The best Goa trance in 2015

[Richpa]

It’s that time of the year when people are making their own best of lists and since this year brought many interesting Goa trance releases it took me some time to make a selection for some of them and present it to you. Regarding the list I decided to include as much as possible releases (unlike the previous year when I decided not to include releases from my own label, this year I had to put some of them because I consider them to be worthy enough to be featured). The list is made out of 15 releases and if you got your own list, please make sure to post it in the comments box below. Before we get started, I will introduce and review each release in few sentences and leave the link for download or purchase (just click the release title).

 

So, let’s start with the list, shall we?

 

http://www.neogoa.net/top-15-goa-trance-releases-in-2015/

[astralprojection]

for me it has been a poor year for goatrance, havent really dived into the albums like i used to.

 

but I reckon it would be VA - The world beyond, and the Opale EP.

 

im still hankering for the next big Globalsect release... or did I miss it?

of course new artifact303 and nova fractal wouldnt hurt.. but yes, for me, bad year for goatrance.

[Padmapani]

im still hankering for the next big Globalsect release... or did I miss it?

 

it's coming on the 25.12.

 

but compiling a best-of list without having had a chance to listen to it is probably pointless

[Paul Eye]

Yeah it's a bit early to start doing lists when the year isn't over yet. I'm still missing some releases and won't get them until next year.

[Richpa]

Many e-zines tend to throw out the best of lists before the holidays kicks-in, so due to my schedule and the material I've already heard I decided to post and share my picks for this year. a little bit earlier this year However, I'm sure there will the official Psynews topic for best releases sometime in February so if you don't have your favorites yet, you can always wait

Cheers

[Anu Katariina]

Doesn't do any harm to post early but for me I need to see GoAtma which is gonna be on my list knowing already + that I am getting a new CD player hopefully in a week so that I can listen to some untouched CDs from 2015. What caught my attention on your list @ Richpa is Submoon's Hearts Of Goa. It is gonna be on my list, too, but I thought I was the only one to appreciate it because it has been barely uttered anywhere in public, and in private talks it was "terrible" quality. Well, I see behind the quality in this case and glad you do, too @Richpa

[Martian Arts]

1. Radical Distortion - 12 Dimensions

[Richpa]

1. Radical Distortion - 12 Dimensions

2014

[Dolmot]

2014

May be.

[Richpa]

May be.

Dunno, my source was discogs. No matter when was released, it's great album.

[Aspartic]

While the physical release is not out yet, the digital release of "Mystery Of Crystal Worlds" from GlobalSect tops everything else from 2015.

It's a different category.

 

Other than that, these releases made 2015 for me:

 

Aurora Sidera (Suntrip)

Lectro Spektral Daze - Voyage In Your Mind (Timewarp)

Goamystica (Mystic Sound Records)

Doof - Lets Turn On (Remixed And Remastered) (DAT)

Goa Spacetime (Timewarp)

[Anu Katariina]

Top 15 albums/EP's of 2015 (I evaluate only those I have bought or downloaded free)

1. V/A The World Beyond (Neogoa Rec)

• It can be a life changer.

2. V/A Hearts Of Goa (Submoon Rec)

• This was a year of Filipe Santos in many ways and no matter of not-so-top-notch mastering this is the best release of his of 2015.

3. Amithaba Buddha-Angels Trumpets (Submoon Rec)

 

4. The Faithealers - Until The End Of The World (Neogoa Rec)

• The legends decided to release old material and the album is very theatretical and cerntainly unique and stands out of any masses: it became also personal through connection to Finland and promo in Back To Mad radio show preliminary to Neogoa 5^th Anniversary in Helsinki

5. Lunar Dawn-Kolovrat (Neogoa Rec)

• The side effect of falling in love with The Gate of course but ties also my to personal history in the Balkan area with the vibes I loved already in the 90’s. Along to the storytelling aspect, production & mastering hardly can get any better than it is on this album.

