Lemmiwinks

what I don't understand is how was it possible for you to find albums with 3/10 good tracks in the mid 90s and albums with 8/10 good tracks these days?

Like Tatsu said, it depends a LOT on the degree of "goodness"... one album could have a lot of nice tracks but nothing truly outstanding whereas another album could have a lot of bad tracks and one or 2 trully killer tracks... There's also the factor of how a CD "grows on you": some tracks don't seem special at first but after repeated listens you "get it" and find them great, other tracks seem stunning at first and fade away after a few listens (most of those tracks rely on "cheap tricks" like climaxes and catchy melodies) So it's not easy to call something good or bad... I've always dreamed of having a reviews section split into "reviews after a few listens" and "reviews after a few months". Now the tricky part is that you usually make the decision of buying and reviewing something after a few listens so people reading your reviews judge the album also on the "now" factor. In practical terms, I didn't like MFG at first but after a few months/ years their stuff growed on me and now they're one of my all-time favorite bands. On the other hand, I loved The Misted Muppet album on first few listens but now find it a bit too formulaic and boring...

ok, just speculating here... there's a little intro Medecine Drum - Prayer which is basically 1:30 mintues of singing by what seems a native american shaman. Could it be that the DJ used that and faded in another track after the intro?

I think it's one of those "hip" ways of writing a word like "phat" and "stoopid" or "c00l"...

maaan and it sounds soo damn good!!! I want this album!!!!

BTW have you been living in a cave and still think it's 2001? Minimal has been long dead and now all you can hear is uplifting stuff... Ever tried Melicia, Nissymiani, Dynamic, Eskimo and the other 1001 israeli clones?

well if you bothered to read my review until the end you would've seen what I mean when I say cheezy: " but it gets WAY too cheezy... Iry's Incantation , Indian , El Paso , Our Way to the Sun and Ephedra actually sound like music from some 80s NES game! I'd easily imagine this kind of music playing in the background of some commercial on Slimweight 4000 or something... " Just like you, I love morning trance, I love AP, CS and even Yahel's first 2 albums. Some say those are cheeze, but I like it. However THIS particular album sounds more like background music you hear in commercials... this the kind of cheeze I DON'T like. But to each their own, hey I'm happy someone liked their album

WHAT??? Someone actually LIKED that??? For me it's the most horrible chill-out album I've heard in a long long time...

actually you can't even find it on discogs.com!! (maybe someone should add it?)

DAIM!!! Even I didn't know about this one

Well there's an album called Mystica - Age of Innocence if that helps... but it's from 99 and it doesn't have a Ganesh on the cover (unless it's a bootleg or something)

lol are they giving you a percentage on their sales or something?

did anyone actually read the description? "Groovy Madmax is one of the oldest Djs in Portugal... ..on the music underground scene and with a highly respected reputation. After techno, house, break beat parties Groovy Madmax started to dj in small psy trance parties and in tuning concentrations and due to the big demand of powerful and hypnotic psychedelic rhythms on the last ones he decided to make the first compilation approaching his two worlds. In order to make it different we decide to make a joint venture with EA games in order to use their fantastic graphics and including a demo of one of the most interesting car racing games 'Need for Speed Underground'. Also the long term friendship with Phonokol (Israel) made possible the use of 10 strongest released tracks from their marvellous catalogue as soundtrack. Style: Psytrance Released: Oct. 2004/44 Tracklist: 1. Genesis MELICIA 2. System error (Psytekk rmx) BEAT HACKERS 3. Micro tunes SIRIUS ISNESS 4. Master peace APOCALIPSE 5. Alien craft DYNAMIC 6. Far away (Bizarre Contact rmx) ULTRA VOICE 7. Dive to dive SESTO SENTO 8. We know YAHEL 9. Spun dry DYNAMO 10. Alien connection DYNAMIC" yes it IS a psytrance compilation!!!

