DeathPosture Posted June 20, 2006 Share Posted June 20, 2006 V/A – Wellspring Vol. 1: Equinocturnis Hi-res artwork: front + digipack + inside digipack Artist: Various Title: Wellspring Vol. 1: Equinocturnis Format: CD (digipack) Label: Geomagnetic.tv (USA) Cat. #: GEOCD006 Distribution: saikosounds.com Date: 12 May 2006 Track listing: 01. 06’52” Chromatone vs. Helios – New Consciousness 02. 06’57” The Loomii – Freak Factory 03. 07’08” Mind Storm - Psybernetic 04. 07’39” Quadra - Vibrations 05. 08’25” Penta – Blue X-Mas 06. 05’58” Aeon – There For, Party 07. 06’10” Random – 13 Again 08. 07’35” Bodhisattva 13:20 – Gung Fu Trippers 09. 07’41“ Deeper In Zen - Trancedelia 10. 06’38” Rob-Ot - 1995 Review: American knights on mescaline… Geomagnetic.tv is an American label based in San Fransisco. It has bubbling in the Bay Area underground for a number of years – and it especially renowned for its visually stunning DVDs and recently also psytrance music. It was only recently though, that the label started raising eyebrows outside the US when it set up international distribution. Wellspring: Equinocturnis is the 6th release - compiled by acclaimed video director and label boss Doctor Spook (Nathan Vogel). The tracklist reveals a couple of well-known names, but also some rising talents… Let’s check it out… Let me take you thru the tracks… #01: Chromatone vs. Helios – New Consciousness [146 BPM] First up is a collaboration between Chromatone (Lawrence Hoffman) and Helios (Raphael Pepi). I have no idea who Pepi is, but Hoffman is a renowned American producer and studio engineer who has mastered pretty much every single darkpsy release within the last couple of years… This track is a pretty uplifting piece of psytrance… Lots of melodies here! Not too dark, but not too fluffy either… It’s somewhere in between… The groove is tight and the acid bits are subtle – It could maybe benefit from a climax of some sort, but basically this is a nice little track which I really like… Also the mastering is absolutely stunning! #02: The Loomii – Freak Factory [145 BPM] Dave & Peter Loomi make up The Loomii – and once again I have absolutely no idea who they are… Anyway, these guys know what they are doing – this track is indeed freaky as the title suggests! Basically this is one *massive* 303 workout – the acid is flowing all over the place, hurling from one side to another and back again… Twirling synth exploration and sharp acid stab and hisses… Oh yes, that’s a lot of stuff going on at once, and maybe it does become a bit too chaotic for a while… It’s almost too freaky for a while there… Almost! #03: Mind Storm – Psybernetic [145 BPM] “What do they look like? I’m not sure exactly, but I think they might look a lot like us!” Mind Storm consists of none other than Geomagnetic big cheese Dr. Spook and Tamir Ozana from Atomic Pulse. So yeah, you can guess where this is going – that’s right – full-on! But do not despair; this is far from formulated, generic full-on… This is extremely uplifting, non-conformist, edgy full-on that fuses the best elements of Israeli morning trance with the trippy twists of Bay Area thrash….This is very tasty indeed, but just like a piece of sugar-loaded candy, it might sting your teeth a little… But I do enjoy a nice sugar rush once in a while! #04: Quadra – Vibrations [145 BPM] And here’s a loaner from Solstice Records. Israeli producer Ido Liran has made tons of tracks over the years – pretty much all of them full-on… And sure enough, the experienced trancer hasn’t lost his touch … This is ripe, thrilling, uplifting morning trance with a psychedelic edge… Very reminiscent of the 2002-2004 sound: pretty tight and very, very energetic… This will go down very well with the connoisseurs of chemicals… The sheer level of energy is very impressive, but I could have wished for more variation here… #05: Penta – Blue X-Mas [145 BPM] From fellow San Francisco-based label AuraQuake Records come a track from one of my personal fav’es… None other than Penta! I’ve pretty much liked everything I’ve heard from Nikita Tselovalnikov and this track is no exception… As usual Nikita doesn’t follow the norm and incorporates a bunch of different styles, variations and oddball twists and turns into his tracks… The striking contrast between the naïve uplifting melodies and the grotesque, tweaked bullhorn is just another stroke of genius courtesy of Penta… A very nice, elusive track! #06: Aeon – There For, Party [145 BPM] “You have opened our minds and swayed our hearts. Let us there fore, party!” Aeon La France is an American psytrance producer, currently living in Santa Cruz, California… He was featured on Mubali’s debut album Cats @ Play