the goa constrictor

Artist: Vishnudata Album: Vishnudata Label: Exogenic Records Artist MySpace Page: myspace.com/vishnudatabase OMG OMG OMG! The leader of the rainbow colored unicorn army is back! And while the unicorns are no longer visible on the album, I can tell that Valo (aka: Vishnudata) has hidden them throughout the tracks on his new album -simply titled ‘Vishnudata’. Vishnudata is the Psychedelic Trance moniker of Valo Lankinen and his first album ‘Dreamforce’ was released by Space Boogie Records back in 2007. Dreamforce has been one of those albums that I have been meaning/wanting/forgetting to review ever since it came out. Life is hard and filled with too much to do and too little time; somehow I just never wrote the review I wanted to. Two years later, Vishnudata is back with an album on Exogenic Records that is a very pleasant compliment to both his first album and his current Electric Arc releases as well. When it comes to progressive and minimal psychedelic tech-trance, Vishnudata is one of the select few who can blend the minimal progressive melodies of Son Kite with enough X-Dream like hook to keep you interested. Vishnudata dances the fine line of that laid back rainbow unicorn chunky groove that would almost be the summation of Midi Miliz/Extrawelt meets Robert Miles. The energy is at once both calming and engaging. It’s like driving a car when stoned and you inadvertently drive 5 mph under the speed limit because you feel that you are driving too fast. Vishnudata’s two albums compliment each other nicely as well. With balances like Too Slow and Silver Falls or Enter the Womb and Relux, the two albums benefit from one another greatly while each still remains an individual and independent thought through piece of work. The electronic music scene in the United States is a weird place. There are the clubs, the illegal underground, the mainstream massives, the hippie spirit fests, the house parties, the after-parties, the ravers, the hipsters, the goths, the hippies, the anarchists, the laptops versus vinyl versus cd versus live, the old school and -of course- the new school too; Valo writes music that has a decent amount of crossover appeal for all of these. It works in the clubs and it still maintains its forest and valley roots and integrity. The sun rises, the air opens up, and music reverberates on a different level. Totoro Temple or Mental Sticks are echoing throughout the valley. Am I Dreaming or Silver Falls bouncing off of the trees while dancers keep the floor jumping up and down, the warmth of the campfire no longer needed. Or a claustrophobic, sweaty, loud cement box club. Noise From Far or Planets in Line pulsing out of the speakers as you make your way back to the dance floor after getting a new drink from the bar. It all works . . . and it is all fantastic. Vishnudata has crafted an album that works on many ravelengths and that is a nice treat. So, while Vishundata may have left the rainbow unicorns off of the artwork of the new album, the spirit is still alive within the core of the music . . . and that’s the important part. xoxox -A’damn

And the great EvsY are back with another rockin’ album of uptempo insane dance music. If memory serves, this is album 4 from this duo and it is as slamming, funky, bouncy, and danceable as the rest of their catalog. I’m currently hanging out in the lovely (lol) Philadelphia airport and have a few hours to kill before my connecting flight. While sitting here, I decided to finally give this album a listen and try to bust out a review. We’ll see if I can manage to do this. I think I need a drink. LoL. If you’re familiar with previous Eraser vs. Yöjalka albums and tracks, you have a good idea of what to expect. If you are not familiar with their previous albums, you should fix that. Also, here is what to expect: quick snappy pacing and tempos, nice nice nice bass lines, melodies that are sometimes super cheesy and stringy, other times more subtle and in the back of the mix, percussion that skips and frolics about, and an overall sense of warming, unusual and complex psychedelia. In a lot of ways, this is the perfect soundtrack for sitting at this airport, in this weird rocking chair, while watching everyone pass by. Everyone is on a mission to go somewhere and a good number of them are walking with a sense of purpose. Most are happy, some are confused, a few seem tired and burnt out. Kind of like this album. It is happy and upbeat, but fast and confusing. It can exhaust you at times, but the exhaustion is a good exhaustion, as it is an exhaustion founded upon travels and journeys and new experiences. While this album feels like a proper Eraser vs. Yöjalka album, it doesn’t feel rehashed or uninspired. This isn’t cookie-cutter GMS psychedelic trance music. This album feels as if it were written with a very specific purpose in mind. That of making you sweat. Preferably in a forest. I kind of wish I was still at **GO4 P4RTY 4** right now, as that would be a great place to be blasting this album. Instead I am simply in this airport. With shitty headphones on. If this album is this massive sounding on these headphones, it will be even more massive on a real sound system. Hells yeahs. So that’s about it. This album rules. It has nicely kept me company while killing many hours at an airport and I can’t wait to listen to it when at a place I am allowed to dance at too. xoxox -A’damn