1 Intro (5:04) 2 Harlequin Play Bells (9:12) 3 Harlequin - The Beauty And The Beast (9:57) 4 Harlequin's Meditation (12:44) 5 The Birth Of Robby (10:04) 6 Robot (7:43) 7 Ballet-Romance (0:50) 8 Ballet-Fusion (9:11) 9 Ballet-Dancer (8:03) Not psytrance but some very interesting trance and ambient which seems to tell a story (and isn't this what we loved about goatance in the first place? music that tells you stories?). The Intro is some beatless ambient with nice nature sounds and someone reciting a poem in German (if anyone knows the translation, let me know), then some nice medieval-like flutes and we're into track no. 2 Harlequin Plays Bells which slowly makes the transition between 0 BPMs and the higher BPM rate of the following track. And then we get into the serious stuff... The Beauty and the Beast is one you probably already know (I remember it was on MTV's Party Zone quite a lot back then with a nice computer-animated graphics video... if anyone has the video please let me know!!). It's very spooky and mystical, it's like the synthlines are speaking to you: "this is it, the intergalactic spaceship has taken off, there's no truning back now.". And indeed, the track just takes you deeper and deeper, building every more wierd soundscapes. The trip lasts for 10 whole minutes but it actually seems too short!! This is one of my top tracks EVER!!! Even after 10 years this hasn't aged one bit!! Then we're back to some soothing beatless ambient with Harlequin's Meditation . As the name suggests, this is music you could listen to while meditating (although it doesn't sound like New Age crap, it's very nice and deep). The Birth of Robby slowly turns again from 0 BPMs to slightly higher tempo. It's some nice atmospheric chill-out reminding me of some Kraftwerk , hence the "robotic" feeling. Then some nice airy synthlines but it gets a little cheezy IMO. Robot sounds more like some convetional techno with that same "robotic" atmosphere although this time it's more darker and repetitive. Ballet Romance is an interlude to the full trance track Ballet Fusion which slowly builds up to some very nice melodies although they seem more on the eurotrance side than the psytrance side. Still, it's a nice track, I like it Ballet Dancer is again some bealess ambient which closes this album. Conclusion VERY nice album that seems to tell you a story and takes you far far away. I miss the times when a good album didn't only mean having 8-9 killer tracks on a CD but also having a coherent result, having the tracks blend in one another to create a certain atmosphere and "story". Harlequin the Beauty and the Beast still is the best track here and one of my best track ever!! If you haven't heard it, you're missing something big!! 9/10

1 Ritual Of Life (13:08) 2 Caravan Of Emotions (12:28) 3 L'esperanza (10:25) 4 Sleeping Invention (3:20) 5 Mellow Illusion (9:10) 6 Merry-Go-Round Somewhere (1:27) 7 An Accident In Paradise (6:24) 8 Drifting Like Whales In The Darkness (6:42) 9 Coda (1:23) 10 L'Esperanza (Single Edit) (3:45) 11 Ritual Of Life (The Tribal Acid Mix) (8:31) Ah here's another one of those albums who started it all... legend has it that the first time when Sven Vath went to Goa, he was surprised to see how much praise he got for his earlier stuff released in the 80s of which basically noone from the "civilized world" ever heard of and which were recorded in... 16 bits... I know a lot of you are gonna say that Sven Vath has nothing to do with psy but you're wrong... Sven, with his Eye Q records was one of THE founding figures of trance, (that is trance that was played in Goa BEFORE psytrance). He was one of the main inspirers for the hoard of psytrance producers from later on so for anyone interested in how it all started this album is a must have. Actually mine is a 93 reissue containing 2 bonus tracks (remixes of Esperanza and Ritual of Life ). If you can find it, I advise you buy this edition rather than the original 92 release because after all, you get more for your money since they're 2 new tracks on this one Actually this was a surprise for me, most of the tracks are beatless ambient: Caravan of Emotions if a wonderfull 12 minute track, it seems like it's the same synthline over and over again, but if you pay attention you realize that the beckground changes constantly... Coda and Sleeping Invention kindof feel like the same track split in two and has some medieval classic instrument playing (I believe that in English it's called a harpsichord)... now that's creativity for you Drifting like Whales in the Darkness is another beatless ambient track, this one's more on the dark side, with an interesting fast dripping sound coupled with slow synth progressions, it gives a spooky yet pleasant feeling, I'd like to here this one on acid Merry Go Round is, as the name suggests, a twisted beatless reinterpretation of the songs you hear at a caroussel... hehehe it must really freak you out when on acid... too bad it doesn't even lasts for 2 minutes Mellow Illusion is the one I like least, it's chill-out (this time with a beat), but it all sounds too conventional (but then again it was made in 92...) Now on to the higher tempo tracks: An Accident in Paradise is a bit repetitive but you can see in there where most early psytrance producers got their influences, the multilayered 303 bassline and sounds ahhhh.... it sounds a bit dated by today's standards but I think any oldschooler will appreciate it L'Esperanza is the title that made Svan Väth big, even if you don't know the track itself, you'll probably recognize the main theme from commercial and documentary background music. The single version has only the part with the main theme whereas the original version has a slower pace and gradually develops to that main theme which only comes in the end... with these 2 versions you can actually see how trance got divided into 2 groups: deep, long and complex trance on one hand and cheezy kiddy-appealing 3 minute tracks on the other. And comes my favorite Ritual of Life ah yes, here you can hear all the elements that made psytrance: 303 lines, multiple layers, a mystical atmosphere, oriental chants, djembés, tablas and even a didgeridoo. Yep, it's all in there and already in 1992!! I definatley recomend this to oldschoolers!! The Tribal Acid Mix sounds more "goaish" whereas the original version is more "tribalistic". They're both great!! Conclusion To think that music of this quality was being made in 1992!!! Definatley one for people interested in seeing how this whole goatrance thing started. And, since there are a lot of tracks with beatless ambient, if you're into that then I recomend it as well. 9/10 from me

