Otto Matta

Somaton - A very undervalued album.

Did you want beats or no beats in the Namlook stuff? Oh, and Vangelis is not the most psychedelic or tweaked music. For a similar sound you may be better off with Jean Michel Jarre's work instead. Edit: I've been inspired by this thread to break out my Move D/Namlook Collection CD. It's been a while and I have to say that the third album on the 6-album disk, The Retro Rocket, is extremely moving. It just ended and it really took me somewhere. The Moufang string progressions and rhythms, and the signature Namlook wispy analog-ish tones throughout are something else. They take you traveling to distant sunny lands and space at the same time. Whereas the first album, Exploring the Psychedelic Landscape, reminds me a lot of Dreamfish, which is not a bad thing, it's just more down-to-Earth.

[Yawn.] Is it April yet?! Oh...Damn... [Goes back into hibernation.]

Okay, yeah. Let's get on with it. I won't say anything if you don't.

Now what?

Suckerrrrrrrrrr.

Yeah, I agree with you to an extent, that hip hop has become a cultural exchange, and that's a good thing, but if I were black and saw some kid driving the SUV his mom bought for him talking like a wigger and making music about the hood, I'd be pretty upset. However, Psytrance is still more or less the way it has always been, with some minor adjustments. It has always been made by hippie white kids for hippie white kids, and still has all the silly sci-fi/drug/hindu samples, monotone bassline, acidic sounds, etc., as in the beginning.

I actually never said it was bad. Just that the original intention has been maligned by those who don't understand why Hip-Hop exists in the first place.

Hey Astro, how did you get the S.H.A.D.O. albums? I've been dying to hear them for many years but they're impossible to find. Please tell me they've been re-released.

"Classic" is a cultural term. Basically it means albums and tracks that people generally agree are important and should be remembered. It tends to be very inaccurate since it's largely based on personal bias, but that's how art works. Not all the best stuff will rise to the top, nor will all the worst stuff sink to the bottom.

Yoda!

Interesting point. I played one of my tracks once for a friend with perfect pitch, and he said it was between keys somewhere. I'm sure he though I was a musical slacker. Me, I was thrown because I thought I'd set my pitch to a standard key.

Yes, Cydonia and [some of] Schuldt were dark, but not nearly in the same way. Christer Ka-Sol, at least to my ears, is doing something very different, not only of the aforementioned artists, but of any other psy artist, except for maybe Dave BotFB. Your comparison, albeit tough, is mistargeted, and that tells me that you don't understand Ka-Sol's music. I recommend you dig up a few of his other tracks, and then come back with an opinion.

Are we talking strictly about psytrance? Then maybe. But I'd personally increase the top range to 150.

No, no, and no! Believe me, I used to be a complete Sony devotee. And then I saw (heard) the light. Please don't waste any more money on Sony headphones. Sennheiser AKG Beyer Grado These are the only names anyone will ever need. Please go here and see for yourselves.

The people who know what key a piece of music is in? I think we call it "perfect pitch". Most people learn it, some have it naturally. Why do you feel sorry for them?

And you say hip-hop isn't violent? If they're all rapers, then they're violent. I think I recall someone mentioning Tribe Called Quest. I'm not so sure the issue is so much about Hip Hop being violent or having a certain stigma. At least for me I don't relate to the beat and the sounds and the mood and the narrative of Hip Hop. I don't like many words in my music to begin with. It's the general feel of Hip Hop that I don't relate to. And to tell you the truth, I find the interest in Hip Hop by people who have not struggled or did not grow up in the hood ingenuine. Yeah, I said it. I always found it completely ridiculous to see a bunch of middle-class white kids dancing to Hip Hop or singinig along with the lyrics, when 99.999% of those white kids cannot even begin to relate to the message in the music. To me it's like white people celebrating the strife of black people. The way I see it, the message was not meant for me, and therefore I will not celebrate it. And you could use the excuse that now a bunch of middle-class white kids are also making Hip Hop, but their sound is derivative of the original; which is just as bad, because they're using the strife- and angst-ridden sound and lyrics of the original for their own purposes, distorting it and making it merely a sound, removing it from its original, genuine intention.

Probably because you've grown older by 6%.

You don't understand.

Sounds good to me. Beyer makes great headphones. Success.

Yeah Stalker. Your message is shit ever! I'm anger now too!

Okay, the difference in new Vangelis versus old Vangelis is basically that the new stuff is more classical sounding, whereas the older stuff (like Bladerunner) is more analog and synthesized. My favorite albums of his are his early ones, especially Opera Sauvage and Apocalypse des Animaux. Blade Runner comes in third, but it is also a very good album. If you're looking for a good Namlook bargain, check out the MP3 mutli-album compilations he's been putting out in recent years. The MP3s are a very high bitrate (300+), and you get several albums in one. My favorite by far is the stuff that he did with David Moufang (a.k.a. Move D). It's spacey electronic stuff with smooth beats.

Hehe. I thought you meant a mustache for his smilies. (?)

A couple.

If by melodic you mean ultra-hyper-mega-super-uber-melodic, then yes.