DoktorG

Here's what I wrote about Rastaliens' Freestyle on Discogs in 2015: "One of the worst covers of any Goa/psytrance lp, but one of the best albums musically. Dark, funky, danceable, fun, heavy, trippy. What's not to like? For what it is worth, this was one of the most popular albums in Goa back in the day. Along with MFG's "The Prophecy", every Chai mama or roadside stall had a pirated copy to sell. Top. ~*~" What do I think practically a decade later in 2024? Well, the cover still sucks; I like the dark blue colour scheme, but that's the only redeeming feature. Praying Mantis adorning some kind of underwater scene? Wtf. If it were today I would think it bad AI art. We don't listen to Goa or psytrance for the cover art... 😅 Speaking of which, I'm listening to my original Balloonia double vinyl now. Decent mastering and pressing job - there is zero surface noise (and I've played this lp plenty) and zero inner groove distortion, or any technical glitches. Well done Balloonia and the press - good job for early noughties, or any era. Which raises the question of whether it sounds dated. Well, of course it sounds dated! Things sound like what they are made of and how that is played and this era had its musical technologies and its trends, as does every era. So yes, it sounds dated, but in a good way in my opinion. For sure, the mastering could be more dynamic. However, there is no beat matching or autotune as far as I can tell; the music is not marching to a nuclear clock rigid metronome like so many contemporary tunes. There's a certain rhythmic looseness that is necessary for groove. There's some soul peeking through the digits. Also, it doesn't have that super-glossy sound in the mids and treble, a shiny sound I have come to dislike. In other words, this album sounds good to me. Highs could be a touch brighter and more dynamic, but I dig the slightly darker sound that goes with these tunes, which are early slightly dark psytrance. And what tunes... The immediately noticeable musical thing is that there are funky basslines on this album. Just listen to the bassline on "Bodyspeaker", or the walking bass on "Grumble", or the tuneful bass on "Mr Sandman". These are instantly recognisable, memorable basslines, much more inventive than the predictable galloping horse bassline of psytrance today. The way the tempo of the bassline in "Grumble" is used to build up to climaxes is masterful. If you heard these basslines on a big system, you would be twitching that ass involuntarily. Melodically you won't find any Goa fractals and Rastaliens definitely could be more inventive - the glockenspiel melody in "Fitz Fatz", for instance, seems to be cribbed from Infected Mushroom's "None of This is Real", which came out just 2 years before. Generally I think that this album owes a lot to Classical Mushroom. But while this is not Simon Posford with his melodic creativity, there are plenty of interesting melodic moments on Freestyle. My personal favourite must be the longest track on the album "Weird Condios" (9.02). The melodic line takes its sweet time to develop into a heavier and heavier and darker and darker trip that goes on and on, just how I like it. Wonderful! Overall, I would say that there could be more variation in this album; it is pretty much like they just made the same track over and over. Nevertheless, with familiarity the individuality of each track reveals itself. Finally, one of the things I know about this album over the years is that it has high replay value; once I'm into it I just want to hear it over and over. That's not a minor thing. So thanks to Sawfly for reminding me to listen to Rastaliens' Freestyle again. As you can probably tell, I think this is album is a classic of sorts - one of the few good early psytrance albums to come along after the many awesome albums of Goa. Maybe a minor classic, but a classic nevertheless. ~*~

I just want to repeat the praise for the mastering of the vinyl edition, which is presumably pretty similar to that of the cd edition. The Dat Records mastering of Etnica's Live in Athens and, especially, the Crop Circles compilation was brickwall compressed, bass boosted, and lacking in spaciousness and tonality. Happily, it seems that a lesson has been learned because that is not the case with this excellent release. I don't know what the DR number is, but this is not a heavily compressed mastering job and sounds great as a result. A very happy outcome that serves this stunning music well and augurs well for the future. All strength to Draeke and his excellent projects. ~*~

Twisted writes: "We will soon be offering LP sales of the latest collaboration by Simon Posford and Raja Ram entitled Improvisations for Piano & Flute. This super-chill album by the dynamic duo is a salve for the soul, an atmospheric antidote to the relentless stress and fast pace of our increasingly complex world. The digital release of this album is a 1xLP pressing on golden nugget vinyl - a luxurious way to enjoy these eight beautiful tracks. Stay tuned for LP sales link on 28th November. You can pre save the album now on all good streaming platforms": https://simonposford.lnk.to/PianoandFlute

