Trance2MoveU

Jaunt wasn't my thing, but overall this is still a great compilation. Hope the label comes back with some strong releases.

This is certainly a stellar and unheralded compilation of blistering 303 laden goa trance bombs. Two things... Why does Artha routinely save his best stuff for compilations and EPs? And two, I purchased the physical CD so why is Mammomam angry at me and not offering the Toxeed track? Unless there is a code that I didn't read on the gatefold that seems backward to me.

Cream rises to the top. Emmanuel is to goa trance today what Etnica/Pleiadians was yesterday. Another ripping, melodic effort by the king.

Very psychedelic. Juicy squelches, searing leads, and plenty of concussive force. Moksha and Convergent Images are pure scorched earth monsters that made the Pleiadians arch an eyebrow. The last bit went out with a whimper in my opinion. Would've liked to have seen Retrocede or In The Stream finish out the album. All things considered it's definitely a winner.

Dude...Fire. You. On it! Keep up the great work!

Two things...One, that didn't take long! And two...this is a quality review.

Artist: Ubar Tmar Title: Early Fusion Label: Zion 604 Date: August, 2018 1. A Tale of Taketori (604 Edit) 2. Another Transform 3. I'm Shocked 4. Eternal Return (Early Mix) 5. 3D Heaven ('96 Live Mix) 6. Eejyanaika (Early Mix) 7. When the Light Is Gone (Original Mix) 8. Flying Saucer Landing (Live Mix) 9. E-Talk (Live Mix) 10. Cosmo Drome (Piano Version) Zion 604 has basically knocked everything they have released out of the park. Very consistent which is why this release surprised me. As if you didn't already you have to take this review with a grain of salt. I never cared for the music from this artist. He didn't have the melodies of others and I always thought of his as weird. This compilation of tracks confirms my beliefs. Like the DJ's father above says, it's not my style. This isn't floaty, melodic, or hypnotizing trance. Leave it to the Japanese to make something totally different. It's not bad it just isn't for me. And that's ok. It's rife with discord. It aims to antagonize, like it's angry at the listener. It sometimes goes in weird directions that are jarring or unsafe. There were parts I enjoyed in most tracks, but it was never sustained. Sometimes it was noisy just to be noisy. And don't get me started on the annoying level of Eejyanaika. It's definitely not your run of the mill goa release but what I can say is that I appreciate the varied directions in which he attempts to steer his brand of goa. So...I'll pass on this one. Zion 604 Bandcamp

Artist: Various Title: Goa Trance Timewarp V.3 Label: Timewarp Records Date: October, 2017 1. GoAtma - Listen 2. Microdose - Full Power 3. Persia Vibe - Through The Stars 4. Travma - Modular Sequence 5. Nostromosis & Sonic Elysium - New Life 6. Ion Vader - Trip To Nowhere 7. Jaraluca - Andromeda 8. Lucid Rainbow - Overtones 9. Omnivox - Silent Sweeper (Nova Fractal Remix) 10. Coagoa - Everything is Conscious 11. Javi & Skooma - The Amplitude 12. Screw Loose & Lunar Dawn - Big Crunch 13. Hyperspace - Fiery Dawn 14. Median Project - The Wanderer 15. Cosmic Dimension - Voyage In The Universe 16. Innerzone - Universal Enlightenment 17. Omneon - Psytrance 18. Psychedelic Quest - Crystal Moon I spent more time typing the tracklist than I plan elucidating on this disappointing 2-CD release from Timewarp Records. The first half is the definition of generic, bland "this sounds like goa trance let's put it on the album" drivel. Travma? I haven't heard a good track from him in over half a decade. Hell, a pulse wasn't even detected until Jaraluca showed up. Then the quality ticks up dramatically. But there's a reason for that. Most of the rest of the tracks have been released before on digital eps by...you guessed it...Timewarp. So this release leaves me with a bad taste. Recycled. The only reason to get it would be if you don't have the tracks from the 2nd half or if you want them on physical media. Timewarp Bandcamp Psyshop

