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Artist: Various Title: Cybertrance 6 - Derniere Edition Label: Fairway Records Date: 1998 1. Jeremiah - Exotic Intercourse 2. Union Jack - Yeti 3. DJ Jan - X-Santo 4. Bypass Unit - Higher Spirituality 5. Nuclear Hyde - Accelerator 6. Equator - Last Mission 7. The Secret - The Munk Files (Acid Munk) 8. Canyon - Blackout 9. Der Stern Von Afrika - Downhill V.2 (Massimo Vivona Remix) 10. The Light - Expand The Room Anyone else utter a barely audible "f*ck" when the style on Discogs reads Trance, Goa Trance? No? Just me then? Oh well, when I see that it usually means some sh*t that I'm not going to like. For example the "reaching into my brain" sample during X-Santo. Yeah that's annoying. Even goa trance superstar project Bypass Unit basically phones it in with Higher Spirituality. There is a barely restrained 303 in The Munk Files, but it cannot support the considerable tonnage of suck emanating from this compilation. Unfortunately instead of going out with a bang they dissolve with a whimper. This is full of trance cliches and could just as easily be titled Cybertrance 6 - Aw f*ck it Edition. Usually when a label rolls out a final edition it's because the release is a steaming pile of sparkle farts and they've got nothing left in the tank or the label heads took all the money and cocaine and hopped a cessna to an island paradise with very lax extradition laws. Clearly there's evidence of the former and based on my imagination probably some of the latter.

Artist: Various Title: High Times Deep Psychedelic Diving Part 2 Label: ID & T Music Germany Date: 1998 *Not doing a track list cause there's too many and I need to poop.* "Omigod! Did I get any on me? Oh Jesus I think I did. AAAAAHHHHH....I can't get the taste out of my mouth!" Ugh. You definitely don't want to get any of this first disc on you. Not even Tide with Febreeze would get this out. Good news...there are a lot of styles to be found on the first disc of the compilation. Bad news...doesn't mean a damn thing when most of them are executed this poorly. Picture leaving the club with three women. Sounds like a good time until it's revealed that you hooked 2 sleestacks and Olive Oil. And yes I linked a pic of what a sleestack is. Square Dream has some nice acid 303 spark, but if I have to wade through the shallow end of the gene pool to hear it I'm not interested. If my words mean nothing, then perhaps this image will explain things better. Not only never ending running, but running up steps with stunted Italian plumber legs. So after classifying the first disc as pure coaster material I had little hope that the second one would be worth a damn. And it's a lot better. But let's be honest a frisbee with a pizza slice missing would be more useful. Oforia's Why Not On Mars? and Mutate and Survive by Somaton stick out, but Space Angel by Subcouds isn't bad either. But you already have those so this is as necessary as Grandma Myrtle's extra pinky. Seriously grandma, WTF? Discogs often overestimates the worth of some albums and compilations, but man sometimes they hit the nail right on the head. Paying more than the cost of a happy meal for this will leave a bad taste in your mouth.

Artist: Various Title: Faith, Hope, and Psychedelia Label: A.R.D. Date: 1998 1. Beach Buddha - Cloudburst 2. Disco Volante - Chameleon (Movement Mix) 3. Ylem - TNKA 4. Esion God - Alice In Thunderland 5. 3000003 - Green Bishop 6. Max & Amino - Chemical Imbalances 7. Discordia - Analytic 8. Imago - Black God 9. Art of Trance - Mosquito 10. Binary Finary - Anthemic 2 "Shaggy you f*cking burnout, are you sure this is where you dropped the DAT tape?" These days I don't believe there are any undiscovered classics floating around the goa sphere. With the internet someone surely would've uncovered gold like that. Maybe Draeke from DAT Records can do it. Or the guys from Zion or Suntrip, but it's pretty rare. Still, it's a pleasant feeling when a fairly decent album comes to your attention. Since I began searching for all things goa this still happens and I'm glad it does. The info on this release says that it was a charity CD featuring the finest psychedelic trance and techno in aid of Indian street children. The finest? I'll be the judge of that. At least this disc has some artists I'm familiar with and you'll be glad to know that the goa flavor is well represented. After a very unimpressive opening track Disco Volante gets things going with a simple offering. I'm sure their filter cutoff knob fingers got a workout cause that's all this track did. But, better. Ylem enters full goa mode with a powerful and melodic track. I would love to hear this with a good re-mastering. Alice in Thunderland is thunderous, and could also do with a good mastering. Sensing a theme? Green Bishop is a clanky house beat nothing more and Chemical Imbalance is weak techno. Analytic has bass that is entirely too loud, but Black God by Imago is some pretty good goa. I wasn't a fan of the Art of Trance album Wildlife One, but this track was kinda cool. It's a bit tribal with a "mosquito-sounding" lead and it gets a little funky at the end. The last track was a bowl of meh. So several styles are represented here, but you only get credit if the tracks in those styles are worth a listen. As I mentioned the tracks sound a little muffled and could use a good mastering. Because of the above this cannot be called a "gem", but there are a couple of tunes worth hearing.

