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Perfect Stranger - Learning = Change (Iboga, March 2006) Artist: Perfect Stranger Title: Learning = Change Label: Iboga Format: CD (Jewelcase) Released: March, 2006 Review: Yuli Fershtat is undoubtedly one of the most important figures on the Israeli psytrance scene in the last decade. Under the name BLT he released no less 4 albums on labels like HOMMega, Krembo and Tokyo Dance - the last one being the collaboration-album "Anything U Want" with Danni Makov, released in 2004. After the release of the last album, Yuli decided to end the BLT project to concentrate on slower music, and Perfect Stranger was born. Since the launch of the Perfect Stranger project, he has already appeared on releases from labels like Iboga, Flow and Iboga, as well as having compiled the 2 Iboga compilations "Set:4" and "Hibernation", so naturally there where some expectations for his new "Learning = Change" album on Iboga. 01. Starter [130 BPM] "Starter" - well, here's a no bollocks trackname for you. The track with the well-chosen title start the show in style - no time is wasted on a long, beatless intro, instead the groove is there from the first second, and it slowly progresses, adding more and more elements along the way. A nice, laidback opening tune with a sweet melodic theme - good job. 02. Dr. Feelgood [132 BPM] The tempo is raised with "Dr. Feelgood", and it's also slightly more dancefloor oriented than the opener. A lot more stuff is going on, the percussion is more intense, and the tribal beats are deep and heavy. Another tune made with the outdoor dancefloors in mind - very cool, although still quite laidback. 03. Morning Blues [133 BPM] Ok, now we're really getting started - "Morning Blues" is by far the most intense track on the album so far, with a stomping, rolling bassline, crowdpleasing breaks and peaks and some uplifting vocals and effects. A really delicious morning stomper, blending the tribal and psychedelic with the brighter, more trancy elements to perfection. 04. Those Days [134 BPM] "Those Days" is even faster than the previous track, but not quite as intense. The groove is more reclining, and generally it's a deeper track, blending sweet, subtle melodies with the solid organic grooves. Another fine track, although I feel that it is one of the least impressive on the album as a whole. 05. Hyperdrive [130 BPM] Things get even more interesting with the next tune, with the strangely ironic title "Hyperdrive". It has a hard groove, which is a striking contrast to the deep, thoughtful atmosphere the track has overall. The melodies are absolutely wonderful, and this track definitely stands out as one of my absolute favourites on the album. A potential DJ-favourite this summer. 06. Truth (with Emok) [133 BPM] Up next is "Truth" - a collaboration with one of the founders of Iboga Records, Emok, a Dane widely known for his stunning DJ-sets and productions as part of the duo Phony Orphants. Emok bring some slightly more electro and progressive house oriented sounds into the album, and even though it's not as tribal and psychedelic as the rest of the tracks, it does work rather well. 07. Nobodys Perfect Remix [134 BPM] "Nobodys Perfect" was originally released last winter on the "Set:4" compilation, and it was Yulis first release under the Perfect Stranger name. Here is a new remix that isn’t remarkably different from the original, but does contain more power on the percussion and an extra layer of melodies. Although it, as a remix, doesn't add much to the original, this is still a good tune on its own. 08. Desert Session (with Zen Mechanics) [135 BPM] Next up is a collaboration with Zen Mechanics from Holland, also known as Spanner - undoubtedly one of the rising stars of the psytrance scene, with releases ranging from ambient over progressive house, progressive trance and full on, with a full-length album on Neurobiotic in the making. "Desert Session" is the most intense track on the album, with a heavy, rolling bassline and some seriously massive dance floor potential. 09. Schatsi - Radio Schatsi (Perfect Stranger Remix) [124 BPM] Last track is a remix of "Radio Schatsi", originally made by Yoni Oshrats (known as Ace Ventura, and previously a member of PsySex) electro-project Schatsi. It is by far the slowest track on the album, blending the somewhat commercial sounds of the original and the organic, tribal sound of Perfect Stranger - a cool, different approach for an album ending. Bottom line: Despite having released some really memorable tracks over the years, Yuli Fershtats really seem to be best on his albums. His last album as BLT, the collaboration with Danni Makov "Anything U Want" was a really strong album leaning towards full on, and "Learning = Change" is also a real treat. It is very organic and tribal, and even though all the tracks have solid 4/4 beats, the real potential is for home listening - it's a deep album that will likely need some time to grow on you, but give it some time and it will offer so much. "Learning = Change" is another high quality album from Iboga Records, and an album that proves that - despite being a part of a scene dominated by fast, stressful kiddie-trance - Israeli artists can also produce mature progressive albums with soul, depth and a very personal touch. Keep doing what you feel is right Yuli! Favourites: 1, 2, 3 (!!), 5 (!!), 8 (!!) Verdict: 9/10 Link: Iboga Records: http://www.iboga.dk

When was this released?

