rino

Don't call me mister... I'm only about to reach 22. See, I don't mind you writting your "updtaed" review, as it explains your viewpoints more clearly. Not that I agree with 'em, not that I'm supposed to, as we all after all have our own individual ways to grade and classify music, and as long you explain your judgments about an album, I respect it. And I'm sorry about all the verbal onslaught, but I really do consider it to be idiotic to express your opinion without giving it further thought or explenation. P.S.: And, as for me, I personally never expected for U Turn to reach the levels of Dragon Tales (which I found to be more than just flat and too polished) or Forever After, as I always thought Koxbox began to lose it immediately after Peter Candy abbandoned ship. Kind of the same feeling as I had about the Pleiadians/Etnica when Carlo Paterno left. Maybe that's why I tend to enjoy U Turn more... I just knew from the start that one original member with a bunch of hot guest stars from the psy trance scene cannot even come close to recreating the groundbreaking musical moments of the original line up.

Hippies? Sixties? San Francisco? I thought the issue here was about the mid '90s goa trance legends switching over to full on/progressive or whatever the hell they felt like producing...

1. Probably was a good decision... to delete it... 2. I agree with that, but you and Krell obviously lacked both in your reviews, having that your got deleted, and same should have been done for his . And no thanx, I'm actually not that much into Cohen's bulletin...

This is just a dumb topic... Not that I approve older acts switching over to full on or whatever, but hey, it is their artisitc freedom to produce what the hell they want, whether we want to like it or not! So just keep the good memories to yourself, I have my own share of them as well, but we all already know everything there is or was about "the good all days", and I can't believe that there are still people bitching about this in 2007... And that type of artistic adaption to the times should also tell you something about the artist as well: back when goa trance was the thing, and when it was profitable to produce it, that's exactly what producers did. Now when full on is the main thing, in the eternal pursuit of money, artists moved on to produce full on. Or anything else that fattens their wallet for that matter. 'Cause hey! Guess what? Even they gotta pay some bills and eat... So what does that tell you about the mentality of your average psy/goa trance artist? Draw your own conclusions...

V.A. ACCIDENTAL OCCIDENTALISM (1995) (Symbiosis Records) Why? Because it has the first three Pleiadians tracks ever, and thus far, having that they are my all time favorite project, I've collected everything they released up to the year 2000. Oh yeah yeah, I did buy the 7Even Sister7 album as well... I have the above outlined release on MP3 in 256kbps, but that's not the real thing... And I can't find this gem anywhere . Ah, the Pleiadians really got me hooked like nothing ever did... I also have all the Etnica releases up to the year of 2000, except for their, from my part heavily sought after "The EP" from 1994, released on the indipendent italian Brainstorm Records. And no, I would never sell anything I own by these dudes, no matter the price. Who would?

No, it just doesn't do justice to other users reading the so called "review", and let's not even start about the artist or the album, and the effort put in it. Anyways, this is the wrong place to discuss this. Take care and peace! And there is nothing to pay for, anyways. What services did he provide?

I respect each and every opinion when it is constructive, and when it is explained. I cannot stand reviews going like: "It's the best CD I have ever heard!!! I give it a 10/10!!! Go out and buy it!!!" or "It just sucks. Worst music ever!!! Stay away from this garbage"!!!... Hello?!? Some explanation? At least one good reason for your judgement? Is that so hard?

I prefer listening to music (at home) on my headphones. Not that my speakers are bad, but it's more that I really try to always have a nice pair of headphones, and when I have them on, I can much better catch up all the sounds and hear all the little details, which would usually get lost floating around in my room, once they get vlasted out of the speaker. But I never blast the volume too high when I listen to music at home, except when I'm home alone. That's when I like to open the window, and play loud as a f**k my all time favorite tunes. When I'm out partying, I'm usually one of the guys hugging the speakers . And yes, the morning after it's pointless that you even try talking to me. I am well aware of the whole ear damaging problem, but I figure that in one way or the other, once I'll be old, I'll just have to feel some repurcussions caused by some dumb shit I did while I was a youth. I guess I'll have a tough time communicating with my grandsons.

DJ SHADOW- Entroducing... (1996) DJ Shadow's first album is a blend of instrumental beats which seriously mixes an Atlantic Ocean of styles... DR. OCTAGON- Octagonicologyst (1996) it's hip hop yes, but the beats of the notorious japanese producer Dan the Automator and the demented lyrics about being a gynecologist in the far future, written by one of the greatest hip hop emcees alive, Kool Keith is as pychedelic as they come! COSMIC JOKERS- The Cosmic Jokers (1974) or Galactical Supermarket (1974) some awesome old rock and roll music, with some up to then never before used elements in rock and roll

Man, I don't ever want to start commenting these, as they seem to annoy me so much, I started ignoring them. Actually no, I cannot ignore them. There is a point above irritation which I guess could be only refered to as unawarness. I became unaware of these, like they are not there any longer. And I like it that way. But IMO there are some cool samples around, and there always will be, don't stereotype Synogen. Even though I just realised that my all time favorite album, I.F.O., is absolutely, 100% sample free. But on the other hand, the likes of Simon Posford and Cosmosis are such sampling geniuses it's crazy. Especially when they take it up a notch and start messing around with the voices, changing the pitch, speed, etc.! Some amazing samples we've been exposed to over the years.

