Rotwang

You'll be pleased to hear that the version of the cover shown at psyshop (i.e. the first one I posted) is the final version, rather than that on the Osom site.

V/A - Kokopelli (Conscious Dreams) Press Release: Tracks (click titles for Saiko Sounds sample): 1) Tom & Gijs - Whale 9:39 First up we have a rather slow, slightly melancholy ambient piece. While an ethereal flute melody gives it direction, the most memorably feature of this tune is the percussion line, in which a collection of watery noises trace out an unusual rhythm. By the end of this track the listener's mind could not be further removed from the busy streets of Amsterdam, and this very nicely sets the stage for the rest of the album. 2) Siebzehn - Kali yuga 6:39 Kali yuga sounds a lot more upbeat than the previous track. After a short beatless intro a sequence of different melodies keep it interesting, while a dub-influenced rhythm section holds everything together. 3) CloudWalker - Green radiance 8:35 A truly fantastic tune up next. It opens with a huge, sweeping synth which sounds like wrapping yourself in a warm blanket. The track builds gradually, sprinkling melody on top of melody until around four and a half minutes, before giving way to a stringy midsection with no bass or percussion. Then it builds up again before being gradually dismantled. I hope to hear some more from this artist soon. 4) Siebzehn - Hangar 6:08 Another dubby piece from Siebzehn, this one opens with some nice distant bagpipe sounds before returning to more familiar territory. I find it slightly nondescript compared to the previous tracks, but it's nice enough. 5) Siebzehn - Interzone 9:49 This, however, is marvellous. It begins with some very atmospheric chimes, and a wonderfully soft, muffled bassline. Then out of nowhere a harsher melody announces its presence like some kind of alien voice. But the best is yet to come, namely the lovely staccato melody which starts at the five minute mark. 6) Prosect - Palenque 7:09 After scaring the shit out of the listener by sticking something which sounds like the snarl of Cerberus into the middle of an ambient intro, Palenque moves into fairly familiar ethno-chill territory. But don't take that as criticism, because this is far from run of the mill. Lots of nice tribal drumming, this is a bit faster than the rest of the album but there's enough variety on this CD that it doesn't sound out of place. 7) Moravec - Hyperion 9:56 This track is built around a somewhat folorn melody. It doesn't progress much over the course of its ten minute length, but there's enough going on over the top to keep it from getting boring. 8) Organix - Swim & glide 8:04 Up next is another track which is built around a slow, low melody, though this one has a mildly sinister feel to it. Some really nice, deep synth noises here. 9) Samorost - You 5:45 Not sure about this one. It's nice, no doubt, but every time I hear that piano line I can't help but think of Essential Coffee Table Chillout with a Photo of a Woman's Silhouette in front of a Sunset on the Cover: Volume 41 or something. This is surely a product of my own prejudice rather than a problem with the track itself, but it does make it harder for me to enjoy. Overall:This is a great compilation; a nice tracklist which has a lot of variety, without sacrificing coherence. Pretty much every track is good, and a few are really, really good. It's also worth mentioning that the album artwork, made by Dutch artist Dadara, is very nice. Thoroughly recommended. 8.5/10 Favourite Tracks: 1, 3(!), 5(!), 6, 7

Yes. I'm not sure, but I think he had already left before Peace for the Wicked. Not even that. I've listened to the samples a load of times but it's never really grabbed me. Sorry. I think it's excellent. Been meaning to write a review for ages, I probably will in a couple of weeks.

Enichkin - Particle of Infinity Some people seem to rate this artist really highly, though I'm struggling to see the appeal. I'd like to know what people here think of it.

Sorry. But then the track length itself is also something of a giveaway. Psykovsky and KDD (I assume - the CD packaging is short on credits). I actually don't own The Debut, so I can't say how it compares. But the Osom tracks sound closer to Alien Mental's Mind Hack than to anything else I can think of. The KDD & * tracks (4 and 5) sound quite similar to Waves from Inner Space. Thanks

Nice to see I'm not the only psytrancer who likes Mucha.

