Sooo.. What happened? (2022 recap)

[acid being]

9 hours ago, Tsotsi said:

We got all the time in the world....Unless you've seen the state of the world, then maybe not so much time. I try not to let the never ending bad decisions of our species get me down.

Good advice. At the same time we have to understand that we're (pretty much) all part of the system that's messing up the world. We can try and do what little we can to reduce our own impact. But feeling bad about it all is pointless when it's not motivating us to do better.

Thanks for the extra recommendations.

[Tsotsi]

7 hours ago, Proxeeus said:

Well to be fair 2023 is 4 weeks old sooo :p

I've drawn my line in the sand, if I don't get a Pnakotic full length album in the next week I'll start my own pandemic. You're all too busy dancing around Arambol I suppose.

[Proxeeus]

7 hours ago, Tsotsi said:

I've drawn my line in the sand, if I don't get a Pnakotic full length album in the next week I'll start my own pandemic. You're all too busy dancing around Arambol I suppose.

Love me some good deadlines 🫠

[staffan]

Festivals finally came back after the virus years. =))

The uptempo stuff was not that good imho. A bit of a slow year for me. VA - Beyond Expectation and VA - Mikagura I really like, and some tracks here and there. A couple of old school like Tim Schuldt - Retrospecter and VA - ZNA Gathering Retro-Futuristic Compilation III.

The downtempo was much better. Kuba - Relative To The Sun, Saafi Brothers - Make Pictures With The Sound , Ott - Heads and Youth & Gaudi - Stratosphere. So amazing =))

[psytones]

2022 for me was a great deal this 30 tracks album release: 
https://kaliearth.bandcamp.com/track/catch22-2000

[Paul Eye]

Hmm, what happened in 2022? Let's see...

I deleted all my DJ sets from SoundCloud (and cancelled my pro subscription) and YouTube in June. I did play a whopping 8 gigs during the entire year, mostly with not much inspiration, and half of them were birthday gigs with people turning 40 (I mean, a few years ago I played at people's 30th birthdays, we're slowly getting old here...). The highlight of the year (again) was the finale of our series of top secret goa trance beach parties. We decided that a decade of doing these was enough and went out with a blast: a 10 hour nonstop back to back gig with 7 (or was it 8?) DJs on constant rotation. No laptops, just one pair of SL1200s and Nexus CDJs. Even I played a few vinyls even if I'd never done that on a gig before.

What else? I've mostly turned into a reclusive hermit, didn't go to a single party unless I was playing (actually no that's bullshit, I did go to one or two where I wasn't playing but didn't really enjoy myself, bleh). Emptied all my social media accounts too (didn't close them though for various reasons) and been spending (too much) time just by myself. This can't be good in the long run but I can't be bothered to do anything about it right now.

In general I've lost most of my interest towards anything "trance" (not all of it, that's impossible), trying to find some enjoyable metal and/or heavier rock bands instead (or even some electronic music with guitars etc), with not much success, but still some, that's a plus

So uh, did I forget something? Probably.

[Penzoline]

 

6 hours ago, Paul Eye said:

Hmm, what happened in 2022? Let's see...

I deleted all my DJ sets from SoundCloud (and cancelled my pro subscription) and YouTube in June. I did play a whopping 8 gigs during the entire year, mostly with not much inspiration, and half of them were birthday gigs with people turning 40 (I mean, a few years ago I played at people's 30th birthdays, we're slowly getting old here...). The highlight of the year (again) was the finale of our series of top secret goa trance beach parties. We decided that a decade of doing these was enough and went out with a blast: a 10 hour nonstop back to back gig with 7 (or was it 8?) DJs on constant rotation. No laptops, just one pair of SL1200s and Nexus CDJs. Even I played a few vinyls even if I'd never done that on a gig before.

What else? I've mostly turned into a reclusive hermit, didn't go to a single party unless I was playing (actually no that's bullshit, I did go to one or two where I wasn't playing but didn't really enjoy myself, bleh). Emptied all my social media accounts too (didn't close them though for various reasons) and been spending (too much) time just by myself. This can't be good in the long run but I can't be bothered to do anything about it right now.

In general I've lost most of my interest towards anything "trance" (not all of it, that's impossible), trying to find some enjoyable metal and/or heavier rock bands instead (or even some electronic music with guitars etc), with not much success, but still some, that's a plus

So uh, did I forget something? Probably.

Man, just when I got into mixing you go ahead and become a recluse. Could've attended parties together.

Sounds like a very bad degree burn-out. You need some ointment (dunno what it could be for that).

[draeke]

2022 was an interesting year and it was cool to read what you all have been up to. I have also disconnected for quite some time, but I have worked in other sectors other than music and that was the main reason, I had to have a better job as you all know how hard is to make a living with music. Last year also saw the release of some interesting albums, that you have already cited in a number of posts and it was indeed refreshing to hear the remake of Indoor classics with modern technologies.

Speaking of which, I found very interesting that a number of old school producers embraced a mixed style of production, with modern mixing and technology but with a bit of an old school nostalgia, it seems that it finally caught with them that making boring full on with triplets wasn't the best way of producing music, perhaps that, perhaps they rediscovered the love for melodies and scales and more variety in production, but that is just my point of view.

I have restarted djing in 2022 after almost 2 years of pause (well we also had a pandemic in between) and it was great. I recently met a bunch of you guys, including Joske in Goa and that was an amazing experience, it seems there is a ferment and that there is a chance to play old school goa in Goa again, after so long. It was very interesting and we all had a great time.

This 2023 seems promising already and there will also be more releases on the labels I work with ^^. 

 

[technosomy]

4 hours ago, draeke said:

2022 was an interesting year and it was cool to read what you all have been up to. I have also disconnected for quite some time, but I have worked in other sectors other than music and that was the main reason, I had to have a better job as you all know how hard is to make a living with music. Last year also saw the release of some interesting albums, that you have already cited in a number of posts and it was indeed refreshing to hear the remake of Indoor classics with modern technologies.

Speaking of which, I found very interesting that a number of old school producers embraced a mixed style of production, with modern mixing and technology but with a bit of an old school nostalgia, it seems that it finally caught with them that making boring full on with triplets wasn't the best way of producing music, perhaps that, perhaps they rediscovered the love for melodies and scales and more variety in production, but that is just my point of view.

I have restarted djing in 2022 after almost 2 years of pause (well we also had a pandemic in between) and it was great. I recently met a bunch of you guys, including Joske in Goa and that was an amazing experience, it seems there is a ferment and that there is a chance to play old school goa in Goa again, after so long. It was very interesting and we all had a great time.

This 2023 seems promising already and there will also be more releases on the labels I work with ^^. 

 

hey mate, goa in goa you say??? now theres a go!
email me bro, we seem to have dropped off

[choxon]

Holy shit, I read all the replies and shit me not, we´re getting older

 

To you poor bastards complaining getting a child, i got 2 in last 3 years and I am experiencing full power no shower and not a 24 hour but full week tour. And Saša is trying to get his life on my track as we speak, so good luck to him too. Anyway, for us it was really productive, year 2022 - as Richpa said, we managed to pull off full length album on Neogoa once more for comeback and farewell, but hardly to say that it is far away from what everyone expected from us Sadly, we missed any serious engagement from audience, for lack of marketing or whatever, maybe the music itself is just too weird for todays taste. Even hillarious Tsotsi´s review didn´t raised us from the dead, but... Music listening wise - I came back to listening deep/progressive house, ancient Balkan folk music and changing diapers and chasing screaming toddlers in between. I even sleep sometimes in the silence between two tracks.

 

Enough selfmourning, glad to see that there is still some old farts here engaging in conversation - i accidentaly bumped into this topic and nostalgy made me write this shitstorm above. Take care and we hope that this year will prove better than last few, hopefuly rising written word here in psynews so we can enjoy some quality interactions once again.

 

[Jon Cocco]

Good post!

I'd love to see the forums flourish too and was surprised to see the shortage of reviews the past 1-3 years. I've been around - busy like many of you.

It's nice to see the forums are alive! 

I disappeared in 2022 as energy went to other things-- self-care, surgeries. Editing our last short Indie film I directed. 

