travbrad1001

I really like Yann Tiersen, he's a French minimalist composer, who sort of combines classical music with French folk (so it's not strictly "classical"). It's pretty simple compared to most classical music, but the songwriting is great IMO and he uses a wide variety of instruments (accordions, toy pianos, vibraphone, banjo, etc) so it has a wide variety of different sounds. The melodies are actually somewhat similar to goa/psy melodies too.

Well it apparently loads slowly sometimes which would indicate crappy server(s). I have 6mbit/1mbit and it took about 20-30 seconds, not exactly what I would call fast. In fact I don't think I've seen a slower loading site since dial-up days. Those menus are pretty cool though, but it can't make up for their terrible music . From that video it appears they are now an industrial band?

That Satumnaisuus album is awesome. I think I might agree that it's the best downtempo of the year Will have to give it a few more listens before it really sinks in.

Oops I didn't even notice that lol. I have to admit I'm not familiar with that artist. I'll edit the list accordingly

Psynews.org? Seriously though, I don't know of any dedicated review sites. I prefer a forum for music reviews anyway, that way you can get many peoples opinion on it.

I'm downloading that Satumnaisuus stuff right now, thanks for link. I haven't heard hardly any Finnish chillout/downtempto, but I love suomi. Well I do like a lot of jazz music, so maybe that has something to do with it I don't think it's the best album either, but it's one of the better chillout albums I've heard this year (which admittedly hasn't been much). To each his own though

I haven't listened to as much as I'd like this year, but my favorites so far are Eat Static, Hol Baumann, Vataff Project, Distant System, and Orchid Star

It sounds to me like you simply don't like goatrance, which is fine. When you don't like a genre of music, all music from that genre tends to sound the same. Yes, they do all have similarities (otherwise it wouldn't be goa), but there are also some big differences. I think full-on artists are actually harder to tell apart than goa. There are a few that stand out, but 90% of it is really generic. P.S. Do you think Infected Mushroom would have existed without goa? Have you heard their new music? It doesn't sound like it was made by "geniuses"

Yep that's about all it's good for, although even some of those clips are in the wrong place. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_electronic_music_genres is what I use(d) to check out all the different genres (unfortunately I don't like most of them but that's another matter ). It has more genres, and a lot more artists listed. Not many audio clips, but those aren't too hard to find on the interweb.

I can't make an accurate full list (and I haven't heard all of them), but Khetzal - Corolle is at the top, closely followed by RA - 9th

I actually consider that a good thing sometimes. There are so many different melodies being played that I will never memorize the song and get sick/bored of it. It's cool being able to discover new things each time I listen to a song, but I do also enjoy more "catchy" music (like blues, reggae, rock, etc). I do remember some classical melodies too, but there are just so many that I couldn't possibly remember them all I do consider classical music "superior" as far as technical ability and songwriting go, especially when you consider how long ago it was written. It's just some very complex music rhythmically, melodically, and harmonically. That doesn't necessarily mean it's better music though, simpler songs can be just as good or better IMO. Some music just sounds good to me, some doesn't. I don't think goa can really be compared to classical music. They do share some similarities (as all music does) but there are more differences than similarities. I think the most similar melodies in classical music would be from the Boroque era, but it's not similar at all rhythmically. JS Bach, Domenico Scarlatti, and Carlos Seixas are my favorite boroque composers. Ambient like Brian Eno/Steve Roach is probably the most similar electronic music to classical IMO, but it's still not that similar. On the other hand, goa/psy/etc composers get to do some very interesting things with sound itself. It's not just about writing the melodies, but also tweaking/perfecting the SOUND of those melodies. This is something classical composers couldn't really do back then.

