Otto Matta

He conveniently forgot to explain that he's selling the rest of that movie for 150GBP.

What??? You're on drugs, man. I'm goin' with Battle of the Future Buddhas, Ka-Sol and Midimiliz.

Postmodern art and architecture began roughly in the sixties, well after the war. And again, surely psychedelics played a part, but so did a lot of things.

C'mon, people. Can't you see that it's actually Colin selling his own CDs through the guise of a money-grubbing American? Sheesh. I saw through it the second I saw it. Nice try, Col.

A very interesting question! I'm sure psychedelics had some part to play in Postmodernism. The Postmodernism I'm most aware of is that of architecture, and yeah, I'd have to say that a great bit of it looks like someone was high on something when they designed it. Then again, there are many other major sociological and psychological factors that appear to play a role. Like, for instance, modernism was very serious. And Postmodernism seems to me to be a very hard reaction, just like any movement (just like Modernism was to Classicism), against the movement before it. In other words, it reacted by trying to be as unserious as possible. But in a way it failed in that respect because it was ultimately very serious about being unserious. Still, Postmodernism had (has?) some very important things to say, that could never had been said without the existence of Modernism. But sure, because Postmodernism grew up in the same age as the popularity of psychedelics, I'm sure it was impossible that the two are not related to each other somehow.

That's pretty much the way I'm looking at it. I heard some samples a couple months back and really liked the originality and playful ideas.

Dude, put on track 7 - No Return - and turn up the volume. There is in fact no return, in more ways than one.

It's definitely techtrance. In fact, one of my major problems with it is that the bass elements are almost exactly the same as The Delta boys and their tech projects. I'd enjoy hearing something more original as far as that's concerned, because that's really what the tech sound is all about. Another thing I didn't like, and I assume this is unfinished, but the end after the break lacks power. It just sort of goes back to where it left off before the break, and I think it really needs a larger ending to be successful. That said, I liked a lot of the percussive and semi-melodic elements. I wished they were more cohesive and stylized somehow. What really makes a good tech track for me is to have less elements, but have the few elements really stand out as unique and compelling to the ear. All complaining aside, it's a solid track if the ending were beefed up a bit (and of course the fade removed).

Bobcat likes it! (Seriously - cool stuff!)

Agree! And their other stuff is just as good, IMO. Now that one takes me back to my trance roots. It was Empirion that got me liking the 4x4 beat, whereas before I thought it was strictly for gay house music and minimalistic techno (I was in Chicago at the time). That was right before my discovery of psytrance. A very exciting era for me.

Yup.

No, I meant the album is a fucker. A brain fucker, as it were. I just sent a mail to Dave at Schlab and asked him about any news he might have on Schlab/BotFB/Ka-Sol info in general. I'll report back if I hear from him.

Yeah, man, that fucker keeps growing on me in a big way. Any word on the Schlab release?

I think you're still being a little vague. Are you talking about how you slice the individual beats up, then put them together into an interesting measure/loop? If so, I'd say consult the manual.

I was there, too. Well, for about 30 minutes until I got bored and left.

I agree with that one. Listened to it a few times the other day. I'd also like to add my own '06 highlight: Ka-Sol - Fairy Tale.

Never really bought much from them, but I do recall them having a great selection and being good about having things in stock. Still, as a non-Brit I found Saikosounds more appealing somehow. Anyway, they were still an important part of the scene for a long time, so RIP, and good luck in the future.

It's very specific, but it's real! Again, I'll throw the Schlabbaduerst recommendation out there. If you haven't heard it, especially the Battle of the Future Buddhas and Ka-Sol tracks (and their various collaborations), you haven't heard the forest sound. Sweeeeeet. Love the bobbing cat. Does that make it a bobcat? [OT] Bobcat: Such a wise expression, no? [/OT]

It's so strange to me that IM were once know as psy gods and that now they're the brunt of ridicule.

Schlab.

Because when you dig up the map you'll be able to find the treasure with relative ease.

Damn, haven't heard that track in a long time. I'll have to add the album to my day's playlist.

Ka-Sol - Fairy Tale I have to say that No Return is one of the coolest tracks ever made.

Derango full-on?

Dude, that's a very special track! It's totally bizarre! Lots of crazy, zany things all over. I really like most of your sounds, and I really enjoy the playfulness of it. And although it's not expertly produced it has a rawness that I often find more charming and interesting than a crystal clean production. It also surprises me that you used FL6 to make all those sounds. Very impressive. It sounds to me like something someone would have made if there was psytrance in 1954. I'd file it under Stockhausen Trance. There was nothing in the track that I thought was dissonant or musically annoying. However, and this is where my bias comes in, I personally like music that has a clear progression from beginning to end; just like a good painting should lead the eye through it, so should a piece of music. And just like a good painting has something to say, so should a piece of music. I think you're more successful with the latter than the former. It says something (50s space-age analog noise-making), but it doesn't lead the listener into a clear narrative that begins, tells a story, then ends. And although a lot of trance these days, annoyingly, has nothing to say but a bunch of clever noises, I still think that should be a goal for good artists. But that's my opinion, and I'm a traditional, classic sort of guy. They say one must learn the rules before one can break them, and there's some truth in that, I think. So keep making music - you're clearly onto something - and maybe before too long you'll be able to say what you need to say and have the listener really groove to it, physically and psychologically. Thanks for sharing. Now the aliens can come and eat us with a clear conscience.