ollylovesgoa

I don't think it's possible for people to start producing music delibrately so that it sounds like old-school, artists used to make Goa like they did because it just evolved that way, it was something they were all in tune with and the scene was happening, along with analogue instruments etc, Goa was like it was, but you can't recreate that, it doesn't matter how much a new guy tries to sound like Etnica or Astral Projection, it wont come off sounding properly old school. It doesn't matter how many hundreds of bands try, there will never be a new band that does what Led Zeppelin did, just like there will never be a newschool group that produces a new Alien Protein. It's something you have to accept, and not slate artists for not sounding the way you want them to.

I've begun to hate the term "newschool", it puts expectations on the artists that simply cannot be fulfilled. Oldschool Goa Trance was short-lived and special, happening in a unique space and time that can't be artificially recreated. We should just accept that it is a style of psychedelic trance, and listen to it if we enjoy it, and not if we don't. Slating the artists for expressing themselves in a way which doesn't appeal to our preconcieved expectations of what a type of music should sound like is moronic and damaging to a scene that should surely encourage self-expression.

I doubt he'll make a third album, but I do remember he agreed to do one if he got 1000 votes on the poll at the Twisted Records forum, that was a few years ago but feel free to go and vote; the question is whether it is worth him doing one if it's just for popular demand, surely he should follow the artistic direction he feel will fulfill himself and thus result in better music. Having said all this, I voted at the website, I just adore the trance he makes too much . He did this track only a couple of years ago however that gave me some hope of a new album: Pretty bloody good if you ask me!

Yeah it's wicked, and more and more over the last couple of years it seems that there needs to be a new word for trance in this style, as I don't find it "dark" at all, merely extremely fast and hyper complicated.

Haha yeah it is, I was like 10 when I played these old platformers, Jak and Daxter, Ratchet and Clank etc, but of course the real greats were Spyro and Crash Bandicoot on Playstation 1. (I'm 18 now )

Great to hear some more information on this obscure track, and some more opinions. I can understand why some people find its speed a little jarring, it is extremely quick, but personally I love the intensity. As far as it being more suited to Juggling Alchemists than Alien Protein, I can see why people are swaying this way but I do disagree on the grounds of the melody work being more discordant and sci-fi, as opposed to the melodies of Juggling Alchemists which i've always found more uplifting and accessible, as well as simple (not in a bad way, I love Juggling Alchemists). The track also develops differently, going through many changes similiar to the other tracks on Alien Protein, exposing a multitude of effect compositions and melodies, whereas the tracks on Juggling Alchemists develop slowly and gradually. Stylistically I would put it between the two albums, but closer to Alien Protein, but it really is an oddity, considering that the EP tracks released between the two are nothing like it. When all's said and done I guess I'm just happy that i've found a new track from my favourite group in the peak of their years of creative output.

I have just bought this track for download and listened to it, having searched for some time to find it, resisting the urge to listen to it on youtube in the knowledge that the quality wouldn't do it justice, and I have some burning questions I hope some of you ca answer and some thoughts I hope will spark discussion. Firstly, this track is sick, it is an absloute blinder, it must be the fastest Etnica track by a country mile, if you are a fan of Etnica (who isn't?) then you need to hear it. It is extremely quick but not in a Pleiadians manner, it remains an Alien Protein track through and through, less layered than I.F.O etc, which brings me to the crux of my point: Why wasn't this track on the CD release, and why is it therefore one of the least heard tracks that Etnica ever did? I'm at a loss, but at least I can enjoy it now, and i'm certainly going to buy Alien Protein on vinyl to hear it on a lovely warm record deck!

I agree, and particularly look for emphasis on hi-hats in anything that calls itself Goa. Those racing, open hi-hats really increase the intensity and somehow add a rythmic dimension to the music that just begs the crowd to dance, e.g: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gok8yZ2fccI At 00:40 they kick in, and listen to how loud they are, not to be swallowed by any surrounding layers. The tempo of the beat doesn't change but the hi-hats tighten everything up producing a sensation of increased speed, thus intensity and therefore dancing! (As a side note this track is fucking magnificent, a blinder in aggressive, warped and crowd pleasing Goa).

Listen to the melody on that Hunab Ku track from 3:26, then the one from Purple Om at 2:00 : http-~~-//www.youtube.com/watch?v=ARnZpGGe6-4 Tell me you can't hear the similarity.

After finding this (yellow vinyl issue) in a local record shop i've once again been enjoying the magic of Twisted. It's the sort of album that's such a classic I rarely even play it anymore, and sometimes have even questioned it's worth as the quintessential psychedelic trance album; upon hearing it again, all doubts dissolve and I am once again assured that this album is really once of the best. It blows my mind every listen (especially Alpha Centauri).

Hunab Ku was the same group as Dimension 5, and imo you can hear it, very melodic work, like Blue Planet Corporation, Jaia etc, only these are much more so. My picks: Gangnia is a little known group who released two albums, both absolute stormers, really fast paced '97 style, similar to Darshan's album Awakening only a little less dark, but with the same atmospheric breaks and intros followed by driving rythmic trance. Imago is another artist who I think deserves a mention, the album "The Spirit Dance" isn't phenomenal, but it is good, with nice light melody work and good quality sound production. I don't know how many people have heard of Colorbox, but undoubtedly it's not enough, amazing concept album, quick and driving. And lastly Proton, he released a track called Brainfusion pt.1, which is a very long epic voyage that i've valued highly since hearing it as an unkown and underrated gem of Goa trance.

Props to whoever gets the Goa (or ambient Goa) reference for my wallpaper!

Pure nostalgia.

