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Various Artists - Godskitchen 10th Anniversary, mixed by John O'Callaghan & James Brooke
Created On October 10th, 2008 by Richierich5381
Godskitchen and John O’Callaghan need no introduction – so I won’t bother. Now James Brooke on the other hand may be a familiar name down in Melbourne, but how has this young gun managed to bag a Godskitchen compilation out of nowhere? Having been invited to compile the tracklist for last years Godsktchen Summer Rush CD, the brand was so chuffed with his selections that they did not hesitate to get him in on the mixing as well this time around. With his own label 405 Recordings playing host to names as remarkable as Bart Claessen, Bas & Ram and Maarten De Jong, this is one talent that will have fellow Aussie luminaries Scott Richardson and Steve Strangis looking over their shoulders as we head into 2009.
The tie-in album to the Godskitchen 10 Year Anniversary tour is a triple-CD affair, with a cover that excitedly exclaims ‘Mixed by John O’Callaghan, featuring Sander Van Doorn and Jon O’Bir.’ Fair play, except James Brooke has mixed the second and third disc, and there is only one O’Bir track and a pair of SvD tracks – bit of a misleading tagline, but sex sells as they say. O’Callaghan’s disc is a bog-standard affair which works off a recipe of a flurry of massive tunes followed by a midset slump into mediocrity and a cheeky rush to the finish line with a few more big sellers. We open with the deliciously cheesy Last Time from The Thrillseekers, before a swift main course of JOC’s own Marshmellow has me pining for Nathan Fake’s superior Outhouse. The helter skelter melodic twinkle and whoomping bassline of Maarten De Jong’s Mono are practically unrivalled, but I wouldn’t mind if the top roster jocks gave it a rest before it gets flogged to death. O’Callaghan drops into uninspired shipshape tech-trance in the uncooked centre of the disc, and as the Disneytech melody of Mungo’s Under The Sea fades out, I am grateful for the sounds of Giuseppe Ottaviani and Danny Powers as we stroll to the close of a complacent mix. Ending on the overhyped Shine On from the ever popular 99% fat free duo Filo and Peri I am somewhat tentative to see what our friendly local has to offer with the remaining 38 tracks on the release.
Hitting the ground running with the superbly fresh Slash from Ron van den Beuken and dropping seamlessly from Catch A Fall into Leon Boiler’s delicately layered Ocean Drive Boulevard, Brooke has immediately grabbed my full attention. Sumptuously flowing through progressive and melodic climates, the Victorian drops a little testosterone in with Ali Wilson’s pleasant ripper Off Key before Roy Gates muscles into Maarten de Jong & Melvin Warning’s wobbly tech diamond Era, leaving me salivating. The disc rushes on with a focus on melodic vocal peaks with dashes of sawing tech synths which give a hint of things to come. Luminaries of the trance world Sean Tyas and Simon Patterson close with a shaded number which straddles the genres that define the James Brooks sound.
Just as the second disc canes the first, the final disc is the apex as the talented DJ continues to express himself through flawless programming, balancing seasoned tracks with new beauties including a cheeky trio of productions from his own imprint. Few will deny the importance of Veracocha’s original, nor its superiority in the face of a stack of remixes, but I am a huge admirer of the Cosmic Gate treatment of Carte Blanche. Instead of simply updating the track with slightly tweaked notes, the prodigies analyse the track, strip it down and then put it back together inside out. The peaks become the breaks and the soaring synths are reined in masterfully. If you haven’t checked out Sied Van Riel and Claudia Cazacu’s Contrasts do it now. Fantastically dark and dirty, Van Riel will eclipse Sander next year if he’s smart. Some cracking big room fodder follows from local boy Marsh and a saucy remix of the classic Monkey Forest spurs me towards the dawn. Reviving Agnelli and Nelson’s prog trance delight Sleeping In Airports makes me want to buy James a beer before the track of 2008, Simon Patterson’s ripsnorting Smack has me spilling the aforementioned beer all over him in elation. As the lush sounds of PvD’s edit of Ways and Means fade out, I am welcomed into the morning light by gifts from Aly & Fila and Jamaster A. Blissful.
The Godskitchen tour CD was knocked out quickly, and when I put on the first disc, it showed badly. Mixed with more than a touch of sterility, John O’Callaghan is lucky that I know him better than to judge him on a crap hour, and he remains the guy I’ll be hanging out for at Godskitchen this weekend in Sydney. With a backbone of nasty synths and thumping kicks set against a textured layer of lighter melodic and vocal trance, it is James Brooke’s who takes this round and thoroughly justifies his appointment.
At the end of the day, you’ll buy this comp because of John O’Callaghan – but you’ll treasure it because of James Brooke.
mikewebster says...
Great review for a great CD. With local the local trance talent we have here in Aus, sometimes I wonder what why we go ga-ga over the big names from OS all the time.
dizzabiz says...
nice work james awesome track selection throughout!!
sirhc says...
nice one james
Mickey1 says...
I Have Nothing more to do but Agree with this review im sick of those fools who complain because they didnt get there fix of big cheesey trance i wouldnt call it trance its in the same league as Jessica Simpson and Mandy Moore these big jocks are fast becoming sellouts and afraid to test the waters to produce something special not crap thats been Flogged 1000's of times over
Rocca says...
lol nice one!!! i might grab it, apparently only $24 from jb.