released by Trishula Records earlier in 2006. And the experimentation and oddball approach from the Penta track continues here… The intro is gloomy and builds excitement before the track kicks off with humorous voice samples and trippy, acid-ridden synth experimentation… Gone are the most uplifting bits from earlier tracks, and we’re left with a more focussed and extremely trippy night trance track… Extremely dancefloor friendly! I’m totally digging it! Best track thus far! #07: Random – 13 Again [145 BPM] Ross Dubios aka Random is another Geomagnetic regular – and on this track he’s joined by Andrew Contreras. Actually I’m not sure I want to be 13 again – no sex, no booze, no drugs and my musical tastes weren’t really refined yet… Nope, I want to be 21 again and know all about women than I know now… Ok, enough side-tracking now – this track is actually interesting enough on its own. We’re definitely moving further and further away from full-on now, and this track is easily the weirdest thus far. That’s right, the old weird-as-fuck meter has been cranked up, and this is some seriously demented, oddball stuff – like mix of IDM and industrial with thick psytrance elements… Not as totally deranged as Derango, but we’re getting there… It’s interesting and unique – I’ll give Random that much… I’m just not sure how good it is… I can’t see this working on the dance floors and for home listening it does little but confuse me… Especially the last rundown is way too hectic for my enjoyment. So yeah, like Finnish trance this is the stuff you’d need to be in a certain mood (or state) to fully enjoy… #08: Bodhisattva 13:20 – Gung Fu Trippers [145 BPM] “It’s freezing! You’re cold? Yeah! I’ll teach you how to keep yourself warm – get up!” The cover notes list this as another Ross Dubious project, but I’m fairly certain that’s a mistake – AFAIK this is a Christopher Martin project… Again the weird-factor is high, but this time it’s not as hectic and confusing as the previous track. This is actually pretty damn sweet. Dark and informative like Kemic-Al, twisted like Penta and trippy like Derango… What a sweet cocktail! A nice little track with a super-cool surprise ending! #09: Deeper In Zen – Trancedelia [145 BPM] On loan from Soular Records is Deeper In Zen aka. James Brian who has been in the game for a while and has released three full albums and a handful of compilation tracks… On this track we’re heading back to the uplifting, full-on power trance sound like we saw earlier on this compilation… This is flaring, wall-to-wall melodic psytrance with a couple of guitar screeches and subtle acid-lines thrown in for good measure… Pretty good, but there’s nothing here we haven’t heard before… #10: Rob-Ot – 1995 [141 BPM] Last up is a track by some dude called Robert Watson… And that’s all the info I have on him. Anyway as the BPM count is lowered, the funky atmosphere is introduced… This is indeed funky, groovy and experimental stuff – kept within a framework of trance of course… As the title suggests, it’s also a nod back to the somewhat simpler trance produced a decade ago… It really is a 1995 flash-back! Slow-burning digital music which will definitely turn some heads… It’s all nice and pleasant, but sadly also a little boring and it wasn’t the trip down memory lane I’d hoped for… But for coming down off the trip, this will work wonders… This was my first encounter with Geomagnetic – but definitely not the last! This compilation was better than expected – and more varied than I’d hoped for… There are a couple of tracks here that I don’t really agree with, but luckily there are even more tracks here that totally does it for me… Obviously emphasis is on the more uplifting side of psytrance, but luckily there’s some edgy, experimental tunes thrown in to break the flow and ensure attention from the picky listener like me… Nicey nice! The digipack is packed with info, and despite the kitchy artwork it looks pretty neat… All in all, this is another high quality release from the The Bay Area… Fans of West Coast psytrance will most definitely take well to this, as will fans of uplifting yet edgy psytrance in general… Enjoy! Favourites: 1, 3, 4, 5(!), 6(!!), 8 DeathPosture External links: Geomagnetic.tv: http://www.geomagnetic.tv Discogs: http://www.discogs.com/release/692512 Saiko Sounds: http://tinyurl.com/qneq8 Beatport: http://tinyurl.com/m9zd3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amphiton Posted December 11, 2006 Share Posted December 11, 2006 Been trying to get into this compilation for about 4 times now... and nothing :/ Not my style, I'm afraid. Will give a try later. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.