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Sharper eyes (and ears!) will have noticed that Pure Trance was absent from its usual fall release last year. Not only does it take time to reach double-digit milestones, it also takes time to perfect them. This is why Pure Trance took a preparatory 365 in 2022. It allowed Richard Mowatt the freedom to precisely plan, map and carry out what he considers the most important installment of the series to date.
It’s all good, though. As the triumphant tenth edition of Solarstone’s Pure Trance musical movement/manifesto hit stores and streams on November 3rd. Throughout their decade-plus crusade, the albums have been mixed by many fellow puritans, including Bryan Kearney, Orkidea, Activa, Sneijder, Stoneface & Terminal, Gai Barone and Giuseppe Ottaviani. However, for the epic volume 10, Richard Mowatt decided to take it entirely on his own shoulders. PTV10 is a ‘Solostone’ affair…
Speaking of his milestone, Solarstone says: “The number 10 seemed like a kind of punctuation point, so I decided to take the reins of this 3-disc edition and select, compile and mix it myself. Across the discs I wanted to echo the flow of a Pure Trance show. It moves along the four Pure labels (Progressive, Breaks, Trance and NEON). So, we have the deeper sound on Disc 1 (Pure Progressive and Breaks), which leads into the dreamy sound on Disc 2 (Pure Trance) and the harder sound…well, you get the idea, I’m sure! Overall though, it’s about celebrating the sound of Trance music: its journey, its excitement. Of course, this is why Pure Trance exists, which is something I can’t thank you enough for being a part of!”
“Behind the scenes, releases have always involved undertakings, but ’10’ turns that into 11. Allowing you to completely ‘get under the hood’ and fine-tune each track to the album mix, Solarstone uses a ‘stem mixing’ process. This allows you to weave together isolated layers of each track to ensure that every mixing move is not only great… but also a seamless, fluid transition.”
To kick off Disc 1, the customary greeting ‘This is Pure’ slides through Robert Nickson’s mix of Stoneface and Terminal’s ‘Lose My Need’. It’s the first of many unique Mowatt moments, like ‘Arpeggiator Shards’, an elegiac reunion of Solarstone’s ‘Shards’ and his recreation of Jean-Michel Jarre’s ‘Arpeggiator’. It’s followed by ‘The Breeze’, the return of EVE Records legend Pablo Gargano. Next up is ‘Moontribe’, Alucard’s first from their upcoming 2024 album. At mid-cruise point, Richard introduces Siskin’s hypnotic version of Conductor into the mix and The Cowboy’s classic ‘Feeling This Way’, before Sherpa’s new version of Cass & Slide’s ‘Perception’ further stirs up the atmosphere.
Marking their sixteenth release on a Solarstone label, Disc 2 features the overture to Allende’s “Fading Light.” Flow established, it is reminiscent of trance purists like Temple One, with its blissfest ‘As The Sun Breaks’ and Greg Murray’s reform of ‘PTV8’ highlight Stoby & G Coulter’s ‘Sun is High’. Those harder-hitting vibes continue as Factoria elevates one of Rich’s favorite PT outings, Bjorn Akesson’s ‘Language’.
Drizzly Music legend Wavetraxx kicks off Disc 3 with his latest, ‘Million Miles To Go”, before Solarstone’s new collaborative moniker, 892NOW, makes his debut… with ‘Felt’. Super-Frog Saves Tokyo returns with ‘Reactivate’ (one of three performances by him on PTV.10), before Robert Nickson presents ‘Transcend’. Inspired by the 1987 sci-fi film of the same name, ‘Running Man’ by LostLegend momentarily summons a tonal shadow, before John Askew’s Dawn Mix from ‘Push It’ ramps it up again. Pure Trance Vol.10 concludes its epic 45-track, 240-minute run with an elegant loop back to the starting point of SF&T’s ‘Lose My Need’.
With PTV10, what mattered was never the “when”… but the “how.” A suitably excellent landmark release, you can find ‘Solarstone Presents Pure Trance V10’ wherever good music is sold or streamed from November 3rd [https://blackhole.lnk.to/pt10]
PURE TRANCE – HOW IT HAPPENED: At this point Pure Trance means a lot to many, but for Solarstone it all comes down to four simple words: ‘knowing your own mind…’ When the specter of the genre’s second popification arose in 2010, he decided it was the moment of life or death… and he fixed his Pure Trance colors to the mast.
Originally intended as a one-off “test the waters” show, Pure Trance sets the standards for purists’ trance.
