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Artist: Ketoret Title: Missionary & Conceived EP Label: Square Root Productions Date: August, 2012 1. Missionary 2. Conceived Miranda Silvergren is back with an absolute beast of an EP that is absolutely saturated with the aromatic scent of old school... ..is what I would be saying if this was her. Truth is I don't know who it is. Imagine my surprise when this showed up on my doorstep. And by doorstep I mean inbox. Doesn't matter though, cause I'm always happy to get fresh goa trance for my listening pleasure. And it was a pleasure. Plenty of rising and falling leads soaked with the flavor of 1996. I hear missionary and I'm thinking awkward blind date with a librarian. Yeah...if the librarian was a stripper trying to pay her way through med school (I've heard that many times). This is like speed dating, but instead of the getting to know you crap we delve right into the melodic orgy. Acidic tastes along with percussive leads and 303 growls make me believe Astral actually released the new classic. Conceived starts slower but retains it's chameleon like ability and melodic flight. The 303 bite is welcome and if your searching for a rest stop on this journey...well, I hope you brought a change of underwear. Short and impressive (like me) I'd like to thank the goa stork that delivered this shiny bundle. Come and get it...it's FREE!!! Mdk

Artist: Klopfgeister Title: Smiles and More Label: Spintwist Records Date: August, 2012 1. Soultrigger (Klopfgeister Ambient Edit) - KLOPFGEISTER AND NOK, FEAT DEBBIE DIGITAL 2. Car Accident (Klopfgeister rmx) - INFINITY 3. Upgrade - DAY.DIN AND KLOPFGEISTER 4. Return to Atlantis (Klopfgeister rmx) - SHIVA CHANDRA AND DJ MAGICAL 5. Larger Than Life (Klopfgeister rmx) - MIDIMAL 6. Shadow of a smile (Klopfgeister 2012 Edit) - KLOPFGEISTER AND DAY.DIN 7. Flowrillaz 8. Seven Days - KLOPFGEISTER AND KOPEL 9. Jeff Vader (2012 Edit) 10. Meanwhile in Hamburg Jesus Thorsten you almost killed the poor guy! Thorsten Paul is the mind behind the well known project Klopfgeister and he might be facing attempted manslaughter charges in the near drowning of some guy in chair above. I know I've heard some great tracks from him, but this is the definition of mailing it in. Soultrigger (Klopfgeister Ambient Edit)- "You trigger my soul?" Oy vey. Car Accident (Klopfgeister rmx)- Let's just say that the first...ahem, track was an intro. I'm not unreasonable and am willing to overlook that short blurb. Here he remixes a very good track off the Infinity album Control Group from 2011 and I don't know how he managed to do it, but he made it boring. Take out everything that made the original great and reduce it to whatever this is. It's that minimal style of progressive trance that drives me crazy. Pure background music. The last bit is good, but when you make me wait 6 minutes for it I'm switching off. Upgrade- Ugh, more less is less style of progressive. Call me when there's a minute left in the track. It's been a long time since I've been in school, but I'm pretty sure that upgrade means improvement. What exactly are you upgrading? The only way this could've been more sleep inducing is if you forgot to turn the equipment on. In the spirit of fairness, the break is a nice piece of eerie, but there really is a void of interesting activity in this track. Return To Atlantis (Klopfgeister Rmx)- Peter Rabbit's never going to make deadline with this on his iPod. Take an already boring track and raise it to the 4th power. Larger Than Life (Klopfgeister Rmx)- This was easily the best one so far. It's smooth and full of feeling. But I'm wondering why it took until track 5 to do this? Shadow Of A Smile (Klopfgeister 2012 Edit)- Why is there singing in my psytrance? What's that? Touche. This isn't psytrance. And holy f*ck was that a little bit of the Imperial March? What did we do to deserve this? Flowrillaz- I like the melody on the back end of this track, but there is not enough to keep me interested. 40 seconds of good and 6 minutes of ZZzzz...is a poor ratio. Seven Days- and this is what that felt like. Jeff Vader (2012 Edit)- I loved the "da-da" symphonic part and it worked really well with the beat. So high marks for a remix of your own track. But...what else. Meanwhile in Hamburg- Wow. Talk about going out with a whimper. I understand that this was probably not meant for people that share my tastes. There is obviously a section of people that enjoy this minimalistic and simplistic house influenced music. It just ain't me. Don't call it psytrance because there's nothing psychedelic about it. Smiles & More? Maybe. If by "more" you mean frowns and wasted time. Psyshop Beatspace Mdk

