How would you rate the last 10 years of Goa Trance music

[Richpa]

Some people call it newschool Goa, some people call it 2nd wave of Goa, some people just call it Goa Trance. It's been 10 years since the pioneer labels such as Tranceform, Suntrip, Phototropic and Metapsychic gave a new life to Goa trance music. We already discussed this (sub)genre many times, but now we can focus more on how good or bad it is. Does the last ~10 years since it was ressurected count as a productive period which brought some excellent releases? Is there any space for improvement, and if so, in which segments that improvement can be achieved? What releases do you find to be sort of essential?

[abasio]

I think that it is very good, but I am not as into it as I was the first wave of Goa. The releases don't sound the same to me as the ones I heard I the mid to late 90s. But that was when I first got into the music. When anyone first discovers a genre that they love, it's what they first hear that will stay with them longest and be the best so even though there are some excellent newer releases I cannot say the scene is excellent for me.

 

Saying that, there are some essential releases that have come in the last 10 years

 

The two Jikkenteki albums, Filteria - Daze of our lives, Tomlin - Spectrogram to name a few.

 

I have no idea what I would change. I'd love to come into the genre fresh and hear the newer releases first with fresh ears not comparing them to old school stuff. Unfortunately I don't think that's possible.

[Imba]

I voted for excellent.

 

Reason is simple: 10 years ago there was only few releases at Tranceform records and thanks to them it started to getting back. And last year i started to love it even more!

 

It is different from old school yeah, less euphoric i think but it works just great on dancefloor. It is just FAT.

 

Here is some detailed opinion i wrote in The Evolution of Styles topic.

[Anoebis]

Very good, but there is still too much mediocre stuff out there imo. Of course you cant release onlly great stuff as a label, but there is a generic highly melodic formula in some modern goa-trance I tend to dislike because it is rather unoriginal. We noticed with our latest promos, good stuff for sure, but a lot of stuff who ends up in the bin after 1 listen.

On the other hand, there is clearly a big revival, which makes me happy of course, but we have to stay critical. And we only have 1 big star, which is Filteria. Some are growing like E-Mantra, but well... We need more, MUCH more music and professional artists with great music to grow even more and to reach everybody... I have the feeling only half of the work has been so far...

So, for the future I hope there will be more different kinds of releases, more acidic/darkish as well All goa-styles... Suntrip will always focus on the more melodic/morning stuff of course but that doesn't mean I don't like the other side

I do believe, in total, the goa lovers had a lot to like last 10 years And that's the main thing. As for classics... This will sound very ego, but for me 10 releases of Suntrip more or less are "classic" (like Khetzal, Arcana, Nemesis, Daze, Crossing Mind,... so many to name) Other too like Live in Athens, Mind Rewind, Call of Goa,...

[mars]

+1

[Ormion]

I think it's getting better and better. The last years I heard some very good compilations and most importantly I see new artists that are less floating and more dynamic.

 

The only two things I miss: Dark Goa and more freestyle Goa.

 

Aside Amanians and Alienapia I don't think we have any other dark goa artists. Maybe some tracks here and there. Even stuff advertised as Dark are just "less morning".

 

The other thing is that most of the neogoa is "too goa". What I mean is we don't have stuff like Sandman, Slide, Koxbox, IM. There are some artists that try to break this formula. Javi & Skooma for example.

[Paul Eye]

I'm actually with Anoebis & Ormion on this one. We have shitloads of sunny uplifting melodically swirling morning(ish) goa but the "darker" side is a bit underrepresented. We'd need something close in atmosphere and sound to the likes of Hallucinogen - The Lone Deranger, most Psychaos, Slide, Cydonia, UX, Orichalcum, Process, later MFG etc to balance out the musical palette. Not that there's anything wrong with melodic morning goa, some of it seems to be even a bit too melodic at times

 

And there's not that much goa at bigger festivals, aside from Filteria ( unless I'm totally blind, which I might well be )

 

 

Aside Amanians and Alienapia I don't think we have any other dark goa artists.

