Lemmiwinks

well to everyone complaining about reviewers saying "this ain't my cup of tea but I'm sure other fans of the genre will like it"... what's wrongg with that??? For example I can find a progressive release VERY boring yet take care of saying in my review that progressive isn't my style and that if you like progressive then you might have a different opinion... I REALLY REALLY don't see why is that a BAD thing? PS moni: I take it you didn't like the Apsara CD? what's wrong with you, girl? nah just kidding, different tastes, different opinions

well for me the identity of the reviewer is crucial. Basically I establish a pattern between the reviewer's tastes and mine and if they coincide (read: another oldschooler ) then I pay attention to the review. Back in the days I'd follow reviews written by a certain Anoebis and was rarely dissapointed when getting something he recomended. Alas now he almost never writes reviews anymore Now I just get anything released on Sun Trip label but there's only one release per year so... Other than that I agree that people who always try to sell everything don't have much credibility and I almost never even bother reading their reviews anymore. I also have a problem with people who don't take positions in their reviews, it's like "track 1 has these sounds, track 2 has these drifting noises, etc." and then "good bye"... like is it good or not for crying out loud? So yes in the end it's all a matter of dloading and trying out for yourself but with all the releases out there noone can keep up using that system anyway so that's why reading some reviews can at least pinpoint the albums to try out in the first place...

please read this fragment again Detox...

did he EVER make anything groundbreaking?

I don't get it, are you trying to argue against me or support my arguments? Cause you basically just repeated what I said in my first post there... ah well

it was released on Spun Records... Quod erat demonstrandi

noone?

I take it you never heard their album Stereo Electric before

just going through my old abums and I realized that it's been YEARS since I haven't heard about Kopfuss Resonator! Anyone know what happened to these guys? I so liked their unique fusion between acid techno and psytrance

well here I am, 2 months later and the answer is no... those trademark Cosmosis sounds in the background are NOT worth it... It all just gets more and more boring as time goes by. Even my beloved oldschool track Inside Yourself ended up sounding too cliché and not deep enough... If you're nostaligc after the oldschool era then you're definatley better of with V/A - Apsara instead... and the rating just drops each day. Now I wouldn't give this more than a 5/10 Guess I was a bit too enthusiastic at first...

1. Sabotage 2. Seven deadly sins 3. Epocwave 4. Punk city (guitar version) 5. Congee 6. Behemoth 7. Radiotek 8. Overvoltage 9. Tubeless 10. Time machine 11. Exodus part II Wizzy Noise are back again with a new album... to tell you the truth I didn't have high hopes for this one since they have been constantly dissapointing me ever since Cyclotron and made me actually want to puke with the GMS-clone sound on Stereo Electric . However this time around they deliver a pretty nice sound. It's morning trance all the way (wierd for a group that started their career by establishing a reputation in making nighttime trance... but hey times change I guess). But it's not the cheezy morning trance type that they delivered last time around, now they have a more individual sound. and it's also more "wilder" and energetic and... less full-on like... Don't really feel like track-by track commenting (too tired ) but I can tell you that this is for me their best effort since Cyclotron (even on par or better? but I'd have to give this a few more listens for this) 8.5/10 faves: 2, 3, 8, 10 (beautifull downtepo track!) PS. Does anyone find a STRONG resemblance between Overvoltage and Juno's Conga Fury ? What's up with that?

woah man this is some pretty good shit... even for someone (like me) who's not really into dark psy. The thing is that compared to most dark psy releases this is much more "dynamic": first of all, the droning bassline which is usually constant all throughout the track changes here like once every 30 seconds! And there are tons of ideas thrown to you everywhere. No real use in track-by-track comment cause it all sounds similar except the downtempo intro which actually brings in some oldschoolish melodies... and that's all the melodies you'll hear in the whole album. After that it's just wierd sounds and bleeps throughout the whole album (but it works out very well ). I have also realised now that most of the dark trance tracks played in parties that caught my attention were in fact unreleased Ocelot and I found them on this album... So this is some awesome stuff!! Better than Para Halu IMO (but not as good as Scatterbrain - Infernal Angel which remains to date my no. 1 dark psy album). Nice to see that there is still room for creativity in this genre fave tracks: 1, 3, 6(!!!), 8 9/10