Artist: Vibrasphere Title: Archipelago Label: MPDQX/Digital Structures Format: CD (Jewelcase with 6-page inlay) Released: April, 2006 Review: After 3 years of waiting since their last album "Lime Structure", the Swedish duo Vibraspheres 3rd full-length album "Archipelago" is finally on the market. For me, the timing couldn't be better - after experiencing their, despite some technical difficulties, amazing liveset in the morning at my last day at the Soulclipse in Turkey, the album was available on Psyshop when I got home, and I ordered the album immediately. Vibrasphere is, to me, one of the best acts around, and alongside acts like Son Kite, Ticon and Atmos they are the forerunners of the Scandinavian progressive sound, so my expectations for the album where - to say the least - huge. 01. Tierra Azul The album starts out slow with Tierra Azul - a dubby chillout tune in the classic Vibrasphere vein with a beautiful piano, acoustic guitars and generally a smooth, organic feel. A wonderful album-opener - not too hasty unlike too many albums these days, and fans of "Manzanilla" will most likely love this lovely, optimistic opening tune. 02. Sweet September [135 BPM] After a stunningly beautiful intro with sweet female choir-pads, "Sweet September" slowly but steadily gets the party started. The first trance tune on the album, is laidback and beautiful, and the atmosphere is uplifting but still with incredible depth. The melodies are gentle and soothing, and the groove is really attractive. A very enjoyable track that sets the standard for the following tracks. 03. Reservoir [136 BPM] Next up is "Reservoir", which was recently remixed by Antix on the great "Landmark" single. The track starts with the sound of rain pouring down, and generally the atmosphere is quite suitable for rainy days - melodic and shifting back and forth between the melancholic and the positively uplifting. Another track with exceptional high sound quality, although one of the more anonymous on the album. 04. Landmark [138 BPM] "Landmark", the title-track for the album-teaser cd-single, kicks the tempo up a notch and takes the album to the next level. It is perhaps one of the strongest and most dance floor oriented tracks Vibrasphere have ever created, and it's simply an extraordinary listen - melodic, epic and downright outstanding. Definitely an anthem-tune for the upcoming summer festivals. 05. Seven Days To Daylight [140 BPM] As if "Landmark" wasn't melodic enough, the Vibrasphere guys take the album one step further with "Seven Days To Daylight". The melodies are deep and emotional, but still amazingly simple, naïve and sounds like they are clearly inspired by Jean Michel Jarre. Psytrance purists may find this too cheesy, but to me this is excellent optimistic trance, and in my opinion one of the best tunes released so far this year. Superb. 06. Morning Breeze [138 BPM] The groove in "Morning Breeze" maintains the intensity from the previous 2 tracks, although with a slightly more techy edge. Generally the track is also a bit more subtle - the melodies aren't as in-your-face and instantly likeable as in the previous 2 tracks, but overall this is yet another great track. Morning goodies. 07. Sudden Comfort [135 BPM] The last dancefloor track, "Sudden Comfort", move the album into a lower, more laidback gear. The "It's gonna be alright" male vocal-sample is gentle and soothing, and the track generally sounds like it's the oldest of the dancefloor tracks on the album - it's definitely the closest to the sound on "Lime Structure". This is still a very fine track though, and a wonderful ending for the dancefloor section on the album. 08. Baltic Resonance [126 BPM] "Baltic Resonance" is, to my knowledge, Vibraspheres first charter into breaks-territory, and the result is pretty good. This is downbeat breaks for the chillout with Vibrasphere-trademark pads and huge atmospheric effects - an interesting track, although I don't consider it among their very best downbeat productions. 09. Late Winter Storms Last but not least is another chillout track, "Late Winter Storms". Like the title suggest, the mood is rather cold, and this is the most relaxed track on the album, but in my opinion also the weakest. It is by no means bad, but by no means does it leave a big impression as the rest of the album either - a fairly good chillout tune that doesn't really stand out, but a quite pleasant ending for the album. Bottom line: Like expected, this is another wonderful album from Digital Structures and Vibrasphere. Psychedelic trance purists should probably stay clear of the album, as this is some of the cleanest, smoothest and well-produced morning trance on the market today, but I personally love the sound. It's deep, engaging and very atmospheric, embellished by some splendid, highly uplifting larger-than-life melodies, and all dancefloor tracks are highlights in their own right. A must-have for morning DJ's and listeners alike, and it is definitely up there with "Lime Structure" - although faster and more straight-to-the-point. I consider this the cream of the crop of Scandinavian trance 2006, and it's definitely one of the essential releases this year. Favourites: 1, 2 (!), 3, 4(!!), 5 (!!!), 6 (!), 7 Verdict: 9,5/10 Links: MPDQX/Digital Structures: http://www.mpdqx.com/ds Vibrasphere: http://www.vibrasphere.com

