For System 7's latest excursion Seventh Wave, we're presented once again with a diverse selection of dancefloor music that merges the tribal structures of progressive house with the harder edge of techno and other experimental electronica influences. Steve Hillage and Miquette Giraudy of System 7 are no strangers to the world of production, nor indeed the world of psychedelic electronics. The pair were both in 1970s proto-trance rock group Gong in the 1970s, and as dance producers have been making tunes since the 1980s. "Manik Shamanik" (a collaboration with French DJ Bruno Carala of French disco house crew Rinoceros) gets the party started, a slowly building track that eventually morphs impressively into a spacious and slightly dubbed out cut, all pounding beats and building trance riff finish. From there we encounter the usual broad spectrum. There's the energetic, percussive, Bedrock-style of first single "High Plains Drifter", the dubby bass and swirling ethno-ambience of "7 O'Clock", the vehement trance-acid feel of "Varkala" and the euphoric/cheesy "Chiringuito" for a finale. There are some calmer moments too, which break the album up nicely, though the dubious Balearic charm of "Sal Del Mar" fares badly next to the ambient breakbeat of "Soft Rain", a collaboration with Alex 'Orb' Paterson. A nicely varied but not very surprising project, this is the sound of System 7 ultimately doing exactly what they do best. --Paul Sullivan