Screams of crying sirens and bitter human chorals in the background of the fabulous sceneries that have been painted with sound. In the background of the whole specter of drums and rattles, not only used to create beat, but to call the atmosphere of tribal rituals. A cold wind carries echoes of the unsubdued and dangerous nature, and a warm feminine whisper calms down and encourages to continue the trip. This is East, its music, its progressive...
Israel and Turkey - the two countries where the religious and spiritual culture has set the rhythm of life. Music was present there since ever, and so were prayers, that to Moslem and Islamic countries have been the inseparable part of every single day. From the western world, the people have borrowed new ideas on how to express their own culture, to give back the beautiful and soulful music.
DJ Choopie, a pioneer of dance and techno styles, has been recognized as a godfather of Israeli dance music. He's been playing and producing for 20 years now. He runs Agnosia Records label, a record studio, and also works for a radio station. In 97-98 as part of the Yez&Choopie duo he was responsible for the majority of Israeli remixes. His does house music, but I mention his name as a contribution he brought into development of the dance scene in Israel was undeniable.
However, a truly progressive person is Shmuel Flash (real name: Flaishler). Although still very young, he is one of the most promising producers in Israel. In his country he is so esteemed that he received the "Israeli Digweed" nickname. His motto is "the darker, the better", and the fact best defining his diversity is that his productions have played John Digweed, Anthony Pappa, Danny Tenaglia or Deep Dish. A true milestone in his career was a track called "Chilling Moments" released on Bedrock. Digweed played it in most of his sets during the Delta Heavy Tour. "Shades/Darkness", issued under the alias of Deep Amok, was included in Anthony Pappa's "Resolution", and "Spanish Tales", produced together with Baranas on Steve Lawler's "Lights Out".
Flash is also well-known from his remixes of Landa's "Music N Control" or "Noah's Ark" from Oxygen Breathing Apparatus (O.B.A.). His latest hit was "The Love" produced together with Choopie and the vocalist Melanie. These days he's been looking for an inspiration in groove, electro and tech-house, and names his favorites from Pete Tong, The Chemical Brothers to Underworld, Jamesa Zabiela and John Digweed.
Together with his brothers, as Flash Brothers (also known as Flash, Flashers, Shmoo), they have their tracks included on John Digweed's "MMII" ("Protect The Sense") and Dave Seaman's "Global Underground Melbourne" ("Sarcasm"). They have recorded two artist albums: "Far and Beyond" and "Global Tribe", issued on Israeli MDMA label. They also produced great remix of Pole Folder&CP's track titled "Dust". The Flaishler brothers are responsible for a success of progressive in Israel. They made a place out there for that genre, despite the huge popularity of psytrance.
To me, the most esteemed Israeli artist is Mo Shic (real name: Moshic Shlomi). He lives in a country of a very difficult political situation, where suicidal bomb attacks are very common. As a boy of eighteen he was enlisted to the national army, where he dole with suffer and death for two years. He's a full of hope optimist though, which does not mean that he's not been bearing the brand of the history of Israel into his music. First steps into DJing and producing he made 6 years ago, although nobody wanted to value him in the country ruled by trance. He finally signed a contract with Cyber Records and issued two singles under the Argonout alias: "You Won't Stop Brazil" and "Almost". Later, alongside with another Israeli DJ, Zidan, he produced 3 singles for Plastica. Including "Nighstalker", acknowledged to be the underground hit of the year according to "DJ Magazine". He speaks of himself, as of the underground ambassador, and his playlists confirm the same. Both on "Distorted Patterns", and the "DJ Mag World Series" mix, he compiled tunes delivered by young producers of the Middle East. That way he pays back to the scene, which had promoted his name across the world. Mo Shic presents dark, but very subtle and "driving" type of progressive. He's 26 with over 40 productions in the discography.
Turkish progressive, compared to the Israeli one, is a bit more delicate. There's more pressure being put to the melody part. Percussions do not sound that powerful and their tracks climate shares melancholy, anxiety or alternatively even horror.
The leading face of the Turkish scene is Yunus Güvenen, without doubt. He said, he was completely surprised with the sudden interest of his music, as he had produced yet only in his spare time, at his home made studio. When Cass rang him up and proposed a contract with Fire, he thought that was a sort of misunderstanding, so he decided to send the demo to another two labels. Then it turned out, that everybody wanted to have these songs! First came "Nefes" released for Fire, later a contract with Made, where he recorded under the Mavi moniker, and finally he signed up for Silver Planet. Under its wings he released "Red Pilot", in which the sound of an arriving airplane roaring on the background of the impressive synthesizer sounds, has brought goose bumps to many dancefloors all over the world. He's been supported by Sasha, James Holden, Deep Dish and Nick Warren to name just a few.
That's impossible to write about every Middle East producer, as there are many more artists, who can make some noise in the dance music scene very soon. Let me start from Israel. Shimon Landa (also known as Exodus) produced his first tune called "Faza" together with Moshic. The next three tracks he wrote by himself only. His "Music N Control", was promoted by such celebrities, as James Zabiela. Amiad gave to the world Landa's "Pureness" remix, and then he produced his own track called "Classroom". They have been releasing for Selfish Records from Israel. You should keep an eye open to Jonathan Dugan's and Shay Raviv's new project, known to the fans of psychedelic trance as Violet Vision. As Grey Matter, they recorded a track that has been heavily supported by Mo Shic - "Spiked". Groovemates duo is formed by Doron Elimelech and Sharon Avilkah. They released an EP under the British label Plastic Fantastic. Their new track called "Escape Is Impossible" is awaiting a contract. Another young and talented producer is Vek, best known from "Prozak" and "Can't Get It". He's been recording for Creamer and K's Pipeline Records and his new tune "Hard 2 Break" has been very intensively promoted by Mo Shic.
Now Turkey. Subsky (also known as Cervus) is yet another producer that has grown up among trance music and who tries his luck in progressive. His track "Four Days" has been chosen by Paul Van Dyk for a compilation titled "Politics of Dancing". Now he's been promoting "Sheltox" that had been recorded together with Yunus. Moshic has included his "Not Yet" track on the "Essential Mix". Also Aytek Kurt who has worked together with Murat Uncuoglu under the names of Noctophobia, Spectralminds and Organica, deserves mentioning. In January 2003 as E-Magicians they issued the "Out of Stock/Not Enough Memory" EP under the wings of Progress Inn label. Their style is melodic, progressive trance with tribal percussions. Same Kurt, alongside with Duran Genc, forms the Duran & Aytek duo. For the Method label they recorded a completely mainstream, full vocal track called "Come".
How did they manage to make such a growth of the progressive scene in Isreal and Turkey? The answer lays in the way they have been supporting each other. Whoever makes a success, will help the others to achieve the same goal.
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