V/A - Goa Culture Vol. 1 by John 00 Fleming

[Lemmiwinks]

 

CD1

1 Tegma - In All Ears (8:31)

2 Vibrasphere - Waveguide (8:27)

3 Maelstrom - The Bomb (8:31)

4 Anton Chernikov - Nightmare (8:34)

5 Liquid Soul - Sweet Things (8:29)

6 Ritree - The Cycle (7:30)

7 John '00' Fleming - Nervous Breakdown (9:25)

8 Ace Ventura - M.A.R.S. (Gaudium Remix) (6:14)

9 Slider & Sub6 - Subslider (6:39)

 

CD 2

1 Astral Projection - One (9:18)

2 Fatali - Thoughts (7:04)

3 Ovnimoon - U R God (8:46)

4 Tristan - Depends On You (AMD Remix) (8:30)

5 Wizzy Noise & Domi Pastor - Wizzdom (7:54)

6 X-Noize - Gangster (7:35)

7 Mad Maxxvs. Voyager - Boogie Woogie (7:51)

8 Electric Universe - Psycho Acoustic (6:22)

9 Atma - The Tomes Of Power (7:43)

10 Chakra Feat. Liquid Metal - Resurrection (Chakra & Krunch Feat. Guy Salama Remix) (7:17)

 

 

YSE are following their tradition of selling misbranded music (mostly progressive that they abusively call "goa" for reasons that I have yet to discover). Anyway, normally speaking I'd steer clear of their stuff except that this time around the comp was compiled by none other than THE John 00 Fleming who I really apreciated a while ago with his Mahadeva remix, and of course, a quick look through the tracklist will show you that these are all very well-known names featured (Astral Projection!! - I thought these guys retired?, Chakra, Electric Universe, Dick Trevor (of GNOTR), Wizzy Noise, Vibrasphere...), so it's one of those "this has so many big names that it can't go wrong" kind of things. And indeed it doesn't

 

The 1st CD is mostly progressive, which I usually deem as too boring to keep me interested for more than 15 minutes, however this particular mix is quite good. I don't know if it's the track choice, or the fact that this genre has matured over the years, or that my ears grew used to it (I suspect it's a mix of all 3) but this is actually pretty damn good!

 

Tegma starts the comp with their laid-back style but also a very interesting and catchy melody, a very good choice for an album opener IMO, it definately makes you want to hear more.

 

Then on to Vibrasphere, who gives us a very interesting progressive/ acid techno crossblend. Although 303s have been making somewhat of a comebak lately, they are usually not really used in the same way as they used to, but that's NOT the case here: Vibrasphere plays basically the same small loop over and over, slightly opening and closing the filters, just the way acid techno artists used to do it in the mid 90s (Hardfloor's Acpierience comes to mind...). The raw 303 sound is accompanied by some nice dreamy pads, just enough to accentuate the atmosphere, this track is SUPERB!!! More please!!

 

Maelstrom up next with some sort of melodic progressive, it starts out pretty dull but then there's a nice melody that takes over. Nice, but compared to the first 2 tracks, it's a bit of a letdown.

 

Anton Chernikov up next with some darkish progressive, the melodies nicely build on top of eachother, although the end result is good, but not great.

 

Liquid Soul up next, with some very nice laid-back sounds which eventually turn into a very uplifting melody, which is too uplifting to my ears, it sounds a bit commercial, a bit like the background music of some automotive commercial.

 

Then comes my favorite track from this side: Retiree - Cycles!! It starts out pretty dull but gradually builds up to finish with an oldschoolish melody. The end result is superb, it really feels like this music explored the psytrance sounds from the last decade to come back on an oldschool feeling, that feels "modern" at the same time: a cycle, just as the name suggests My biggest problem is that the melody doesn't last much, I would've prefered that last part to last longer. Still, this is a VERY good tune!

 

John 00 Fleming up next with one of his own creations. This one is kindof halfway between progressive and full-on, and it also gives an obvious wink to one of his role-models, Astral Projection. The end result is pretty good.

 

Ace Ventura up next also with some 303s, although much less convincing than Vibrasphere's attempt a bit earlier. I don't really like this one, it's too generic to my ears.

 

Slider & Sub 6 up next with a full-on track that picks up the tempo and puts us in the mood for the 2nd CD. Some interesting ideas explored here, although not really A-class material IMO.

 

CD2 is a collection of faster-paced full-on.

 

It starts with nothing less than a new track from former gods of goatrance, Astral Projection!! A bit of the typical AP sounds and tricks, the same "astronaut voice" as in Time Began with the Universe, giving it a bit of a nostalgic feeling. Then it turns pretty commercial. It breaks my heart to say this but I must admit that I have heard better tracks from the masters. I'm not saying it's a bad track, but it's definately miles away from their works from a decade ago.

 

Fatali up next with their typical full-on, although there a bit of an oldschool touch (but not much)... not really my cup of tea this one...

 

Ovnimoon next which impressed me a while ago with their stuff. Although this time around they deliver some pretty generic full-on, a bit of a dissapointement.

 

Then an AMD remix of Tristan. BTW in case you didn't know this, AMD is a project by none other than Dick Trevor of former Green Nuns of the Revolution fame. There is a slight Trevor touch in there with some acid-drenched loops, although a bit too calm for me, I would've expected some killer climax in there somewhere and a melody change, which never came.

 

A collaboration between Domi Pastor and Wizzy Noise up next. Considering the great names involved I would've expected something great but the end result is some very generic full-on.

 

X-Noize blends some 303 sounds with some full-on. Definately one of the better tracks here.

 

Maxx and Voyager up next with more generic full-on, although there are some very nice melodies near the end. I can imagine this track will rip some dancefloors apart this summer

 

Electric Universe (another one of Fleming's role models) comes next with a track that has already been released on his Sonic Extacy album last year. Nice if you're into EU's new (full-on) style, although personaly I would've prefered Silence in Action instead of this track.

 

Then comes THEEE best melody on this comp IMO, from Romanian artist Atma. It starts out as some pretty generic full-on, but if you're patient you'll hear one of the best climaxes of the year around 4:00. OMG this is a real stormer!! It is basically the only track I've listened to in a while which fully deserves my DANCEFLOOR KILLA™ seal of aproval My only problem with this track is that it lacks a bit in complexity which makes me believe that it will become old pretty fast since there aren't enough layers to keep you interested for a long time. Still, it is by FAR the best dance tune I've listened to in a few months.

 

Then the comp closes with a comeback from another oldschool legend, Chakra. This track nicely fills in the role of a comp (or set) closer: it's still full-on but at a slower pace. It starts out nicely but turns into über-cheesy full-on near the end. Exactly the kind of stuff that Brüno would listen to

 

THE GOOD: Some of the very best names of psytrance (old and new) are featured here, so if you haven't been into the scene lately and want to know how some of your favorite artists' sound evolved, this is definately the place to start.

 

THE BAD: Typically from YSE, this is a blatant missbranding of music, not ONE single track here can be named "goatrance" IMO, even if they were made by some former oldschool glories or have some obvious goa influences.

 

CONCLUSION: I can't say that I like all the tracks here, but it has become a habit to skip through half the tracks (even more) on a comp to find some gems. And from a gems point of view, this comp truly delivers, only that most of the times they aren't delivered by the names you'd expect most. And for this, I give it a solid 4/5.

[Goa-Head]

Wow! A YSE CD gets reviewed!

[Lemmiwinks]

Wow! A YSE CD gets reviewed!

 

hehe yeah but it's not just any YSE CD, this one's actually good