Jon Cocco

I've talked about this album on other threads, so why not write some sort of... 1200 Mics - Time Machine: Review After reading the first review above, I gave this album another listen straight through. I tried to not over-analyze it, just listen and enjoy, and I actually enjoyed it more this time than before. As before, I find this album more fun and mainstream than their first one, which may be a classic, and I think the first one was more innovative, psychedelic, and trippy, but a bit too noisy for its own good at times, maybe unless you're tripping, heh. 1200 Mics - The Time Machine seems to have more melodies, lift-off's, well placed voice echo's; effects, (not singing) and overall a pretty good variety of tracks. My favorite track is Shiva's India, (those moments with voices and the melodies are really catchy!, I don't care for the voices and voice alterations in Egypt though) and I also really like Garden of Eden too. The last one I consider unique and above average, but I like it, and maybe it would sound less cheesy in world or ethnic album, I don't know. But its a nice, fresh, unexpected-in-its-style, melodic, downtempo song. Regardless, I feel this album could have ended with a stronger downtempo track. As Talpa's last song went too, but it was better, the final song here just doesn't have the impact or great lasting impressin I'd want, but I think its far from bad, maybe not everyones taste, and I'm glad to see that 1200 Mics can do downtempo! Hopefully the next time it will be better and cooler, like Talpa's opening downtempo track, which I thought was very well done; good. Lastly, I think most will agree that this is one of the best full-on albums of 2004. I also thought Psycraft, Psypilot, and Lemaurians (I didn't hear Astrix and some others) were some of the other "up there" or best full-on albums of 2004, (if Space Monkey is considered full-on, it would be dark full-on, than I place that arguably first!) and I agree that this will probably work best on the dance floor for most listeners, rather than for home listening, which for me, home listening and driving, etc... seems to work really well. Overall Score: B- or an 8/10 = Pretty good. I feel this album does have some really good and mostly above average songs, but because at least 1-3 songs are just decent or not that good, and I think Greek people will like Glories of Greece because it uses a CLASSIC, traditional Greek melody, but why use it here?, and regardless, this song starts out EXTREMELY cheesy I AGREE, and because of songs like that and the other one or two decent ones, I can't rate this album higher, although it is one of the best full-on album of 2004.

Yes, great analogy, relative to being subjective! Heh, its cool Lemmiwinks. I understand, and I realized that you'd probably understand that I didn't mean anything bad by quoting the first part of it. Its just that the quote I started this thread out with was the one that instantly inspired me to start writing about standards, scoring, and what it takes anyone to give a 10/10? Its nothing personal, heh, and even though I gave my 2 cents on 1200 Mics and you can obviously read that I feel different about its score, I used that as an example so I could articulate my own points, not argue with yours. I agree! You can make an entire thread on this! Like with the first girl you fall in love with, and with certain albums you love ... in retrospect, the experience, its nostalgic and strong when thinking about it. It seems that we've gotten into this same music around the same time (1998 for me) and the feeling and memory I have with AP's earlier stuff, (Kabalah, Astral Files, Dancing Galaxy) and Transwave, (Land of Freedom) etc... is so much stronger because my mind associates to those earlier times when I first heard this music; when I was STUNNED; my first experiences!, but does that mean those tracks or albums were all 10/10, heh? Who knows?, but for me they were. But I remember! I ran out and showed my friends, pulled up to my high school in my fathers car, blasting Astral Projection, Transwave, and Hallucinogen, and people would walk up to the car and say, "Dude thats fucking amazing!!! What type of music is that?" And I'd say "goa," and they'd say, "What the hell's that?! Back then, it was a feeling that I haven't REALLY gotten to that degree since the earlier days, the mid-late 90's! Its a special, deep feeling, you know? But now of course, its impossible to react the same way, because like our first love, I agree that NOTHING will EVER BE as strong as the first time, at least, not in this body and mind, but..but...but, can we rate it as if its just as strong and great? After all, an album isn't a person or a spirit, its a material, howeve the music and the experience is different obvously, creating an experience that we seem to connect with sometimes via spirit; having an experience. Its just that we're so discensitized to this music now. So I think its harder for us to be impressed like back then, and with all the more mainstream, minimal, fullon, non-innovative albums replacing lots of those old-school, masterful albums (AP-Another World) maybe this is part the reason. But like you said, "does that mean that the girl you fall in love at 24 is less good than the one at 16? The truth is that back then, the first girl was the best, even if she wasn't the best for me realistically ... More albums to me back then were 5/5 or 10/10's because I heard less, so I had less to compare, and as I got older, some of my impressions and scores actually changed! I think, for example, even if the girl at the later age might be the better one, our standards since than have risen, and maybe than we can realize that we rated someone too high earlier because we simple did find that person amazing because it was our FIRST EXPERIENCE and so we had LESS to compare her too, but does that make the experience back then different? No. But yes, this is a great point to explore. As we get older, as we now are more experienced and aware than we were 8 or 10 years ago, we simply have more knowledge and more life history from hearing so many albums. Part of us well always be subjective, but we can try to be somewhat objective also by looking at it for what it is, like in the same genra, because unlike back than, we now can compare more because we've heard more! Nonetheless, everyone is biased, and I really try to watch out for that when I review! But certain people simply prefer writing subjective reviews while others prefer writing objective ones. Like I feel with your review of Filteria, you loved the album and I agreed with you about it being a real killer, but it isn't exactly an easy feat coming close to Pleiadians style and production either, for better or worse. Then with 1200 Mics Time Machine, I coiuldn't understand why you'd give an album a 10/10 after saying so many negative or not positive things, and I wrote a review in that review since than. I think we can be OBJECTIVE; more concrete, because by comparing, there is more that people can see and relate to. So few people didn't like Filteria's album because they didn't "feel" the maximal, insane flow of melodies, and some people think because they don't like it, its bad. Hahahahaha!!! But some of those few people probably didn't like IFO either, or the style in general. Regardless, if you liked IFO or not, by comparing it to something else in its class, you can create a more objective review. And even than it must be very hard to be totally NOT subjective. I believe in balance. You seem to feel that either something is subjective or objective, because it seems almost impossible to love something and give it a bad rating, or hate it and give it a 10/10, ya know? And what if you are just more critical like me, (sometimes you really are) and you say that even though you liked the music for you, the reason why this or that, or for example, The Matrix is better than Matrix Reloaded is because of x,y, and z. I believe it is possible to love something, and also have evidence to prove your objective analysis, or hate something and still look at it for what it is. You may agree or disagree, but I think there simply are less stunning albums being made today! Think about it.. I mean, I haven't given one album an A- in 3 FUCKING YEARS! I was beginning to wonder what is wrong with me! Like am I being too harsh because the old sound that made my first experiences so strong isn't being released anymore? But then out of no where, in 2004 I heard two albums, *Chi-A.D.'s - Earth Crossing *Filteria - Sky Imput I had a REALIZATION; a wake-up call as to why I've given so few albums a 10/10 over the years. Its not entirely because the old-skool great albums are gone, because there is always room for innovation and improvements on styles (like the albums above) My hesitation and reason for not giving anything a 9 or above is because it has been a VERY LONG time for me since something really impressive came out! Now more than ever, there are just so few great albums; classics, albums that impressed me because they're rarely amazing, and I realize that saying that last bit is subjective, but I know you know what I mean.

