DoktorG

Ostap Hirnyak is a Ukrainian musician known as Katedra. His superbly original debut album is here: https://globalsect.bandcamp.com/album/katedra-we-are-not-alone Slava Ukraine!

Knocking some of the shibboleths of a movement off their pedestals is not only a sign of decadence, a movement in decay, but also an important stage in identifying the classics that stand the test of time. Hence I read the comments above with some iconoclastic delight and some recognition. I completely agree with the insightful posters above that these are, or were, over-rated: Astral Projection "Trust in Trance" (good album, make that very good, but not in the league of "Dancing Galaxy" and "Another World") Hallucinogen "The Lone Deranger" (amazing sparkling moments but just a bit too cocky about its whacky schtick, such as the Celtic knees-up in "Jiggle of the Sphinx") Man With No Name (some brilliant tracks and very good production but Goa-lite) Green Nuns of the Revolution (infectious at times, but comes across today as hastily thrown together) The Muses Rapt (the cheddar detector was malfunctional) Infected Mushroom (first two albums are excellent; after that...) So there we have it: the greatest hits of Goa trance are reduced to smouldering ruins by the critics. The question all this begs is what, then, has withstood the test of time? But I think that's for another topic.

Surely no-one is surprised that Infected's prices are, erm, high. I'm sorry to be cynical, but they've mostly been making cheesy and commercial music since album number 2 in my jaded view. Moreover, if this is not a remastering that is really a pity as the mastering on the original triple vinyl is far from special.

There's an argument to be made that great art has mortality awareness, which lifts it beyond the merely fashionable or topical. As Ezra Pound said: "literature is news that stays news". I like this collaboration:

I think that Aleah knew she was dying when she recorded Hour of the Nightingale. Thanks for unearthing this "Jewel Stanbridge" gem! "Jewel Stanbridge" and "Julia Liane Stanbridge" are the names that Discogs uses: https://www.discogs.com/release/66424-Various-Caribbean-Eclipse The one review at the bottom says it all: "Not a single bad track here in my opinion, but the stand out track is withouth doubt the Binah - Crescent Suns track. An almost 12 minutes beautiful journey, given us by two of the true masters in the scene, Simon Posford and George Barker. But the track wouldn't have been the same without the gorgious vocals by Jewel Stanbridge. Her voice in this track is absolutely stunning!" ~*~

Swampdelica I only discovered this record now; I don't know which mix I am listening to, but this is interesting and original music. This is Sloa Goa with a relatively slow, measured, unhurried pace. The rhythms tend to the industrial and have a grinding quality to them, which at times seems a bit linear and monotonous; I occasionally wanted more syncopation and percussive drama and different drum and cymbal sounds. However, the simple rhythm section avoids the plasticky psytrance sound completely (yay!) and does tend to create hypnosis in the listener. Moreover, the simple pounding drums and pulsating bass are well balanced by rotating and whirling Goa melodies full of reverb and echo, often quite quiet and subtle, and most of which do not build to climaxes. I need to listen again, but I don't recall any vocal samples. This is the opposite of extroverted full on psytrance with its plastic rhythm section and bold shiny leads. Further, the bass is heavy and the sound is quite soft and muddy, almost lo-fi. The overall effect is entrancing - sucking the listener into a deep, dark vortex of murky intrigue. So whilst all the ingredients are familiar, the way they are mixed together is unusual enough that a strange new dish is created: introspective industrial scifi Goa that reminds me a bit of Semsis and Menis in the Koyote days. For me, the primary impression this record creates is of a swamp. I'm calling it swampdelica. Original! Just goes to show that there's more to this genre than we often think; imagination is the main limitation. Really hoping to see more from this artist. ~*~ PS - beautiful cover art!!