This is the worst album "review" I have ever had the (mis)fortune to read !!! OK, I reall am not going to do a track by track analisys here as I feel that another user, Death Posture to be precise, did a perfect one on page two, and I urge everybody who is not sure whether to buy this album or not to read his review; it's pretty fair and accurately written. So I will drop a few comments on the album as a whole thing... As Krell so idiotically pointed out above, if this album lacks diversity, imagination and evolution, then Noam Chomsky should in his own provocative kind of way reflect upon those words meaning. This album ranges in style from tech trance, progressive trance (mixed with some dark and twisted sounds), old school acid techno, pure psy trance (yup! It still isn't dead), with a glimpse of the good old and always cherished goa trance! And the best part is that mr. Frank Kiehn Madsen excells in everything he does here: the tracks with the full on sound are, IMO, the finest full on inspired tracks I've heard since the first Astrix album. And even though I stated in numerous reviews that I tend to stay as far away as possible from the whole tech trance thing (matter of fact, I heavily dislike even the oftenly highly praised projects like The Delta or X Dreams more recent outputs), on U Turn, I am damn amazed how well crafted these tracks are! And the last three tracks produced with the ex Koxbox member, Ian Ion, are simply amazing. "Acid Drome" is such an amazing throwback to the early acid techno days of this legendary trance act, but it still has a crazy modern sound. But what impresses me the most about this album is the 'psychedelia' effect here! I mean, this is without overexaggerating, a front to back psy (in the term's true spirit) trance album! This actually is psychedelic trance music which goes beyond just words... I heard some of these tracks on a party already, and they are floor devastators. I've listened to this album at home quite a few times, and it amazed me every time. And no, this does not have melodies in the Suntrip Records fashion, so all the users who wrote and complained about the album not bein melodic... Duh!!! It wasn't supposed to be, for this is psy trance as god allmighty intended it to be: harsh, full of mind stabbing, psychedelic, deviant effects, dark atmospheres (not the dark psy type feelings), highly dancable bass kicks, twisted noises and acidic synths. I don't know what do y'all think, but if that doesn't do it for you, few releases will. Of coarse, there is always the fact the we each have our own personal taste, so it makes no sense pointing fingers if somebody does not find this album a strong release. I do. And I don't mind people bashing it and labelling it as trash after 3 listens. It's their loss. But I like this album a lot. Why? Because I really appreciate the album's amazing diversity during the course of only 9 tracks. I cannot remember right now when was the last time I heard so many styles fused together in such a skillful manner, on one single circular piece of plastic. And the guest stars appearing on the album are all legends... Which does not mean necessarily that their contributions to the tracks make 'em instantly worth gold, but in this album's case, that makes it more or less true. Then it's this album's unique way of drawing influences and inspirations from various sources of the present and of the past, and nicely blending them into one collage of music which could easily set standards for the future! Now a thought about the last pathetic remark (god, I gotta give him credit for fitting so many of those in only three lines !!!) of the infamous Krell user. Now, the last Koxbox release came out in 1999, while the last release as Saiko-Pod (Frank'e and Ian Ion) alter ego project release dropped in 2002, considering I'm not counting the Phuture Remixes album as a proper release. And something had to change (sound wise of course). And thank god it did. One reason why I adore Koxbox is I guess the same reason why I adore X Dream (well, at least I did prior to the Irritant album), and that is their constant pursue of originality. U Turn does not even attempt to sound like Forever After or Dragon Tales. Which is good. Those two albums are old school classics on a level of its own. And it would have been dumb from Frank to mess around with the untouchable. He decided to, rather then earning his bucks by exploiting and abusing his old releases, to really put forth the effort and surprise his fans with brand new, highly original music! I mean, no crap this does not sound like the old Koxbox albums, like that, if nothing else, I don't have the feeling that I wasted the last ten years of my life likng an artist who kept on giving me the same album time after time. Get it? On its own, this album can take on any psy trance release of the last couple of years, without compromising its place as a more than decent continuation of the fantastic Koxbox legacy. Highly recommended! And how can anybody, like Krell , state that this album will never be a classic after less than half a year since its release??? Man, you have got to be on some other s**t. Get your act together, and make sure to LISTEN to albums before sharing your dull opinions. I am in no way calling this a classic, and nobody can, for no release in music's history snatched that title after only a few months of being on the market. But an excellent album, yes. A damn excellent album! Top notch work here!!! Not sticking to the same old same old + never rehashing the old just to cash in your formula + not recycling generic, overlyused sounds + diversity = U Turn

God damn it, antic, you just had to get it all wrong... I adore GNOTR, O.O.O.D., and especially Cosmosis. My point is that in 2005, Bilbo Bagginz (who was more or less) always known for his funny samples, ran out of creative ideas, and inserting another one of these sp-called funny samples is stupid. I mean, can you even count how many times throughout his over ten year lasting production career has he blessed us with that funny british humor? But when you hear the same joke one two many times, it ain't funny. So isn't this sample. It is stupid. And it got even stupider in my ears when I heard Cosmosis perform "Blue Monday" live, and actually stopping all the music(!!!) when the sample comes in, and like that, putting to the forefront its full pointlessness in front of around a 1000 people. Secondly, point out where do you read in my post that I do not like my trance to be funny & witty? Quote the part where I say that I like dead serious trance! You think you could do that for me please? Man, you just draw pointless conclusions from personal and subjective opinions. This topic is about what samples YOU dislike, and not which ones suck in general. I adore "Down at the Crossroads" as I wrote above, I just find the sample (once I learned it by heart from over listening, as I also wrote above!!!) to bore me... As does everything, with a few exceptions, once you thorougly know it front to back! No hard feelings, but you have to read a post before replying. 'Cause you obviously haven't got a third of what I wrote. Nonetheless, my statement about those two samples irritating me still stands a solid 100%!!!

Yes, I am very well aware of Raja Ram's age, but you also have to understand that the vast majority (well over 85%) of production, sampling, programming and arranging was done by Simon Posford. Raja's biggest contribution to those albums was his flute playing. I remember when I saw (for the first and last time Shpongle live), Simon did all the "playing", while Raja jumped around the stage, with his flute, as wasted as one can be... We all know who the creative genius behind the Shpongle albums (especially the first two) is. Ott & Simon would undoubtely be an interesting combination, but stating that Ott is on Posford's level of musicality is redundant. Think before you write, please . I mean, let me use this as an example, I don't usually like Prometheus, but when he works with Simon on the Younger Brother project, the outcome is outstanding. I wonder who wouldn't sound amazing when Simon Posford is the man sitting by you in the studio.

