Mars - The Electric Temple
Classic Mixtapes, Cybertrance, Melodic Trance
Alright ladies and gents, ready for another trip in the Waaaaay Back Machine? This week I’m reaching into our digital shoe box* of classic mix tapes and pulling out another F-8 classic, “The Electric Temple” AKA “Mars’s Red Tape”. I’m not sure if this is my favorite overall Mars tape, but it definitely has my favorite side.
* Is there really any better way to keep your tapes than in a shoe box? Literally every tape we’ve digitized here has come out of someone’s shoe box: Cor’s, mine, Ben’s… we were all saddened to here that Alex emptied his shoe box of tapes into the garbage before we had a chance to get at them…
Side A has it’s jams: “Trance Emotions” is a nice starting song when you’re mixing unapologetic trance; the last two tracks are sweeping classics (one of which, the second to last, I still refuse to get rid of on vinyl); and then there’s the track three appearance of what we called “The Egyptian Song”, later discovered to actually be named “Snake Charmer” by Carpe Diem*, which was always caused pandemonium amongst my group of friends when played live, in a car, on a boom box… really playing this song at any time at any volume back in the day would make one of us pee our pants.**
* I’ll feature this tomorrow as our “Bonus Beat”, stay tuned in.
** Yup, that’s all one sentence. I amaze myself.
But it’s side B that’s really the classic. Mars starts us off with some “Infinity” by Guru Josh and just never looks back. Trance hit after trance hit for 40 straight minutes! We got “Out of the Blue”; there’s whatever the song is called that comes in after at about 18:35 that still to this day moves me; then the “Bun BE-dum… bun BI BE BE-dum” song, which should not to be confused with the “BE bun, be-bi-dun-be BE bun…”* track that comes in around 31:10; the violin track; and the list just goes on and on. If I want to hear classic SF melodic/cybertrance from the late 90’s (AKA classic German melodic/cybertrance from a few years earlier) I’m headed straight for side two “The Electric Temple”.
So get your glow sticks out, dust of your ultra baggy pants, candy bracelets and neon tops ’cause we’re about to go a’ravin!
* You know what’s even more ridiculous than trying to sing a trance song for someone? Yeah, trying to type one out.
Mars - “The Electric Temple” - Side A
Mars - “The Electric Temple” - Side B
For more from Mars, visit him at his website*
If you’d like the remastered, hi-quality CD of this mix, it’s available from F8’s shop HERE.
Loading ...
nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!
That’s one hell of a trance emotion.
embrace it c, embrace the trance!
Good c-, I can feel your anger. I am defenseless. Take your weapon. Strike me down with all of your hatred and your journey towards the dark side will be complete!
LOL! Watch out. I think she also hates Star Wars.
i hate it all. hatehatehatehatehatehatehatehatehate. how you like me now? LOL!
If I didn’t know better I’d think you were trying to break our margins.
Yeah, so I only THOUGHT that I threw out all my old trance tapes. I found them in a bag, that was inside another bag, in a box. I’m saving them for you. It’s mostly mix tapes that you guys made, like “Mean Memorex” and “Shaka Mix 2000.” I also have the old hard trance tape with all the songs from ‘93-’95 or whatever, and an old Dieselboy tape from ‘98. A few of the tapes have no writing or anything so I have no idea what they are, but I’m sure that they’re chock full of stuff that I would be embarrassed to listen to in public nowadays, like the Pistachio and Anonymous tape.
Nice!! So I was mistaken and this actually isn’t the “Red Mars Tape”. Do you have that one in there? It has “Space Moose” on it. “Mean Memorex”! So awesome! Do you have “Mad Maxell” too?
Besides the ones that I already mentioned, I have “Takin’ Hella Days III,” Uphonic (I know), a random Paradox/Paradigm thing, 3 unknowns and The Electric Temple. Also, if memory serves, I’m pretty sure that “Space Moose” is on Mars’ “Symphonic Metamorphosis” (god…) which is the yellow tape. No “Mad Maxell,” unfortunately.
OK I did it, I listened to both sides all the way through! I feel exhausted, but all I’ve done is sit on my ass. Hmmm. Some good movers in there, but overall just a walk down a non-memory lane for me. Great post Jay! I’ll go back to my regular non-trancified life now!
Alex, I need to get all of those tapes from you… do you have May Peace Prevail? I think that’s the Mars one we are missing.
This is a good selection I think as it represents some huge figures at work during that time, it was/is considered a Noom release and really turned into a stepping stone for mars to help create the F-8 label. Which put out some solid tunes also and lets not forget all of the awesome parties he used to back the record sales and reputation of F-8, mmm parties.
The track mentioned on side b at 18:35 might be “new order” by Moka DJ.
I listened to this tape over and over and over….Really cool to hear this mixx again !!!