Thanks Jikkenteki. I should have mentioned Prana, Joujouka, Bass Chakra, Kailash etc. Lots of Suzuki's work involved breaks and dynamic use of percussion. ~*~

O'er, is it really me to kick things off? Ok, my top albums 2021: Uptempo 1) Battle of the Future Buddhas Songs From a Forgotten Memory 2) Khetzal Etamines 3) Artifact 303 From the Stars 4) Moon Beasts On the Edge 5) Various Carpe Noctem Downtempo 1) Entheogenic Animism (listed here as a 2021 release, though I'm not sure about that as Discogs says 2020)

Edgar Allan Poe would have loved this, seeing as he once said that the most poetic image was that of a dead woman (easy to get your knickers in a twist over that egregious sexism...). Nevertheless, whilst this album is an obvious accompaniment to Poe's femicidal classics like "Ligeia" and "Eleonora", or Tennyson's "The Lady of Shalott", or Tolkien's Arwen, it is more than that. An all time great album in any genre in my opinion, there's enough darkness and determination here to make the fragile gossamer beauty truly transcendent. She sang so sweetly before she died.

Hello All I always liked psybreaks and wrote a number of reviews on Discogs about it. Most of it was a short-lived, primarily UK-based, sub-genre around 97-98 and here are the most significant releases in my limited and biased opinion: Cwithe Illegal Somaton Future Memories Digitalis Third State All Boundaries are Illusion compilation on 21-3 records Deviant Electronics Brainwashing is Child's Play Tristan Space Sage (Process remix) Germinating Seeds of Doda Upside Din Metal Spark Corrosive In other words, look out for the work of Andy Guthrie, Seb Taylor, Ciaran Walsh, Tristan, Shorn Rah. I feel quite strongly about this movement because if Goa had followed more syncopation, it might not have ended up in the straitjacket of 4/4 and one note bass that too often characterises psytrance. ~*~

The prolific Mr Kirkwood... until he devoted himself to religion after 2009. I'm listening to Wired again; it strikes me that there's something bluesy about his compositions, almost melancholic. It is certainly well-knit in that all parts work together to create a feeling. Going back to the original topic of this thread, I guess you probably know this already, but if not here is some tribal black metal with industrial and trance elements:

Ah Vienna - city of music. I listen to opera, btw; not only a fan of new trendy music. One of the places I would love to live! Look, I'm no expert in dungeon synth as I've only been getting into it recently, but take a listen to a couple of minutes of this and tell me it doesn't sound a bit like Klaus Schulze or Brian Eno or Tangerine Dream or suchlike. I'm not sure that much of the genre sounds like this, but there seems to be a connection. Love the idea of unreleased stuff getting onto a vinyl. I will gladly support that if you do a digger's or crowdfunding or some other way to support; and of course I will buy at least one copy. In fact, if I was a millionaire and didn't have to work, one of the things I would really love to do is release the best of neo Goa on vinyl. Suntrip are starting to do this, but very slowly. I understand it is not easy as lots of young hippies don't get vinyl (vinyl is tricky to get right and lots of kids don't ever buy any music period). There's an unrelated story of Sven Vath being invited to Goa in 94 or 95, the early days, and arriving there to blow away the crowd, but being unable to play because it was 45 degrees in the shade and all his vinyls warped! I really don't know how true this story is, or even who told it to me, but it tickles me every time. I must listen to Magnetrixx again; haven't thought of him in ages. I have the cd of Wired and the Somnam and Wired Remixes vinyls, but don't know his music apart from that. He definitely has some talent for melody in my view.