The 1200 Mics - Time Machine album was totally above the majority of full-on albums of 2004, but it wasn't amazing or groundbreaking, and I didn't consider every track great or even really good either, but it is a fun, well done, full-on party album with some good and decent tracks, and no bad ones! I really liked 1200 Mics - Time Machine, and I feel it deserves around an 8/10 or a B- ... I say that because as well done an album as this is ... I feel there should be room left for the better albums that do exist and deserve higher scores. What does it, should it take to give something the highest rating? I'd think its something, something big, special, important, and rare or very uncommon! I went over this a bit toward the end of my review on Filteria - Sky Imput, an album that I felt was AWESOME, and even I had difficulty on whether or not I feel it derserves a B+ or an A-! Just read through my review or toward the end for more on this ... as in the end, I couldn't not compare it to Pleiadians, since they were both in that style, it makes all the more sense to compare. Now I realize that just because somethings original doesn't mean its good. I can make a movie with a scene involving a guy trying to have sex with a snowball, but even if its original in a movie, the concept is just plain stupid, and this is not good. (bad example) However, Pleiadians for example, was a sucessful, groundbreaking and excellent album ... and as great as Filteria is, it would not have existed in this intricate, melodic style, had this style not existed before, and yet I believe that Filteria can still achieve an A in the future, anyone can achieve what we consider enormous excellence, right? As far as a classic goes, Pleiadians is one of the rare albums that I feel deserves an A, not by opinion, but by default, but hey thats just my opinion, I feel the rules for an album to get a 10/10, are... 1.) * It can NOT have one bad, half-decent, or decent song!, or the score is obvioulsy brought down, duh! Its about the whole picture, not part of the picture. 2.) * A real Classic! 3.) * It must revolutionize or innovate, [and/or] be outstanding in some way, not just have one or two or even three great or excellent songs! This is an entire album we're talking about. To give you a more general idea of my standards, and you decide ... almost all the goatrance albums I feel deserve an A or an A- are: Astral Projection - Trust In Trance ... A Astral Projection - Dancing Galaxy ... A Pleiadians - I.F.O. ... A Hallucinogen ... A Infected Mushroom - Classical Mushroom ... A Cosmosis - Cosmology - A- Chi - A.D. - Earth Crossing ... A- Filteria - Sky Imput ... A- If we gave every album we really liked or thought to love, a 10/10, than what distinguishes say, a masterpiece like Hallucinogen - Twisted, or something that happens to innovate so much on excellence like Hallucinogen - The Lone Deranger ... from just another well done, party album?, (other than the music) even if its well done? Where do we draw the line? When I review an album, I review it for what it is in its genra or sub-genra. Without getting too off-topic, a good analogy is with movies. I may love a certain movie, but if I gave every movie I loved or really liked an A, where would my standards go? There has to be some level of organizing the good from the bad, the groundbreaking or amazing from the not, or the line gets blurry and we'd treat every album similar for what it is and maybe lose some credibility. Anyway, I can't force anyone on how to judge or review something. For me, I believe, unless something is ***AMAZING*** (and sometimes even then) I feel that it should be known that there is always room for improvement, room to give an album X amounts and see what happens with their next album, which might be even better! I realize everyone has their own self-system of comparing or whatever. I try to review something for what it is, (like compare a progressive album with other progressive albums) and compare to show evidence, (which is sometimes hard when something is original or groundbreaking!) and reserve the highest scores for the albums that we know in our hearts are the greatest of all time, (which is rare). I didn't LOVE Starwars like some people, but its one of the most important films of our time, what it did for cinema, raising the bar on special effects, visuals, etc... plus it had a great story, plot, characters, directing, editing, etc.. Starwars derserves 4/4 stars, and its a novice example of a film classic, a 10/10 period, and I'll say this again ... I feel it doesn't have to revolutionize to get a 10/10, but it could. I'm always ecstatic to hear or see something when its groundbreaking! I hope when it comes to anything, we can look at it for what it is, and try to sometimes see the beauty in something, even if it isn't our type for what it is, and still appreciate it. If we love it, thats all the more reason to take a step back and make sure we're not being overly biased from being drunk by what impresses us as the individual. When it comes to reviewing, I think that for many of you some of the time, if you find it great, sometimes most of us do as well, sometimes not, as I found the 2004 psytrance/club album Bio-Tonic - Divina good, not great, and thats the ONLY TIME EVER that everyone on these forums who posted on that review thread I posted, seemed to totally disagree!, and I say in that review, that if you don't mind voices, some lyrics, etc.. like Analog Pussy - Trance n' Roll, than this is recommended, and thats just an example of comparing something for what it is.

