Ra - To Sirius

[mars]

I agree with children. te descriptions are quite right, but I wouldn't compare

this with older productions.

 

There are lots of influences though... but the main ideas are original. Lots of

trippy psychedelic layers, and never commercial.

 

Oldskool psytrance lovers, get ready to buy this pearl !

[Children]

Ra - To Sirius

 

 

Artist: Ra

Title: To Sirius

Label: Global Trance Network

Date: 2001

 

Track listing:

 

01. 02'12" Prologue

02. 07'05" Astral Flight

03. 09'13" Universal Key

04. 07'28" Beyond Control

05. 07'46" Initiated

06. 08'23" Sign Of Life

07. 08'46" ROM

08. 07'45" Paradox

09. 06'49" Sirius

10. 04'38" Epilogue

 

Review:

 

VERY GOOD old-style Album from the Norwegian Christer Borge-Lunde (also a

member of Electron Wave group with Charlie Clarke from Hunab Ku ... he also

contributed to the Dimension 5 "Second Phaze" album) !!! Something between

Etnica and MFG with influences from Muses Rapt, old Shakta and Astral

Projection stuff , and indian influences particularly during the first Tracks

... all Tracks are mixed together, to make this album a whole trip :-) Track 1

is a little intro (a man voice saying "Rrraa !"), pretty good but too short

Track to consider it as a Track in itself. Track 2 has some monks voices in

background, with a quiet melody ... Track 3 starts more quietly, then a happy

melody & snares appear, which makes a lot think to old Etnica style ... then

other melodies appear and all becomes very trippy ! Track 4 starts quietly

then quickly becomes very powerful ! A huge Track if you listen to it loud !

Then it becomes more quiet again, and a flute starts in background ... then

you jump again while a woman slowly speaks and the melodies go crazy ! They

are very staccato, in the typical old Etnica style, but with fresher sound

IMHO ... maybe the best Track here. Track 5 has a more MFG influenced melody

at the beginning ... no drums nor bass, only the melody ... then a drum breaks

the whole thing and the bass appears ... few seconds later a very quick melody

continues, then another one and the Track becomes more Etnica oriented ?

however I think a drum sample here is too "quick" ... at 5'50" you can

recognize a melody very similar to the one of "Shakta : Lepton Head Part 3".

Track 6 is very fast and melodic too, but not that unforgettable ... lacks

some breaks maybe, case you can't breath on it :-) Track 7 starts slowly, then

an Etnica melody with a heavy bass ... but doesn't "really" start till 1'35"

... I love the bass sound of this Track ! The end is much more psychedelic,

and melodies let more think to MFG ... really good work. Track 8 has heavy

drums, claps, a man voice in background and uplifiting melodies too, but not

that much at the beginning ... the end is much more melodic though. Track 9 is

a chill-out one ... voices with echo, quiet melody in background, but I don't

think it's a really good Track ... could have been better ... nothing really

happens in it ... The outro Track 10 is quite tribal, indian oriented and very

calm too ... but it's also a little too short to consider it as a Track in

itself. To conclude I want to say that I didn't hear that kind of sound for

ages, and that this album well shows that intelligent melodic style is NOT

dead ! This album, for me, should have been released between 1996 & 1997,

cause that's really the style of this period (with more modern sound of

course) and I really like it ! The genius of this album is that all Tracks are

very well combinated together ... at the beginning you sometimes don't notice

when the Track changed, and that's VERY rare in psytrance ! But there is a

slight flaw : most of the Tracks (3,4,5,6,7,8) here are very uplifting, which

makes the album a little difficult to listen to in its entirety ... Anyway, if

you love old-school trance YOU HAVE TO BUY IT ! Good Luck with your next

albums RA ! This debut one is really O.U.T.S.T.A.N.D.I.N.G when you think it's

a DEBUT one ! Rating : 8/10

[Guest connor[at]mind[dot]net]

I agree with you.. This is one of the coolest albums I have heard. Its so

psychedelic and pounding. Some very deep stuff with lots of quality

production and intelligence.. Also, it was released in 2000, not this year.

