Artist: Various Artists
Title: Whoop! Progressive Development (Sampler)
Label: Whoop Records
By: Vince Hart | 12 February 2002
Tracklist:

• A: Tarrentella - Karma (Way Out West Remix)
• B: The Columbians - Ambhato

"Whoop! Progressive Development (Sampler)"

Whoop! are still a force to be reckoned with in the progressive community, and this Progressive Development Sampler is testament to their continued dominance. Taken from the soon to be released Nigel Dawson mix album of the same name, this sampler features two tracks in their complete glory.

First up is The Columbians’ “Ambhato,” a subtly building tribaltastic prog houser, piggybacking a haunting minor chord and offering plenty of rhythmically-charged syncopated synth stabs. The minor chord is teased with dissonant tones as if the serious tone of this production will morph into something a little more light-hearted, but, alas, it’s no more than a tease - a very effective tease. A 303 acid line serves to add another layer while a morphed and reverberated “Can You Feel It?” vocal sample chimes in an effort to push on the groove. Decent material for the peak-time moments.

The gem in this package, however, is the Way out West Remix of Tarrentella’s “Karma.” The original, already released earlier last year, turned a few heads in the community. Praha gave it a go and offered a decent revision, but the prize for best version goes to Way out West. The vocal sample from the original is still intact, but w/ the many new layers of sound added like the granular steel drum effect, the intriguing percussive trickery, the talkback synth that echoes back in tune to the “Karma” sample, some keyboard activity that generally wouldn’t sound out of place at some gathering “out west”(ho-down, anyone?), and the haunting far eastern symphonic melodic sequence, creating an atmosphere that forces the hairs on the back of your neck to stand erect…another bang-up revision by Way out West, sounding nothing like the original version. Essential!