Because they said, stated, wrote and announced ssssssssoooooooooooooooooooooo many times all over the place that Nothing Lasts, But Nothing Is Lost would be the last we hear from Shpongle.

Simon Poford in fact did announce a third Hallucinogen album, for as he told, he always imagined the Hallucinogen story to be crafted as a trilogoy. But he also stated that after three Shpongle albums, which persued no rules and broke many musical genres and boundries, that he just finds it hard to go to his Hallucinogen persona, which is somewhat more confined in the whole psy trance genre. But, as some users already stated above, it is after all Twisted Records, so I'm taking nothing for granted here. I'll just go with the flow and see what time brings... Speaking of sales, this is the quote I found while ago on Simon's blog. I cannot, however, guarantee its credibility, nor can I be 100% sure if in fact he wrote it, but here it is: Sorry to seem like such a total whore.... but after 12 years of virtually no recognition whatsoever by the mainstream media, i am asking my friends and fans who have ever enjoyed a hallucinogen set, or a shpongle set to please do something in return, and vote for me (as 'simon posford' rather than hallucinogen, or shpongle, or younger brother)... maybe i will finally make it into the top 10,000 instead of being behind every trance act ever! hehe i hate these event invitations too...i don't even know if the one i sent out worked or not... if it did, i am sorry about that... but please show your support if you have enjoyed my music ! (especially if u have downloaded it... then you need to vote for me in positions 1,2,3,4,and 5 to ease your bad karma! hehe) love simon I just have to comment your remark about the latest Pleiadians release. While they are my all time favorite project, and immediately after them their Etnica project, I have to admit that after hearing their post year 1999 output, I expected a much worse album. Knowing that they have been lacking two members for over 7 years now, I actually though of 7even Sister7 as a quite refreshing release. I don't think there was anybody out there who expected anything as nearly as ground breaking as I.F.O. or Family Of Light. But after their annoying, monotonous, techno influenced and minimal production output during the last years, I though of this to be a cool release. Not that it is spectacular, but it stays pretty far awy from every day, formulaic and cheap full on. Nothing to brag about, but I dare say it is more than a welcome comeback! Even though, naturally, I felt as well that the Pleiadians name should have been just left alone in the Trance Hall Of Fame, where it well deservedly belongs! I'm not usually that much in the whole downtempo/dub/chill or however you wanna call it scene, but I just wanna state that I would have probably never begun listening to that type of music if it wasn't for Shpongle! So they always hold a very special place! Their first two albums are amazing. As for Ott, I find his remixed album of Hallucinogen tracks an excellent release, but I don't like his album. Not that I think it sucks, I guess I just find it to be a nice downtempo album, but nothing worth bragging about. It just bores me. But saying Ott is better than Shpongle? Hello!?!? The whole genre of chill out music should fall on their knees in fron of Simon & Raja in order to thank them for the immense contribution they made to it!!!

