Hope is 7 Years Old and they bring you their best and favorite moments, unmixed and the full tracks included for your listening pleasure. This is one to top, find out why
Hope presents 7 Year Itch (History of Hope Compilation) (Hope 2CD)
It is hard to believe that Hope Records is actually seven years old, this year. The record label grew from one beer too many by a few lads who eventually started it out of Lakota Nightclub, June 17th, 1998 in Bristol. The key players were Leon Alexander, Steve Satterwaite, Luke Allen and Matt Rickard. They run Hope Records, who now runs a few other labels like Timo Maas’ brilliant four: twenty and they now manage Adam Freeland’s Marine Parade.
Hope was the first real record label to push several names that became huge; they were the start for some guy out of Germany, who later became the huge enigma known as Timo Maas. They gave us Alan Bremmer aka Loafer, his first real foray in music, same goes for DJ Hyper. Casper Pound did some ace stuff, he will be missed thought, he sadly died last year, after a few tough years after recovering from major surgery. Way Out West released some records on Hope and they even pushed Capeoira Twins on the world. Ian Wilkie was another who really got his start with Hope, same goes for Moguai and the amazing trio (now minus Nosmo) in Grayarea. Hope has achieved a lot in their seven years, pushing a ton of new artists with some amazing records.
This compilation contains the full tracks and is unmixed, which in a world with DJ mixed, re-edited and retweaked compilations, this is a breath of fresh air because it contains some full versions of deleted records.
CD 1
1.Timo Maas – Der Schieber (Funkin for Hope In New York Mix) 2.Moguai – U Know Y (Radio Edit) 3.Filmaplast – Istanbul (Capoeira Twins Mix) 4.Grayarea – Yewminyst 5.Grayarea – Gravity (Hybrid Mix) 6.Orchid – Galactic Railroad 7.Moguai – Get On (Hyper Remix) 8.Sub God – Velodrome TV (General Midi Mix) 9.Trisco – Southpaw (Fluke’s Glassjaw Remix) 10.Caspar Pound – Pioneers of The Warped Groove (WoW Mix) 11.Capeoeira Twins – Lose Control
CD 2
1.Ian Wilkie – Guten Morgen (Vocal) 2.Ian Wilkie vs. Timo Maas – Twin Town (Original Mix) 3.Jan Driver – Drive By 4.Max Graham – Tell You 5.Starecase – See 6.Loafer – Travelogue 7.Ariane – Eternity 8.Parallel Sound – Beyond Your Soul 9.Benz and MD – Wonder 10.Sonic Infusion - Reformatted
CD 1 begins with one of my all time favorite Timo Maas tracks in Der Schieber and this was when he was known as the dirty trance guru. This track just oozes the trademark Timo Maas filthiness and its great to hear in its raw form. Moguai comes in next with the infectious U Know Y, with the always-fun refrain “We are the lucky ones, you know why” and that hypnotic bassline. One of the odd parts of this CD is track three in the fact that they did not add Filmaplast’s Istanbul but the probem was the mix they added here. I always disliked the Capoeira Twins remix because it made a funky mess out of a fine track and why they did not add the dark hypnotically driving DJ Remy Mix, is beyond me.
Track four picks you up by your coattails and makes you revisit classic moments, which are many in this compilation. The first is the amazing Yewminyst by Grayarea, which was really first dropped on Nick Warren’s Iceland GU024 compilation and I remember it in other haze moments filled moments from Toronto clubs from years ago, when it was played out. The dark driving progressive break monster is given here in full form, which is a genius, if you misplaced your vinyl copy of it like I did, then this is your savior. I love how they catch the full intensity of the track and its not mixed into something else. Grayarea come again with my favorite release from 2004, which was the mighty Gravity. The only thing that I dislike is that they added the Hybrid remix, which I argue is very good but not as amazing as the Albatross Mix and that vocal, oh that vocal.
Orchid’s Galactic Railroad comes in and the progressive chords remind you, why Hope is still around and why you loved Hope so much. Hyper shows up in track seven with his brilliant remix of Get On, with that addictive riff and bassline, oh the memories. We are only at track seven and I may have to get the tissues because all the memories might make my eyes tear up but that’s a good thing. Track eight is unknown to probably seventy percent of you with General Midi (the A/R man behind Skint) with Velodrome TV, its nasty and the sound is so General Midi before Norman Cook and him got huge with Skint. Trisco’s underrated Southpaw, the Fluke mix comes in at nine and its such a beautiful and often weird track.
The Way Out West remix of the late Caspar Pound’s Pioneers of the Warped Groove and I think this is probably WoW’s best remix and if I remember correctly, the vinyl is hard to find. Disc one ends with the Capoeira Twins’s Lose Control
Disc One was such an enjoyable ride with the full versions of Yewminyst, Der Schieber and many many others. I believe my eyes will start to tear because of the happy memories, sometime in the next disc.
Disc Two continues where Disc One left on, down memory lane. Ian Wilkie’s brilliant and Dave Seaman fave Guten Morgen, which was on GU – Capetown. I loved Twin Town more but that’s the next track. Twin Town, the Timo Maas vs. Ian Wilkie production was a fave of many deejays back in 1999 like Digweed, Nick Warren and others. The compilation is starting to grab you and hold you because all these memories come back and you remember, yes they were Hope releases.
Jan Driver’s Drive By, which was an early release from the German before he went big time, a few years back and it brings that subtle groove that Driver tends to push on you. Max Graham’s Tell You, which reminds me of some of his recent vocal tracks comes in at track number five and you start to remember that you are getting old because you can’t remember that Max Graham did release records on Hope.
Starecase’s underrated See comes in at track five, the UK outfit shows why their tracks were hammered to death, the world over because they were just so solid. The bassline really sets Starecase apart from other outfits and they show that here. Loafer’s really nice Travlogue comes in at track six, it was one that I’d never heard, I always remember Nothing Is but never this one. I like how compilations can introduce you to music history at times. Ariane’s Eternity is track seven and most of you will remember this from GU – Amsterdam, the incredible riffs, the nice synths and the whole nine yards that really spoke volumes of the 2001 progressive rise to fame.
2005 is not over and Hope decides to include my favorite song (so far!), which was the deep dark and hypnotic and just plain addictive Beyond Your Soul by Parallel Sound. It was missed by some in the press but its certainly one of the better records this year and if you have not heard it, go out and get this, you will not be disappointed. Another of my favorite tracks from 2004, actually in my top ten was Benz and MD’s Wonder, which was 10 minutes of pure bliss and pure relaxation, at least the way I viewed it but my buddy Greg Benz never completely agreed with me. The amazing compilation ends with Sonic Infusion’s Reformatted.
Conclusion:
Get this now, it is probably the best compilation of the year so far because it does not mix anything and gives you the full versions of some pretty awesome tracks. Massive props to Hope for doing this and here’s to another successful seven years.
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