I thought you were against rating albums

ever tried doing a search on eBay with searchwords "goa", "hippie" or "tie die"? You can get some really cool stuff pretty cheap

well that's the main problem with headphones... they can be clearer and go deeper in the basslevels... but you'll NEVER find a headphone that actually rattles your bones by producing bass. It's just technically impossible... OK I've heard that some projects exist where you have some sort of vibrating backpack which allows you to feel the bass but I don't know if those things actually work.

that's odd... to me "dark trance" (the way Parvati and Goa Gil defines it) can't be enjoyed if you don't feel that bone-rattling bassline drone. So listening to it on a wimpy headphone has like 0 value to me... For me it's listening to it at night while driving (maybe even a little fog) and the heating turned down so it's a little cold in the car And at a party of course

ARGHHH!!! look first of all, a review topic's for reviewing, I'm more than glad to continue this discussion on the general or off-topic section... second of all, and I'll finish posting in this section with this, there are 4 pretty good tracks: Save the Robot (I said they continued the awfull trend but that the end result was GOOD!), Astrix, Johann and X-dream. This is 4 good tracks out of 10 + 2 tracks that are good for the dancefloor but not for home listening (Bullet Proof and X noise) + 1 track that deserves mentioning for it's originality even if I didn't like it much (Terraformers Vs Phonic Request). That makes a total of 7 tracks out of 10 worth something. And that my friend in my world deserves an 8/10 as in "good but not great". And yes, if a comp had 10 out of 10 killer releases (which BTW only happened with Apsara after a LONG wait) then I give it a 10/10, naturally... I really don't see why you people keep complaining on my rating system, it's pretty logical to me... now like I said, I'm more than happy to continue this discussion in an aprorpiate section, just not this one

I never said it was a mediocre RELEASE... I just said that some of the tracks were mediocre... a mediocre RELEASE gets a 5 or 6/10. An album with a few mediocre tracks but also some very good ones deserves more, don't you think? After all, what would you buy if you had to chose between an album full of good but not great tracks and one with 2-3 absolutley killer tracks and the rest fillers?

well I'm lucky enough to have a job where I drive so psy & driving is pretty much part of my daily routine Last month it's been V/A - Apsara, Scatterbrain - Infernal Angel, Midi Milliz - Non Standards and Shpongle - Nothing Lasts (well my ears need some soothing from time to time ) Next week it will be Para Halu - The World of Peace, V/A - Imagi:Nations and MWNN - Teleportation Basically I go back and forth between oldschool goa, "modern psy" with bone-rattling bass (good for waking up in the morning BTW ) and chill-out Oh and I also developed a liking for Beethoven (but don't tell anyone )

well it makes sense to me... I already said this before: if I were to compare every comp released these days to the ones released in the golden days of goatrance (96-99) then none would deserve more than 6/10 (except for Apsara ). But then what would be the use of having a 10/10 rating system if no comp would go higher than 6? Times change and so do I... anyway, write your own damn reviews and stop complaining about mine

*bows head in shame and heads for the nearest window*

well actually it's one of the only covers that I enjoy And the hints to the original are almost non-existant

nice album... it's still basically the same dark trance formula used over and over and over again but Para Halu have the good idea of bringing in some very interesting dark atmospheres that seem to "hover" throughout the whole track. Kindof like what The Delta would sound if they released an album in 2005 IMO They also bring in some downtempo tunes: The World of Peace (I didn't think dark trance artists were capable of making downtempo stuff Fave tracks: 3(!!), 5 (!), 8 As you probably already know I'm not a big dark trance lover but this one is quite good IMO. 7/10

because some of the tracks are so good that they pull up the general average And let's not forget that in todays world it has become common to have just a few good tracks and the rest fillers so I'm trying to keep up with the "nromal" trend

