Bill Posted March 25, 2015 Share Posted March 25, 2015 VA - Tales From The North Troll N' Roll Records Tracklist: 1. Tales From The North - Squees & Toxic Anger Syndrome & Gubbology 2. Shadowland - Oliveira 3. Huldrehaug - Maan 4. Chaku Hachi - Gubbology 5. Krakestan - Squees vs Gubbology 6. Trollsommar - Cut The Cheese 7. Den Sjunde - Trance-Ingvars 8. Fraxinus Excelsior - Oginok 9. Monsters - Zoon 10. Midnight Carousel Ride - Captain Kirk 11. Shiokara Situation - Discolin 12. Ragnarok - Toxic Anger Syndrome Weird, wild and hella fun, a groovy, drippy, trippy concoction of Scandinavian dark psy, forest, suomi and just a little bit of goa, all in one great, free compilation. "Tales From The North" is refreshing because of its suomi approach that often keeps the weird effects of its dark and forest psy feeling lighthearted and even celebratory. The three-producer intro on the title track finds Squees, Toxic Anger Syndrome and Gubbology employing some serious dancefloor grooves with a pleasant tempo that never gets overwhelming, all served up with a side of wicked forest effects and don't-give-a-shit suomi good-time vibes. A solid and hella fun beginning to the comp. Oliveira takes a much more normalized approach on "Shadowland," serving up a solid little full-on gem with a very pleasant and understated focus on goa effects. Fantastic job on this one, definitely one of the great highlights of the collection. It pairs very nicely with the melodic goa of Maan's "Huldrehaug," a track that, like most things on this compilation, rocks very nicely in its own subtle way. Sure, the energy is always there but nothing ever feels like it is trying to punch you in the head to let you know how important it is. Beginning with Gubbology's cool little groover "Chaku Hachi," an uber-funky track laden with forest effects that are fascinating because of how subdued and effective they are, the compilation goes in more for the weirder side of psytrance, sometimes on tracks that are spectacular, sometimes on tracks that are not. The out-of-control keyboard work on the unhinged energy of "Krakestan" is fantastic but the lazy forest grooves of Cut The Cheese's "Trollsommar" and too-trancey euphoria of Trance-Ingvars "Den Sjunde" don't quite make the grade. Oginok's "Fraxinus Excelsior" is one of the compilation's greats, constantly keeping things just a little off-balance with several direction changes through the first part of the track before settling into some great head-bobbing grooves for its second half. And, man, is it ever fucking easy to dance to. A lovely piece of work! The final four tracks get much deeper into the darker and experimental realms of sound and are best left to the subjective opinions of the individual listener in terms of quality. Sometimes those moments are daring and tantalizing (Zoon), sometimes forgettable (Captain Kirk), sometimes wilder than anything else on the compilation (Discolin), sometimes just plain dismal and angry (Toxic Anger Syndrome). In my opinion, the first half of this compilation is far better (and perhaps more accessible to the common psy listener) than its second half. Many of the finest moments come from Oliveira and Maan during those early tracks but be sure not to miss Oginok, the finest gem of the collection's second part. A quick Ektoplazm search shows a few other Troll N' Roll compilations available for download, many of those with several of the same producers that appear here. After "Tales From The North," you can be sure this will not be the last time this record label and I cross paths. I'm very much looking forward to discovering some other great gems off of those offerings. Available for free play or download at : http://www.ektoplazm.com/free-music/tales-from-the-north Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Troll N' Roll Records Posted March 27, 2015 Share Posted March 27, 2015 Thanks for taking your time to review this one! Always fun to hear what people think Btw, it is not the "Toxic Avenger" who is in the first track.. it is "Toxic Anger Syndrome" Cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richpa Posted March 27, 2015 Share Posted March 27, 2015 I really liked this one. Great track selection and beautiful artwork! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Troll N' Roll Records Posted March 27, 2015 Share Posted March 27, 2015 Happy to hear that! The artwork is made by our friend Oscar Bodin... check out his site for more stuff: http://oscarbodin.se/ Cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Posted March 27, 2015 Author Share Posted March 27, 2015 Btw, it is not the "Toxic Avenger" who is in the first track.. it is "Toxic Anger Syndrome" Fixed! It wasn't my fault though it was his: 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Troll N' Roll Records Posted March 28, 2015 Share Posted March 28, 2015 Haha, your not the first person that mixed those 2 names up Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anu Katariina Posted June 21, 2015 Share Posted June 21, 2015 Hi! This is my new treasure, so cool First forest album I have liked the whole way through. I don't like heavy darkpsy+forest combo but this isn't such. This is fluffy, playful & sound world impacts being very descriptive of the geographical context unfolding the saga of northern wilderness. I absolutely love artwork and Swedish vocals and even some spoken Finnish words and lol..I detected that Chisu Fb page update from June 10th tells that the label has a new comp coming; very good. Somehow, I dunno, this had some power to set me free from normal goa formulas that I am bound to listen. The release did a favor to me, so I thought I'd let the style stay with me 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Troll N' Roll Records Posted June 24, 2015 Share Posted June 24, 2015 Hey Anu Katariina! Thank you very much for your nice comment Happy to hear that you liked it! Yeah, our next compilation is in the works and sent for mastering, hopefully the cover artwork will be finished in a couple of weeks and after that we will reveal the tracklist Stay tuned for more updates on our facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/trollnrollrecords Best regards, //Jonas 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
choxon Posted June 24, 2015 Share Posted June 24, 2015 I don't like heavy darkpsy+forest combo but this isn't such. This is fluffy, playful & sound world impacts being very descriptive of the geographical context unfolding the saga of northern wilderness. I absolutely love artwork and Swedish vocals and even some spoken Finnish words and lol..I detected that Chisu Somehow, I dunno, this had some power to set me free from normal goa formulas that I am bound to listen. +1... nope, +11 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
healium Posted July 19, 2015 Share Posted July 19, 2015 I didn't care much for this compilation - I don't care much for this style of psytrance though so it may just be that. Overall the whole "ghosts-and-goblins carnival" sound lacks depth of emotion - there's no charisma to it or euphoric melodic breakdowns, but it's also not got the heavy hypnotic trance aspects of progressive psy.. I liked the 2nd and 12th tracks on here pretty well though, those seemed to have more depth and charisma.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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