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Artist: Unusual Cosmic Process Title: Mental Atmosphere Label: Gliese 581c Date: May, 2012 01 - Mental Atmosphere (136 BPM) 02 - Paranoic Minds (138 BPM) 03 - Unexplaned Process (138 BPM) 04 - Mystical Forms Of Life (136 BPM) 05 - The Message (135 BPM) 06 - So Far From Earth (138 BPM) 07 - Pulsating Galaxies (142 BPM) 08 - Sleepwalker (142 BPM) 09 - Immersion (142 BPM) "Da, make psytrance great again!" Ukranian Armen Akopov is back with another free release from Ektoplazm. The last one I reviewed (Weightlessness) had some really good floating ambient and even a stellar downtempo goa trance track Place On Earth. This time he turns to the progressive arena and brings the same amount of detail with long tracks and good sample work. Tracks like Unexplained Process evolve slowly with some sweet goa touches. With all the music he adds effects and touches which really go a long way into creating and maintaining the atmosphere. The one track that didn't wow me was So Far From Earth as it was the only one that seemed to go on too long without any support. Science fiction samples are a major part of what he does and he makes it easy to be a passenger on his space craft. I don't know if this would work on the dance floor, but it is great for home listening. Free at Ektoplazm

Artist: Somnesia Title: Mystic Moon Label: Gliese 581C Date: April, 2012 01 - Mystic Sun 02 - Encounter 03 - Goa Spirit 04 - Cosmic Gate 05 - Halluminium 06 - Nomad's Land (Original Version) 07 - Beyond The Sky (Extended Version) 08 - Space Liquid 09 - Dusk Till Dawn "I believe that these extra terrestrial vehicles and their crews are visiting this planet from other planets, which are obviously a little more technically advanced than we are here on Earth." Not possible. Christophe Grossel is no stranger to goa trance. As Somnesia, you've heard his tracks like When Kali Meditates (Goa Overdose), Eternal Life (The Omega Point), and Sunlight (Future Architecture). Awesome stuff. Did I mention he is also a member of our little corner of the web? But in a world of what have you done for me lately there hasn't been an album. Until now. Released on Gliese 581C he presents you with his debut. For free. Apparently he used to work for them. Forgive me I'm old, when I worked for someone, I actually had to fight traffic and drive there, fight it out with a grossly overweight co-worker as to who would get the last half eaten creme filled donut (C'mon fatty cut me a break isn't this your third one?), and try to look busy for most of the day. Working for a net label, he probably did all his sh*t with his fuzzy bunny slippers on. Gotta take a sh*t? F*ck it, do it with the door open that chick from marketing with the wonky eye can't see you. Sign of the times I guess. First thing that jumps out is the beautiful cover. A dark blue night with a nebulous cloud drifting across the full moon. Nice looking and it basically tells you what you're gonna get. Mystic Sun- Holy crap if the intro was any longer it would be an ambient track. You don't hear a kick until past the 3 minute mark. Fine by me, because this is storytelling by the light of a campfire. Ominous pads and running synths have me looking skyward. The track has a give and take quality...not giving you everything at once, but parsing it out in measured amounts. If you're not thinking about space when you hear this, then you must already be there. Encounter- Undulating is the perfect word to describe how the opening synth behaves. It twists around you like an anaconda and when it's ready applies the force to crush the life out of you. At almost 10 minutes long it continues to build to an powerful climax that...that could be the most unintentionally erotic thing I have ever written. (I say written, but who the f*ck writes anymore? I wrote a check the other day and it looked like my 3 year old penned it. Shoulda used a crayon.) That lead is constant, never vanishing throughout the whole track. Pretty impressive. Felt like I was riding that...whatever the f*ck it is in the neverending story. Blistering track. Goa Spirit- I don't know why but I thought this said goa spice. Hmmm....goa spice.... She had to have seen her time with the Spice Girls was short. You think Posh is going to put up with sunshine's shower optional policy? And how long will the label tolerate her blowing the budget on weed, hackey-sacks and patchouli? You know who I feel sorry for? C*cksucker spice. Would've broadened the bands appeal and she never gets a shot. Well, other than a money shot. Cheesy. Too much. Made my stomach hurt. Oh, not the track. This was the bagel with cheese I had for breakfast. The track is awesome. Mysterious vibe with leads bundled together like fiber optic cables. Dances as one would if you were walking on hot coals, never lingering in one spot for too long. It builds to a point and then halfway through begins to reorganize. Ever seen a skier tumble down a hill? F*cking garage sale with skis flying this way and that? No matter how hard you try to stop it only makes it worse? Well, it's like that, but in a great way. Intensity increases, layers multiply and at the end you're looking around wondering where the f*ck that came from? Cosmic Gate- Rapid fire dark vibes with shimmering synths bring the feel of space into the living room. Melodies tumble like the particles of a recently exploded star and this would make great driving music. He throws different melodies at you in enticing layers that make this one a delight. Halluminium- Triplets are creepy. Why are we spending so much money trying to find extra-terrestrial life from up above when those freakshows are walking among us? Let me show you how I got there. It's really very simple. Track name sounds like aluminum of course and that makes me think of the foil. After being sidetracked for twenty minutes on how I could make another bagel with cheese, I refocused and thought that putting on the foil is a hockey term for fighting. Which I got from the classic movie Slap Shot. Well, there is a group of triplets in that movie that are a few croutons short of a salad. Total elapsed time...less than a second. I. Need. Help. More of a grower that gathers ammunition as it goes on. It flies on the dark side of the skies with an entertaining style. Nomad's Land (Original Version)- 10 and a half minutes? I used to love the sight of that, but you know I got kids right? Gotta take a sh*t just to get a few minutes to myself. "Lemme alone! Go watch Dora or something!" Whew, dude is working pretty hard to squeeze that one off isn't he? Burger King really needs to clean their restrooms. Running through space with the utmost quickness. Melodies move with jellyfish like quirkiness and then dance like Gregory Hines isn't really dead. Cristophe really puts a track together well balancing out the highs with the bubbling undercurrent of basses. So you take a driving rhythm, layer it with eerie melodies and you've got my daughter crying because she thinks daddy is possessed by the devil. Top notch! Beyond The Sky (Extended Version)- Hmmm....extended. Like c*ck enlargement. Surely I'm not the only one annoyed by the incessant advertising on the side of the page telling me that with this "one weird trick" I can make my dick look like a f*cking python. Why the hell would you want that? Do you know how hard (get it) it would be to buy pants? And I think we are all aware of the danger of the pee hard on. Pitching a tent is no way to go through life, son. As you could've probably guessed this one takes a while to get going. 13 minutes? Minus commercials that's almost an entire episode of How I Met Your Mother. Speaking of your mother, like a frenzied sexual encounter in the backseat of your mom's minivan, the ahem, "magic" happens at the end. But don't miss out on the atmosphere he creates because it's quite good. While not unleashing his inner Ron Jeremy to test your gag reflex he does provide a good show with bubbling basses and smooth melodies for a look at the softer side of goa trance without making gay porn. What? Space Liquid- Never thought I would say we are down to a manageable 9 minutes. A cold and mysterious intro has me thinking about a deserted space ship a la Event Horizon. Analog pads stream across sensors and I think I saw Gary Numan's ghost. As the title says, he makes a very liquid sound and then promptly hops on his Jean Michel Jarre horse before introducing some goa licks. What you thought was a spooky ambient piece drops a beat near 6 minutes. Nice. Dusk Till Dawn- That is all. He recently celebrated a birthday and wound up giving us a present. This would've been presented to him closer to the date if Photobucket wasn't full of b*tches. But like Ivan said, at least I'm popular. Well happy motherf*ckin' birthday Christophe and thank you for this gift. It's a superb release with everything that makes me love goa trance. Twisting melodies, awesome power, and music I can get lost in. He hits you with the power in the beginning and then slowly begins to turn the lights out culminating in a slow, eerie end of the world downtempo outro. Like De La said, you did it big like white boys wallets (obviously they never peeked at my wallet.) And you gave it away? Thank you from a guy with a small wallet. Ektoplazm Mdk

