Cocoon Compilation S (Various Artists)

Cocoon Recordings goes into overdrive with the next installment of their legendary compilation series. Love Over Entropy gets the ball rolling with "As If", offering up smooth, Mediterranean vibes designed to stimulate heart-felt communication. Stimming's "The Gift That Never Stops To Give" continues in a low-slung, tribal vein peppered with jazzed-out, tubular percussion as the psychedelics gently take hold. John Talabot and Axel Boman, aka Talaboman, not only win the most bombastic track name of the year competition, but do a good job living up to it on "Big Room Anthemic Groovy Pounding Trance Dub Bomb. Superb!" The extended intro delivers a heightened sense of anticipation, as gentle bleeps, angular trance riffs and weird frequency oscillations toast the synapses. Emanuele Satie's "Planet XXX" is a perfectly balanced tech house groover, climaxing with an ecstatic breakdown. "End Days" from Edward then ups the ante with a metallic, new beat vibe that swamps you in wild analog noise before the deep brooding pads take over. Analog squiggles dominate the opening exchanges on Florian Hollerith's "KURZVOR12" as the soundsystem starts pounding relentlessly into the early hours. A strong head is certainly required under pressure from the hypnotic, rasping synth lines. Raxon gets things rolling on "The Turbulent" with electric hi-hats snaking through a dense mesh of banging snares that accompany a morphing acid line. "Jaded" then takes you into the realms of full-on industrial techno as Mark Broom transports you back to the genre's mid-90s heyday. Egbert ramps up the distortion on "Tering" with a flapping sub bass, played out across heavenly vox pads and acid washes. As you enter the final straight, "Keep Changing Basslines" from Italian maestro Dino Lenny journeys deeper stil006C, before it unfurls to reveal a myriad of arpeggiating synth and bass lines as the vocal sample of the title suggests. Deep, thoughtful and intelligent, there's also a hint of retro rave culture thrown in for good measure. Neil Landstrumm then takes us to Casio heaven on "Flesh Is A Prison", utilizing crisp sound that carries a laser-guided sting in the tail before Red Axes close things out with "Hevk". A long, spacey intro and more razor-edged riffs that morph and stutter perfectly encapsulate everything that has gone before.