I have to agree with the quote above, which simply got me thinking on how any of us score, our standards, and what makes an album 10/10??? Could you give something a 10/10 if you didn't really like it? Must it be a classic, revolutionize, be amazing? It seems that some of us really disagree on such a simple but understandable-as-to-why we'd disagree thing. The purpose of this thread is not to over-analyze the statment above, but rather use it as an example -- as to scoring albums. What exactly makes an album 10/10? Why you feel this way. This is what I feel, and for the record, we're all human, we're all biased in one way or another, so lets just cut the shit and at least try to be a little honest outside of our cute, little, limited minds.

I have not heard the entire album of Fatali - Faith, so I can't write a full review or throw down scores. Based on the samples however, this sounds pretty typical formulatic, and melodic, but overall -- way too basic for me. And thats just based on the samples so I can't be 100% sure unless I hear the whole album, but usually the samples give me a decent idea of how it is, even if the samples give the song (s) little justice, or even if it shows off that one amazing part, making us think that whole song will is great! I just don't care for what I've heard so far.

Okay I actually remember that I heard some songs by Coil that said Hellraiser next to them. You can probably download them. I wonder why Clive Barker didn't use some of them if they were well-done spooky, but anyway .. I checked out the link on amazon. I like some of the melodies on Mind Strip and the dark style of it. I just find it ashame that the hardcore, death metal, or whatever-its-called singing is on virtually every track, because this was my same problem with Velvit Acid Christ, who has several tracks with lots of layers of melodies. Few have no singing on it, and I think its the samples that make that one album as dark as I say it is, and in a good way for what it is. But its ironic that you seem not to like Velvit Acid Christ. If you look at the reviews at the amazon link you posted to Mind Strip, almost every person reccommends or relates some way, that if you like this... (Mind Strip) you should check out or its similar to VAC. Anyway, tastes differ I realize. I'm curious to know if there are any groups in this sub-genra that have these dark, atmospheric, melodies songs, etc.. but without the singing, other than say, psy or goa. I've listened to Apoptygma Berserk (I think thats how you spell) and they have some really cool and sometimes dark, melodic songs with melodies, but some of it is too fluffy. It seems to be a cross between techno, pop, and trance ... and I read its future-pop from some people, but some songs seem pretty psychedelic and catchy with layers of melodies and the singing is clear and not harsh, but the singing nonetheless can get too fluffy and distracting at times also.

I think it would have been better for me to simply say its not my type. But I find Ka-Sol (from what I've heard by them on comps) to be very harsh, noisy, and repetitive. Yes, its dark, and some of it sounds pretty crazy, but overall many of these newer groups don't impress or engage me as Dark Soho did for instance, or regarding more evil, horror psytrance, Xenomorph or Sandman's first album. I think what I'm getting at is the production, style, and melodies. I like tunes, layers, melodies, and Sandman and Xenomorph both have these catchy evil, dark melodies. I find their work much more imaginative and interesting than say, Dark Nebula, Ka-Sol, Derango, or any of this recent big wave of what seems to be, dozens of new dark psytrance artists. Some stuff is cool, and its overall not my type. If I lose interest, I may find it boring to me, that doesn't mean it is bad. Clive Barker was on Coil? What? What tracks? I'm confused. I've heard many of Coils songs and I've never heard Clive Barker (auther of Hell Raiser, etc...) on Coil. Also, Coil is more bizarre than they are dark or evil. Yes, some of their stuff is dark and/or twisted strange. Their work is mostly experimental and techno ... and God knows what other sub genra's are in their work. But to say Velvit Acid Chist is girly? Well his album Fun With Knives is very, VERY dark. The many samples are just fucked up, period. And the melodies are dark! If you open the actual CD cover for this album, he says his influences were Astral Projection, JUNO REATOR, X-DREAM, and several GREAT other artists, so I think as far as dark, evil stuff goes, VLC is worth mentioning, even if not all his works great and I don't care for the tracks that he sings on; it totally distracts from the goatrance, dark psytrance, and techno "influences," and this artist is very familiar with all three. And I looked up Allied Viseion. I've never heard of them before you mentioned them. They seem to have one released album, at least on amazon.com, called Unburied. It sounds... interesting. I'd be interested to hear some samples if any exist. Who or what is Nord? Is he the artist of this or another group or...? http://www.lastsigh.com/reviews/alliedvision2.htm

No, no, let me rephrase it. Mind is good for your Goa and your Goa is good for your mind. HELL YEAH NIGGA!!!