Yep, it's pretty rare to find someone who even knows what trance is here (Minnesota, US), let alone psytrance. Everything is "techno" or "techno crap". It's strange because I feel like I get to listen to this special music that no one knows about. Unfortunately, it means there are virtually no psytrance acts that perform anywhere close to me, and certainly none that I like. It's not surprising though, psytrance is a very different type of music than most people are used to. It usually doesn't have lyrics either, which automatically means most people won't like it. Simple chords/melodies/beats with generic lyrics is where it's at apparently. It would be nice to buy the albums (and listen) in a shop too, but I don't mind ordering online too much. It's funny looking at the electronic section of the stores that supposedly carry "rare" albums. You can find such rarities as Prodigy, Moby, and if you're lucky maybe some Oakenfold

and some more... EDIT: Nevermind it won't let me post anymore

Most of my favs have already been posted, but here are some others I think are cool. My favorite right now is probably the Krusseldorf cover

Nice topic, interesting to see the paths we all take to find psytrance. It seems like a lot of people who like psytrance liked Metal and/or "hippy" music first, which makes sense I guess. I got started at a very young age on old records my parents had (Ray Charles, Aerosmith, just a bunch of random stuff). When I got a bit older (like 8-13yo) I got really into the whole "grunge" thing (Nirvana, Green Day, Weezer, etc). When I was about 13-16, I started getting more into metal and punk (Megadeth, Iron Maiden, Offspring, Ramones, Dead Kennedys, Rage Against the Machine, etc), and also a bit of rap (wu-tang, bone thugs, etc) Towards the end of high-school I started to really explore a lot more musical genres (also started smoking reefer a lot more, and tried some psychedelics for the first time). I got really into 60s music in particular (Beatles, Doors, Pink Floyd, Hendrix, etc), and started getting into electronic music (Prodigy, Aphex Twin, Chemical Bros, Oakenfold). When I was 18-20 I finally discovered psy (in the form of Hallucinogen - LSD) and started getting really into that (all the big names Shpongle, IM, Astral Projection, etc). This was also the time of my heaviest psychedelic use, which I think played a role in me liking psytrance so much. The past few years (I'm 23) I've really just gone "all out" exploring music. Jazz, Blues, Classical, Folk, Psychedelic Rock, Reggae, IDM. I've also discovered a fair bit of "ethnic" music I like (a lot from India, but also China, Japan, Hungary, Iran). I have to admit I don't like psytrance quite as much as I used to, but it still holds a special place in my heart. There's just "something" about psytrance that no other music has. I've recently gotten into suomisaundi (I already had some actually I just didn't realize it ) and I'm really enjoying it. It has everything, weird trippy sounds, strange song structures, and great melodies.

Their new music sucks so that's why I don't really care about it. In fact, I don't even really care for their old music anymore either (just heard it too many times). *hides*

Psyknights - A Faint Light From the Dark (2006) is a really good one IMO, it doesn't have typical *boom boom boom* drums and rolling basslines, and it sort of reminds me of old Infected Mushroom. The Haltya album is a good one too (already been mentioned), very funky psy. I wouldn't consider anything in recent years completely innovative though. Yes there have been some new ideas but there is only so much you can do with psytrance before it is no longer psytrance. The main "innovations" I've seen is combining elements from other electronic genres with psytrance.

Money for ripped music? That's more like stealing from the artists than just downloading via torrents/emule/whatever it if you ask me. People downloading often wouldn't buy it anyway, but if you are charging people money then you are directly taking money from the artists. Just my 2 cents

Music in general probably 3-5 hours per day normally. Psy/Chill probably 30-60mins on average, but it varies a lot depending what I'm in the mood for.

I prefer the sound of my headphones by far, not only is the sound way better, it also gets rid of the outside noise. I have some pretty average PC speakers/subwoofer though, and some fairly good headphones (Sennheiser HD280). If I had better equipment it might be different, but I'm broke and $80 headphones are about all I can afford. That being said, I still probably listen to music about 40% speakers, 60% headphones. I listen to a lot of music while driving or hanging out with friends.

Isn't "shit" or "masterpiece" basically a grade? It just uses words instead of numbers Anyway, I don't really use any certain "rules" to judge music. I simply listen to it. Some stuff just sounds good to me, some sounds bad. It varies over time though, and even from day to day. I might not like a song at all, then I'll hear it a few months later and love it. There's not really any certain criteria I look for. I like some very complex music, some very simple, or anywhere in-between. I like music using all sorts of different scales (or even ignoring scales/music theory).

Yep. If you really think about it, most people wouldn't like IFO at all (or even heard of it) It's not one of my favorite or most listened to albums, but I still consider it one of the all-time classics. I'm sure if you went back to 1997 it would seem more amazing too (I wouldn't know I've only been listening to psy for about 5 years..), although IMO it's still better than 99% of the crap being released now I don't even really like Astral Projection anymore but I still consider their early stuff "classic".

Good to hear. I really liked the first album, but it didn't stand the "test of time" quite as well as I had hoped (not that I don't still like it, just not as much as when I first got it).

The big reviews are great, but they do take a lot of effort and good writing ability Better to have a smaller review and some good comments than no review at all. I don't agree with every review anyway, so it's nice to get a variety of viewpoints/opinions. Of course a big review and comments is even better, but smaller reviews are fine (as long as it's not just "THIS ALBUM RULEZ!!!" or "THIS SUCKS"). Just my 2 cents

TOP DOWNBEAT/CHILL ALBUMS OF 2007 (Rank-Artist-Album-Points) #1 Younger Brother - The Last Days of Gravity 112 #2 Asura - Life squared 104 #3 Sync24 - Source 39 #4 VA - Oxycanta Winter Blossoms 32 #5 Flooting Grooves - Upsyde Downe 23 #6 Outolintu - Odd Man Out 20 #7 Shulman - Engless Rhythms of the Beatless Heart 18 #8 The Peaking Goddess Collective - Organika 18 #9 Krusseldorf - Smokers Lounge 17 #10 Chronos - Steps to the Great Knowledge 12 #11 Khooman - Life is a Flexible Liquid 12 #12 Pushmipulyu - 133 Thursdays 12 #13 Master Margherita - Mastura 11 #14 VA - Chiller 1 10 #15 VA - Midnight Soul Dive 9 #16 Zero Cult - Ikebana 9 #17 Polyploid - Grow Your Own 8 #18 Sundial Aeon - Apotheosis 8 #19 Kilowatts - Ground State 7 #20 Krill.Minima - Nautica 7 #21 SynSUN - Unstoppable 7 #22 VA - Cosmik Chill Orange 6 #23 Anahata - The Unmade Sound 5 #24 Audela - Audela 5 #25 Bola - Kroungine 5 #26 Cymphonic - Strataradialis 5 #27 Evan Bartholomew - Borderlands 5 #28 Tom Middleton - Lifetracks 5 #29 Kuba - Through A Lense 5 #30 Deep Dive Corp - Undiscovered 4 #31 Dymons - Druids Brew 4 #32 Evan Bartholomew - Caverns of Time 4 #33 Liquid Stranger - The Invisible Conquest 4 #34 Sensorica - The Realm of Fancy 4 #35 VA - Ear Pleasure 4 #36 VA - Kokopelli 4 #37 VA - Moonshadow Beats 4 #38 VA - Bioluminescence 3 #39 VA - Pop Ambient 2008 3 #40 Grey Area - And Then the Clouds 2 #41 Kukan Dub Lagan - Step Ina Rasta Step 2 #42 Outersect - Caldera 2 #43 Proem - A Permanent Solution 2 #44 The Orb - The Dream 2 #45 VA - Bliminal 2 #46 VA - Intermittent Memories 2 #47 VA - The Art of Chill 4 2 #48 Electro 7 - Habanadelic Gozadera Experience 2 #49 Astropilot - Fruit of the Imagination 1 #50 Kettel - Whisper Me Wishes 1 #51 Pan Electric - Conscious Pilot 1 #52 Pitch Black - Rude Mechnicals 1 #53 Secede - Vega Libre 1 #54 VA - Tibet, A Culture in Danger 1