Artist: Trinodia Title: Starstepper Label: Self-Released Date: August, 2018 1. Planet Number 12 (2012 Mix) 06:50 2. Goa Feelings 09:18 3. Free Form 08:54 4. Pulsating Neurons 07:56 5. Spaced Out To Noise 09:24 6. Deceive My Eyes 09:40 7. Starstepper 08:54 8. 7th Ace (Optional Bass Mix) 09:05 9. Human History (Ambient Mix) 10:26 "What's done is done and what I've done is right!" Yes it is Nana. Trinodia is a project that we all know about (Daniel Eldström), but one that might not first come to mind. That is until you delve back into his catalog and realize he has produced several solid albums of cosmic goa trance. His latest is a digital release that is unlike any of his previous stuff. So much so that when I first heard it I had to shelve it cause I just wasn't ready. According to him it has taken years to create consisting of 5 previously unreleased tracks, two remixes, one previously released track, and an alternate version of an original. It's got some goa, some psy and full-on, and some drifting melodies. The sound is incredible, full of warmth and pleasing to my ears. It made me want to sift through the layers. He carries some M-run rhythms (Goa Feelings and Free Form) splatters some acid (Spaced Out To Noise), has a pretty good goa ripper (Deceive My Eyes), and ends with a head nodding mix of Human History. These don't sound like B-side tracks because the quality is too high. They're just...different. While not my favorite Trinodia album (that title shall remain with Human History) it is nonetheless and good high-energy effort. Trinodia Bandcamp

Artist: Xerxes the Dark Title: Transmutation Label: Kalpamantra Date: November, 2016 1. Proma Materia 2. Insomare 3. Limbo (MMVIII) 4. Tabula Smaragdina 5. Cold Sanctum 6. Xtra Terrestrial 7. Aeon (Bonus) I came across this awhile back and it stayed with me. Kinda like witnessing an exorcism would stay with me. Please allow me to introduce to you Iranian Morego Dimmer an electronic music maestro that has been around since 2005. This album is reminiscent of the Atrium Carceri style of dark ambient intent on scaring the sh*t out of you if you decide to listen to this at night. Dark Ambient and drone, sounds of things crawling and cracking and whispers echoing across an abandoned castle while nightmarish pads rise and fall in a sea of darkness. An evil presence lurks behind every corner. There is zero light to be found here. Zero. It's a slow, hopeless march into oblivion as demons herd you through the gates of hell. It's enjoyable (insert irony after last sentence) in the sense of trying to focus on all of the individual sounds that make up this slow descent into madness undoubtedly enhanced by the many horror movies I've watched. The vocals on Limbo are wet with the possibility of demonic possession or is that my own imagination? All the tracks are long to make sure you get wrapped up in the horror. My feelings about evil drone like this are similar to my daughter's. "It sounds creepy." Yes it does. A perfect soundtrack for passing out candy on Halloween night. But if you listen to this while you take your kids to school or pick up the dry cleaning....seek professional help. Xerxes the Dark Bandcamp

[ Artist: E-Mantra Title: Serenity Ep Label: Melusine Records Date: October, 2018 1. Serenity 2. Serenity II 3. Balada Haiducului 4. Shadows Picture of a forest. Scary font for artist name. Dude...did you just make a darkpsy/forest ep? Narrator Morgan Freeman: Although capable of many things a darkpsy album to this date has not been attempted. Thank...you narrator Morgan Freeman. Nope this is a brief downtempo ep released by his own label even though everything screams forest music. Actually according to the blurb it was created in a remote cabin deep in the Romanian forest. Sure nothing scary about that sentence whatsoever. Serenity brings his tell tale drifting melodies over top of head nodding beats. Smooth. Part II picks up the pace, but was less introspective. Balada is a slow trudge with a melancholy presence but easily my favorite. Shadows as the name implies is the darkest track yet and I don't know how he completed it while in that Romanian forest. Hope he worked in the daytime. Playing this at night in the forest is some Evil Dead sh*t. All in all nothing earth shattering, but good, consistent, E-mantra downtempo goodness. Melusine Records Bandcamp

