I recall fondly my first encounter with the sound of Markus Schulz. Some time back in 2004 a friend handed me a copy of Coldharbour Sessions saying “you have got to listen to this”. I was converted immediately; the warmth and subtle flow of Schulz’s track selection and mixing pretty much re-igniting my passion for the progressive end of the trance spectrum. Since then I’ve followed his career closely, and while I don’t feel any of his subsequent mixes have quite attained the perfection of Coldharbour Sessions, they have all had something special rippling through them.

The latest in Schulz’s place-themed compilations, this two-disc release has some tasty tracks and, at least on paper, looks like a killer. Disc one begins with the blessed-out soundscape of Schulz’s own Praha, produced under his Mikulas alias, and then it’s straight into the dark, proggy textures of tracks from Eelke Kleijn, Khomha and Space Rockerz.

I found it a little surprising how quickly Schulz locks in the dark energy, and while I’m all for keeping things deep and moody, there’s an absence of light and contrast throughout most of this disc. Schulz seems stuck in the one gear. By the time Saint X’s frenetic Bounce and Rex Mundi’s trippy Sandstone come around, I’m disengaging with the vibe and left feeling a little cold by the whole thing.

It’s only when Rene Pais’ heavenly vocal cut Another Day drops in that things take a turn for the better and you see some light filtering through. Yet this doesn’t last long, Schulz dropping some comparatively brutal tracks from Snatt & Vix, Pobsky and Wippenberg to bring proceedings to a close. I’ve given this disc several spins, thinking maybe it was a grower, but I’m just not feeling it. This is probably one of the weakest mixes Schulz has committed to disc. It lacks his usual deft touch, and I’m not convinced by the path he has taken here.

Schulz kicks the second disc off with another Mikulas production that acts as a widescreen introductory sequence. This flows seamlessly into Skytech’s perfectly balanced Sirens, and then Schulz gives a “big room reconstruction” to Aerofoil’s Caress 2 Impress and turns it into a galloping monster. A little further in, another Snatt & Vix track drops, and this time it’s a vocal beauty featuring the talents of Alexandra Badoi that sits perfectly in the mix, demonstrating Schulz’s golden sequencing skills, and it’s quite possibly the highlight of both discs.

The mix then settles into some rolling progressive textures, with cuts from Aaron Camz, Mike Foyle and Thomas Cresine tipping the vibe into seedier territory, while Valley of Dreams from Rex Mundi is a gem, its huge builds and hooky synths working up a storm. An intense euphoria drips from Grube & Hovsepian’s Invisible, although this is somewhat undermined by the woeful and clichéd hard trance of Klauss Goulart’s Turbulence. The uninspired fashion in which the mix concludes suggests Schulz dropped the ball a bit on here.

So I’ll be returning to the second mix more often than the first, which feels like something of a disappointment, although maybe it’s just not my thing. It lacks the subtleties and nuances that have made Schulz’s previous releases so appealing, and comes across as a little bit average and pedestrian. The second disc goes some way towards atoning for this, although ultimately I’d say this release falls a little short of the high bar Schulz has set with previous mixes.

Prague ‘11 is out now on Armada through 405 Recordings.