Above & Beyond – Anjunabeats Volume 9

Anjunabeats Volume 9 had a very mixed reception upon its release, but looking back at it with a 2023 lens it serves as an important step in the evolution of the label. 2011 was an awkward year for the label as both the beats and deep series took some significant turns in sound. For Vol 9 we see a turn towards the trance 2.0/trouse sound the trance world embraced for 2-3 years, with Black Hole being the other big proponents (and Anjunabeats Worldwide 04 arguably the best example). At the time I was pretty disappointed by the trouse sound, I found it relatively insipid and uninspired. A decade on, its still not my favourite era but I think it can be appreciated for what it was.

Disc 1:

Disc 1 isn't bad, starts off with some pretty classic trouse tracks, nice offerings from Parker & Hansons, A&B and Maor Levi (with the first appearance of label mainstay Bluestone) with a trancier second half, Oliver Smith really standing out as well as the iconic KvA mix of "You Got To Go". A decent disc that's relatively inoffesnive, if not slightly dull at times. 3.5/5

Disc 2:
Second disc starts on an experiment note with two Mat Zo numbers -- if youre a Mat Zo fan you'll love it, if you're ambivalent then its a little esoteric, but creative nonetheless. The disc then is really all over the place, with decent offerings from M&S54 and S8&T, but some appalling tracks from Nitrous and Arty. Weak tracks aside, the vibe is strange -- Jaytech on the trance side? New Vibe luckily is a banger, but it sounds like this disc lacks some direction compared to the musical journeys of its series mates before it. If you are a big fan of Mat Zo and early Arty then I am sure you'll enjoy this, otherwise I would call it the weakest disc so far in the series at the time. 3/5

Top tracks:

Oliver Smith - Progress
Above & Beyond Feat. Zoe Johnston – You Got To Go (Kyau & Albert Remix)
Jaytech – New Vibe

Beside many criticism to the later Volume mixes than 8 - which is obvious for SOME of the Anjuna stuff after 2011 - I think Volume 9 is the absolute best compilation from the classics. They went with the wind without the need of standing in the long line of moneyfarming big room business and explored many exciting sounds that never existed before at Anjunabeats - and in Trance in general.
The first CD absolutely brings the typical and quality progressive trance which was familiar before, functioning as a trojan horse for something new what's . The raw-like-white-crow duo Parker & Hanson's magical "Afterthought" is definitely a standout (sad thing that they didn't continue their beautiful journey after "Gravity"), then Cramp's "RU116" slaps on table and sets the tone, "In And Out Of Phase" by Andrew Bayer, Matt Lange and Kerry Leva is also a goosebumpey one. Norin & Rad's "Bloom" stands for its title, just like A&B's very own "Formula Rossa", which brings the energy with the main drop exponentially without you even notice. Maor and Bluestone's first collaboration together "On Our Own" works with big fat basslines and experimental noises. Remarkable club banger, bloody well done. Oliver Smith's playful "Symmetry" makes the listener happy and bright - not suspicing anything. Regarding that, the "You Got To Go" remix by Kyau & Albert will suddenly slap you into heavy melancholia, just like Ost & Meyer's spacey "Britanica" and Ollie's "Progress", which are absolutely epic closers of the set.
So guess what, second CD is where all the momentum starts. Around that time, beside Andew Bayer, Mat Zo was the absolute superstar at the label for me. He shook the label's roaster upside down with the rebel attitude of his avantgarde sound design and the withstanding need of keeping the art of EDM evolving. For reward, he got his well-deserved on CD2 with 4 tracks (!) played. All of them are so-so-so good that I have to hats off with describing one by one.
The dub remix of "Electrified" for living legends Darren Tate & Harry Diamond (who is on a roll again currently with K-MRK) awakens the inner Daft Punk of Mat, using french house drums with trance melodies, which is quite an unusual combo. Promising start.
"Bipolar" speaks by the title again, merging tech trance, electro house, progressive trance and big room sounds into one wast amalgamation. Evergreen favorite!
"Frequency Flyer": multi-genre experimenting again, swinging from big room to progressive, from Pryda to Daft Punk, from chills to exploding power - formula-breaking masterpiece.
"Mozart": of course, by the point of sound design; it's not as turbo-charged as "Rebound" before - which is one of the best Trance tracks ever made in history -, but still brings the equal atomic energy, just in a different form.
Sitting back to timeline: Bayer & Molly's "Keep Your Secrets" is THE bittersweet hymn for me! It's a deeply sad and frustrated song, yet still very uplifting and hopeful. Wet eyes when I heard it first time, maybe my most favorite vocal track from Andrew. Arty's "Kate", again true to the title, is a honest loveletter without words, maybe his best instrumental track EVER - after "Around The World", of course. Here in this context, Jaytech's "Overdrive" is a little bit of a rotten egg, but doesn't stink too much and in its own, it's not a bad track at all. Maor Levi's remix of Super8&Tab's "Slow To Learn" (with very clever lyrics by Jan Burton) is a thing that narrow-minded boomers would call "trouse" (half of a tros, I guess?); but if you don't mind those minoring stamps, you will really enjoy the energy in this. The last half section of the mix, starting with Nitrous Oxide's head-nodding "iPeople" is really something's coming from guts and tension; latter it's melting into Mat's playful and funky "Frequency Flyer" softly like butter, also that one into "Mozart". Cramp's "Catch The Eye" ("RU116" part 2 haha) cranks the heat a little back, but Sunny Lax suddenly pushes it back with the almost techy "Contrast" (his first separation attempt from uplifting, beep-boop again, boomers!), giving the straight road to the chunky prog-lifting "Dyno" by Mike Koglin and the multi-talentum Genix.
So yup. If you listen to this with wide open mind and heart, you will definitely find loads of joy and fun in this double pack.