Procyon

I showed the recent Omega Point to a friend who is not a fan of Goa, and he pointed something I had to agree: Siam and PharaOm tracks sound different from the rest. I asked him why he thought that, his opinion was that they sounded faster, louder, while the rest of album was more frenzy or soft in his opinion. Me too, since listening to the album for the first time, liked the two tracks best. Not that the rest of the album is not great. It is. But to a different crowd under the same umbrella - as observed in the review of the album. But the second half of the album is a little "pure goa" or nitz, where we can hear very different kicks, basslines and melodies from the mentioned two. What I want to point is that I think goa now is branched out in different styles: classic Goa, Neogoa, nitz, and the sort of goa that Siam and PharaOm wrote. Does it matter? Apparently not. But it would help a lot people like me, I waste a lot of time searching for "goa" and end up with nitz or classic goa - styles that I appreciate, but that won't be played in my next party. Mind you, I want tracks that sound more agressive, while being Goa all along. It would help a lot if we came up with different names for different styles of Goa. My vote, if you agree, is to call it Full Goa. Which describes tracks like Siam's (most of his whole work), PharaOm in the Omega Point album, and looking back in some CDs, as far as Sheyba's famous Ganesh track. To mention some. What do you think?

Veracohr: Google says the gird above is the very Miranda Silvergreen.

Mine is: http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html It shows a fantastic picture a day from Hubble or other observatories. What really amazes me is that the vast Earth where we live is 300 times smaller than the Sun. And the Sun is a million times smaller than the largest known star...we are so small...

IMO, as a listener of both genres: 1. No, but euro trance uses lots of rich melodies, which sounds great even in poor quality headphones. On the other hand, psytrance nowadays is more about kicks and basslines than melodies. So, to our ears euro trance does seem more well produced, but I think the paraphernalia both genres use is the same, so there's no difference in quality. 2. Yes, I just read that BOOM festival - which preaches love, peace, etc... - made the artists booked for 2012 sign a contract that banned appearances in other festivals, Ozora is the main target. So, they preach peace and love to ohers, while they're more interested in money. Ugly. 3. Yes, of course. 4. Yes, but production quality does not mean that an artist is talented. We have some poorly finished tracks that sounds great - in this case, it is a task left for DJs, to improve the quality from their decks.

Err...did I understand it wrong, or was Time Trap asking examples of full-on releases instead of Goa, dark, forest?

Great news. They are playing a lot. I am really excited about their release.

Some goa tunes never get old. Miranda may not be an unanimity when it comes down to writing tracks, still some of her tracks can be played in any dance floor today.

I hope he makes himself available for bookings. But that's exactly what I asked: what are artists like Chi-AD doing nowadays, that they are not ever aware that people are trying to book them? There are other artists that have just disappeared from the goa/psy scene: the Germans, some Israelis, Danes, French. All good acts that we haven't heard about for some time now.

Oh, I forgot: visit the youtube link, there are more tracks from TEEX in the right side bar.

I recommend the Trance Europe Express series from 1990s. They released this sort of ambient you're looking for. Here's one of my fav ambient tracks ever, from TEEX: Camillo - Analogical

I read in another forum that last couple of years, Ozora's org tried hard to book Chi-AD (the organizer actually said he dreamnt of seeing Dave live), but apparently it was difficult -the org didn't elaborate on that. But I wonder what those famed artists are doing nowadays. Do you have any idea where they are, what they are doing?

One of my favorites: Syb Unit Nettwerk - Lost World http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NNe_H_NSHjo

Wow! I had never heard this track before. Pure goa energy!

I miss the art cover, and the sound too.. Chi-ad - Biocandy

I am totally for digital releases. Less CDs means less plastic, which means less polution. Respect to the nature. What I do is to create a CD pack myself, with my favorite digital releases, when I miss the feeling of having a CD on my hands.

I was into electronic music (Platipus-like trance) and had already listened to a lot of good acts. I also liked some rock, metal, to go ok with friends. In the 1990's there was this London magazine I bought every month, i-D magazine, and in 1994 they issued a cover written "Is Goa Trance The New Acid House?". I got ultra-curious, for I had experienced the explosion of acid house in 1986, and I knew if Goa was the new acid house, then it should be something bombastic. Oh, by the way, I was living in Osaka then. One month after reading the article, one day inside Osaka Cisco store (underground music), a flyer caught my eyes: it was a beautiful Krishna inviting you to a Goa trance party by the end of the month. I remember this kind of flyer was so different and beautiful that I couldn't stop looking and reading it over and over again. I arrived at the club and some British guys dressed like no-one else I had ever seen before were talking outside the building: I remember one of them was wearing a zebra-tight-pants and a colorful fractal t-shirt. It was so strange. As I entered the dark club I saw all Japanese were dressing something very colorful and again I thought it was funny. But when I opened the sound-proof doors to the dancefloor, my world spun like a hurricane. The explosion of the UV decoration in the dark, all the colorful t-shirts I saw outside were all of a sudden beautiful, from another galaxy, the sound system was blasting something my ears couldn't understand, but this alien song pierced thru my brain as if it should be there, and I felt I belonged to that place, to the deco, to the music, to that brand-new happiness I had discovered. Now I know the guy with the UV zebra pants was someone known as a member of The Green Nuns of The Revolution, and I looked at him dancing with this big smile, everybody was dancing like we used to dance back then (you hit the ground twice with every leg), and I soon were dancing like them. I danced all night long, never stopped, only for water or a beer. After that party, I forgot my collection of CDs. I started a new one because I was addicted to Goa, to UV, to the Indian deities. My first CD was Why Not Record, the one with a Ganesh on the cover. I couldn't stop listening to it, and after that I bought AP, Chi-ad. If only they knew how importat they were to me ... In 1995, I moved from Osaka to Nagoya, and there I discovered the magic, now legendary BlueMoon parties. I went to each and every party they threw. The best party ever. One funny thing I remember was a party when a group of Australians entered the club, clearly invited by an American all dressed in glow. It was easy to see they were Australians: sandals, above the knee shorts, khaki shirts. And I could see them entering the dance floor, see in their faces the same wonder that had taken me one year early: they stood in the middle of the dance-floor looking mesmerized by the deco, the glowing pants and shirts. And the sound. By the middle of the party, they took the dance floor as if it was theirs. They danced like crazy with the rest of us and when the last song was played they started shouting "More! More! More!"... Good old Goa days...