This message has been edited & extended by Jon Cocco: Yes, I agree. Each album was so well done for its time. Their sound and style has become so special and nostalgic. I find it difficult to decide, unless you base it on which several great songs you prefer most on each album. Lets face it, some Transwave songs were just okay, nothing great or even that good!, ...but no artist is perfect, and overall, due to a handful of killer releases, Transwave made some of the coolest music on the planet! I wonder if with the new album, about 10 years later ... they still have it in them to create another imaginative, great, super-cool album; a masterpiece! Regarding the highly anticipated fourth album: My fingers are crossed. After Transwave stopped in 1996?!?! (*Whoa...*) , I feel that neither Frederick or Christof has ever reached the musical level that they achieved when combining their talents together; when they WERE Transwave. My first Transwave song was Land Of Freedom on a comp. I bought Phototropic and soon after, Helium too. Phototropic became my favorite Transwave album because of Land of Freedom and eventually, Malaka Dance too. But when I got Phototropic, I thought every song was going to be as great as Land of Freedom, (because I heard one of their best songs on the comp the first time I heard them) so I was a bit dissapointed when I heard many of the other tracks on Phototropic, because I originally thought everything by Transwave was amazing, which can be an illusion with compilations if you've never heard the artist before. Anyway, I learned that Land of Freedom was one of their "super" or "best" songs, but so was one or two others as it turned out I think. Nevertheless, I was left with a super-cool album with an awesome cover, and I never complained, especially when those albums became unavailable in every place I could imagine them existing online! When looking back at the old goatrance reviews section on THIS SITE, on the reviews for Transwave - Phototropic, I find it surprising and interesting that almost all the reviews on Phototropic were mixed and some were even negative! Just see this for yourself! I was surprised that the ONLY Transwave album highlighted in RED is Helium, and not their first album in ... 1995?!!! Its interesting to see how high our impression of Transwave seems to be now. I think we got a little cocky and under-appreciative of this music in general, during the mid-late 90's, because there was just so damn much of it. We thought it would last forever! But it was gradually fading away, being replaced by similar, but less epic, labyrinthine, and organic sounding beauty. And even when Astral Projection stopped making "awesome" music, and no othe album appeared from Hallucinogen, I think many of us started to realize how special this music was, as goatrance slowly went extinct. Many years later, I can't believe its been so long, I was just a teenager listening to goatrance once, and now those old albums are not only as special than ever, but nostalgic too ... and Transwave (as with some earlier others) has become more special with age. On Helium, the track I found instantly great; an instant classic, was Trashish, and later more tracks like Rezwalker and maybe one other I found to be really good as well. But the style and sound in general is so cool. Transwaves sound in general was great! With Hypnorythm EP (cool intro by the way! ) ... its so hard to compare because I first heard Hypnorythm EP in 1999 or 2000! By that time my standards were already so high and beyond, so I tried to judge it for time ... Since 1999 however, Transwave had not only matured their style, but they stopped making Transwave music altogether! So they split up to separate projects and why they never made a fourth album back then?, I don't know. Their first album was beyond its time, just like Juno Reactors "Transmissions.". I'm voting for the first one, Hypnorhythm EP, because without it there'd be no follow-ups! And I'm aware that Helium was probably the overall most fun and varied album by Transwave, but I already voted so fuck you!, its too late for me to change my vote now. ... And although I'm sure the NEW TRANSWAVE album will be different, as its been ten years, so I'm sure lots will change ... I still hope it retains at least some of that classic Transwave style and sound that makes us smile because we know this is Transwave!, as if their style and sound is the spirit, and after all these years, it has simply become more aware, i.e: improved, developed, matured, and... that after all these years of side-projects, split-ups, hit and misses, etc... that their new album is anything but ordinary, and all the more reason why we still support and talk about goatrance today! AMEN!!!!!!

Wow, come to think of it, you're right! Its now 2005 and I heard Earth Crossing at the end of 2004 (although it's a 2002 album) for the first time ever! I miss music THIS creative, imaginative, beautiful, melodic, catchy, EPIC, ABSORBING and EXCEEDING in expectations! So I looked back at all the psy-trance (and maybe few goatrance) albums of 2002 and to my surprise... Some of the best albums of 2002! Chi-A.D. - Earth Crossing ... A- Space Cat - Power Up ... B Dark Soho - Cumbustion ... B Electric Universe - Unify ... B 1200 Mics - 1200 Micrograms ... B Astral Projection - Amen ... B- (when compared to Another World and DG) X-Dream - Irritant ... B- Logic Bomb - Unlimited ... B- The best goatrance album of the entire year of 2002 was not even released ... and currently remains to be unreleased and hardly known! !!! I can't help but feel some anger that this great album wasn't released in 2002 and sold like crazy!

Just checked psyshop and this isn't even currently on there! No upcoming, no "coming soon" when you do a search for Muses Rapt.. nothing! Has it been released on saikosounds? Is it officially released yet? The first Muses Rapt is still on psyshop, so hopefully this will be too!

Sounds different, interesting, yes... interesting, different, psychedelic and strange... Sometimes more strange than catchy in my opinion. I like melodies, wish there were more melodies in general, more details and layers of melodies ... Regardless, this is unique. Wishes aside, based ont he samples, I like some of what I've heard. I like Dark Door but it seems cluttered in that static for some time, I hope it raises up out of that soon because that track has lots of potential to be quite a stomper, that is, if the sample is merely a build-up. Also, The Overside of Infinity has these catchy slight melodies and chimes which are very cool, hope this all comes together and the tunes don't just pop in and drop out, but eventually come together and form a band of really cool braiding layers of rhythm and catchy melodies and tunes! I'm interested and curious to hear more. I want to hear the entire album from beginning to end. Is it done? Totally done, like mastered, packaged, sealed and ready done? Hopefully it will be available soon.

I thought PSY is simply the abbreviation for the word: psychedelic. Never thought to use it for anything else. Wait a minute, have I been missing something this whole time? No one says or describes something for being i]psy[/i], like meaning "cool" where I'm from. They just say psychedelic or trippy if its referring to a trippy looking picture or some of the music I listen to.

