Dolmot

OK, we have those full review boards but let's face it: nowadays only 1% or something of all new psy-related releases get their own topics there. Many of us can't be arsed to go through the whole process of cover pics, track listing, detailed commentary and whatnot. Consequently, plenty of releases go entirely under the radar. You can wish for more full reviews or a pony but that probably won't make it happen. So, let's try something different. Post here brief commentary on any release that deserves a mention. It can be a new one, an old one, a gem, a disappointment or even a non-psy release if you think people here might appreciate it. Albums, singles, free downloads etc. are all fine. If it's a music release, you can review it here. The rules: Keep it informative and readable. Keep it text only. No YouTube blobs. No cover art. No full track listing. Those can be found elsewhere. No links to external reviews. No other pics either (including but not limited to "funny" response pics). Maximise your own output. 1-3 paragraphs should be enough. "Rocks" or "sucks" is too little. Ten paragraphs probably justifies a full review topic instead. It's fine to post first impressions based on samples. We're trying to give quick glances to interesting stuff here so you don't have to own it. However, if it's only announced without any audio samples, it's too early to review it (even under this broad interpretation). Absolutely no advertisement or spam. Do not "review" your own or affiliated stuff. Yes, of course it's the most OMGest dancefloor mega hot guaranteed to blah blah whatever. Does anyone even read that drivel any more? We have at least two boards for that already so don't bring it in here. In this topic we want real finds and honest opinions. Apart from reviews, preferably post only comments which add something helpful (such as your own short opinion). Longer discussions and dick fencing should be taken elsewhere. What you could/should include:Artist, title, label, year. A single line in bold should be clear enough in a thread like this. No need to make it huge or looking like a christmas tree. What is it? Goa, house, bog trance, glitchcore, death disco, speedambient? Album, compilation, single, loose track? Real, virtual? Is it any good? A few notable and/or informative aspects of it. Who should check it out and who shouldn't? A link or two to useful sites, probably Discogs or label site first, others if necessary. So, it might look something like this: Got it? Let's see if this works.

What does this mean?

It looks exactly like a 1996 release should. Remember to swap two tracks in the listing, get the durations wrong, and glue the LP stickers on wrong sides. Then it's precisely like a proper 1996 release.

Retrospective/related... Your alltime favourite compilation, 2002 Best compilation ever, 2009 Best goa trance compilation, 2011 So is this post a compilation of compilation post compilations?

Everyone got copies according to the sum contributed to the initial funding pool. Some were handed out to friends, some sold at festivals, some sold online and so on. They were effectively additional points of distribution around the world.

It's true that CD sales are down and likely to follow that direction. While piracy is often blamed for everything, we have a whole new generation who gets everything digitally, and there are completely viable legal routes for that too. Let's face it - files are extemely convenient. I still buy plenty of CDs but rip them instantly into flacs and play those. The disc itself is rarely needed today for any musical purposes. It's a collectors' item and a proof of purchase you can re-sell later (unlike downloads). That's all. Maybe a handy back-up too. (OK, in our local, utterly retarded legislation it is often cheaper for DJs to buy CDs and spin those than buy files but that's another story and a special case.) I see more and more releases which are essentially just gimmick items of some kind or another. Many vinyl releases are expensive 180g discs that might sound fine but in reality 50% of them can be found on Discogs marketplace as "still sealed". People are simply shifting them from one collection to another. We have novelty packaging, mini-CDs, cassettes and whatnot - stuff meant for collecting, not playing. Oh, and limited editions. Plenty of them. It's basically a way to hint that you really should buy it right now or risk the chance of never seeing it again. Labels trying to get rid of their stuff more efficiently. I guess it works to some extent. However, I miss the days when you could just wait for a few weeks, let the good stuff flow into Psyshop or whatever and then order the whole bunch from there. Now I find myself filling separate (pre-)orders in ten different micro-stores, all for single CDs. Sometimes even the same label cannot combine stock items and pre-orders. It's getting difficult and wasteful. Besides, the "limited edition" tag is losing its meaning as a single pressing of 300-500 copies is nowadays the normal edition. It's CD buyers who are really in short supply, not the goods... If you finished that, you can try asking me about MR.

Pretty much every animal and plant grown for food in the last few centuries is a result of heavy selective breeding. Compare a chihuahua to a grey wolf or a bell pepper to a bird's eye chili to get a slight idea, how far all genes around us have been manipulated. Modern orange carrot may be a symbol of healthy, natural food but as a plant it's less than 400 years old. People created it. Natural equivalents simply don't grow so big and sweet. I find it curious that people have no problems with rather unnatural stuff like seedless cultivars as long as it's achieved by "traditional" means. Meanwhile anything happening in a lab must be evil and scary by definition. I guess it's a combination of fear of the unknown and uninterest in finding out. I'd like to find out, but publishing fraudulent fear mongering as science and getting it circulated in popular media definitely doesn't help.

So what is psy swing? Is it half Shpongle and half glitch house? For this sort of swing house where short interwar jazz samples are repeated too many times over cheap trend house backgrounds, try the "White Mink, Black Cotton" compilations. They're some kind of who's who in that genre. Find a good artist and browse on from there. Even if the 1st discs disappoint, you get a nice selection of originals on the CD2s. Anyway, occasionally it can be awfully fun... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a07LlJrDQJA As a bonus, you can dance to it. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=twqM56f_cVo None of it is intentionally psychedelic, though. You can occasionally find better bits on lounge / triphop / illbient / coffee shop / pot compilations like EtnicaNet's Macao Cafe series and such. I haven't found any 100% solid source yet so typically it's a lot of browsing and cherry-picking. Then again, isn't it the same for every genre?

So in that corner of the web we have an extremely biased nutjob quoting Daily Mail for scientific results? While in slightly more sensible media, we have something like this: http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/09/19/us-gmcrops-safety-idUSBRE88I0L020120919 I think I'll wait for better reviewing and reporting.

I thought Love Dub So was mostly (completely?) old material. This was new, however... As for the main question, I guess it would be Star over Parvati, the upbeat version from TIP Blue and whatnot. http-~~-//www.youtube.com/watch?v=wzJAMLwM3lA Destination Bom makes a nice end-of-set stormer too.

I had to check it and now I wonder if he's really serious. http-~~-//www.youtube.com/watch?v=TF9rl-bGcr0 According to the objective and informative Discogs profile, "Inevitably the hottest new prospect on international psy trance scene". Alright.

It sounds familiar...like I had heard it several times semi-accidentally. The rhythm is somewhat similar to Joking Sphinx - Nysos. Could it be that or related? There were that kind of grooves coming from France back then.

30k, nice.

Humm...Illogical Logic?

OK, I'm in. A grand per day and we're done.

It could be the same mix that was available as "Live at the Brotherhood Beach, Tel Aviv" in 2002. There is one track listing of it, but it differs a lot from the actual track names of Amen so it's either bogus (likely) or contains early versions of names (unlikely). The last track is listed as "Burning Up (2002 Remix)". Its progression is highly similar to the released Burning Up so there might be a bit of truth in that. Maybe a live-only mix? (Edit: try this)

This arrest took place in 2004. Apparently he had marijuana and 24 pills of benzodiazepines, which are quite commonly prescribed in the US. I haven't heard of any arrests after that - in eight years, that is. Is this a bit tame scandal? It would be easier to believe the "addicted "part if there was at least one report of repetition, I didn't find any but maybe that's just my limited research. Meanwhile, the tone of that message reminds me of this... http-~~-//www.youtube.com/watch?v=KCSA7kKNu2Y Yes, I'm heartless and I demand better scandals.

Nonono...some ways of ingesting our favourite paint solvent / neurotoxin simply are cooler than the rest. Make no mistake there.

Got it today. How's that for accurate timing?

Desiderii Marginis - Procession album It's nice, for just sitting and calming down as I started my summer holidays.

Is it possible to get this into the same order with Altar shop stuff?

It's good.

Have you ever tried? And "blindly" is absolutely the key here. People can also "definitely hear" the difference in their $20 000 speaker cables, but only if they know the setup. There's a lot of boasting around, but after a proper test many self-proclaimed golden ears have to eat their humble pie. I could quite safely make a bet that even properly encoded 256 kbps CBR or 192 kbps VBR cannot be distinguished from the original in a listening test. (However, I buy all my music in lossless, just because getting a crippled version feels wrong in the days when transfer and storage costs for lossless audio are negligible. Why buy a worse product than we had in the early 80s when CDs were introduced?)

Back in stock at Psyshop... (I ordered my copy before posting this, just in case. )

Where do all these tracks come from? This game would be more interesting if we heard something about the DJ / radio show / whatever. Now these just come from nowhere in large piles and then disappear. Besides, describing the source would also help in identification.