I'm a vinyl fiend (analogue is my first love; I build my own tube amps) so in the absence of Goa on vinyl (I have almost all the first wave Goa I want on vinyl) I went over to the dark side . Yeah, I admit it, I buy metal on vinyl (though metal is weird; unlike Goa where I like a lot of it, I dislike most metal). But I completely hear you about limiting one's obsession and controlling the budget. I manage it not by limiting genre, but by limiting edition - I will only buy first edition lps, not reissues (very few remasters sound as good as first editions - there's a lot of technical reasons why, though they become questionable in the digital era). That's the way I dice it. Lots of other legit ways to do it... I'm super happy to see that some psychill and trance is making it to vinyl as part of the vinyl resurgence - oh dear, wallet damage... At the moment I'm trying to decide which Solar Fields I should get (only got the first one on vinyl so far and it is a good pressing and mastering job). Thanks for the Viking recommends - I know Skald and Finntroll, but will look into the others. At the moment I'm more into dungeon synth than folky vibes; I'm enjoying Old Sorcery presently. There's a zone where some early electronica (Klaus Schulze, Tangerine Dream, Kraftwerk) actually sounds quite similar to ambient techno and trance which resembles some dungeon synth - they are all keyboard-based music styles so the instrument starts to determine the music it seems. I've only been to Innsbruck and Vienna once - loved it I have to say. Seemingly a bit of a conservative country, but lovely people nevertheless and the mountains... I'm a mountain lover and walking in the Alps was just heavenly. Whereabouts are you located? I've never seen so much tobacco smoking in my whole life though - that amazed me. Speaking of which, I prefer other means of imbibing smoke than whisky, but I hear you. In a cold climate those Islay malts really warm up the bits that are chilly. I think Lagavulin is my favourite, but there's a Bunnahabhain 18 that's really good too. Have a nice day!

Triquetra's second album Human Control begs the question of human control, or lack thereof, with its title. Personally I think that the very notion is deluded hubris; humans have never been in control, even of their bodies, not to mention their "minds". Thank goodness! Leaving big philosophical questions aside, can Human Control get me out of control? The answer is a resounding YES! Firstly, I really like the cover and its almost military minimalism that is pleasingly unusual for the genre and suggests the Alien movie franchise. However, the packaging of this album really leaves something to be desired. The too tight cardboard scratched the second cd badly; looks like it was just stuffed in there. Luckily, it plays ok, but still. The paper inserts were also mangled. This is a careless production job with inadequate packaging. Secondly, I'm not sure how much Triquetra evolved beyond their acid-drenched first album. The limited sonic palette they tend to use starts showing on this album, even though their basslines are just fantastic and it seems that our brothers in music have put work into their melodies, which are often squiggly, tweaky, and hence alien in flavour. The live album is inevitably a little rough now and then, but has that spontaneous feel that is hard to describe. However, whilst the sound of Triquetra has not evolved and remains mostly quite simple acid Goa, this is a huge advantage. Ignoring the manic layerism, stop-start peakism, and 16th note bass of most contemporary Goa and psy, Triquetra go for an old school sound that is full of dust. This is authentic to how the parties were in Goa; you had to drive your motorbike through the night, stumble through the bush in the dark, following the sound of the beat, all you had to eat and drink for hours was a chai from the chai mama tending her coals by the side of the dancefloor, you get the idea. This is not the sound of manicured hipsters grooming their fashion statement outfit in clean hotel rooms as they check whether they booked for the vip area on their smartphones. It is the sound of nature and the desire to transcend. I fucking love it! If you are a fan it is a lot of Triquetra music for you to enjoy. These dudes learnt much from the dusty, dog-eared tome of ancient, crusty Goa trance, and by staying true to the basic ingredients and spirit of this music, they've made 2 good albums now. This second one does feel a bit like they were treading water, but it is still a shining light of authenticity in the scene. ~*~