1. Bolivia - BULLET PROOF 2. Status - BLACK AND WHITE 3. Painted Dove - SAVE THE ROBOT 4. Oranda XI (Xerox and Illumination rmx)- ASTRIX 5. Anjuna Beach - X-NOISE 6. Marauder (rmx) - LOGIC BOMB 7. W.S.D. - PHONIC REQUEST VS TERRAFORMERS 8. Testers Choice - SANDMAN 9. Same Same But Different - JOHANN 10. Intercorporal Stimulator (The Delta 2005 rmx) - X-DREAM I really can't understand this label... OK, so they decided to promote uninvolving mediocre full-on rather than their ultra-quality releases that established their reputation. Given that in today's scene anyone who DOESN'T make full-on is set aside I could understand them. But why tarnish the memory of such long-lasting quality series of comps by filling them with this crap? They already did it with the colour series, the Stashbag series... so how bout the Nations series? This will surely spark up your interest for 2 things: it revives a series of comps that were considered "instant classics" at the time and you will also notice the return of long-lost names in the goatrance scene like Logic Bomb , Johann and Sandman . So you'll probably pick this up hoping for some glimpse to the "good old days". And you will be utterly dissapointed once again. Do not get fooled by the name "Part 1 : Night". It doesn't have anything nightish in it, it's morning full-on all the way save a few exceptions. So then, on to some track-to-track commenting: Bullet Proof is a Dino Psaras side-project. It delivers his usual blend of energetic full-on, good for the dancefloor but not really a quality track IMO. Black & White deliver one of the most striking examples of just how uninvolving full-on can be. Yes this is as typical a full-on clone as full-on clones can be... nuff said Save the Robot (wierd name huh?) continue the awful trend of remixing crappy 80s tracks. As the trackname hints, this is a remix of Soft Cell - Tainted Love . The whole structure REALLY reminds me that of Eskimo - Popcorn : beautifull dreamy melody at the beginning and the end and a hint to the original here and there. Actually the end result is quite nice. The hints to the original are very discrete and limit themselves to a climax around minute 3:00. And rest assured, there's no singing in here then Astrix delivers some pretty nice full-on... nothing groundbreaking but one of the better tracks of this comp. Some nice melodies and a very involving loud bassline near the end. Definatley good for some stomping if not anytyhing else X-Noise delivers some darkish atmospheres (actually this is basically a full-on remix of The Delta - As a Child I could Walk on the Ceiling ) . Nice for stomping at a party but again, I can't really call this quality... Although I must say that it's interesting to hear a crossblend between "the Delta sound" and full-on on with the revival of Logic Bomb and a remix of Marauder ... err to tell you the truth I never was a big fan of these guys in spite all the positive critical aclaims. And this track is no exception... maybe you'll like it if you're into Logic Bomb... and yes, the full-on basline is there... Terraformers Vs Phonic Request are next with a more tribal track (there's a djembé in there and a sound that resembles a didgeridoo). This is the oddest track here, it also has almost no melodies, sounds like some techtrance with a full-on bassline. But I don't like it now on the comeback of... Sandman !!! Hey it's been a while... Sadly though whereas he was worldwide known for his unconventionality this time around he gives us some plain full-on. Ah well all my cherished oldschool artists ended up going down the drain and this is no exception Interestingly enough this track sounds more like Dino Psaras than Sandman... then yet another comeback: Johann (aka Johann Bley aka former member of Juno Reactor ). Actually this is the darkest track here, he delivers once again his crossblend with industrial (remember the Johann remixes of Killing Joke ?), there are some very dark guitar melodies reminding me of Tim Schuldt's style. This one's definatley the most refershing track on the comp. Well I guess not ALL oldschool artists went down the drain after all And then the comp ends with a remix of Intercorporal Stimulator . This one fits in like a square peg would fit into a round hole... Whereas the whole comp is filled of full-on and melodies all of a sudden we end up with some dark gritty techtrance... you can't stop wondering just why did they decide to put this track in here? anyway it brings us the trademark dark mechanical atmosphere. Nice but The Delta has made better tracks before... Conclusion OK, so this isn't as big a failiure as the conituation of the colour or stashbag series and shows that even TIP World can still deliver some quality tunes. Sure, most of it is nowadays full-on but there also are some pretty impressive gems in there which make buying this comp worthwhile IMO. 8/10 fave tracks: 3, 4, 9(!!)