Anyone who thinks they have a problem with the cover has emotional problems. It's not a bad cover, its just very simple and plain looking. More importantly, its the music that counts. Since when have covers become more important than the music on the album? I mean, c'mon, its not like its a bad pornno magazine where you open it only to find tons of fat girls up-the-butt advertisments; where the best thing about it is the shiny, pink clit on the front cover. No, this is a music album. And for a cover that may be all about YOU, it probably looks more busy than it should be. Anyway, I listened to the samples on saiko sounds. I really like the meloldies, and I'm glad he kept his melodic, emotional edge and style! .......................................................................................................................................... Regarding the production: I noticed the beats are more hard, and they appear to be louder this time around. This isn't an album that will be played much on dance floors, will it? ... So I don't think it was necessary to lift up the volume of the beats, as it seems the artist has. The harder, louder beats seem as if they have the potential to sometimes distract from all those nice melodies and rhythms. Does this make any sense? Regardless, its not that much of a big deal, or is it?, Do any of you notice this as well? Also, just because this isn't party music or something I'd show off to a group of friends doesn't mean its cheesy or bad. Being thought-provoking or better for single listening in certain cases makes the experience all the more memorable and enjoyable. I think this may be the case with this type of music, which is why I question the reason for the heavier, louder beats. Nevertheless, I really like what I heard and plan on getting it regardless! J

Yeah, I don't like this at all. Lots of twisting, strange, bottle popping, quirky, weird sounds around several repetitive beats. When will artists realize its not just about twisting, popping, funky psy-sounds? Well I just can't get into this! And I REALIZE that some people really like this stuff ... but I just don't see how most people even into good, dark psy can consider this good, dark, psytrance. When I say good, I think of something more catchy, imaginative, creative, and less repetitive and overall dull than this. This is just so repetitive and boring, boom... boom... boom... noisy harsh sounds looping around and around ... this is not what I consider good or even decent dark psytrance. I actually consider this pretty bad and forgettable when comparing it to the so many better dark psy producing artists out there. I don't even know why I bother talking about it anymore. Sooner or later I'll forget I ever wrote this, but I won't forget how irritating and boring I find this album, and even the singles by this group.. I realize some people really like this and say its crazy, sick stuff... Its just repetitive, noisy dark toned psytrance. A crazy, dark, and good or GREAT album was Scatterbrain for its imaginative sounds, layers, catchy melodies, beats, mixing, voice samples, etc... this however is not remotely close to Scatterbrain, and I agree its the least creative when compared to Penta and Parasense. If you want good or great dark psytrance, you probably already own... KinDzaDza and MANY other recent dark artists that seem to have appeared in the last several years, especially on comps, as if there was a baby boomer... are NO WHERE NEAR the albums listed below. This new dark wave of stuff sounds cheap and just not interesting or creative in comparison to: Dark Soho (first two albums) Sandman - Witchcraft Darshan - Awakening Cydonia But I can actually say one thing about this album that is not negative, and no, its not the fact that the cover looks terrible, (thats not positive) but certain key-board, cpu-sounding melodies actually seem to make up a decent rythm, sounding somewhat catchy in track 8. Other than that however, yes there are other melodies, but its just not catchy or interesting enough. If this artist would focus more on MUCH MORE THAN lots of psychedelic sounds, creating many more melodies (dark melodies) that are catchy, making them even more catchy and imaginative, while also keeping in tons of psy-sounds, well I may actually have more positive to say about this album. But I don't.

Based on the samples I've heard: Technographic, track 2, sounds really good! Those melodies are so cool, beautiful, and catchy! I wonder where the rest of the song goes! However, while listening to the rest of the samples, nothing else seemed close to track 2. More great, or well done tracks and less or NO overall decent or fillers is what most people prefer. I'm getting sick of buying an album with only 1-2 pretty good tracks on it. I hate filler, but this album does seem to have some very well done parts to it... just not enough.

Yeah, thats really cool that they've released a goa comp. There really are some classic tracks. I wonder why they chose certain tracks over others, as there are tracks that are really big classics whether you liked them or not, while some others seem a bit strange as to why they'd exist on this comp. Yet there are so many great songs, I feel these are not all great or classics, but generally speaking, this is a really cool throw-back to the old days. My favorite tracks on this are: Kabalah - Astral Projection Spiritual Healing - Muses Rapt The Key - Indoor But I have almost all of them, and so probably do most of you. Oh well...

lol...

Hi, I recently updated my last post. Also, the point of me mentioning Astral Projection, Dimention 5, etc, was just a general, good example of groups that capatalized on melodies while still retaining some strong feelings (AP, D5) as opposed groups that have melodies but seem to capitalize on emotion (i.e: Muses Rapt, Emuna) so that was the point of me bringing that up; so see which direction you seem to be going for; moving towards, and I believe its the more melodies over emotion, even though there is always feeling of course. I realize Blue Vortex is your debut album, and I would not find it right to directly compare you to some of the biggest acts, like Astral Projection. I mean, I could but I think it would be pointless because you are aware where you stand. I just wanted to re-illustriate my intention of mentioning those certain groups above. And yes, hopefully those groups or some of them are models of excellence that one day your music too will become one of the greats! Anythings possible of course. And yes, I'm aware of the 30 sec samples are overall, not enough time to properly judge, but I can still get a brief impression from a sample, even if its sometimes a poor part in the track to place the secion of the song where the sample has been taken from. I just found them unexciting, with some sounds coming in and out, and maybe those tracks are better or worse, and I realize I'd have to hear the entire song in order to get a full impression. Nonetheless, I would think an artists best songs are on their albums, and I usually avoid comps because many of the other tracks have either been released or don't seem interesting to me. I bought Blue Vortex and heard it in its entirety, almost all the songs twice! With your album, it was only several song samples that really got my attention; certain melodies that sounded very old-skool and catchy, while other sample tracks I just found whatever. I really like old-school melodies in general, so after reading some positive feedback and reviews, I took a chance. Anyway, sometimes a sample will stand out and really grab you, as the original Pendulum song on Four Carry Nuts album (track 7) really did with me; impressing me so much that based on track 1 and 7, I bought the album. Most people get an impression from samples, so if the entire song is really good, its usually easy to see that sweet glmipse in a sample, but sometimes a sample gives little or no justice to the song, and sometimes the song is exactly what the sample suggests, its all relative, it all varies on the song and the listener.