V/A - Midnight's Shared Blossom (Osom Music) Press Release: Tracks (click titles for Saiko Sounds sample): 1) Osom - exorcisto 16:32 The album opens with a nice trilogy of Osom tracks. These are in a similar vein to Alien Mental's album, a style which could be called "swirling mess psy", albeit with a more electric, less organic sound. The opener is a real epic, and not just because of its length. Many times this track fools the listener into thinking it's about to end, when in fact it has only stepped back to take a run-up before launching into the next sonic onslaught. Over the course of the first thirteen or so minutes it gradually becomes more deranged, more samples get piled onto one another (I felt particularly pleased with myself the first time I noticed the Unreal sample just after the nine minute mark) and the music becomes more and more like the Revolver-inspired collage which decorates the box, until eventually collapsing into a confused, meandering beatless passage. Great. 2) Osom - xaggittariuss 5:17 This short track is largely built around a sequence of sampled melodies, which sound like they may be from cartoons or traditional Russian music or the like. It can't have been easy to arrange them into something which sounds like a coherent piece of dance music, but remarkably they managed it. In fact the end result is much better than merely "coherent"; it's bloody great. 3) Osom - wimp 7:55 Despite the high BPM, wimp has a kind of subdued feel to it. It's quite minimal compared to the previous two tracks, and mainly consists of a deep, rumbling bassline together with a collection of soft buzzing sounds, and one slightly twee xylophone melody. The effect of all this is really quite hypnotic, even soporific. 4) Kindzadza & Technical Hitch - midnight's blossom 7:47 5) Kindzadza & Select Project - power snap 7:42 These two tracks are much closer in style to Kindzadza's last album; the jangly, clockwork sounds make a welcome return, though this time they have a much more jagged edge - think of the eardrum-stabbing noises which made the last two minutes of Back to the Future so great and you're on the right lines. An excellent direction for Kindzadza to take in my opinion. Both of these tracks also have just the right balance in terms of song structure - they have enough progression to stay interesting, while each theme hangs around long enough to draw you in and keep your hips moving. 6) Psykovsky & Furious - cat returns 10:29 A collaboration between Psykovsky and Furious, this basically sounds like a cross between a Psykovsky track and a Furious track. If, unlike me, you're a big fan of either of those artists then you'll probably like this a lot. I find it sounds nice enough, but there's nothing here that gets me terribly excited. 7) Psykovsky & Energy Loop - mess in the shop 5:55 And here we find the obligatory extreme-BPM passage (around 210 or so). Do not want. Other than that this track is quite nice, albeit with a few nails-on-blackboard moments. 8) Osom - sametc 5:41 Sametc opens with another extreme-BPM bit, although this time it actually works - it's utterly undanceable of course, but it's dense enough to keep one's ears pleasantly overwhelmed. There's also the bit with a series of irritating stops and starts of the sort which are all the rage at the moment, a Venetian-Snaresy bit which is eerily reminiscent of the cake music out of Brass eye, and a bit in 3/4 time. Overall this track leaves me with the impression that the artists wanted to fill it with a load of gimmicks which are currently very trendy despite not actually being very good. 9) Osom - shelest plasheY 8:04 This is more like it: no ridiculous tempos or other daft gimmicks, just straightforward darkpsy as made by two people who are really, really good at it. The only drawback is that it's quite difficult to think of anything else to say about it, so I'll leave it at that. Overall: If you're a fan of Russian darkpsy then this release is absolutely essential. Please don't be put off by my negative comments on parts of the album; even the tracks I'm not so keen on are leagues ahead of most of the psytrance that gets released. And the rest is just brilliant. 9/10 Favourite Tracks: 1(!), 2(!), 3(!), 4(!!), 5(!), 9

@ CC/Anoebis: possibly a waste of time, but have you tried following the advice given here ("What if your rights have been violated")? You might find that they will take down your stuff if you ask them, rather than risk getting sued and having their whole operation brought down.

+1

Indeed, but it's easy to overlook the fact that he did some awesome happy stuff too. In case you're not aware of it, check out his Suite for Variety Stage Orchestra (or his Jazz Suite no. 2 as it is often incorrectly called). For example: link link

I've no idea why, but I find Bluetech - A Garland of Stars intensely depressing.

My opinion of Aphex Twin is that he makes outstanding novelty pop records (and I know that sounds patronising, but I really don't mean it to be - there's nothing wrong with making novelty pop records if they're good) but his more "serious " stuff just sounds pretty boring to me. Though I haven't listened to his early albums in years, I guess I should check them out again to see if they've grown on me. Best band in the history of the universe, evargh. Pure aural architecture.

Deffo

This is good. The Osom tracks are in a similar vein to Alien Mental's album, albeit more self-consciously weird, and the Kindzadza & * tracks sound like a more jagged version of Waves from Inner Space. I'm not so keen on the Psykovsky & * tracks, they have a few too many stops and starts and tempo changes for my liking, but if you're a fan of Psykovsky's other work you'll probably dig them. I intent to write a review at some point.

edit: Oops, wrong button.

Nope. You'll kick yourself.

Nope. Try again.

Marie's father has five daughters: 1. Chacha 2. Cheche 3. Chichi 4. Chocho 5. ???? Question: What is the fifth daughter's name?

I've got Solar Fields' Extended for my Dad, thanks to Supergroover.

Also this:

+1 from me.