Artist: Various Title: Trancefusion Chapter 1 Label: BMSS Records Date: February, 2017 1. Me and My Misunderstood Something - Electrypnose 2. Inner Call - Aumni 3. The Voice of the Universe (Lupin Remix) - The Key 4. Makaranga - Ascent 5. In My Head - Shivatree 6. Three Panthers - Mystic 7. Nothing But the Truth - Hujaboy 8. Quantum Flashes - Reversed Logic 9. Glowsticks - Psilocybian 10. Beyond That Door - Dark Nebula, Datacult Smell dat? That smells like malpractice mixed with a little negligence. What we've got here is a bit of a mess. I mean the beginning of the comp was interesting with an Electrypnose funky electro house effort (please forgive my insatiable need to classify) sounding a lot like Talpa, but then the energy is wasted with a snoozer of a nothing track by Aumna. The compiler must've felt things were going sideways because the resident was kicked out of the ER and the attendings took over. The patient shows some life with the next several tracks with Makaranga showing Ascent at the top of his game. Beautifully dark psy-gressive track that oozes quality. Unfortunately while the doc's were in the hallway hi-fiving and making plans on which female interns to run a Devil's Triangle with nobody was watching the patient. Galloping basslines were not treated and predictable buildups (Three Panthers) spiked and they couldn't stop the bleeding. The chief of surgery (Hujaboy) was brought in to work a miracle, but with just a few days until retirement let's just say that this wasn't his strongest effort. So the patient is seizing, attendings don't know what to do, and the chief of surgery has thrown in the towel. Nothing left but take selfies over the dead body and post on twitter with the hashtag #Neverfoget. Sure Dr. Logic and Dr. Psilo tried their best, but all their work was tepid at best. They called the TOD for this comp and made dinner plans. Dr. Nebula turn out the light when you leave. And he did. Psyshop

Artist: Various Title: Retrodelic Vibes 6 - Vintage Memories Label: Avatar Records Date: July, 2018 1. Chromium Dioxide - Three State Logic 2. Venus Zen - Encens 3. Vermillion - BIC 4. Alfalfa - Amanite FX 5. Chinese Whispers - Synchro 6. Rakshas - Asia 2001 7. Moonstone - Spectral 8. Spellbound - Cwithe 9. S.E.T.I. - Psychaos 10. Animal People - Cydonia 11. Tribal Tool - Shakti Twins 12. The Beauty and the Beast (Total Eclipse Remix) - Sven Vath 13 Superluminal - Nucleus 14. Domino Effect - ManMadeMan & Domino As a collector of many things goa I was happy that there was another volume of the RV series and yet equally disappointed that it was only a digital version. Oh well no big deal...I think I can keep my OCD in check. For a little while. Anyway like all the previous entries in this series you have a few well known bangers, some not so well known and apparently some that weren't even released. The album itself is decent even without any stellar tracks because let's be honest...we have mined those hills for a long time and there just might not be any absolute stormers left uncovered. And therein lies the rub. If you're reading this then most likely you have most of these tracks. So as much as I appreciate the effort, this compilation really isn't that necessary. Still...any chance I get to rock out to Animal People I'm gonna do it. Psyshop

Artist: Hydraglyph Title: Euphonics Label: Nexus Media Date: June, 2007 1. Red Tide 2. Nowhere Near (Shady Mix) 3. Somebody Else 4. Piece By Piece 5. Nightmare 6. Evenflow 7. Astraction 8. Venus 9. Tetris Bender 10. Ultrasound (Rmx) It's raining/sleeting/snowing right now and for some reason I decided to say a few words about this release. We are all familiar with the quality of Nexus Media at the time who were on the forefront of powerful, sinister South African psytrance. This was the second release from Andrew Morgan & Mark Ackermann. Aside from the Condition Black remix I found their debut Kinetic to be a steaming bowl of meh. So....low bar everyone. Now normally Ormion and I are simpatico when it comes to the blessing that is this type of psytrance. He didn't care for it, but I liked its punishing, dark vibe, It was bruising, mechanical, and came at you with a sense of foreboding that still sounds pretty good today. Parts sound dirty...like discarded, corroded metal and I like that apocalyptic atmosphere. Now let's be clear it is not without its flaws. Some empty stretches and questionable sound choices and samples can make the eyes roll a bit. South African Full-on is still full-on. And certainly some projects have done it waaay better. But 12 years old...things tend to get a little stale after that amount of time and I felt this still had some freshness. Far from a classic, but I also don't think it is remotely close to a flop. Psyshop

That's the perspective I'm unfortunately lacking as I am exclusively a home listener. Robotized had everything I was looking for. Still a big fan though.

