Taika-Kim Posted June 15, 2012 Share Posted June 15, 2012 Cultural and Musical Dimensions of Goa Trance and Early Psychedelic Trance in Finland : The history, translation and localization of an internationally mobile electronic dance-music scene Free download at: https://helda.helsinki.fi/handle/10138/34536 I 100% recommend this to anybody even remotely interested in the true roots of Finnish trance, and the old days of the scene in the end of the 80s and beginning of the 90s. The 300 pages will be over before you know it! Also a lot of pretty hardcore musicologial analysis sections about classic goa trance tracks. And theeee abstract: ---- The history of Goa trance spans trough decades, its first cultural factors having been born in 60's USA and then developed in Goa, India through the 70's and 80's. After some of the same factors matured into sub-cultural traits in the western countries, the new attitudes towards the role of youth in society led to increased travelling and some discarding of the traditional sedentary lifestyles. Goa trance would develop to be the music, the identifier and the culture of full-moon parties and other celebratory meetings of a new group of travelling, globally mobile youth interested in exploratory self-development, self-actualization, mysticism and alternative lifestyles and spirituality. Goa trance came to Finland through movement of these people, by an international group of travellers following a Finnish national Ior Bock from Goa to Finland. Goa trance parties in Sipoo at his summer residence started in 1987 and went on until 1998. From 1988 onwards, a similar process would also start in other countries around the world. By 1992 new groups also going to Goa or similar destinations elsewhere already present would also start organizing Goa trance parties in Finland. First finnish experiments in Goa trance music production were conducted the same year. A historical study incorporating music analysis as the bridge between the cultural and the ethnographical is conducted in this research. It's hypothesis is that a system can be found in Goa trance music and that it reflects and represents the cultural values found by ethnographic methods. It also suggests that this system can then be used to track how Finnish Goa trance music-production and culture reflected the different facets of original and international Goa trance culture and how this transfer and synthesis took place. The study is largely material-based, relying on extensive interviews of important people in the 1990's Goa trance scene of Finland, recording artifacts on DAT-tape and c-cassette, and published musical works from the same time-period. Secondary sources include other, mainly ethnographic writings and articles on the topic and several documentary films. The socio-cultural and anthropologic studies of electronic dance-music cultures by Fikentscher, Thornton, Taylor, St. John, Saldanha, and D'Andrea are the precursors and the academic framework within which this study operates in. In addition to new ethnomusicology, the several fields of scientific methodologies applied to the material favor the cognitive, incorporating the ethnomusicology of John Blacking as well as psychoacoustics and cognitive models of musical experience. General cultural semiotics are likewise applied to support the models of behavior developed. A major part of the study is formed by music analysis. The analysis aims to find a system of characteristics that are common or unique, elements of style and then to apply these in the context of the cultural analysis. All the claims are supported by examples in notation transcribed from the materials. The methods of score-analysis include common ethnomusicological and western methodologies supplemented with modern metric theory from Hasty as adapted to analysis of electronic dance-music by Butler and several methodologies connected to it. The study also develops these methods further to form a suitable set of derived methodologies to better deconstruct the particular musical material at hand. Through the music analysis backed by ethnography, it can be seen that the music of Goa trance is a unique development of western electronic dance-music steered strongly into an oriental and mystic direction, simultaneously preserving much of the early hypnotic qualities of early rave-, acid- and techno music. It is highly functional and tied to facilitating a psychedelic experience in the trance-dance party. The early development of Goa trance music parallels that of rave-music and is interconnected, but also separate to a degree. The most prominent difference is that the music was tied to a copying and trading culture instead of depending on record labels for distribution. Finnish Goa trance music production delivered finished works to the DAT-tape trading circuit by 1995, and released works on CD and vinyl in 1996. The first releases were: 10 Years Loop EP by O*Men, Flippin' Bixies - Sörkkä Sonic and Apollo 3D by GAD. The sound of Flippin' Bixies was a more localized version of Goa trance, much more experimental and also ended up being more influential to the global soundscape that evolved from Goa trance: Psychedelic trance. Music analysis shows that a unique Finnish sound was present already in many of the early works of all these artists, and that it bears a kindredness to the kind of music that was also developing in Australia and Japan. International connections between the local music scenes and high international mobility of their agents led to very rapid exchange of music between the scenes and further development from 1997 onwards was bi-directional with new Finnish Goa-/psychedelic trance bands Texas Faggott and Kolmiokulmiosilmiö on the leading edge of it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
technosomy Posted June 16, 2012 Share Posted June 16, 2012 awsome bro very interesting oh yeah first texas faggot album on psy-harmonics was my first intro, then hooked ever since something very special about finnish sound, you have your own unique style and good to see you still around, been a while what you been up to? any tunes in the pipeline? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lemmiwinks Posted June 16, 2012 Share Posted June 16, 2012 But the link is just to the text without the music? Kindof like reading a book on art history without any pictures Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Taika-Kim Posted June 16, 2012 Author Share Posted June 16, 2012 Yes, well as of yet music is not allowed as a thesis in the Helsinki University Some of the tracks you can hear on youtube, and on this radio program they're playing some old stuff, also some untitled tracks whose composer is not known: http://soundcloud.com/back-to-mad/back-2-mad-2012-06-06 Toni is interviewed about the thesis and they play music for two hours, but only in Finnish. About me? Been travelling a bit, but for the past few years other things in life took a lead. But now living with more free time and energy again for music, the new album should be in my hands on the 22nd, one day late for the summer solstice :/ It's a double CD with one new album and the remastered and mixed version of the latest album... Been building a small analog studio, so the sounds are evolving a lot! And feeling more inspired than for years, so there will be music! ..But first I will go travelling for the summer, I need a break from composing, I was working on the album since autumn, and especially the last month was crazy, putting all my time and energy into this... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Taika-Kim Posted June 16, 2012 Author Share Posted June 16, 2012 Especially interesting about that thesis is the find that the first goa parties in Finland were already in 1987, even before Pendragon in the UK and whoever anywhere else... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Penzoline Posted June 16, 2012 Share Posted June 16, 2012 Oh god this is so damn cool! I have to read this one day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
technosomy Posted June 17, 2012 Share Posted June 17, 2012 Yes, well as of yet music is not allowed as a thesis in the Helsinki University Some of the tracks you can hear on youtube, and on this radio program they're playing some old stuff, also some untitled tracks whose composer is not known: http://soundcloud.co...-mad-2012-06-06 Toni is interviewed about the thesis and they play music for two hours, but only in Finnish. About me? Been travelling a bit, but for the past few years other things in life took a lead. But now living with more free time and energy again for music, the new album should be in my hands on the 22nd, one day late for the summer solstice :/ It's a double CD with one new album and the remastered and mixed version of the latest album... Been building a small analog studio, so the sounds are evolving a lot! And feeling more inspired than for years, so there will be music! ..But first I will go travelling for the summer, I need a break from composing, I was working on the album since autumn, and especially the last month was crazy, putting all my time and energy into this... awsome bro look forward to your release happy holiday!! well deserved i am sure Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mars Posted June 18, 2012 Share Posted June 18, 2012 Excellent, thank you very much for sharing this!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IronSun Posted June 18, 2012 Share Posted June 18, 2012 This indeed looks like a very interesting read! Thanks a bunch! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oopie Posted June 24, 2012 Share Posted June 24, 2012 Very well written, good read. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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