PortaMento is if not entirely dark, at least leaning towards the direction. The same with Morphic Resonance. Psy-H Project is a confusing hybrid of darkpsy basslines and goa melodies.

[U.F.Orb]

TBH,i do not like the 2nd gen of goa wave (with very few exeptions like filteria daze/artifact303).

most of the stuff is sooooo generic and and not fresh,im happy people are having fun with it

but i dont like it,i do enjoy unreleased goa from back then getting released today,there is somthing alive in those

tracks,much more then todays "boom boom boom (insert melody look at my im etnica but 20 years to late) boom boom".

 

no offense,but gief somthing new and fresh for the love of god instead of raising the (holy) flag and calling yourself goa.

Evolve,plox.

[Dolmot]

In every genre, the majority will be mediocre by definition. We look for the best and then find out that the rest is below that. There's hardly any way around that phenomenon. Also, whenever something becomes "popular" (that is, at least somehow known), there will be followers or copycats who share the enthusiasm but not the full set of skills, tools and vision. That will happen with every genre, always. For example, I've gone through boatloads of less known "golden era" goa 12"s and compilations. Let's just say that many of them are rightfully forgotten. There were so many lazy or clumsy attempts. It's just plain BS to think that everything back then was brilliant, innovative and spiritual. A huge amount of it was produced in a day with no good idea of anything - just like in every genre. The totally forgettable stuff has been forgotten over decades.

 

Regarding the style of "neogoa", I think there's a bit of bias in how we understand it. In 1996, we didn't bother inventing dozens of names for subgenres. It was all just goa or psychedelic. Nowadays anything that diverges too far from a certain path will be relabelled forest trance, swamp trance, desert trance, mud pit trance, hi/low/mid-tech trance, progressive, regressive or whatever. If you only accept Afgin, Antares and Merr0w albums to the definition of (neo)goa, sure as hell it's going to sound melodic and "light".

 

Anyway, I also think there's a gap that's a tad underrepresented. I hesitate calling it "dark" because many attempts of going dark for its own sake end up being just stupid. What I'm looking for is intense, dynamic and exciting. If I can predict from the first (post-intro) 30 seconds how the next seven minutes will sound like, it probably isn't very exciting. How to prevent this? Well, if the "basic formula" would dictate that you should do something, don't do it. If you're going to fill in a certain pattern without thinking about it, think again. If you have a feeling that "one can't do this", try it anyway. Many major leaps in any area of creative work are achieved accidentally. It may flop but at least it won't be boring.

 

Finally...regarding the state of the genre as a whole, my 2013 yearmix was longer than ever so I'd say there's plenty of neat stuff floating around. It just takes a while to go through it all and find what you really like.

[Balance]

It's ok, but not enough of a WOW factor. I've got all my goa from the 90's until now loaded up as a play list. That's 1000 tracks & I gotta say there's just something so different in the vibe from the 90's, even the DAT/Anjuna/Zion604 stuff is so much um deeper. Anyway can't really complain, i recently got Sita records Protozoa 1 & 2 and love it heaps. Waiting for the next Timewarp compilation to roll out & I'll buy both of theirs then. Good times.

[johnb820]

It is all one continuing expression of the same idea manifested in each and every artist's production. Aesthetically? Sure, some people are going to connect with certain styles and ideas, but to me? It's all one and the same. Goa is as goa does. Old stuff, new stuff, there's no difference.

[franki]

Another vote for excellent!

I think there's been plenty of really great Goa released over the last ten years, but also some very mediocre albums.

As styles go, I'm not keen on the abrasive Middle-Eastern melodies that are far too abundant these days and especially don't like a lot of Nitz-ho for this reason. E-mantra probably best represents the type of sound I like best. Rounded, groovy and warm, without over-doing the leads.