Artist: Itsu Title: Sublimate Label: Ektoplazm released Date: August, 2012 01 - Monsoon (77.5 BPM) 02 - Drizzle (95 BPM) 03 - Don't Dance To This (130 BPM) 04 - Top Harmonic (90 BPM) "In the beginning there was nothing. No space, no time...just nothing." I love taking a look at music that is unknown to me. Life is like a box of chocolates you know. Well the candy store that is Ektoplazm is open for business. And that business is providing great music for free. Itsu is Ben Jancovich and this EP is a genre buster. There are elements of dubstep, downtempo, drum n bass, glitch and so on packaged in easily digestible chunks to appreciate. From gentle tracks like Monsoon to the more upbeat and aggressive Don't Dance To This. It's nod your head good beat music in an electronic free for all. Ordered chaos if you will. Top Harmonic combines the soft melodies with the hard edge of punchy beats in maximum overdrive. Ektoplazm does such an incredible service to the psychedelic community providing quality music for all palettes. There truly is something for everyone here, exposing the listener to great music like this that cannot be easily classified. This is a good EP full of creativity that has me wondering if I;ll ever buy music again. Nah, of course I will. But this is a great place to explore what music moves you. Highly recommended. Free at Ektoplazm Mdk

Artist: Infinity Title: Control Group Label: Iono Records Date: August, 2011 1. Traditional ways of healing (Remake 2011) 2. Ghost of Sparta 3. Lost in the sunlight 4. Alcoholism 5. Techniques 6. Arkham City 7. Car Accident 8. Control Group 9. From the depths of the underworld "Chaos will be unleashed." I've undergone a life change Dial it back a bit tough guy. But that make up job is stunning. No nothing so drastic. I'm trying to eat better and work out more. See, I was humbled athletically for the first time. Been a high level athlete all my life, but the class I took at the gym had me feeling every bit of my advanced age. Couldn't even finish it, and it made me realize that my 20's were waaay back in the rear view. Hell, I can barely see the thirties these days. So out with the fast food and sugary drinks and in with boatloads of water, salads, and fruit. Or as I like to call it...my de-Americanization. This is Nick Karamalakis from Greece with a smooth and flowing debut album of progressive trance. Since it's from Iono you have a better chance of seeing a Cool as Ice sequel than this blowing chunks. I'm begging you...begging...make this happen. Until then surround yourself with top notch stuff loaded with floating melodies and drifting atmosphere that has a dark tone to it. Look at the track titles...Alcoholism, Car Accident, From the Depths of the Underworld? Is this release autobiographical? And if so I hope he gets the help that he needs. The phrases seem to go on forever, which I suppose makes sense based on the artist's name. Easy to get lost in and more than once I had to hit the repeat button because my mind was carried away. As is the style of Iono artists, effects ricochet throughout, giving the tracks massive depth. Samples are well placed and not overdone (you know the ones you've heard ad nauseum) and breaks are so full of emotion that you could reach out and touch the streams. Well, Ghosts of Sparta are wet with you know what and Arkham City is rife with Batman samples as one would expect, but for a touch of surreality listen to the samples in car accident. Did he do a ride-along and bring his sampler with him? So very good stuff from Nick. Very descriptive and he fills every space. Reminds me of E-clip's Shuma. Highly recommended. Psyshop Beatspace Saikosounds Goa Store Audiojelly Juno Download Beatport Mdk

