Trance2MoveU

Artist: Asura Title: Radio Universe Label: Ultimae Records Date: November, 2014 1. Overture 2. Interlude Sky 3. Oblivion Gravity 4. Gaea (Transit) 5. Ascension In Blue 6. Farscape 7 7. Lonely Star 8. Illuminations 9. Back To Earth 10. Everlasting (Album Edit) You think that Trump can't say dumber things, but then it becomes tomorrow. So the reaction above is either his latest piece of verbal bile or you just listened to the last album from Asura. Mouth meet floor in both cases. And that was just the first track. What a stunning piece of music this is. Look Ultimae and Charles are well established as the premier leaders in ambient and downtempo music, but this is unbelievable. It's traveling through space on a massive star freighter in the distant future. Sweeping pads provide stunning views of celestial glory. It's ultra HD immersive theater that crawls at a snails pace sweeping up everything in its path. Melodies are cold and warm simultaneously and you feel just how insignificant you are in the vast cosmos. At times he channels his inner Vangelis and Kitaro giving you a front row seat as ambient images take shape excruciatingly slowly. Blade Runner meet Silk Road. Oblivion Gravity is so vivid I felt joy and terror at the same time. It was deliciously slow torture that brought out emotions and made me...feel. It's not all dark though as Ascension in Blue let's the solar rays stream through the rugby sized pitch window. Ayten's voice is haunting on Farscape 7 and Lonely Star with its piano and measured pace seem to be another nod in the direction of Vangelis. Charles made a beautiful downtempo track incorporating a little bit of dubstep. That sh*t is epic and brings a smile to my face every time. Alas nobody is perfect and for this album that is due to the plodding and uninteresting Illuminations. It doesn't come close to the gravity and grandeur exhibited by the rest of the tracks. No surprises as it slowly drips like the last bit of maple syrup. Back To Earth isn't a song at all, but merely a night spent amongst the frogs and crickets during a rainstorm. Perhaps that's where the escape pod landed after ejecting from the spacecraft upon Earth re-entry. The final track is a very positive one with a vibe that lets you know that everything will be all right. So there you have it. True quality from Ultimae and Asura like you would expect. Not perfect, but the tracks that are good are stellar. Interstellar if you will. Take a ride into space. You won't be disappointed. Btw...I ordered the FLAC from Ultimae, but it seems that the CD comes with a 16 page booklet. Don't know what's in the booklet. Could be porn, so you might wanna check it out. Ultimae

"Do you want to have...a tasty...mushroom?" It was this album right cheer that was the last time I actually purchased any thing from Infected Mushroom. What they do now is so off the charts out there and has been discussed many times that I'm not going down that road. Too easy. Like shooting fish in a barrel. This album combines symphonic textures and their gift of great production into an effective psytrance record. Known for pushing boundaries they maintain the psychedelia and keep it bouncy and light. From the eerie tones of Unbalanced (they were The Art of Being Non before Talpa appeared on the scene) to wispy and ethereal vocal tacet that floats over Spaniard they were never ones to shy away from being different. Funchameleon has that funky guitar right in the middle of it not to mention all the changes the track undergoes. Still this is approaching 15 years old and the middle of the album isn't as groundbreaking and avant garde as it once was. The break on Noise Maker seems to hit me just right however. But the most epic track is the final one Dancing With Kadafi. Love, love, love the violin and piano part in the middle. Every now and then I'll reach for it, but for me anyway it doesn't have the grandeur and staying power of their first two albums. Having said that like others before me I believe this is a more emotional album that works best when you're not trying to wreck the dance floor.

So...here goes. I had this CD awhile back, sold it, and then repurchased it. It's a lot better than I remember, but I disagree with most of the people here. Psychomachine is ok. Not great, not game changing...just ok. Rather straight forward without many surprises. Less "psycho" and more, what's the word...factory. I felt Oscillator had more dynamism with added groove. Next thought...did these guys beatmatch a frog? Sure did. But once you get over the novelty and creativity you're left with a long, drawn out track that doesn't really supply you with anything to grab hold of. The whole album operates in a dark, futuristic dystopia where we as humans have either lost control or had it forcibly wrestled from us. It's mainly psytrance with some goa elements and a very eerie final downtempo track. This is leaps and bounds away from their last album, but it showed you the direction they were taking as well as that of the whole scene. Gone are the sunshine goa melodies and in their place are dark, noisy sound effect melodies that are good in their own right. Just different. The production is great and the sounds they chose really amplify the sense of dread. Bottom line...while not as legendary as We Created Our Own Happiness I think this is a very worthwhile album.