 

My favourite releases include:

 

E-mantra - Nemesis & Arcana

Alienapia - Goapocalipsis

V.A. - Voyager First Plateau

Artha - Influencing Dreams

Cosmic Dimension - In A Special Kind Of Space

Crossing Mind - The Inner Shift

Goasia - Dancing With The Blue Spirit

Khetzal - Corolle

V.A. - Phoenix

V.A. - If I Wasn't Human, I'd Be A Trance Track

Merrow - Born Underwater

Nebula Meltdown - Stardust Chronicles

Most of the Suntrip V.A.s

 

...there's loads of good stuff!

 

I'm not as keen on the Trinodia (although the new album is pretty decent, bar one or two tunes), Nova Fractal and the Call Of Goa releases. They're reasonable, with some great tracks but the sound can be a bit commercial for my tastes.

[Veracohr]

there is a generic highly melodic formula in some modern goa-trance I tend to dislike because it is rather unoriginal.

 

This. Actually, most of it wouldn't even be that bad if it weren't such a prevalent formula. But once you hear so much following the same formula, you start to dislike even the stuff that isn't bad.

 

That's why I voted "Very good". Because there is some excellent goa in the past 10 years, but it isn't as diverse as the 90's, so the scene gets knocked a point for that.

 

 

PortaMento is if not entirely dark, at least leaning towards the direction. The same with Morphic Resonance. Psy-H Project is a confusing hybrid of darkpsy basslines and goa melodies.

 

+1

PortaMento is, in my opinion, the most original and awesome new goa artist that is firmly 'goa', and not some other sub-genre of psy.

[cyborg]

well nah...

[Paul Eye]

PortaMento is if not entirely dark, at least leaning towards the direction. The same with Morphic Resonance. Psy-H Project is a confusing hybrid of darkpsy basslines and goa melodies.

And Amygdala! How could I forget that. Spooky and dirty (but perhaps some nitpickers would say it's not entirely goa, but I don't care, he kicks some serious ass).

[Guest The Hypnotic LFO Room]

A lot of the oldies are coming back in full force in 2014 (And I mean in the best way - and not the "machine-gun" psy way) so there is all reason to see the revival of the goa-scene as a force to be reckoned with

[cyborg]

And Amygdala! How could I forget that. Spooky and dirty (but perhaps some nitpickers would say it's not entirely goa, but I don't care, he kicks some serious ass).

about that kind i consider Anakoluth the best

[desysko]

I was never part of the original scene, but from I have listened from the old and the new. I welcome the new. I do have to agree that there is a lot of bright songs out there, never a bad thing. But we could use some darker stuff like some of the others have mentioned. Maybe we'll eventually see a turn toward darker stuff? And then a decline in goa and a revival in Full On? And the the cycle starts all over again?

[Tom!]

Up and down but I'm really pleased to see Goa influencing more main stream trance a lot more now as well thanks to JOOF and Paul Oakenfold / John Askew starting up Perfecto Fluoro again. Peetu S' s new EP out on Monday showcases a really unique sound I'd love to see more of - dark, acidic Goa Trance in a more up to date 140 style.

[desysko]

Ya, one thing that I noticed about the normal trance (when I say normal I'm referring to trance that isn't psy/goa) is that it has taken some influences from the Goa/psy scene. Well it always has been there with some of the uplifting trance songs and some of the tech-trance stuff, but it really has shown up a lot more recently especially with the rise of popularity from JOOf, Bryan Kearney, Askew, Angry Man, and all the other trance djs and producers. I have to say that I am a bit happy about it. I don't mind having more psy in the everyday trance.

[ptn]

 

no offense,but gief somthing new and fresh for the love of god instead of raising the (holy) flag and calling yourself goa.

Evolve,plox.

 

I'm afraid when somebody finally does what You're writing about, there will be bunch of people shouting -it's not goa anymore!'-, the laws of genres are so strict for some .

