Basilisk

To me, there are genres/subgenres, and then there are descriptive words. "Psytrance" is a genre to me while "dark intelligent psytrance" is more of a way of describing a type of psytrance... not every descriptor is a genre! For example, how would you describe Kiwa's style? Funky psychadelic house & breaks? Intelligent percussive trance? Whatever it is, it ain't a genre... but to merely call it 'psytrance' won't help anyone unfamiliar with the band know what they sound like. Examples of descriptive words: Minimal, Funky, Industrial, Dark, Melodic, Tech-, Tribal, Full-on... sometimes these emerge as movements in the history of psytrance, such as when minimal psy became a big thing around the year 2000, and nowadays with full-on. They aren't their own genre per se but it sure helps to have the terms handy to speak of the whole movement, doesn't it? How else could I phrase something like "argh that full-on crap drives me mad!" or "minimal psy puts me to sleep!!"

Ukiro nails this topic. The real Pleiadians sound is gone, though you'll find two guys using the name nowadays.

Review: http://www.ektoplazm.com/reviews/ultrapop/

Check out the VA ultrapop... in fact, I think I'll run over and post my review here now since I didn't see one on my way in...

What now! Beast is fantastic!! I wish they'd work together again (Process + Posford)... I couldn't think of a bad Posford project until someone mentioned Growlmonizer. There ya go.

I love this song but despise the sample. Oh well! Makes it easy to find anyway

Whoa, this is still flying? Don't worry about it so much guys... I guess I got to the point where I'm so far out that I'll just take my time and let my own ears decide. Then again, there has been a lot of releases I've really enjoyed this year so I haven't been too desperate looking for goodies DP's good - provides those quicker assessments which can really help you figure out whats worth a look or not... there are a few different approaches you can take when reviewing - try and point out what others might find good about the release and keep it positive, or you can go more solely with your own individual taste and trust others to recognize that it's just one person's opinion. Both methodologies can be helpful... for example, the wide reviewer can identify music of many styles which could be good to many people, whereas the specific reviewer can identify music of more specific styles to people who have a similar taste. I've been leaning way over into the latter style, just reviewing with my taste. I think a large problem with regards to reviewing today is simply that so much psytrance is 'ho-hum', like it's ok, nothing terribly and obviously wrong with it (which is, I believe, in contrast to how reviewing was 5 years ago - when many bad releases did have obvious flaws). These days a release can be considered bad if it's sorta mediocre, usually from the perspective of someone who hears a lot of the same stuff. Good point to think about - if you listen to all the full-on that comes out you'll find most of it to totally suck simply cuz its all so similar. Compare to a person who just gets an odd CD once in a while through the local shop and so only hears maybe five or ten releases in the style - the power and energy is sure to delight and the issue with repetition and homogenization is totally unknown to them. I don't even try reviewing those compilations jam packed with GMS clones any more - what's the point? If you're new to the style it might sound excellent - my ears are just totally burnt out on it so there's no point. But conceivably I could review it from a slightly more objective vantage point and detail what is good about such a release - then you might end up with a sort of wishy-washy review that may be of help to a wider audience, but won't be any good for that specific audience which truly shares some of my taste in psytrance. OK so this might not make too much sense... I tend to ramble a lot. If you catch my newer reviews, well some are like 80 lines of text. Take that as a contrast to DP's concise and often more worldly style of reviews - often that's more useful for potential buyers, whereas my treatises may be of interest to idealogues and those more interested in post-purchase consideration of a release? I don't know. Reviews can have many intents, just as reading reviews can have many purposes. The lines are getting crossed here sometimes I think! *ramble*

psytrance needs less matrix, and more dubya

I like progressive sounds... and I am a huge Koxbox fan... but after several listens I just find this to be really dull.

Phototropic > Helium > Hypnorythm

You've got it... sometimes to get a mix going just right you have to either detect the 'drift tendancy' as I call it and correct it with a push or pull of the jog (timing of which is totally up to you to sort out by rhythm) or just ride that pitch control in the same way... whether you're using master tempo or not has a bearing on the issue as well (be gentle with the jog in either case)... CDJ-100 as a standard for parties = stooopid. But no one really ends up caring, they're all high! *wink*

Its not that hard to find out whats good... but what should a person avoid? It seems that in the recent years a person making a review staked their personal reputation on their words or something, whereas reviews used to be mostly flippant off-the-cuff responses, sometimes from people who weren't "qualified" or aware of the big picture or anything... well where are these reviews? People don't want to be lynched on isratrance, the regular review squad doesn't want to lose their incoming promo deals, and so I figure here may be the place. Let us all know what new releases are sucking in your stereo... no one has to believe what you say, of course, but maybe it could help... cuz there is a LOT coming out. What's not living up to the hype?

Vegetarians = old IM fans. Converting vegetarians = turning old fans against them? I don't know how many times I've gone over this album by now, but I find it has no meat.

Oh its borderline cheeze all right, but pretty good. Is it for home listening? meh, maybe. Great uplifting vibes for dancefloors no doubt but it doesn't get much home-play around here.

Yep I'm really enjoying this one which is a surprise - never found Matenda to be good until now. Check it out.

I have this problem with most new releases... its time consuming to give them *all* a chance. What's so difficult about making a stand-out track these days?

Heads up old school fans, this one is worth tracking down... a bit like Elysium in some ways, but beyond that I can't really describe it. I mention it here because its an album I always overlooked, never having been able to get a clue of what it sounded like, but its actually quite good. Check it out if you're into the classic collecting thing. Peace.

Slavkovski, I'm trying to find your email address... give me a shout at: basilisk(at)ektoplazm(dot)com Peace.

Boo, vocals. Music is the universal language so let's confine it in a zoo?

that term brings to mind BPC's Arcana...

UNI

I'd love to be able to help out with a history-of-trance sort of site that lets users download rare/OOP tracks... morally I see no problem, though to be perfectly clean one must track down the original author and ask permission where possible. But aside from that, what can anyone do? What's the worst that can happen? A cease & desist letter, right? No one's going to prosecute over international borders for some old music no one barely listens to anymore. I can't say for certain, but wouldn't artists of the old style be a little honoured that their music might live again in some ears, many years down the road from whence it originated?

I'm sellin a whole bunch of records/CDs that are new or that I just don't use much or whatever.. it's all over the place, and includes some rarities and classics, so check it out! peace

IMHO only the old school stuff is hard to mix. New psy is dj-friendly in the extreme.

Very nice site, very nice sound.. but you know that already