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Templar

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  1. Thanks! Btw. here's a link to the original version of "Female Animals" I mentioned about in the review: https://soundcloud.com/jetman/jetman-female-animals-pre-fin
  2. My take on the album: http://www.psynews.org/forums/index.php/topic/69107-psysutra-gamma-phoenicis/
  3. Psysutra - Gamma Phoenicis Cronomi Records, 2014 1. Planet Of Illusions 2. Acid Rush 3. Air Trance Corporation 4. United States Of Mind 5. Lost Universe 6. JetMan - Female Animals (Psysutra's Male Perspective Mix) 7. Postcard From Goa We Poles are not lucky when it comes to the political class and many other things, but we cannot be denied an exceptionally strong and individualized group of psy-artists. In contrast to many other countries (let's stick to the obvious example of Israel and its large group of disposable musical clones) we can boast of a team of people, where each and every one of them developed his own easily recognizable style. Thus I will smell Artha's tracks from a mile, then there is this specific vibe of TLG etc. Things are no different with Psysutrą, one of the new wave of young artists who, along with his music, is also an autonomous being on our psychedelic map. After many hardships Łukasz finally lived to see the release of his debut album under the Cronomi Records banner, a label that focuses on new talents in the field of goa trance. The label definitely stands out from the crowd, which in this case is only an advantage. In the end, why repeat the theme of sweet, ultra-melodic goa over and over again, when this music has so many faces? Psysutra thought the same, providing a record full of different shades of old school and strongly acidic psytrance under the goa banner. After listening to all tracks a lot I found out that actually I have nothing to bitch about. The sonic design of tracks is great. Łukasz easily takes anachronistic ideas and themes of the past and showers them with new layouts, owing to which we end up with seven intense landscapes from the land of goa trance. A land, let us add, that has many names. The tracks are not monotonous and there is always something going on, a thing one cannot say about many other productions of this type. In the field of creativity Psysutra leaves the competition far behind thanks to his lively ideas. Various trance artists of all latitudes flood us with their music, which technically is great, it has the punch, but as far as ideas are concerned it is presented in a bland and flat way. Their main idea is to move the crowds on the dancefloor, as well as to wiggle the playing person's index finger - and that's all. Luke has not forgotten an important element of juicyness, color-play, oldschool audio-corridors and sharp, almost three-dimensional acids in opposition to foreign cookie-cutter, over-produced boredom fest, seasoned here and there with a touch of catchy sound to break the routine. Another advantage of the album is the length of the tracks, specifically four of them: "Planet Of Illusions", "Air Trance Corporation", a remix of "Female Animals" and "Postcard From Goa" all oscillate around an impressive time of 11-12 minutes. Works for me. I've always been of the opinion that with such time at one's disposal one can build and communicate a coherent story. The album starts with the high-octane acid cyberpiece "Planet Of Illusions", which is a proverbial bullseye when it comes to this track being the opening one on this CD. The chameleon-like "Acid Rush" highlights just how far the music of Psysutra is from his milder colleagues from Suntrip Records. The more uplifting and cheerful "Air Trance Corporation" will serve as a proper musical tool for many open air parties during the more oldschool-oriented moments. The banging "United States Of Mind" with its batch of distinctive acids smells of old Transient Records compilations, which is only a good thing. A bit playful and laidback atmosphere is introduces by "Lost Universe", a track aimed at early morning hours of outdoor frolicking. Track number six is Psysutra's take on a tune by my colleague JetMan from Psytrance.pl. This mesmerizing track with Posford-like qualities spread over circa 11 minutes is certainly an interesting tune aimed not only at trancefloor workout, but also suitable for elemental breakdown at home. It is worth looking up the