1. Entertainment

Christopher Lawrence - Subculture 01

About.com Rating 4.5 Star Rating
Be the first to write a review

From

Christopher Lawrence - Subculture 01

Christopher Lawrence - Subculture Volume 1

System Recordings

If you want something done right, do it yourself. That's usually pretty good advice, and it's certainly worked out well for Chris Lawrence's decision to debut his new Pharmacy Music label with a mix of trance tunes he put together himself. The album blasts out of the gate with Wrecked Machines "Hypercube" and takes no prisoners for the next seventy-one minutes, so if you're planning on dropping this for the first time while you're driving, make sure you have a full tank of gas because you will not want to pull over. One of the best things about a fully-mixed record that's well put together is that you're never quite sure where one track leaves off and the next one starts, and so all of a sudden Nicholas Bennison's "Exocet" is blowing up in your ears (its name comes from a missile, folks), giving way to the Motu remix of One More Angel's "Breathe," which segues seamlessly into Jan Loper's "I Can't Stop," and so on, and so on, all the way through.

The album features a nice mini-set about two-thirds of the way in from Israel's Astrix, working with Delirous, John "00" (Jethro fans say it with me, "double naught!") Fleming, and Dimitri on "Daydream," "3rd Time Lucky," and "Evox", respectively, each tune neatly showcasing both the individual artist and Astrix's deft production. Proving you can do a one minute trance tune, Chris mixes in Midtec's "Dance 2 the Beat" before closing with the brilliantly pitched rise and fall of Bio's "Understand," featuring a vocal nod to the big red cross that is the Pharmacy logo. This straightforward graphic reference neatly sums up the philosophy of Mssr Lawrence, on this record at least: Keep it focused, keep it fast, and keep it fun. Good luck Chris – and keep it up.

©2012 About.com. All rights reserved.

A part of The New York Times Company.