Artist: Dave Ralph
Title: Resident Alien
Label: System Recordings
By: Matthew Esler | 12 May 2003
Tracklist:

• Disk 1
• Disk 2

1. Luis Diaz @ Sanctuary - Deep Sound
2. Prince Quick Mix Feat Ekaterini - Everyday (Chris Fortier Amped Up Pass)
3. Papa Washington Trio - Trio De Janeiro
4. Cold Down - Winter
5. Spoiled presents Stoler - 3AM
6. Ralph & Whalen - Full Contact
7. Filmpalast - Istanbul (Remy Mix)
8. Thomas Prenton - Lock Up
9. Filterheadz presents Orange - In Your Eyes
10. Tony Thomas - Butterfly (Original Mix)
11. Cirrus - You Are (Panacea) (Dave Ralph Mix)

1. Dave Ralph - Pangs Of Ambition
2. Verb - Footprints (Joshua Ryan Mix)
3. Ralph & Whalen - Dancing In Hyperspace
4. Dave Ralph - Giggledropz (Pilgrim's Progress Mix)
5. Airtight - Beyond Blue

Dave Ralph "Resident Alien"

Dave Ralph, hailing from Liverpool, started his journey down the road to a serious house music addiction when he was 16. Like so many others, he thanks Sasha for changing his life in one night in a nightclub. That life changing moment, 20 odd years of bringing great tunes to people, the release of such highly honoured CDs as Tranceport II, and playing all over the place, including at Berlin's huge Love Parade have no doubt shaped Dave Ralph's idea's on what good house music is and how to best bring that music to you, the punters. Ralph is also in the midst of starting a new label: R-Factor Recordings, which is set to feature downloadable single releases. These experiences have led Ralph to a point in his musical evolution where he feels that we need to hear these tunes, and quite frankly, it's a good thing.

The opening tracks on Resident Alien Disc 1 are groovy and deep, with some sweet hooks and big basslines to ease us in to the mix.

Deep Sound:
Deep, meaningful beats. Crafted with care, not slapped together around some catchy hook. Smooth, sharp and soft, full, warm or cool depending on what you need... lush. Well named track. Deep Sound is a great way to start the CD, and sets a serious and relaxed mood to prepare you for the magic that is Prince Quick Mix's

Everyday:
With a vocal like that to play with, it's almost assured that a remix from anyone who is anyone will be a pearler. Chris Fortier goes well beyond that expectation and brings us a remix that, in my opinion, is the best of the bunch. I guess I'll have to buy it again for this remix. Everyday lifts the mix up a notch, both in terms of emotion and percussive excitement, while

Trio De Janeiro:
keeps the steady groove going; a more serious sombre feeling pervading this deeper housey tune. The vocal tells us that "It's alright", and it is certainly that. This Papa Washington Trio tune is used well as a bit of a transition into the more driving tribal feeling beats of

Winter:
Winter opens with a very beautiful female vocal, leading a percussive breakdown, and soon cruising through into some very very sweet beats. These are the sort of beats that can make a very very simple song amazing, but they only last a moment before an even more magical breakdown takes hold, followed by one very phat bassline. This is a TUNE. Nice work Cold Down.
Before Winter finishes up, we hear that weird and excellent spoken vocal from

3am:
A trippy groover by Stoler (presented by Spoiler), 3am has one of those huge soft uplifting basslines that makes you drift away and remember good times... that beautiful day cruising cross country... that amazing house set in the morning... that blissful night on the floor when you first made...

Full Contact:
This sweet (Dave) Ralph & Whalen track retains the groovy feeling, and while shifting towards a slightly more hypnotic energised groovy, manages to spread some love around with some stunning piano. This is one of two Dave Ralph productions on the CD and both of them shine.

Istanbul:
After lulling us into a comfortable state of hypnotic bliss, Dave Ralph decides to wake us up quick smart with the big thumping beats of DJ Remy's remix of Filmpalast's Istanbul. The energy that Istanbul brings to the mix is noticeable and timely, as things have been quite smooth for a good while up to this point.

The middle part of Resident Alien Disc 1 takes you deep into the music, with Ralph allowing long play time on these hypnotic and full tracks. If you are one who likes it cut up then don't even bother with this excellent selection of serious and deep tunes. A total of more than 28 minutes is taken up by just four tracks. Those four tracks are 3am, Full Contact, Istanbul and Thomas Penton's huge tribal stormer

Lock Up:
After being hammered by some of the best DJs in the business, Lock Up hardly needs a description. Suffice to say that it is tough and energised and emotional all at once, and moves off into more techy territory, which is a good idea considering Dave decided to put

In Your Eyes:
next in line. No, it's not Kylie, but Orange 3 (presented by Filterheadz) that bring us this amazing uplifting tune. A big vocal and sweet production allow this track to affect you if, conversely, you allow yourself to be affected by it. Some may say that the vocal is a bit cheesy, and they may be right, but at the same time, those people (myself included) might also notice that it brings a smile to their face anyway.

Butterfly:
is just another in a very long line of excellent productions from Tony Thomas. This time around we have an in your face bassline surging through funky percussion. Although the track is good, I think it is let play for a bit long, as it is more of a dance floor friendly stomper than a listen to in your car/loungeroom sort of track, and doesn't really do a lot. Hopefully though, by this part of the disc you are well and truly in the groove and don't notice a bit of repetition creeping in. The end of track 10 snaps into a more thumpy chunky beat before dropping into a deep dark rumble that heralds the beginning of Dave Ralph's own mix of Cirrus'

You Are (Panacea) (Dave Ralph's Pilgrim's Progress Mix):
Laura Derby's vocals shine through on this track, and after being immersed in deep and serious house grooves for the most part of the mix, it is pleasant to hear some sweet vocals bursting through over Ralph's deep rolling bass and trance inducing trippy percussion and synths.

Over all, Resident Alien is a solid mix of excellent tracks. The mood shifts nicely from beginning to middle to end, and the mixing is interesting, and shows a deep understanding of what is required.

The mix is a bit too dance floor oriented for my liking, with Ralph only giving us 11 tracks for the 72 minute listen, which may be fine in a club at 3am, when most of your listeners are likely to be in a frame of mind such that hypnotic beats and subtle changes in the music will have their full effect, but listening to this CD at work, in my car or in my loungeroom, I can't help but feel that it needs to move along a bit more.

Having said that, that is really all I can complain about, and even then I'm stretching it a bit. It is an excellent mix, and if you are in the market for a housey, proggy, tribalish CD full of brilliant tracks, I would definitely suggest giving this a listen.

Disc 2 is an enhanced CD including a video interview of Ralph, and a mixed selection of tracks coming out on R-Factor:

Dave Ralph - Pangs Of Ambition

Verb - Footprints (Joshua Ryan Remix)

Ralph & Whalen - Dancing In Hyperspace

Dave Ralph - Giggledropz (Pilgrim's Progress Remix)

Airtight - Beyond Blue

The 8/10 doesn't quite do this package justice, but it's not quite a 9.