Otto Matta

Agree.

Saiko Sounds, Tokyo (www.saikosounds.com) - They're cheapest and fastest. You might also, being in the US, want to check out www.chaosexistence.com (in Oregon), though they're more expensive and the selection is lesser, they're fast. EA

Tetsu Inoue - Karmic Light

In general, I listen to three types of music: Psy, IDM and Ambient. Like bugbread says each has its own purpose. When I want active listening (sitting on the couch with the headphones on, eyes closed, concentrating) I listen to Psy or IDM. When I want passive listening (when I'm generally doing something else at the same time) I listen to IDM or Ambient. Sometimes I listen to Psy passively, but rarely, though more often I'll listen to Ambient actively. EA

I rediscovered this one 6 or so months ago and found it to be pure bliss. Hope a couple people are smart enough to jump on this one - the opportunity probably will not arise again. EA

OA - You look a little stressed out in that second picture. Hehehehehe. EA

If IDM's included, I'd go with Plaid's Rest Proof Clockwork over Biosphere. lynxboy - The reason they're not reviewed here is because many of the above choices are either pure ambient (Rich, Eno) or IDM (BOC, FSOL (Lifeforms), Orb, Seefeel, Plaid), not psy-ambient (Celtic Cross, Shpongle, Ozric T's). I know there are hazy lines between a lot of this stuff, but labels and artists, not to mention the presence of a beat and the shape of the sounds, have a lot to do with it. If you're looking for some of the IDM mentioned (BOC, Plaid, Seefeel and many other incredible bands), I would highly recommend checking out the award-winning Warp Records website: www.warprecords.com or just some general searches for the artists in general (Astralwerks and Skam are some decent labels off the top of my head). As far as good ambient? There's an seemingly infinite variety of labels. I'd try searching the bands first. Caroline is decent, though. parhelion - I feel the exact same way about the BOC sound. Their urban yet somehow rustic and nostalgic sound just hit me big in the right emotional places. Yeah, Eno's freshness in general continues to astound me, too. EA

Since when does Pop sound like house? I'd love to hear your opinion on that one, because the house music I know is kinda happy-go-lucky faggy stuff with divas and sh!t and zero originality. [pissed that he may be completely ignorant] EA

Yeah, all you lucky bastards. What the hell am I doing in Chicago?!! Saw: Juno Reactor with Medicine Drum (both were awesome) Autechre (sucked BIG-time) Plaid with Mira Calix (rocked my little world) Also a local band called TRS-80, that's incredibly unknown, but is cool as all-get-out. EA

Hey Parhelion. Like the choices, man. I've got Rich and Lustmord's "Stalker" in the CD player as we speak. On Land would be one of my runners up for sure. EA

I find you've picked well. Nice ladder. EA

Are you sure he didn't say Sandman? I'm just asking because it seems nobody knows the answer. EA

Juno Reactor, especially from Bible of Dreams and Shango. EA

I'd go Delta, Spiralkinda projects, Semsis, Cydonia. EA

Wow, D-Dave, there *is* something we can relate to. I love Orbit's work. I have to say that, though I really liked the three Strange Cargos and the Strange Cargo and Torch Song albums, I think the CD of his that has had the most impact on me is Pieces in a Modern Style. You see, I'm a huge Tomita fan and to me Pieces was like a new Tomita album, but in Orbit style, so double the pleasure. I'm curious what he'll do next. Any news? Ouroboros - Nice pick. I love Seefeel and Disjecta stuff, though it can be a little depressing at times. Gotta love Boards of Canada, muhf. By far my favorite from 1998 (though I personally wouldn't consider it ambient - more like dance music to me - but I suppose that's a picky category thing). And Lifeforms is mega-cool, too. My favorite by far, to answer the question, would be Biosphere's Substrata. Deep deep, beautiful sh!t. EA

D-Dave - I wouldn't be surprised if there were a million other types of music out there that I and others would probably really like, but I compare the dilemma to book lovers: I LOVE great literature, and a handful of certain authors in a certain few genres. Meanwhile, I hate being in the middle of a library with a boundless assortment of reading material. It's simply overwhelming to me somehow. I prefer having an idea of what I want before I even enter a library or a bookstore so that I can go right to the material itself, check it out/buy it, then leave - happy. At the same time, I've encountered people who really enjoy spending hours upon hours digging through dusty books in a library or bookstore (generally a used book store), looking for nothing in particular but the general feeling of bliss that accompanies a thorough drowning in assorted texts. Seems that, concerning music, you're the latter type who, among others, loves to immerse oneself in ones general resources. My type, on the other hand, feels safe going deep into one's established favorites only, making outside discoveries slowly and almost always by mistake. Either type is fine, in my opinion. Again, like I told Melkiades, it appears to be a psychological wiring thing, and therefore, undeserving of criticism of any kind; each type feels the other is missing out somehow (if not closed-minded), and each feels happy about one's learnings and listening. Furthermore, I get the feeling that the latter type is a hell of a lot more common here. This is a horribly specialized site, dedicated to an incredibly slim frequency in the spectrum of music. The more time one spends here, the more musically un-experimental one is, by definition (i.e., for me to be writing this much to one person in one little space on a site dedicated to only one small style of music is inherently obsessive). This is what I was trying to get across to Melkiades, in not so many words. Take it easy, man. EA