Damn, it's been four and a half years that nobody wrote a single word about this album!!! Meaning people completely forgot about it... Which is seriously unfair considering that after all it is an Etnica release, so I thought a full and proper review is due to remind the people a bit. Now, with its 1995 album The Juggeling Alchemist Under The Black Light, these guys raised the bar sky high for melodic goa trance production, and whether you wanna admit it or not, they redid it again in 1996 with Alien Protein. They also released som amazing EPs, and I would like to point out The Italian EP (1995) and the undisputable classic Plastic EP (1997). What they did with their more dance floor orientated project the Pleiadians is a well known story, so I guess I don't have to waste too much time on that. However, shame on you if you don't know! And just to remind of their short lasting collabortaion with Lotus Omega under the name Crop Circles, which resulted, amongst others, with what is probably my all time favorite goa trance track ever, "Lunar Civilisation". So by 1999, Etnica have more or less amazed everybody, for there it was only a minority who never found anything to their taste coming from these true trance "alchemists". All in all, the Etnica/Pleiadains are my two all time favorite projects by the long run and it is beyond words how much do I enjoy listening to their releases. However, having lost one member, Carlo Paterno, in the summer of 1998, it was up to the three remaining members to continue an already amazing legacy. In fact, Carlo is not listed inside the CD booklet as a band member anymore, so Equator was produced entirely by Max Lanfranconi, Andrea Rizzo and Maurizio Begotti. Now let's see what these three have cooked up for us... #1. Be on go- "To bring you extraordinary events taking place in the Russian Republic. This unexplained disturbance and the hysteria that it's causing are incredible. How would you describe what you're seeing? It is clearing the mountains... moving too slowly to be a comet or meteor. Widespread panic has gripped the countryside as thousands have taken to the streets. It is confirmed. The unexplained phenomenon is headed for Moscow." The first track opens with this sample from the movie "Indipendence Day", accompanied firstly by one of the grooviest bass lines I have ever heard, and then the bass kick comes in. The bass kick sounds very breakbeat-ish here, which is, I guess, something we haven't heard Etnica do up to then, at least not in such a obvious manner, and it sounds very cool and catchy. I wouldn't go that far to call this an ambient tune, although it is (BPM wise) a slower track, but because of its intensity, it's not something you would relax to. And I especially like those effects going from 04:47 to 05:30, which sound like somebody's nightmare on a TB-303, or even worse, a seriously distorted and messed around with flute sound. Kidding. But they sound cool. Now, I've heard critics call this track too long, but I think that throughout its ten minutes it never fails to keep your attention. Let me just add that I heard it last summer at the O.Z.O.R.A. Festival at around 07:30 in the morning while I was asleep in my tent, and what a wake up call it was! The track still stands as one of the finest album openers I have ever come across. It's slow as in it will not have you pushing the skip button in order not to fall asleep, but it ain't that uptempo to get your heart heavily pounding before even getting into the album. And the sample at the end, the same one quoted above, but how nicely does it end the track... Some amazing stuff here. Etnica messing around with breakbeat drum sounds and adding goa trance elements? Suits me. -9/10 #2. Patricia... Our Happy...- Seriously now, this is without doubt one of the worst Etnica tracks... ever! If the pathetic, horrible vocal chants don't kill you within the track's first minute, nothing ever will. You've proved yourself immortal. At first, there is a kind of beat made up of these tribal drums, but then at 02:40 the "proper" beat comes in. And I wish there never was one. I swear, this beat sounds like a slow motion version of a throwaway track by CJ Bolland from his Analogue Theatre album. But I have to get back to the vocals: now, in the year 2007, I am positive that these are the worst vocals I have ever heard on a ambient/goa/downtempo/psy chill track. And I hope nothing ever tops this. That would be the day I'd start looking for some new music to listen to. But that's not all! The background effects (bakground melody?) lasting from 02:00 to 02:18 is the EXACT same one which the Pleiadians track "Merope" uses at its very beginning! Speaking of cheap... And the so called main melody that appears twice during the track (if you got the nerves to wait for it) for about thirty seconds like it was jacked from Whigfield's debut album. With all due respect to this euro dance legend. This track is horrible beyond words. Everything I wrote above is superflous. This is so bad you just have to hear it to fully appreciate the meaning of the adjective "bad". -1/10 #3. Mad Crickets- Aaaaaaw yes... "Mad Crickets". I've always enjoyed the cricket sound alike effects throughout the track. They actually do sound really nice. But then there is not much going on here until 02:30 when an acid synth comes in and for about 30 seconds puts the track back on the track. No revolutionary sounds or melodies here, but sounds nice nonetheless. The same synth luckily comes back at 03:20 and then we get some twisted sounds we all know Etnica can deliver. It goes on very nicely like this for about 90 seconds, to stop at 5 minutes, and then after a half minute break, at 05:30, the track hits you with the lead melody, which by storm takes over the track and leaving it to end after about 40 seconds with those cricket effects again. Nice track, but really nothing new or worth any deeper analysis. -6.5/10 #4. Trip In Transkei- This track continues in almost the same fashion as the previous one. They are very similar even speed wise; same tempo, same feeling. As in the previous one, there is really not much going on here up until 02:15 when a female voice keeps on repeating: "Transkei, Transkei, Transkei..." accompanied by an acidic melody. And make sure to watch out for the thirty something build up resulting in an acidic climax from 03:58 to around 05:10, at what point the feamle voice comes back in and nicely ends this rather short, relaxed, but nicely constructed track. Oh yeah, and the beat once again sounds as though it was played on a real drum set. Really daring feat for Etnica to try out stuff like that. As in the previous one, there is nothing mind blowing here, although it shouldn't make you press the skip button either. It's all been said and done before, but hey! Why fix it if it ain't broke? -6.5/10 #5. History- The track opens with a quieter introduction made up of some not noisy effects, followed by a not too fast, but not chill out alike either (I'd say in the mid to high 130s) bass kick, which is very groovy, if not somewhat deep, but at the same time being very easy digestible and not too demanding in order to enjoy. At around 2 minutes a nice little melody sneaks in, with a sample going: "The alien ship is on its way to rendevous with history.". But the track's first real melody (and the album's as well IMO) appears at 03:35 and it floats around the track for about 85 seconds before being stopped by another sample (I really enjoy this one): "Oh my God, they are realy from another world.". Finally, eight minutes into the track, the main melody takes over, putting a smile on my face up until the track ends at 10:13. During those last few minutes of the track, we actually get some nice construction, a catchy and to a certain extent simple melody, very danceable, and I guess the track does get kind of multilayered. I can even imagine this getting played at around 7 in the morning and stuff. Important to let people know that the melodies here are far less developed, impressive and rewarding than on their previous releases. The melodies and sounds applied on "History" would make an excellent track for almost any other goa trance artist, but knowing these guys' potential, it sounds a bar or two below from what they got us used to. But, after the previous tracks, finally hearing a goa trance track, albeit not an astounding one, was a pleasant surprise. I won't bitch too much. This track would still work perfectly today when having your morning coffee, and you're not in the mood for some totally chilled out stuff, for this has enough elements to keep your head nodding and stuff, but it won't have you getting lost in its complexity! Etnica at what they actuayll do best, as far as I can remember: emotional and melodic goa trance tunes! -8/10 #6. Vibra- Now this is an interesting track, as it explores up-to-then unexplored musical areas by the italian producers. I would say it has that progressive touch, with a darker edge to it. This is beacuse this track doesn't actually develop into melodic climaxes nor does it at any point display a lead melody or synth. The track just rolls on with a (and I mean it) proggy bass kick and some pretty dark noises just coming in and out of the track. Reminds me more of the progressive tunes because of its lenghth; it clocks in at 11:25, and for its whole time, it doesn't really encounter that many changes. Which, depending on your taste, may sound cool. Personally, I find it strange that Etnica produced a track like this, but I won't complain because it is very nicely executed. The closest thing we get to a melody here is the acicdic synth kicking in at 04:40, but it's actually more of a short synth repeating itself than a nicely constructed climax. This track is so well crafted that it could have been nice even without the synth part. That would have made it much more minimal, but when it is done this well, who cares? The only thing I dislike here are those short female chant intermissions like the one at 07:25 which kind of break the track's flow. Not that they are long and annoying, but it's just that once you get into the track's groove, that pointless chant sort of knocks you off for a few seconds. Because this track has some groove. I noticed a user around here somewhere writting that he found himslef dancing eight times to this track in the coarse of the same night. I cannot imagine myself dancing to this eight times, but I wouldn't mind hearing it 2 or 3 though ! This track is, nonetheless its surprisingly minimal feel keeping in mind this is Etnica we're dealing with here, very catchy, and could easily be mixed into various DJ sets. Easy to dance to, tap your feet or snap your fingers to- with not too many details to distract you from the dancing or to engage your mind. A very original, but also a well done track! -7.5/10 #7. Resistance- "We are the Borg. Lower your shields and surrender your ships! We will add your biological and technological distinctiveness to our own. Your culture will adapt to service us. Resistance is futile." Is there a goa/psy trance listener who is going to hear that sample and not going to know where it came from. This is it, ladies and gentlemen. This is the fastest, most hard pumping, dance floor devastating, psychedelic and original (in terms of Etnica exploring new dimensions of psy trance) track on the album. In fact, this track is so hard and intense that if I hadn't heard it on CD, I never would have guessed it actually belonged in the mix with the previous tracks. So what is so good about it? Now, having already taken their crazy melodic style to the maximum, culminating with 1997's I.F.O., it was getting kind of obvious that it was a tough act to follow, if not impossible. Especially that one member left. So they decided to experiment a bit and search for new solid grounds. And this is where "Resistance" comes in. This is not like anything they have previously done. This is light years away from the sound these guys were persuing. This is non-melodic, but highly psychedelic, gritty, evil, harsh and uncompromising psy trance at its best. And the bass kick is so stomping it is impossible not to dance to this. Damn, even if you were in a wheelchair you'd find a way to move around! But far from that the track is minimal- it is constantnly packed with various psychedelic effects, of which I'd like to point out the last part of the track when the above quoted sample gets distorted and cued up, so you can hear it in a high pitched, high velocity form, and I only realized about 15 seconds prior to the track's end it was the same sample! My only regret is that Etnica never continued in this fashion, they never stayed to develop or improve this style. For if they have, who knows what their sound could have been today? Instead, once Andrea Rizzo left the group after Equator, Max & Maurizio turned to producind dull, redundant, plain and minimal technoid trance music. But this track stands as a firm testimony to the band's will to experiment with new (and harsher) sounds, not being at all scared to abandon their melodic and mind wielding dreamy roots. This is the finest example of the post melodic and harmonic Etnica we'll probably ever get. A truly amazing and instantly memorable track!!! -9/10 #8. Funkadelia- Judging by the title, you can already guess there will be some funk influences in this funky track. Right at the start I have a complaint: after a track of "Resistance"'s caliber and intensity, the last thing we needed is a super slow and dreamy ambinet track. I mean, every time after "Resistance" ends I feel like I was on the moon, and then listening to Funkadelia feels like my crash back to earth. Without a parachute obviously. But this track's major problem resides in its sample. Check this out: "I know there is much we can learn from each other, if we can negotiate a truce. We can find a way to coexist. Can there be a peace between us?" "Peace... No peace.". Sounds familiar? I know it does. It is the EXACT same sample that Infected Mushroom used to beautiful effect on their fantastically excellent track "Release Me", from their equally excellent The Gathering album. Now, while they used and placed it perfectly, on "Funkadelia", it sounds just thrown in for the heck of it. Like the Etnica dudes heard a stolen Infected Mushroom demo tape and thought to themselves: "Oh, that is such a cool sample! We just gotta use it!". Well, it most probably wasn't anything like that, but it doesn't alter the fact that the sample is completely unnecessary here, and just puts the whole track's weakness to the forefrot. Ant then the fact that 2 out of 9 tracks on Equator have samples from the same movie! What is up with that? From millions of other places you can snatch 'em from, you choose the same source for both of them, and then end up using the same one as the soon-to-become superstars of psy trance music. And the melody on "Funkadelia" sounds (at best) like the wake up alarm tune on my cell phone. Meaning the melody sucks. That is because I always look for the crappiest ring tones for my alarm. That is because then, the same moment I hear them, I gotta jump out of bed in order to stop that ear menacing and piercing terror! The same goes for "Funkadlia", where skip button is indispensable from my part. A huge disappointment after three strong tracks! -4/10 #9. Baraka- What a beautiful way to close the album! A haunting, atmospheric, melancholic track, with the superb sample (or is it a computerized effect?) of a blowing wind. And you'll have to wait until 03:48 for the beat to sneak in, but by then you will most probably be completely immerged in the spooky soundscape, until the really psychedelic FX at 04:19 remid you that this is still psy trance and that this is still an Etnica release! Too bad that madness lasts for only about 30 seconds, but it's 30 seconds you are bound to remember. At least they stuck to my head. And then the "wind" flies back in and closes everything so nicely and quietly... This is truly an emotional master piece, not quite on Trip Tonite's level, but not far behind. Seriously. It could be, with the opener, my favorite track on the album! -9/10 IN CONCLUSION: A very varied album, obviously intended mainly for Etnica to experiment more with some forthcoming sounds and styles, with glimpses of the old, and the chill and downtempo stuff. The tracks are mixed, for there are some instantly forgettable tracks on Equator, some nice (but nothing spectacular) ones and some real gems! Etnica/Pleiadians fans most probably have this already, but for those of you who don't, I would recommend giving it a few listens before purchasing it, even though I think that the vast majority of potential future listeners will get hooked on "Resistance"! Hard to resist that one! The more uptempo tracks don't even begin to touch their older tunes, but I must give props once more for trying to push their music into newer and more challenging directions. They actually don't even try to recreate the vibes of Alien Protein or their older material on this release, which is nice. I always appreciate artists who try avoiding rehashing the same ol' over and over again. So, to colse, Etnica was not maybe at the top of their game back in 1999, but they still knew how to surprise and deliver some fine musical magic. However you put it, this is at least twice as good as anything they have done post year 2000! But on the other hand, not as nearly as good as any of their work pre 1999... Kind of lands in that transition period, when most of the old school legends had a tough time deciding where to go! A lot of people might dislike this album saying there is nothing grounbreaking here, but I ask you just how much ground can you break? I mean these guys brought the whole goa trance genre to new levels with each of their releases prior to this! So that would more or less be a pointless and dull remark, because upon listening to Equator, I don't get the vibe that his was ever concieved as a genre bending album. So... If I do the exact track sum and divide it by 9, I reckon it would be like a 6 or something, but the album's overall vibe, and originality would make me reconsider it and give it... FINAL SCORE: 7/10

