VA - Analog Trips [DAT Records]

[SixZeroFou4]

 

1 Medicine Drum - Angelic Force
2 Elysium & Yaco Vam - Tears In The Rain
3 Gus BUS Till - That Sounds Swell!
4 Earglobe - Spherelobe
5 Excess Head - Expo
6 Opale - Krakoa
7 Green Nuns Of The Revolution - Lost & Found
8 Etnica - Human Geometry
9 Doof - Giving Godhead

 

I just want to start off by saying I won't have a long and lengthy in depth review. If someone wants to edit or delete my post in exchange for something more proper.. that is fine with me.

I have listened to this disc from start to finish twice. My review is as follows.. you have no excuse for not owning this. If you don't have the money you can sell your body just one time. Essential.. the end

Edited June 23, 2016 by Penzoline
At least put up a cover and a tracklist next time.

[draeke]

This review is epic as it is. Thanks for it

[Jon Cocco]

The mystery to me here is how so many people missed reviewing or even commenting on Alalog Trips considering it, along with Mind Rewind 3 made a handful of Top 10 Lists in the Best of 2016 Thread via General Psytrance Forum.
 
1. Medicine Drum - Angelic Force is fairly simple, yet friendly on the ears. It's unique, melodic, and develops nicely throughout. I really like this one. 

2. Elysium & Yaco Vam - Tears In The Rain has far fewer layers and is too light with ingredients, development, and layers I feel. The song has a unique approach to Goa (almost in a minimal sense but not technically) and some very nice elements. I keep thinking things will develop or evolve, only to be treated to more of the little that works here. The track lacks a satisfying payoff too, but some may enjoy this atypical, old-school approach.

3. Gus BUS Till - That Sounds Swell is more varied, psychedelic, and layered. It gets quite catchy and infectious. It's atmospheric, melodic, and intriguing. Very nice!
 
4. Earglobe - Spherelobe is higher in energy, more psychedelic. The song is surprisingly a collaboration between Hallucinogen and Doof (Edit: I thought I read Etnica was involved somewhere but I guess not unless that's clarified, my mistake). I would have liked this story to compose itself into something more satisfying sooner. Fortunately that begins around 4:00 and the last act incorporates a really synth nice lead, elevating the whole!
 
5. Excess Head - Expo has some really catchy melody/sound (synth) work as it progresses. I really like the echoed synths, the thudding, pinging FX, and various other sound combinations, especially when those signature synths return. Good track!

6. Opale - Krakoa has stronger energy, rhythm, and synths (grittier as it progresses!). This is darker, more driving than previous tracks. Good/great track!
 
7. Green Nuns Of The Revolution - Lost & Found surprisingly doesn't sound like Green Nuns (to me), save the acid synths that grate on my after a while. The song sounds to samey to me, sound wise, with little in creativity, arrangement, or sound that engages me. Fortunately the song features healthier, more rhythmic and varied synth work in the second half. Decent track.
 
8. Etnica - Human Geometry initially I didn't like due to the approach of having melodies further from the fore-front. Rather they're integrated closer to the volume of the bass line and beat. After giving this a few more listens, I find it one of my favorite songs on the album. The synths and their arrangement isn't in my face, but they're catchy. There's a hypnotic buzzing sound throughout. The song's coupled with key changes and fresh development with each act that compliments the previous one. Soundscapes jump off the page more than melodies and in the end, I find this pretty unique and catchy, much more so than the previous one by another artist/group (song) I had higher hopes for. I love how the music returns (after the voice sample) in the final moments. Cool track! 
 
9. Doof - Giving Godhead is another song I was really looking forward to. This sounds like it could be a closing track on a Doof album we never got. Sadly the track has little (at least for me) that hooks. It's lackluster. I'm excited, in anticipation for something more catchy, engaging to occur. The song's approach is so soft and develops so slowly that it's basically (arguably) over before anything interesting takes place. The second act seems to be building up before diffusing into similar sounds. The last act has a little more oomph melody wise, but the overall feel is so similar to the first two acts that I cannot help but feel that the song is repetitious and uninspired. Oh well. That's my feelings anyway. It's not bad. I simply expected more.

 
Analog Trips is a good compilation full of unreleased [old school] Goa songs by famous artists. I feel that Mind Rewind 3 is stronger, comparatively speaking. Nonetheless, Analog Trip has some tracks even better than some of the ones on Mind Rewind 3 with that tasty old-school vibe and sound that we seldom hear anymore. A few songs are simple from today's standards but this is 90's Goa-Trance we're talking here and some of it's great. Some of these could be described as underrated rare gems while a few may or may not excite your senses. That said, it's hard to believe that some of these songs were never released.
 
Favorite tracks: 1, 3, 5, 6, 8
 

[Paul Eye]

Earlobe is surprisingly, a collaboration between Hallucinogen and Etnica (and one other artist I think).

Err, no. Simon Posford + Nick Barber.

[Jon Cocco]

Err, no. Simon Posford + Nick Barber.

 

Thanks for the correction. I don't recall where I read that, or rather it's Simon + Nick aka Doof.

[Penzoline]

Earglobe is a lost Hallucinogen(+doof) masterpiece. You can throw this anywhere next to other Hallucinogen classics like Space Pussy or LSD and it sounds fantastic.

 

Krakoa is nasty. Very brooding and hammering sound with an atmosphere made of total darkness. Opale is a fickle artist for me but this track really does it.

 

Another total gem is Doof's Giving Godhead. I thought I'd get tired of Doof by this point (His sound is great, but really the saturation peaked after the double CD) but this track takes Doof, and makes it soft. Like really, even more soft than Doof already is. And bouncy. Very bouncy. This is what I'd call trance music. You can get lost in it like in a view high above with cascading mountains on the horizon.

 

I think generally this compilation is more accomplished than the last. Along with the stellar tracks, there are some weird experiemental tracks that also honestly do feel like they should have been released in the 90s no doubt. None of the tracks feel like they didn't need to be released this time around whereas there was a few tracks on the last compilation I could have done without. The only sort of disappointment is the Etnica track and that's because all of the best Etnica music has already been released; the one here feels less mature than many others.

 

I did not like the cover. The elements nor the composition work together. Analog Dreams was at least more coherent.

[Trunksan]

I recently bought this along with DAT records full discography and I have 2 things to say:

1) Bandcamp doesn't have Etnica's track

2)This is one of the best compilations ever.... It's simply stunning.
 

Go buy this you idiot!