Bill

Sattyananda Abducting Aliens Audio Aashram Tracklist: 1. These Beings Are All Around Us 2. An Alien Lullaby 3. Spaceships Appearing In The Sky 4. Witnessing The Hatching Of An ET+Human Egg 5. Abducting Aliens "A lot of Sattyananda is inspired by ET and paranormal events and information. ET life and outer space has been a fascination since I was young. It’s a fun and interesting subject. My outlook on the subject matter is pretty broad, I always look at this side of life with an open mind. I definitely believe in the existence of ET life and paranormal energies. I guess every artists takes inspiration from what kind of experiences and knowledge he or she exposes themselves to, what excites them. For me personally it’s a fascinating subject and a great trigger for both fantasy and reality stories. I find it super exciting and real good food for thought." - Sattyananda The cover of Abducting Aliens describes itself as "Darker shades of ambient music for the extraterrestrial listener." It's a perfect encapsulation of what's in store with the following five tracks. Sometimes it's melodically gorgeous, sometimes it is deeply intriguing psybient sound patterns, sometimes it is mind-bending dark experimentation and other times it is gently rhythmic alien chill-out music. The wonderful thing about Abducting Aliens is the psybient has a nice subtle variety so that nothing comes off as droning noise or sleepy soundscapes. The marquee track here depends on a personal preference as two tracks reach greatness on emotional and mental levels. If melody is your preference then do not miss "An Alien Lullaby" - the gorgeous chimes late in this track move the classification from deep intriguing ambient to lovely down tempo chill pretty effectively. Very easily, this is a piece of heaven (or, more fittingly, a piece of magical star dust,) that holds up extremely well over repeat listens. However, if you don't mind having your mind twisted with odd experimentation then the exquisitely bizarre and mentally wrenching "Witnessing The Hatching Of An ET+Human Egg" will leave a deep impression. That title fits the sounds inside perfectly, deliciously odd and dark ambient experimentation that makes it a great sonic journey. The samples, too, are perfectly used as the sounds of giggling children sound malevolent and emotionally disturbing. Abducting Aliens is one of four releases by Sattyananda thus far in 2015 (the great Sonic Mandalas is also reviewed here), following two releases in 2014. Apparently, though he has been producing down tempo and ambient for about 15 years, and a lot of this material has been unreleased over the years so he's unloading a ton of it now. Good! This is the third release I've heard by this gifted Indian producer and none of them have been short with quality. Bandcamp

Filteria and Skizologic shared some awesome stories and memories about Tsuyoshi and Prana. Great album, solid group of remixes on this one, really had a blast writing this one up. https://www.psynews.org/forums/topic/70278-prana-remixes-2015/?p=1049881

Great album, some stellar melodies and atmospheres in this one. Incidentally, I found out about this one because of a recommend from DJ Zen in a post about great down tempo albums. And if DJ Zen recommends it, well, it's gold!

Prana Remixes 2015 Suntrip Records Tracklist: 1. Boundless (Nervasystem Remix) 2. Boundless (Skizologic Remix) 3. Boundless (Jagoa Remix) 4. Alien Pets (Imba Remix) 5. Alien Pets (Filteria Remix) 6. Alien Pets (Trinodia Remix) 7. Mugen (Astral Projection Remix) 8. Boundless (Funkygong Remix) "(My favorite personal memory of Prana) It's either hearing 'Alien Pets' or 'Kiba' for the first time in '96. That or a recent memory of a party in Switzerland, snow n' cottage, in the mountains. Me and Tsuyoshi went with a lift up to 2200 meters and then a snowmobile/scooter were waiting for us. We were sitting behind the snowmobile, cargo, going crazy fast while it was a minor snowstorm. Was so much fun." - Filteria Filteria and Tsuyoshi Suzuki, one-third of legendary 90s goa group Prana, gripping with glee to a snowmobile going "crazy fast" through a gorgeous snowstorm is just about the perfect description for one of the "Alien Pets" remixes on this release. As mentioned by Mustafa above, Filteria kills it on his "Alien Pets" remix because of how not insane it is. It is, though, just the right level of awesome insanity, the kind of thrilling snowmobile ride you walk away from, a bit of a break from the usual Filteria overload where instead of overwhelming the tempos and levels are just right all building to a ridiculous climax mid-track. From there the layers are rich and textured and those mystical vocal chants are completely enthralling. The levels of richness in this one are just mind-blowing. Most of the remixes available here - a collaboration between Tsuyoshi Suzuki's Matsuri Digital label and goa giant Suntrip Records - are previously available elsewhere, mostly from Prana Remix Vol. 1 & 3 through Matsuri. However, presumably, this partnering enables these tracks to experience a better distribution and the ability to reach a wider audience. This is the next best thing to actually remastering that old Prana material. For instance, it would be nice to have "Voyager III" in good digital quality and perhaps some of these artists would enjoy it as well. When asked both Imba and Trinodia pointed to that track from the classic Dragonfly Records Order Odonata compilation as their favorite Prana memories. "Having never seen them live I have to resort to the first track that I heard of Prana that has stayed with me from that day - 'Voyager III,'" Trinodia said. Trinodia's hot-and-heavy remix of "Alien Pets" is big, broad and pure melodic muscle, being the middle gem that follows Filteria's mastery and leading into the crowning jewel of the collection on Astral Projection's instant-classic remix of "Mugen." It may take a couple of goa legends like the AP fellas to truly do justice to their contemporaries and maybe that's why this is the best one here. The difference with this version of "Mugen" and the version appearing last year on Astral Projection's Goa Classics Remixed album are pretty minimal. No noticeable musical changes outside of better compression of the sound and approximately 10 seconds in length. It sounds like the exact same track and I wonder, though I have not heard the version yet, how much difference exists between the "2015 Remix" here and the original AP "Mugen" remix that appeared on 2013's Prana Remix Volume 1. Regardless, an absolute trifecta of excellence built by these three remixes. To complete the "Alien Pets" remixes is one of the exclusive tracks of the collection. Imba rocks out on his remix and, as with most of his productions, has a delicious bounce to his offering, a steady stream of groove, energy and full-on goa intensity. "My favorite memory is about 15 years ago when Tsuyoshi was coming to play in Israel, all the people were preparing themselves for war. When I heard this stuff the first time I was in shock and I thought 'fuck this is absolutely brilliant.' In 2009 we did a party in Israel named 'Samsara Gathering' with a Prana retro set after many years that Tsuyoshi wasn't here playing old school! From then to now I think Prana is one of my favorite projects and infected me a lot. I was very lucky to get the chance to remix this legendary track. Also Tsuyoshi, I love him so for me its like closing a circle" - Skizologic Skizologic's take on "Boundless" is pretty well structured, despite its name, a fascinating, stripped-down and more minimal version, certainly full of grooving goa but also a nice amount of almost techno-like grooves that gives it a whole lot of great funk. It's matched by the good vibes and creative vision of Tsuyoshi's "Funkygong" remix. The straight-to-the-limbs grooves in Nervasystem's brilliant remix, and lead-off track to this collection, is matched by the producer's ridiculously good mind-candy that feels supremely trippy and experimental, working some fascinating effects before dropping back into the finger-snapping beats, leading the listener on a deliriously satisfying journey. The other exclusive track to Prana Remixes 2015 comes from Jagoa, fresh off his Solar Journey down tempo album earlier this year. However, there is nothing chill about his truly "Boundless" remix - it's a swirling acidic floor stormer. Perhaps by compiling the best of these Prana remixes in one place, combining them from three separate EPs from Matsuri, where old-school 90s goa meets new millennium new-school goa in one wild, acidic and unbridled release, it is very much as Skizologic stated, "It's like closing a circle.". It's a little bit of history. It's a bit of a new-school celebration. It is a little bit of everything great about goa, all in one well-shaped circle of sound.

Hedflux & Grouch Collaborations Luminus Music Tracklist: 1. Lumination (Original Mix) 2. Mehndi Moller (Hedflux Remix) 3. Catharsis (Grouch Remix) 4. Lumination (Nanosphere Remix) 5. Luminatiion (Brujo's Bowl Remix) 6. Reverse Entropy (Hedflux Remix) Now, I'll give a listen to anything from Grouch. Ninety percent of the time the guy is a fantastic producer, taking that sometimes sludgy Zenon sound and injecting it with funk, dub and sexy slow-grooving magic, adding a whole lot of life and energy to the style. I'll also give Brujo's Bowl my undivided attention. While not a fan of his Zenon approach - often times it's too slow and heavy in mood - I'm a big fan of his Healing With Sound album and where I don't expect to get that same sort of dub loveliness I'll tune in just out of respect. On this six-track EP, for those two producers who usually bristle with creativity, their offerings are very unexpected. If this were lousy work Collaborations could be forgiven but for the artistic talent involved the worst judgement that can be passed upon it, the most dreadful thing you can say to an artist about their work, is that it is common. Even worse, this EP is common by design. The main focus here is the original Hedflux & Grouch collaboration (previously released in 2012) on "Lumination" and the two remixes offered up by Nanosphere & Brujo's Bowl. File each of these away under generic clubby psytrance progressive, the kind of tracks that do just enough to sound good for the first minute or two and then spend the rest of their time in existence going around the same circle of mediocrity. No depth, no attempts at creativity and no amount of mind-altering is going to make these duds sound satisfying no matter how loud you turn them up. In fairness, Nanosphere comes closest to quality with a mid-track creative explosion that brings a whole of interesting movement to a very unsatisfying song structure. Then, of course, lest we forget the club kids can't keep up if things get too complex (at least I'm assuming that's the mindset here) the track settles back in to the original preset structures and dull progressive sound effects of the original. Where Grouch remixes Hedflux' "Catharsis" and Hedflux remixes Grouch's "Mehndi Moller" it is just the same sort of forgettable blandness. Things get interesting on the last track of the EP, where Hedflux remixes "Reverse Entropy" (from Grouch's excellent Further album) and the moment is quite nice for a bit. Of course, it's nice because it is pretty much exactly the Grouch original and where things go wrong is where Hedflux ups the tempo and breaks the hypnotic spell, shunning creative genius for progressive neutering. As with most progressive club parties, the best thing about this one is the art - absolutely captivating, highly imaginative, UV reactive beauty. You can stop, take it in for a while, bask in its mystery, there's a whole lot of nice depth in there. But then the music starts and you may just end up wondering how art so deliciously psychedelic ends up dressing music that is nowhere near psychedelic enough. Luminus Music

Beautiful work, mate! I posted a review this morning https://www.psynews.org/forums/topic/70268-fils-des-etoiles-project-fils-des-etoiles/ Cheers!

Fils des Etoiles Project Fils des Etoiles Self-Released Tracklist: 1. Infinite Space 2. Past Present Future 3. Forbidden Galaxy Part I 4. No Gravity 5. Forbidden Galaxy Part II 6. Galactic Rainbow 7. Bonus Track: Magic Forest Fils des Etoiles (Starchild) has come up with six lovely, free-floating, outer space-themed, deep trance tracks on Project Fils des Etoiles. And if this young producer has drawn any inspiration from 19th century French composer Erik Satie and his "Fils des Etoiles" composition, it would go a long way toward explaining how this electronic composer can make such beautiful and nearly beat-less psybient sound so deeply intriguing and full of vibrant movement. Beginning on the exquisite psybient moods of "Infinte Space" and followed up by the excellent "Past Present Future," the best track here, Fils des Etoiles takes the listener on a very compelling journey. "Forbidden Galaxy" Parts 1 & 2 are rich, relaxed journeys through stardust and the open vastness of the galaxy, the rhythmic beats of "No Gravity" keep the track grounded and compelling and the serenity of "Galactic Rainbow" is pure gorgeousness. The down points would be the cover art which would benefit more, be more of a supplement to the music, if it only included the stardust and galactic vastness. Too, the bonus track "Magic Forest" departs into a different mood from everything else on the EP. Still melodic, still with its own share of beauty, it just does not fit in with the wonderful whole of the six galactic pieces that come before it. Hence, it's a bonus track. Offered up as a free or donate-what-you-will high-quality download removes any reasons to miss out on this one. Project Fils des Etoiles is a lovely piece of work and it maintains its high levels very, very well over repeat listens. Fils des Etoiles Bandcamp (Free or Donate Download)

Beat Bizarre Maunder Minimum Iboga Records Tracklist: 1. Abrikosmos 2. Alternative Realitys 3. Aphrodite's Drop 4. Connect The Dots 5. Cultural Dumping 6. Headroom 7. Infobesity 8. Kalopsia 9. Midas Touch 10. Myokymia 11. Ouroboros 12. Pinnacle Island 13. Pure 14. Sjykadelikum 15. Terra Incognita 16. Tomgods 17. Undrumm 18. Unknown Unknowns 19. VeloCity 20. Wharf "I have made this album during winter time in Denmark and everyone that knows the danish winters knows that it can feel like a little ice age, which is exactly what Maunder Minimum was." - Martin Spanner Zimmerman, Beat Bizarre Martin's own question at the end of that quote was, "Maybe you can even feel some of the cold in the music?!" Maybe, but not too likely. Maunder Minimum is some pretty warm and optimistic music. Beat Bizarre has always been a very fine purveyor of techno, making his take on the genre a bit more creative than most others, with results that come across as much smoother and classier than his peers. Maunder Minimum, however, takes the Beat Bizarre classiness, the Beat Bizarre smoothness, and raises his art to a whole new level of elegance. By combining relaxed and grooving techno with relaxed and grooving afternoon progressive psy the results are lovely and very much on the order of Minilogue and Son Kite. As with those techno and progressive psy legends, Beat Bizarre melts the borders of genre classification and comes up with a monstrous twenty tracks worth of material, with results that are sometimes techno, sometimes progressive, sometimes not so easily defined, but definitely of the utmost quality. When asked, Martin says, "I really don´t want to put myself in a genre box. I make the type of music that I feel like and that can change from day to day. Even if I had to choose a genre, I wouldn´t know which one that´ll suit me best. I mean, this new album streches over at least four different genres and even then I find a similarity in the tracks. For me it´s about making the music you love and not so much about following today's trends." The beginning of this lengthy trip contains some fine gems, such as "Alternative Realitys," the techno-heavy "Connect The Dots," the sunny bounce of "Cultural Dumping" and the uber-groovy trippiness of "Infobesity." Late in the album, quite pleasingly, not a single filler track is to be found as more smooth and classy productions, such as, "Terra Incognita," "VeloCity" and the excellent "Wharf," await. The strengths of Maunder Minimum are very dependent on the time of day when they are heard. The earlier, the better, when one's personal hustle-and-bustle cannot interfere with the intricacies of the music, where the subtle energetic sounds of this Beat Bizarre master work are not forced to compete with any stressful outside influences. There is magic aplenty in this collection but not allowing the tracks their own time and place only serves an injustice to them. When asked if twenty tracks, easily two albums worth of material, was too much and if he was concerned with running out of ideas, Martin said, "It could have been longer, but I saved some tracks for another time. I´m more concerned that I will miss some of my ideas in the making. The inspiration can come to me from almost anything and anywhere. Even when you least think it, an idea just pops up in your head and you need to capture it somehow. That can be quite a challenge. But mostly the ideas come when I sit in the studio and just have fun playing around with all types of sounds and music genres. I don´t think that twenty tracks is too much for one album, if the twenty tracks don´t all sound the same. "I really very seldom listen to the type of music I make myself but I have to mention a few electronic names that have inspired me for this album. They would be Son Kite/Minilogue, James Monro, Extrawelt, Pan-Pot, Atmos." Credit him then for accomplishing a very lengthy piece of magic, at twenty tracks long, that never feels like it is sticking around much longer than it should be. Also, with that impressive list of influences, not a single track in this album sounds like a copy-cat but instead stand as very much equals to much of the sounds, moods and creativity within the canon of any of those artists. As with many of those mentioned artists, Beat Bizarre and, especially, Maunder Minimum is something quite special. Beatport Beat Bizarre @ Facebook

Great story for a great album! Really looking forward to hearing the remixes.

Lunar Dawn Q&A There is a lot going on at almost every level of Kolovrat - the music is big and broad, the cover art is fun and detailed, and the tracklist, oh, that tracklist. A Slavic god or goddess is mentioned in almost every track title and Kolovrat could be either a reference to a Russian medieval knight by the name of Yevpaty Kolovrat (hence the orgy of minstrel merriment throughout the album) or the Kolovrat mountain range in Slovenia or the Kolovrat settlement in Slovenia. Perhaps even all three. I prefer to think that the Russian medieval knight pays a visit to these Slavik gods and goddesses for purposes of one's own imaginings. The following is a brief Q&A with Kristijan of Lunar Dawn that turned more into a seminar on Slavik mythology. Perhaps it will help elaborate on the Kolovrat tale: 1. This album very much has a story to tell. Do you care to elaborate a bit on the tale you are telling? Or, if you would rather leave the details to the imagination can you at least give a brief outline? Kristijan: Well, we would be glad to elaborate, of course! Names that are mentioned in our album are Slaven ancient beliefs, gods and goddesses which were worshiped over old times. Perun (which is mentioned in first track) is the Slavic god of thunder and the sky. He should not be confused with Svarog, who is also a god of the sky because Svarog is the god of the universe, and Perun belongs to the lower sky, which could be interpreted as the atmosphere. He is one of the most powerful Slavic gods. He represents the destroyer because he is the god of bad weather and natural disasters. Perun is a member of the biggest and the most powerful Slavic trinity (Triglav) together with Svarog and Svetovid (the theory that Triglav is not a god, and that he represents a trinity is very questionable and disputed over, and it is possible that it was first set by Neo-pagans). In many places, Perun is mentioned as Svarog's and Veles's brother. As a god of war, Perun's lightning bolts were believed to be stones and stone arrows. According to folk beliefs, fulgurites, belemnites, and sometimes even the remains of prehistoric stone tools found in the ground are remains of these weapons. Various Slavic countries also call these deposits "Perun's stones", "thunderbolt stones", "thunderbolt wedges" and "Perun's arrow"; other unrelated names for these include "devil's finger", "God's finger", and "Mother of God finger", and in Lithuania, "Berkun's finger". These thunderbolt stones were sometimes said to be transferred back to the sky by the wind after being under earth for a period of seven years. The weapons of Perun protected against bad luck, evil magic, disease, and — naturally enough — lightning itself. Kresnik (or rarely Kersnik and Krsnik) is ancient Slavic god associated with fire, the summer solstice, and storms. His mythical home, a sacred mountain at the top of the world, represents the axis mundi. Kresnik was worshiped among the Slavic population of the eastern Alps. He is probably the same deity as Svarožiè, son of the Slavic sun god, Svarog, described as having golden hair and golden hands. He gradually evolved into a Slovenian national hero who lives on a golden mountain, sometimes as a deer with golden antlers, associated with the summer solstice. He became known as a mythical king with strong magic, yet still a farmer. With the rise of Christianity, Kresnik was replaced with John the Baptist. A pre-Christian water holiday was probably preserved by association with John the Baptist. Kresnik's association with midsummer, fire, and rain are tied to St. John's Eve, when in parts of Slovenia, fires are lit and water poured over the people around them. The washing of sin parallels Kresnik, who creates rain by vanquishing the serpent of evil. On St. John's Day, many customs retain memories of the Kresnik mythology, like the lighting of fires, rolling of sun-shaped wooden wheels, and young girls called "Kresnice" singing harvest songs. The Slovenian translation for "Baptist" is »Krstnik«, a similar word. Svantevit (or Svetovid, Svetovit, Sv.Vid etc.) is in Slavic mythology characterised as a god of war and foreseeing. He is described as four headed god whom heads are looking at 4 sides of the world. With his heads joined, he was "Svevid" or in translation "allseeing". His white horse was kept in his temple and priests were taking care of him. It was believed that Svantevit is carried by this horse in war against the enemies, same horse was used for foreseeing. War campaigns, merchant caravans and richness of harvest were all in dependance of god Svantevit. The worship of Svetovid was at its highest on the ancient island of Ruyan and the Arkona fort. An enormous statue of Svetovid was held in the temple there, a white horse was in Svetovid’s possession too, as was believed by the priests there, and every time they found the white horse muddied in the morning, to them it meant that Svetovid had been riding it during the night. They used the horse for various predictions and prophecies, believing it to be the will of Svetovid spoken through the horse. There are some recorded cases of humans being sacrificed to him, beside animals, in his honour. Also there is one legend saying that Slavic warriors predicted outcome of battle by leading white horse in front of army and setting spear in front of the animal. If horse would step over it with his right leg, victory would be sure and if stepped with left it would be not. Baltic Slavens accepted Svantevit (Svetovit, Svetovid) as their first or highest god. It is believed that with coming of Christianity Svantevit stayed within Slavic culture and religion as character of St. Vid. Svarog in Slavic mythology is known as god of fire and sky, creator of everything on sky and earth. He was first god of Sun amongst Slavic people. Svarog is connected with sky, iron smithing and fire. Amongst Russian Slavens, highest god was Perun but in ancient times he was called Svarog or Daždbog. Polish, Ukrainian and Croatian and some other Charpatian nations worshiped especially Svarog, which they considered as creator of the sky and forefather of all other gods. There were sacred groves dedicated to him only! In eastern Slavic folk tradition he is mentioned as god of blacksmith (similar to Greek Hephaestus), but southern Slavic folk traditions worshiped Svarog as god of sun, light and fire (warmth). There is according to legends one interesting thing about Svarog´s entity. A moment just before collision of two warriors as they watch themselves straight in their eyes is called "The Svarog´s moment" (you can feel Svarog´s moment at very beginning of Svarog track, also at second break before madness starts. Svarog moment - a moment in which everything is clear without words. Veles is one of few Slavic gods for which evidence of offerings can be found in all Slavic nations. The Primary Chronicle, a historical record of the early Eastern Slavic state, is the earliest and most important record, mentioning a god named Volos several times. Many etymologists, however, suppose them two different gods. Here, Volos is mentioned as god of cattle and peasants, who will punish oath-breakers with diseases, the opposite of Perun who is described as a ruling god of war who punishes by death in battle. In the later half of the 10th century, Veles or Volos was one of seven gods whose statues Vladimir I, Prince of Kiev had erected in his city. It is very interesting that Veles' statue apparently did not stand next to others, on the hill where the prince's castle was, but lower in the city, on the marketplace. Not only does this indicate that Veles was connected with commerce, but it also shows that worship of Perun and Veles had to be kept separate: while it was proper for Perun's shrines to be built high, on the top of the hill, Veles' place was down, in the lowlands. A similar pattern can be observed among the South Slavs. Here the name of Veles appears only in toponyms, the best-known of which is the city of Veles in Macedonia, over which looms a hill of St. Elias the Thunderer. Also, in Bosnia and Herzegovina, a part of Sarajevo is called Velešiæi. Another example is the town of Volosko in Croatia, situated on the seashore under the peak of Mount Ucka, nicknamed Perun. Among Western Slavs, the name can be principally found in 15th and 16th century Czech records, where it means either dragon or devil. He is the opponent of the Supreme thunder-god Perun, and the battle between two of them constitutes one of the most important myths of Slavic mythology. No direct accounts survive, but reconstructions speculate that he may directly continue aspects of the Proto-Indo-European pantheon and that he may have been imagined as (at least partially) serpentine, with horns (of a bull, ram or some other domesticated herbivore), and a long beard.The reason for the enmity between the two gods is Veles' theft of Perun's son, wife or, usually, cattle. It is also an act of challenge: Veles, in the form of a huge serpent, slithers from the caves of the Underworld and coils upwards the Slavic world tree towards Perun's heavenly domain. Perun retaliates and attacks Veles with his lightning bolts. Veles flees, hiding or transforming himself into trees, animals or people. In the end he is killed by Perun, and in this ritual death, whatever Veles stole is released from his battered body in the form of rain falling from the skies. This 'storm myth', as it is generally called by scholars today, explained to ancient Slavs the changing of seasons through the year. The dry periods were interpreted as chaotic results of Veles' thievery. Storms and lightning were seen as divine battles. The ensuing rain was the triumph of Perun over Veles and the re-establishment of world order. The myth was cyclical, repeating itself each year. The death of Veles was never permanent; he would reform himself as a serpent who would shed its old skin and would be reborn in a new body. Although in this particular myth he plays a negative role as bringer of chaos, Veles was not seen as an evil god by ancient Slavs. In fact, in many of the Russian folk tales, Veles, appearing under the Christian guise of St. Nicholas, saves the poor farmer and his cattle from the furious and destructive St. Elias the Thunderer, who, of course, represents the old Perun.The duality and conflict of Perun and Veles does not represent the dualistic clash of good and evil; rather, it is the opposition of the natural principles of earth, water and substance (Veles) against heaven, fire and spirit (Perun). As you maybe noticed, the track "Metamorphosis of Veles" is really long and changing its themes all the way as Veles did escaping from Perun. Thing is, track was made spontaneously, without aiming to this story which we learned later after finishing it. It was really superb experience to see how close we came to the theme of this story itself. Zorya (Zarya, Zorja, Zvezda, Zwezda), in Slavic mythology, are the three (sometimes two) guardian goddesses, known as the Auroras. They guard and watch over the doomsday hound that threatens to eat the constellation Ursa Minor, the 'little bear.' If the chain breaks loose and the constellation is devoured, the universe is said to end. The Auroras represent the Morning Star, Evening Star, and Midnight Star, respectively, although the Midnight Star is sometimes omitted. In some myths, the morning Zorya was the wife of the male Myesyats, the moon god, and was a major goddess. In other myths, the Zoryas are virgin goddesses who flank the sun (see sundog), and Myesyats is an unrelated female moon goddess. The Zorya are associated with marriage, protection, and exorcisms. The Morning Star is Zorya Utrennyaya (also Zvezda Danica, Zvezda Dennitsa, Zwezda Dnieca, Zvezda Zornitsa, Zora). She opens the heavenly gates for the chariot of the sun in the morning. She is depicted as a fully armed and courageous warrior. She is the patron goddess of horses, and is associated with the planet Venus. She is invoked to protect against death in battle The Evening Star is Zorya Vechernyaya (also Vecernja Zvezda, Zvezda Vechernaya, Zwezda Wieczoniaia, Zwezda Wieczernica, Zvezda Vechernitsa, Zarja). She closes the gates of heaven each night as the sun returns home. The Midnight Star is Zorya Polunochnaya (also Zwezda Polnoca). Some legends omit this Zorya, leaving only the Morning and Evening Auroras. Each night, the sun dies in the Midnight Zorya's arms and is then restored to life. She is a goddess of death, rebirth, magic, mysticism, and wisdom. The Zorya are sometimes associated with the Triple Goddess mythic archetype, with the Morning, Evening and Midnight Zoryas representing the maiden, mother, and crone, respectively. Jarilo (Jar, Juraj, Jura, Ðura, Jarovit, Gerovit, Iarilo...) is the God of Spring/Summer, fertility, vegetation, shapeshifting. Mostly, he is associated with springtime, but also with young men, male fertility and growth (sexual, phisical and mental growth). Due to the numerous spellings, we can see Jarilo was a important figure in mythologies troughout the Slavic lands. So, with no doubt, we can say that he was very very important in Slavic beliefs, a plot-twisting figure, even. Now that we know what he’s tied to, we can talk about his mythos. He is the main actor in Slavic mythology, as said above, a plot-twisting God. In most sources, Jarilo is the son of Perun, born in Winter (Velja Noæ). I wrote about Perun here. Now, that alone doesn’t make Jarilo very important. Untill he is stolen by Veles. Why does that happen? The main myth in Savic mythology is the myth of Perun and Veles and their eternal battle. Now, what happens is that Veles steals Jarilo from Perun (kidnaps) and takes him to Nav (underworld). This starts the whole “battle” between these two, where Perun wants his son back and Veles won’t give him back. That’s about that when it comes to Jarilo and how he is tied to the myth of Perun and Veles. Let’s get to only Jarilo’s myth/life now. Jarilo was a son of the supreme Slavic god of thunder, Perun, his lost, missing, tenth son, born on the last night of February, the festival of Velja Noæ (Great Night), the pagan Slavic celebration of the New Year. On the same night, however, Jarilo was stolen from his father and taken to the world of the dead, where he was adopted and raised by Veles. The Slavs believed the underworld to be an ever-green world of eternal spring and wet, grassy plains, where Jarilo grew up guarding the cattle of his stepfather. With the advent of spring, Jarilo returned from the underworld, that is, bringing spring and fertility to the land. Jarilo is a very important God, without him or his stealing we wouldn’t have Spring. He returns life to our world (Jav) and awakens dead plants and fields, giving back life to us and our crops. And this happens troughout Spring. As Slavs are, there are quite a few ways this myth is explained and there are quite a few details that are questionable. Some say his mother is Mokoš, some say he also has a sister (twin). This sister is Morana, that he later marries. Actually, the same source says that when he comes to our world, he is actually getting ready for his marriage with Morana. As we ca see, he is very oftenly tied to her, and this is the myth that I believe to be true, but not everyone accepts it. (do your reasearch and believe what you like) Anyway, main point is that Jarilo is a God that represents the year, birth and rebirth and life itself. Believe what you like, but Jarilo was and still is celebrated by Slavs on the day of Jurijevo/ Ðurðevdan/ Zeleni Juraj. Also, he is tied to st. George, horses. Portrayed as a young handsome man, carrying flowers. Morana was the Slavic goddess of winter and death. As the goddess of winter, she was never popular among the Old Slavs, which is understandable if we have in mind the climate in which they used to live. Morana was a long and cold winter, a winter that could bring death through famine and extreme cold, that could cause disease and massive death of the cattle. Her arrival was therefore always expected with fear and her departure was celebrated with a lot of noise and cheer. Her complete opposite was goddess Vesna, whom the people used to welcome with festivals and jubilation, at the same time joyfully witnessing the departure of Morana – the winter. Numerous rituals were connected with seeing Morana off. People would most frequently make a doll representing this goddess and then ritually destroy it. They made the doll from straw or switches, and then beat it with their hoes. After that they either threw it into the water or burned it. There was another ritual related to Morana, that was performed in the month of March. That was the so-called mackare (maska = mask), when a masked group of people used to gather in order to scare Morana and drive her away. Let us now deal with the relations between Morana and other Slavic deities. Stories concerning these relations are of obscure origin and disputable authenticity, but we will on this occasion take them as relevant sources on Slavic mythology, since they offer a wealth of information on Morana's nature. According to one of these stories, Dazbog, the Sun-god, went to the underworld called Nav in search of his wife Zlata Maja, but there instead of her he met Morana, who seduced him. Since after some time she became bored with Dazbog and found another lover – Jula Crnobog, Morana decided to poison Dazbog, but he was saved by Ziva. Then he burned Morana and banished her back to Nav. This story perfectly fits the process of the Sun’s movement throughout the year, because the Sun, according to the belief of every pagan people, spends the winter in the underworld, called Nav by the Slavs. His mistress is then the winter herself, and she tries to prevent him from leaving the underworld by giving him the drink of oblivion. But Morana cannot rule forever, so at the end of the story Dazbog is released and she is destroyed. Another myth brings Morana in connection with Voden, making them a divine couple of the underworld. Voden (also called Moran) and Morana drown people in their dark waters, so the Slavs tried to propitiate them by sacrificial offerings. As a water goddess, Morana also appeared as Modruna, a witch that the Slavs living in the Urals believed to inhabit the ponds. She usually appeared as an ugly old woman, but to those who showed no fear before her she appeared as a beautiful young girl. The name of the Morava River has some similarities with the name Morana, another fact that supports the theory that Morana was a water deity. The argument is even stronger if we know that the Slavs thought of water as a hiding place of dark forces and a connection with the underworld – Nav. Morana was described as a woman of dark hair and a terrifying appearance. A similar description was used for another creature of quite the same nature – Kuga (kuga = the plague). Kuga was probably just one of the aspects of Morana. Another was Mora – a female demon that attacked people by night and sat on their chest causing nightmares. Witches were also connected with Morana, like many other demonic beings. But we cannot claim that Morana was an entirely negative goddess. No pagan system has a deity with such characteristics, since the unrealistic division between the absolute good and absolute evil came only with Christianity. In Morana we have an example of how our ancestors worshipped even something that did not bring them good, but rather made them scared and terrified. 2. I sense a bit of Misted Muppet here but do correct me if I'm wrong. What are your influences and muses with this album? Kristijan: About influences you´ve asked me, Misted Muppet you´ve mentioned... Well, nope. This album is influence-free from beginning, if you refer to influence by other artists. Only influences included were what made us goa heads in first place, i would say (i call them subconsciousness influences, and they are just that, really). Those influences are artists like Astral Projecion, Talamasca, Hallucinogen, and other old goa guards knights! Also I have to mention, Saša and I - well, we have had huge path through music until settled into GOA, my first and biggest love. From regular trance, over electro and house, dnb. We tried it all, and we still do - but goa remains base camp for expression. You can hear all sorts of stuff in this album, my sense for mellodies and Saša´s sense for deep atmosphering layers, from dark ambient to light panoramas and rhytmic games of his great mind but I think goa essence prevails. Not in that pure oldschool way maybe, but in some weird so called new school flavour salted and peppered with everything a bit on top. The whole thing was what would you call inversion of what people tend to connect goa trance music to. Everybody was OhmNamahShivaya-ing, and there is nothing wrong in it, in our opinion, but goa needs something out of the box - not always the same old story, same mantra going on and on and on... Our story with this album began with one idea that Saša and I have had since we got in music production, in 2001. And it was idle until for three years when Ivan (Richpa) searched for some Slavic oriented materials for his compilation at Neogoa label. To be exact, material was ment to be oriented on old forgotten Slavic pagan believes. We were more than trhilled about concept, and made "Blessings From Irij" track shortly after. Due to low respond by Slavic artists (I think he got only one track besides us - from GoaHuman half of Cosmic Dimension project from Kumanovo, Macedonia) Richpa dropped that idea. But, shortly after that, we got into new idea of making album in this manner, so Richpa pushed us for next three years pretty hard, and we came with "Blessings From Irij: album first. In meantime, there was lots of researching about this particular theme by us all and we all contributed to evolve the music to concept level. There is some people we HAVE to mention, Saša Dukić (Psilocybian, ScrewLoose) whom we met in meantime, and who was biggest fundamental of this album and sound you can hear. He was tutoring us and pushing for whole time of making this album (every morning i got message on my FaceBook: "Is album done yet?"). Every morning for three years! So, we had to finish it. He helped us a lot with mix and mastering done in his studio here in Zagreb and we are endlessly grateful for everything he did for us, a true Spartan who fights our music rubbish and a true unselfish friend! Also we have to mention Arkadii Tronets who made outstanding illustrations, it was Richpa´s idea, pure bullseye, you could read some interesting details about it here at psynews in his post about artwork making. Damir Markotić from Croatian neofolk/pagan band "Svarica" who collaborated on "Perun´s Stone" the album´s first track with live instruments, minstrels you´ve liked and flutes and one particular instrument called "šargija". Interesting thing is that Svarica covers same thematics as our album, and they released work of their own named "Tira Les" just before our album, so I have been astonished with this coincidence and immediately contacted him for collab, and this worked like a charm! Great guy indeed! Jasmina Draženović, she was our fairy that beautifully sang those chanty fairytale vocals in last, "Into Morana´s Cold Kingdom" track. Morana was one of the most demanding tracks Saša and I ever worked on, and also for Saša (Psilocybian) to deal with mastering and endless corrections we ran into! That track was made during the three year period constantly, only to be done just before the release date! And I think it was worth it, the audience will judge it though! Richpa in this story is "no more no less" (as I spoke in Morana track) than a father of this project and album, indeed. And we evolved in great friendship in between, lifetime brotherhood-like friendship i would say which is what makes me the happiest person in the world knowing that only great men and women were in this endlessly positive project!

In the review section, along with some quotes from Kristjian (but no teddy bears ): https://www.psynews.org/forums/topic/70250-lunar-dawn-kolovrat/

Lunar Dawn Kolovrat Neogoa Tracklist: 1. Perun's Stones 2. Golden Arms of Kresnik 3. Svantevit (Part 1: White Horse and Prophecy) 4. Svarog's Celestial Fire 5. Metamorphosis Of Veles 6. Svantevit (Part II: Temple of Arkona) 7. Zorya 8. Rebirth of Jarilo 9. Blessing From Irij (2015 Mix) 10. Into Morana's Cold Kingdom (feat Jasmina) "In our opinion, goa needs something out of the box - not always the same old story, same mantra going on and on and on. Our story with this album began with one idea that Saša and I have had since we got in music production... to be exact, material was meant to be oriented on old forgotten Slavic pagan beliefs... we got into a new idea of making an album in this manner... for next three years there was lots of researching about this particular theme by us all and we all contributed to evolve the music to a concept level." - Kristijan, Lunar Dawn Once upon a time, in a land far, far away, though not as far for some, the Croatian duo of Lunar Dawn released a track called "Blessings From Irij," a magical piece of goa filled with energy and imagination, where the usual euphoric layers of melodic enlightenment of the style was paired with some truly inspired medieval flavors, adding a whole new dimension to the listening experience. "Blessings From Irij" is a great track, one that impressed me quite deeply when Neogoa released the EP two years ago. Quite surprisingly, however, was the Lunar Dawn follow-up - releasing a full-length album filled to the tippy-top with more medieval leanings, groups of merry minstrels celebrating throughout and live instrumentation and ethereal vocals that transport to another time and place, or, if you'd prefer, a mythological fantasy where the ten tracks visit assorted Slavic gods for merriment, celebration and adventure. There is likely a narrative to the tracklisting, a plot that follows along to these separate visits and the highly energetic aural adventures that Lunar Dawn have created here but that plot is for the listener themselves to fill in. As it were, the tracklist is the rough outline and one's imagination can provide the vivid details that these tracks will no doubt help to inspire. This is Misted Muppet by way of Neogoa's The World Beyond concept compilation with a wildly full and bombastic Trinodia-esque melodic approach. Kolovrat is epic, ambitious and damn, damn good. Though Kristijan from Lunar Dawn says, "This album is influence-free from the beginning, if you refer to influence by other artists. Only influences included were what made us goa heads in first place, I call them subconsciousness influences, artists like Astral Projecion, Talamasca, Hallucinogen and other old goa guard knights. You can hear all sorts of stuff in this album, my sense for melodies and Saša´s sense for deep atmosphering layers, from dark ambient to light panoramas and rhythmic games of his great mind but I think the goa essence prevails. Not in that pure oldschool way maybe, but in some weird so called new school flavour salted and peppered with everything a bit on top." "Blessings From Irij" gets a "2015 mix" on this album, perhaps not as good as its original, but definitely the rousing highlight of the album's second half. "Perun's Stones" and "Golden Arms of Kresnik" are a perfect one-two opener to the album, setting the tale's tone with majestic melodies and rollicking song structures - they set the bar pretty high but the remainder of the album delivers. Following the cinematic break of "Svantevit (Part II: Temple of Arkona)," an evocative work filled with lovely orchestral melodies, very nearly a down tempo offering, the pairing of "Zorya" and "Rebirth of Jarilo" open up "Part II" of the album in uplifting fashion. "Svantevit (Part I: White Horse and Prophecy)," "Svarog's Celestial Fire" and "Metamorphosis of Veles" are winners in grand goa fashion, where quite often impressive minstrel music appears almost magically between the excellent 303 layers. "Into Morana's Cold Kingdom" is the sweet, mysterious story end where one can almost picture the credits rolling on this tale. If Lord of the Rings or (shudder) Clash Of The Titans were made by goa-heads, Kolovrat would be the soundtrack. The scope of both its ideas and its sound is massive and ambitious, even a bit daunting for casual listeners. But adventurous and persistent listeners, like the Russian medieval knight of the title, adventuring through these encounters with the Slavic gods, will be rewarded handsomely by saga's end. This is a massively ambitious undertaking. It is also an excellent one. Available for free play or download at Ektoplazm

Omnivox Q&A Bless social media, it helps two dudes six hours apart and half a world away from each other communicate pretty easily. I should back up, though. That last sentence gives the impression that our communication was somehow planned and organized. It wasn't at all. What happened is Omnivox received an email through FaceBook out-of-blue from some dude in the States he had never met or communicated with before. I told him I'd be writing a review of his newest EP and if he has a moment would he mind sending back some responses to fit into the piece. I had no way of knowing whether he was out at a gig or sitting at home doing whatever he does with his day or if he was even interested. The replies came, though, and I think they're gold. Here on this forum we're blessed to have a wide network of producers and label heads within our midst. Rarely, though, do we get to see the nuts-and-bolts of what goes into a release or even what goes on in the artistic mind itself. It's funny, we hear one of the producer's voices constantly while we're listening to their music, but we don't often get to hear the voice they speak with. As a quick point of reference pertaining to one of the answers given, Tomislav released his first album "Innerpolarity" as Vox in 2007. You can dig back into the Psynews archives to read the review of that one. Many thanks Tomislav for the following insight: 1. What does Omnivox mean? Omnivox: "If we literally translate Omnivox, I guess that would mean something like an omnipresent voice, but that was not really the idea when I chose that name. At that moment, I just needed a new name because my sound changed drastically (which you can easily check for yourself - the sound from my Inner Polarity album in 2007 and my next album Fragments Of Evolution from 2013 is drastically different), but I still needed to have an existing connection with my previous name. So, after a couple of weeks of thinking about it, Omnivox turned up. And I think it is a pretty good name now" 2. Why name the EP Silent Sweeper? Omnivox: "Silent Sweeper was a working name for the track which I started writing a couple of years ago. Unfortunately, I can't really remember why I chose that name, but that's the way it goes with music .... some things just become real for an unknown reason. Most of the time I am a bit surprised about how my tracks get into existence, and at those moments I feel like I am just a medium through which that music just begins to exist, without me thinking or doing much about it. I hope you know what I mean." 3. Great group of remixers. How did they all get involved with this project & how did you choose who would remix the track? Omnivox: "The remixers were chosen by a good friend of mine, Nova Fractal, who suggested an EP with two my versions of the tracks and his remix. At some point, we both just came up with the idea to make a remix EP with more artists, because it was something quite new, and it would make a bigger impact than only two artists. I didn't chose any of the artists, Nova Fractal did, and it's definitely a good thing he did so - I barely know any of the other artists, and I am glad now that my track now has remixes by artists from all over the world. Nova Fractal, as a manager for Timewarp records, definitely knows many more artists than I do, so he chose the artists which he felt would contribute to the whole thing." 4. Did any of the remixes surprise you? And, if so, why? Omnivox: "All remixes are high quality work, and I can't really say that I'm largely surprised by any of them. I expected something different and good, and I definitely got it." 5. Great cover art, love the graphic novel feel, was it chosen for a reason? Omnivox: "Thank you about the comment on the graphic work, I will tell my friend you like it that is a pretty similar story as with the music itself - I have seen the drawing on my friend's profile (he draws comic books at his spare time), and fell in love with it that very moment. Basically that's it, sorry if you wanted a special story behind it, since there isn't one I love this hand-made stuff, done in pencil, it feels alive and organic." 6. Did you do the Hypnotic Aboriginal version of the track? Omnivox: "Aboriginal version ... well, I had it in my mind for quite some time, and since I have a long-time friend who makes and sells didgeridoos, and plays them in his ethnic band, whom I also helped a couple of times with some technical issues, it was just a natural flow of things to get him involved. 7-8 years ago I was playing a couple of DJ sets with classic retro tracks along with my other friends on didgeridoos and it was great - I thought it sounded great, it added another layer of mystical atmosphere, and the crowd loved it too. So this was just the same story, but taken to another level. So, basically, that was my idea to slow the original version quite a bit and to add a didgeridoo layer to it, especially since I don't know if anyone did it before. And the sound of that thing is just great!" 7. What's next for Omnivox? Omnivox: "Well, I have a couple of parties to play and promote some new killer tracks first! I will have my tracks released on a couple of compilation in the next couple of months (hopefully), but other than that, I am working on concept and tracks for my upcoming album, and that will take some time. In the meantime, I don't have any plans for my own releases - I got quite a bit of work done for the album, and that will be my next step. And also I'm getting my skills polished in the process, because I want the album to sound as good as possible, and that means a lot of going back and forth."

There's a lot that Tomislav responded with when I sent some questions over to him, A LOT that did not make it into the review. Once I have a minute free to organize it I'll post the Q&A here.

Omnivox Silent Sweeper TimeWarp Records Tracklist: 1. Silent Sweeper (Original Mix) 2. Silent Sweeper (Nova Fractal Remix) 3. Silent Sweeper (JIS Remix) 4. Silent Sweeper (Lectro Spektral Daze Remix) 5. Silent Sweeper (Cactus Arising Remix) 6. Silent Sweeper (Hypnotic Aboriginal Experience) "Some things just become real for an unknown reason. Most of the time I am a bit surprised about how my tracks get into existence, and at those moments I feel like I am just a medium through which that music just begins to exist, without me thinking or doing much about it." - Omnivox What Omnivox (Tomislav Crncic) is referring to is the essence of being a true artist. It comes from actual performance of one's music, being truly imaginative and open to the muse of one's ideas and imaginations, not being a slave to preset computer programming in delivering his brand of goa. What Omnivox is saying is that he is merely the vessel. The above statement has been said by countless artists and musicians across the entire span of human history, from Victorian age painters to every passionate form of modern musicianship, from being a sculptor to being a punk rock vocalist. It is the truest determination out there of separating the slave-for-their-art types from the pretenders. Omnivox, then, is an artist. On Silent Sweeper, the artist offers up two excellent tracks, different versions of the same vision, mind you, but two tracks, nonetheless. Both markedly different from one another even while they share the same title. The "Original Mix" delivers trademark Omnivox frequencies layered with heavy, pleasing grooves, patiently moving tempos and some inspired and excellent keyboard squelch and melodies. In all, a goldmine of a track. Perhaps it is only outdone by the "Hypnotic Aboriginal Experience" because that version is an absolute surprise of splendid imagination and a truly excellent delivery of its ideas. "I had it in my mind for quite some time, and since I have a long-time friend who makes and sells didgeridoos, and plays them in his ethnic band ... it was just a natural flow of things to get him involved," Omnivox said. " Seven or eight years ago I was playing a couple of DJ sets with classic retro tracks along with my other friends on didgeridoos and I thought it sounded great, it added another layer of mystical atmosphere. This was just the same story, but taken to another level. That was my idea to slow the original version quite a bit and to add a didgeridoo layer to it." This down tempo version of "Silent Sweeper" is fantastic! The "Hypnotic Aboriginal Experience" is a slow-moving, deeply atmospheric, hard-grooving and, very much so, hypnotic rendition. Of the remixes, each remixer is instantly recognizable for their own distinct styles though two do not stray much from the structural basis of the original while two completely rework it and claim it for their own. Long time fans will immediately recognize the frequencies of Nova Fractal as he gets loud, in-your-face and bombastic on his version, a bit of an energy blast that the original withholds. A good version especially if you come to the EP looking for a dancefloor bomb. The JIS remix gets better over time, perhaps not as impressive to look at it on its first go, perhaps because it plays after the Nova Fractal bomb and gets followed-up with an LSD gem. However, the JIS version is groovy, bouncy, delightful fun. Lectro Spektral Daze and Cactus Arising may as well have been the original producers of "Silent Sweeper" with how impressive their versions are, with how much altering they accomplish from the original, with how nearly unrecognizable their takes become. LSD is always pretty impressive and here is a another fine example of those production skills. Where Nova Fractal, JIS and Omnivox are quite up-front in their sounds, full-bodied and loud for an in-your-face feel, LSD takes a step back, gives the sound a bit of a diluted quality, makes "Silent Sweeper" sound as if it is a space odyssey. This version is a gem. As is the Cactus Arising take. Whereas everything else on the EP is new school with old-school influences, Cactus Arising brings the old-school flavors in abundance, grooving, bouncing and rocking ever-so nicely through eight-minutes of lovely vintage goa. Everything about this one is pleasing and fantastic. Omnivox is the vessel from which some fine art comes forth. Silent Sweeper is a great EP because of it. And along the way, Omnivox, the artist, is joined by four fantastic, like-minded painters of sound that vessel some exceptional art of their own. Psyshop

It is a merry one, great job guys!

Out of curiosity, do you have favorites?

Sattyananda Sonic Mandalas Audio Aashram Tracklist: 1. Open Reflections 2. Heady Messages 3. Other Planets 4. Twisted Realms 5. You're Safe 6. Things We Share Our Planet With 7. Sonic Mandalas Indian producer Sattyananda first came to my attention with his great album Mind Expansion in 2014. A techno friend, surprisingly enough, approached me with it and suggested I give it a whirl, thinking it would be right up my alley. She was right and this year's Sonic Mandalas reinforces my opinion of his work. Whereas Mind Expansion tended to rely pretty heavily on samples, very much reflecting the producer's fascination with shamanistic rituals and extraterrestrial life, Sonic Mandalas relies heavily on the music itself and the approach is beautifully realized. Most of these tracks are slow in unfolding, patiently building toward higher tempos. In many of these moments the introductions are often decidedly ambient, carefully arranged and gorgeously effective. When the tempos gather themselves up into a down tempo range the impeccably delivered beats, grooves and rhythms are subtle, chill, deliciously relaxing. Sattyananda has a skill for tapping into alien frequencies, delivering odd sonic sound structures without going overboard on the weird aspect, keeping almost all of these tracks on a friendly and awe-inspiring level. There is little more to do than to let the gorgeousness of the opening trio on "Open Reflections," "Heady Messages" and "Other Planets" wash over you and the magic becomes obvious. "Twisted Realms" is a bit more memorable on the groove and melody fronts and my choice for the finest of this bunch. "Things We Share Our Planet With" becomes a bit more liberal with samples than the rest of this bunch but even those are kept to an agreeable minimum, as smart-talking philosophical interludes that enhance the musical message without detracting from the sonic spell itself. As a conclusion, the title track, like the majority of the album, is very fine psychedelic fodder. Aptly, Sonic Mandalas are mini-universes of rich and captivating sound and, on the whole, an exquisite artist album. Sattyananda

Norma Project & Nature Life Ovnimoon Records Tracklist: 1. Digital Age 2. Life 3. Moon Above The Sky Another great one from Ovnimoon Records. Teaming Serbian producer Norma Project with Nature (fresh off a co-production release with Ascent earlier this year, also from Ovnimoon) these are three patient moving tracks characterized by a slow-moving storm of deep rumbling bass, progressive-speed grooves and loads and loads of atmosphere. In fact, all three tracks just drip with the stuff. Whether you're into progressive or not, it's pretty fascinating to get to the second listen of this one and watch the unseen levels begin to reveal themselves, unlock their secrets to your senses. Each track is filled with layers, each with a surprising amount of depth, putting this well beyond commonplace progressive psy - the depth makes for emotional pools and levels of beauty not found much elsewhere outside of this label. Which is kind of the point I'm leading up to. "Digital Age," "Life" and "Moon Above The Sky" are all very much Ovnimoon Records tracks, very professionally handled and delivered by these two producers. That said, this is pretty standard fare for the label, same-sounding excellence that will either impress or annoy if you've felt like you have done this EP before. I fall into the impressed category. Beatspace

The Crossing Mind track just gets better each time I hear it!

They go off, no doubt! They play a great live set and Nuky is much more aggressive as a DJ than in a live setting so best to prepare for that

Dirty Saffi Umami Bom Shanka Records Tracklist: 1. Psychedelic Freedom Fighter 2. Is It Organic 3. Seek & Enjoy 4. Your Breath Stinks - Dirty Saffi & Satya 5. Space Rats 6. St George 7. Snowdonia 8. Coco-Nutters 9. Rock N Roll 10. Dubslap Dirty Saffi are very much a walking double entendre. By all accounts this UK husband/wife couple are very much the polite-and-proper individuals one would expect, very sweet people who give a little bit more than what was agreed upon. That is, of course, in as much of that polite-and-proper English manner as dread-locked, tattooed, facially pierced folk can be, I suppose. For instance, on a recent trip to Toronto, the Saffi duo of Psymmetrix and Nuky stayed much longer in the city than was expected and in turn offered up a couple additional gigs that were not expected of them. Leading to the next point, the name itself. As Al Psymmetrix states, "Saffi is hindi for cleaning." And a dirty cleaning is exactly what this music is. The moment these two begin to rock, politeness, manners, consideration are tossed out the window. Their sound is based on hard-rocking body music and, quite frankly, they seem to give not a fuck if you're in the mood for it or not. Umami (the fifth sense of taste for savory meats) is pretty explosive stuff. Perhaps not as rhythmically complete as their 2013 debut Beauty And The Bitch or as diversely imaginative as Psymmetrix' last solo outing on 2011's No More Milking It, but still extremely effective. If you're looking for complex melodies, enrapturing layers of sound, pretty progressive or stimulating intellect than you're looking at the wrong collection of music. This album requires that you turn the brain off so these primitive beats can go straight to the body to work their magic. There's a lot to like here if you're into full-on though I'm not sure there is one main highlight or single track that stands out from the pack. There are some tiny differences that are noteworthy, especially the fun quirkiness of "Coco-Nutters," the bombastic rhythms in the spare-no-feelings of "Your Breath Stinks," the beastly beauty in "Snowdonia," the deliciously odd imagination behind "Dubslap," the energized liberation of "Psychedelic Freedom Fighter" and the potent one-two punch of "Space Rats" and "St George." This is simple and primitive, no-frills full-on, the antithesis of the Nano sound found in most well-dressed psy club parties where sense of taste is extremely underdeveloped. Umami is good, fun, messy, sweaty music, very much a dirty cleaning for the soul, very much a meaty and savory flank of full-on goodness. Bom Shanka BandCamp

Hey mate, you should post this in the Artist News & Label Announcements section.

Goa Classics is excellent, great work, they definitely still have it. Not sure what it says that this is the only AP 2015 track though:

HAHAHAHA Nice one, Mike, great review!