Artist: Skizologic Title: Stimulation Label: Future Music Records Date: September, 2018 1. Dr. Strange 2. Japanic Panic 3. Rhinos 4. Hypersphere 5. Project 2501 (feat. Coexist) 6. Voyager 7. Whiplash (feat. Filteria) 8. Electro Machine 9. Let's Trip Meh. Maor Hasbani has earned instabuy status from me with releases like Robotized so when I dug deep into this I was slightly disappointed. I still bought it, but let me tell you it falls short of his first album. It's mostly psytrance with powerful kicks (he always had those) weird noises, and some goa flavor sprinkled in. When he uses his goa superpower it is hard to resist, but there's just not enough of that here for me to fully recommend this. It also doesn't help that there are no standout tracks to be found. Mind you this is my interpretation and nowhere did it say on the album that he was going to expressly make a goa album. The sound quality is excellent as always and the tracks are decent, but in trying to be either a great psytrance or goa effort it falls short on both accounts. Psyshop

Artist: Tranquility Base Project Title: Strange Theories Ep Label: Timewarp Records Date: September, 2018 1. What Is Reality 2. Time Traveler 3. Bubbles In Space Timewarp Records is a goa trance factory, releasing a whole bunch of material. They cater to those who enjoy digital and physical media. This is a debut Ep from Austrian Alexander Koch and I gotta say it hit me in the sweet spot. This digital ep has three long, winding tracks that have an E-mantra feel. That's 33 minutes of kicking back and putting off today what can be done tomorrow. He shows that he's not in any hurry to unwind and lift you above the clouds. There are sharp 303s, layers aplenty, and smooth transitions into and out of breaks. What is Reality is a track that I will have on repeat for several weeks. All the tracks have a liquid feel to them leaving me very impressed. Great job! Timewarp Bandcamp

Artist: Hypnoxock Title: Moving In Trance (The Collection) Label: Astronautic Records Date: December, 2012 01 - Logic Evolution (138 BPM) 02 - Reflex (138 BPM) 03 - Viped 1 (138 BPM) 04 - Next World (140 BPM) 05 - Camouflage (130 BPM) 06 - Dimensio Desconeguda (138 BPM) 07 - Electroxock (145 BPM) 08 - Progresion Ecliptica (144 BPM) 09 - Ecstassy (145 BPM) 10 - Vibrations (Cosmic Remix) (147 BPM) 11 - Emotions (140 BPM) 12 - Rare Planet (147 BPM) What was once the best kept secret in psytrance is now one of the projects that restores faith in a genre that has seen its ups and downs. Hailing from Spain we are freshly basking in the afterglow of his latest album Eurythmia where he continues to develop his hybrid of goa, psy, and progressive trance. What makes this project so special is the attention to detail without sacrificing power or atmosphere. Total package. This release (which I guess is a collection of b-sides or unreleaseds?) is six years old as of this writing and like the rest of the catalog it is extremely solid. 12 digital tracks where they (at the time I think they were a duo) go up and down the genre with super results. Reflex and Viped 1 straddle that psychedelic progressive line while Camouflage will keep your toe tapping in a euphoric style with a progressive bpm. Even the tracks that aren't superlatives (full-on) still reek of quality and detail. If you like their lush and powerful style this one won't disappoint. Free at Ektoplazm