[Guest fgaliza[at]ohanalearning[dot]org]

This is a phenomenal album. It has some terrific melodies, very well thought

out tracks that have the psychedelic element where needed and overall it

shines way above the rest of the albums.

 

 

 

Its a terrific listening experience and it does a hell of a job reflecting some

of the older goa styles. 9/10

[Guest Rox]

Remind me bit ASIA 2001 . Good album ... flying . 8/10

[Guest Diepeveen]

Super debut for Ra, wich also is half of Dimension 5 !! A great cd, with great

tracks, great melodies, and it can work both as a "dreaming, little chilling

form of Goa, and as a party cd. This is one of the best old-school albums i

own !! - 9/10

[Guest Mescalinium]

Wow. I just picked this album up on vinyl and it blew me away. Very old

school, very melodic, reminded me a lot of old pleiadians stuff. I can't wait

to spin some of this stuff! It's absolutely killer material. My only (minor)

complaint after repeated listening is that most of the samples are pretty

lame/cliched, but this is rather insignificant. Favorites for me are tracks

2, 5, and 6. Rating 8.5/10

[Guest fiveMeO]

Great stuff! Nothing groundbreaking or original- just straight up melodic goa.

However maybe the best I've seen heard it done. Somewhat like Pleiadians or

AP but smoother. Beautiful and layered melodies and so sweet and uplifting.

Not real "noisy" though so play really loud through excellent equipment!

 

Samples are total shit though, what a shame... I'm not sure the artist

knows english too well or he'd have asked himself "WTF am I thinking with

these horrible and cheese samples???"

 

Overall, excellent, 8.7/10, get you a copy...

[Guest madde[at]goatrance[dot]com]

This is a excellent proof...OLD SCHOOL TRANCE NEVER DIES:))))

[Guest dispenser]

To the artist(if you're reading this)- keep up the good work. So nice to have

beautiful uplifting and cheerful trance amongst all the dark brooding stuff.

Next time continue to use this style but add some super-wierd sound effects

like HuxFlux does and you'll have hit on the best combo. All the really wierd

shit is dark and I'd love to hear some uplifting wiredo type music=ultimate

euphoria

[Guest Joel Klimkiewicz]

Wow... I mean wow... Excuse me, WOW!!! I have to say that bulk of goa/psy

these days is so lame. Its not minimal, its UNDEVELOPED!! Yet you have this

puppy of an album coming into town and it fuckin rips up your brain! Its what

goa/psy should be! I fuckin' love it. There are moments in the tracks where

the artist spills his hear out into the music and its absolutely beautiful.

If you wanna compare this to old school, then do but quite honestly a lot of

old school trance just blows the shit out of the new stuff thats being put

out. Okay I am bitchin' so be it.

 

Melodies, complex layers chasing each other, real nice vocals, its all here! I

just picked up ten new goa Cds and this was my fave of faves! Keep it comin'

RA! - Joel

[Guest rx7style]

This albums kicks ass. I LOVE the melodies in this album. Kind of reminds me

of the classic goa that I started listening to way back when. Very

Eastern-style harmonies in this one. Great layering, solid beats in all

tracks. Definately if you like melodic goa, this album is a MUST! The

production quality of this album could be better -- the soundstage doesn't

seem "full" enough, but other than that, the tracks are mixed nicely together,

and the album just makes you want to smile and dance. My favorite track is

Astral Flight. 9/10

[Guest AsiDamuS]

I thought i was leaving my record store empty handed sunday untill this albm

caught the corner of my EyE and blew me away, Beatifull astral projection type

melodic psy trance with a very '96 touch! one of the best Ive heard for 2001

9/10

[Guest Slidingtrancer]

This just may be the cd of the year. The absolute comeback of multilayered,

mindblowing oldschool trance with a nice production. Samples ARE cheezy, but

that cannot ruin this great cd. Beautiful harmonies and melodies, basically

everything that's got me into this style back in '96. The build-ups are

brilliant. No real bad tracks, tho i dont really like the chilled out song...

