninspiring tune, which provides the intro for Marcel Woods’ brilliant ‘Advanced’. Amber continues her tribute to the current mania for tech with the PD dirty remix of ‘Red Alert’ from Mark Sherry Vs James Allan. In Qontrol 2006 anthem ‘Flash Forward’ clocks in at track six; anyone who has listened to the live sets will instantly recognise the opening beats of this tune. The middle of this CD sees Hennes & Cold twisted ‘Second Trip’ play alongside Remo-Con’s pulsating ‘Streams’. Hardstyle is given an opening with ‘Rockin’ from DJ Neo & Blutonium Boy. Its formulaic beats thankfully give way to The Pitcher’s ‘Banging’; a release on the Superplastik label (home of Mos Phat and Raine). The mixing is confused here, but we eventually slide into the Austrian hands-up flavour of Deepforces’ ‘Harder’ (the opening melody draws parallels with ‘Braveheart’). Space Invaders’ pounding ‘Do The Freak’ is an admirable choice amongst some mundane tail-enders, notably Blutonium Boy’s naff ‘In Touch With Tomorrow’ (on how many tunes does he use the lyrics “I’ll take you on…”?!) As commercial releases go, this is a solid effort from Amber. She wields some popular tracks from the tech trance, hard trance and hardstyle genres; a crowd-pleasing recipe. My only complaint would be directed towards the mixing which, in parts, is less than perfect…a situation tolerable in a live set, but not in studio compiled compilation.

Scratch phenomena DJ Archie impresses with his entertaining two minute intro. We are left in no doubt of his turntable talents before waxing moves aside for Martin Roth’s gritty ‘Shockwaves’. Comic Gate’s haunting epic ‘The Drums’, Avaline’s whimsical ‘Stay’ (complete with Archie scratchology) and Bas & Ram’s ‘Bells’ (the bell sample is from Miss Shiva ‘Dreams’) hold up the mid-section of the compilation. Superbly able producers Dominik Felsmann & Patrick Scheidt, otherwise known as Kamui, deliver the dynamic ‘Drop Shot’; it bodes well for their forth-coming Australian tour. Synthesis ‘No Alternative’ bears more than a passing resemblance to ‘Zombie Nation’, whilst ‘Outside World’ imitates DK8’s virtuoso ‘Murder Was The Bass’. What’s the deal with the rip-offs folks? Does no one have any original ideas anymore? Bangin’ hard trance sews up this CD courtesy of Bas & Ram (‘Speed Of Light’) and Dave202’s ‘Global Trance’ complete with Archie’s trendy scratch work. ‘Teenage Idol’ is a collaboration between Archie and Anjay. It, along with ‘Black Is Back’ and Marco V’s enlightened ‘Red Blue Purple’, round off Archie’s tight contribution to Central Energy XX Level 20.

QLD stalwart Baby Gee opens his CD with trance perennial ‘Gamemaster’; this being the Mark Sherry 2006 Outburst remix. Shame it’s only 41 seconds worth. Jellisimo & Tim J pick up the slack with their moody ‘My Way’. Baby Gee keeps the mood mysterious with Mark Norman’s ‘False Vegas’ and the entrancing ‘Close Encounter’ from Phynn. Dogzilla’s bittersweet ‘Without You’ is a worthy addition, whilst Infected Mushroom’s driving psy ditty ‘I’m The Supervisor’ highlights Baby Gee’s diverse genre interests. The DJ Spoke remix of ‘Play It Loud’ delivers tech beats and melds nicely into Hennes & Cold ‘The Journey’. Baby Gee fills the tail end of his CD with, for me anyway, some unknown tracks from the likes of Desperate Deejays, DJ Dready-2 and Hypercore 303. This is a plus. Whilst commercial releases rely on utilising easily recognisable DJ names and track titles to sell, their overuse can become monotonous. The CD wraps up with Walt’s rightly overplayed ‘Let The Music Play’ (ch00n!) and Baby Gee’s own ‘Supaman’ (I especially liked the gritty conclusion). This is an agreeable compilation. The mixing is tight and the track selection appropriate.