Okay yes, I think one of the key words here is development. Developing your sound, as we all start somewhere. I did hear those three other comp songs and based on the samples, they just sound as unexciting as some of the less stand-out Blue Vortex ones, and I realize they're just samples as I always say but I think some better feedback is this: In Ypsilon 5, you had old-skool melodies that not only gradually began as one or two, but developed into several, forming and swiming in a fairly deep flow of melodies, and they were catchy; the way they sounded, some of them obviously more than others, but these melodies formed together and developed together. Yahel had more of those dance floor killers, where amongst all the beats, sounds, voice samples, etc... was and at times, a very catchy tune among the other melodies which really grabbed you and you felt it. Sometimes more melodies came in and stayed in for some time because they were catchy, but the songs felt complete. Emuna - A classic, underrated, good example of emotional, melodic psytrance. There are feeling in these tracks, even if there is a line of listeners split between those who consider certain melodic emotional psytrance cheesy from those who don't, but there was feeling, the harmonies, tunes, it was like the music was reaching out sometimes and communicating with you as it did with... The Muses Rapt - An even more successful example I think of whats basically melodic trance / psytrance with more feeling and emotional sounds, if that makes any sense. If you've heard either of those two albums, you see the point, but my point is this. Astral Projection , Dimension 5, MFG and Electronic Universe - Now those three groups didn't seem to focus on emotional melodies to the extent of say, Emuna or The Muses Rapt. They focused on great waves of melodies, usually very, VERY catchy and effective for both on and off the dance floor. Sure, certain songs had more "feeling" than others, to each their own of course, but those songs really capitalized on melodies, with leading melodies, minor melodies, and LOTS of change and imagination. Which brings me to the point. Is Blue Vortex aka your sound which is developing... I would think its not trying to be like any of the examples above, butI feel as though many songs are comprised of more of those minor melodies. Sure, there is a nice fanbase for melodic and old-school lovers, and its important to know whether you're trying to focus on more melodies or less ones, more emotion or less emotion, because Blue Vortex seems to have a bit of both and doesn't really capitalize on either, when comparing to the examples above. I hear several melodic notes dabble in and out, in and out, and I'm just waiting for it to all form together and so I can hear those beautiful layers of melodies. Sometimes it seems to actually develop into a stronger wave before stoppin and lifting off to its full potential, while other times its just several notes, they echo, synthesizer, whatever and than they do it again. If you really want to have strong melodic songs, there needs to be more focus and development on the structure; the tune part where the melodies all come together before branching off into fewer sounds and hopefully adding new creative melodies and bringing that same song into even mroe interesting territory. With Blue Vortex, and with imperfect sound production aside, certain tracks just don't seem to have much to them, as some sounds come and go, its so repetitive sometimes, and than the track ends. But other songs really do show that there is potential, potential to take it further or songs that actually do sound pretty final and complete. I can't ask you to sound like this group or that group, and you probably wouldn't won't too. Everyone is different and I encourage innovation, risks, experimentation, maybe the average old-skool psytrance lover does like your music, but please if you truly care, please focus on why those groups above are so respected and aim to reach the higher areas ... please take the time to make each track very well done, interesting, catchy, and engaging, and if that means good, than please aim to have at least several 3-4 really great killer tracks on your albums and the songs on your comps comps should be great because the better they are, the more they'll stand out against all the other songs from the other groups on it. Catchy is key. Take risks, push bounderies, and develop your style into greatness. Which brings me to your album. I try to articulate the descriptions respectfully, giving feedback and simply being honest. Blue Vortex - Marage 01. Mirage This is a pretty good song! I like when the song just stops. Its cool because you're NOT expecting the song to just STOP, then it picks up and its even more catchy. I like that. People like that! I wish there were more unpredictable things like that on this album, not necessarily more stops, just more unexpected, unpredictable areas... because it totally peeks my attention, especially when the song is well done before it happens. Anyway, the bird chirping-like whistle sound is pretty catchy. The melodies are fairly basic but nice, I just wish there were more of them and someting to raise this song up even more, because its a cool song that gets a bit too repetitive. The melodies are nice and this is one of the better tracks on the album. 02. Arda This track is an example of a song which builds up really nicely! At 4:30 there is the beginning of the a strong, what I call leading melody, one that really stands out, lifts the song up, making it more catchy. At around 5:15 it seems you have simply changed the frequency and it is even more catchy sounding. Now after this ended unfortunately, the song has nothing else and I wish it had more really catchy parts to lift it up again, it simply slows down, I realize the melody has to leave sooner or later but the best part was so short. This track proves that YOU CAN do exactly what this album needs more of I strongly feel. You can make solid, catchy melodies! Please focus your energy on this, and push, push, PUSH ... and further develop this potential. Much of this album seems like filler when those melodies aren't there and the time in-between where there are no big melodies should be more wild, catchy enthusiastic, even before the melodies (leading melody come in). 03. Twister Well, the build-up right before 5:53, but the actual hit; break, is so weak and just lacking in power and completion when compared to the interesting, if short build up. The break is just so basic and subtle, and could have been much more blasting and grand. Just listen to that. This is the first track that seems too subtle or simple for its own good. Because after that tune at 5:53, the song tampers off and its over at around 7:20. This is exactly why I stress importance of structure, creating that mountain of melodies. How far are you willing to take it? How high, catchy, captivating are you williing to make it? Have you heard the original Pendulum by Four Carry Nuts, or Chi-A.D.'s Exit Eternity? Those tracks are so catchy, melodic, and the structure is simply put, great. I wonder if you guys can pull of tracks like that in your own style while yes I know, not going on for too long and remaining very friendly and catchy. Anyway, I wish Twister twisted more than it did. Every track can be good with lots of focus and more time taken to improve it. An example of a great break is M.W.N.N.'s Own the World. If you aim to impress you will, and although you may have not intended to impress with this track, the only thing it seemed to had going for it that would have really stood out was the lift off, which was like a bird breaking its wing right before take off.. thats just what I felt anyway. 04. Sismic amplifier Better than track 3. The direction we're talking about is much more clear in this track than in twister, where as in Twister I couldn't tell where it was going, and I like to be surprised, but when it came to the moment to lift off it was so weak souding. This whole track flows better and KEEPS its melodies through-out. Its not great, but it is pretty good and more of a cool kick back to the older days of cool melodies working together to form a "band" of music thats very plesent to listen to. One thing, and I realize you realize this, the production has got to be better so that your sounds aren't hindered in any way; so that your melodies are more "brought-out" in the studio, mixing programs, thus to have more depth and sound more juicy, yes JUICY!, etc.. bring your sounds out more. A decent song, but not as good as... 05. Primal objective This is a much better song than tracks 3 and 4, and one of the better songs on the album. When its one of the better or best songs, I'll say exactly that. The sounds and melodies suit it really well, giving this song more CHARACTER than say... track 3, 4, ... and thankfully, this song seems to have a better song than it... which is, 06. Frozen Waters Yes, this is [arguably the best song on the album.] At 3:03 I really feel that this song rocks. Cool psychedelic sounds, the entire song seems so much better than many of the other songs here. Do you not see this? You have gotta see this. The melody at 3:57 about, there is feeling, it IS catchy. I really like this and I'm SURE many listeners will agree with me. The melody carries over and stops around 4:38 but it was very catchy, didn't stay repetitive, and that melody seems to differ from the one around 3:03, and has more feeling still, while a new melody forms around 5:23. Okay, can you please do more involved, psychedelic and melodic tracks, uplifting, upbeat tracks like this but totally different visions; characters of course? This is exactly why I know that with time and passion, you can really make good songs, songs that are not remotely close to being average. Although Frozen Waters ended around 7:00 fading out, I'm glad it ended when it did, as this song felt complete. It was interesting through-out and fun to listen to. 07. Trancelucid horizon Not a bad song, although not as good as track 5 and 6. The knocking-pop/click echo'd sound adds some nice interesting background sounds. As far as melodies, the first several minutes are just some tunes; notes sustained or not, coming and going. Sounds thrown around the beat. They're there, but they just seem there to be there, nothing more. When the song fades into the only existing, simple, individual melody at around 3:20, there are several brief seconds of intrigue, like where will this go; what will happen now? I think what happens is decent, its just pretty basic and unexciting, thats all. It could have gone more, done more, more melodies, something.... more interesting. When time goes by and I'm quickly osing interest fast, something starts around 5:20, a build up... I like the sample and wish there were just two or three more on this album, (although saying the world has changed is pretty darn general if you'd ask me) it adds character and sounds cool. After that the song does improve, but it lacks something to take it further and really captivate the listener. Its one of those tracks that I think people will say is nice, its plesent, its not bad, but does that mean its really good or great? It could have been better and its one of the better tracks on the album. 08. Nimlies snowparty I'll have to hear this again. It seeemd to have some really nice, old-skool sounding melodies in it. 09. Tree of Life A nice chill downtempo track, its cool. Not bad, not great, just simple and pleasent. In conclusion, this is a well done album. There are some good tracks, some ones that could have been much better or re-invented, improved, or switched out for some better ones I feel, but nothings perfect. The old-skool melodies are really nice. It shows you have potential and I'm looking forward to how your sound and style develops. Just concentrate on these seveal things... for starters. Imagination. Be imaginative, very, VERY imaginative! Not just imaginative because its obvoius that all your tracks take imagination to make. Focus - Improve and advance what your good at (melodies for starters) and focus even more on what has the potential to be so much more improved. (lift-off climaxes, more involved, intricate melody work, structure, sounds, and atmosphere. Time - What you release is final. Its done, basically irriversible unless you pull it which is rare. What people hear from you is how you will be judged. The more time, work, and creativity yu put in, the more people will notice your work. There are no excuses for poor or lacking production sound or other-wise. I feel that the artists who feel they have the talent and creativity, should take the time to make every song really good, great, to its full potential. The artists songs reflect the person. It's the listeners who give feedback, but listen to your hearts and dreams and don't be afraid to take chances, push the limits, make your music more layered or not, (although I really like layers such as AP, D5, Pleadians, Filteria, Cosmosis, Hallucinogen, etc.) its your music. Passion - It seems that there are always certain tracks that artists feel more strongly about than others. This is normal, as you too probably have tracks you favor over others that you've. If you make a song based on how you feel in the moment, if its a strong feeling, hold that, remember that, try to re-create that feeling; state, and incorporate that into your work. It seems that Emuna and Muses Rapt especially did a great job at capturing those strong emotions and incorpoerating them into the songs. I don't know how emotional or not... you're willing to take your music, but regardless, if you feel passionate about something, go for it and try to accentuate that for the listener. An album with all great tracks can be a most powerful thing, whether dangeriously bad or great, because the extent of how you make your emotions in your imagination is limitless. I think thats why certain artists have such dreamy, deep and powerful tracks... while other artists simply make a track to appeal, make money, sound passable or cool and thats it. I sense certain passion in your work when hearing some of the melodies on this album. Being critical aside, I'm looking forward to eventually hearing the next main album, assuming it will be by Rumble Pack. Good luck!

