johnb820 Posted February 5, 2016 Share Posted February 5, 2016 Mindsphere is the name of the Goa Trance project by Ali Akgun from Istanbul, Turkey. Mental Triplex is the name of a trilogy of albums to be released by Suntrip Records throughout 2016. This first album titled Presence is a remarkable work of melodic, floating, goa trance. It should be no surprise to hear that 3 albums worth of music are to be released when apparently hours upon hours of music were sent to Suntrip Records. I would like to think there was an exciting story of a massive hard drive being shipped from Turkey to Belgium where it had to clear customs and no one knew exactly what was on the drive. Ever since his first album, Inner Cyclone, released in 2007 on Metapsychic Records, Ali has created a style of his own that combines the best shifting, floating, morphing, harmonic layers of trance with innovative psychedelic sounds. His second album, Patience For Heaven released in 2012, was a well received album full of driving melodies and spiritual tones. It has been 4 years since then so what new Mindsphere madness does Presence give us?Presence is quite possibly the best thing to come out of the Goa Trance genre in a long time. It is maybe hard for me to describe, but when I listen to these tracks I hear unparallelled mastery of musical structures, layers, and control over effects. The layers contained within these 9 tracks are deceptively clever. I can only compare it to RA in terms of production style the way he likes to group sounds together and keep a consistent spacial arrangement. The album displays so many emotions from one track to the next. Where so many other albums can get dull hearing the same chords over and over, Presence goes from being euphoric, to melancholic, to hopeful, to sad, to happy, to mysterious. Yes, some of the tracks make use of eastern melodies such as Inevitable Delusion, Alinside, and Tears of Goddess while others have a more positive slant like Melodramadelic and Photosynthesis. The latter reminds me of happy summer days and not in a cheesy kind of way whatsoever. There is just such a degree of depth that constantly takes me by surprise each and every time I listen to these songs (And I have listened to them a LOT so far). Hard work and dedication has clearly gone into making something truly special... and I mean special. Unless you just hate melodies and don't feel emotions I can't imagine anyone not enjoying this album. They are energetic, well produced, and will serve any dance floor well. Thank you Ali for this thing. It is beautiful. And thank you to Suntrip, Tim Schuldt, as well as all the usual suspects. I look forward to parts 2 and 3 of the Mental Triplex. Suntrip Shop Suntrip Bandcamp Psyshop Mindsphere Project 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ake Posted February 8, 2016 Share Posted February 8, 2016 Good question, main reason... because Ali is a madmand and produces like crazy... I will be honest, this trilogy is the result of over 8(!!!) hours of music we had of him... Impossible to make 1 album out of it, so we made 3 Hmmm, tbh this is exactly how the album sounds like, in my opinion. Of course it's technically perfect and well produced Goa Trance and also i have no doubt that this guy Ali has some great skills and knows what he's doing when it comes to music production. But where exactly are the magic moments in this album? Ok, this album somehow 'works' if you're in the right mood but what exactly is so special and excellent about it? After reading the promo text and other users' first impressions i had big hopes for this album but to me it just sounds like typical modern Goa Trance which is nice anyway, but yes... 'Best in a long time' and similar statements seem a little over the top for me. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
franki Posted February 8, 2016 Share Posted February 8, 2016 Loving this album! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
masen023 Posted February 8, 2016 Share Posted February 8, 2016 BINGO!!! I've kind of tired of the "new" school goa since some while back.... almost not order anything since the last 3-4 months. ...but hey FUCK man.... this is a purchase for me!! Ali <3 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
astralprojection Posted February 8, 2016 Share Posted February 8, 2016 this is the Best thing from suntrip so far. and i wouldnt have been unsatisfied if those words never came out of my mind. but they did. suntrip and of course the artist - excelled the sonic boundaries with this release. Such pristine production. There isnt a dull moment in this album and the production value, i.e the mixing, the time spent, the talent, this album is truly a spectacle of goatrance, and mindsphere is an artisan of the craft. And the fact that I can hear almost every single artist in the goatrance genre, in this album, tells me this artist has been a true goatrance fan for many many years and it feels like this album is almost a tribute to the music itself. I tell you, its a damn beatiful thing, this. Im baffled by the quality and truly humbled by it. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
astralprojection Posted February 8, 2016 Share Posted February 8, 2016 Hmmm, tbh this is exactly how the album sounds like, in my opinion. Of course it's technically perfect and well produced Goa Trance and also i have no doubt that this guy Ali has some great skills and knows what he's doing when it comes to music production. But where exactly are the magic moments in this album? Ok, this album somehow 'works' if you're in the right mood but what exactly is so special and excellent about it? After reading the promo text and other users' first impressions i had big hopes for this album but to me it just sounds like typical modern Goa Trance which is nice anyway, but yes... 'Best in a long time' and similar statements seem a little over the top for me. for me, the album doesnt have big surprises - for me the big surprise is the masterfully produced sounds and leads. as a producer i enjoy that alot more than the actual music these days. Which is why i love astral so much, cause of their stellar skills in the actual mixing of the sounds. im fairly bored with this album already - but i still think it is the best production to come from suntrip yet. after that fact - i can more carefully dissect the actual music - and yeah, there is alot lacking in that regard. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mental Explorer Posted February 9, 2016 Share Posted February 9, 2016 BINGO!!! I've kind of tired of the "new" school goa since some while back.... almost not order anything since the last 3-4 months. ...but hey FUCK man.... this is a purchase for me!! Ali <3 Yes +1 -> These are really some top class productions; didn't listen to such a good new goatrance release for quite some time! - Seems like 2016 has started off very promising :-). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mars Posted February 11, 2016 Share Posted February 11, 2016 I have to say I am baffled by how great this music is. I was in awe, the first time I heard the promo. This music is both sensitive and fully danceable. Joy. Bliss. A complete enlightenment throughout the album. We're completely not into the stereotypes of newschool music. Listening to this one is like watching a firework whilst seated in a cocoon! A 10/10 for me. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Cocco Posted February 12, 2016 Share Posted February 12, 2016 Guys, whoever starts the review thread, please include the track list? 1. Back To The Roots 2. Inevitable Delusion3. Melodramatic4. Beyond The Illusion5. Mental Processor6. Zygote7. Alinside8. Tears Of Godess10. Photosynthesis I like the album's ultra-melodic approach and the first two songs. The first is so old-school and colorful, catchy, and juicy sounding. More interludes that give opportunities for more evolutionary work would have been great though, such as the second half of Inevitable Delusion, fantastic work. I'll say more over the coming weeks or months so stay tuned! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alek Posted February 18, 2016 Share Posted February 18, 2016 Holy shit! Well I really liked Patience for Heaven, but Presence is on another level! It's been a while since a new release had this sort of impact on me, and I haven't given it nearly enough listens, but already I can say that Inevitable Delusion and Alinside are the best new school Goa tracks I've heard in years. There's a very unique feeling of fresh nostalgia that seems to be carried in the music. Off to more listens Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Psychedelic Alien Posted February 23, 2016 Share Posted February 23, 2016 Amazing morning goa, specially the first and the last tracks! Sounds like a proper 96 release... analog bliss! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aspartic Posted February 23, 2016 Share Posted February 23, 2016 Wow, just listened to this pearl in full in the car today. Wonderful album, words cannot describe it. The depth is amazing, but what is special is the joy I feel with every track. It's just so fun and euphoric to listen to. It puts a smile on my face and that's enough to stand out as one of the greatest albums ever. Hard to top this one this year. Excellent work!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ormion Posted March 6, 2016 Share Posted March 6, 2016 Not a fan. It's waaaaayyyyy too morning and waaaaayyyyyy too floaty, excluded the kick and bass this is like progressive psy. I feel I'm back to 2007. Also the music rarely breaths. I really wish Mindsphere returns to his debut album sound. I hope Beyond to be like that. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boohu Posted March 6, 2016 Share Posted March 6, 2016 Mindsphere ? meh. honest. i hate mornings. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
recursion loop Posted March 10, 2016 Share Posted March 10, 2016 Love it! At the first listen two tracks stood out - Photosynthesis (dreamy, floaty, beautiful) and Alinside (also beatuful and dreamy bit more deep and trippy). Invetable Delusion is also great and memorable track, this dramatic melody in the second half reminds me of some corny club tarnce tunes a bit, but it is really well produced and arranged. As a whole, the album feels pretty diverse (more diverse than other newschool goa releases I came across and this is good) but still consistent. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
astralprojection Posted March 10, 2016 Share Posted March 10, 2016 regardless of the fact that it contains no masterpieces (my stanard) its still an album i often listen to and enjoy, when wanting background great goa. he is kinda l ike a few other artists in that regard aswell 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
astralprojection Posted March 10, 2016 Share Posted March 10, 2016 for example its great coding music, and travel music. identical to most artifact303, filteria and khetzal in that regard. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Padmapani Posted March 13, 2016 Share Posted March 13, 2016 less forgettable tracks than patience for heaven. some even stand out when initially skipping through the tracks. so the biggest minus for the previous album isn't that big of a problem anymore (although there are still less distinct sounds than in the albums of some other top newschool aritsts). production, nice floatyness and everything isn't worse either. presence either is on par with or improved compared to patience for heaven, which is already a very pretty good album, so i'll definitely have to pick this one up soon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Psychedelic Alien Posted March 14, 2016 Share Posted March 14, 2016 Good to see even the most critical persons seem to dig this! These kind of releases keep my hope into goa-trance, some artists are as good as the ones in the 90s...! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trance2MoveU Posted June 9, 2016 Share Posted June 9, 2016 I really liked this album. It's smooth with a floating atmosphere composed of many melodies. Lush to be sure without any jarring moments or obvious filler. The only track I didn't care for was Melodramadelic. The style while enjoyable (and as others have mentioned) wasn't particularly groundbreaking, but since when was it a negative to make an album full of great tracks? Since never that's when. Great job Ali and this should be in every goa fan's collection. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnb820 Posted June 10, 2016 Author Share Posted June 10, 2016 Edited the first post to include a poll. I am still loving this album so much. While it's definitely far from being the most psychedelic stuff being made right now, it's not even Ali's most psychedelic stuff, I have yet to grow tired of the aesthetic/style. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Celaripo Posted June 11, 2016 Share Posted June 11, 2016 4/5 i like morning goa trance and this is a fine example curious to hear the next two =) i have to laugh when i see labels voting and posting reviews of their own releases though lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Starkraver Posted June 11, 2016 Share Posted June 11, 2016 i have to laugh when i see labels voting and posting reviews of their own releases though lol Agreed. Its rampant on Discogs! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anoebis Posted June 11, 2016 Share Posted June 11, 2016 Agreed. Its rampant on Discogs! its a logical thing, when you put a lot of efford in a release, and you love it by heart after listening 100 times while compiling it... You want to scream it... The good thing in this scene. The label guys are just music lovers like all of you Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Starkraver Posted June 11, 2016 Share Posted June 11, 2016 But..... let's leave it at this. Was actually pointing to ambient labels. I understand your point though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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