Danjo & JPL - Ages (Liquid Recordings)

Very good production, Danjo mix the best for me in this release.

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In terms of solo production you will be more than aware of JPL's contribution to the trance scene over the past few years. Otherwise known as Joni Peter Ljungqvist he has produced such records as 'A Place Called Home','Summer Skin' and 'We're On The Moon'. He may have the upper hand on Danjo in solo releases but it has only been since recently that Danjo has broken away from his production partner Rob Styles to define a sound for himself. The meeting of these two musical minds then should be an interesting one as Danjo's record of working in collaboration has always hit the sweet spot. TO add some extra spice for this new record on Liquid Recordings there is also a remix by Maarten Hercules, who I don’t really know that much about but we will soon find out.

With no original mix as such this release narrows down to the individual production adaptation from Danjo and JPL, who have both created a delightful euphoric trance anthem with both their mixes. Danjo's mix fuses together a deep beat and bass line with lots of backing percussion and sparkling rolling melody that sprinkles on from the build. It's the breakdown that works so well when it arrives with wide roaming sweeps and swirling chords creating a mellow yet uplifting mood. The melody that comes, mixes in short samples of vocal harmonics to add to the atmosphere it creates, which is nothing short of euphoric. The whole mix is crafted together very well and is one for those deep spacey mindsets thanks to the birght keys pushing the sound on.

JPL's mix is a little rougher at first with a buzzing bass line that acts as the melody on the intro. It's got a slight aggressive punch to it with the bold beat, kick drum and kicks. The opening build sweeps in the atmospheric builds in the distance and teases in the melody on the odd bar. The strings that lead in are soft and mellow with a piano key breaking the track down into the uplifting breakdown. That’s all that’s left as the sounds fade off and allow the melody to build up. It builds up into a sweeping epic that’s bright and edgy arriving with real impact. Unchanged from Danjo's mix but given a few extra pads underneath to keep the same mood but offer a slight twist. Not much to choose between the two mixes as they are both finely crated down tempo uplifting trance epics.

Maarten Hercules is a producer who has worked with Joni before on a few projects and has a very bright synth driven sound is the other tracks I've had a look at before. His remix here slips a little on the progressive side and is not as complex as Danjo's or JPL's mixes keeping things to a minimum. As minimalist as it sounds from the begging he soon slips in an electric sythn chord that stabs at you before the breakdown. The break has some nice sweeping touches and does bring in a nicely effected main key that’s relaxed as you like. The melody is in here but twisted into a light flavour that drips in the sound to nice effect.