Well I recently bought this album, finally heard it ... and I'm a big fan of melodies, enjoy old-school melodies, and have LOTS of melodic psytrance, both old school and new. Although I did enjoy several tracks, many tracks seem a bit too minimal to me, as such there are just not that many melodies. Certain tracks do stand out, but overall I feel as though its quite simple, repetitive, and while its nice sounding, more layers of melodies, more catchy melodies and imagination I feel this album would be even better with. I can see it in that group of 2004 melodic albums such as Yplison 5 and the Pure Planet Comp, but I don't feel as though this is better than those, at least not right now. Okay look, I was expecting more. Thats all. Something with an edge, more melodies, with more flow, rhythm, more energy, movement, enthusiasm, structure and sounds; layers & development. What I got was a simple, pleasent album with some nice old-school sounding melodies here and there. None of the songs lift me up and impress, and although several songs seem to be well done for what they are, I feel that several tracks seem to be lacking something. During many tracks, it was like ... I was waiting for something to come in and really push up the entire song, I was waiting for a strong leading, catchy melody to appear over the more simple sounds and melodies, which do repeat many times around a simple kick-drum beat; something to really lift off the song and bring it to new heights. There are few but several songs that stand out as more catchy. I liked these over certain others, and I'll have to listen through this album again to make sure which ones those tracks are, but as of right now, I feel this is a decent, (meaning okay) okay, well more than okay; above average but NOT great and I stress right now to say pretty good... -- I'll just say an above average album that may be worth checking out if you're into old-skool melodies in err.. trance? I'm sorry but this really isn't all that psychedelic or really melodic to me, but it is obviously melodic, and it is more melodic than psychedelic. Hopefully the next release by ... Rumble Pack will have more catchy layers of melodies that come together, with more imagination, things that really stand out as clever and truly catchy and full of idea's ... songs which are more interesting, with less simple and predicatable formula and hopefully more feeling! One thing Yahel's old albums had (and yes, YAHEL's first two albums were very well done) was feelin! There was emotion in certains songs and several of his songs involved very catchy, CATCHY melodies which really new how to work the mind and body, whether for a listener just listening or one dancing to; there was more feeling and imagination to his melodies and music. Anyway, I'll listen to Blue Vortex a second time. Maybe I'm missing something because some of the same reviewers above I usually agree with when it comes to many albums. Maybe I simply find Yplison 5 and Pure Planet more catchy than this for right now... and so in time (couple days) I may change this post... but if not, well... Lastly, regarding the comment above about Blue Vortex changing their name to Rumble Pack. Just my 2 cents... I don't see the reason or point calling the group Blue Vortex, as it sounds more like a good name for an actual track title than an actual group. I'm not sue why they chose to change their name to Rumble Pack. I'm just being honest here, but to me Rumble Pack sounds like a pack of fire crackersl; it just sounds silly and weak for a name, unless they release an album that is so crazy and wild, that this name perfectly suits the name, "RUMBLE PACK," like a pack, meaning group, and RUMBLE meaning WILD; songs intent on shaking up the floor... thats just what I think anyway. A name is the first thing people hear or see usually when they're introduced to a group, and its nice when a group picks a name that symbolizes something about them; telling the listener about the group, image, purpose, vision, characteristic's, etc.. a name; something that really makes an impact and gets your attention. If RUMBLE PACK decides to continue making the same Blue Vortex psytrance style music, I think another name would do it much better justice... On the other hand, if Rumble Pack is more spiced up, involved, developed, aggressive, (hopefully much more catchy) psytrance thats wild, fun, really captivates you with lots of energy and passion, aggression and crazyness, than I think the words, "Rumble Pack" may sound very appropriate. Just some thoughts to consider, thats all.