6. New Born-Nothing but A Title (Cronomi Rec)

• So much shivers and a feeling I don’t have to much change the spinning music for long; the trip just holds!

7. V/A Sadhana (Neogoa Rec)

• Finding a new genre: forest! Throughout so weird and turbulent and turned my nest around.

8. V/A Creatures Of Carnival (Amaya Productions)

• Uff...I don’t generally like darkpsy but this is a huge catch. Others agree, too: 95,60% with 50 votes atm @ Ektoplazm

9. GoAtma-Sword In The Darkness (Neogoa Rec)

• Neogoa gone nitzho and in what a way. Best artwork by Richpa in 2015 taking into consideration that Kolovrat sketch was made by Jbc-Arkadii (Kolovrat is the best artwork of Neogoa in 2015).

10. Proxeeus-At The Mountains Of Madness (Neogoa Rec)

• Still remember the first times I heard Ayahuasca..the vocals are just pure unearthly and hypnotic and the rest of the album sold itself to me in the wash of Ayahuasca.

11. V/A Tales From The North (Troll N’ Roll Rec) An album that I found on the basis of the artwork and in tail-water of V/A Sadhana. Very “local” to me: can associate with Swedish trolls. Some spoken Finnish in vocals. The label needs def more attention: they are forest professionals and doing a great job.

 

12. V/A Prana Remixes (Suntrip Rec) Good job Suntrip!

 

13. V/A Aurora Sidera (Suntrip Rec) Another good job Suntrip!

 

14. V/A Locomotion (Hado Rec) Ambient album of 2015.

 

15. GoaTree-Akasha Connection (Neogoa Rec) Brought Order to My Chaos and lead me to book GoaTree to my party.

 

 

Label of the year: Neogoa Rec

Producer of the year. Filipe Santos

Masterer of the year: Deimos Soundlabs

Artwork of the year: Oscar Bodin's cover of V/A Tales From The North

Top 3 tracks of 2015: 1. The Gate, 2. 80 000 Pounds of Crude (Denaris aka Filipe Santos), 3. Angels And Demons (The Faithealers)

Edited January 7, 2016 by Anu Katariina

[Novoice]

Celestial Intelligence: Perpetual Energy... Fly high!!!

[pdinklag]

Had some thought over this, and for a good while throughout 2015 it looked like Celestial Intelligence would make the race for me...

 

but really, the best of 2015 in my view was Mana Source - Kanji. I know Felipe isn't the most popular guy here, but hell, this is genius work and unmatched for me last year!

[IronSun]

So 2015 was a magnificent year for Goa! It's great to see labels like Zion604 and Neogoa really step up and firmly place themselves next to suntrip as the top labels in this niche of psytrance, while DAT rereleased two absolutely stellar old mega favorites and Global Sect realized something entirely different concept-wise.

 

My top 10 was a really tough choice, I consider all of these releases to be top-notch:

 

1. Pleiadians - IFO (DAT Records)

 

No need for further explanation I think. It's the best Goa album of all time and Federico outdid himself on the presentation.

 

2. VA - The World Beyond (Neo Goa)

 

It deserved first place really, and as far as new releases go, nothing blew my mind more than this one. It's an epic achievement, and the fact this is a free release is just baffling. You have my never-ending respect Richpa and all artists working on this!

 

3. VA - The Mystery Of Crystal Worlds (Global Sect)

 

Part because of the great presentation, and part because it brought Artifact303 back. I love Artifact303. Great surprises from Katedra and Psy-H Project as well. A lot of good other tracks as well. CD 2 is one of my absolute favorite compilation cd's ever. Oh and did I mention I love Artifact303?

 

4. Denshi Danshi - Fluid Dynamics (Suntrip)

 

What a surprise! Great sound, varied tracks, true old school masters. Thanks Suntrip for bringing this act to my attention.

 

5. Skizologic - Robotized (Zion 604)

 

Groovy, psychedelic, pumping, acidic. My oh my this is SUCH a great album!! This was the record I grooved all summer to.

 

6. VA - Aurora Sidera (Suntrip)

 

Probably the best sun trip compilation up-to-date together with ten spins around the sun. The variety of the tracks, the placement, the quality... Everything just clicked with me with this VA.

 

7. Doof - Let's Turn On (DAT Records)

 

Doof was one of the first old-school legends I 'discovered' when I first began to dig deeper in old-school Goa back in 2009-2010. I was immediately hooked to his sound, and to this day Let's Turn On remains a very special album to me. Thanks Federico for re-releasing it in such a nice edition.

 

8. Lunar Dawn - Kolovrat (Neogoa)

 

This was a very pleasant surprise for me. The way they managed to merge to slavic elements with the goa elements in such an uplifting and storytelling way is a great example of how flexible this genre really is. A very talented duo that I can't wait to hear more of.

9. Celestial Intelligence - Perpetual Energy (Suntrip)

 

Full power melodic Goa the way it should be. The mastering on this one was a bit of a let-down as I find the record unpleasant to listen to in long stretches, but that definitely has nothing to do with the music itself as Celestial Intelligence have positioned themselves as one of the top new school Goa acts out there. Who is bringing them to Belgium?

 

10. Radical Distortion - 12 Dimensions (Zion604)

 

Old-school with high production quality and a cinematic approach.The guys from Radical Distortion have come a long way since their solo-debut on Suntrip Psychedelic Dreams. Great Album.

 

 

I still have to listen to some releases from 2015, so in the definitive Psynews top 10 this could change. It's also just my selection of favorite Goa. I'd have to fit in Hutti Heita somewhere as well...

[Starkraver]

My list would be very similar to yours IronSun. Its nice to have you back and posting

[Paul Eye]

14. V/A Locomotion (Hado Rec) Ambient album of 2015.

This isn't directed especially at you (but in general) but I just don't understand why people call this kind of music "ambient". I should perhaps start a separate topic some day and not clutter this one (thanks for reminding me

[Starkraver]

This isn't directed especially at you (but in general) but I just don't understand why people call this kind of music "ambient". I should perhaps start a separate topic some day and not clutter this one (thanks for reminding me

I hear you dude. For some ambient heads whom I know, it would be nothing short of blasphemy to call Locomotion ambient CD. But it happens, Its used as a broad generic term. I usually mix up Downtempo & Chill (on a bad day ambient too but lately, not so much)

 

Please do. Some good Ambient and dark ambient releases this year. It would be nice to know what everyone is listening to these days apart from the usual Ishq/Virtual/Steve Roach. ( Has anybody grabbed the Bloodmoon boxset.?? )

[Anu Katariina]

This isn't directed especially at you (but in general) but I just don't understand why people call this kind of music "ambient". I should perhaps start a separate topic some day and not clutter this one (thanks for reminding me

Oh well. I am bad in definitions especially concerning slower psy/goa. Had to go back in Artist News And Label Announcements because when this baby came out in June I posted it because Hado Rec label manager does not have psynews account, that's what I was told. I used the tags psychill, chillgressive, chillout, ambient, downtempo. Hado Rec web page describes this album e.g. with the words "Compilation has a deep space feeling and employs multy-layering sonorities to create an amazing depth on good substantial ambient sound with hidden sonic levels and vibrations".

I'd gladly learn more what exactly is ambient so go for it @ Paul Eye

[LunarDawn]

Some good Ambient and dark ambient releases this year.

Sorry for OT, but:

 

If you´re into dark ambient, listen to one of our projects named Narayan which is dark ambient oriented:

 

https://soundcloud.com/narayan_industry

[Starkraver]

Sure

[Anu Katariina]

Sorry for OT, but:

 

If you´re into dark ambient, listen to one of our projects named Narayan which is dark ambient oriented:

 

https://soundcloud.com/narayan_industry

Narayan is hell of another story. Worth all of the attention. Sasa's fingertips can be seen everywhere: so far so good

[Richpa]

Not only for dark ambient, but highly recommended to noise fans too.