Ellis Van Ghoul: Violent Energy (CD) Mushy records is delighted to announce its new prince evil of trance... ...and invite the listeners into deeper, darker realms. Violent Energy is a voyage that takes you deep underground and allows to behold the rise of a new dominant power - the rise of Ellis Vanghoul. Taking you to the center of the dance floor, filling your mind with vibrations, blasting with power and art of the next generation, Ellis serves you these 7 rocking psycore trance tracks, 2 ambient tracks and ends with 1 special limited edition bonus track. Beautiful melodies collide with evil leads like a total chaos, elements of styles blend from Goa into dark-trance metal and hardcore. An awakening mix/blend to the human ear and mind, which will shake any music loving soul. With the skillful production of the Mushy Records factory, it's a voice that will change phrases like dark and power in the trance scene forever. Growing up in L.A, Vanghoul pours all of his musical influences into a creation of a new style combining many pieces of pure energy, best referred to as Psycore. A ruff work on this album day and night leaded to the most powerful vibes for the true ravers. So beware cause a Violent Energy is coming your way. ELECTRIC UNIVERSE RECORDS SHOW CART Electric Universe: Silence In Action (CD) One of the definite top releases in 2006 is on its way to you. 'Silence in Action' redefines the Electric Universe. Very energetic, pure uplifting fresh Full On psychedelic sound. The perfect dance into the morning. It was produced over a period of 1.5 years, every track is carefully selected and a proven floor burner! 2005 was a very successful year for Electric Universe. Countless live acts all over the globe brought a lot of inspiration for the new, the 8th album 'Silence in Action'. It contains 10 smash hits from dark night over blissful morning tunes to floating daytime trance. This record brings the unique Electric Universe sound to a totally new level of production quality and content. Ecstatic, psychedelic and Full On. With the track 'Tune Up' the album includes amazing vocals from 80ies electro icon Anne Clark, and of course 'Meteor' Guitarero Roland Wedig joined with some of his burning chords. The Bomb is a highly explosive guitar fun track, you will see the crowd going totally nuts on that one. YELLOW SUNSHINE EXPLOSION SHOW CART Compilation: Goa Trance Vol 5 (2CD) CHECK OUT THE TRACKLIST, AND THEN THE SHORT REVIEW!!! 1. 8 legged Taco TRON 2. Ocean waves IBOJIMA 3. Tea Time WRECKED MACHINES AND PIXEL 4. Push the Limits GALAKTIKA 5. Remote PARAPHONIX 6. Magic Woods GENETIC SPIN 7. Orion Sleepers PROTONICA 8. Burger HYDROPHONIC AND PSYTRAIN 9. Hypnotized (Malta) SOUL KONTAKT 10. All we need is love ITAL 11. The Ayahuaska Experience ETIC VS. DJ AYAWASKA 12. Masters of the universe ATMA 13. Sacred Man ENTHEOGENIC 14. Higher Sensory Perceptions DESERT DWELLERS 15. 24 hours DYNAMIC 16. Quantum Mechanics ATOMIC PULSE 17. Show No Mercy OFORIA 18. Syncope FUTURE PROPHECY This time, Goa Trance Vol.5 comes in a shiny yellow colour and an equally shiny track-list too! Goa Trance Vol.5 does it exactly what it says on the tin, presenting the best of the best in Goa Trance, ranging from Atomic Pulse, Future Prophecy, Genetic Spin, Galactika, Desert Dwellers and Ibojima!