Pre-release on Suntrip of Bypass Unit vs Color Box: https://suntriprecords.bandcamp.com/album/bypass-unit-vs-color-box-nanosphere-courier-digital-12-shipped-4h-of-oct

A round of applause for your sensitivity Rapid Flow, but what you are saying is no secret on this forum. Lots of us identified the cul de sac of the galloping horse and machine gun rhythm section with irritating build ups many years ago and are openly critical of it. In fact, this critique has been going on since the early 2000s when so-called full on developed.

Enjoying the gnarly, crunchy Bamboo Forest vibes on this.

Yes, Amtinaous are excellent and obscure, but not quite overlooked. Here are the Discogs reviews of the 1996 "YOD" ep on POF records: peuk Oct 19, 2023 Edited 8 months ago Huhh... As the articles before me, I can say this is the key to answers, what we are try to found every time when listening goa trance. This record is beautiful! Four tracker gem, with pure goanish elements, magical soundscapes on every single track. But not a regular release. Bravo! chimushi Apr 13, 2022 Surprisingly deep, 4 track gem that will not disappoint any true Goaseur. I missed this one on my first tour of the small Amtinaous catalogue of releases and was very happy I came across this must have release on my second pass. This is contemplative level Goa Trance of the highest quality and is not for the Greatest hits of Goa Trance crowd so if you have time to really listen to this release, you will be rewarded by it's depth, nuance and subtlety. A note of Thanks to the artists who created this gift. doctorg Jul 11, 2021 Edited 2 years ago Good quality floaty Goa from France. "Y.O.D." is wonky; lots of little tweaky sounds and clanky percussion moving in and out of a gentle beat, it hovers in the liminal zone between the dance floor and chill area. "Araxia" is squarely in the dance floor with a stumping beat, insistent bassline and shimmering synths. "Organic THC" in the "Imothep Disturbance mix" is a gentle chill out track with Indian flute and tribal percussion - very nice. "Nyamgal" returns to the dance floor, though it is a fairly gentle and trippy track with long textured synth lines verging on drone; an excellent track. A lot of work went into this varied ep and it shows. ~*~

You're most welcome to use what I wrote. I agree that nothing trumps quality tracks, but sets and comps with good flow create a journey. Ag I guess I'm just an Etnica fan; for me they are so plugged into cosmic power at their best that most everything else sounds a bit undramatic by comparison no matter the tempo. The kosmiche opera of trance. The production on this new track sounds promising; their old stuff was badly compressed, especially Alien Protein. Wild acid lines? Yum

Thanks Acid Being. Yes, I did listen to the Etnica "Universo" ep and I liked it, but none of the tracks achieve take off like "Golden Era". I don't want to undermine your forthcoming review, but as you asked here's what I thought: "Different Species" is a collaboration with Ovnimoon to remix the Crop Circles (Etnica + Lotus Omega) original from the "Full Mental Jackpot" ep (1997). Excellent track. I think Ovnimoon is one of the best neoGoa/prog artists. "Chemical Brilliance" seems to be a new track and has a full on psytrance beat with fabulous Etnica melodies. Stunning melodies but the robotic beat works against them a bit for me. "Fireworks" is also a new track I think and has more of a techno vibe, like on Nitrox. I found this track a bit meandering and it didn't quite hold my attention, especially towards the end when it kind of peters out. Going back to Acidum Influxum, I think that it was a programming error to make the awesome "Golden Era" the first track; it set the bar a bit high for the following tracks. It would have been much better placed towards the end of the compilation I reckon. Overall, I felt the compilation lacked flow (admittedly only a few compilations really get this right).

