Great, unforgettable tracks from the past - part seven

From the mind of the ever-so-prolific producer and musician Simon Posford comes this mind-bending sonic avalanche of a track that defies and possibly redefines gravity. It's a rollercoaster filled with so many details that one just has to listen one more time in order to figure out how he did it. This track is listed as number seven on the 1997 album "The Lone Deranger," the second album from the artist under his Hallucinogen moniker and that very album was a bit ahead of its time back in the day, but even still to this day sounds just as amazing as it did back when it was released. The name of the album, in fact, is a wordplay on the Lone Ranger, a fictional cowboy and hero of several eponymous radio and television series.

The track "Taiyo" is an insane melting pot of sounds and influences strung together with such delicacy that it is borderline art. At the time of its release back in 1997, it was almost unheard of due to its very dominating inclusion of heavy metal guitars. Multiple pitch shifts certainly had the listener pondering what was going on and what was happening. Not to mention the rather manic laughing that is present throughout the track, amplifying the borderline insane soundscape. A side note is that the group Prana consists of three members, two of whom provided the remix. Chakra actually started before it later evolved into Prana.

A favorite among many back in the day on the dancefloors and jungle/forest raves across Europe and Asia due to its steady high pace, unrelenting, unforgiving melodies, and straight-in-your-face punching bassline and kick drum. The remix was made by the somewhat legendary Frédéric Holyszewski, who was also part of Transwave and other collaborations and constellations. Still, this specific remix is the one that blew many away due to its intense yet very melodic melodies, and it did not just do it in style. It did it with a sharp, accurate, deliberate precision that still holds up today.

Koxbox is a Danish constellation that originally consisted of three members, where the name of the group is unconfirmed Danish slang for Energy Box, which might actually be true since essentially all their tracks are high-energy assaults on the senses and "Life is a Gas" is a track that bends reality and makes you wonder what is real and what is a figment of your imagination. Yet, it pokes holes in its sonic assault on the senses with a somewhat understated quirkiness that is hard to describe. The remix by the German supergroup X-Dream just pounds you for about 8 min 30 seconds.

The track is taken from the 2003 album Stereopark by Spirallianz, which some might know as Extrawelt or as Midi Miliz since the same men, Arne Schaffhausen and Wayan Raabe, are the creative minds behind all three groups, with Spirallianz being the origin for the other projects. The specific track in question is a dark, gritty, and bubbly affair with elements that feel almost guttural in nature. It is nearly built like a techno track. Still, with much more darkness and evilness, albeit there are some absurdly dark techno tracks out there, this one feels more like a dirty punch in the nuts with its seductive bassline that rumbles on and on while the guttural stabbing sounds add intensity and depth.

Imagine you commission a remix of a track that was already a sonic adventure, and then you turn that up to eleven and expect it to be less frightening. Well, Growling Mad Scientists, aka GMS, didn't get the memo in 1997 and instead turned up the insanity all the way up plaid or, dare we say, warp 10, and what you end up with is a super sharp, almost surgical strike on the senses with their version of "Friagram." It is a track that demands respect as it slams you to the ground and snarls at you while frying your brain chemistry into oblivion. It is a genuine, sonically mind-bending piece of music. Be advised, though, don't blast it on earphones at the highest level; it will hurt you.

Listen to all the tracks.