franki

Going back to the Arabesque scenario - the big benefit as I see it (from a customer's point of view,) is that all the new releases are easy to find in one place and you can keep track of when everything is coming out. Useful if you buy a broad spectrum of psymusic and don't fancy trawling all through the internet to find and order new CDs. I guess though, as more and more people become aware of the Suntrip Shop, direct sales will go up. Suntrip is lucky in having a good reputation and loyal fanbase that will probably check the site for news now and then.

I do share much of your view on the environment, Radi - I also take my own bags shopping, so there's no need for new plastic ones every time, plus I recycle as much as I can. I guess we all have our own guidelines as to what our conscience deems acceptable environmentally. It was just the blanket "downloads are better than CDs" statement that I took issue with.

I can't see how you can just say "downloads are better than CDs". I understand the environmental argument, but where do you draw the line? I think there are much bigger chunks of consumer product draining our resources to worry about than the CD which is dwindling in sales anyway. With a CD you can rip it and then do anything with the file that you could a downloaded one, plus you'd have a physical back-up. Without wanting to enter into a CD vs digital argument, there are advantages & disadvantages to both, I feel.

I'd agree with Hermit Sanctuary. I thought he earlier E-Mantra downtempo albums were o.k. but lacking any really involving or spectacular moments. Hermit Sanctuary was much better IMHO. Better atmospheres and more depth.

Thanks for sharing this information! As an avid collector of CDs (I have all the Suntrip CD releases) this makes interesting reading. I'm surprised that download sales are so low, but maybe, like myself, the kind of people interested in owning this music prefer a physical format. I would expect the CD vs Digital graph for more mainstream genres to be very different. Personally, I don't like paying for downloads - it feels like I'm not really getting anything for my money, so whereas I buy just CDs, I guess some others who also don't like paying for downloads, probably just download illegaly for free in many cases. I do feel a bit guilty buying the bulk of my Suntrip CDs from Arabesque, but it works out cheaper and I'm pretty much guaranteed next day delivery. If this is impacting heavily on Suntrip as a label, I could probably be convinced to buy more direct from the Suntrip Shop...

Same here, but I only buy music on CD and even then can't keep up with everything I want, let alone do it all justice by playing it often enough. If I downloaded music too, either free or purchases, I'd be in real trouble! (Plus it takes too long to sift through the masses of digital releases all over different websites.) Therefore I limit my music collecting to just what comes out on CD. (I also have a problem with paying for something intangible like a download - so that puts me off too and I love building up a CD collection.) At a quick reckoning, I purchased 16 CDs in September. 14 of which were Psytrance (& related genres,) and have no plans to stop any time soon!

My tastes have broadened. Some of it is to do with age I think, but partly exposure to different genres too. Some psytrance styles have taken me a while to "get". It took a lot of listening to appreciate some of the higher bpm Darkpsy (it sounded just too frantic to begin with, but I love it now!) and even longer to get into the Zenon style of prog. I liked the sounds, but found it really ploddy and boring until quite recently. ( I think seeing Sensient play at Cosmo Festival had a lot to do with finally appreciating the Zenon vibe.)

I think it sounds promising. Could be the sort of album that gets played over and over as it's something a bit different and has a mixed bunch of styles.

I only listen to music on CD unless I'm checking out samples or the odd mix on soundcloud or something. I don't have a particularly new or expensive system, but it sounds bang-on. I've got a Pioneer PD S 703 stable platter CD player, with the funky turntable that takes the disc upside down & a Pioneer A 509 amp. Both are getting on a bit now, but I can't really fault them. These run through a pair of Tannoy 636 speakers which are my pride & joy. They sound superb.

The latest Cds I've bought are: Massive Noise, 100 Feet Deep World People, Indian Rhythm Enichkin, The Ride Ovnimoon, Trancemutation Of The Mind, V.A. The Mysteries Of Psytrance Vol. 3 V.A. The Call Of Goa Sub Signals Vol. 1 Mixed by Gaudi Crop Circles EPs

I'm not a huge fan. I don't mind the odd tune or two, but have had enough by the end of an album. The main aspects I dislike are the too-similar melodies that are so in your face and frantic and the cheese element which I find hard to pin-point and explain, (but the bellydance music quote above, does the job quite well.) The tunes don't have any room to breathe before you're off again with an O.T.T. Middle-Eastern melody. I do like the "laser-kicks", however. I've bought a couple of CDs but, much as I like some of them, I can't wait for them to end by about two thirds of the way through. Nitzho seems to me to rely heavily on many of the elements that put people off some Nu-school Goa.

I always liked this one, it was a doulble CD too:

I'm the opposite, I'd usually rather buy artist albums than compilations! Sensient's new album is awesome though. With that I agree 100%!