Etnica "Golden Era" First of all the alien atmosphere, then the bouncy bass, then the beat: that slapping kick and rattling percussion that Etnica perfected. Slightly loose, swinging, so easy to dance to. But I should have known that was just for starters, because when the 303 kicked in at 3.20 I felt every hair stand to attention and I thought "Fuuuuuck this is the sound I've been missing". The Italian masters know how to make a fractal melody like no one else. I wish the initial form of that melody came back later in the track, but what a bliss to get a blinding power Goa track from Etnica in 2023! It is like reuniting with your soul mate 24 years later because we haven't had a track like this from Etnica since "History" from Equator in 1999. The only question is why it took them so long to go back to the golden era. If they carry on making tracks like this we are in for a new golden era. Unfortunately, much of the rest of the compilation pales compared to this track, for me at least, but I must mention Antidot & DICA's searing "Soulbinder" which could light up a dancefloor, Inner Zone's blissed out "Heaven's Gate", and the whimsical trippiness of BotFB "Tenderlion (Anthem Remix)". Welcome back Etnica! ~*~

Agreed. In certain realms, the accusation of cheesiness is the kiss of death and it can take guts to bring the cheddar in such realms. However, please allow me to clarify that while I find the sample both intriguing and kitsch, it is the generic elements of the track as a whole that make it a bit cheesy to me. It just seems a bit psychill-by-numbers, especially the angelic choirs towards the end. Please note that this does not decrease my appreciation of RA's fabulous art. I said a bit too cheesy, not quattro formaggi. 😅

"Enthralled" starts off with a simple quiet piano-type melody, slowly evolving into a sweetly melancholy slow ambient track via squelchy and clicky percussion - kinda reminds me of ambient techno ala Autechre. There's a bass growl in this track that is appreciable, sounding like waves lapping on a shore. The big pads that come towards the end build to quite an intense climax. Super ambient track that is well structured, if somewhat simple. A- "Mysterious Thing" is just what it says on the tin - exotic ambience that reminds me a bit of Entheogenic. I like this track, though at times it verges on the generic. B "Visions of Touch" revs things up a bit in that it actually has a beat and is the outstanding track here, managing to be both chilled out and acidic, a winning combination. A "The Burning" has some sounds that have become generic for psychill - choirs, panpotted bass growls, swooshes etc. However, it also has a long voice sample about love that might well make this one of the few Goa tracks that is overtly romantic (it reminds me a bit of Boris Blenn's "the ultimate experience is love" sample from Galaxy's "Musication Celebration" on the Angel album). Is the romance here tantric-style or Romeo & Juliet type? I don't know, but even though I find the sample both intriguing and kitsch, this track is just a bit too cheesy for me. C I'm a big fan of RA, going right back to the 1997 "R.O.M./Azure Child" ep. I rate "To Sirius" very highly and "9th" is my favourite, but I also think "Earthcall" and "Unearthly" worthy works. This latest chill out ep from RA is solid, but I can't help feeling that it is just throat-clearing. The singing is yet to come. Let us hope we get another album soon. ~*~

No worries; all apologies gratefully accepted! I've tended to avoid youtube links in the past because so many of them are dubious in both legality and quality, but I'm happy to post bandcamp links in future. 🙏