[ollylovesgoa]

It seems odd to me that Newschool producers have really focused on the bright, sunshiney melodies. As far as I can tell most oldschool Goa was not of this variety. Only California Sunshine was as bright as these new artists, and even they had big melodic hooks that were more of the euphoric style than simply the highly melodic. Astral Projection was highly melodic, but they weren't "happy" melodies, they were melancholy and serious, the same goes for Dimension 5. Etnica and Pleiadians were highly melodic, but more frenetic, combined with fx to produce textures and trippy, twisted and intense atmospheres, not peaceful, oriental bliss.

The prevalence of Nitzohnot in Neogoa is so much proprtionally higher than it ever was with oldschool.

 

Hallucinogen, Cydonia, Darshan, X-Dream, Koxbox, Cosmosis, Green Nuns of the Revolution, Deviant Electronics, Gangnia, Slinky Wizard, Total Eclipse, Transwave, Doof, MFG (Project Genesis), Planet B.E.N, Sandman, Tandu, the list goes on, none of these artists could be said to be melodically anything whatsoever like the prevailing neogoa.

 

I'm not saying bright melodies are bad, but the whole aesthetic of Neogoa is completely different, yes it has a 4/4 beat, layers of melody, FX, but I think the entire conceptual direction means that it will never achieve the same sensations that oldschool did. Even the most prominent record label is called Suntrip. Again, i'm not saying this is a bad thing, Neogoa is potentially an interesting genre in its own right, but i think the gap is wide enough from its roots that I would not link it with Goa Trance anymore than some styles of Psytrance are.

 

I do also think Neogoa is highly derivative, even within its own genre, not relating to oldschool Goa Trance, the lack of unique qualities in the music threatens its longevity.

 

However, Filteria grows more and more excellent by the release, and I still await more releases from the enigma that is Artha.

[Blair Thaumic]

Pretty much this.

 

There are artists making a darker kind of goa, I could mention a couple of names on this forum. But they're still developing their sound and it's too soon to say what it might turn into.

 

I want something like this from newschool: http://www.discogs.com/Various-Air-Born/release/3720 Not a copy, but something with a similar sense of a dark journey into the unknown.

[Richpa]

IMO nowdays many artists think if they don't input a huge ammount of layers and melodies in their works, they won't sound or be Goa-enough, and from that reason, many doesn't dare or want to experiment / explore different moods and atmospheres of the Goa genre. It's kinda sad, because the other side of Goa trance (dark Goa) could and should be a next big thing, there are so many possibilities and unexplored territories.

 

There is also a problem how people experience 'dark' music, many think if it's agressive or frantic that it could fit in that basket, but the most important part is the quality of the storytelling/arrangement and the overall atmosphere of the track. I noticed that some people see Alienapia or Psy-H Project as a darkgoa, but to me it doesn't reflect the dark mood at all, there are some quality agressive/intense kick-drum work in the tracks, but there are still some melodies which I don't consider to be dark at all, even I consider both projects to be very good.

 

On the other hand, there are some Cronomi artists who got also different approach and their sound is based on the retro influences, to give an example M-Run and PortaMento, both got amazing skill to perfectly arrange the tracks, to come up with interesting basslines and unconventional melody-work, to have darky parts in their track, but overall I can't consider them to be 'evil in terms of atmosphere' to be darkgoa, also both are amazing producers and are worth of checking/seeing them live.

 

Regarding the artists I had pleasure to work Morphic Resonance, Cybernetika and Arronax are the closest things to 'darkgoa' regarding our catalogue, but yet, each of them still have big ammount of influence towards the classical Goa trance, MR tends to work more with hardware and to create more intense than it's dark Goa music, a very much influenced by Etnica. Cybernetika got amazing background when it comes to dark psytrance and his earliest works and some unpublished material got great chemistry between darkpsytrance and Goa, and it would be interesting to see will he ever publish thoose tracks or do some rework in the future. Arronax got that evil vibe, but he should improve a bit more regarding the production, he already got sense for nice storytelling and interesting acidic segments in his new tracks.

