A Thousand Trances, A Lasting Impression

In August of 2023 Independent Project Records unveiled

a remastered double CD edition of

Land of a Thousand Trances,

an album the late Barry Craig (formerly of post-punk cult faves Afterimage)

had originally released in 1994

under the moniker of A Produce.

Compared to his first solo release The Clearing

(also reissued on IPR earlier in the year),

it was a more ambitious, expansive, rhythm-driven affair.

Reviews of the time didn’t fail to notice it

(with Option signalling “a greater range, increased subtlety and a satisfying dark edge”), but what truly catches the attention when reading mid 90s impressions on the album is the imagery the music never fails to conjure. Whatever track they liked best, reviewers would inevitably let the sounds paint powerful pictures, favoring lyricism and pictorial inspiration where one might expect the customary assessment of sub-genres, instruments and this-reminds-me-of name-dropping.

Land of a Thousand Trances is, in other words, an ideal catalyst

for inner landscapes. 

“On this shimmering and echoing CD”, NAPRA Journal wrote in ’94,

“A Produce leads you down a number of trippy trance trails. I often felt I was in a cavern of wonders, with the dry desert wind scouring the outer world, while a creek cleaned the inner one of random bats of icky thoughts and judgments. Trance states also come through hypnotic groove beats, as compelling as the lumbering gait of racing camels”.

Land of a Thousand Trances’ deep connection to earth and water can be seen from the very titles of its songs (Heart of the Dunes, The Far Shore, It Comes in Waves),

but a review from Audion summoned another element, too: “most tracks are serene, suspended soundscapes, but not at all silly or devoid of emotion. There's a majestic peaceful aura on most tracks, and a more darkened edge on a few others. […] The music isn't made of simple melodies, but it's not dissonant either. It's just that the melodious sounds stay like suspended leaves in the air”.

In ’95 another reviewer was also intrigued by the aerial quality of the album, and talked of “music that floats in front of the landscape looming ahead”. That very year A Produce’s trance music was also described as “ambrosia for the mind and soul”, with Land of a Thousand Trances being compared to “revisiting the glacial terraplanes of On Land and Another Green World all over again, realized with the same sense of grandeur and delicacy but channeled through contemporary sensibilities”.

Even the technical aspects of an album could turn lyrical in the hands of a Produce. A quick glance at Land of a Thousand Trances’ song credits will have us notice that Barry Craig liked to infuse the instrumentation he deployed, too, with great imagination. For Heart of the Dunes he noted that he had played a “desert insect”, while on It Comes in Waves he had utilized “sombre reptiles”.

When Wind and Wire Magazine asked him about these extra-ordinary ‘instruments’, he said: “it's really a tip of the hat to Eno, who used to put credits like that on his albums. Eno plays Eno. ‘Sombre Reptiles’ is an actual piece on Another Green World. Other credits are desert guitars and switchblade guitars. Stuff like that. It's really disposable fun. Let the listeners draw from it what they want. Sometimes the sounds suggest imaginary sources that may or may not enrich the listening experience. I don't expect people to take it that seriously, but if they want to, that's okay”.

Thirty years after its original release, Land of a Thousand Trances still works its world-building magic. In a review of the recent Independent Project Records reissue - which comes with a second disc featuring bonus material from around the same time the original album was recorded, as included in remastered edition A Produce worked on in 2007 - Musoscribe writes: “the track titles are remarkably spot-on, offering cues/clues as to character that lies within. Heart of the Dunes presents a placid yet somehow foreboding landscape. Insect Justice is the sound of intense activity just below the surface. The Dreaming Room is borderline nightmarish. The Wall of Dali, No. 6 features exotic chiming sounds that evoke thoughts of dripping water and scurrying shadows in far-off corners. Yes, this music is as “cinematic” as one could imagine. Each track sets up its own ambience (as it were) and runs with it”.

With its evocative powers only enhanced by the passing of time, Land of a Thousand Trances still welcomes listeners to attach their own spontaneous mind movies to what they hear.

There will be new visions with each new visit, and they will all be indelible.

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