The Moon Beasts are Alexandre Cohen (that's Ephedra) and Jerome Lesterps (a.k.a Proxeeus). The name is goth cheese (presuming "moon beasts" are werewolf type creatures), the cover is unexceptional (though the colour combination is appealing), the music seems pretty straightforward Goa... Not much good then? Well, Moon Beasts pull a rabbit out of the moon with some innovative melodies and a good melodic sensibility, make that a crazy good melodic sensibility. On some of the tracks, they take the usual whirling Goa melodies and blow them up. They cram extra melodies in, they pitchbend, they use clashing keys, they warp and twist them in some way. One way or another, or several all at once, Moon Beasts are going to have fun with those melodies. There are a number of examples throughout the record, but take the maddening mosquito melody at 7.44 in "Sleeplessness" for instance - that is some skull penetrating, irritation arousing, skin piercing nasty sound to make a melody with, but Moon Beasts do it. Sleepless indeed. The vaporous ethereal melody in "Separate Species" seems breathily beautiful, until the 303 kicks in at the end and turns the track so intense it is almost ugly. The beasts are not a separate species; we are the beasts. The haunting three note melody that is the lead of "Demon Star" (wonderfully Lovecraftian name for a track) is worthy of any of the classics of Goa trance from the 90s. Weaknesses? Well, one might say that Moon Beasts pay so much attention to the melodies that they tend to ignore the rhythms a bit and they might have put more work into varied drum and bass patterns, but this is not a glaring weakness in the album. Tired of no melodies or the same old melodies? If you fancy the idea of some lunatic reanimation of Goa melodies then take a peek round into the dark side of the moon and go and join the Beasts. This crazy melodic sensibility seems set to blow up on their upcoming album. There's a preview track "Real Externality" that demonstrates a particularly intense messing with melody. It is also available as a white vinyl preorder here: https://moonbeasts.bandcamp.com/album/unexpected-turn-of-events Neo-Goa on white vinyl? Hell yeah - support the artists! ~*~

Yes, I've been buying from Steinklang and Napalm records for many years as I listen to a bit of industrial and atmo black metal/dungeon synth (Summoning, that kind of thing), amongst many other genres. Nytt Land's Ritual is readily available in all formats; quite big soft bass on this album, but a good recording nevertheless. There are still vinyl copies of previous album Cvlt available from https://www.kontaktaudio.com/ if you are into vinyl. I'm listening to it right now and the sound is good. Very difficult to find this vinyl elsewhere. PS - I don't mind the odd wee dram myself; more of a sherry bomb lover than an Island lad - it is a bit warm here for maritime malt. PPS - I suppose Muslimgauze must be one of the oldest industrial tribal/tribal industrial outfits.

Thanks so much for the This Morn Omina recommendation RTP - I love it! If you like Wardruna, then Heilung are an absolute must (maybe even better than Wardruna and very well recorded) and Nytt Land are pretty good too for pagan tribal.

Moon Beasts "Unexpected Turn of Events" 4 track ep on white vinyl pre-order: https://moonbeasts.bandcamp.com/album/unexpected-turn-of-events

Great concept. This is entertaining and quite mesmerising to watch as well as listen to. One of the problems with software in my opinion is that it can make the sound metronomic and robotic in its timing and that robs it of human spontaneity. "It don't mean a thing if it ain't got that swing". That ain't a problem here. This is some funky space music, starting with prog trance and slowly morphing into psytrance/Goa tunes. Stoked to see the Axiom, Tetra, and a Roland in the home studio. There's some great playing too. However, sometimes there is the opposite problem of too many mistimings and I don't think that all the tracks quite come off, especially the prog ones. "Chronos" for instance - great moments in this song but it gets a bit uncoordinated. On the other hand, I enjoyed "Spiral Cloud" which goes more Goa than prog. Another Goa track and for me the magic track on the album is "The Redeemer"; this is beautiful! I really love the gentle rhythm section in this masterful track that is both bubbly and floaty. I sorta think that maybe M-Run do Goa better than prog, or maybe it is that I prefer Goa? ~*~

Ah thanks for letting me know Anoebis; I'm glad he is happy - credit where credit is due. That review was written objectively; I have no affiliations, nothing to gain, no axe to grind. Huge credit is also due to you for supporting the artists, for releasing some good music, and for keeping the faith! The year has started off really well for Goa trance; I hope it continues on a positive trajectory for all!

Great news Anoebis; we look forward to more information on your plans as and when...