original version at SoundCloud to compare it with the version created by Psysutra. At the end we will not fall asleep with a "let's throw in a chillout lullaby at the end" routine done by so many, because the last track is also psytrance, albeit a bit calmer than its predecessors. This is achieved by a flowing, slightly magical atmosphere illustrated by the sound of the flute, which given an impression as if good ol' grampa Raja Ram is sitting somewhere in the background. It is impossible not to mention about the colorful design adorning the album's cover. I send words of appreciation towards Psara (a Portuguese DJane named Sara Constance), who interestingly underlined the album's musical atmosphere with her butterfly-wings-on-acid graphics. Given that it is the seventh release by Cronomi Records, the CD itself is marked with a cheeky nod to James Bond movies ("My name is Wu, Łukasz Wu. CronomiCD007 Licence to Dance!"). Speaking about the cover, despite a musically and graphically strong album, it fell victim to minor editorial mishaps associated with evident laziness at Cronomi Records. I'm saying here about the typos on the album's back cover. However, looking back at the history of trance releases and cases of this kind, one needs to admit that if this is the only flaw of "Gamma Phoenicis", the album is really good. The father of "Gamma Phoenicis" can be proud of his child. Through its spontaneity and inventiveness the album has a good chance not to get lost in the crowd of goa-productions of modern times, which at the time of them coming to life are prone to anonymity. This album is recommended both for someone who plowed through a whole lot of albums, as well as for those who just put their first baby steps in the psytrance realm. TLG and Space Element: your turn. https://shop.cronomi.com/?page_id=571 http://cronomi.bandcamp.com/album/psysutra-gamma-phoenicis http://nobient.pl/index.php?products=product&prod_id=2717
  4. To be honest - without this review I wouldn't be even aware of this release's existence...
  5. Info http://peakrec.com/releases/all/release_id/25.html Previews http://tinyurl.com/thealienjams Peak Records is proud to present THE ALIEN JAMS, the eagerly anticipated live guitar chill album by AJJA & COSMOSIS. Recorded in 2011, during an Art Fusion Experiment in the HR Giger Museum in Switzerland, "THE ALIEN JAMS" is the live recording of a free-style improvised concert by AJJA & COSMOSIS.While renowned artists Paul Booth, Filip Leu, Titine K-Leu and Sabine Gaffron painted simultaneously on a canvas for several hours before a live audience, AJJA & COSMOSIS played music inspired by this unique artistic event unfolding before their eyes.Using acoustic, electric and electronic instruments, combined with laptops and live looping techniques, AJJA & COSMOSIS allowed their imaginations to guide them on this epic, funky, chill voyage. Packed full of psychedelic electronica, hypnotic beats, deep ambient sections, irresistible grooves and superb guitars. "THE ALIEN JAMS" is an impromptu trip to another world, captained by two of todays finest talents. Featuring nine selected tracks from the original concert recording, "THE ALIEN JAMS" is a collection of beautifully produced chill, funk and dance beats intuitively interwoven with the unique guitars and psychedelic sounds of AJJA & COSMOSIS.Get into the groove, relax and float downstream to where "THE ALIEN JAMS"! Track List : 01 Into The Deep - 100bpm - 7:26 02 Aquamarine - 81bpm - 8:35 03 Rhodes To Nowhere - 100bpm - 10:41 04 Desert Dawn - 112bpm - 7:46 05 Around The Bend - 84bpm - 8:04 06 Open Horizon - 100bpm - 10:08 07 Marimbad - 88bpm - 9:36 08 Cactus Shack - 69bpm - 5:16 09 Alien Jam - 71bpm - 10:20 Recorded live in November 2011 at the The HR Giger Museum in Switzerland All original backing tracks (except #8) composed by Ajja S.F. Leu Live performance, overdubs, post-production, mixing and mastering by Ajja S.F. Leu & William Halsey Original guitar artwork by Filip Leu - www.leufamilyiron.com Digital artwork and graphics by Ajja & Tanina Munchkina - www.peakrec.com Photos by Bobby C. Alkabes - www.bobbyalkabes.com
  6. Guys, don't bother. I just lost a whole minute of my precious life.
  7. Let's not forget the obvious: "Infected Mushroom - Classical Mushroom"!
  8. Templar

    Mind Rewind

    Thanks for the nice comments guys. I've just provided my review for the sequel of this gem.