I just ordered 5 cds from your kunaki distributor. Any idea of shipping time? Do you also offer downloads after purchase to eliminate waiting?

Boom! https://www.psynews.org/forums/topic/70832-sab-kuch-milegator/

Artist: Sab Kuch Milegator Title: Shantimatter Label: Ektoplazm Date: July, 2015 01 - Cupcake Rainbow (123 BPM) 02 - Arigates & Sayosnares (126 BPM) 03 - Triptooth's Tribal Reboot (116 BPM) 04 - Massive Silly Cones (126 BPM) 05 - Vocal Volcano (128 BPM) 06 - One Love Dub You So (85 BPM) Donald f*cking Duck? Seriously? Both named Donald, both counting stacks, but I'd rather have this one as my president. What the hell is going on here? I found out about this from the forum which told me that this was our very own Oopie! So anytime one of our own has the courage to put their art out there (hell he may as well have used the bat-signal with that post) I'm only too happy to hear it. This thing saunters. It oozes toxic liquid. Groovy as hell, but don't turn your back on it cause it might f*cking stab you and run away laughing. The layers are deep and hypnotic creating a dark dream that's very psychedelic. The melodies go in directions that at first take seem dischordant and not very pleasing to the ear...almost chaotic. Like he's putting two things together that don't belong together. It's not often one finds true love...your money's on the dresser, chocolate. C'mon...we were all thinking it I just said it. There are only six tracks so they are of the longer variety and I know that I lost my way a few times. It has this progressive tempo, but is psychedelic in nature. The sound is great having been mastered by veteran masterer Deimos. Clearly this is something different and it pushes boundaries for those more accustomed to having their trance in a tidy little package. It might be a lot to take in on straight through listening, but there are some very good moments here. Free at Ektoplazm

I felt a disturbance in the force.

Man this went down like a cool glass of water in a hot day. Welcome back and we'll worth waiting for.

Artist: Various Title: Amazon Label: Turbo Trance Records Date: September, 2002 01. Cameleon : Clear Vision 02. Quixotic : Evangelica 03. Aphid Moon : Funk 04. Tryptich : Cranky Stevie (Tribal Rmx) 05. Tortured Brain And Sterilizer : Totally Fucked 06. Hyper Frequencies : Robotomix 07. Etnica : Liquid Forms (Live Rmx) 08. Tristan And Jon Om : Future Fizz 09. Ticon : Obi Not The One Kenobi Did somebody say Nutella? Geez, what happened to the portions? Compiled by the apparently lovely Stella Nutella this compilation is now thirteen years old and right smack dab in the middle of puberty and thinking his parents are tools. It shows its age with the straight forward almost minimal style. There is nothing earth shattering to be found here although I did enjoy the acidic chunkiness of Etnica's remix of Liquid Forms. Still, unless you're the parents of some of the performers on this compilation there really isn't a need to try and hunt this down. Now if it comes with that jar of Nutella then that's a game changer.