ANIMIST FUTURISM David Tingsgard has created one of the only albums, apart from E-Mantra’s Arcana, to rival the greats of the golden age of Goa trance in this latest record Songs From a Forgotten Memory. I really love what Battle of the Future Buddhas is doing on this and the previous album Light Behind the Sun. Quite slowish, spacey Goa with deep beats and wonderful melodies. In both albums, Tingsgard returns to the roots of Goa trance in the early sound of 94-96, which tended to be slower and more mellow than the later years which got more and more intense. Perhaps the first thing to note is that the title suggests that this is a back to the future kind of project. Is this just a nostalgia project then? Perhaps, but I go on to argue that this project involves reanimating the virtues of the past, but also updating those virtues so that they speak to the present. I call this animist futurism because it features a number of alien animal sounds. It is worth noting that both albums feature superlative production with all sounds clear, distinct, and textured against a velvety black background, but avoiding brightness or an analytical edge. One of the things I really like about both albums is that BotFB shows restraint. He does not go straight for maximum velocity from the outset. The tracks and album as a whole can thus build, and build they do. Take "Collidoscope" for instance - at the 5.35 mark the track breaks into huge pillars of rising and falling modulations - this really takes the listener on a disorientating psychedelic trip because it has not been constant throughout the track which builds up to this peak gradually. This is the mark of a mature and talented artist who understands that drama comes from restraint, not throwing everything and the kitchen sink at the listener all at once. Moreover, by avoiding manic layerism and the straitjacket of 16th note galloping horse bass and drums, when he decides to use a sawtooth or a flutter effect, it is effective. Not constant fluttering, which has little effect but to put you in a flutter. Lots of his melodies do have this fractalised or fluttering effect, but because he doesn't do this all the time it is not tiresome. Effective, like I said. Another thing worth pointing out about the whole album is that a great deal of attention is paid to background atmosphere and ambience. There are a lot of subtle background ambient sounds, a bit like distant landscape in a painting. These are sometimes innovative, as in the drones in "Mugwump". Moreover, this is not just arbitrary spacey ambience, conjuring some nondescript outer space. Space here is not empty. It is inhabited. There be creatures. We might go into cold interstellar space, but this is no colonial "myth of the virgin empty land" - this is a kind of Star Wars vision of space with lots of alien creatures. Alien creature sounds abound, primarily in squiggly forest-style melodies, either major ones or minor ambient noises. Hence I think of this album as animist futurism. "Collidoscope" is a highly rhythmic track with a really slapping kick. Alien keening sounds kick in at about the 4 minute mark and there are Prana style rising and falling 303 arpeggios arranged in circular patterns till the end. A collidoscopic track indeed. "Go Gently into Space" (obviously a riff on Dylan Thomas' famous "do not go gently into that good night/rage, rage against the dying of the light") is a space hymn to the "future space travellers" (thanks to Miranda and Prana for that phrase). It starts off with a spoken manifesto to all future space travellers, the kind of thing that you might hear in Starship Troopers: “It’s really the next stage in the evolution of mankind, out here amongst the stars lies the destiny of mankind”. Hehe, c'mon Goaheads, let's send this track to Elon Musk; he can make it his anthem. It also features great deep bass and one of the best snare sounds I've heard, and placed with pitch perfect accuracy. The track goes all Astral Projection at the end with sugary melody. This really is a space anthem if ever I've heard one. And without going over the top. Everything in total control, but without becoming predictable or zombie automaton. There’s not even a hint of the dreaded shiny plastic sound that psytrance has become. AWESOME!!! "Pitchbend (Into the Light Remix)" does exactly what it says on the tin: it starts with heavy bass 303 judders which shudder throughout, but gradually builds and ends with incredibly positive, life-affirming, sunny vibes that also happen to be delightfully psychedelic. Starting off pretty intense, this ends up being a lighter track than many on the album, but just as excellent. "The God Particle" makes it clear that this is a scifi themed album. There's such an awesome bass warble at the start of this track - honestly, this is totally addictive. Imagine holding a big sheet of roofing zinc and being able to shake it like a blanket - a metallic wap sound not far from a didge is what you'll get - and this sound goes on throughout. Infected Mushroom wish they could create just one sound as cool as this across their entire discography. A special shout to the snapping snares on this track too; faster than a cobra, as insouciant as a saddhu. As for the super trippy little alien elf melody at the end... I'm actually at a loss for superlatives. Could this be the best track on the album? "From Nothing"?? Nothing comes from nothing, so they say. Is this track describing the radical dissociation of a strong