Artist: Atrium Carceri & Eldar Title: Sacrosanct Label: Cryo Chamber Date: August, 2012 1. Withering 2. Tomorrow's Dust 3. Freeman 4. The Vault 5. Betrayal 6. So They Speak 7. Sol 8. Of Salt 9. Burial "Hey there! Do you like excitement?" "Do you like suspense?" "Do you like Nell Carter?" "Good cause you won't find her here. This is the house of horror and for you it's absolutely free. Step right in." -ICP What? No Nell Carter? Give me a break... This is the side project (can you really call it a side project when he has released 9 albums?) of Simon Heath of Krusseldorf fame. Actually I think he has been more prolific with this project, so maybe Krusseldorf is the side project. Whichever is right Simon has been producing the dark spooky ambient that will have you recalling images from every horror movie you have ever seen. Be it a Japanese asylum or abandoned prison he creates the atmosphere that will stick with you. On this album he joins forces with another dark ambient producer Eldar. But you have to listen to this at the right moment. You can't bump this in your 64. Because like a husband that is stupid enough to truthfully answer his wife's question, "Does this make me look fat?" there is no bumping. I was gonna say like Dr. Dre with a broken subwoofer, but...you get what I mean. But 4am and you can't sleep cause you've had 4 glasses of caffeine heavy sweet tea? Oh hell yeah. So I sit in a comfy chair in the dark and put the headphones on and immerse myself in this macabre nightmare and hold up...did that...did that shadow just move? Nah, just a chair, I'm stupid. Withering begins the show with a science fiction feel as the cold impersonal sounds of higher technology hum to life. Ok, I'm thinking Event Horizon and the deep cold of an abandoned space freighter. Tomorrow's Dust brings the sounds of wind blowing through the twisted remains of some metal structure and it grows in noisy intensity as a continuous bass note strums. The Matrix when we realize that life outside of that computer program is a shell of yesterday. Man that tension builds. Freeman is my favorite with the percussive pattern and warning pads make this a dark delight. It moves slowly gathering fear of what's around the corner as a primary weapon. This is a lurk with an evil sneer. The Exorcist. Definitely the exorcist. The Vault is the discovery of a tomb that hasn't been opened in a very long time. It breathes with malediction, as if angry its slumber has been disturbed. But what I see is Johhny Depp's Jack the Ripper and the terror that must've enveloped London at that time. Deliciously evil as you can hear the cries of lost souls. Betrayal has more motion and I'm kinda like what the f*ck? This doesn't fit with any of the previous tracks. Perhaps it could be a chase scene before the pads dominate on the way out. I wouldn't have put it there. So They Speak hits you with a 19th century Dickensian London feel. Dark pads and eerie piano melodies slowly ring amidst the winds of early winter. London can be a dreary place anyway, but just imagining it back then and I'm looking for old Xanax prescriptions. Pull the coat closer as the heat begins to escape rapidly. Perhaps Sol could see you wandering the halls of a dilapidated building just waiting for that fat f*ck with the pig mask to fire up that chain saw. Where the f*ck is he? The dark pads rumble (yeah they do) while melancholy piano strings are plucked with remorse. Of Salt didn't impress me. It seemed unfocused and not something you want at over 7 minutes. Maybe unfocused isn't the right word. Lack of cohesion would work here. At times it was hopeful and others dark. In the end it didn't maintain the uneasy or fear quotient. Or...maybe it's the burning of the dead as the flames spit and crackle. Ohhhhh! You so qwever! Sorry, Asian slant. F*ck, that was an accident. I should stop talking. Simon ends with a great closer. Burial was dreary and unending and must've been how Europe felt during the Black Plague. Mountains of bodies, the very fabric of society ripped apart... Man that was 50 minutes well spent. Dark and apocalyptic in places it hit me just right. At 4 am. In total darkness. Look at the track names, this is not a carnival. Unless it's a dark carnival and then I'm sure ICP will have some copyright issues with you. There were some tracks I felt were misplaced, but the mood was maintained most of the way through. His music paints an avid picture and the let's your mind deal with the sordid details. Good stuff as usual. Cryo Chamber Mdk