01. Down From The Mountain 02. Zeus No Like Techno 03. Waking Up In Waco 04. Gray Over Gray 05. Tongue In Chic 06. Not In My Name 07. We Are Here 08. Still Life Believe it or not, even if people will tell you what great geniouses the likes of Simon Posford and Raja Ram or Ben Watkins are for mixing world music to "conventional" psytrance, a certain Toby Marks was already doing this YEARS before them under his Banco de Gaia project!!! But for some odd reason he never got the recognition he deserved among psytrancers... maybe because he isn't seen as an actual psytrance producer but to me his music isn't any less "psytrancy" than Shpongle or Juno... ah well... anyway, here he is with another new studio album after releasing an aniversary compilation called Ten Years . Actually this time around I found he went a bit too overboard with vocals (as is the tendency to do with new releases...). Gray Over Gray , Tongue in Chic and Still Life actually sound like something Bjork would've made! (read: pop music with some interesting electronic music in the background making you wish that the singer would just fucking shut up!!). Anyway, luckily the whole album isn't like that and we get some more underground stuff. Down From the Mountain has some interesting... Moog sounds and Lord knows there hasn't been electronic music with some Moogs inside for quite a while! However my brain has become used to associating a Moog sound with those cheezy New-ageish synth pop artists (like Vangelis , Jean Michel-Jarre ) and I don't really like it. But I know a lot of you will Zeus No Like Techno is the most interesting track on this album IMO, it starts out like a normal club techno track, then evolves to some psytrance, then brings in some traditional Greek melodies... it all works out wonderfully!! And just to show artists like Shpongle and Juno Reactor that other types of world music can be added to trance than spanish and arabic stuff... Of course, noone cares what Marks does now, they'll all pay attention when Watkins or Posford will add some greek elements in their tracks in a few years and then everyone will be like "WOW, greek music and trance, who would've thought they could mix so wonderfully???" Waking Up in Wacko is a more classic ambient track, very interesting "lazy" bass trhoughout the track, kindof brings a drum and bass touch to it. I'd definaltey like to hear this in a chill-out room at a party My only regret is that it turns out a bit too "happy" and not "mystical" enough for my tastes. Not in My Name is the second best track on this album IMO. Long chill-out with a dynamic progression throughout the whole 10 minutes... ahhh pure bliss!! Definatley one for Banco de Gaia fans We Are Here is another very nice chill-out track with oriental voices, very dreamy feeling to it. Conclusion I don't know why, but this artist NEVER got the recognition he deserved from the psytrance scene even if other psytrance artists copied his concept years later and got massive success!! Anyway, this time around he makes a pretty hit-and-miss album. Some tracks are GREAT but other ones just sound like some more underground pop (but isn't that the trend these days?). It's like artists who were in the scene since day 1 are runnning out of ideas and hink "hey, we never tried vocals before, why not try that?". So 8/10 for tracks 1, 2, 3, 6,7 and 2/10 for tracks 4, 5, 8...

