THE FEATURE
I'm just a skinny white boy raised in a small cow town. In other words, I have no rhythm. But when I heard about Mixmasters Episode Five: Global Vision I had to get it. I mean, dance music on a DVD? What could be better than that? Anyone who listens to dance/house/techno music knows that the sounds are intoxicating and can produce at least some serious head nodding even among the rhythmless. So this DVD has to kick butt, right? Well, it does. Sorta.

The idea behind this disc is simple: combine a wide range of big beat, house, and techno music into a seamless party for the ears, while using creative images that flow with the beats to stimulate the eyes. Global Vision succeeds in that goal—watching/listening to this disc makes you feel as if there's a rave right in your living room.

Sadly, however, the first thing I noticed wasn't the groovy sounds or the psych...Read the entire review

Moonshine Media has released another addition to their popular AV:X series. This 8th disc in the series is the 4th one entitled Mixmasters. For those not familiar with Moonshine or the Mixmasters series, it is the combination of dance music and DJ instrumentation and visuals mixed by what are referred to as VJs.

With the technicalities out of the way, let's dive in and see what they've offered up for our musical tastes this time. First up on the disc is Tinrib Mix by Captain Tinrib with visuals by Nuroptics. Unfortunately it's not a strong start. The music is a standard house beat that pulses along, never changing and it falls within the dance or house style that is fill with fast beats. It's not really my favorite style and the computer-generated visuals by Nuroptics don't really add to the experience. Not a great start.

Track 2 should have been the lead track and after hearing it ...Read the entire review

In its title American Massive is billed as Sex, Drugs, Rave and Roll—Portrait of a New Generation. In actuality it is far from the eye-opening look at the rave scene it promises and seems like an extended promotion for Moonshine music artists, although an interesting one.

Conceived by Steve and Jon Levy—owners of Moonshine Music—as a documentary of this new American musical movement. This is an interesting concept that doesn't actually show its head until halfway through the film.

Director Thomas Trail and crew followed the Moonshine OverAmerica 2000 tour from town to town. Documenting the entire process, both good and bad, Trail starts with footage that seems to be strictly promotional. DJs and groups like Carl Cox, Cirrus, D:Fuse, Dara, Micro, Frankie Bones, John Kelley and Keoki are featured on the road. The film seems to lack focus and strives to provide an overall pictu...Read the entire review

Moonshine Movies has release another disc in their popular DVD series AV:X that combines cutting edge visuals with state-of-the-art trance and dance music. The several discs in the series are all variations on that singular theme but each release also fits into certain categories in their catalog of titles. This disc, RECreate, has more of a theme than previous releases and it helps the disc overall.

Andy Ling and the Evolution team have created a seamless blend of music to accompany the visuals for this disc and have succeeded amazingly. Artists such as David James, Basilica, Tarrentella, Filmpalast and others have had their music mixed together into a cohesive compilation that flows perfectly from each visual creation. The music itself is slow beat trance and dance mix that is easily listened to and never moves to fast. The upbeat tempo and eclectic mix of sounds is always changing and ...Read the entire review

Moonshine Movies has released the 6th disc in their AV:X series and it's another entry in their Mixmaster series. Similar to their Transambient series as well the videos were originally created for British audiences. For those not familiar with Moonshie or the Mixmasters series, it is the combination of dance music and DJ instumentation and visuals mixed by what are referred to as VJs.

Various artists such as DMX Krew, Wayward Soul, Allen TG and others combine their music with the visuals created by Vivian Wu and other VJs included on this set. More dance oriented than the Transambient series, the animation on the disc mixes well with the faster and upbeat music. There is also a better mix of original animation and and visuals compared to other sets in the series. That's not to say that all the visuals are perfect. Some of the animation is simplistic and not as entertaining, but overall there is...Read the entire review

The Movie:

"Mixmasters: The Audio Visual Sessions Vol. 2" is another compliation pairing some of the world's most impressive DJs with loads of interesting, funky and sometimes just plain strange video imagery. It's a fun concept, but maybe not one explored to its fullest potential on this release, which doesn't offer the tracks in 5.1, which I'd imagine the music would sound especially good in.

Still, those who enjoy this kind of music (I do.) and are seeking the ability to have it on in the background while you work or do other things should enjoy. As stated on the box, "Eclectic musical styles range from drum & bass, chill-out, ambient grooves and trance music". Maybe future releases could make better use of the format, not only providing 5.1 audio, but also using the multi-angle feature to provide varying visuals.

1. Hospital Mix - High Contrast & DVJ:X & VJ S...Read the entire review

[Sections of this review are taken from a review regarding Transambient 1]
Moonshine Movies have put out another excellent release of electronica music and videos from England DJ/VJs. I've found that most people will listen to the slower styles of electronic music without complaint and even find they like it occasionally. If you're into electronica, drum-n-bass, trip hop, acid jazz, dance or whatever you want to call it, then this is another disc to add to your collection.

Moonshine has put together another 94-minute mix of music and video that is more accompaniment that feature. Artists on this disc include: Spiral3, Visual Cortex, Mark Summers, Addictive TV, Geraint Hughes, Graham Daniels, and Nick Clark. I like the selection on this disc better and would buy it for Track 3 (Bleeps) alone. There's more of a grove and move feeling to these, where the first disc was more...Read the entire review

This is the perfect disc to relax to if you're into electronic music. I've found that most people will listen to the slower styles of electronic music without complaint and even find they like it occasionally. If you're into electronica, drum-n-bass, trip hop, acid jazz, dance or whatever you want to call it, then you will like this disc.

Moonshine movies have essentially put together a 94-minute version of MTV's Amp without the commercials. Artists such as Glimpse, Nigel Maudesky. Spiral3, 808 State, and others have combined with various VJs (Visual Jockeys) to create an entertaining and eye-catching disc.

Composed of 8 incredible songs, mixed with all types of video and stock footage, Transambient will surely please. All types of images abound in the footage. Computer graphics, flowers, microorganisms, explosions, and people are just a few of the scenes you'll find here. Rather th...Read the entire review

Sort of like the aquarium disc, but with a beat,Mixmasters - The Audiovisual Sessions offers up some eye and ear candy that can be played on a loop infinitely. Fans of the musicians highlighted here (Giles Thacker of Orbital, Porky, Addictive TV, and more) may find something worth listening to but most viewers will likely find the music repetitive and bland. It's certainly got a beat and you can most certainly dance to it, but it doesn't warrant intense scrutiny. The visual presentation by a "very special group of VJs" is a mix of repetitive images, interesting animation, and found footage. There are some surprisingly nice images, like video footage mapped onto Tetris-like blocks. Similarly, some of the music takes interesting turns, like the odd Miles Davis sample, but for the most part this 75 minutes presentation serves best as ba...Read the entire review

Now, here's something that's rather unique even if at first it seems obvious. Get together a bunch of video jockeys (VJ's) and disc jockeys (DJ's), give them footage from dozen's of NASA space missions and make a series of music videos.

Spaced Out is a one-hour-and-ten-minute disc by Moonshine Movies that features 26 tracks mainly made up of chill-out trans-ambient music, techno, house, drum & base and electronica neatly synched up to a whole slew of NASA footage. There is no singing on the tracks - instead all of the vocals are gleaned from NASA's audio files and a good number of the visuals are re-edited in an experimental film-type of way with superimposed images and color templates laid over them giving the musical video pieces an otherworldly and sci-fi look.

Other than Coldcut the music composition DJ's aren't as well known to me but they include Geraint Hughes, Fructose, George Mi...Read the entire review