Various - Nataraja 2 (POF)

Shimmering, colourful and moving, Nataraja 2 catalogues the best of a relatively new art form - "la trance psychedelique". Building BPMs onto soundtrack vocal samples and layers upon layers of atmosphere has never sounded so effortless as on this latest edition from France's increasingly groovy POF label. 18 tracks across a superbly packaged 2-disc digipack set and available in the UK as a Virgin import. There's nothing hard-core about most of the tracks on this set - in fact the French techno scene oozes a thirst-quenchingly refreshing quality that sets it apart from it's German and, lately UK relatives. From the opener, Vaporum's 'The Platform', things take decidedly trippy turn. Remember Loengard's final LSD trip in the penultimate episode of 'Dark Skies'? Well this would have been the perfect backdrop! POF Records sit perfectly in the area of hypertension where psychedelia and futuristic high-paced dance beets mesh. Blue Planet Corporation, Joking Sphinx stand out and Universal Island take things to a logical, hypnotic conclusion. Disc 2 kicks of with a more artcore, rootsy approach before piling on the BPM and steering into French hi-NRG. Stand-out artists here are Toi Doi, Denshi Danshi and Imago. By the looks of the party pictures on the sleeve, trance is being taken to the next level in France. High times indeed. 8/10