Vaporized Human Odyssey 2023 Digital Reprints Human Odyssey 1 1-1Vaporized (2)–Return To The Source 12:51 1-2Vaporized (2)–Circle Of Dust 11:21 1-3Vaporized (2)–Solar Cycles 10:38 1-4Vaporized (2)–Human Odyssey 9:44 1-5Vaporized (2)–Full Moon 9:44 1-6Vaporized (2)–Silverbox 10:54 1-7Vaporized (2)–Enter The Circle 10:37 Human Odyssey 2 2-1Vaporized (2)–Return To The Source (Dig Deeper Mix) 12:51 2-2Vaporized (2)–Circle Of Dust (Red Rock Mix) 10:36 2-3Vaporized (2)–Solar Cycles (In Orbit Mix) 11:03 2-4Vaporized (2)–Red Dust 10:22 2-5Vaporized (2)–Silverbox (Acid Mix) 9:47E 2-6Kristian* & DJ Cosmix–The Vision (Vaporized Remix) 10:00 2-7Vaporized (2)–Artifact 12:22 This is a fascinating double album released in 2023 by Danish artist Kristian Thinning Andersen. He is most famous as Elysium, though he has a variety of other monikers. Andersen made some of the greatest Goa tracks ever in the 90s with a unique mellow, tribal, and hypnotic style. One of my personal favourites is the Sheyba ep on Flying Rhino from 1995: Who can forget the wolf howls in "Ancient Lands" which take the listener deep into the ancestral past. Other notable releases include Spiritual's "Ride the Snake", Kaaya's "Ormazd", Kailash's "Higher", and the two Elyzium albums Dance for the Celestial Beings (1995) and Celestial Sounds and Neurotic Tribal Beats (1997). Evocative, storytelling stuff, more for the inner journey than for 'aving it on the dancefloor, though plenty potent on the dancefloor too. Rather than give a track by track formalist description, I want to try to sum up Andersen's artistic goal and the feel of his tunes, with which I'm sure many of you are familiar. Perhaps the most important thing then is to point out that if you are a fan of his work, as I am, then this is a must. Andersen has not changed his style. This is not to say that he is stuck or lacks variety or experiment or is narrow, but he simply has his own unique style that is instantly recognisable. And what a style it is - poised hovering in the liminal zone between the dancefloor and the chill out area with bpms seldom getting up into the 140s, its distinctive feature is hypnosis. In a sense, then, his music is the very essence of trance, which is a hypnotic state, a state of immersion if you will. There's a deep calm in his music, that is quite different to the ecstatic excitement, even freneticism, of a lot of trance and psytrance. It is more of a highlands plateau than the peaks and valleys of psytrance. It is likely that the Dionysian among us will not like this calm and will find this album boring. If you want high drama, crushing rhythms, major chords, frenzied build-ups, hardcore blastoff, then look elsewhere. For those who can enter this calm state, it provides the meditative bliss of relaxation and acceptance. This music creates the atmosphere in which it is best appreciated. Here are the words of the man himself: "I wanted to return to the way I think trance should be like. To me, trance is a slowly building journey on the dance floor by its hypnotizing patterns and deep soundscapes. Repetitively rhythmic to put you in a state of trance." Andersen emphasises his return to proto-Goa, which was slower and lacked the build-ups and galloping horse basslines of post-millenial psytrance. What I most appreciate about this relaxation is that it tends to grant the space for the mind to expand into fantasy - it is quite easy to be swept to far-off lands with these tunes. This does not mean that Vaporized lacks intensity. Intensity may be provided by tribal vibes through vocals, samples, percussion. Whilst I do miss the tribal vibes a bit on this latest album, they are still there in the background. Intensity is also provided by the microdynamics of texture and small changes. A master of texture, Andersen was always good at making sounds that ranged from silken smooth to ragged ripping. Many of his sounds, showcased by the relatively constant rotating polyrhythms in the background have more pixels per nanosecond than there are motes of dust in the Sahara (though you will need a good hifi to hear this). Part of the sonic magic is the recordings and masterings: no compression wars here and sounds have space to breathe, do not blur together, dynamics are free. I checked out my vinyl and cds and the only information on the mastering I could find was "Prodam" and "Podam" - I searched but nothing came up. This is also true of this new work, which is also well produced. This high quality recording and mastering pays off in psychoactive sound with good micro as well as macro dynamics. This is crucial to Andersen because he is very good at small changes, subtle shifts of delicate percussion, unexpected time wobbles - small changes amidst heavy repetition that can tug at your ear, especially when you are in the calm and receptive state of trance. There, in a nutshell, I think you have the spirit of Elysium/Vaporized: hypnotic trance. It is relatively introspective stuff that eschews drama, performativity, grandiosity, hysteria, going instead for meditative calm. This, of course, does not mean that the artist is always so calm himself. Hypnosis is also invariably haunted by the image of the zombie: who is controlling the hypnotised is the question that typically arises. Is it a corporate AI? Perhaps it is the Soviet nostalgia hackers? No, it is definitely the aliens described by Cixin Liu. Whether you are concerned about being hypnotised or not, the questions that have historically accompanied the inner path do flutter about this introspective art. Of course, this means that this is more home music than for the main floor. If hypnotic trance sounds appealing to you, then you won't do better than this excellent album and the stunning back catalogue behind it. ~*~

Thanks so much for yet another super mix Basilisk! Loving those Quietman/Platipus 90s vibes and "Space Shanty" is a stomper that can work in many sets. 🙏