Artist: Astrix Title: Stars on 35 EP Label: HOMmega Productions Date: August, 2012 1. Gayatri - Astrix & Deedrah 2. Flashback - Easy Riders (Ace Ventura & Rocky) and Symbolic Astrix ((Avi Shmailov) has had quite the career in psychedelic trance and has been holding it down since his debut Eye To Eye in 2002. Sure he might've strayed into commercial waters from time to time, but what cannot be argued is the sound quality of his compositions. Big bass and kick coupled with soaring melodies. This is a short 2 track EP which continues that trend. Gayatri sees him team up with fellow veteran Deedrah for a nice track with good effects. Soft arpeggios materialize out of the ether and it's almost progressive in nature. Flashback- "Every LSD experience is unique." Stop me if you've never heard a full on track with drug references. It's not bad, but it's just another droplet in a tsunami of like minded tracks that we've heard a million times before. It's a little harder than the first one, but nowhere near as appealing. While nowhere near the best work he has done, the first track was worth the listen. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't disappointed. Beatport Mdk

Artist: Afgin Title: Ray of Light EP Label: Premium Music Date: August, 2012 1. Ray Of Light (140 BPM) 2. Keep Moving Forward (Tribute To Rocky) (140 BPM) 3. Soul Uplifter (140 BPM) 4. When You're Gone (137 BPM) "The world ain't all sunshine and rainbows. It's a very mean and nasty place and I don't care how tough you are it will beat you to your knees and keep you there if you let it." I think this is Dwayne Wade from A Different World, but my friend believes it to be Arsenio. Whoever it may be he is right. This is some good ass cheese. Afgin is the man who has released a bunch of free music as well as the uber bright and shiny Astral Experience. At least it's one Israeli making goa. *looks askew at Astral Projection or the husks of what they used to be* "I don't care, get the f*ck back in that corner! Don't give me that look! Do you even know what you did?" Afgin delivers the brightest goa trance around no question, but 2009 was over 3 years ago. As Janet said, "What have you done for me lately?" These days he's been crafting a trilogy of music EP's with this one being the final chapter. First let me tell you that I love a lot of music. Love it. Light, dark, happy, fast sad...whatever. It cannot always be dark or you'll end up having a goth child that f*cking hates you and will start following the stars of Twilight around like they were the Grateful Dead. So what Afgin delivers is pure positivity and light. True, it is far removed from Astral Experience and cannot even see Old is Gold in the rearview. Anymore uplifting and I would be looking down on Jesus, and well that's apropos because Afgin could pass for the big guy in a few photos I've seen. But it's f*cking beautiful. If it was a chick I would try to awkwardly ask it out on a date. Absolutely the most delicious melodic cheese that a trancer could ask for. You can hear every note and every sound. Nothing is hidden and it bares its soul. It's like a sunshine enema that puts a permanent smile on your face. Calling the first two tracks goa trance might be a stretch to some, but he still wields his euphoric kung-fu. Does it get any cheesier than the sample in the tribute to Rocky? Life lessons from Rocky. Reread that sentence again, because it might just destroy the internet. This is the same guy that told a guy who was threatening to blow up a supermarket that it was ok because he didn't shop there. If you didn't love the movie Cobra, then I cannot talk to you. But he's right. Life is tough and it's not about getting knocked down, but getting up. If the first two tracks were cheesy and fluffy, then the last two are off the cotton candy scale. But that's the thing about Afgin. He's got talent and it doesn't come off as cheese, but rather the soft caress of a lover who means what she says. It's about sharing a sunrise with that special someone, dancing on a melodic carpet until your mouth hurts from smiling so much. Let's face it, the world we live in ain't all sunshine and rainbows. It sucks sometimes. Hell, I've got Angela Lansbury charging me $1200 for a piece of sh*t table cause she can't find a f*cking decimal point. So yeah, it ain't all sunshine and rainbows. But thanks to Afgin, this is what it would look like if it were. Ektoplazm Mdk