Walkabout Posted January 22, 2012 Share Posted January 22, 2012 I'm with Penzoline here. Something about the way Juno tells stories with their music just rubs me the right way. And in terms of production, I still find that Beyond The Infinite and the rest of their 1994-98 material rates highly... it may not be as slickly mastered as today's music but there is so much depth and layering. And they still have a lot of dancefloor punch IMHO. Also, how Juno used to make their tracks is something I wish more artists would do; borrowing from rock and EBM for the rhythmic backbone, while keeping the morphing melodic characteristics of acid trance. And when you add in the highly developed texture/timbre that each and every sound has, it's pure sonic art to me. i.e., Razorback has a melody sequence that sounds like an extraterrestrial gamelan; Mars has reversed voice that sounds like glass talking. Probably only Posford and Koxbox took sound design further, and their approach is totally different; less narrative and cinematic, more abstract. I have trouble comparing Juno to Koxbox for the same reason; Koxbox is much more cerebral and 'make of this what you will', while Juno is sensual and emotive. I disliked Shango and Gods And Monsters. As albums they're pretty good, but as Juno albums they're poor, with too many gimmicky tracks and an inconsistent musical direction. And Koxbox hasn't been interesting since Ian Ion left, IMHO. Maybe their greatness came from jamming together? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GagaISM Posted January 22, 2012 Author Share Posted January 22, 2012 And Koxbox hasn't been interesting since Ian Ion left, IMHO. Maybe their greatness came from jamming together? That's one aspect. Another is age. I think, as an artist, you have your time. A short period where it's possible to create something truly contemporary and cutting edge. After that you can keep on producing great stuff, but your fate is sealed. Koxbox was as far as age goes quite and old group even when they started out. They had all played in serious bands since the late 70'es. That's more than 20 years of music production. Ps. thanks for a great post. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom! Posted January 22, 2012 Share Posted January 22, 2012 the Spectre Sonics remix of Nitrogen off the new Juno Reactor album is utterly outstanding. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest nectarios Posted January 22, 2012 Share Posted January 22, 2012 Frank'e is still working on his new album so I am waiting for that one. Yes the music has been quite different since Ian left. Its taken him a while to put the new psy-trance tracks together, what with moving into a new studio, what with the techno stuff he has been making with Illinton (some of which is brilliant), but I am eager to listen to his new album which is going to come out this year. Peace out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GagaISM Posted January 23, 2012 Author Share Posted January 23, 2012 what with the techno stuff he has been making with Illinton (some of which is brilliant) Has the stuff been released officially and if so under what name? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest nectarios Posted January 23, 2012 Share Posted January 23, 2012 He is in the process of launching a new label "Tago Mago". Plans for first release is Frank'e & Illinton - Night Owls, including 2 remixes one of which is our own Disco Vandals (the techno side project we started) remix...should be out in February, if he gets on with building the new studio, fast enough. He was in Goa for a good few weeks, recently returned to Ibiza so I imagine things will start moving along quickly. Heard his new trance live set in Sol Festival, as we came on after him on the trance stage and their techno live set in the techno stage. Some tunes where propa slammin' on both trance and techno styles. He has a new remix of MIDI COPS (him and Dado) - "Another Blue Monday" that destroyed the dancefloor...I believe this is one of the tracks that will be on his new album and if that is anything to go by, it will be a lot better than U-Turn. Peace out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GagaISM Posted January 23, 2012 Author Share Posted January 23, 2012 Can't say I have any expectations at all after U-Turn. So I'm going to be pleasantly surprised if it's good and indifferent if isn't. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drosophila Posted January 23, 2012 Share Posted January 23, 2012 I find it quite peculiar when hardcore Psy-heads pick the much more conventional and formulaic Psychopod/Saiko-Pod over the old Koxbox classics. It's not that I don't like the Psychopod Ep's a lot, but I always regarded them as a "poppy" easy-listening version of the real thing - Koxbox. Maybe you already figured this out but I think when people say Psychopod they only mean Psychopod (http://www.discogs.com/artist/Psychopod) and not Saiko-pod (http://www.discogs.com/artist/Saiko-Pod)... two totally different projects music-wise! I like both Koxbox and Psychopod projects, but Saiko-pod is forgettable in my book... as for Juno Reactor, definitely sounding more dated than Koxbox, but sometimes I can enjoy their stuff, Bible of Dreams mostly Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GagaISM Posted January 23, 2012 Author Share Posted January 23, 2012 I know. I don't think the Saiko-Pod album is that bad though Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest nectarios Posted January 24, 2012 Share Posted January 24, 2012 I thought Phutures and Options was very good. The remixes album was very good also, especially the Groove Moderator (Miro Remix). But I also like that kind of clubby stuff as well. Perfect to warm up a trance party from a DJs point of view. Peace out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deepXcode Posted January 24, 2012 Share Posted January 24, 2012 Listening to /0 at the moment, and noticed to myself "what a good, really happy track!" And then "wait a second.. the kick+bass line pretty much reminds me KoxBox sound..". Checked /0's playlist page where it shows tracks and indeed - white compilation [tip 1997] psychopod - dreampod And as this track been mentioned here and I really dislike koxbox's music, decided to share about this great discovery here. The track is still playing Really great! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GagaISM Posted January 27, 2012 Author Share Posted January 27, 2012 You should give Koxbox another go then Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
radi6404 Posted January 27, 2012 Share Posted January 27, 2012 so I want to share my opinion aswell, I did not like Juno Reactor a lot aswell. It is strange music to me and IMO it has not a lot to do with psychedelic or goa trance, really not a lot, except a few tracks which are nice, but not more. but Koxbox, as all say here, they are gods and what they have done can compare to simon Posford in complexity and is quite amazing, it is very psychedelic, complicated and well made and listening to it really takes you into a deep journey. Searching for pssychoactive Herbs is quite unbelievable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GagaISM Posted January 30, 2012 Author Share Posted January 30, 2012 I'm surprised that you don't recognize Juno as "having much to do with Goa". I think Transmissions sounds exactly like the music that was played at the early Goa parties. That old school mix of Acid, Trance and EBM. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spiritual Carnage Posted March 4, 2012 Share Posted March 4, 2012 I find it quite peculiar when hardcore Psy-heads pick the much more conventional and formulaic Psychopod/Saiko-Pod over the old Koxbox classics. It's not that I don't like the Psychopod Ep's a lot, but I always regarded them as a "poppy" easy-listening version of the real thing - Koxbox. Interesting view. I have always regarded Psychopod-project as the more relentless, complex and crazier counterpart to Koxbox. Faster and heavier... None-the-less both projects are the epitome of psychedelic music imho. I think this is a question of whether you think of Psychopod as the "Dreampod/Psychopod" single or their "Headlines" EP. While their Dreampod single is somwhat complex, it's also pretty straight forward, melodic and can be percieved as "poppy" easy-listening. Headlines on the other hand is anything but, very complex and probably their least (including Koxbox) accessible and least immediately enjoyable release; it takes a lot of listenings to really appreciate it and find out how brilliant it is (at least to my experience). In my opinion both sides of Psychod are truly brilliant and on par with Koxbox. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GagaISM Posted March 4, 2012 Author Share Posted March 4, 2012 I haven't listened too much to Headlines yet, so I guess you might be right. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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