Artist: Space Tribe & Accomplices Title: Electro Convulsive Therapy Label: Space Tribe Music Date: December, 2008 1. Space Tribe & Mad Maxx - Time Warp 2. ESP - The enlightened hillbilly 3. GMSpacetribe - Alternate alternate future (2012 end of time mix) 4. Space Tibe & Mad Maxx - Electro Convulsive Therapy 5. Space Tribe & Azax Syndrom - Epidemic 6. ESP - Light up the dark 7. Space Tribe & Laughing Buddha - Atom Bomb 8. ESP - Deep purple haze (Star Spangled mix) 9. Space Tribe & Psywalker - Prophecy "Sometimes you have to lose yourself." I cannot believe he actually put that in there it makes my point without even trying. At some point everyone loses their way. It happens to all of us and believe me Olli will tell you that he is no exception. As we get older we tend to lose it a little. Like when I ask my wife where my sunglasses are and she smirks and points to the top of my head. I know she still loves me and doesn't actually think I'm a dumb ass. This came out in December of 2008 so...merry Christmas? I don't know what kind of mind altering substances he may or may not have been taking at the time, but this album is one of his wandering the forest with no pants moments. Yeah it's not a hot, but the potential for tick bites on the bean bag should make you think twice. From the get go things go wrong and go wrong like big girl on rollerskates. From the radical tempo changes in the opener to the dueling banjos in the Hillbilly track I'm this close to throwing this right in the trash. I get even closer when he f*cks with Alternate Future and polishes it like a shiny full-on turd. Guitars seem to be everywhere as are the terrible full-on cliches. Normally a healthy dose of acid can salvage almost any damage done, but with this...let's just say there is a lot damage being done. None of it in a good way. Just ask Jimi Hendrix who should be turning over in his grave. The lone shining star would have to be Atom Bomb which was a blistering acid explosion. If I'm being honest other than his first two albums I wasn't a fan of his stuff to begin with and this didn't make me a believer. There is a theory that states whenever you see a Disney movie and that fluorescent green color appears then evil crazy sh*t is about to go down. I think it applies here as well. And while I often root for the villain in most movies, I think I'll be holding out for a hero when it comes to this one. Ouch.

Artist: Various Title: Cosmik Chill Orange Label: Electrik Dream Records Date: June, 2007 1. Xerxes feat. Aleah - Inhale 2. Scann-Tec - Hope 3. Flooting Grooves - Immersion 4. Kliment - Fairdreamers 5. Moravec - Kiwimango 6. Aes Dana - Liquid Hertz 7. Chilled C'Quence & Taj Mahal - Power of Plants 8. Luna Spice - Schamanic (Long Version) "Most civilized people are out of touch with reality." I'll stop the world and melt with you... This is the middle child in the Cosmik Chill series, but you won't find any Jan Brady angst here. This is what all middle children should aspire to be. And it didn't even take a football to the nose. Like the sandman above the smooth downtempo sounds will melt you away. A good mixture of established artists and newcomers the layers are plenty where each track immerses the listener in an intense atmospheric cloud. The beats range from slow to breakbeat with dubby bass riding shotgun. There were quite a few of the midtempo tracks which I guess you could call progressive. Very good stuff! The last track is a long one and to be honest I could've done without it. Waaaay too much talking. Long version? That's an understatement.

Artist: Divinorum Title: Isms Label: Lynne Music Date: 1999 01. 08'14" Antigravity 02. 07'14" ISMS Part 1 03. 06'45" Communication (Losing You) 04. 07'32" Qualities Of Religion 05. 08'23" ISMS Part 2 06. 05'10" Can Your Hear? 07. 07'37" We Turn Like Whisks 08. 07'15" ISMS Part 3 09. 06'23" No Surrender 10. 06'23" Zen Koan "Isms in my opinion are not good. A person should not believe in an ism. He should believe in himself. To quote the late John Lennon, "I don't believe in Beatles, I only believe in myself." Ladies and gentlemen may introduce you to my shiny diamond! This is a highly underrated release that combines goa, tribal and downtempo elements in a multi-layered tale. The sounds are dynamic appealing to the ear with plenty of head bouncing moments. The melodies unwind over time and thrust the listener into a state of trance. To have come out in 1999 this was something I didn't expect. The album is comprised of danceable moments as well as soothing downtempo grooves. None of which is jarring in the least. Qualities of Religion calls out it's hypocrisies with a mystical slant while Isms Pt. 2 combines a goa framework with a brilliantly alive break. It's not without its flaws of course and I'm looking right at the repetitive We Turn Like Whisks and it's overdone "Maternia" sounding sample. No Surrender sounds a little Yngwie Malmsteen, but it's surrounded by so much other good stuff I hardly notice its shortcomings. Musically it is very sound with great production allowing for an enjoyable straight through listening experience. If you can get your hands on it you shan't be sorry.