  9. My review: http://www.psynews.org/forums/index.php/topic/67902-mind-rewind-2-past-forward/
  10. Mind Rewind 2 DAT Mafia Recordings, 2013 CD 1 1. Excess Head - Another Planet (Mix 5) 2. Astronomix - Sirkka 3. OOOD & MoonWeed - Spiral Expansion (Live @ Pagan, Tyssen Street Studios, London, NYE 1995-96) 4. Zerotonine - Morning Glory 5. Kaledoid - Anjuna (Twilight Mix) 6. Ree.K - Far East Frequency 7. Etnica - Intense Visitation 8. Underhead - WhirlRain Of Water 9. MWNN - Moment Of Truth (Alternate Mix) 10. Total Eclipse - Toxic Caterpillar (Alternate Mix) CD 2 1. Total Eclipse - No Name 2. Byte 1 - Dive 1 3. Infinite Zen - Goa Generator (Live Mix) 4. Subcouds - Greenflow (Remix 1997) 5. Somaton - Nool Sonrg 6. 33rd Rate Revolutionaries - Revolutionise (Mix 1) 7. RA - Static Distress 8. Tromesa - Nowina 9. Zerotonine - Superstring Material 10. The Infinity Project - Incandescence (Mix 2) http://www.datrecords.it/dat/releases/va-mind-rewind-2-dmrcd02.html Given the success of the retro-compilation called "Mind Rewind", its sequel was only a matter of time. Just like with the first part, an entire staff of enthusiasts and professionals worked also on this gem. One should simply mention those responsible for the cover design (Ivan Paric vel Richpa of Neogoa with the support from Draeke/DAT Records and Mars/Suntrip Records) or mastering - Colin from OOOD. The first "Mind Rewind" was pressed in 604 copies, here we are dealing with a print run of 1000 copies. I think it is for better - this great music will reach even more people and the profits will be higher. It should be noted that all profit related to the compilation goes for the MangoTreeGoa charity. And finally we have the most important thing here - the music itself. As usual we can find a whole lot of it here and it's the best quality, all served with a strong bouquet of ancient times, which, owing to such initiatives, were not forgotten and are doing pretty well. On both discs we get of course some goa-athletes from the first part, but most of them here are new (old) faces. We start with Graham Wood of the TIP fame and his solo project Excess Head. "Another Planet ( Mix 5)" is a twisted variation on The Infinity Project tracks. Next we have the Astronimix due, which adds this time a much stronger and darker piece with a distinct edge. Frolicking in the third chapter are OOOD and MoonWeed, who delivered one of the best tracks on the entire compilation. "Spiral Expansion" is truly a feast for the advanced taste buds. Also the German Zerotonine gave us another show of their abilities. Here, just like in the first part of "Mind Rewind", they went into full goa mode. Kaledoid, namely Christof Drouillet and Fréderic Holyszewski, will remind you why Transwave once reigned when it comes to quick goa with dancefloor qualities. "Far East Frequency" was overshadowed somewhat by the much more famous colleagues, but do not let Ree.K's negligible popularity deceive you, because it's still a solid goa-candy. In the following track called "Intense Visitation" the Italian Etnica brings us closer to 1995, when they began to go crazy with their newly purchased toy called Kurzweil K2000, which in those days was a machine from the top shelf, and owing to which they assembled an edgy and acidic track . In the same year another track on this CD was conceived and you can hear it on the full sweep of the hypnotic "WhirlRain Of Water". The penultimate tune of the first disc is yet another gem from another dinosaur of trance scene - Man With No Name. What we get here is a variation on the well-known and well-liked track entitled "Moment Of Truth", originating from the album of the same title. This is another proof that in the hands of a specialist an Atari computer plus a few good cult synthesizers are enough to create a piece with a soul. All is topped with the appearance of Total Eclipse and their "Toxic Caterpillar " in a previously unknown mix. Simple and joyful, just like with with another track by the French masters which