trip? Is it just a hymn to "empty" space? I don't know. But from the start this one goes heavier (I said the album builds not so?). At 4.52 there comes that unique little BotfB melody that sounds like the weird siren song of an alien at the window of your spaceship, luring you off track to the Triangulum constellation when you were supposed to be flying to Ganymede. Who needs Startrek when you have Goa trance like this? From nothing we find ourselves "In Heaven". This is the most classically Goa track on the album, featuring Indian singing, and it could an Astral Projection song. Utter bliss, with some of the most textured riffs you'll ever hear. This is clearly the spiritual heart of the album. Om mani padme hum. Om namaya Shiva. Bom Shankar! The comedown commences with "Mugwump". According to the Oxford English Dictionary, a mugwump is a person who remains aloof and undecided, especially it seems on political matters. And there I was thinking it was a grumpy old Goahead who goes around muttering "old is gold". This track has a cool wurlitzer fairground horror melody that again seems to come from some creature. I love this forest elf twisty weirdo black metal goblin animism. We don't see enough of this tokolosh spiritualism in Goa or psytrance even though we have subgenres like forest and twilight. Sheesh, BotFB practically invented forest twilight. Clearly BotFB is winding back from the hypnotic bliss of "In Heaven" and we go a bit darker and more foresty here. “Interstellar” is a more mellow track starting with a techno beat and tweaky noises, but soon accompanied by a whimsical and simple melody that repeats. Another one of those charmingly simple but minor key little melodies that BotfB specialises in. A little drop of unaccountably strange and otherworldly stardust. Though not as befuddling as the weird ohm moan at 3.39 - another example of alien noises in the album. At the 5.45 point we enter another world with bigger riffs that are nevertheless restrained and subtle; nothing too loud here, but pulling you in with texture and intrigue. This is some beguiling shit! Finally, we come down to earth with “Blurred, Calm, Warm, Hazy”, just how you feel after a good toke. This is a fully ambient track, so of course there are some sitar sounds, Asian scales, along with tabla, and wailing melodies. This is quite a hazey track in which nothing much happens, but it does create a nebulous alien ambience. We are left with strange feelings that are hard to put into words... I feel that individual track ratings are redundant here as each track is close to flawless in its own way and, more importantly perhaps, the album flows as a whole, unified, singular journey. I didn't at any point in several complete listenings want to skip a track or back off the volume or feel that it was becoming too intense or too dull. Am I saying that it is perfect? Well, equally, I would like to avoid such hyperbole. Once or twice I wanted a more cinematic or orchestral intro/outro, or felt a bit more analogue atmosphere might have added something. David Tingsgard, take a bow bro. I will probably never meet you as you live on the opposite side of the globe from me, but I wish I could shake your hand. In my opinion, you've created one of the all-time great Goa albums. I thought "The Light Behind the Sun" was good. Well, you've upped the game with this 10/10 record. You've shown Etnica, Pleaidians, Miranda, Transwave, Simon Posford, et al, that Goa is a genre capable of more than we dreamed. Technically it seems better than many of the classics, yet it is true to the apparently simple sounds of early Goa. Imaginatively it is really out there, mixing Asian spirituality, science fiction, and a kind of northern forest paganism (if I may call it that) in creating a kind of animist futurism with some strange alien noises. But this album is also just so mellow, so musical, such delightful fun, as well as being dark, serious, and prophetic. If spiritual = balance and could be bottled, this is it. So, for me, this record takes the virtues of a nearly forgotten past and updates them for the present, making the genre more surprising than ever. Goa has always burrowed into the deep roots to reach towards the future, but now that appears more real in this tougher, darker, more scifi, yet still melodic, updated version. Goa goes animist futurism. This is a critical, useful kind of nostalgia, if it is even nostalgia at all. Finally, this is very much a BotFB album; no one else could have made it. It has a unique peaceful calm understatement combined with crazy Loki inventiveness. By stepping back from the intensity and some of the darkness of the earlier work, BotFB seem to have achieved their potential. The dust has long settled on the dirt roads of Anjuna. If you avoid the tourist areas you will only hear the lowing of sacred cows and temple bells at night walking near Chapora fort. The insects are loud in bamboo forest and the rice paddies glower in the gloom. But decades later, one who kept the faith has left behind a relic as valuable as anything made at the time. I feel privileged to discover it. Goa trance album of the year! This is deep trance plateau music - if you're a Goa fan, this is a must. It is begging for a vinyl release! Anoebis, do you hear me? Do not delay - crowdfund if you must, but do the best possible vinyl mastering and pressing of this classic album. I would be surprised if this album is not selling for thousands in decades to come! ~*~

