Over the years there have been many great collaborations in music. Sonny and Cher. Simon and Garfunkle. Barbera Streisand and that guy from the Bee Gees. Now amongst those hallowed names we can add John ‘00’ Fleming and The Digital Blonde. After a handful of singles and remixes, and a bonus mix CD on John’s Psytrance Euphoria showcasing some of these tracks, these two good mates from the UK have finally delivered the stand alone release of just about the best trance album of the year, and it’s been well worth the wait.

There is more than two hours of music here on a double CD or USB stick format, and it’s pure trance. From the opening swirly sounds of Magna, the progressive and melodic shades of Indigo, the driving Sasha Watching The Stars and the pumping Pro 1, there are deep tunes, epic tunes, psychedelic tunes, and this album is such a great example of why I love these guys. They aren’t just progressive producers, or uplifting producers, or psy producers, they manage to take bits and pieces from the whole trance spectrum and craft them together so well. About the only thing missing is some girl wailing on about being high on love and ecstacy and, well, who cares!

The tracks on the album flow well from one to another and even though there are signature sounds and vibes throughout, they aren’t overused so each individual track can stand out enough on its own. This means tracks don’t blend together into one same sounding blur and the release, avoids the trap some other artist albums can fall into where each track is just a new melody or copy and paste job compared to the last one. Whether it’s a movie sample like in Lantra, crazy trippy sounds in Orba, a Japanese speech in Darkness. Each track has it’s own identity and place in the release.

As well as the ‘regular’ album there is a whole bunch of extra bonus material. There are extra tracks, some video clips of live performances, press photos and an ambient mix that at more than 40 minutes long is nearly another album in itself! Joof Recordings was an early adopter of digital formats and the trend is continued with the album available on USB stick format. With the rise of CDJs meaning heavy vinyl record bags have become a thing of the past, perhaps the day of the CD wallet could be coming to a close too? I tested the USB version on a friend’s cdj 400’s and it played a treat. Showing up at a gig with your music on two little USB key drives may not look as trendy or “cool” as walking around with a record bag but it might help with future shoulder problems!

While John ‘00’ Fleming may be seen by some as ‘just’ a psytrance DJ, the variety in his productions and DJ sets, and this album alongside The Digital Blonde show that there is so much more to the trance genre as a whole. To quote one Molly Meldrum, do yourself a favour and grab this album. You will avoid listening hell and take a trip to dance music heaven!