Artist: Praktika Title: Playing the Presets Label: Trance Bum Records Date: November, 2016 01 - Kierron Rajoilla (139 BPM) 02 - Hairahdus (140 BPM) 03 - Rahat Pois! (128 BPM) 04 - Donkey Kong (100 BPM) 05 - RooTest (146 BPM) 06 - Tuskien Taival (142 BPM) 07 - Fail Safe (139 BPM) 08 - Sea Of Mud (Mutameri Reggae) (100 BPM) "Here's to better living through chemistry!" Sometimes I go on a tear and just listen to music I've downloaded from Ektoplazm. There's a lot of what the f*ck moments to be found if we're being honest. It's how I feel about Suomi music in general, but the creativity is off the charts. This album was apparently lost and was originally supposed to be released in 1999 by Exogenic Records. I would describe this as psytrance mixed with Suomi and dusted with goa trance influences. It certainly sounds like it came from 99 when hardware ruled. The funky beat and piano riffs in Donkey Kong are enjoyable and I really liked the "late goa after the glory years" Tuskien Taival, along with the real drum sounds of Sea of Mud. Unfortunately the rest of the album didn't hold my attention with it's kooky sounds and sometimes uninteresting sounds. This type of sound has a very loyal following so even if I didn't care for most of it I can certainly respect it. Free at Ektoplazm

Artist: Moonbird Title: The Indescribable Label: Self-Released Date: August, 2013 01 - Gates Of Haraom (75 BPM) 02 - (An)other Dimension (145 BPM) 03 - Punishment System (148 BPM) 04 - Jazz With Wartuba (145 BPM) 05 - The Small Sorcerer (136 BPM) 06 - How To Style The Drive (138 BPM) 07 - Sound Gamma Radiation (154 BPM) 08 - Violet Noise For 7 Days (140 BPM) 09 - Circle Of Stones (152 BPM) 10 - We Are Light (Full Mix) (148 BPM) I sincerely hope that the psychedelic community is visiting Ektoplazm on a regular basis. It has been an invaluable resource for great music that would otherwise have been relegated to the unheard bits and bytes of the internet. They truly have something for everyone regardless of taste. Vytautas Paukstelis is from Lithuania and at this time this is his only release. Is it darkpsy? Forest? Psy or progressive? A little bit of all actually. The details (effects that amplify the atmosphere and where I think his strength lay) stand out on the downtempo intro and dark tracks like (An)other Dimension thrusting the listener right into the ancient forest. Jazz With Wartuba is creepy with liquid hallucinations and the dark vibe is palpable. I love the break in How To Style the Drive...involving. Sound Gamma Radiation is part darkpsy, part...Suomi? I dunno, but I enjoyed it. If I had a criticism it would be that some of the details and atmosphere get lost in the overwhelming beat and bass. It's accessible for the casual listener (even if it's a bit all over the place) and while far from my favorite album I was glad I gave it a listen. Some good ideas in here. Free at Ektoplazm

Artist: Ovnimoon Title: Different Lifeforms Label: Ovnimoon Records Date: August, 2018 1. Astral Dimension feat. E-mantra 2. Alquimistas 3. Alien Medicine 4. The Vision feat. Esterim Patchul 5. Different Lifeforms feat. Etnica 6. Back To This Land feat. Ephedra & Esterim Patchul 7. Retro Sensor feat. Esterim Patchul & Sirium 8. Secret World of the Truth feat. Rigel "Why are you doing this to me?" "To show you just how much you don't know. Open your eyes." Another Ovnimoon album? When does he sleep? Or eat? Or put some dog poo in a bag and light it on fire in front of the door of the neighbor who smells like mothballs who yelled at you last week for listening to that hippie Beatles music. So....with his latest Hector decided to bring in the big guns. E-mantra. Etnica. Ephedra. Esterim F*cking Patchul. Or Patchouli. Who knows? Yeah. He's got it like that. I don't know if that's how he spells his name because Psyshop spelled it two different ways. Anyone else notice all those guest names begin with "E"? Weird. Anyway Hector been on quite the roll lately. His last several albums have been super hot not to mention he's running his label which seems to have a release every other day and twice on Sunday. Who would've thought that goa trance would come back in such a way that all the cool kids are doing it? Well it has and he slaps you in the face with a bit of a scorcher. Now I could've just listened to this all the way through, but you're not the boss of me. So I jumped all over the place. As an enthusiastic student of the genre I went right to the track that has Etnica (Different Lifeforms) on it. Actual footage of some rando on the street when I played him that track. Couldn't help himself, burst into flames. He's ok though. He's a trooper. So then I went to the one with legendary master E-mantra (Astral Dimension). It was good (how could it not be), but to be honest I expected a little more wickedness from these two mainstays. Kinda tame. Clearly the next track had to be the one with Ephedra (Back To This Land). That joint was shimmery and powerful. Kinda like coating a unicorn in glitter and shoving it through a wood chipper. Sorry kid...that was the last one. Sad face. The sample was a beat preachy, but it worked. Up next was the track with Rigel (Secret World of the Truth) for no apparent reason whatsoever. It's a stormer with nimble melodies stacked in layers. Nice. He's no slouch on his own of course with Alquimistas singing the praises of music's power and Alien Medicine just blowing the doors off the spacecraft. I know, I know this is all well and good. But you want to know how the tracks with Esterim Patchuli were. I can't tell you how much he was involved because Hector forgot to invite me to the studio, but I found Retro Sensor to be more engaging than The Vision but they were both quite good. Perhaps that's due to another collaborator named Sirian. Dude what are you doing on this track? Your name doesn't begin with "E". Bottom line, it's an album of pure goa trance with long tracks full of melody and power. Congrats! Ovnimoon Records Bandcamp Psyshop