David Tingsgard has created one of the only albums, apart from E-Mantra’s Arcana, to rival the greats of the golden age of Goa trance in this latest record Songs From a Forgotten Memory. Really love what Battle of the Future Buddhas is doing on this and the previous album Light Behind the Sun. Quite slowish, spacey Goa with deep beats and wonderful melodies. One of the things I really like about both albums is that BotFB shows restraint. He does not go straight for maximum velocity from the outset. The tracks and album as a whole can thus build, and build they do. Take "Collidoscope" for instance - at the 5.35 mark the track breaks into huge pillars of rising and falling modulations - this really takes the listener on a disorientating psychedelic trip because it has not been constant throughout the track which builds up to this peak gradually. This is the mark of a mature and talented artist who understands that drama comes from restraint, not throwing everything and the kitchen sink at the listener all at once. Moreover, by avoiding manic layerism and the straitjacket of 16th note bass and drums, when he decides to use a sawtooth or a flutter effect, it is effective. Not constant fluttering, which has little effect but to put you in a flutter. Lots of his melodies do have this fractalised or fluttering effect, but because he doesn't do this all the time it is not tiresome. Effective, like I said. "Go Gently into Space" (obviously a riff on Dylan Thomas' famous "do not go gently into that good night/rage, rage against the dying of the light") is not only a space hymn to the "future space travellers" (thanks to Miranda and Prana for that phrase). It starts off with a spoken manifesto to all future space travellers, the kind of thing that you might hear in Starship Troopers: “It’s really the next stage in the evolution of mankind, out here amongst the stars lies the destiny of mankind”. Hehe, c'mon Goaheads, let's send this track to Elon Musk; he can make it his anthem. Seeing as I mentioned Prana, this track features the juddering, ascending 303 melodies that Prana mastered. It also features one of the best snare sounds I've heard, and placed with pitch perfect accuracy. The track goes all Astral Projection at the end with sugary melody. This really is a space anthem if ever I've heard one. And without going over the top. Everything in total control, but without becoming predictable or zombie automaton. There’s not even a hint of the dreaded shiny plastic sound that psytrance has become. AWESOME!!! "Pitchbend (Into the Light Remix)" does exactly what it says on the tin: it ends with incredibly positive, life-affirming, sunny vibes that also happen to be delightfully psychedelic. Starting off pretty intense, this ends up being a lighter track than many on the album, but just as excellent. "The God Particle" makes it clear that this is a scifi themed album. There's such an awesome bass warble at the start of this track - honestly, this is totally addictive. Imagine holding a big sheet of roofing zinc and being able to shake it like a blanket - a metallic wap sound not far from a didge is what you'll get - and this sound goes on throughout. Infected Mushroom wish they could create just one sound as cool as this across their entire discography. A special shout to the snapping snares on this track too; faster than a cobra, as insouciant as a saddhu. As for the super trippy little elf melody at the end... I'm actually at a loss for superlatives. Could this be the best track on the album? "From Nothing"?? Nothing comes from nothing, so they say. Is this track describing the radical dissociation of a strong trip? Is it just a hymn to "empty" space? I don't know. But from the start this one goes heavier (I said the album builds not so?). At 5.00 there comes that unique little BotfB melody that sounds like the weird siren song of an alien elf at the window of your spaceship, luring you off track to the Triangulum constellation when you were supposed to be flying to Ganymede. Who needs Startrek when you have Goa trance like this? From nothing we find ourselves "In Heaven". This is the most classically Goa track on the album, featuring Indian singing, and it could easily be an Astral Projection song. Utter bliss, with some of the most textured riffs you'll ever hear. This is clearly the spiritual heart of