Artist: Trans-Lucid Title: Dream Dust Label: Aquarius Date: February, 1997 1. Funkee People 2. Burning Dancefloor 3. A Fistfull of Blotters 4. Web Juice 5. Detroit One 6. Eye Time 7. Invaders 8. Square Trance 9. Ram It In Skeptical dog is not amused. I recall a statement made on this forum a long while ago by someone saying that there were no undiscovered gems from the golden age of goa. Because I missed it the first time around, I didn't pay much attention and kept turning over every rock in the hopes of finding that shiny diamond to add to my collection. This is not a diamond. More of a...rock that was left over from Charlie Brown's Halloween. It lacks complexity that one would find in say an Etnica or BPC, but that's ok because there is a reason those acts are some of the greatest of all time. This has more of a minimal vibe with goa trance elements thrown in. Their debut self-titled album was a chore to get through (think of cleaning the toilets of Taco Bell for eternity), but the one thing I will say is that the production here is much improved. The kick has punch and the bass work is nice and plucky, but the tracks on a whole don't have much staying power. I liked Detroit One with it's fat bass and electro style, but that was really it. "I got Etnica!" "Me too!" "I got Dimension 5! What'd you get Charlie Brown?" "I got Trans-Lucid's 2nd album." "Man that sucks...you should throw that sh*t back. And then cut up his family and burn the house down." And thus began a string of serial killings that everyone saw coming, but did nothing to stop. Cause that b*tch Lucy had it coming. Funny. I've never actually seen a football shoved up someone's rectum. Horrifying.

Artist: Smuhg Title: Balam Label: AP Records Date: October, 2005 1. Decode 2. Balam 3. El Guardian Del Sol 4. Killer Elephants 5. Flow 6. Blue Sky 7. Utopia 8. Self-Portrait 9. Evolution 10. Thank You We're we really waiting though? Is that what this forum was missing, the Smuhg Balam review? Obviously the guy above thought so and he thought it rocked! Now allow me to interject some realism... This in fact does not rock. I'm sure that is not a newsflash. It is the definition of color by numbers full-on that fails to move the meter on the emotion scale. It's so unimpressive that I literally had no reaction to it. None. White noise. While the cover was unimpressive enough it may as well come in a brown paper bag with the word psytrance scrawled on it with a Sharpie. Other than the label who released it I cannot fathom how it garnered it's average rating. P.S. The last two tracks were the best for me with a softer more melodic trance sound that didn't fall into the usual full-on pitfalls. So...there's that.

Artist: Shamanic Tribes On Acid Title: The Mad Hatter's Acid Tea Party Label: Kinetix Recordings Date: November, 1998 1. Guitar Slinger: 9:21 2. Pyramid Power: 7:31 3. Land Of The Tiger: 6:49 4. Alice In Acidland: 7:38 5. Buddah Bless You: 5:59 6. Voyage To Atlantis: 10:12 7. The Hard The Fast And The Acid: 8:08 8. Spinning Head: 6:09 9. Freak Out: 6:29 Yep, that about sums it up. After listening to the uber disappointing Future World I decided to give this guy another shot. Perhaps he was on the way out, he knew it, and didn't have any more f*cks to give. So on to this album..can't go wrong right? Alice in Wonderland theme, acid, 1998...there should be a whole lot to love. Yeah, you would think so. First off this is loud and abrasive. Noisy. That could just be his style, but you should know that this is smooth like sugar free cookies are tasty. If you even have the beginnings of a headache just walk away. There is nothing dynamic about it as every sound is set to maximum loudness. It's not melodic goa at all, but more of an acidic techno template. As Manuser mentioned the snare and hi-hats are beat to death. Alice in Acidland is a chunky goa track, but it is damn near ruined by the repetitive snare rolls. Did the guy who made that snare get paid by the hit? It's f*cking abhorrent. I cannot envision a moment where this is an album I would ever reach for again.

Artist: Shamanic Tribes On Acid Title: Future World Label: Kinetix Recordings Date: 2000 01. 08'53" Sunrise Over Dopesville 02. 08'08" Electric Dimension 03. 07'09" So Stoned 04. 08'29" Chilled Out On A Mountain 05. 07'19" Psychey 06. 06'48" Into The Next Dimension 07. 06'46" Kaleidoscopic Resonance 08. 07'44" Funked Out Of My Brains 09. 09'14" Golden Dawn "I am so...stoned." Reading through this thread there is a little more testicular conversation than I'm comfortable with. The majority opinion on this is that it blows with a few holdouts appreciating it for what it is. I just bought it because I thought I should and the price was right. The first thing I noticed was that homie went snare roll cray cray! Someone mentioned that and they were absolutely right. It's impossible to miss. Second it's repetitive even for trance music. I walked away to check on my roasted carrots and sweet potatoes and damn if I didn't miss anything. I kept waiting for tracks to take a turn, but it didn't happen. This is downhill skiing with not f*cking trees in the way and a level grade. Sure it's great for a few minutes, but then you just snowplow to do something different. And the whole disc is like that. You can't compare this to Astral or X-Dream in their prime because it's insulting. Now I haven't heard this project's earlier albums so maybe they were just as good. But this is not their finest hour.

"Isn't it beautiful just to listen?" Well that depends. I think to appreciate this you have to divest yourself of what you think Boris is. Forget One Love, Cosmic Experience, Silence In Action....all of it. This was made 15 years ago when trance music was in flux so there is a more minimal, morning trancey feel to it. The sound is a progressive one. As a matter of fact it doesn't even sound like Boris unless you're talking about the production which continues to be great. So if you just look at this album from a music standpoint and not who made it then I think it's more tolerable and possibly even good. Hell The Coming Mission with its goa crunch would've fit on his debut. If you're searching for the sound from any of the above albums then disappointment you shall find.

Artist: Menog Title: Musically Speaking Label: Spectral Records Date: November, 2008 1. Musically Speaking 2. Matacanha 3. Basic Survival Instinct (feat Absolum) 4. Frequency Notes 5. Banzai 6. We Are Dust 7. Gravitation Field (feat. Space Tribe) 8. Spirits Rmx 9. We Ask Better Questions (feat. Probe) "If you change your focus you can feel good...instantly." "First you get the Quaaludes, then the women get all sleepy sleepy...then it's all HEY, HEY, HEY!" This whole situation confounds me. Like a lot of you I grew up with Bill Cosby first on Fat Albert then as America's dad on the Cosby show. He's spent a lifetime in the spotlight and has done so much good, but apparently done an equal if not greater amount of really terrible things. The confusing part is...you're f*cking Bill Cosby. Rich, successful, famous...you could have any woman you wanted why the need to drug and rape thereby destroying people's lives? Which once again reinforces the fact that rape isn't about sex it's about power and this is one sick f*ckstick. Ok, rant over. If acid is the dirty, sticky icky then this is cleaning windows with a mud pie. Filthy. Acid washes are all over this and if that's your thing then you should enjoy Daniel's work and find several tracks of worth here. It's powerful and will get the blood moving. with Basic Survival Instinct (with Absolum) at the top of the list. While the boom factor is surely there one could argue that an entire album of very similar tracks will get old quickly. For me he is beginning to stray perilously close to that line that a lot of artists seem willing to cross where there is less insanity in the night time music and more of a commercial, watered down feel. Let's hope that's not the case. Psyshop

Artist: Various Title: Psionic Distortion Label: Digital Psionics Date: May, 2006 1. Audialize - Overdrive 2. Menog - End of Story 3. Dark Nebula & Psywalker - Unlimited Power 4. Artifakt - Doom Doom Doom 5. Xatrik & The Slug - Melon Smoothie 6. Scorb & Chromatone - Best of Both Bowls 7. Miraculix - D-Day 8. Scatterbrain - Space Invaders 9. Safi Connection - Coke Musca domestica rejoice! Look I'm not saying this compilation is weak, but... What the f*ck that's exactly what I'm saying. Look let's start by not ending compilations with the weakest tracks. Sure you might start great, but then it's an absolute chore to make it through the thing and I come away with the feeling that this CD sucked. I recently reviewed the Psionic Earth compilation, and while this one is better (slightly) I think it's more of a kick in the nuts, because it's almost as if they didn't learn their lesson. Most of it is just uninspiring full-on. Even my man Xatrik let me down and he's usually automatic. I'm expecting John Stockton at the free throw line and f*cking Shaquille O'Neal shows up to throw the ball over the backboard. Not one killer. Everything is so damn linear. Artifakt's track was the only one that held any interest to me and that's because it was so different from everything else on here. Did all the artists attempt to outbore each other? This might be a snapshot of where psytrance was back in 06. The only reason I'm keeping this is because I'm such a damn completionist. Psyshop