Now that I think of it, kingdok, it might've been Innuko. Sorry. EA

Man, I though I was being a rather friendly and communicative mediator (except about the Delta thing). I was simply stating facts. D-Dave - I listened to some Deep Dish tracks way back when before I officially discovered psytrance, and really didn't like them. Maybe I didn't hear their good stuff. Are you meaning to tell me that they sound like early Juno and Total Eclipse and stuff like that? If so, then I think we're all missing out. I don't mind being filed as a wanker in your attache, honestly; I'm quite secure in my tastes. EA

My name is Per. No big deal, right? [shaking] EA

Don't bring The Delta into this, dammit. They're nothing like Deep Dish. Melkiades - I get the feeling this is a turf sort of thing that's natural to all of us. Personally, and I'm sure 99% of people here would agree, Deep Dish's style does not match the style to which this site is dedicated (this is the first time in a whole year full of constant posting, for instance, that I've seen the name "Deep Dish" mentioned). We're also a little skeptical (at least 50% or so of us) towards house music in general, if not totally belligerent towards it. Not that we're closed-minded by any means, just that we have particular tastes - more of a psychological wiring dilemma than anything else. I'll restrain the desire to tell you my personal feelings towards house music, because that wouldn't do any good. What I will say is that your opinions are more or less unwelcome here, merely from a logistical standpoint (unless, of course you're looking to argue for argument's sake, in which case I think you've found a goldmine). Furthermore, I'm sure there are a million sites out there dedicated to house music (far more sites than those which are dedicated to Goa/Psytrance) that would welcome you with open arms. Good luck finding some welcome conversation about Deep Dish and their ilk. EA

LOL, Frederik. It takes a little practice to recognize it. First, I'd recommend listening to some of the songs listed above (Mr. Hanky's suggestions are good ones). Second, if I can try one more time to get it across with writing: Say out out loud or tap your foot, in the space of about two seconds, the following: "boom boom boom boom" (the booms being the bass drum) Those four "booms" comprise one "measure" of a typical trance beat, otherwise known as a "4/4 time signature." Each normal psytrance "boom" or beat (or "whole note") is divided further and evenly by four "sixteenth notes," generally played on top of the bass drum by high-hat cymbals, giving you the following: "ts ts ts ts" for each "boom" - in other words, four "ts" beats in the small space of a "boom" beat. (See if you can tap your foot at about four "boom" beats every two seconds while speaking the "ts" part.) Now, instead of *four* evenly spaced "ts" beats for each "boom," replace it with *three* evenly spaced "ts" beats without slowing the "booms." That's a triplet beat. The way most of us recognize it is because the effect is a totally different feel and becomes obvious when we know what we're listening to, though I suspect even if you don't, you get the feeling something's very different. Once you get the general idea, you'll understand perfectly and won't think twice when you hear a triplet beat. EA

By the way, Kingdok, was it you that insisted a week or two ago that the "guitar" in As a Child... was real guitar? Listen a little closer, then listen to the remix at the end of the album and Travelling at the Speed of Thought - it's definitely synth-generated. It's way too synthetic to be real, unless they filtered the crap out of the sound, smoothed it out, put some more effects on it, in which case it's more synth than guitar anyway. EA

Parhelion - Yeah, that reminds me - I don't know if it's the track you're thinking of, but Cypher's "Do You Wanna Do It?" is full of Beavis and Butthead. Horrible. The track itself is pretty cool, though. So with that said, and although many will disagree, I hate tracks with samples from cartoons like The Simpsons, Beavis and Butthead and South Park, though all of these shows have merit in and of themselves. Not funny. EA

Yeah, Double Figure's pretty awesome, ain't it. Sad that it's the end of their trilogy. Curious to see what they do next. Change their name again and start a new project? Hm.... EA

For the life of me I can't figure out how to spell the topic-starter's name. Can anyone help me out? Is it "r,"?