by Shannon Petrick

Rise is a documentary film about Disco Donnie and the New Orleans rave scene. It's narrative in nature, as it follows Donnie through the ups and downs of raves in the Big Easy. Disco Donnie, for those of you who are not up on your rave history, was a club promoter who was arrested for throwing parties under the federal "Crack House" law. This law is part of the government's hidden initiative to shut-down all things related to dance music by painting the picture that clubs and raves equal massive drug fests.

The Rise CD is, obviously, the soundtrack to the documentary. The music was taken from highlights of the various raves thrown by the Freebass Society's events in New Orleans from 1999 to 2002. In addition, Josh Wink was brought in as one of the music supervisors for the soundtrack.

Monologue snippets from the film are sprinkled throughout this CD, strategically placed in between the tracks to liven things up. These candid, little pieces include cute, clever musings like "I think Jon Benet is a vampire." And what would a rave film be without some reference to P.L.U.R? In comes the cheesiest line from the film on this CD: "Jesus preached P.L.U.R., you know? Jesus wasn't like, a white guy, sitting around, you know, like, being perfect. I mean, Jesus was a North African—he had long dreads. He wandered around and probably smoked bud. He preached P.L.U.R. He wanted everyone to love each other."

The CD is full of rave classics that fill you with nostalgia, like Crystal Method's "Roll It Up." Great tune, as usual, by the Crystal Method. It encompasses the standard Method sound, with its unique, creative and saucy vocals. The name is not well known but I guarantee that you'll remember Nico's "Ntrance" when you hear it-classic trance song. This one was made for the dark, dingy atmosphere of the New Orleans rave. There's also Ils' "6 Space-Next Level." I can't remember how many times I've heard this at a club! I think DJs still play this one out. Then there's the omnipotent "Roaches" by Trancesetters. If you don't remember it, let me refresh your memory: "The Underground will live forever baby. We just like roaches, never dyin, always livin'." Also, "Song of Life" by the incredible Leftfield is included.

With the exception of a few grating tracks, like Qbert's "Hawaii Scratch Training Session" and Tsunami's "Hip Hop Phenomenon," the soundtrack provides great musical accompaniment to the film.

Most importantly, if you buy this CD, a portion of the proceeds go to EM:DEF, the electronic music defense and education fund. They're fighting for the legal rights of clubbers, promoters and anyone involved in dance music. EM:DEF also educates the public and government about electronic music, spreading the word that everyone that listens to the music is not an ecstasy fiend or a junkie. If you're a fan of electronic music and you want to keep enjoying the club nights, the DJs and the music, consider it your moral duty to go out and buy this CD! Or, if you don't like the track selection, at least get up off your lazy ass and contribute to EM:DEF. You can find more details at: www.emdef.org

Rise
Utensil

Track Listing:

1. "We're Going To A Party"
2. Roll It Up - Cyrstal Method
3. Ntrance - Nico
4. Song of Life - Leftfield
5. "I Think Jon Benet is a Vampire"
6. Roaches - Trancesetters
7. Weightless - Thievery Corporation
8. "It's All About Love"
9. I Feel Good - Charles Feelgood
10. Party People - Hawke featuring Adam Smasher
11. Dance Among The Ruins - Tommie Sunshine
12. "Reptile Brain"
13. Frek Frequency - Vigi and Flip
14. Hawaii SScratch Training Session - DJ QBert
15. Are You There (Size 9 re-mix) - John Wink
16. Hip Hop Phenomenon - Tsunami One
17. "Jesus Preache P.L.U.R."
18. 6 Space-Next Level - ILS
19. Rise Above - Adam Freeland with Josh Wink and Tom Middleton