Suntrip also offered their vision of darker kind of Goa with the new E-Mantra album, which is produced perfectly and it got that haunting vibe in it, with solid atmosphere and trademark melodic work by Emmanuel, which is my problem again, I got used to it since his first 'Signals' EP and even it got mysterious atmosphere and great drive, somehow I don't feel it to be dark enough, probably it's a matter of taste. Anyway, it's still amazing album and it's worth checking it. The other artist who should/could (not sure about the status) release a debut album (and we also had a pleasure to present him) is Antares side-project Daimon, which is the closest thing alongside Arronax regarding that 'evil' darky Goa trance, but I haven't heard anything new/recent from him, so i'm not sure how will new album sound.

Anyway, there are some artists who are not affraid to experiment and try to do something different, and it would be nice to see in the next couple of years more and more producers who are willing to dive into unknown, even if they're gonna be influenced by the old releases and old projects from 90s, it would be cool, but if it's gonna be copy-paste music, well, that won't give any benefit to anyone. Time will tell, only thing we can do is to hope and to give our support/feedback whenever we're able.

Edit - also many people consider the old releases to be a foundation for some kind of inspiration, but honestly I think that there are newer releases aswell which can be served as a great showcase how to achieve dark sound. Recently I checked my darkpsy collection from 2002 - 2006 and many great albums and compilations can be found as a great examples how to catch that 'vibe'. Just saying, that Goa trance only doesn't have or should be the only source of inspiration.

[Shpongled247]

It seems odd to me that Newschool producers have really focused on the bright, sunshiney melodies. As far as I can tell most oldschool Goa was not of this variety. Only California Sunshine was as bright as these new artists, and even they had big melodic hooks that were more of the euphoric style than simply the highly melodic. Astral Projection was highly melodic, but they weren't "happy" melodies, they were melancholy and serious, the same goes for Dimension 5. Etnica and Pleiadians were highly melodic, but more frenetic, combined with fx to produce textures and trippy, twisted and intense atmospheres, not peaceful, oriental bliss.

The prevalence of Nitzohnot in Neogoa is so much proprtionally higher than it ever was with oldschool.

 

Hallucinogen, Cydonia, Darshan, X-Dream, Koxbox, Cosmosis, Green Nuns of the Revolution, Deviant Electronics, Gangnia, Slinky Wizard, Total Eclipse, Transwave, Doof, MFG (Project Genesis), Planet B.E.N, Sandman, Tandu, the list goes on, none of these artists could be said to be melodically anything whatsoever like the prevailing neogoa.

 

I'm not saying bright melodies are bad, but the whole aesthetic of Neogoa is completely different, yes it has a 4/4 beat, layers of melody, FX, but I think the entire conceptual direction means that it will never achieve the same sensations that oldschool did. Even the most prominent record label is called Suntrip. Again, i'm not saying this is a bad thing, Neogoa is potentially an interesting genre in its own right, but i think the gap is wide enough from its roots that I would not link it with Goa Trance anymore than some styles of Psytrance are.

 

I do also think Neogoa is highly derivative, even within its own genre, not relating to oldschool Goa Trance, the lack of unique qualities in the music threatens its longevity.

 

However, Filteria grows more and more excellent by the release, and I still await more releases from the enigma that is Artha.

In my head reading the first part I was like "but, but Filteria", then I got to the last paragraph.

 

Nice post mate. I for one agree with a lot of that but also am excited to see where artists like Jannis and even E-Mantra, Portamento and Artifact 303 take us.

 

To me the fact that so far a lot of artists covered highly melodic sunshiny stuff just means there is a lot if room for the "darker" stuff now. I think the new Filteria album is great example of an artist evolving and exploring the style as a whole.