It's kind of an honor to write some thoughts about a CD after a the guy I pretty much patterned my reviewing style after. Respect sir. So what does the label from down under bring us? The fifth installment in the Psionic series sees our favorite doorknocker firmly supplanted in the Earth. Which is a great metaphor for where I would put it. This is what I call squelchy trance. All sharp edges and dark leads steeped in modulation that is an acquired taste. Melodies? I guess if you search for them, but better use a f*cking headlamp. The bass lines are the single note rapid fire type and most of these dark tracks go nowhere. This is like a highway out west...no turns. Not until you slog through 7 tracks of waiting for the music to get to the point is there some aural interest. 11 years ago is a long time so perhaps back when Martha Stewart went to prison or we got to see some of Janet Jackson's titty there was some value here, but it sure hasn't aged well. Kinda like Janet. Yeah ok...you didn't have any plastic surgery. Silicon Sound had the best track for me, but asking him to save the compilation would be like asking Kanye to save rap music. I can say with certainty that there is absolutely no reason for me to listen to this again. Thankfully (at least for me) the Psionic series got better with the years.

Artist: Tentura Title: Beyond Illusion Label: Sentimony Records Date: February, 2015 1. Alchemy 2. Interstellar 3. Liftoff 4. Beginning Of Time 5. Echoes 6. Vivid 7. Rising 8. Presence of the Sence 9. Resonance (Remake) 10. Resident (vs. Specialmind) Man Alchemy is good. The devil is in the details which explode from this sixteen minute epic progressive journey. This track perfectly matches the cover as if the owner of those kicks was going to leap from the precipice Pink Floyd style embracing the great unknown. Learning to fly indeed. You feel like you can accomplish anything as this dream unfolds. How do you top that? You don't. You just try to maintain and float in the same zip code as that brilliant opener. Interstellar is next up which I found good, but rather noisy downtempo. Like Bill said the guitars are a prominent feature. Liftoff gets you back into dream mode with a floating atmosphere. Very lush and entrancing. Beginning of Time has a huge thudding breakbeat and Echoes was a bit more aggressive in style. Vivid and Rising revisit the hypnotic breakbeat with plenty of ancillary sounds to plunge you deep into the illusion. Tribal drums quake on Presence and the Resonance remake...well that one didn't impress me like some of the other tracks. Closing with the funky Resident and that wobbly lead you've gotta tip your hat with all the moods he covers. Bravo. A very good ride with no bad tracks. Downtempo, progressive, and breakbeat are all handled with great competence. The two longest tracks were seeping with detail and were my favorites. By the way...remind you of another great progressive cover? Sentimony Bandcamp

Hard and dark. Loads of squirty sounds and distorted voices. The 3D sound was primitive and raw back then and focused more on a wall of sound than the acid chaos of today. Driving rhythms and charged with electricity with quite a few twists and turns. The mood gets considerably lighter as you get deeper into the compilation. Kinda like walking into a biker bar on the outskirts of town and then ending up in Disneyland when you went to the pisser. Far from essential or even necessary, but I enjoyed taking a trip down memory lane.