starts the next CD. Both tracks were created between the years 1993 and 1995. Under the mysterious name of Byte 1 we have Graham Wood and Xavier Morel. The former does not need any futher introduction, while the second one is known to be working with the likes of Juno Reactor or Eat Static. "Byte 1" is a very good and very psychedelic tune straight from 1996. The "Goa Generator" track by Nikolaos Betsimeas is without a doubt fulfilling its mission set by the track's title. Subclouds is quite a curiosity, because we have here Rickard Berglöf of the Vibrasphere fame and Fredrik Axelsson. One should listen to the music as it was and how much goa-flavored it was before the foundation of Vibrasphere. Next we have Seb Taylor a.k.a. Shakta under his Somaton moniker. His "Nool Sonrg" will take you efficiently into the times of his first albums. "Revolutionise (Mix 1)" by 33rd State Revolutionaries is a fast and edgy track with a strong acidic flavor, ideal for trancefloors to feel soreness in the legs. "Static Distress" by RA is a piece from the period circa 1996, when the sound of the group was still being shaped, so you can not appreciate its historical aspect, not to mention the track's light and simple flow. Number 8 is the Polish Tromesa duo (Magnes & Dreddy) and their "Nowina". I have no illusions about the fact that this is one of the most interesting tracks on this compilation not only because of its unconventional tone and flashback to the time of their first two albums, but because of the track's history set out in the booklet. In a nutshell: Magnes' mom accidentally threw away a bag of DATs, which also contained this track, later seemingly a victim of the abyss. In time, however, it was found, so we can enjoy it on this compilation. The penultimate word belongs again to Zerotonine - I do not need to add that the Germans once again showed their best side. We finish with The Infinity Project and their mysterious "Incandescence (Mix 2)", where the atmosphere is so dark and dense that you can cut it with a knife. I consider the second part of "Mind Rewind" to be an extremely valuable thing, because once again it pleasantly tickles sentimental receptors in an incredible way and enriches my satisfaction derived from contact with psychedelic trance music. Thanks to it I quickly recall the feeling of getting to know trance music from first compilations and albums which fell into my hands on CDs, cassettes or in the form of files. I had this indescribable feeling that I am entering a vast world of many interesting artists and their music I would like to know. At the same time appeared a dream that one day I can embrace the whole world filled with these fascinating characters and their musical achievements. For many of us the luxury of today is to have a bit free time for ourselves. If you already have it, try to utilize it best - especially reaching out for this type of releases. Having contact with it will be satisfyingly juicy (the pleasure is all mine). Due to the baggage of history it carries and its atmosphere, the compilation is somewhat majestic, yet darker than its much brighter predecessor. Thus the second part of "Mind Rewind" finds its way to the golden pages of trance history right next to its precursor, as well as other similar releases such as the double CD albums entitled "Blue Planet Corporation - A Blueprint For Survival" and "Etnica - Live In Athens 1996". The third part has been already announced. What could be better? And in the meantime - past forward...
  11. Here's what our Polish psy-progressive master TLG cooked up for Holiday: https://soundcloud.com/tlg-music/grinch
  12. upcoming releases: Psysutra's album http://www.psytrance.pl/interviews.php?title=cronomi_recordsenglish
  13. http://www.psytrance.pl/interviews.php?title=cronomi_recordsenglish in an interview with Cronomi Records you can read about some mysterious Artha release(s)
  14. radi: your mp3 files are named incorrectly. There is not such AP track as Unbelievable Technology.