Silicon Sound Protoculture Jaïa Sub6 Wrecked Machines (although not his late cheesy hands-in-the-air Spun style) Pixel Mr Peculiar Hydrophonic Panick Allaby Astrix in his "Eye To Eye" days Check out labels Neurobiotic, Nano, Exposure Productions.

In my opinion "Triptonite" contains some of the most epic melodies ever created in the history of psychedelic trance. But yeah, the newest Etnica material isn't worth mentioning. They had a fairly good tech-trance period (which disappointed a lot of their older fans), but their newest album is garbage if you ask me. Sesto Sento is pretty good isreali full on though. Cheesy, but certainly among the best 10%.

http://www.danceconnected.net/specials.php

Recieved it today and have heard it a couple of times already - don't know if it's good or not yet, but it's certainly different than the last one.

No, luckily not.

Another picture of the collapsed stage:

He stopped a couple of minutes before the total eclipse.

There is so much I want to say, but I'll try to keep it as short as possible... The organisers had all odds against them. Before the party there where numerous reports about the lineup being a big hoax, and the party certainly got a very rough start. I arrived in Antalya airport Sunday afternoon, and got on one of the many busses to the festival - and here the trouble started. There was a checkpoint where people had to buy tickets, and it was somewhat a mess, which resulted in two of my friends (who bought tickets from others beforehand), had to buy new tickets for 180 euro a piece - I heard others had the same problems. From the checkpoint we had to get on to the festival in some old open trucks provided by the locals, and it was quite a ride on wet, slippery gravel roads, and we had to stop a few times because the roads where blocked because of the rain. But we got there anyways, and set up our tents in the dark. The first day of the festival started promising - in the daylight we could see that the location was absolutely amazing, and the weather was warm and sunny up till in the middle of the afternoon where we experienced the infamous thunderstorm. It started a few minutes before the opening-ceremony, the entire site got flooded and the main-stage collapsed - I guess you've all seen the pictures. A few hours later the alternative stage started though - I don't know who played, but everyone had huge smiles on their faces and went completely mad in the mud - a marvellous sight. After that the festival went great, with warm weather and only a little bit of rain, and continued to get better and better. All 3 soundsystems where very powerful, and the lineup was insanely good, so I missed a lot of good acts, but heard great music by acts like Beckers, FREq, Ticon, Atmos, Protoculture (cool move with the special Soulclipse intro), Andromeda, Liquid Soul (even though Andromeda and Liquid Soul would have been better in the morning or daytime) and of course Hallucinogen - even though we where sitting in the mountains to witness the eclipse, we could hear the music, and especially the roar of the crowd. I don't think I've ever heard such loud bursts of screaming and shouting at a trance-festival ever in my life, as I did during his set. Even though I missed the experience of Hallucinogen on the dancefloor, the spot we found on the mountain was amazing though - at the eclipse we had a clear view over the river and mountains, and it will forever be printed in my mind as one of the best experiences of my life. In my opinion my last day on the festival was musically the best - I got up pretty early to catch the last part of Deedrah's set, followed by a liveset by Son Kite (which started just as the sun came started to shine over the hills) starting with some dirty minimal Minilogue-sounds, and slowly getting more and more intense. Son Kite was followed by Vibrasphere, Phony Orphants, DJ Emok, Pixel and DJ Nate (Protoculture), and I had a great time on the dancefloor before I had to leave early in the night to catch a flight home. It was really impressive that they managed to get the main stage back up and running after 3 days, and even though the organisation encountered some huge problems, they worked really hard and where very friendly towards me - especially big thanks to Ozzy and Götzhlich who both helped me out a lot. Despite being short of one stage for half the festival, almost all DJ's and artists got to play - I played my 3 hour chillout set on schedule, and I was supposed to play a 2 hour set at the alternative trance-stage, but ended up playing a 1 hour set for an almost empty dance floor, due to Star Sounds Orchestra opening the main stage at the same time. Oh well, no reason to complain - it was a great honour to play at the festival, and I had a great time anyways :-) There was definitely bad stuff to be said about the festival - I have already mentioned a few things, and it's already worth mentioning that prices where very expensive, the lineup was for most part a big mess and the toilets where horrible - but all things considered it was an amazing experience, mostly because of the eclipse, the great music, the beautiful location, the international crowd and the very uplifting vibe that surrounded this festival. Hello to everyone I met in Turkey, and to everyone I would have liked to meet, but where I didn't get the chance: see you in Japan in 2009!

