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Artist: Sibling Title: Forest of Illusion EP Label: Self Released Date: February, 2015 01 - Hybrids (88 BPM) 02 - Ki (105 BPM) 03 - The Gates (102 BPM) 04 - Soul Conduit (92 BPM) 05 - The Flood (117 BPM) "What the? You dumb Klan motherf*ckers, that's a white woman! Cut some damn eye holes!" Forests can be beautiful and scary. This is both. Sibling is Trent Thomas from Arizona and I'll be honest I didn't think Arizona had forests. Well what he does here is make some spooky and eerie forest downtempo music. Very dark and lush with a am I seeing things kind of feel. Slow, evil, glitchy groove with a prominent bass. Pretty trippy. This isn't the forest where the animals sing and help Cinderella put on her dress it's the one in South Park where they perform human sacrifice. Very interesting. Free at Ektoplazm

Artist: Digicult Title: Soul Samadhi Label: Dacru Records Date: February, 2015 1. Digicult Vs. U-Recken - Sundara 2. Soul Samadhi 3. Jaia - Mai Mai (Digicult Vs. U-Recken Rmx) 4. Digicult Vs. Tropical Bleyage - Aradhana 5. Man With No Name - Evolution (Digicult Rmx) 6. Digicult - Star Travel (Talamasca Rmx) 7. Lost In A Mental Universe 8. Digicult - Red Planet (Spirit Architect Rmx) 9. Digicult Vs. U-Recken - Into The Heartland (Astral Projection Rmx) Digicult is a project that has always flirted with goa trance and sometimes outright produced it. I suppose you would have to label him a "full-on" act, but without all the cheese and simplicity that usually rides shotgun. Loved his albums Lucid Nation and Out of This World. With this his fourth album he remixes two goa classics and perpetual missing people Astral Projection remix one of his own tracks. Now usually when an artist from the full-on genre attempts to remix goa standards images of the album we shall not name pop up and we begin to behave like a poison victim. Now I'm not gonna blow smoke up your ass. It's not healthy for either of us and that would entail me getting closer to your ass than is comfortable. The cliche's are here from auto-tune to the triplet bass lines. This is pop-full on and he could probably parlay this into a Vegas residency. Sundara encapsulated all that is wrong with full-on and all that could be right. What sets Digicult apart from the vast majority of full-on artists however is his attention to detail. An example of this is the track Aradhana which gives a wink and a nod in the goa direction. Another good one was Lost In A Mental Universe where he does his best Electric Universe impression. Plenty of artists bombard you with melodies, but he adds atmosphere and more things to grab a hold of. Makes it a lot more bearable. But you don't help your cause when you let Talamasca anywhere near your music. What I heard with that track was equal part Eskimo's Popcorn and Jean Michel Jarre's Oxygene which of course added up to get the f*ck outta here. Still like I said it's a pop full-on album that doesn't distinguish itself from the huge pile we already have. He seems to have given up and just decided if you can't beat 'em, join 'em. Got bills to pay homie and these frat boys love it when the beat drops! Oh well I hope he at least is scoring some quality groupie love. Besides I was really only interested in the goa remixes. And unfortunately it reaffirmed my belief that he should just leave it alone. There's a reason we haven't seen a recreation of the Mona Lisa with nothing but finger clippings and dandruff. You just know it would be terrible. And disgusting. The Astral remix is quintessential Astral with their signature sound and they continue to do just enough to keep you on the line hoping for a new goa album that will most likely never come. So in closing I will say that this is not an essential piece of music (I know you're shocked) and not even essential for the Digicult collection. You can tell he still has the talent and ability to make deep, meaningful tracks, but with this he has dipped a little too close to the euphoric Paul Van Dyk cheesiness. And I'm too old to put my hands in the air and wave them around like I just don't care. Here's to hoping that with his next album he just says f*ck it and makes the brilliant goa album I know he is capable of. C'mon dude...you know you wanna. Psyshop Beatspace

Artist: Ion Vader Title: Expansion EP Label: Timewarp Records Date: February, 2015 1. For Deg 2. Ajjna (feat. Root) 3. Trip To Nowhere Ion Vader isn't an artist I've heard much or anything from, but since it was released by the good folks over at Timewarp I thought I'd give it a go. It's a short 3 track EP (Captain Obvious) that has it's roots in several genres. For example, For Deg begins with an uplifting sound and then promptly ventures into darker territory before it rockets into cosmic goa. Ajjna has some tribal chants and is rather uninteresting until near the end when once again, the goa leaks out. The final track Trip To Nowhere is more of the neo-goa style I was expecting. All in all not a bad ep that sounds really clear. Hope he sticks with it as there is some potential here. Timewarp Records Bandcamp

Artist: Nibana Title: Ask The Universe Label: Maia Brasil Records Date: February, 2015 01 - Uchuu (60 BPM) 02 - Far Eden (80 BPM) 03 - Near Babel (85 BPM) 04 - Icarus Dream (Tribute To Yngwie Malmsteen) (90 BPM) 05 - Our Eyes (90 BPM) 06 - The Most Astounding Fact (90 BPM) 07 - I Am a Soul (100 BPM) 08 - Ya'av Eah (110 BPM) 09 - Our Eyes (Sephira Remix) (100 BPM) 10 - Owari Da (76 BPM) "Now fear is going to be a player in your life...but you get to decide how much." Nope. Nope. Nope. Bricks have been shat. When I pass from this Earth my soul will still be terrified of this creature. You need proof of alien visitation? Bam. Eight legs of extra terrestrial terror. They hid in sheets. Under shirts. Behind curtains. In. Your. F*cking. Toilet. Paper. Roll. Now that I have succeeded in scaring myself for life let's discuss this release by a Frenchman. Now wer'e talking! No. No...check that f*cking thing for spiders! It could be under all that delicious! I f*cking see you behind those strawberries! This is an album of downtempo / dream trance that delivers on it's label. It was released in 2014, but he probably felt he could get more exposure if he posted it on Ektoplazm. It can be slow moving downtempo, ethereal, and hypnotizing mid tempo trance. Guitars (mainly guitar solos) are a prominent feature on the tracks and before you pass on this like I did that dessert, let me tell you it's a highlight. I know I can't believe I'm saying it. There's even a tribute to Yngwie Malmsteen. The guitar player? No the convenience store clerk. Yes the guitar player how many Yngwies do you know? The first track is my favorite. A meticulous dub journey that took its sweet time. The guitar solo brings an epic feel to it, like the situation is bigger than yourself. Far Eden has a glacial cold vibe balanced out by the ever present bass. Icarus Dream is another lush piece of ambient trance complete with nice guitar riff and sliced sounds. All of the tracks don't feel rushed or a jumble of sounds lumped together. Now if you don't like guitars in your music then you might be put off by this. But I never found them intrusive and often found them integral to the track. If there was one gripe it would be that the tracks tend to run a little long and get a little boring. Very well done though. Free at Ektoplazm Mdk