Basilisk

Koxbox for teh win!

110% agreed... then again I didn't like Psyfactor either.

What do you think... if there were no money in psytrance and everything were free, would it promote creativity and originality?

Very nice, thank you!

You're not making too much sense. A photo of a painting is actually a pretty good analogy for an MP3, and you seem to think that's okay. Drugs are illegal... so are many kinds of sex in a lot of places. People still do this stuff - it's human nature... same goes for the emerging world of computers and online communications: it's seemingly not within human nature to consider an immaterial thing as possessing the same kind of inherent worth a physical object might.

What, it's not obvious? I would not have people pay for recorded music at all... I'd have it treated as a promotional tool to obtain booking for live gigs. Physical CDs will continue to be printed but the charge could only be for the costs of the disc itself. Of course this isn't a model that would work for everyone, but such a system could easily work within the traditional industry of labels and distributors all doing their usual thing. Change is not all or nothing; it's a gradual process... I would just like to see some more free releases available for download in wave format. I do not hope for the day where physical CDs are a thing of the past, but would encourage a cottage industry of handcrafted products. Is this getting less vague for you? As far as trying to fight the downloading habits of people all over the planet and try to shore up CD sales without doing anything significantly different, all I can say is 'the writing is on the wall'...

I never said more than "it might be a factor". Beyond that I think you're being a bit oversensitive, but all right.

Maybe... but you're the #1 artist with an online reputation for anyone who has been here or on Isratrance, which is sure to account for a chunk of people involved with psytrance worldwide. It could be a factor... and as sherlockalien sez, it's not as if you'd ever know if you had a booking that was helped out by a promoter or fans downloading mp3s.

Quite surprising considering what a friendly and good natured guy you are known to be

Now we're getting repetitious. I usually reflect on the emergence of the recording industry itself when I consider the ironies inherent in the various opinions on how artists should be compensated. You do realize there was a time when labels were the ones accused of moral decrepitude, stealing the livelyhood of working musicians across the world? This isn't a justification for modern-day online piracy - I'm much more pragmatic with respect to current realities. It's just an example of how things change... I don't personally feel it is very useful to invest energy in fighting such a thing when it would be far more productive to alter the system to work with the current demands of the marketplace.

Twas a reply to TJM's "If I don't have rthe cash, then I miss out on dinner" specifically. Wow, you sure like to assume a lot. Looks like I have to ramble on again *sigh* (1) I'm not saying anything about pirating being "okay" I'm saying that a moral judgement is irrelevant. Talk high and mighty if it makes you feel good about yourself I guess, but it's not likely to change anything. (2) My point still stands - times have changed. Like any capitalist space, the psytrance market functions on supply and demand. There is a LOT of supply right now. The format of releases has even changed - look around and count the amount of debut albums that are really nothing more than demos for new live acts. Luckily there is a high demand for the live experience, even if the quality of many acts is not that great. Essentially all I've said is that technology changes the situation and you've got to go with the flow - anything else is really a waste of time. About my own downloading and or buying habits - I have not spoken of these at all, and I am surely not writing this stuff as a justification for rampant piracy... I usually buy anywhere from ten to thirty new CDs a month. Lastly, I have purchased CDs that friends have copied for me in the past because I grew to like them and wanted the album art that goes with it. So it's not all lost.

It's been a wild year, hasn't it? Derango and Ghreg on Earth both released some crazy shit just recently... I think the next one, by the sounds of it, would be Psykovsky's debut... get ready to lose your marbles? Is it worth the hype?

It's obviously not simple if thousands have been debating this same subject for years now. What makes this debate complex is that the file itself that represents the art of the musician is effortless to duplicate. Current downloading habits are a result of changing technology... wasn't there an old Goa track by the name of Mutate & Survive? That's what people have got to do. All this moral crusader bullshit is really quite irrelevant imho. No amount of righteous indignation is going to reverse the flow... what cannot be copied as easily is the experience of seeing the musician perform their art live - that cannot be replicated or "stolen", should you wish to use that exact term. The money was never in the canned tunes anyway - have you any idea what some artists get paid to play for an hour? No one's starving if they want to work, that's for sure.

No, the difference is that you can copy music on a computer. Imagine we could do the same thing with food? No more starvation, anywhere there is a computer. But you would be wagging your finger telling the hungry poor that they are in the wrong. I'd buy really good single tracks in wave format, but I'd much rather get them for free with the artist's blessing. Free music as promotion is a tool that few are yet exploring but I hope to see more of it...

As far as I'm concerned, this is the key to the whole mess.

aha thats right... you're a regular rock jock, aren't you hohohoo! funny shit I suspect people just don't know the tune I threw up there. Hmmmmm... I do have a whole stack of like 50 classic epic trance tunes on vinyl somewhere on my shelf... Rodd-y-ler, Cygnus X, Art of Trance, sure - but also some Lunatic Asylum, Weirdo, DJ Sakin (shuddeR), and other cornball nonsense. Back in the day this stuff was so much fun but it sounds soooo simple and basic now... damn. Classic Goa still has the complexity to make it sound good when the sound quality itself isn't astounding... old trance though, hmm. All it has going for it is the memory I find.

Jon + Vangelis - The Friends of Mr. Cairo I know, I know... but you see - it will make an amazing psytrance remix. Just wait.

PsyNina's music isn't any good, and being female doesn't seem to help at all. Sorry.

I think Lunaspice is the nicest for this... they are balanced. Great rhythms, dark with a hint of light. Check out the new Moon Missionaries.

Awgh, I still gotta review the original... I'm so slow.

Is it just me, or does hearing these make you want to throw on the originals? I almost think that they should have done what Son Kite did for colours... get Luke Chable and Shiloh and some real proggy names to hack at it. I liked FREq's mix the first time around but the rest... hmm, not so sure yet. Thoughts?

Return of the "this is what we want to sell you!!!" charts

Abstract Phaze... I'm doing a thorough "modern" review to see what it's like to examine an oldie in such detail. Why I picked this one is beyond me though... at least I have Beyond Colour in my bag as well. Now that is a constant(!) fucking(!) flurry(!) of(!) favourites(!).

Does anyone know what the deal is with many old tracks being composed in fractional BPMs? 144.2, 147.8, 133.5 and so on... funny old equipment?

Round up my old ones I guess.