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Artist: Argus Title: Field of Dreams Label: Altar Records Date: February, 2018 1. Long Gone 2. Glaciers of Oblivion 3. Followed By Light 4. Wind Song 5. Field of Dreams 6. Untouchable Mind 7. Ocean of Causes 8. Under the Mountain 9. Nemrak It's Saturday and I've only had one cup of coffee so what better way to chill than to listen to some, uh...chill. Argus is Branko Stojiljkovic from Serbia and for my money one of the best downtempo artists today. His style is drifting, melodic, and so welcoming. I haven't heard his album Architect of Time (my fault), but thoroughly enjoyed Deep Water and Beyond Sight. Right out of the gate with Long Gone he sets you up in your favorite lazy boy with ethereal vocals and a mellow groove. His style of slowly exploring the sonic space is delicious as the ear hunts for new sounds. His movement into and out of breaks is seamless and provides a stunning experience. The music vacillates between cold and warm, but always maintains a thoughtfulness or a melancholy tone. Tracks like Wind Song and Field of Dreams get into that mid-tempo style, but I don't believe that's where his strength is. It's when he stretches a track out, let's it take it's time and allows all the pieces to come together when he wields his greatest power in my opinion. A very good album that was perfect for contemplation between cups of joe. Altar Records Bandcamp Psyshop

Artist: Fiery Dawn Title: Magus Label: Timewarp Records Date: February, 2018 1. Dancing Fire (feat. Omneon) 2. Electro 3. Kundalini 4. Nightfall 5. Searching For UFOs 6. Tartarus 7. Wings of Fantasy 8. Magus 9. Flying To Infinity Yeahh....I'm gonna file this in the "just because it's goa doesn't mean it's super awesome" folder. This is Giorgi Shavgulidze with his debut album and unfortunately it sounds like he released a bunch of sketch pad ideas. Tracks that go nowhere, sounds that aren't really inviting...it just doesn't work for me. Even the parts that begin to build momentum don't develop into anything worth writing home about. The lack of supporting sounds and layers is also evident thus diminishing the final return. It's 2018. Need to step your game up. Timewarp Bandcamp

Artist: Lyktum Title: Human Label: Iono Music Date: February, 2018 1. Divine Enchantment 2. Spirit Guide 3. Symmetry 4. Water 5. Golden Thinking 6. Dreaming 7. Visionary Realm 8. Sacred Plants 9. Freedom 10. Masters of Momentum Dejan Jovanović has been in the game for quite some time now and this is his 3rd release as Lyktum. Spelled with a "k" now because everyone knows that's the coolest letter in the alphabet. He usually straddles the line between progressive trance and psytrance, but with this release he backflips over it. It's layer heavy with a lot of smooth and drifting melodies. The way he blends the main phrases with the breaks sometimes gives goosebumps. The galloping bassline is still there, but he adds so many other things that it fades into the background nicely. He didn't reinvent the wheel of course, but it's still an exceptional album. Iono Bandcamp Psyshop

Artist: Ray Castle & Collaborators Title: Mystique of the Metaverse Label: Suntrip Records Date: February, 2018 1. Insectoid - Tribadelic Nomads (Feral mix) 2. Insectoid - Astrotrekker 3. Rhythmystec - Plutonica 4. Rhythmystec - Plasmatik 5. Rhythmystec - Cathexis 6. Rhythmystec - Stellium 7. Masaray - Time Traveler of Trance (Joyfull Natives Mix) 8. Insectoid - Omniscient 9. Sonic Sufi - Optimum Flux "Follow your bliss and don't be afraid." Ok. Like most of you I am a fan of Suntrip Records, but as a reviewer of their music I have to put aside my fangirling ways and immerse myself into the artist's work. And most of the time I come away with a positive experience. Allow me to introduce the first hiccup of 2018. There are a lot of things wrong with this release which seems more like a history lesson than a Suntrip album offering. I don't own the label or have any say in what they release and I surely don't want to offend the artist, but... was there a lot of demand for a Ray Castle album? This is a definite niche album that to me is attempting to capitalize on the everything old is gold momentum. Ray Castle worked under several project names and according to the headache inducing word salad album blurb found on the bandcamp page he was "one of the most distinguished trail-blazing legends of the nineties Goa movement.." Really? Ok I don't have a masters degree in goa trance history so I'll accept that on its face. The head of this fine label are in a way better position than I to determine that. So let's just talk about the music because I am one of those that appreciate music from the past finding its way to the present day. This label did a remarkable job with the Shakta, Prana, and Denshi Danshi releases. The Rhythmystec tracks were released in 95-96 and are decent if not dated. Different time, technology, yadda yadda yadda. I was excited about the Insectoid tracks because unlike the stuff from Rhythmystec I had never heard of this project. Two tracks from that project take up the first 17 minutes of this album and to say they were underwhelming would be an understatement. Omniscient would also fall into this category regrettably as did the Sonic Sufi track. They have the sound of early goa without many layers to give it depth. The best track for me was the Time Traveler of Trance remix as it sounded more like the goa trance I like. Personal preference of course. So for me I cannot recommend this album. If you're looking for blasting old school goa trance with crazy melodies you will come away from this disappointed. As I mentioned I see this as a niche album (which I will still be purchasing to support the label) appealing to fans of this project and the early goa sound. Suntrip Bandcamp Psyshop Beatspace