Isao

I have no idea how this instrument is called but i really like it, sounds very trancy and peaceful!

Here is my humble "collection", just started buying CDs a few weeks ago. http://www.discogs.com/user/Isao

Just got this album a few days ago.. and i can't believe those tracks were made from '91 to '94. It sounds sooooo much better than anything i have heard to this date, a lot more trippy and psychedelic than the other great classics i own. Amazing album, a must have for any psytrance lover (still very cheap to buy if you don't make the same mistake as i've done.. get the album "Test" which contains the same tracks on the second CD).

That's very good news, i would buy this album right away if it was remastered!

Nice tracks, especially "hypnoticed sunvisions". It has some very nice dreamy and floaty elements which actually managed to make me want to dance slowly. I think both of those tracks are missing a few things to my tastes, like a build up leading to a big climax and more variety (say more melodies). Very encouraging work though, i'd definitly keep making music if i were you.

Another one not mentioned yet.. "Ulysse Voyage n°2" by Transwave.

Full support to mars and psynews staff, that is a sage and understandable decision from many point of views. I'm only reading this website for just over a year now, but i can say that i'm very grateful to the psynews team for what they have done/are doing/will do. It might be sad that this pathetic low-life of a "hacker" virtually got what he wanted, but there are a few causes that aren't worth fighting - especially on the internet. It's not like mars or any mod/admin are paid to do anything, no one can expect them to spend so much time and energy in a fight that could end up in a very bad way for this whole community (read: no psynews at all). Anyway.. thanks again mars to have spent your whole weekend getting the site back up (hope the family isn't too mad about it!), it is sincerly much appreciated. Respect

I'm not sure if people not understanding psytrance are lacking intelligence, but i sure know that understanding psytrance doesn't necessarly mean you are an intelligent person More seriously, i think it's just about tastes and musical education - my best friends who are the most intelligent (subjective notion in a way) persons i know don't get psy/goa mainly because of the fast bpm.

Urgh, just listened to a bit of the Mindsphere album.. it's constantly above the -10db mark from start to finish :/ Thats such a shame, for what i have listened it could have been an amazing album but the mastering is ruining it all for me. If we are taking this album as an exemple, does it sound bad just because of the total lack of dynamic? Or is there anything else.

Thanks for your answer, that was an interesting read. I did watch those youtube videos indeed, where it appears "maximizing volume" is done by compressing the dynamic range which results in a loss of a part of that range - which is usually inaudible on cheap/most used systems, but annoying on "high end" ones. I've also read a few things on head-fi, which is an audiophile forum. Now as a label owner and an artist, you are saying "maximizing volume" is positive (which i can understand) and doesn't affect the sound quality - and i must admit that it's intriguing me. Does it mean the sound can be made louder without affecting the overall sound quality (on an audiophile point of view) ? I was under the impression that "brickwall looking" tracks under audicity had no dynamic range, and that we were missing something because of it. Please do correct me if i'm wrong, i'll be pleased to know more about it. Edit: to your second post, no i don't mean to know more than ppl actually working on it. Which is why i'm posting there, only asking to be proven wrong and learn I tried to be careful about that, but i apologise if i sounded disrepectful or judgemental toward your (and other ppl) work.

From the albums i own (zbput 50ish), only "Twisted" and "Are You Shpongled?" don't look like a brickwall on audacity. To be honest as well in most cases i'm quite happy with what i hear too, and i agree that there is a lot worse in the mainstream scene. The thing is it could sound even better if music wasn't compressed, and to my very limited knowledge i don't think it would cost anything to "not compress" the dynamic range. Looking at all my albums under audacity tells me there is some room for improvements, and - again to my very limited knowledge - i think those improvements could be made without extra costs. I'm not complaining really, just wondering.

Since i have recently bought a fairly good headphone rig, i have been interested in sound quality. I previously owned a quite cheap system and never really cared about it, but one of the good/bad thing about good gear, is that it reveals the flaws there are in the music production/mastering. Consequently, i've been seeking good sound quality albums... ...And much to my surprise, it looks like the loudness war didn't spare this genre. I would have assumed that in such an underground scene, labels/artists would value sound quality more than in the mainstream scene and thus wouldn't conform their music to the modern standards (basically: making the music louder by compressing the dynamic range). What i mean is most mainstream labels are doing so to attract the mass (mass that is listening music through ultra cheap systems, usually in a loud environment), but in our scene most labels aren't made for the sole purpose of selling as much albums as possible and make profit are they? Am i wrong if i think they are made by music lovers that want to support the artists they like? If that last statement isn't wrong.. then i fail to understand why they don't seem to care that much about sound quality. I first thought it was due to their low budget, but it doesn't cost any extra buck to not compress the dynamic range does it? I'm not asking labels to do things they can't do, i know you can't have a Steve Hoffman quality mastering with a low budget. But i would very curious to know why they are participating in that "loudness war", while they probably have nothing to gain from it. It "ruins" the sound quality for the audiophiles and serious listeners out there, while their purpose is not to try and attract millions of ipod/ibuds teenagers. So my question is, why would music lovers want to conform to today's standards while there are only downsides to it? I'm asking genuinely, because i fail to understand it. Are psy/goa labels careless about sound quality? Do they simply ignore the loudness war downsides? Any other reasons? Maybe i'm missing something, but in any case i insist on the fact i'm not trying to be ungrateful, i actually have a lot of respect toward labels for what they are doing.