What kind of a topic is this? The only idiots I saw calling today's psy trance garbage goa are those imbecils from Yellow Sunshine Explosion Records who have those compilations filled with proggy stuff, but constantly keep on stamping those GOA front covers!!! As though we were back in '95-'96. Jesus Christ! And I don't believe people are buying that shit...

True, and in addition to that Psyshop.com does not ship to Croatia, but his month I am broke as a... really don't have a good simile to write down now... So I unfortunately won't be buying the CD for a while now, but I do keep my fingers crossed that a copy or two make it to local shops here. Some high expectations, huh?

No matter how I adore that track, the Robert Johnsons sample on Cosmosis' "Down at the crossroads" pisses the hell out of my for the last couple of years. I though it was cool back in the day, but now I know that over a minute long wrinkled voice by heart, and just have to fast forward every time I hear it. Still on Cosmosis, the newer track where there is this brutally horrible sample: "How much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood?" ...or sumthin' like that... 99% of drug related samples. Why? Because they make me think that I listen to music crafted for junkies- which couldn't be farther from the truth than it already is. Those god damn samples only help an average person to pigeonhold this form of music as a lame excuse to get wasted. FOR EXAMPLE- Fractal Glider on his track "Rain Cryer": "What about drugs, are you on any narcotics?" "No, but if you think it would help..." And how could I forget this gem: "Now we've reached the hour of spliff politics. It's the time of the night when everyone knows who's got a spliff and in which direction it's going." 'Boom shankar!' On California Sunshine's "Other line" track from the Nasha album, which I otherwise very much enjoy, after around 6 minutes some sample of this lame ass dude singing in some "mystical language" drops on the track and ruins it. Totally... ANY form of sample that goes like: "Come on!", "Shake it!", "Keep the groove coming!", etc., and all those "booty moving" samples. Check out this "cool" sample from Etnica's "Beast Man": "Beware the beast man, for he is the Devil's pawn. Alone among God's primates, he kills for sport, or lust, or greed. Yea, he will murder his brother to possess his brother's land. Let him not breed in great numbers, for he will make a desert of his home and yours. Shun him, drive him back into his jungle lair. For he is the harbinger of death.

