Peter Lazonby - Your Humble Servant download mp3 flac

In what world do we live, that this album does not rank amongst the crowned achievements of electronic dance music! YOUR HUMBLE SERVANT is highly underrated, and crimically disregarded. Maybe because it came out at a time when techno and trance burned all bridges between them in mutual contempt, and still took, with almost naive aspiration, the deepest, most ambitious and most innovative elements from both fronts and mixed them into a timeless techno-trance masterpiece.

Regardless of whether it's deep, Detroit-style techno or classic harmonic trance you're looking for, this album is a must-have. First, there's the opening-track HUMBLE SERVANT, a Detroit-influenced string techno epos that has few rivals. If this had been put out on, say, Transmat at the same time, it would stand es one of the most highly regarded techno classics of the nineties: A deep, melodic, string-heavy, yet beatless six minute intro explodes into pure bliss once the bassdrum kicks in and stands on par with Derrick May's best productions. If classic Detroit techno is your thing, this track alone should make this a worthwile investment.

Then there's the closing WAVE SPEECH, one of the most hypnotic and beautiful trance tracks ever produced. A deep and harmonic, ambient-like synth pattern and soft organic drums lull your mind into an utter tranquility, while a driving bassline and a strong kickdrum will get you grooving before you know what happened. Both extremes are balanced in perfect dynamic equilibrium. Over more than 15 minutes a whole story unfolds, told in nothing but sound. Everything culminates into a five minute breakdown (the longest I ever remember hearing anywhere) right before the dramatic finale. This track is a journey into an unknown world, and one can only wonder where trance music would be today if this was the path ist had followed from the mid-nineties onwards. Absolutely mind-blowing!
(The full 15+ minute version is exclusive to this album. The older, more dancefloor-friendly EP version is more than five minutes shorter.)

These two tracks almost put SACRED CYCLES to shame, Peter Lazonby's most well-known track and one of the classic trance anthems (well-deserved! It's still a gorgeous beauty of a track). I don't think SACRED CYCLES needs much of an introduction. Much alike WAVE SPEECH it is a beautiful, epic blend of ambient, trance and techno that easily stood the test of time. The limited edition also includes a 10" with the two remixes by Jens Mahlstedt and Gary D. Especially the former stands as one of the best trance remixes ever. It keeps the harmonic integrity of the original, adds some more trancy harmonics, but its sparse and concentrated drums still sound very modern.

The rest of the album didn't age that well, but still provides some nice is-it-techno-is-it-trance grooves that are very far from bad. Still, with HUMBLE SERVANT, WAVE SPEECH and SACRED CYCLES this album contains three of my favourite tracks ever and I can't recommend it enough. Give it a try!

I was given the 10" 'German remixes' of Sacred Cycles by Tim Fielding (I can't remember ever having the album) because he was aware of my enthusiasm for prog/trance at the time. It's a totally epic disc that duly got rinsed all over London and Europe. I've never heard the album but would venture it's worth picking it up just to get your hands on the bonus disc.