Artist: Various Title: Nu-Goa From Japan Vol. 2 Label: Matsuri Digital Date: March, 2015 1. Slum & Yuta - Black&Green 2. Asteroidnos - Black&Green (Deep Remix) 3. Asteroidnos - Black&Green (Acid Remix) 4. Jiu - Liquid of Gaia 5. Asteroidnos & Yuta - Andromeda 6. Jikooha & Yuta - Mind Trippers 7. Masa - Rising Thunder 8. Asteroidnos - Ascension 9. Guusun - Watashidare (Masa Remix) What the f*ck? If I studied Japanese culture for a decade I don't think I would understand it. Have you seen their porn? Of course you have. That is some twisted sh*t. When did tentacles become a sex toy? I'm such a square. Unique surely, but it does make me wonder sometimes. Like Matsuri DIGITAL releasing a physical CD. Or starting a compilation with three versions of the same track. The original was goa, deep mix was a throbbing bass heavy bit of simplistic minimal, and the acid mix is fairly tame yet pulsating. Normally I'd view the track positions with skepticism, but oddly enough it works. It flows well and gives me the vibe of kids twirling in the clubs in weird costumes on a school night against their parents wishes, but what the f*ck are you gonna complain about when everyone in school is the valedictorian? And that sums up the entire album for me. Bare bones beginning with the slim envelope the CD comes in. The artists aren't trying to out Etnica anyone with layers of melody or brute force. It's more the scaled back, bubbly head nodding club vibe with house like tempos. Of course they drop some signature atonal riffs in there because what would Japanese goa be without it? Tracks like Ascension and Rising Thunder shine (for me anyway) and the closing Watashidare combines funk and goa with smiley results. They want yo hypnotize you rather than blast you into outer space. And that should be appreciated because going to space is a whole thing that can really f*ck with a brother's calendar. Psyshop

Artist: Various Title: Fractal Resonance Label: Fractal Records Date: June, 2014 1. Braindriver & Disco Volante - Disco Driver 2. Deliriant feat. Z3ro - Back Again 3. Shuumat & Orca - That's Freedom 4. Rubix Qube - Heizenberg 5. Iliuchina - My Dangerous Drug 6. X-Side - Cyborg Feelings 7. Earworm & Audialize - Mirage of Life 8. Tickets & Sound Control - Epic Universe So let's see...we've had 4 Fractal Energies, a Fractal Effect, a Fractal Syndrome, and now here we are with a Resonance. I assume that Fractal Uterus will be out in the near future? C'mon Fractal Records, you're like Puffy trying to be in all the videos. This is a digital compilation that has nine night time tracks that you can get from Beatport if you like your psytrance without the commercial cheese that's going around like the clap. I can recommend this. Mostly. The first track is rather linear and doesn't go anywhere. I really think Mr. Volante has thrown his hands up in a grand f*ck it gesture cause he sure doesn't seem to be trying any longer. I was all set to give the fine folks at Fractal Records the old eye roll at the beginning of Back Again, but there were some very cool breaks in there. The acid insanity also made it quite the belter. That's Freedom and its overtired brand of full-on shackled me with ambivalence, but leave it to the Qube to break those chains. And break them he did as he got all nine inch nailsy with the screaming synth. He builds the tension up and then takes it away a couple of times. Iliuchina's track is fine, but now we're getting to the mental stuff. Cyborg Feelings is a dark, brooding monster that's nice and liberal with the acid. The last two keep it dark and acidic with thumping bass lines. While not perfect this digital release is a solid purchase for those on the hunt for the darker, melodic side of night time music. Can't stop. Won't stop. Beatport

Artist: Various (Kinda) Title: Goa Exit Label: Subliminal Records Date: 1995 1. Martin Cooper - Fly In The Rajastan 2. Tomahawk - Xingu 3. Spectral - Trans O 10 C 4. Guarana Cupana - Red Aum 5. Zig Zag - Juno Transportation 6. Guarana Cupana - Syrinx 7. Martin Cooper - 303 Keops 8. Zig Zag - Global Subject 9. Tomahawk - Plastic Form Ok no secret this is mostly all the same guy. Most of his most memorable music was produced under the project Asia 2001 with a slew of great albums. Hell Suntrip just re-released one of his and goa trance's highest achievements with Psykadelia. This is some of his earlier work and like a lot of goa music from back then it sounds dated and thin. The tracks have plenty of good ideas and melodies, but the technology simply might not have been there to make this a standout. A couple of tracks benefited from remastering on Avatar's Amnesia back in 2005. If you're looking for some of his best work check that out.