Tranceport 3
Primarily known as a progressive house DJ, first in Los Angeles, then in New York (as one of the famed club Twilo's DJ denizens), Sandra Collins uses this third in theTranceportseries to show off her trance techno chops. Collins puts her own suave stamp on the record with a cascade of languid beats and smart transitions. Moving almost imperceptibly, withPaul Oakenfold-like grace, between Ultra Violet's "Heaven" and into Deep's "Deeper Inside," Collins takes advantage of a momentary absence of melody to kick in a stronger beat and a new vocal motif. Elsewhere, swirling dance floor anthems such as LSG's "I'm Not Existing" give Glo-Stick wavers a chance to paint the ceiling with blue and green tracers. The whole thing moves along pretty briskly, too, with most tracks clocking in at under 5 or 6 minutes--a rarity on compilations like this.Still, it's not perfect. The first track labors to start any sort of a rhythmic template, and the disc struggles with repetition, sometimes losing its focus while constructing a pattern. Overall, it lacks the sheer momentum of the lastTranceportrecord, DJ Dave Ralph's gloriousVolume II(though equaling that mix would be an exceptional accomplishment). Nevertheless, by the last two tracks of the disc, much of Collins's earlier work pays off, and we're left with a good 20 minutes of solid danceability still to savor.--Matthew Cooke