by John Bush
Perfecto's third feature for world master-mixer (and Perfecto label boss) Paul Oakenfold delves into the same cold, clinical, nearly spiritless tracks that fans and non-fans alike expect from the dean of sleek progressive trance. Compared to several of his previous mixes, though, Ibiza is practically a barnstormer, featuring Oakenfold working through tighter techno (a Plump DJs remix of Elektronauts' &Bumper&), spooky house (Perfecto favorite Timo Maas), a stray track from Radiohead's Kid A that works well in context, and remixes of Depeche Mode (by Danny Tenaglia) and longtime friends U2 (his own version of &Beautiful Day&). It's clear Oakenfold is slowly yet surely attempting to budge the large, immobile trance masses with a few songs outside their normal range (could the track titled &This Is Not a Breakdown& be a small joke?). Yes, he's largely content to trawl through his acreage of A&R white labels and construct yet another two-disc journey through the chilly realms of trance, but he also expands his grasp on the larger world of electronic dance.