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The first in a new compilation series from the U.K. label, Alter Ego Records, Alter Ego Sessions Volume 01: Digital State starts out strong with many stand-out vocal trance tracks. Mixed by Alter Ego Records label founders, Abbot & Chambers, [Matt Abbott and Chris Chambers], this two-CD set consists of Disc One : TEN:PM and Disc Two : TWO:AM. With a preference for melodic vocals, Disc One, the warm up mix, is compiled for the early part of the night and contains many luscious vocals rich with melody and stood out as my favorite of the two discs. With ten out of fourteen tracks on disc one earning my five-out-of-five star rating, I was more than pleasantly surprised at the mix for TEN:PM. “On This Day”, “Down to You”, “Synaptic Sex”, and “84 Hours” were the first four tracks on disc one and they were all stand-out. This was the first compilation in quite some time that moved me right out of the gate. “400 Years Till Dawn”, “The Truth”, “People Just Don’t Care”, “Reflect”, “Megashire”, and “Your Whole Life”, completed my favorites for Disc One. Throughout the two discs, the tempo gradually increases from 130 beats per minutes to 142 BPMs, hence the Disc Two title, TWO:AM which was compiled for peak dancefloor time. Featuring a variety of trance genres, many unreleased tracks, and current inspirational movers from well-known labels such as Anjunabeats [Above & Beyond’s label], Euphonic, Somatic Sense, and of course, Alter Ego Records, this mix quickly became one of my favorites. In this day-and-age of compilation overload, my jaw dropped when I actually was inspired by the music. Although CD two isn’t as much the charmer for me since it’s not as vocally melodic, it is pumping, and there were three tracks that stood out – “Eclipse”, “Illusions”, and “Dynamica” – all sans vocal with emotive trance production. Although I didn’t love every single track on this compilation, there were many that I over-flowingly did love, so this one gets a 5-star rating for all around track selection and mixing style. If you’re a trance-head, definitely check this compilation out. -- review by Jules Mari
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