Quazar - Here & Now (2019)

Remastered rerelease of the second QUAZAR album 'Here & Now' (1993). Amsterdam based techno legends QUAZAR made their name with the international clubhit 'Seven Stars/Dayglo' (1990) - a classic that's still considered one of the highlights of the techno- and rave-sound of the early nineties. Pioneers of the first wave of the burgeoning Dutch scene - together with artists like Speedy J, Orlando Voorn, Fierce Ruling Diva, 2001 and forward thinking labels like Go Bang! and Djax, QUAZAR were the first to release not only 12-inch singles, but also albums. 'Here & Now' was released 26 years ago, in the spring of 1993, but the remastered album sounds surprisingly fresh and colourful today. It introduces moods and sounds that clearly were ahead of their time. Breaking away from the chains that keep you from finding total freedom and inner peace, also had been the theme of the first Quazar album 'Seven Stars', but this time the group explored new musical territory in some unexpected twists and turns. Looking back, Quazar captain Gert van Veen says it felt as if his group was in the midst of a cultural maelstrom. Dance music was evolving fast in the nineties. Early QUAZAR records like 'Seven Stars' and 'Red Alert' had been big dancefloor hits in the international rave scene (which in the Netherlands would evolve into gabber - hardcore - in 92-93.) But the music on this album takes QUAZAR into a different direction. The twelve tracks fuse a wide variety of styles - from minimal techno and soulful house to trance and progressive, deep acid, tribal, ambient. and funky space house. As Van Veen remembers: 'It was an exciting time. Everything was in a state of flux. New dance styles seemed to appear almost every month. There was a lot of new technology and everybody was eager to explore new sounds and discover new musical directions. There were no rules, everything was possible.' That's why 'Here & Now' is such a colourful and eclectic album. It takes the listener down the rabbit hole into a land of musical magic & mystery. Like all QUAZAR albums, 'Here & Now' is not just a collection of DJ tracks, but it tells a story that unfolds when you listen to the album as a whole. That's why most tracks of the 4 part album flow into the next one, just like a DJ mix. Two singles from the album, 'Breakaway' and 'Deeper and higher' were international hits. The majestic 'Breakaway', featuring Surinam singer Farida Merville, charted in the UK, ended up in the recordbox of DJs like Slam, Darren Emerson and Karotte. The haunting and deep acid trance of 'Deeper and higher', propelled by a powerful breakbeat of drummer Michel Schoots (Urban Dance Squad), was a favourite of German DJ Sven Väth and many others. It also became a highlight of the live-concerts as several live clips from the '93 QUAZAR-tour show. Since its first tour in the spring of 1991 Quazar had made a name as one of the premier live-acts in the Netherlands - performing this time around (1993) with a 5 piece band - next to producers Gert van Veen and Eric Cycle, singer Farida Merville and dancers Sophia Sintos and Chinedum Nwosu. In the spring and summer of 1993 this unit did a major clubtour, opening with an album release in one of their favourite Amsterdam clubs, Mazzo, while debuting on two new festivals: Mysteryland and Lowlands. This updated version of the Here & Now album is a bit different from the original, as it has shedded some vocal tracks featuring Farida Merville. These will be rereleased later this year on a seperate compilation, 'QUAZAR presents Farida Merville', with a selection of all the vocal tracks that the band and its singer recorded between 1991 and 1993.