1. It is because of tracks like these two that Jon listed above, that I can really have a harsh attitude towards this album. Now, while I do not listen to it, generally I don't have a negative opinion about people who are into club trance, nor do I mind the producers who make it and DJs who spin it. And, no, I don't think that it inferior to goa/psy trance. I tend to look at it as another branch of one huge tree. BUT, when you have Astral Projection doing club trance inspired tracks, you ought to know something ain't right. Why? No deep answers here. Simple: because you don't expect the godfathers of goa trance to do club trance. Now, while I would agree that the above mentioned tracks are objectively nice sounding, club freindly trance tracks, I just feel that they are weak Astral Projection tracks. And the thing to keep in mind here is that we are not reviewing a compilation of dance floor hits, but an Astral Projection album. And while if you close your eyes, I bet you could imagine yourselves dancing to 'em at some party, but when you have the CD, and the "Astral Projection" name tag stamped on it, I find it difficult to enjoy these tracks, and consider tham anything more but blatant attempts to get them dollars. Which isn't a bad thing after all. It's nice getting payed. But being Astral Projection, you don't have to appeal to Armin van Buuren fans to stack your chips. 2. Now, while "Infinite justice" does not do much justice to my ears, I must say that on a good day it sounds just fine. Its beauty (if you find any in it) lays in its potential to appeal to both th psy trance crwod and the average clubber. It does have some really uplifting melodies which would make you go touch any celing, but on the other side it has the psy elements (of course they don't even come close to the ol' ones) which could satisfy a less demanding goa trance listener. I guess I could comapre this track to Man With No Name's "Parallel universe", for I feel that track very nicely lands in between the club friendly area and the psy genre. 3. Jon Cocco, I'm with you on this one, only, it seems to me that I'm with you on a much larger scale due to the different scores we posted for this album. But having seen and read your voting scale, now I (kind of) understand the high rating . Now, while I never had any trouble with artists going in a more commercial, easy listening and club friendly zone, I have a serious problem with artists doing it in a fashion to pretend that they are not doing it. Come on, Astral Projection!!! I mean, how stupid do you think we as listeners are to not see what is going on here? I mean, this is definitely their most easy digestible and accesible album, but it was just spice enough with older goa trance elements to have us go like: "Well, the boys have made it again! Another goa trance gem from these dudes"! No. For as much as I would have liked that to be my reaction, I simply cannot do that. Or deliver what we all know you are capable of delivering, or just let us be and go search for a new audience. As I (I think) stated in my real review, there are no objectively horrible tracks here, but there are some seriously bad Astral Projection tracks here. It has been almost 11 years since "Kabalah" and "People can fly". Has anybody forgotten those melodies? I've listened to this CD for the last time about 4 days ago. Know how many melodies do I remember? One. The one on this album's seriously amazing closing track- "Electric blue". 4. I guess we could write novels about how awesome with melodies were Astral Projection in 2002. They were awesome in comparison to a vast majority of other psy trance being released those days, I'll give 'em that. But keep in mind that back in 2002 melodic climaxes and mind bending melodies were not the most popular of things. So I guess I give Astral Projection credit for having the courage to show us it's not all over yet. And I remember being almost convinced it was having seen that nobody was willing to release Chi A.D.'s super melodic Earth Crossing. So Astral Projection brought us something we haven't heard for a while. And while listening to Amen on its own may even seem OK, I already stated above that knowing this is Astral Projection, it just hearts. Thrown in the psy trance context, it seemed rather unusual to release an album like this back in 2002. But again, this is Astral Projection, and if anybody can ever get away with that, it's them. Now, the tracks that try to follow the old goa style are OK, if not very good, but the problem is they can only try to recapture some of that old magic. But they don't succeed. And what's even worse than not succeeding to recapture the old glory, is trying to fuse it with instantly forgettable, empty headed, radio friendly synths and sounds, which plague Amen. You can argue that Amen was "strictly for the dancefloors", but if that is true, then what on earth can you say about their past albums?!? I mean, viertually ANY track from any of their first four albums (except the ambient tracks of course) would tear the hinges off any god damn door, any day of the week, each and every month of the year. No matter what the weather is like. This can only come across as being more easy listening and less rewarding psy trance. With a major accent on less rewarding. I never looked at this as a come back album, but more of a fifth Astral Projection album. And by now you got it: no, I do not like it. Few (listed in my original review) exceptions are to be made naturally. Now, back to Jon's statement about his album rivaling many releases of the era. Look, if you compare it to the dull sounds of the then popular full on, or the "simple" sounds of progressive trance, or the completely melody-lacking dark psy. But Amen had virtually no competition in sound back in the day, so I guess that hearing an album as melodic as this back then was... WOW! Which naturally does not immediately make it good. Upon further and more profound listening, I concluded that even though I dislike "Techno drome", I would have much prefered hearing an entire album in the same vain, then trying to cope with a bunch of lame cross over wanna be hits. My final verdict? I guess it still stands! While this album has some definitive stand outs, it's the low end of Amen which goes soooo low, that I simply cannot give this album a higher vote than my original one!

You know why the Dimension 5 albums, the Pleiadians albums, the early Cosmosis albums, the early Astral Projection and Ubar Tmar releases sound so awesome? Not because they learned how to superbly use studio equipment and spent countless hours watching experienced producers play around on their hardware and software. Of coarse that helps. But as another user so nicely pointed out before me, that only makes you another artists who is limited to following preexistent formulas and being bound by your knowledge, which was given to you by other people. What makes a true goa trance track, artist, album or whatever stand out is the natural talent. It's the way in which you use all the above mentioned knowledge and technology to bring to the table something truly new and never heard before. When you can put in music how you feel inside. When your music breaks the limit of being nothing more but skillful playing around with studio equipment. And that part is something you cannot learn. Something nobody can teach you. Something that you either have or you don't. And that is why certain artists create masterpieces in their basements, while others struggle to push out an album recording in a highly and modernly equipped recording studio. The ideas and the creativity you have, can be expanded, worked uopn, and improved, yes. But you just have to have something to start out with. And it comes from the inside. And you share it with the rest through your music. It is not something that you get taught and then create classic tracks.