Artist: Solar Quest Title: AcidOphilez Label: Entropica Date: 1998 a:\warez\ 1. Arambol 2. Acid Baba 3. Acid Crumble 4. A Jig Or Wot Next 5. Acid Air Raid 6. Acid Nation 7. State Ov Now 8. Kristy Cried 9. N2DerMatsheen 10. EnTranz b:\warez\ 1. BioPolitik 2. Red Shift 3. One Nation 4. KarmAcidyl 5. PosPhase 6. ChakrAcid 7. MegaWurdz 8. Globoscope 9. AcidOphile George Saunders. Sounds like a regular Joe Schmoe that works in the cubicle right next to you. The type of name that belongs to a guy you wouldn't recognize if you tripped over him. But this guy is an electronic musician and his "brushes" so to speak are those shiny boxes like the TB-303,TR-909,606...and he is a virtuoso. This was his third album and I'll be honest I'd never heard of his work. His sound is a melding of acid trance, goa, and techno and he will get you moving. A hallmark of his sound is that growling and oftentimes screaming 303. The blisters he must have twisting that cutoff knob! The album is 2 Cds, mixed (I wish it wasn't so, but it still works) and the first one is an acid trance explosion. If you love those shiny boxes then I don't imagine you'd be disappointed in anything here. Maybe A Jig Or Wot Next as the melody is folksy in a corny way even though his 303 is screaming side saddle. But there is only one reason I'm writing this review. And that is Acid Air Raid. Over 11 minutes of mind expanding, face melting 303 annihilation. If you don't like that track I'll go ahead and tell you that I don't want to know you. You're probably a hipster douchebag with a soulpatch that only watches obscure french films and rides a novelty antique bicycle. Oh and you wear a bowtie. That track is the alpha and omega as far as acid/goa trance goes. It breathes, pulsates, and decimates. He should've ended the album with that track because everything afterwards pales in comparison. And it does. The rest of the music on the first disc (and the more experimental 2nd) is utterly forgettable. It's as if he created this opus and then said, "Ah f*ck it here's the rest. Just throw it in there." Aside from Acid Baba, Acid Crumble and of course Acid Air Raid, this album is actually a disappointment. But damn...we'll always have Acid Air Raid.

Artist: Various Title: Psychedelic Electronica (Psychic Deli Volume II) Label: Psychic Deli Date: 1998 1. Messiah - Ghost 2. Resonance - New World 3. Lumen - Out of Memory Too 4. Ectomorph - Trilobite 5. ECT - Catapult 6. Battle of the Future Buddhas / Fripic Bounce - A Handful of Tricks 7. Aether - Sentient 8. Nevasystem & Aether - Kinetik Space Dilation 9. Lunar Asylum - Twister 10. Bonky - 10 Percent "These are the seeds which will sow the destruction of the human race." Believe me. Sometimes I like to tackle a fairly unknown compilation. If it turns out to be good it's like hooking up with a friend that you never thought of in that way. If it's bad nobody has to say nothing and life goes on. This album has a doppleganger. Psychic Deli seems to have made an album in 1999 with the same name, but different tracklist. Weird. So what you get is a mixture of psy and goa from a bunch of the lesser known artists of the goa age. All of the tracks are psychedelic with strange noises and the goa avoids the melodic tour de force which defined the golden age. Trilobite has loads of juicy sounds and I loved the break in Kinetik Space Dilation. The Buddhas don't disappoint with their brand of swampy psychedelic goa trance and Ghost is quite the journey. I wouldn't say any of these tracks are spectacular, but the compilation is a safe bet when you want lesser known psychedelic goa trance.

Artist: Various Title: Eclipse - Psychedelic Trance Label: Trance Medusa Records Date: 1998 Discogs 1. Messiah - Hypnosis 2. Prophets of Psycho - Moon Madness 3. Mos Fet - Supersonic Wind 4. Astrological - Magic 5. Zero To Nine - Jericho 6. Liquid Lunar - Phonetik 7. Digital Sun - Space Flipper 8. X-Tension Aquarius - Welcome To Mars Typical German reaction, take something fun and wild and make it decidedly unfun. So clinical and by the numbers. Worst. Sleepover. Ever. In a world where old school masters of goa trance are engaged in title fights this compilation is the undercard. In Paris. Paris, Texas. Yep the local venue that is the weekend home of the flea market and swap meet every other Thursday for one night only brings you second (third?) tier goa from such acts as Prophets of Psycho, Mos Fet, and Liquid Lunar. I'm sorry, who? Why not put the guy that sang Chocolate Rain on there? The always scorching best track Messiah ever made Hypnosis starts things off, but after that it's slim pickings. Looking at the tracklist if this was closing time at your favorite watering hole I'd be afraid when they turned the lights on if I were you. And that's why you don't judge a book by its cover you bunch a racists. True some tracks aren't as polished as they could be (function of the time and technology), but don't let that stop you from exploring the depth of psychedelia here. There are numerous blazing old school goa trance tracks to be found. Supersonic Wind is hypnotic when the female vocal comes in and Jericho shrieks with piercing leads. Phonetik with it's goose like wail belies its aggressive nature. But Space Flipper combines the gentle whalesong with a snappy 303 and ride it to goa glory. Recommended. Mdk

Artist: Lumen Title: Way Up In The Air / 3 To 1 EP Label: Phantasm Records Date: 1998 1. Way Up In The Air 2. 3 To 1 I downloaded this out of curiosity. What? Don't look at me that way. Just don't. What would I do with a 12" (ask your mother)? I don't even think my father has a record player and he was born in the 40's. Lumen is Chris Conklin and I had no idea he used to make goa trance. Learn something new yadda yadda yadda. Anyway he did, and boy did he do it well. This is a very unheralded EP. Both tracks have old school melodies that build slowly, but come together in the end. Good stuff. Mdk

Artist: Acidlab Title: 303 Label: Adodisc Date: 1998 1. Aelectric 2. Jelly Babes (101) 3. Sonic Juice 4. Ugly 5. Jelly Babes 6. Loco 7. Happily Damaged 8. Champagne 9. Neuroanarchy Who the hell paid $50 for this on Discogs. Who was it? Stand up for your public shaming. And on to my next question...What's the record for the fastest listen then delete ratio? I think I am the world record holder now thanks to this mess. From the guys who brought you the underwhelming Cwithe project comes another entry in the disappointment hall of fame. How you gonna call yourself Acidlab and title your one and only album 303...and then sh*t all over the rug and try and blame the dog? Where's the f*cking acid Waldo? Where's the power? Where's anything that makes someone want to hear this again? Maybe the 303 itself decided not to appear on this generic bore fest. A protest if you will. Joseph wrote a good take on this album on Discogs and it's a lot nicer than I was. Mdk

Artist: M.O.S. Title: Winter Kills / Spirulina EP Label: High Society Date: 1998 1. Winter Kills 2. Spirulina You know that High Society was the name of a porno mag right? Sure you didn't. Uh-oh. Late 90's...German act...set phasers to boredom. We could be in for a crash course and man does it start out that way. "F*ck it, just leave it running. Who want's schwarma?" But the b-side saves the day with a futuristic effects laden track. It's subtle and takes its time, but then it just blasts the door open. Great atMOSphere. See that? See what I did there? Recognize. Mdk