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Artist: Amithaba Buddha Title: Angels Trumpets Label: Submoon Records Date: September, 2015 1. Angels Trumpets (Discipline Mix) 2. Ten Thousand Buddhas 3. Manuscript (Free Spirit Mix) 4. Celestine Rhythm (Book of Job Mix) 5. Angels Walk Among Us (Forest Mix) 6. Electric Indigo 7. Stay Wild Moon Child How do you do this again? It's been a while. Funny I just mentioned to Ivan that I've taken a break from psy music and here I am cobbling a review together. You know life happens and it can be hard to find the time to craft a review. The artists definitely deserve it, but the struggle is real people. Perhaps I've written so many of them and there is nothing left to say. To me it's just album art and kick drums at this point. This is the latest album from polarizing artist Filipe Santos and he has a definite style that is instantly recognizable. High tempo, layer intensive, melodic, danceable music. With this being the third under the moniker Amithaba Buddha I can't say it sounds any different than Goa Gate or Myself In The Mirror. But that's because after all these years of listening to goa it has begun to run together for me. Not just his, but all goa music. Look he has a formula and he follows it to a tee. The music (as always) is great, but after you get through the up and down with the scales and the head nodding rhythms what else is there? And to say that the 7 tracks bear a very strong resemblance to each other is like figuring out water is wet. Don't get me wrong, as a collector and fan of goa music I'm glad I bought this and will recommend it to anyone who is a fan of Filipe's style. But...blah, blah, blah...Goa Gate II...super talented and prolific... Perhaps I've reached burnout stage, but I think a revolution is in order. Submoon Bandcamp

Artist: GoaTree Title: Akasha Connection Label: Neogoa Date: September, 2015 1 - Aura 2 - Neural Oscillation 3 - Akasha Connection 4 - Don't You 5 - Oblivion Planet (vs Somnesia) 6 - Invisible People 7 - Weekly Drive (GoaTree Remix) 8 - Order To My Chaos 9 - Artificial Intelligence "You know I love you don't you?" "What the f*ck are they doing up there?" "Promoter said showers are mandatory for party entrance. So they all jumped up there and won't come down." "Damn shame what the fat one is doing to that tree. Just a damn shame." And this is how GoaTrees were born. Probably. I guess...I wasn't really that attentive in botany class. And how could I be when there were so many hot chicks looking for that easy A? GoaTree is Lukas Bartosek from Slovakia which is somewhere near India I think (geography class had even more honeys in it). This is his debut album presented for free on the Neogoa netlabel (although not only net anymore, eh?) with artwork by the one and only Richpa. And it begins with a thumping good goa track (Aura) that I was rockin' whilst mowing the lawn. Good lawn mowing music for sure. Dats my whip! Straight gangsta! Husqvarna fo' life! Yeah, I'm 44 years old. I don't speak that way. Forgive my momentary lapse. The next couple of tracks bounce along nicely with some catchy melodies and I liked the breakbeat in Akasha Connection. Don't You has a repetitive chant (African I believe, but as I told you I was looking at the ladies so I could be wrong) that doesn't thrill me. So...do I? No I don't. Oblivion Planet wasn't anything special and Invisible People comes off as simple filler, limping along. Weekly Drive had a grand beat during the break which changed things up a little before it rocketed back into a hyper 4/4. Not bad. Order to My Chaos ups the BPM's to 160 for a high intensity workout and he closes with the downtempo/midtempo Artificial Intelligence. Is that a f*cking shanai? Again like a lot if the tracks on this album I'm filled with a large load of meh. What the hell happened? I've found his compilation tracks much more detailed and enjoyable than a good portion of this album. It's not bad at all, but he himself has set the bar high so expectations of course rise with it. Perhaps this could've been another EP release instead of an album where he branches out and flirts with different styles. The sound is great and listening to Aura tells me that he has the ability to deliver the goods. He just didn't seem to do it here. Free at Ektoplazm!

Artist: Omegahertz Title: Stax Label: Dimensional Records Date: September, 2015 1. London Eye Ride 2. Stax 3. Tyche Planet 4. Saita 5. Glava Neva 6. Weltraum Wesen 7. Denken 8. Or Keren 9. Viajado Dis guy? Last I heard of this project he was the other guy on the Purple Energy album with GoAsia. That was almost a decade ago and I recall his tracks filled me with a profound sense of...meh. Seems as though he has been hittin' the goa weights because this was an unexpected surprise. Omegahertz is Dimitrios Pouranis and he has just planted his flag upon goa mountain. It's full of raw fury, with screeching 303's and a science fiction atmosphere. They go from the highest highs to the guttural growls all with power to break through walls a la Kool Aid Man. There is a lot to love about this release. "But dude, what about that artwork?" Baby steps young paduan. Rome wasn't built in a day. Still better than Goalogique covers. It's a storming good time that would fit nicely in your goa collection. Yeah it's a CD-r, but so is all the stuff from Submoon and we are quickly finding out how good that is. This is unquestionably a gem that is about to be hidden no longer. Dimensional Records

Artist: Universcience Title: Sonic Mandalas Label: Sangoma Records Date: September, 2015 1. Goat FIxie 2. Karelia 3. Alone Celebration 4. Base Boss 5. Nasca 6. Quantum Gravity 7. Sonic Mandalas 8. Laksmi 9. Vishudha 10. Nothing Special 11. Mahamantra 12. Katarina The glory days of South African psytrance are in the rear view mirror unfortunately, but like a phoenix from the ashes Sangoma aims to pick up and carry on. Their sound is different than Timecode; darker and oftentimes heavy with a forest edge. Universcience is Bogdanov Sergey and he was kind enough to release his early work for free. With so many releases that seem to come out everyday it can be tough to get noticed and attract ears. You have to stand out and for me this doesn't. I find it boring in a lot of places with nary a jaw dropping moment. Quantum Gravity had some heft to it and ironically Nothing Special was at least a little special. I keep waiting for Sangoma to take that step into greatness, but it hasn't happened yet. Sangoma Bandcamp Name Your Price

Artist: Amithaba Buddha Title: Goa Gate Remastered Label: Submoon Records Date: September, 2015 1. Goa Gate 2. Sarcophagus 3. Three Eyes 4. Secret of an Amulet 5. Sending Love and Light 6. Transphinx 7. Organic Humanoids 2 8. Water Goddess 9. Guardian of the Gate Two games into the NFL season and my team has taken on this identity. As a reviewer I have to absorb the music and its presentation without judgement or prejudice. Sometimes it's hard to do. I have internet friends who send me copies of their work and ask me to review it. It's great until I listen to it and it turns out to be a dumpster fire. But I write them for two reasons. One I enjoy doing it and two if I can shed some light on a release that you may not have been aware of. If the review is funny and you get a chuckle then everybody wins. Amithaba Buddha is one of the many projects of Filipe Santos and this is someone who has a history with Psynews. Not all of it pleasant. So what I decided to do was to list the reasons why you wouldn't like this and then supply a counter argument of why you might want to give it a chance. "It's Filipe. He says mean things, is schizophrenic, and is probably on drugs." Really? Maybe, but people who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones. I'm far from perfect and have done and said some things that I'm not proud of. We've all done that. However, this is about the music. Remove all other distractions and focus on the music. Kanye West seems like a dick, but I was rocking Gold Digger just like everyone else. "It's a CD-R. In a few years it's gonna melt and not be worth what I paid for it." One, I don't know if that is actually true. Two, the original Goa Gate was made 7 years ago and that CD-R is fine. Besides most of us rip that sh*t to a computer anyway. "It's basically the same track and sounds repeated nine times." I disagree, but at least I can understand this complaint. The album does follow a similar vein, but that vein is power and multiple layers of twirling goa goodness. It does get samey, but it's so good! The sound is rich with melodies that crawl from deep hiding places to take their rightful place in the sun. I find it impossible to listen to this and not dance like nobody is watching. Which is untrue cause my kids are always watching and then they tell Mommy and everyone has a good laugh at my expense. Ha f*cking ha. My point is this...love him or hate him you cannot deny his talent. I don't know him and unless you've been sitting next to him for the last 10 years you don't either. I don't deny his behavior has been perplexing and mean spirited at times on the forum. I don't begin to understand it and I damn sure ain't excusing it. Hell some artists might need that conflict and turmoil to make their art. But like I said in the beginning you have to listen to the music with blinders on. Filipe has been at this a long time and I would venture to say that if you didn't know who the artist was and looked at his catalog of work you wouldn't hesitate to put him up there with the greats of all time. This album is everything you could ask for and I am pleased that I have my copy. The fact I'm not getting extorted by the Discogs mafia is just a bonus. Goa Gate? Two thumbs way f*cking up. Submoon Bandcamp