Originally released in 1994, Land of a Thousand Trances acted as an even more ambitious counterpart to the previous A Produce albums, Reflect Like a Mirror, Respond Like an Echo (1992) and solo debut The Clearing (1988, reissued in March 2023 by Independent Project Records). This new expanded and remastered (by Warren DeFever at Third Man Mastering) edition is now available for purchase.
 
Similarly to what Eno had done in the mid 70s when he defined the context and nature of the newly baptised ambient genre, the late Barry Craig (A Produce) accompanied Land of a Thousand Trances with a press release that outlined the fundamental elements of what he liked to call trance music. “It can be as driving as the sound of world beat rhythms against modern day electronics”, he wrote, “or as subtle as the tinkling of Japanese bells mixed with background environmental sounds. Whatever the vehicle, the fundamental requirement of any style of trance music is that it sets up a rhythm (percussion), a sustained sound (drone), or a repetitive figure that over time, evokes a spellbinding hold on the listener, gradually drawing them deeper into the music, or trance”.
 
Transcendental at heart, A Produce’s trance language encompassed ambient, industrial, new age and so-called world music, only to go further. It was eager to find a direct line from Gregorian chants to Erik Satie, while tending to the needs of a fractured post-modern world. To anyone who cares about etymologies, it was also properly psychedelic. There is certainly a parallel to be drawn between A Produce’s work and that of some of his guiding lights: Terry Riley, Steve Roach, Robert Rich, Harold Budd, Jon Hassell… But it is also true that the voracious, multitudinous nature of the perfectly titled Land of a Thousand Trances feels unprecedented and idiosyncratic. You could compare it to A Produce’s relationship with his city, Los Angeles, crucial muse since the post-punk days of his former band Afterimage: what he most loved about it was the simultaneous proximity of deserts, oceans, mountains and industrial metropolis.
 
In 2007 A Produce worked on a remaster of the album, adding a second disc featuring bonus material from around the same time the album was recorded. This second chapter in the Land of a Thousand Trances journey is ultimately as hypnotic as the first and original one: there are cuts taken from the same recording sessions that didn’t previously make the tracklist, as well as live renditions and alternate versions. It’s fascinating insight into A Produce’s mindset during a prolific, particularly inspired moment in his ever fascinating career.

The new deluxe remastered edition is housed in a package that proves one of Independent Project Records and Independent Project Press founder Bruce Licher’s most elegant designs (which, you’ll agree, is saying a lot). Evocative and seducing, it features some of Craig’s sublime landscape photographs - a perfect accompaniment for the pictorial dreaminess conjured by the sounds contained within.
 
Listen and what you’ll find is a music of many layers. A four-dimensional affair. You can float above it or fall deep into it. Most importantly, you can let it infiltrate your mind - boundless journeys await. Back in ‘94, A Produce talked of what he was seeking through sound: “personal, spiritual healing which, whether the world knows it or not, is what is needed now more than ever in our modern society”. Almost thirty years later, the need has done nothing but exponentially increase.
 
DISC ONE:
 
1. The Far Shore
2. Land Of A Thousand Trances
3. Heart of The Dunes
4. Insect Justice
5. The Dreaming Room
6. The Wall of Dali (#6)
7. It Comes In Waves
8. Meeting At Chiracahua
9. Heart of the Dunes (Live)
10. The Dreaming Room (Live)
 
DISC TWO:
 
1. Big Background
2. Lost River
3. Initiation
4. The Far Shore (Solo Version)
5. The Wall of Dali (#5)
6. It Comes In Waves (Extended Version)
7. Jimbe
8. Harold’s House