aha I notice you're from Belgium... actually I think that the term "retro goa" is specific to our country. There has been a LOT of hype around "retro acid" parties (BTW am I the only one who considers the music played there not to be acid at all?). So I think that organizers of "retro-goa" simply "borrowed" the term after hearing "retro acid" at every street corner... just my opinion though.. anyway, I don't think it all really matters, good music is good music period

me too!! It just becomes more and more boring the more you listen to it... It's one of those "wow" albums that make a very good first impression but then just sound bad... Actually I had a very similar experience with the Four Carry Nuts album at the beginning of this year...

hehehe nice to see that there still are people around who discover their stuff. Indeed for me, Shaolin Wooden Men are THE most unconventional artists associated to the psy scene! I mean, stuff like Texas Faggot is israeli full-on compared to this!! I liked the idea of putting a real drum "rock kick" instead of the usual electronic 4/4 rythm. However having that in EVERY track becomes kindof boring. For me, after all these years (I had the album in 2000) the 2 best tracks remain Brother Ray and the ambient track They Creep Like Dot Coms . I can not recommend these artists enough for people who are ready to listen to some freakin wierd stuff. but it's not for everyone... 8/10

then we agree And yes Seraph, it was Shiva indeed.. it's been a while since I haven't listened to the album so my memory's a bit rusty

well it depends on your interpretation of "vocals". There's definatley a difference between a 5 second sample "everybody's in the place" from time to time and singing during the whole track with lyrics and all (I think they started the trend with Diesel Power on Music for the Jilted Generation) ... On a similar scale, you could also say stuff like Hallucinogen - LSD or AP - People Can Fly have vocals as well...

I FUCKING HATE VOCALS!!!! That's what got me into electronic music in the first place: no vocals!! I thought that there was a kindof "unwritten agreement" for makers and listeners of electronic music that vocals just aren't a good thing. But laltey more and more electronica producers (from IM to Prodigy) decide that it's "cool" to have vocals. Maaan what a world we're living in... Actually I remember that already when I was a little kid I loved symphonies but not opera... BTW by vocals I mean actualy lyrics, I have nothing against movie samples and/ or angelic voices singing from time to time (like the excellent Etnoscope - Sunrise or Indoor - The Key )

well I'd say it's still there... Try out IM's last album or Cat on Mushroom 2004... if people like Erez and Duvdev are still pushing it then believe me, it won't go away... BUT when someone says "a 303 line" he usually refers to an "acid line". It is possible to have MUCH more different sounds from a 303 than what is labelled "acid". Actually if you hear stuff made with a 303 in the late 80s and early 90s acid techno (like Armando - Land of Confusion ) and after-95 goa with 303s, those sounds are COMPLETELY different! And yes, 303s have been WAY overdone... yes, that acid line sounds good but there are like a million and one unexplored sounds you can get from a synth (actually I think that even the possibilities of a TB-303 haven't been fully discovered). So why continue to use that saaaaame acid line people have been using for like 15 years?? (that doesn't mean that the crappy GMS-like soft-synth sounds should be the norm either...)

[edit: this reply was adressed to Rain and not Shpongled, sorry about any mix-up] errr... I don't agree... you talk about "retro goa"... I never even thought of coining that term. For me "oldschool" is a style, it could just as easily be made in 94 as in 2004 or 3094 for that matter... just because the term contains the word "old" doesn't necesarily mean it refers to old music, just at the style that was released in majority a few years back (especially in 1996). As a point of comparison, stuff like Dance 2 Trance - We Came in Peace or KLF - What Time is Love? was released even earlier than "oldschool" but can't be termed as "oldschool". Just "classic" or something like that. In another chain of thought, considering your "retro" theory, then in a few years one should label what was called around the year 2000 "minimal" as "oldschool" as well just because it bacame a few years old. Well I guess that in the end it's just a matter of perspective... what do other people think? At least we're luckier that noone thought of coining the term "new style" like in gabber (they coined the term around 1998 but of course the stuff evolved since then, so now they say "new style" to refer to something produced a few years ago thus "old"... someone must think of leaving out the "old" and "new" thing when refering to a certain style IMO, it would save a lot of confusion ) PS sorry if I don't promptly reply to your messages Rain but I don't have an internet connexion at home anymore so I can't visit this forum as often