L.S.G.

by Jason BirchmeierThroughout the 90s, when German trance producer Oliver Lieb practically defined the genre, he produced tracks under a countless array of names, the most successful being L.S.G. The Frankfurt, Germany, producers career first began to blossom in 1992. He was recording for a number of labels at the time under a host of monikers. However, it was the Quicksand 12 released on Harthouse Records under the name Spicelab that became Liebs first big success. A year later, in 1993, he had another successful release, Fragile, this time on the Superstition label under the name L.S.G. Where the Spicelab tracks are epic, dark, and a bit ambient, the L.S.G. tracks are more dancefloor-orientated and more melodic — essentially the prototype for late-90s Hooj Choons-style trance. Several more EPs followed on Superstition — Fragile Remixes (1994), Blueprint (1994), My Time Is Yours (1995) — as well as a full-length, Rendezvous in Outer Space (1995), and remixes from that album, Venus/Fontana Remixes (1995). A second full-length, Volume 2, followed in 1996, along with another batch of remixes. By this point in Liebs career, around 1997-1998, he was widely acknowledged as one of the premier trance producers in the world, if not the premier. And on top of that, the trance genre was on the rise, particularly in the U.K. So it wasnt much of a surprise when Liebs early L.S.G. tracks began getting reissued. In addition to new remixes of Fragile, Hooj Choons released a best-of collection, Collected Works. Lieb spent 1998 reveling in his swelling popularity and releasing a number of EPs in The Black Series. These three EPs were then collected on The Black Album. A year later, Lieb returned with the Into Deep album and another batch of remixes.