Now, now, I would really have to diasgree (to a certain extent) with the above review, and especially the score! While I myself also find Astral Projection to be THE definition of goa trance (NOT my favorite artists), I somehow never thought of Amen as anything more than an attempt to try and recapture some of that old glory. As Jon Cocco so nicely pointed out, psy trance music, more than ever, went through some radical changes in that period of 2-3 years between the amazing Another World and Amen. So many new trance acts came to be, bringing their own sound and changing our view on trance music. While Astral Projection dominated the past decade with a firm grip, it was only just that they found themselves on shaky grounds with this album. And I could sense it after the 2000 In The Mix double CD release, where they tried to cash in on their enormous fan base by weakly remixing some of their classics, and thus making them (too) dance floor friendly, and offering a handful of new tracks. Which I found to be weak as well, apart I admit, "Virtual booster". Now, if you are Astral Projection, that is something you can get away with. And they did. After all, they are the duo who have the most sold goa/psy trance album... EVER!!! If my numbers are correct, their 1997 mega classic Dancing Galaxy was sold in 120,000 original copies. They had two videos back in the day getting played at prime time on MTV. A feat Paul Van Dyk strives to achieve today. Back then, their web site still wasn't up and running, there was barely any internet promotion, and even if there was, keep in mind that it wasn't what it is today. So, they truly are the kings. No doubt about that. Now, once you arrive to the throne, it's tough when you got to step down. I mean, the kings of hip hop Wu Tang Clan had trouble doing it at the end of the millenium. Pink Floyd had trouble doing it after their The Wall album. Depeche Mode certainly didn't like it after their Violator album blew everything else on the market out of the box. So it's more than just that Astral Projection do everything in their power to try and remind their fans why they are at the top in the first place. And this is where Amen comes in. Now, by 2002, psy trance listeners were all over the place: some embraced the progressive sounds from the likes of, for example, Atmos and Vibrasphere. Others were keen to switch over to the whole dark psy movement, adoring the sounds of, let's say Parvati Records or the russian producers. A lot of people, once having seen the Growling Mad Scientists enter superstardom, went crazy after their (and their numerous sound alikes) full on sound. But maybe nobody drew more attention than Infected Mushroom with their Classical Mushroom album, and all the hype that followed it. I myself happily embraced the pure madness of finnish trance and started to (and still do) enjoy listening to artists like Eraser vs. Yojalka, Texas Faggott or Squaremeat. Nothing wrong with that. But my point is that in 2002 not too many people cared about hearing the new Astral Projection album. They were happy there where they were. It's a fact that in 2002 Astral Projection were remembered for their incountable older classics, and the new album could hardly live up to the amazing legacy. And it didn't. I guess I could draw a parallel between Amen and another old school legend's come back album, Man With No Name's Interstate Highway. I guess that in the same way that the psy trance community had moved away from him during his long years of absense, the same had happened with Astral Projection. When listening to this album, I cannot but think that these two geniuses had ran out of tricks. And I wasn't surprised. And I didn't expect another Trust In Trance or Dancing Galaxy, for that matter. So, keeping that in mind I listened to this CD without any great expectations (even though that is hard with any Astral Projection release). THE ALBUM: I'm not going to go and do a track by track analysis because... well, I just don't feel like doing it. Plus I feel that "Nexus" (which is probably the only track that successfully brings the Astral Projection sound to some new, cool levels), "1,000,000 years from today" (which despite sounding like it was recorded in 1998 really blows me away) and the beautiful ending track "Electric Blue" (it will be pretty self explanatory why is this track beautiful once you hear it) are the three strongest tracks. And the only strong tracks on the LP. While many other users praised "Techno drome" for its high originality and the Astral Projection's will to explore the darker and harder realms of psy trance, I would rather not comment it because I'll guess I'd be too biased. See, I seriously don't like the whole dark psy, or even tech trance thing if you wanna call it that, so having a track like this by these guys gives me acute migranes. But on the rest of the album, there is nothing to hear. I can't even be merciful enough to state that there are glimpses of old glory here. Apart the sample on "Amen" which is identical to an ancient Astral Projection classic. And the rest of the tracks? They sound like feeble attempts to keep up with the changes and innovations that these guys themselves made possible. I do not know how to put it in better words. Rehashed beats, instantly forgettable melodies, and pathetic samples. Oh yeah, I would seriously have prefered Astral Projection releasing a front-to-back club trance album then trying to incorporate its elements to their core goa trance style. Who are you guys fooling? There are seriously parts of this album that Johan Gielen would play during his DJ set on Trance Energy. Sorry boys, but no matter what you mean to me, no matter how much I seriously adore your music, no matter how huge your contribution to the whole goa/psy trance genre is, we seriously didn't need this. Amen. 5/10

Would you ever settle for anything less from a genius of Simon Posford's calibre?

I'll admit it, the Schlabbaduerst 007 compilation is by far my favorite release of 2005, and that is cool, awesome, sensational, all of that and more, but what bothers me is that I have no clue whatsoever on when is the new installation coming? If it is in fact coming. I mean the last one impressed me so much I can hardly explain (and I don't believe I still haven't posted a review for that release), but it dropped almost a year and a half ago. Since there is no information on their website about forthcoming releases, actually, there haven't been any updates on their web site since the last V.A. came out... Does anyone know what are D Dave and his demented partners in crime up to lately? I copped Ka Sol's album on Suntrip last year, but I gotta admit to like his sound much, much more under the Schlabbaduerst label! Simply put, I want more. I need more. I hope the label hasn't gone under. If there is a single label in the past 3-4 years which doesn't deserve bankrupcy, then it is Schlabbaduerst Rekkords!!!