Artist: Etnica
Title: The Juggeling Alchemists Under The Black Light
Label: DAT Records
Date: April, 2018
CD1 - The Juggeling Alchemists Under The Black Light
01. The Gili's Voyage
02. Infinitive Dream
03. The Gili's Voyage (Ketu Remix)
04. Vicky's Dream
05. Moon Influence
06. Spheric Koncept
07. Mystical Appearance In Goa
08. A Tribute To Goa
09. Intense Visitation (Visitation Of Energy Mix)
CD2 - Mystical Vibes
01. The Gili's Voyage (Early Mix)
02. Mystical Appearance In Goa (Remix)
03. Asian Code 7
04. Still Botta
05. Evolution - Alien Phenomenon
06. Synthesis (Shadow Of The Moog)
07. Fractal Gates
08. Acid Shell
09. Chemical Trance (Original Mix)
CD3 - The Early Years
01. Fingers
02. Gollum
03. Big Dust In Chapora Fort
04. Whales
05. Bali Island
06. 38° Parallelo
07. Pacific Love
08. J.H. Sound
09. Tribe - Gilligan's Island
10. Evolis
11. Big Dust In Chapora Fort (Piano Remix)
Have we finally...and I mean finally extracted all that we can from the Etnica/Pleiadians sweat soaked goa towel? I'm prepared to take a position I know will be unpopular, but enough already. I love what they have done and I of course love Draeke and all at DAT Records for bringing us so much stuff that was previously lost. This album was like the holy grail of infinitely hard to find goa trance and in typical fashion Draeke and co. go big with 3 discs to satiate your Etnica appetite. I think it was in the album promotion thread where he said that there isn't mush left to release from the 95-98 golden era and that he is more focused on the "proto-goa" as he called it. That's his prerogative and I support him no matter what because he's earned that level of loyalty from me. Well unless he starts exploring The Faith Tones discography.
And even then...maybe. First off let me say that the sound on this is incredible. I had the download (like a lot of you) and it was ok, but the mastering on this is superb. Even tracks that I can't stand sound fantastic. Hold on a sec...
*puts on flame retardant suit. Hangs head*
"F*ck!"
*struggles to take off suit, falls down, flings boot across room and knocks over lamp, limps to bathroom and pees*
*puts suit back on minus one boot*
As I mentioned I think I am on Etnica overload. For me Alien Protein was the end all and be all of goa. Take that, LSD, IFO, and Dancing Galaxy and that is how you show an alien what goa is. So TJAUTBL was not even a close second when it came to awesome goa. But you know it's Draeke and the track record of DAT Records is unimpeachable so like I said I support their efforts. What you get is that release of course (which sounds brilliant) and then a whole bunch of early sounding goa and stuff that they never released. I'm not going to bad mouth it because it took a lot of hard work and time to get all this stuff together for a proper release. Three CDs of music from one of the greatest if not the greatest goa acts in history. One flaw that I will bring to your attention (if you don't already know) is that track 5 on the 2nd disc isn't Etnica at all, but Evolution with their track Alien Phenomenon. Apparently the Dat tape was mislabelled and it was too late to make the change when the CDs went out. Some people might lose their sh*t over this. I prefer to mail mine directly to 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.
So the music is not my cup of tea, but the release is. Let me explain. Although I don't really care for most of the music on here, I cherish that it is now part of my collection. Variety is the spice of life and sometimes I don't feel like listening to thousand layer melody heavy goa and want something more rudimentary just to change gears. Hearing the early stuff also helps one appreciate where you came from. And that's who I think it's for. People who want to have everything that Etnica ever produced and people who are completionists (like me), and people who enjoy the early sound of the not ready for prime time Etnica classics.
This is not even close to my favorite DAT Records release, but I'm glad I have it. Besides...we'll always have Live In Athens. Looking forward to seeing what DAT pulls out of their hat in the future.
DAT Records Bandcamp
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