I'll pm you about Live-Evil in about three weeks when I get paid if that's alright (: , but as for Bitches Brew, got the 2LP yesterday in a record shop in Liverpool for £18! I'm extremely chuffed to say the least. Along with: 2LP on yellow vinyl! I can't describe my delight upon pulling this out of the stacks of otherwise uninteresting LPs. Life is now complete. Also found this EP in a charity shop for £2! : What a gem, the other remixes aren't bad either, so overall an extremely productive day.

Yeah I agree, I think people go mad for full-on basslines because they slam in, the impact is there. Neogoa is fast music, but it lacks impact, the "being hit by a freight train" sensation that you get with full-on. Not saying I like full-on more than Neogoa, far from it, but full-on works better on the dancefloor; neogoa to me is homelistening music. Oldschool had the impact as well, in a less defineable way, it wasn't reliant on basslines at all really, it just started screaming and you knew that was the time to go for it; peaks like: Howling at the Moon, Goaway, Ring of Fire, they've all got the impact, proper intensity, it was raw and harsh, Neogoa is soft and smooth, it's speed doesn't make it that danceable in an age where 180bpm darkpsy and gabber exist.

Thank you very much! And yeah i'm really liking that mix a lot. Haha Veracohr, I was never old enough to experience day-glo spandex, so I have to get my fill watching videos like this on the internet .

I really want to know what the track is that starts at 5:57, it sounds gorgeous! Besides that the video is pretty interesting, proper old school!

The thread title immediately made me think of this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B4ILeH38_LI You may well hate it, nitzohnot is a bit of an aquired taste, and this is one of the very few nitzo tracks I like, quite Indian though nontheless!

I was very surprised out how similar this sounded to their original material, proper Goa hi-hats, big melodies, indian influence, some proper acid! Yeah the bassline is different, much more powerful, at least it isn't a really typical fullon bassline a la Terrafractyl or Vibe Tribe, and I don't think it takes away from it, this stuff genuinely has the Goa spirit, it sounds more Goa than any other newschool stuff in my opinion, which isnt surprising because Dimension 5 have been releasing great stuff for a long time. Overall I like this a lot!

They play this kind of psytrance quite a bit where I live (when they aren't playing 160bpm darkspy ), I know what you mean when you call it tight, it's kind of slick, great production quality and faster than the Iboga sound (which is more and more moving into Techno, still excellent, but Techno): Ianuaraia, Zen Mechanics, Motion Drive, Unseen Dimensions, Synesthetic & Dickster are artists that display these types of sounds. Try the Compilations: Temple of One (May be slightly too noisy but try it for its speed and clarity), Pathfinder, Plexure-Free Spirit Vol. 4 & The Call of Machitun (Compiled by Ovnimoon, who you may like but is slightly more melodic, not in an Isreali way).

Live-Evil really is excellent, and the cover art! I'm so jealous of you having it 12x12 as an LP, so jealous I actually went to the local record store with full intention of buying it, they didn't have it and only had Bitches Brew for £50.00, which I simply can't afford, so I got these LP's instead : Great album by Herbie Hancock, funky jazz-fusion! This was £20.00, so pretty expensive for an 18 year old with no actual income haha, but I felt it was worth not buying petrol for my motorcycle for two weeks for this Near Mint copy of an album I have always loved on Mp3. John Martyn, incomparable musician.

Due to the Psydub topic, Blumenkraft, it really is bloody good.

Ott's brilliant of course! Blumenkraft is ace, but my favourite thing he's done or been a part of is the live recordings of In Dub, hearing the energy in the room is so powerful, especially when that first synth from LSD comes on, absolutely iconic. Favourite tune off of Mir is: One Day I Wish to Have This Kind of Time, love the sheer joy of it all, and the Alan Watts sample is nice. In terms of other Psydub artists, Vlastur is pretty good, check out the album Interaxion Dub.

Alien Protein is probably my favourite album of all time, and definetly my most admired musically. Etnica's style is extremely psychedelic, and you can clearly hear how the complexity has increased since their first album, Juggling Alchemists; here the layers are thick, and with every listen new details reveal themselves, and a little acid growl becomes more noticeable. The melodies are at times discordant, unsettling the listener in a particularly alien fashion, sometimes euphoric, blasting atop of many rythmic sounds all with a specific textural effect, and sometimes subtle, hinting at a direction through the soup of effects, but always unique, always classically Etnica, never to be successfully imitated. Etnica can capture a kind of atmosphere that words can't fully describe, so otherworldly and distant, but also warm and analogue. Alien Protein needs and deserves time to be fully appreciated, each track is a very intelligent composition and the album as a whole is a journey, but on initial listens the subtle effects and real impact of the melody work mightn't strike a listener as striking as something as so obviously euphoric as Astral Projection's work, but this is the kind of album that is truly timeless, and as such it develops with the listeners continual experience of each track, and is far less vulnerable to being overplayed as other styles of Goa that are less complicated. My favourite track is Party Droid, for me it epitemises the entire release. The heavy, earthy beats that resonate through the woodwork of a building, unlike the modern full on basslines of today, the cascading melody's that transport the listener to some other galaxy, climaxing into a running torrent of sheer auditory pleasure, the spiralling notes that dribble over reverberating effects, and overall an evolution throughout the track, a build-up and continual peak, the defining feature of real trance music that is lost in todays world of breakdowns and over produced drops. This track is a writhing, twisting wave of sound that to me is the peak of a whole era, the peak of what creative minds can do with a certain artistic vision. Alien Protein is the album I recomend to people interested in hearing Goa trance, and it may take many listens, and many detours into the material of other groups, but eventually the genius behind this release is translated to anyone with the will to hear it. It is truly timeless. Particular favourites: Party Droid, Z-plane Sunrise, Chakra Active 8, Starship 101 10/10