I love all songs, they tell a tale, a tale of true goa spirit. It's nice to

see people still have the spirit without making cheezy stuff. I think we'll

hear a lot from these artists in the coming years. I'm looking forward to

their next album. I hope it will be as magnificent as this one. Damn this

their debut, it sounds so developed and mature :-)9.2/10

[Guest sysweed]

What a surprise. Someone still does melodic trance in

year 2001 and even beats all other releases of the year

that I've heard so far. I think that R.O.M. is the most complete (in the sense

that every part of it is very good) and powerful track here. I almost love

those powerful sound effects in the middle of it! What a rush it is when

played loud. Beyond Control is nearly as good. It has been said before and I

agree; this is absolutely recommendable for any Goa fan.

[Guest Zeitti]

Great full-on melodic psy-trance.. It's indeed a good thing that someone still

releases this stuff.. There are no bad tracks, and I don't have any particular

favourites, because all tracks are really good. If you like melodic goatrance,

buy this.

[freak51]

Packed with old-school flavour-juice. If you can't get enough of the old

Dimension 5-type tip, then you're going to need this. If you're over melodies

and just want structures and sonic/percussive relations, this is not for you.

Personally, I can't get into this anymore, too jaded. More power to those of

you who can, for this is on par with old Jaia. An honest full-on original

effort.

[Lemmiwinks]

Well, it sounded great when I first listened to it and it is for me the best

2001 release so far, but the thing with this sort of "classical" goa using

typical sounds is that ot gets boring fast... Some more wierdness and/or

unusual sounds, please! Still, there is an exception to the rule: ROM. Superb!

And the Prologue is not really psy, but I love it too. Still, 9/10 for being

the best release of 2001 so far!

[Guest titiknar[at]caramail[dot]com]

It's the best album from 2001 ! Thanx Râ to make good old psy trance ! )))

[Guest denis[at]nospammeplease.trance[d]

As a friend of the composer I think i am a little biased. However this material

is not very new, and it has been scheduled for release a loong time. Big

thanks to G.T.N. for finally releasing this to the public !

If you liked this, check out Electron Wave - "Uncertainty Principle" also, it

might catch you off guard..

 

Bom Bolenat

[Guest phase418[at]hotmail[dot]com]

I agree with everything said above, but the dumb

samples really do subtract from my enjoyment!

If your threshold for innappropriate samples is

low, or if you are a DJ guiding people on a psychedelic

journey...take this into consideration! overall

excellent work, 8/10!

[Guest k.tibor[at]telia[dot]com]

Bought this cd fex days ago. When i listened to it my mind wenr back to the

parties between 95 and 96(Gothenburg). Great full on power psychedelic tunes.

Most of the melodic stuffs nowadays are cheezy and commercial but this one

really made my mind go trippy!!

Best tunes are:6,7 and 8.....Packhus platsen jag glömmer aldrig den tid som

var!!!!!!

[unit_]

What more is there to say really? This is indeed a great oldschool sounding

album. I think it's great that some people still are producing great melodic

music like this when more and more artists are making minimal/progressive

trance music. There's no bad track here, but Initiated really stands out.

Awesome melody after about 5:50! I think the intro is very nice aswell.

Easily the best melodic album released in a long time.

[Guest faroutwohman]

Bad Samples? Are you talking about Track 4 Beyond Control? If you can't

appreciate those samples how do you appreciate goa? Shit those are some of the

most mindblowing samples i've ever heard. MY body was flying!

[Mergi]

Enter the realm of pure spiritual psychedelic trance... ... ... 10/10 ... ...

...