Michael Mayer: Immer 2

Trance, I think, might be dead. But long live trance! Ever since Tangerine Dream first synthesized our primal need for a journey into the steady pulsations of sound, electronic music has taken its listeners on some deeply meditative trips and also left them whirling on the dance floor. With Immer 2, Kompakt label head honcho and talented DJ Michael Mayer expertly assembles a dozen trancey tracks into an evocative movement for the mind. He transports us with cuts by hip electronica artists like Brooks, Crowdpleaser & St. Plomb, and SCSI-9, melding their various approaches into a tethered mantra. The mood and tempo here are medium, with enough oomph to the beat to deter somnolence, but without an insistence that you turn your living room into a dance club. While few moments will utterly wow you, the mix is superb and the music just engaging enough to blip and glide out of the background and into your forebrain. Few genres are as fad-driven as electronica, but don’t give up on trance just yet. Michael Mayer’s mix on Immer 2 will take you where you want to go.