the album. Om mani padme hum. Om namaya Shiva. Bom Shankar! The comedown commences with "Mugwump" which has a totally cool wurlitzer fairground horror melody. I love this forest elf twisty weirdo black metal goblin shit. We don't see enough of this tokolosh spiritualism in psytrance even though we have subgenres like twilight. Sheesh, BotFB invented twilight. Clearly BotFB is winding back from the hypnotic bliss of "In Heaven" and we go a bit darker and more foresty here. “Interstellar” is a more mellow track starting with a techno beat and tweaky noises, but soon accompanied by a whimsical and simple melody that repeats. Another one of those charmingly simple but minor key little melodies that BotfB specialises in. A little drop of unaccountably strange and otherworldly stardust. At the 5.45 point we enter another world with bigger riffs that are nevertheless restrained and subtle; nothing too loud here, but pulling you in with texture and intrigue. This is some beguiling shit! Finally, we come down to earth with “Blurred, Calm, Warm, Hazy”, just how you feel after a good toke. This is a fully ambient track, so of course there are some sitar sounds, Asian scales, along with tabla, and wailing melodies. BotFB set you adrift on deeply relaxing waves of calm and bliss. David Tingsgard, take a bow bro. I will probably never meet you as you live on the opposite side of the globe from me, but I wish I could shake your hand. In my opinion, you've created one of the all-time great Goa albums. I thought The Light Behind the Sun was good. Well, you've upped the game with this 10/10 record. You've shown Etnica, Pleaidians, Miranda, Transwave, Simon Posford, et al, that Goa is a genre capable of more than we dreamed. Technically it seems better than many of the classics. Imaginatively it is really out there. But it is also just so mellow, so musical, such delightful fun, as well as being dark, serious, and prophetic. If spiritual could be bottled, this is it. Yet this is very much a BotFB album; no one else could have made it. It has a unique peaceful calm understatement combined with crazy Loki inventiveness. The dust has long settled on the dirt roads of Anjuna. If you avoid the tourist areas you will only hear the lowing of sacred cows and temple bells at night walking near Chapora fort. The insects are loud in bamboo forest and the rice paddies glower in the gloom. But decades later, one who kept the faith has left behind a relic as valuable as anything made at the time. I feel privileged to discover it. Album of the year, and it is only January! This is deep trance plateau music - if you're a Goa fan, this is a must. It is begging for a vinyl release! Anoebis, do you hear me? Do not delay - crowdfund if you must, but do the best possible vinyl mastering and pressing of this classic album. I would be surprised if this album is not selling for thousands in decades to come! ~*~

An album of psydub highly influenced by reggae. There's a light bounciness to it that suggests that Spatialize listens to a lot of reggae, as also suggested by the use of sax, clarinet etc in arrangements that owe a nod to Bob Marley, Augustus Pablo, Lee Perry etc. However, as Yerg states above, there's a star track on the album and it is indeed "Colour of the Sky". This is a dark star. The track is deep and heavy, almost reminiscent of dark ambient or dungeon synth, and all the better for it. There's a superb solo in a minor key by what sounds like an oud (or it could be a synthetic "instrument") that brings extra Middle Eastern heaviness and the Oriental melody towards the end brings the track to climax when combined with some Pink Floyd style prog rock psyche keyboard. This is a great track. For me it so different and so far superior to everything else on the album, I'm surprised the artist didn't think to make an album of tracks like this, because it sure does not fit in here. Making everything else seem rather superficial and chintzy, this is a track deserving of a 12" release with remixes and/or other similar tracks. Very highly recommended, the rest of the album not so much. ~*~

Thanks Psyhoe. That's what I suspected; it is a charming anachronism that the poster was using "lp" in the old-fashioned sense of "long playing recording" rather than vinyl that spins at 33 or 45, but it was misleading. Thanks for clarifying that.