Yes, Ice-O-Lator. I was looking it up and updating my above post while you were posting too. I wonder if there are any more Chi-A.D. singles coming out in soon, like 2005. I agree that he sticks to his sound, his melodies, and I respect that too, but this track doesn't seem as hypnotic and as atmospheric and trancing and enlightening and/or as overall deep and with as much feeling, as some of his best songs on Earth Crossing and prior to that. Does that make any sense? Have you heard the entire song? Of course this is just a sample. I hope we can some day again see singles that are great by Chi-A.D., kind of like Eye Am the Eye, Celestrial, and Exit Eternity, (My all time Chi A.D. favorite "single:) but new, top, epic, melodic, goatrance ones I would really like that, ya know? Gotta run, bed time over here! heh, Good night to you!

A new song by Chi-A.D. called SS4 Version 1.3? I didn't know until you mentioned it! I found the two minute sample of SS4 Version 1.3 at... http://www.boomrecords.com/label_releases.html I didn't know he has gotten bad feedback for Earth Crossing. I mean, theres always someone who doesn't like something, but all the reviews and feedback I've read, at least the majority on these forums seems so positive. Earth Crossing is one of the greatest goatrance albums in years and I still think it should be released. What makes anyone think that a random no-name artist will sell more copies than Chi a.d.? It just doesn't seem to make any sense why they still haven't released Earth Crossing but I may as well drop it, as I realize we've all been through those talks.

This really was one of those full-on releases that not only totally stood out from the majority of unimaginative, repetitive, full-on crap in 2004! I actually really enjoyed this album and I usually can't stand full-on because its BEEN sounding all too similar and just NOT creative or imaginative. Lemurians - Secret Message is certainty one of the better (probably top 3) full-on releases of 2004, with enough catchy melodies, beats, and sounds to keep it interesting and fun through-out, ESPECIALLY for the dance floor, working out, or driving, where you aren't expecting really hypnotic and deep songs. This has some really solid, catchy songs without singing! The creative and rare but occasional eerie melodies and more existing lift-off sequences really made this album entertaining. This is on my top 20 best albums of 2004 and that might not seem like it says alot, but for me to give any album a B-, that USUALLY says a lot. This album would fall into the same category, but not style, as 1200 Mics new album, which is worth checking out too if you want a fun, party friendly, melodic full-on album that actually has some better thought and creativity invested for what it is. This is NOT a dark album, but it is night psytrance for sure. It just has some unique, cool melodies, really cool lift-of parts, and even some catchy, altered voices (not singing) to boot! There are no bad tracks on this 3456 0album, and I hope the next release by these artists is not good but great, with more layers and imagination. This IS their best album and more people should check it out. B Samples: http://www.psyshop.com/shop/CDs/sst/sst1cd018.html

Thats right! lol...