I enjoyed his Even the tracks you highlighted as the best tracks are weighed down by seemingly unnecessary clutter. Hard pass. I suppose we'll always have Sunshine Reborn!

Artist: Koan Title: Serenity Side A Label: Blue Tunes Chillout Date: March, 2017 1. Before Fullmoon (Serenity Mix) 2. Ferryman (Serenity Mix) 3. Arousal (Serenity Mix) 4. Appearance (Serenity Mix) 5. Herald (Serenity Mix) 6. Gradual Fall (Serenity Mix) 7. The Catch (Serenity Mix) 8. Overpersuasion 9. Peak Lady (Serenity Mix) 10. Bait 11. Helpless 12. Veiled (Serenity Mix) 13. In the Maze of Diamond Rocks (Serenity Mix) 14. The Light of Sleeping Star (Serenity Mix) 15. Hidden Princess (Serenity Mix) "I have something for you." Is it weed? Please tell me it's weed? I could really use some weed right now. Yes indeed just gather your girlfriends, spark an owl, and just chill to the uber laid back sounds of the Russian duo Koan. With this digital release you can just feel the stress of the day evaporate. This is my definition of chill. Slow, relaxed beats with atmospheric pads interspersed with electronic flutterings. As the title implies, it's all very serene with chopped pads and layered percussion. The mellowness cannot be overstated and you just might have to scrape yourself off the ceiling. Blue Tunes Chillout Bandcamp

Artist: Koan Title: Leap of Faith Label: Blue Tunes Recordings Date: March, 2018 1. My Personal Dark Knight 2. Reflection 3. Margin Call 4. Manifesto 5. Mayda 6. Gabriel's Trump Card 7. Jinn's Keeper 8. The Die is Cast 9. Vendetta 10. Entangled Threads (Roeth and Grey Version) 11. Syndicate (Roeth and Grey Version) 12. Esbat (Witch Arrow Mix) 13. At the Sunset of Red Moon (Witch Arrow Mix) 14. Mayferien Nights (New Orlean Mix) 15. Abendreiterin "There's no use praying my friend. Even your God knows better than to come here." This Russian duo is nothing if not prolific. Like the vast majority of their output this is a digital release sounding like a solid piece of progressive trance firmly entrenched in the Blue Tunes vein. Dreamy, uplifting, and bouncy trance that more than flirts with a techno vibe. It's a pretty varied cross section of the progressive genre, sometimes sounding cold and clinical. On the other hand it can also be warm and precise with tracks like the Witch and Arrow mix of Esbat and the New Orlean mix of Mayferien Nights bringing a smile to my face the whole way through. Far from perfect it is still quite enjoyable and shows that this duo isn't afraid to move in different directions. Psyshop Download

3rd album from Alexandre Cohen is quite good. The kicks are punchy, he impressively twists 303 leads to his will, and the whole sound was nicely layered. I don't think he's trying to tell a story here. I believe he wants us to get off our a** and ask that cute girl to dance. True dance music and I suppose you can't ask for much more than that.