I took delivery of "Trancemutations Of The Mind" yesterday and after the first play, I like it a lot. I love the rich sounds and quality production. Not so keen on the Euro-trancey, breathy, vocal samples, but they don't ruin it. I must say I prefer it to the last album and that was pretty damn good! The Mysteries Of Psytrance series is excellent too. The third volume arrived with the Ovnimoon CD, I've only played disc 1 so far, but it sounds as good as Vol.s 1 & 2.

I like a lot of the Osom & Tantrumm stuff, but not the Antagon / Paralocks style that much. I find it irritating and not very psychedelic. I used to love Free-Radical Records, but the latest couple of releases are moving towards a style I'm not fond of.

Difficult to put into order, because I like a lot of sub-genres equally. Top are: Forest, Goa (old & new), Darkpsy & twilight / nighttime psytrance Next up: Full-on (Free-spirit records style, not the Israeli style stuff,) Zenonesque, the odd bit of prog as long as it's got elements of psy. (Much of it I find lacks any excitement or real interest.) Then: Hi-tech. Some is excellent, but a lot of the more recent releases don't have much of a psytrance feel at all. Lastly: Israeli style full-on. I really hate the commercial sounding stuff, especially if guitars are involved or any industrial elements. I love some Psy-bient -chill-dub etc, but I'm more selective than I am with dancefloor music.

I absolutley love that track!!! (& the Demoniac Insomniac one that follows it on the album.) The thundering kick drums are immense! That's how Darkpsy should be done in my opinion!

I've had CDs skip back over & over too. But they had visible scratches.

Oh yeah... sorry I skimmed over that bit!

I bought Contact and had the first play yesterday. Hmmmmmm. It sounds like a collection of tracks recorded over several years on different equipment / studios rather than brand new material. This is o.k. though as I like most of the music a lot. It's in the full-on camp, but for sure, has Goa stylings too. What I don't like though, (and spoils an otherwise really good album IMHO) are the vocal samples. They are too loud, too frequent and badly chosen, especially the woman reading a passage from The Lord Of The Rings on (iirc) D-Beam Magical. That sounds truly terrible.

What kind of problem with playback are you experiencing? I have issues with a few CDs ( Peak Records - Epeakurean, Archaic - Wildness, Master Margherita - Mastura) that make horrible "scratching" pulsing noises on the odd track. (Usually near the end of the CD.) I thought it might be the CD player, as it doesn't happen on my cheaper one in another room, but I bought a second copy of one of the discs, as it's one of my favourites, but the new disc behaved exactly the same. The Pioneer player is quite old, but playback is usually very reliable, even playing heavily scratched discs (although those mentioned are in perfect condition visually,) I thought the laser might be wearing out, but if two copies of the same disc present problems, there must be at least something wrong with them, don't you think? Has anyone else experienced similar noise when playing discs? The intensity of it varies dramatically on consecutive plays. Love to know what is the cause.

I like a lot of Darkpsy, but not the type heavy with horror samples and all that evil stuff. Seems a bit childish to me. Not as keen on some of the Hi-tech styles, especially when it gets too glitchy and the beat & flow is constantly interrupted. I love Forest, but more the Parvati sound to Ka-sol. I think in general Darkpsy can be a lot more hypnotic, trancey & psychedelic than full-on / regular psytrance, as it relies less on commercial sounding breakdowns and obvious hooks. It's easier to get lost in. (Like Goa Trance.)

Got my CDs too. Proper timeless classics!

I'm aware of the TB 303 & 808/909s (who isn't that has ever had a passing interest in dance music!), there were two guys I new in my school days who had SH101 synths (but they were brand new then!), but other than that I don't really know much about producing electronic music or have any ambitions to start making any. It doesn't interest me that much what equipment or software is used. I think it only really becomes a fascination if you begin producing yourself. (I'm interested in and know much more about guitars and CDJs for example, because I do mix and play six string a little...) I think having a little knowledge on a subject does make you very critical though. Once you start to learn how to DJ, you spot every mistake someone makes and it's difficult sometimes to just listen to a DJ mix and enjoy it for what it is, without listening harder to the mixes between tracks themselves than the music. I imagine it's similar listening to other producers - without judging their work, if you make electronic music yourself.

Forest is probably my favourite type of trance, but I prefer the Parvati Records / Phreex Network kind of sound to Ka-Sol, Attoya, Hallucinogenic Horses etc. I love the more hypnotic, deep, bassline grooves, stuff like this: http://youtu.be/lYLq0FKjQRM http://youtu.be/FnZm0SIO4VA Some fave albums (other than pretty much everything on Parvati!) are: