antic604

Yeah, I wasn't meaning it like that. Have you listened to the album actively, paying attention to it and not doing anything in particular - this is where (for me) it shines, because otherwise (e.g. while gaming, working) it can surely sound pretty empty, lacking substance... at least at the beginning. Maybe this is because I'm old (40 later this year...) and perhaps I'm tired of crazy, flashy production techniques and tempos*, but I also try to be fairer to the artists when reviewing music. I mean no artist / label would release bad music on purpose, right? Even Nano Rec. is thinking it's doing good work releasing the copycat Tristan / Avalon / Laughing Buddha / Chromatone / Killerwatts albums! So even to those 'abominations' I gave them a chance listening at least 10+ times and my conclusion was they still sucked, but I could see their intentions - it works on the dancefloor. But since I don't care about that, I'd rate them 2-3/5 because they're inoffensive and technically-correct but otherwise forgettable dance-floor fillers. 1/5 is for Brainman, because no sober person can listen to that... With "5 Billion Stars" I too wasn't impressed at the beginning - it did sounded empty, some parts (very few) were annoying, I wasn't seeing the whole picture. But I soldiered on, because I knew Loud is / was a highly regarded artist and Eitan Reiter in particular is an accomplished chill / down-tempo musician (check his collab with Sebastian Muallert of Son Kite / Minilogue). So, few days in, I started picking up the small details - intriguing samples, ambiences, rhythms, musical arrangements, etc. - and the bigger picture: the "theme" of the album. This was because I listened to it start-to-finish, on headphones while doing nothing else (or reading). Now, I still listen to it 3-5 times a day and I'm not bored of it one bit! This happens very rarely, thus my 5/5 rating. I suppose it also helped - by not having precise expectations - that I wasn't familiar with Loud's earlier music, because it is indeed a stark contrast to "Some Kind of Creativity" etc... So I can understand someone expecting that rating it 1/5 as in "It's not Some Kind of Creativity. If you want that, avoid it!". That's why I asked for few words of comment that'd put your 1/5 in perspective. Thanks! * well, wait for my review of Nervasystem's "Brainradio" next week

Are you insinuating something? I genuinely enjoy this album & never before heard any of their other albums Ok, thanks - that's much more constructive! Considering that the two albums you mentioned - Oforia & Eat Static - are still much more "trancey" and "normal" than this one, I'd guess say you prefer the more up-tempo substyles, i.e. goa / forest / dark instead of progressive / down-tempo? I can also understand your comment on it lacking substance, because indeed it's much less dense, more subtle and delicate than typical "trance" or even an down-tempo album like Shpongle, Ott, etc. That's a valid concern if someone is in particular looking for those qualities. This makes your rating much more clear

See, I told you it's going to be polarizing @Insejn, @Panmapani - wondering how many times have you listened to it and how (in what setting)? And also, you should only vote AFTER you've written something about the release - not a full review necessarily, just a few words about what exactly wasn't to your liking, what was disappointing, how it didn't met your expectations, etc. Voting 1-2/5 without a word of comment is disingenuous and unfair to those who might have had different expectations than you, but will not even give it a chance now due to the scores...

BTW, the latter is how you should listen to this:

Hope I'm not getting banned for that review But yeah, I really dig it and think this is a seminal release, just maybe not for the goa / psychedelic trance genre...

Please check Shivattva's "The Tales of Harvia": https://www.psynews.org/forums/topic/71683-shivattva-the-tales-of-harvia/

My review's up: https://www.psynews.org/forums/topic/72223-loud-5-billion-stars-nano-rec/ Come at me!

01. Why Was Music Created (with Raja Ram) 02. 5 Billion Stars 03. Unique Drum 04. Green Star Movement 05. Rain Tonight 06. Peace Pipe 07. Africa 101 08. Symbiosis 09. Goblins Talking 10. Deep River Song (with Shulman) Well, this one’s a head-scratcher... Considering the feedback I saw to the samples of “5 Billion Stars” before its release, your stance on it will largely depend on how familiar you are with Loud’s discography, as over the years their music changed a lot. They started with critically acclaimed “Some Kind of Creativity” in 2006 - a very energetic, immaculately produced and arranged full-on dripping with acid lines, clever breaks, buildups and peaks; a technical and musical marvel. They’ve been following on that road for some time, but inevitably slowed down gravitating towards progressive trance tempos. Their 2012 album “No More X” was met with very mixed reception, because their homage and contemporary reimagining of the classic trance sound of Platipus Rec. (Art of Trance, Union Jack, etc.) was not to everybody’s liking. 2016’s “5 Billion Stars” is even further departure from their original sound and likely from the expectations of their original fans - it’s a concept album, built around the notion of return to the nature, to the tribal gatherings, the indigenous beliefs and spiritual world. The title of the album is an invitation to leave the comfortable confines of luxury lives we made for ourselves (5-star hotels) and get in touch with our roots - travel the world bare-footed, sleep in tent under the star-dotted skies (a 5 billion star hotel). The music therefore visits various continents and countries - Australia, Africa, India, (native) America, etc. - and consists of recordings the artists acquired while touring there: speech samples, chants and singing, live instruments, ambient noises, etc. All this is juxtaposed with electronic beats and sounds, but even there Loud is trying to imitate real instruments, e.g. the pitch of basslines and drums modulates over time to mimic how real drum, tabla or similar devices sound. Also, while there’s traces of trance in there - especially in 2nd half of the album - it’s rarely a central focus and it’s more akin to introducing a familiar element to the otherwise foreign concept, so that the audience has still something to hold on to. If I had to point to similar releases, I’d say that Juno Reactor’s “Bible of Dreams” / “Shango” phase comes pretty close in that it also accentuated the tribal elements, but “5 Billion Stars” is even less trancey, more laid back and down-tempo. It’s not a trance album and definitely not goa-trance one, but it’s a very good meditative, hypnotic and spacey music with psychedelic elements and meaningful message. Sure, there are some jarring or cringe-worthy moments there (some of the repeating voice samples), but on the other hand it’s also full of small and big ideas, sequences and passages that show their skill and experience as true musicians, able to go above and beyond the cliche looped-sequence-over-a-4/4-beat. It’s a sound of matured and confident artist, not having to show off anymore with stuttering bass, breakneck transitions or surgical precision effects. I’m expecting the reactions to this to be very polarizing and therefore I’m hugely impressed for Nano Rec. to have released it. It took me a good week to really appreciate and understand what Loud wanted to achieve, but right now I can’t take it out of my head - it’s deep, musical, rewarding and challenging release. You may not like it today, but it should be in your collection just in case you “get it” some day 5/5 Psyshop Beatspace Youtube full album mix SoundCloud extended album mix (DJ-friendly)

Well, Sybarite is basically DJ Lucas O'Brien and he indeed does have exquisite taste when it comes to quality full-on: For similar stuff, check DJ Pogo's compilations as well, e.g. this one: You also can't go wrong with recent Hypnocoustics' album:

Ok, it's REALLY growing on me Mind you, not as a "psychedelic trance" and definitely not "goa", but just as a tribal, down-tempo music - there's something very primal and relaxing to it.

Hmm, interesting - I don't think I heard any of those tracks?

I'd actually pay for a proper CD. I love Crossing Mind's piercing sound

Oh, OK - wasn't aware of that. Will definitely check it out, then. Thanks!

Thanks, but I was never a huge fan of Chi-A.D.'s sound... Are there any samples available to check out?

Most of you probably were notified on this via Bandcamp, but if not here's info from Suntrip:

While browsing some seller's offer on Discogs I stumbled upon this: https://www.discogs.com/Spies-Notinism/release/707097?ev=item-vc Also, those two compilations should pretty much fit the industrial theme: Transient Six: https://www.discogs.com/Various-Transient-Six-Theory-Of-Evolution/master/11432 Kiss The Future: https://www.discogs.com/Various-Kiss-The-Future/master/90163 + EON Project's Brain Filter: https://www.discogs.com/Eon-Project-Brain-Filter/release/35860

Only TIP's V/A "Phosphorescent" is left - I'll trade it for a new CD from Psyshop

Full album now available to listen on Nano Rec.' Soundcloud: Interesting to see it at the top of Psyshop's TOP100 sellers - a lot of people will be thoroughly disappointed with it... But it's really growing on me, i.e. like from 2/5 to 3/5

Hope I'm not turning into Nano Rec. community manager by posting this, but this sounds rather interesting: http://www.psyshop.com/shop/CDs/nar/nar2cd045.html Some samples I found: https://soundcloud.com/electromagneticpulse/emp-hax-preview-out-soon-on-nano-records https://soundcloud.com/sadparadise/sad-paradise-savages-preview https://soundcloud.com/silomusic/silo-beartone-cosmic-landscape-preview https://soundcloud.com/dj-bernz/bernz-proteomics https://soundcloud.com/zenithpsyprog/zenith-creative-minds-fly-preview https://soundcloud.com/shockwave/shockwave-arrow-head https://soundcloud.com/zezia/zezia-lizzard-galaxy-sample https://soundcloud.com/thecommercialhippies/the-commercial-hippies-heat-wave-preview https://soundcloud.com/breaker-6/breaker-vs-itone-visual-hallucinations-sample

Yeah, trying to hunt it (+all their previous albums) down

I was hoping for more live instrumentation, some creative juxtaposition of styles and moods / textures, more fun with sounds; but so far it's OK at best - some good bits here & there, but overall I feel like it's trying too hard to be different and intelligent, with nothing to show for it... At least the cover art is awesome

Ok, it's weird as f**k - takes some 20+ minutes to pick up the pace and when it does it's this mix of experimental, melancholic progressive trance (but without much "trance" to speak of really...) with heavy influences from Juno Reactor in their "Bible of Dreams" / "Shango" phase. It seems you guys have been right, but I'm willing to give it a chance and continue listening

Odered the CD via Bandcamp. Let's see what's all the fuss about

Well, since I'm "lucky" and haven't heard their previous albums (and what I sampled from Youtube wasn't THAT impressive) I'm buying this one - just by samples I can tell creatively it's miles above most prog-trance releases: I can hear Juno Reactor influences, live instruments, some great sound manipulation. I'd feel more comfortable if it wasn't released by Nano Rec., but I'm willing to give them the benefit of the doubt. It's out on 11th July, so I'll let you know my impressions when I get it

The collaboration of Scorb and Deviant Species is slated to come out this month: