Music reviews

[Oopie]

Hi my fellow space rangers!

 

I was wondering here, now that we're slowly approaching May, roughly speaking 1/3 of the year has passed and we have 6 (?) separate reviews here for 2016. Now I can't argue that I'd be a prolific reviewer myself, and don't really mean to complain here, but isn't that just a really low figure? Or is there some other psy-reviews site intensely more popular that has just escaped my radar?

[Psychedelic Alien]

I agree, I come mostly here for reviews, and I see almost none. Some people want to be active?

[antic604]

Agree. What really discourages me personally - and I'm not as active as I was years back... - is that even if there is a review posted, usually there's not much discussion unless it's a Suntrip, Neogoa or DAT release that get proper attention.

 

I feel that people left here are basically just fans of those 3 labels - nothing wrong with it, but sure as hell it doesn't help.

 

Indeed, where's everybody else - the darkpsy people? full-on people? prog people? dub/chill people? Isratrance and psymusic.co.uk, psytrance.pl, discogs' goa/psy group are basically dead... Is everything now happening on Facebook or Reddit? Or - God forbid - on comments section in Youtube videos?

 

I'm too old-school for those new, fancy means of communication

[recursion loop]

full-on people? prog people?

I often feel like I'm the only one around here who doesn't consider full-on and prog to be crap by default

 

Btw, I also prefer good old forum format to Facebook and the like.

[Anoebis]

Agree. What really discourages me personally - and I'm not as active as I was years back... - is that even if there is a review posted, usually there's not much discussion unless it's a Suntrip, Neogoa or DAT release that get proper attention.

Well, even that is changing, Toi Doi is not even reviewed after a month... Everyone was begging for more psychedelic, more crazy goa, and once it is there... it is forgotten like that... Curious how the future of reviewing will be! I hope some new reviewers show up soon!

[Manuser]

Agree. What really discourages me personally - and I'm not as active as I was years back... - is that even if there is a review posted, usually there's not much discussion unless it's a Suntrip, Neogoa or DAT release that get proper attention.

 

I feel that people left here are basically just fans of those 3 labels - nothing wrong with it, but sure as hell it doesn't help.

 

Indeed, where's everybody else - the darkpsy people? full-on people? prog people? dub/chill people? Isratrance and psymusic.co.uk, psytrance.pl, discogs' goa/psy group are basically dead... Is everything now happening on Facebook or Reddit? Or - God forbid - on comments section in Youtube videos?

I'm too old-school for those new, fancy means of communication

It is always nice to have active discussions in the review sections, and yes back in the day there was a lot of discussion, but personally I think if people read the review then it is good enough.

Agree about the rest of your post.

 

I agree, I come mostly here for reviews, and I see almost none. Some people want to be active?

Feel free to post some.

[antic604]

Well, even that is changing, Toi Doi is not even reviewed after a month... Everyone was begging for more psychedelic, more crazy goa, and once it is there... it is forgotten like that...

Heh, that's because I've not bought it yet - waiting for Morphic Resonance to order both

[abasio]

I think what happened was that some years ago we tried to make the reviews more just reviews and didn't allow discussion that wasn't directly reviewing the music (comments on the review, asking for recommendations for similar music etc) and this kind of killed the review section. Reviews would be posted and then sink down the list as no one replied with a few words that would have bumped the review thread up and encourage more people to post.

 

I'd prefer to allow more discussion in the review threads because as you see, there's not much to ruin now.

[Starkraver]

Well, even that is changing, Toi Doi is not even reviewed after a month... Everyone was begging for more psychedelic, more crazy goa, and once it is there... it is forgotten like that... Curious how the future of reviewing will be! I hope some new reviewers show up soon!

Even IFO hasn't been reviewed yet. People were dying to hear that one.

[MrAnarchy]

Well the problem is that most of the old reviewers are gone. Can't talk about other new members, but in my case, who has been listening to psy trance for just over a year now, isnt qualified to make a proper review. I simply dont have the experience to say "listen to this...", "this and that sound are so well composed and mixed", "it reminds me of _______'s style" and so on. And the ones that can make good reviews, mainly the djs here, are busy. Dont know how we can make that better to be honest... Hopefully I'll learn with time

[antic604]

I think what happened was that some years ago we tried to make the reviews more just reviews and didn't allow discussion that wasn't directly reviewing the music (comments on the review, asking for recommendations for similar music etc) and this kind of killed the review section.

 

Honestly, I don't think this did it.

 

I think it has more to do with the general shift of how people consume music - if years back you could only buy music via Psyshop / Beatspace / SaikoSounds the only way to share your thoughts about it was a dedicated forum, e.g. psynews.org, psymusic.co.uk, isratrance.com, etc. Nowadays, a lot of people don't buy the music at all limiting themselves to "free" sources like Youtube, SoundCloud, numerous netlabels (Neogoa, Ektoplazm), etc. or buy it digitally via paid streaming services like Spotify, Google Music, iTunes, Bandcamp, etc. They also follow the artists directly via Facebook, Twitter and the like. It's natural then, that if they want to provide feedback they'll do it then and there - in comments sections, via on-site voting systems, etc. Which isn't bad, but encourages very short, emotional reactions rather than in-depth and though out reviews. And it's scattered all over the web, instead of being concentrated in one (or just few) places. I think this killed the review / discussion sites I mentioned, not strict moderation.

[antic604]

Even IFO hasn't been reviewed yet. People were dying to hear that one.

 

Can you imagine what would happen if someone dared to criticize something about it? They'd be torn to shreds... And I personally have few issues with it, so I better shut up before I feel the urge to leave psynews.org again...

[Penzoline]

Again I feel like the first post requirements are not that much at all, so I don't think that is it.

 

Personally I've got no time anymore. Back when I made reviews I had plenty of time to do that.

[Starkraver]

Can you imagine what would happen if someone dared to criticize something about it? They'd be torn to shreds... And I personally have few issues with it, so I better shut up before I feel the urge to leave psynews.org again...

ya I kind of realised that.

 

If you want to review it, please go ahead. Dont bother about the fanatics. Its your review, you write what you've experienced.

[abasio]

 

Honestly, I don't think this did it.

 

I think it has more to do with the general shift of how people consume music - if years back you could only buy music via Psyshop / Beatspace / SaikoSounds the only way to share your thoughts about it was a dedicated forum, e.g. psynews.org, psymusic.co.uk, isratrance.com, etc. Nowadays, a lot of people don't buy the music at all limiting themselves to "free" sources like Youtube, SoundCloud, numerous netlabels (Neogoa, Ektoplazm), etc. or buy it digitally via paid streaming services like Spotify, Google Music, iTunes, Bandcamp, etc. They also follow the artists directly via Facebook, Twitter and the like. It's natural then, that if they want to provide feedback they'll do it then and there - in comments sections, via on-site voting systems, etc. Which isn't bad, but encourages very short, emotional reactions rather than in-depth and though out reviews. And it's scattered all over the web, instead of being concentrated in one (or just few) places. I think this killed the review / discussion sites I mentioned, not strict moderation.

Not really thought of that before but that makes a lot of sense. I still think it would be good to open up the review section for more discussion though.

[abasio]

Well the problem is that most of the old reviewers are gone. Can't talk about other new members, but in my case, who has been listening to psy trance for just over a year now, isnt qualified to make a proper review. I simply dont have the experience to say "listen to this...", "this and that sound are so well composed and mixed", "it reminds me of _______'s style" and so on. And the ones that can make good reviews, mainly the djs here, are busy. Dont know how we can make that better to be honest... Hopefully I'll learn with time

Don't feel like you're not qualified. It's not like your getting paid or receiving promos for your reviews.

 

Just say how you feel about the record, if you're worried about not being experienced then don't talk about the technical aspects and don't talk in absolutes. Talk about how it makes YOU feel and your opinions about it. Other people can make up their own minds and disagree if necessary. It could then spark some discussions.

[abasio]

Again I feel like the first post requirements are not that much at all, so I don't think that is it.

 

Personally I've got no time anymore. Back when I made reviews I had plenty of time to do that.

Time has been my biggest factor in not reviewing anything for a long time. I really want to review some records but finding the time to sit down with it and compose my thoughts is too difficult ATM.

[antic604]

Not really thought of that before but that makes a lot of sense. I still think it would be good to open up the review section for more discussion though.

 

Sure, that wouldn't hurt. I wonder how many 'active' members we have (as in visiting the forum say daily) and what percentage of them actually post reviews? I mean everyone is entitled to express their opinion, it doesn't have to be technical or from the position of great experience & knowledge - just how it makes you feel, etc.

 

I guess biggest issue is people don't know about this site, but also my fear is they don't care for this form of providing feedback anymore...

 

Again I feel like the first post requirements are not that much at all, so I don't think that is it.

 

Personally I've got no time anymore. Back when I made reviews I had plenty of time to do that.

 

Yeah, lack of time is a constraint. My approach - and I'm only trying it recently - is to have an open text editor somewhere in the background while doing something else (e.g. working) and then just putting a short sentence or even few words, when something strikes me with the music I listen. Like that I have a skeleton or framework for the review, which can be quickly fleshed out and completed.

 

ya I kind of realised that.

 

If you want to review it, please go ahead. Dont bother about the fanatics. Its your review, you write what you've experienced.

 

I'll think about it. But I need to listen to that 3rd CD first (which has that clipping track, hence I avoided it so far...)

[Rotwang]

I just don't have a lot of time these days. Maybe I'll try to write one this weekend though.

 

I agree with Abasio that review threads would be better with more discussion, by the way.

[Richpa]

Reviews play an important role to the artists, to the labels and in the end to the people who might be interested to take their time (and money) and check/buy certain release. Few years ago, when I had a little bit more time, I tried to make at least 3-4 reviews per year and to describe how I feel while listening to some music that I find interesting. Nowdays, due to the less and less free time, I try to give at least some short overview about some music that already has a review topic here on Psynews. It's true that many people don't go to forums that much due to the fact that Facebook interaction is taking over, but I still think that Psynews as a community and place where people who enjoy reading, discovering and discussing music in general still got a lot to offer. There is always place for improvement, but at least we got some people who are posting new reviews and we should be grateful for that. As I already posted earlier, I'm always willing to give music (even before it's released) to people who are willing to post review, no matter will it be a positive or negative.

Honestly I think it's not problem a discussion, the problem here is how to open a new topic. People might be affraid that they won't make a good first post or maybe disobay the rules...Anyway, I hope more reviews will show up and I will try always to give some sort of my own personal input on thoose topics and hopefully in the future I will maybe do few reviews after a long time

[Paul Eye]

If you look at the number of votes in the best of 2015 poll, this isn't exactly surprising. Seems like a dip in overall activity recently, and personally I don't have much to say these days anyway. And I'd write reviews were it not for my lack of motivation and the fact that I'm not really one for writing reviews anyway. The tired old "writing about music is like dancing about architecture" cliché applies very well here.

[XoArK]

Honestly, if you look in the review section from 1994-2004 there were more active reviewers (Pit-UFO, Freak51, Seraph, Deku81) Those users are gone now, and they often had short but detailed reviews. I think we lost a part of the reviewing community now when people don't actually review the music, but comment on it.

[the goa constrictor]

I used to review regularly but not much really piques my interest these days in the same way

I'll pop out a review every now and then when inspired (Younger Brother, Texas Faggott, Benji Vaughn), but mostly I don't feel that I have much to add to the discussion these days.

I'm rather jaded and I piss on most things. One of my main focuses while writing reviews was that I never wrote a bad review.

If I didn't like something, I would just write a review about something else. There was always enough music that I could always find something to write about. These days, not so much.

 

Also, after a while of not writing reviews, it also seems weird to write one again. The words just don't flow as smoothly or with as much ease.

It was like the radio show. After you stop doing it, it feels like there needs to be a good reason to do it again. When that reason isn't compelling enough, I just skip.

I haven't done a radio show in a while and have only written a few reviews in the past while too.

 

Life is weird...

[antic604]

A lot of valid responses there!

 

How about we try something else and allow for reviews in a form of poll, with standardized voting ranks? This way 1st reviewer would only have to post the cover, tracklist & some links then copy / paste the poll options from review guidelines (or maybe there's a way to automate it?) and then anyone would be able to cast their vote, leaving - or not - a short comment?

 

I've updated the Globular "Holobiont" and JBC Arkadii "White Tiger's Empire" reviews like that, because due to number of replies & feedback I can't figure out what's the consensus there...

[Starkraver]

^ very nice idea Antic! Voting definitely gives way for more interaction hopefully more responses too.