Wow what a news, i actually wasn't aware of it until today. Good job and thanks a lot for your hard work, sincerly appreciated.

I find it very nice personally. Very dreamy and floating. I'd have to agree with Oopie though, in the way that it is a bit the same from start to finish and that we're kind of missing a "wow moment" - but i really do think there are some great things in this track. Well done radi, keep working on it!

From what i have listened so far, the albums i loved are: - "9th" - Ra - "Flights of Infinity" - Jikkenteki A few other albums i liked as well, such as "Human" by Hol Baumann, "The Core" by I Awake and "Vision of Suraya" by Colourform. But the 2 above are really standing out for me. Waiting for the next Suntrip compilation which i am sure, won't fail to deliver.

If i had to choose one.. that would be the now classic "Avasari" by Khetzal. This track is really special to me for some reasons, probably the only one i played for a few hours in a row. There are many more that i like as well and that have been mentioned a few times already, but amongst the non-mentioned ones i've been listening quite a lot to "529" by Lumukanda. It might sounds a bit old and repetitive by now, but i find it really relaxing.

With this second album coming after the brillant "The Long Walk Home", Jikkenteki is one of the new school artist i like the most. While not being out of this world, his music sounds unique to me - its just nice to hear something that doesn't sound like a copycat or a "try hard". I would have loved to hear more downtempo stuff from him though, knowing how good he is in that genre (hint for the third album!). Anyway thats some really great music Jikkenteki has done there, sure worth listening (and buying!). P.S: I won't comment on some of those rude posts above, but i think it's unacceptable to have them in a review thread.

For the melodies lover that i am, i don't normally listen (let alone like) anything close to minimal, but i decided to give it a try since it was freely available in lossless quality. Without entering in a long review, i'll just say that i have been pleasently surprised by the quality of those 4 tracks. They have a quite slow bpm compared to most night time music, but i felt the "night feeling" as much - if not more - in Anakoluth's music than in most of those crazy fast paced dark psy tracks. On a separate note, i also really liked his track on the "Freshly Cut Tomato" compilation. Again, i'm not into minimal at all - but i do really appreciate the quality of his music, and would recommend anyone to give it a shot even if that might not suit their tastes. Well done Anakoluth!

Thanks for the answer, much appreciated! In fact i was so used to the version i heard on Filteria's website that i was surprised to hear the same melody sounding differently. But listening to it more carefully, he seems to have added some other elements which are making me like this track even more. In any case, good job at making another great compil. Thats both reassuring and exciting to see the new school goa scene so active and full of talent!

I would say Jikkenteki as well, i recently bought his 2 albums and have been positively surprised. The downtempo part on "The Long Walk Home" keeps blowing me away, same goes for "Flights of Infinity" as a whole. If it wasn't for his free release of his last album and abasio's intriguing review, i would have probably missed him.

This is the track i was looking forward to hear ever since i've listened to it on filteria's website. Oddly enough though, the sample on suntrip myspace sounds different - like if the melody was on another key. To be honest i like the "first version" more, did Jannis decided to change it or is it another part of the track? Definitly going to buy this one anyway.

Sure that would be nice ^^

Wow very nice tracks, first time i'm listening to them. I would definitly buy this album if the SQ was better, such a shame it's only available in 128kb really Thanks a lot for sharing anyway

Sounds very good mate, i'm definitly looking forward to it. Best of luck

Long time lurker, first time poster. I just wanted to thank you for that wonderful track, it has such a positive feeling especially in the second part, begining with the violins.. lovely melodies. Maybe that wasn't the point you were trying to make through that song, but the second part really makes me want to.. erm.. well to.. You see what i mean. I don't know what it is about it, but its really touching me like very few pieces of music ever did before - i just felt like hugging everyone whom i love and telling them how important they are to me, that kind of things. Again, thank you. I also loved "Inside Tthe Tree", there is something naive and pure about this song.. makes me feel like i'm a 6 years old kid again (not in a bad way, again it has that positive and lovely feeling to it). Please don't stop making music (i know, thats a very selfish request of mine ), i think you really got some beautiful inspiration. Thank you, Isao. P.S: I would love to hear those tracks in a lossless format.. any plan to release them by any chance?