Then it's off to bigger things > https://jamesliakos.com

And YES, I plan to incorporate GOA in features but I digress.

I heard the new Morphic Resonance album (better than the second IMO), Filteria (some super tracks though I'm more captivated/impressed with Jannis' third & fourth album comparably speaking), and Khetzal - Examines (2021) I thought was superb, magical, showcasing some of the most beautiful, satisfying (sound/melody work!) Goa songs I've heard in some time. 

I just came across Chi-A.D.'s lovely 2020's song "Into the Light" and just opened a thread > General Psytrance. Also felt inspired to re-review Virtual Spirit (1997) after returning to CHI-A.D. lately. The artist uploaded virtually every release to her official YouTube page (attached below)

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCk96OhKUo6M0IXAPe7Da4cQ

Sounds like its been a busy last few years for many of us, with energy going to numerous things as we evolve and grow. At times I feel very tuned in to the flow of the conscious process. 

It's cool to see many of us are still there. 

PS: It's okay to post shorter reviews. Do whatever inspires you in ways that are positive!
Stay safe!
Cheers 

[Trunksan]

On 5/16/2023 at 12:44 AM, Jon Cocco said:

Then it's off to bigger things > https://jamesliakos.com

Liakos?

Is that your Surname? Sounds very Greek.

 

[Otto Matta]

I think the genre in general has had its head up its ass for a while. Too much technology and too little creativity. Just because you can emulate the sound of a thousand dreams doesn't mean it's going to sound better than one dream. It's the whole lesson we all learned from Jurassic Park. Just because we could doesn't mean we should. Music is fundamental. It's not about how crystalline our production is. Be angry. Be sad. Be punk. Be something. Don't make it about the technology. Make it about the music.

Here's a great example of a near-perfect track from way back with less-than-perfect production but loads of feeling:

 

 

[Paul Eye]

1 hour ago, Otto Matta said:

Music is fundamental. It's not about how crystalline our production is. Be angry. Be sad. Be punk. Be something. Don't make it about the technology. Make it about the music.

Yeah, much of modern goa trance just sounds like fullon in a disguise, not that I really have anything against good fullon anyway. Styles keep merging and shifting, whether we like it or not. In any case, seems like the worst "let's just layer a ton of shit just because we can" mentality has faded, although I do admit that I haven't really been following the scene that much so in a broader sense I have no idea what's going on these days.
Luckily we still have artist like Proxeeus* and Triquetra who both put out really nice albums this year, not exactly taking the super clean production route to get there. Morphic Resonance of course also released a new album this year, but somehow I think his production got a bit too clean and sparkly.

* Non-Euclidean Geometry is still one of the best goa trance albums of the past decade and then some, tracks from it keep constantly finding their way into my (although very much fewer these days) DJ sets

[Otto Matta]

11 hours ago, Paul Eye said:

* Non-Euclidean Geometry is still one of the best goa trance albums of the past decade and then some, tracks from it keep constantly finding their way into my (although very much fewer these days) DJ sets

I'm going to check that out. Thanks for the suggestion.

[Veracohr]

I don't really listen to goa or psy a lot these days. When I do it will be something old, and in general searching out new music seems draining to me, like most everything else in life. On the electronic side I listen to acid techno and I'm always trying (and failing) to find something dark and evil in the synth world. Google fails me every time. I tried searching "dark synth music" and got the term "darkwave" which is anything but dark. I stopped by Psynews today because I was trying to find something to listen to at work and wondered if there were any non-psy threads. There's a sound in my head that I want to hear but I can't find any music that sounds like it. That's generally a clue to go make it but I can't seem to do shit these days along those lines.

 

I just gave up on new goa after a while. Every once in a while I'd go through the new releases threads here or see what Suntrip had released and it never changed. I guess I did. I started drifting back to metal, occasionally gabber (for a couple songs at a time), acid techno. I want either dark and evil sounding shit, or Enya. 😂

[Tsotsi]

6 hours ago, Veracohr said:

I don't really listen to goa or psy a lot these days. When I do it will be something old, and in general searching out new music seems draining to me, like most everything else in life. On the electronic side I listen to acid techno and I'm always trying (and failing) to find something dark and evil in the synth world. Google fails me every time. I tried searching "dark synth music" and got the term "darkwave" which is anything but dark. I stopped by Psynews today because I was trying to find something to listen to at work and wondered if there were any non-psy threads. There's a sound in my head that I want to hear but I can't find any music that sounds like it. That's generally a clue to go make it but I can't seem to do shit these days along those lines.

 

I just gave up on new goa after a while. Every once in a while I'd go through the new releases threads here or see what Suntrip had released and it never changed. I guess I did. I started drifting back to metal, occasionally gabber (for a couple songs at a time), acid techno. I want either dark and evil sounding shit, or Enya. 😂

Darkest techno(ish) I could recommend would be Nibanas side project Amortalist

https://zenonrecords.bandcamp.com/album/within-the-singularity-24-bit

[DoktorG]

On 8/16/2023 at 6:54 AM, Veracohr said:

I don't really listen to goa or psy a lot these days. When I do it will be something old, and in general searching out new music seems draining to me, like most everything else in life. On the electronic side I listen to acid techno and I'm always trying (and failing) to find something dark and evil in the synth world. Google fails me every time. I tried searching "dark synth music" and got the term "darkwave" which is anything but dark. I stopped by Psynews today because I was trying to find something to listen to at work and wondered if there were any non-psy threads. There's a sound in my head that I want to hear but I can't find any music that sounds like it. That's generally a clue to go make it but I can't seem to do shit these days along those lines.

 

I just gave up on new goa after a while. Every once in a while I'd go through the new releases threads here or see what Suntrip had released and it never changed. I guess I did. I started drifting back to metal, occasionally gabber (for a couple songs at a time), acid techno. I want either dark and evil sounding shit, or Enya. 😂

What about Enya meets darkness? 

 

https://music.youtube.com/search?q=lustmord+karin+park+alter

 

You won't like this if you are in the mood for upbeat music, but these glacial drones are like Dead Can Dance being crushed by tectonic plates colliding in slow motion, like Katie Melua drowning in molten lead, like the music of nature meets an impromptu blues church service, like Lustmord vs Karin Park... 

[acid being]

On 8/16/2023 at 4:54 AM, Veracohr said:

I don't really listen to goa or psy a lot these days. When I do it will be something old, and in general searching out new music seems draining to me, like most everything else in life. On the electronic side I listen to acid techno and I'm always trying (and failing) to find something dark and evil in the synth world. Google fails me every time. I tried searching "dark synth music" and got the term "darkwave" which is anything but dark. I stopped by Psynews today because I was trying to find something to listen to at work and wondered if there were any non-psy threads. There's a sound in my head that I want to hear but I can't find any music that sounds like it. That's generally a clue to go make it but I can't seem to do shit these days along those lines.

 

I just gave up on new goa after a while. Every once in a while I'd go through the new releases threads here or see what Suntrip had released and it never changed. I guess I did. I started drifting back to metal, occasionally gabber (for a couple songs at a time), acid techno. I want either dark and evil sounding shit, or Enya. 😂

This is the darkest electronic track I've heard. Nice dark space ambient from Enigma. The album is A Posteriori.

 

I think that would go great in a sort of doom psy mix with Psychaos - Chaos to Order, Orbital - Dwr Budr, and a bit of drum and bass:

 

[Veracohr]

On 8/22/2023 at 11:35 AM, acid being said:

This is the darkest electronic track I've heard. Nice dark space ambient from Enigma. The album is A Posteriori.

 

Interesting, I used to listen to MCMXC A.D. back in the 90s. I didn’t realize they kept going & did some trancy stuff. The album you suggested is not bad.

[Otto Matta]

For dark stuff I would check out Ka-Sol's latest album called Earth. The thing is pretty much a banger from beginning to end. Really impressive. If you only listen to one or two tracks, check out Centbridge and Rattlesnake, tracks 2 and 3. Yikes.

https://ka-sol.bandcamp.com/album/earth

 

[Jon Cocco]

On 6/6/2023 at 3:39 AM, Trunksan said:

Liakos?

Is that your Surname? Sounds very Greek.

 

Yes and yes