Artist: HelixNeubla Title: Trip To Infinity Label: Gliese 581C Date: December, 2011 01 - HelixNebula - Off The Ground (148 BPM) 02 - HelixNebula - Diving In Positive Energy (145 BPM) 03 - HelixNebula - Trip To Infinity (142 BPM) 04 - HelixNebula - Through Space, Through Time... (147 BPM) 05 - HelixNebula - Beyond Boundaries Of Human Imagination (145 BPM) 06 - HelixNebula - Helix Nebula (140 BPM) 07 - HelixNebula - Silicon Galaxy (145 BPM) 08 - HelixNebula - Dancing World (148 BPM) 09 - MentalImage - Mental Spores (115 BPM) "I hardly need to sleep anymore, I feel wonderful! It's like a drug, but a perfectly pure and benign drug!" Coffee. He's talking about coffee. Or ex. Maybe it's, no definitely ex. This is the rush I get when I watch women's tennis. That's not really true. I only watch it for the booty shorts and Serena's boobs. Don't judge me. I'm watching Serena play this chick from Kaz...Kazak...uz beki beki stan and she's ripping this poor chick apart like that pic of the baby obliterating a smurf. Look it up. It wasn't even close. I think she had 4 serves in a row where the chick didn't even make contact. Throw in the fact that if you compare physiques it's like Kate Moss vs. a linebacker and you've got a bona fide disaster movie in the making. Which leads me to one inexorable conclusion. I'm terrified of Serena Williams. HelixNebula is Russian Stanislav Tiptsov and you may be aware of his other project MentalImage (also one that doesn't believe in the use of the space bar). I downloaded this because Basilisk put Goa in the description. This is full on all the way. It's not bad, but I no longer have any patience for this type of music. It's very melodic so he scores points there. Especially at one in the morning. Most of it is competent full on except Silicon Galaxy which is truly an insult to horrible. Bright spot? The final track is a pretty good bit of psy business under his other alias. And holy sh*t did he use the Astral Projection spice sample? Yes he did. Dude. These days it's easy to pick on Astal and Lord knows I've done my fair share, but where the hell is your sample etiquette? This is his take on the Astral classic and it would fit in with the stuff on Ten. Remember what an unholy sacrilege that was? Many a virgin had to be sacrificed to atone for that blasphemy let me tell you. So if you like melodic full on then this is for you. Not for me. I have to build a bomb shelter capable of withstanding a level 5 Serena home invasion. Free at Ektoplazm Mdk

Artist: Bioscape Title: Nature's Geometry EP Label: Gliese 581C Date: April, 2012 01 - Sunrise Prayer (70 BPM) 02 - Dub Forest (110 BPM) 03 - Synergistic Movement (70 BPM) 04 - Spectral Dub (80 BPM) This is Andrew Dyche from the ATL where the playas play. It is also his debut. According to the always accurate promo: "His music celebrates nature and encourages us to take an intimate look at our surroundings." He must be talking about his vacations from Atlanta. Ever been there? Nice city if you can get through all the mother f*cking traffic. If you go, avoid the summer. Feels like a Turkish bath house it's so damn humid. Most ATLiens will tell you that there surroundings are indoors in the summer. More known for it's southern rap style (Outkast, Ludacris) I'm curious to see what a downtempo producer will bring. Let me tell you it is some mellow stuff. The first track is an intro that is soft and gentle like the breaking dawn and the creatures in the forest are waking up. There is reverberating electric piano and a muted kick. Very good opener. Dub Forest seems significantly slower, but that ain't what the bpm's are saying. This dubby tune is quite full with bunches of layers that take their sweet time. It's good, but I would've liked some extended periods of contrast to keep it interesting. More than 8 minutes at this slow pace is like crawling a marathon. Synergistic Movement has that contrast with several changes and it is shorter so not to tax the mind. With the final track it's more of the same hypnotic dubby sunshine. And basically that is what this EP is...smooth, mellow, and very relaxing. I liked the whole thing and look forward to more from this artist. Ektoplazm Mdk