There is so much I want to say, but I'll try to keep it as short as possible... The organisers had all odds against them. Before the party there where numerous reports about the lineup being a big hoax, and the party certainly got a very rough start. I arrived in Antalya airport Sunday afternoon, and got on one of the many busses to the festival - and here the trouble started. There was a checkpoint where people had to buy tickets, and it was somewhat a mess, which resulted in two of my friends (who bought tickets from others beforehand), had to buy new tickets for 180 euro a piece - I heard others had the same problems. From the checkpoint we had to get on to the festival in some old open trucks provided by the locals, and it was quite a ride on wet, slippery gravel roads, and we had to stop a few times because the roads where blocked because of the rain. But we got there anyways, and set up our tents in the dark. The first day of the festival started promising - in the daylight we could see that the location was absolutely amazing, and the weather was warm and sunny up till in the middle of the afternoon where we experienced the infamous thunderstorm. It started a few minutes before the opening-ceremony, the entire site got flooded and the main-stage collapsed - I guess you've all seen the pictures. A few hours later the alternative stage started though - I don't know who played, but everyone had huge smiles on their faces and went completely mad in the mud - a marvellous sight. After that the festival went great, with warm weather and only a little bit of rain, and continued to get better and better. All 3 soundsystems where very powerful, and the lineup was insanely good, so I missed a lot of good acts, but heard great music by acts like Beckers, FREq, Ticon, Atmos, Protoculture (cool move with the special Soulclipse intro), Andromeda, Liquid Soul (even though Andromeda and Liquid Soul would have been better in the morning or daytime) and of course Hallucinogen - even though we where sitting in the mountains to witness the eclipse, we could hear the music, and especially the roar of the crowd. I don't think I've ever heard such loud bursts of screaming and shouting at a trance-festival ever in my life, as I did during his set. Even though I missed the experience of Hallucinogen on the dancefloor, the spot we found on the mountain was amazing though - at the eclipse we had a clear view over the river and mountains, and it will forever be printed in my mind as one of the best experiences of my life. In my opinion my last day on the festival was musically the best - I got up pretty early to catch the last part of Deedrah's set, followed by a liveset by Son Kite (which started just as the sun came started to shine over the hills) starting with some dirty minimal Minilogue-sounds, and slowly getting more and more intense. Son Kite was followed by Vibrasphere, Phony Orphants, DJ Emok, Pixel and DJ Nate (Protoculture), and I had a great time on the dancefloor before I had to leave early in the night to catch a flight home. It was really impressive that they managed to get the main stage back up and running after 3 days, and even though the organisation encountered some huge problems, they worked really hard and where very friendly towards me - especially big thanks to Ozzy and Götzhlich who both helped me out a lot. Despite being short of one stage for half the festival, almost all DJ's and artists got to play - I played my 3 hour chillout set on schedule, and I was supposed to play a 2 hour set at the alternative trance-stage, but ended up playing a 1 hour set for an almost empty dance floor, due to Star Sounds Orchestra opening the main stage at the same time. Oh well, no reason to complain - it was a great honour to play at the festival, and I had a great time anyways :-) There was definitely bad stuff to be said about the festival - I have already mentioned a few things, and it's already worth mentioning that prices where very expensive, the lineup was for most part a big mess and the toilets where horrible - but all things considered it was an amazing experience, mostly because of the eclipse, the great music, the beautiful location, the international crowd and the very uplifting vibe that surrounded this festival. Hello to everyone I met in Turkey, and to everyone I would have liked to meet, but where I didn't get the chance: see you in Japan in 2009!

Great picture Pavel Amazing festival by the way, will post a long review later.

3 looks like a compilation of some sort, on Arabesque it's listed as "Various Artists".

I have just recieved the information from the organizers, concerning when I am playing. Chillout stage: 22:30-01:30 the 27th Liquid Dome (alternative stage): 16:00-18:00 the 28th See you there!

Congrats on the booking Philter. Heard much great stuff about the atmosphere at the Waldfrieden events, especially the Wonderland - so I reckon you'll have a blast

They don't release just full on. Most of their compilations are concentrated on what's popular at the moment (so naturally most of them contain a lot of full on, especially in later years), but they have released some great progressive releases over the years - not only in compilations, but also the 2 Andromeda albums and the first Sonic Cube album for instance.

