you know, there was a book i read back in the day, maybe you've read it, _generation ecstasy_ by simon reynolds... not a lot about goa or psy in it, but his thesis is, in part, that
a. as the drugs and their associated experiences became more commodified, rave culture was altered in unanticipated ways, as e gave way to speed, weed and LSD, and then coke and alcohol, thereby finally arriving at a more "club" oriented experience, as opposed to a countercultural movement like spiral tribe or goa,
b. the scene and the music are a chicken and egg sort of dialectic, each influencing and being in turn influenced by the other,
c. (this last bit is now my thoughts, not reynolds's)
hence cosmic baby and jam and spoon are now deadmau5 and gareth emery, and hallucinogen is now the fucking WHITE comp on TIP, which the first time i heard it i was like WTF IS THIS SHIT DOING ON TIP???
just my 2c...
s
well, true enough, but isn't it possible to refrain from throwing out the baby with the bathwater, as it were? can't we keep it underground and insist on psychedelic sound palettes, while also djing new talent (suntrip, UAF etc.)?
i know a dude who plays nothing but new beat and new wave 12"s as though it were 1992... he never plays ANYTHING new and, though much of his records are still sick as hell, he never gives anything new a chance. that is admittedly a real drawback to the sort of anachronistic thinking you're criticising here... but the alternative can't be to lose what made us special as a tribe...
just some thoughts, mate
s
funny story: i was listening to entheogenic's "dialogue of the speakers" and my wife (who doesn't like psy) was like "ok... so this is psychill... it sounds just like ambient techno... like old higher intelligence agency or children of dub or loop guru or something... what makes it PSY?"
my response: "well, frankly, ott used to make goa trance (toxic recall) and people who dig entheogenic dress like goa kids used to. so it's mainly associative, come to think of it..."
is psychill just ambient music made by old goa people?
and yes, some neogoa doesn't innovate enough. but lots of it does! anoebis isn't just some nostalgic cultural archaeologist... he's totally relevant in 2011 IMO...