Problem with me is that it was exactly this sort of psychedelism that little by little overtook dance floors around 2000 - I remember how some DJs played some boring trance with exactly this bassline Terra is playing in this album. But with or without this 2000 experience, I still think this sort of music is pure boredom.

I listened to the previews, and I didn't like it. One word comes to my mind: boring.

Great review for a great compilation. Though I liked the 1st half of the album best - PharaOm and Siam tracks are jewels. Loved the basslines and melodies. The 2nd half is a little bit nitz, which is not my pie, but the tracks are amazing. Good job guys!

Another one making a comeback - in big style - is ManMadeMan. He is in the Boom Festival goa line-up this year. I just wish Ozora and Boom would book more old school acts, like MFG or Dimension 5. X-Dream will play too, but they keep playing their last album tracks, and man, the vocals and lyrics are horrible. Bring Radio back guys!

Inner City - Good Life (1987)

I think you are thinking of a party as something big. Real good Goa parties are the small ones. Here's my experience on Goa parties: what you really need is a nice deco, and mainly, a good sound system. When I threw my first party, I always had on my mind that if I attracted a crowd of 30 people, it was enough a good crowd for an unknown subgenre of electronic music. Then, 60 people for the second, 120 for the third, gradually introducing Goa to a larger crowd. My first step was to find a good place. I found a camping 5 km from the city, and made an agreement with the owner: he would get all the profit from drinks, I would get from the tickets. Second step: decoration. This was easy, to the point of becoming a hobby. What I did was to tie-dye 5 cotton fabrics (3m x 1m) with glow-paint, and hand paint some Goa elements over the finished tie-dye (they were so beautiful that other parties came to ask me to borrow them). Step three, I contacted other DJs, and invited them to come play Goa. Step four was where I had to spend some money: renting a good sound system, but it wasn't that expensive really. Step five - which you don't need to do nowadays - was to print flyers. And voila', my first party was a success. It attracted 50 people - mind you, in 2001, when electronic music was not so present on radio as it is now. My biggest surprise was to discover that in my 400,000 inhabitants city there was a good number of people who actually knew what Goa trance was (and I was thinking I was the only one). So, to the second party I already had a good number of contacts, DJs, and enthusiasts who helped me with more deco and organization. The first party, I think, didn't cost me more than US$ 300, I indeed lost some money (around US$ 100). But I threw the party expecting to lose money, not profiting from it. I had the idea of profitting, or breaking even, in the 3rd party. I threw 5 parties, who are now legends locally, and opened the - electronically speaking - doors to a huge organization that now, 10 years later throws a festival that attracts 10 thousand people. I am not part of this org, for I left to Japan in 2002, and I really don't like what they played: mainstream psy. (skazi, IM, astrix...). I think when you decide to organize a Goa party, you have to consider yourself as a "pioneer". An one man organization. But as I wrote above, soon you will attract other people to help you. What I may assure you is that it's worthy: I remember how happy I felt when people came to ask me "what are you playing???". I know I was the person who introduced Astral Projection, MFG, Chi-ad, X-Dream to a lot of people. I will throw a daylight party this September, I will share my experience with you guys. Good luck

Well, why don't you ride the roller coaster of throwing a Goa party (and DJ in it)? I threw some parties years ago, and still miss the adrenaline I felt when the first song blasted from the speakers.

I downloaded V.A. Omega Point released by NeoGoa, in Ektoplazm. It is amazing that we have this site giving good music for free.

I am sorry to agree with you on this. I consider myself a very fortunate guy, for I had the chance of experiencing Goa in legendary clubs and parties in the 1990s. But you can still feel some of the vibe in some parties nowadays. Am I wrong to infer you are in Europe? If I am right, try Ozora or Boom in August. They are mega-festivals, some old Goa fans don't like them. But you there you can experience of listening to (some) good psy and goa blasting from professional sound systems, which is a completely different experience than listening to them at home.