Paul Oakenfold -- Tranceport

7/10

Yes, I own a Paul Oakenfold record. It was the 90's, Everyone was doing it! Honest!
Actually, Tranceport is considered, by someone who contributes to Wikipedia, as a landmark of the "EDM" genre, and I also think it is pretty good. Oakenfold made techno music, likely peaking in the 90's when, to quote my favorite textbook ever, people went to raves, took Exctasy, and "collapsed into cuddle puddles." I never went to a rave (despite New Roads supposedly frequently having one in some old three story house that had "blue lights on the first floor, green lights on the second floor, and red lights in the attic," according to someone in my high school class that likely went to raves and collapsed into "cuddle puddles") or collapsed into a "cuddle puddle." I more preferred to listen to techno, or trance as the title of this insists, in my car at night, or in my bedroom...at night.
That out of the way, this album has that constant four-on-the-floor beat you would expect, punctuated by sudden breaks in the rhythm where the once pulsing keyboard gets all ethereal and tries to lift you into the sky, which would seemingly be difficult if you were collapsed on the floor in a cuddle puddle. You also get some soaring female vocals singing some really silly stuff. Oakenfold does change the beat at rare moments, like the break-beat to start off track five. These are all remixes of other people's songs, but you wouldn't know it considering they all just sound like one 80-minute long cuddle puddle.
Still, Tranceport is great for what it is, even though by the time some spaced-out woman is rambling on about "goddess energy" near the end, I'm ready to give my ears a cuddle puddle.

1998 Kinetic Records
1. The Dream Traveler – "Time" 7:17
2. Three Drives On A Vinyl – "Greece 2000" 6:44
3. Tilt vs. Paul Van Dyk – "Rendezvous (Quadraphonic Mix)" 4:08
4. Gus Gus – "Purple (Sasha vs. The Light)" 7:16
5. Ascension – "Someone (Slacker's Rolling Mix & Original Vocal Mix)" 8:12
6. Agnelli & Nelson – "El Niño (Matt Darey 12" Mix)" 7:49
7. Energy 52 – "Café Del Mar (Three 'N One Mix)" 7:21
8. Binary Finary – "1998 (Original Mix vs. Paul Van Dyk Mix)" 5:12
9. Paul Van Dyk – "Words (For Love)" 5:08
10. Lost Tribe – "Gamemaster" 7:03
11. Transa – "Enervate" 7:11