  15. Review: http://www.psynews.org/forums/index.php?/topic/65304-sundial-aeon-wolfsberg-impact-studio-records-2012/
  16. Sundial Aeon - Wolfsberg Impact Studio Records, 2012 1. Wolfsberg (Original Mix) 2. Wolfsberg (Crankshaft Remix) 3. Wolfsberg (Remix feat L-Wolf) 4. Wolfsberg (Kadasarva Remix) 5. Wolfsberg (Itoa Remix) 6. Wolfsberg (Lackluster Bodily Rigidity Remix) 7. Wolfsberg (Sonic Saturation Remix) 8. Iced-Melancholy Spectacle (X-Ceed Remix) After the debut of Impact Records Studio, the Sundial Aeon guys did not lay low. "Wolfsberg" continues the themes that appeared on last year's "Mimesis" album, but focusing solely on the title track, thematically related to the city of Wałbrzych and the Owl Mountains mystery. The album was created in collaboration with both Polish and foreign artists of the electronic scene. The recipe for this release was to take the original track for a spin by several other artists. Repeating the same trick over and over again appears to be a risky venture, but when it comes to capable remixers and a variety of interpretations, one can be certain that boredom will not be bothering us. As a way of a recap, the beginning of the disc is, of course, the original version of the track from the "Mimesis" album. Being an epic track, it leads us into areas of a monumental soundtrack, proving a match for both domestic speakers, as well as great soundsystems. Next it was processed by Crankshaft from Finland, delivering downtempo with a broken structure and a pinch of melancholy. It is ok, though not particularly thrilling, but the best is yet to come. Number three is a guest appearance by Thomas Wolk Lewanowicz a.k.a. L-Wolf, where we get an even more intensified and bulked-up version of "Wolfsberg". The result is a good, ever-thrilling track, providing an effective massage by its sonic momentum. As one might have expected after his participation on the "Mimesis" album, Kadasarva once again threw the most twisted track at us also here; a track set in a disturbing, sometimes aggressive and at times shpongle-ish style. In comparison with the rest of the remixes, we shall get a glimpse of barely rudimentary references to the title track's themes, which for some may be its Achilles' heel. It is also a remix that deviated the most from the original version, which gives an interesting tone to sense of the word "remix". Itoa chose a more relaxing approach. It is one of those tracks which are ideal for multiple loops during or after work. The track's light feeling will quickly run through a tired body and mind, as well as help to sort out thoughts and fly away someplace far. In the sixth approach the main track was formatted by another guy from Finland, namely Lackluster (Esa Juhani Ruoho), into and interesting and distinctive mixture of downtempo and breakbeat. After a typically chillaxed and sundial-ish intro, Sonic Saturation (Jacek Juszczyk) offers us an intense but not intrusive tour into drum & bass, deftly combining a dnb core with the main themes and once again showing different qualities of this album. After seven versions of "Wolfsberg" it is also obligatory to check out the bonus track in the form of a new version of "Iced-Melancholy Spectacle" by Wojciech Panufnik, a Polish producer and demo-scene participant operating under the X-Ceed alias. It is one of those tracks that I played to death. Brilliant in its simplicity, well-tailored for early phases of a psytrance event or energetic trance-dance at the chillout room. In short, the remixer delivered, quite unexpectedly becoming my favorite on the album. Another encounter with Sundial Aeon was successful. It could have been full of clichés, given the processing of the same theme, but fortunately a clever solution was found and we were served with an engaging mixture of remixes of different musical flavours. Each of them stands its own as an individual musical illustration musical of the "Wolfsberg" theme, and together they form an interesting combination. There is trance, downtempo, dnb, breakbeat - and that's not all. Just like with good cuisine, which is dominated by the seemingly competing flavors, here, right next to each other, there are tracks with completely different colors and atmospheres - for example the adjacent tracks from Kadasarva and Itoa, which differ strongly from each other. Thus, this colorful musical melting pot is another thumbs up for Impact Studio Records. http://www.psytrance.pl/ http://www.psyshop.com/shop/CDs/isr/isr1cd002.html
  17. ^ Couldn't have explained it better. Thank you.
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