Thanks for the nice words I don't consider myself better than some of the others who commented in this thread though, for instance Lepton and Krell are both really top-notch skilled dj's. Krell actually taught me a lot of what I know about dj'ing, and I agree with a lot of his points made in this thread. In my cd-case I have the bpm's of all the tracks written down - I mean, I am carrying all these cd's in a case, and therefore I have to make tracklists for each cd anyways - so why not write down the bpm as well? I can beatmix tracks without having the bpm's at hand, but I don't really see why I should do it, when I can easily save some seconds on each mix this way, and therefore concentrate on other aspects on the mix. If that makes me a "lesser DJ" in some peoples eyes, then so be it.

Artist: Vibrasphere Title: Landmark Label: MPDQX/Digital Structures Format: CDS Released: March, 2006 Review: After over 3 years of waiting since their last album "Lime Structure", the Swedish duo Vibrasphere is now finally on the brink of releasing their 3rd album "Archipelago". Almost since their first release 7 years ago, Vibrasphere has been considered among the forerunners of the Scandinavian progressive sound, and in my opinion their 2nd album "Lime Structure" is one of the most essential progressive trance albums ever released. Therefore my expectations are very for "Archipelago", but luckily Vibrasphere and their label Digital Structures have just released a small CD-single as a teaser for the upcoming album, containing 4 previously unreleased tracks and remixes. 01. Landmark [138 BPM] The title-track "Landmark" opens the single in style. The intro is excellently crafted, starting with some industrial percussion and slowly building tension before the going full throttle after 2 minutes. After that it's just pure aural pleasure - after the last couple Vibrasphere releases, which where around 130-132 BPM I was expecting something slower and more subtle, but this is highly euphoric pumping progressive trance of the absolute best kind. Amazing. 02. Reservoir (Antix Remix) [128 BPM] Up next is the Hayden brothers from New Zealand, who return the Vibraspheres favour of remixing the Antix track "Forever Changing" on the "Twin Coast Remixes" compilation a few months ago. "Reservoir" is from the upcoming album, so I obviously don't know how the original sounds, but Antix' version is definitely very enjoyable. The sound is, like most of the material on "Twin Coast Discovery", very soft and gentle, with addictive housey grooves and a trancy big-room atmosphere. Sublime. 03. Emotional Fugitive [135 BPM] * Like the opener, "Emotional Fugitive" also has a very appealing and atmospheric intro, and the track itself is also easily recognisable as Vibrasphere. Not quite as pumping and energetic as the opener, but with an equal amount of stunning pads and heavily reverbed silky-smooth effect. The melodies are more distinct and have a little more euro-trancy edge - without ever getting overly cheesy. Another delicious track. 04. Manzanilla (2005 Mix) * We go into downbeat territory with the last track, which is Vibraspheres own 2005-version of the classic "Manzanilla". "Manzanilla" was originally released on the "Lime Structure" album, and has since then been played at virtually every psychill around the world. The new version has a lot of new layers, and the general sound is much more detailed - but it is still built upon the famous and easily recognizable acoustic guitar melodies from the original, and I can easily imagine it getting a new "hit". * Note that on the tracklist on the cover and on the CD itself "Manzanilla (2005 Mix)" is written as track 3, and "Emotional Fugitive" is written as track 4. Obviously the Manzanilla remix is really track 4 though, so I have concluded that a mistake has been made somewhere in the pressing/printing process, and therefore corrected it in the tracklist in my review. Bottom line: As if my expectations for "Archipelago" weren't big enough beforehand, the "Landmark" single manages to make them skyrocket. Vibrasphere are simply one of the most impressive acts when it comes to fluid, lush progressive morning-trance, and all 4 tracks here are gems. A thing that also needs mentioning is the cover-art - CD singles are generally not among the prettiest, but the artwork here is a perfect match to the music. Simple, but smooth and very appealing. If you have liked any of Vibraspheres releases in the last many years, do yourself a favour and buy this release. Another landmark from Vibrasphere and Digital Structures. Favourites: 1(!!), 2(!!), 3, 4 Verdict: 9/10 Link: MPDQX/Digital Structures: http://www.mpdqx.com/ds Vibrasphere: http://www.vibrasphere.com

The design is very appealing. Great work once again basilisk

WTF!?

I'm going as well. I'm playing at both the progressive and the chillout stage, so come over and say hi when I'm done

It's at Bryggen, forget about going. The venue will be absolutely filled, there will be bad atmosphere and lousy deco (sometimes no deco at all), and the progressive stage is a joke.

It must be a joke.