[here's my review taken from: http://www.goaconstrictor.com/blue-planet-corporation-a-blue-print-for-survival/ ] A new album from Blue Planet Corporation. A new double-album from Blue Planet Corporation. A new freshly remastered double-album from Blue Planet Corporation. A new freshly remastered double-album featuring classics and unreleased material from Blue Planet Corporation. Honestly, I am a bit short on words to describe and praise this monumental release. Blue Planet Corporation has always held a special place in my heart of hearts, and they always will. [editor's note: I am well aware that Blue Planet Corporation is now only Gabriel and that Christophe has not been involved in a long time, but I am still going to refer to BPC in the plural form throughout this review]. Blue Planet Corporation is one of a rare breed of artists who can walk the line of squelchy psychedelic power trance with that of blissful soothing morning progressive trance. The fat well-rounded bass lines. The driving melodies and various tempos. Some songs are quite fast, others are quite slow. The pacing changes and drives. There are stabbing synths. Harsh feedback squelches. There are swirling layers running back and forth, leading you on various journeys down the corridors of tranquility. It’s all here. Music that is simultaneously driving and fast, while being calming and peaceful. How they pull this off is beyond me. Very few artists can strike this balance. Normally it is one or the other, but Blue Planet Corporation have managed to do the unlikely and have blended the worlds perfectly. And they have been doing this since 1993. 1993. Listen to Hemo Static 2 or Telekinetic and tell me that if you heard that in 1993 you wouldn’t have be blown away. Knowing when the music was made gives it even more class, but nothing on here is dated and nothing on here is given a pass simply because it is old. Using age to defend music is not a good defense. The music wins because it is that damn good. Luckily, I have been listening to most of disk one for years, as it is all old released material. I’ve been able to enjoy these energies and these worlds, but many of you haven’t. And the newly remastered versions are bloody wonderful to listen to as well. Then there is disk 2. Chock-full of unreleased material by Blue Planet Corporation, and the 1997 Flying Rhino ‘Cyclothymic’ 12″ too. Wow. It’s hard to believe that this much excellent music never got released back when it was written. It is all so good and still as timeless as ever. Damn. This album really is very good and my lacking ability to describe it is starting to frustrate me. How do I convey the energy and sounds within this massive double-album? How do I remind you that simply because most of it is 15 years old, doesn’t mean it sounds dated? How do I express that you should BUY this album and support this concept and this music? It’s hard to do. I’d say check out the Blue Planet Corporation MySpace page for some sample tracks, but MySpace can be a pain in the ass. I guess I can just reaffirm, again and again, that this is worth picking up. If you’re familiar with anything BPC has done, rest assured that all the new unreleased stuff on here is just as stellar and high quality as the released stuff that you know and love. And if you own the previously released 12″s as well, this is still worth picking up for the nice remastered sound and for the ease of having the music on one convenient digital format. I suppose if I had to find one fault, problem, complaint, it would be that I kind of wish that this was also released in a nice DJ friendly 10-vinyl edition. An all nice and remastered, thick gatefold record pressing would be totally sweet. Blue Planet Corporation has always ranked up there with the likes of Slinky Wizard, Process, Prana, Green Nuns of the Revolution, and Juno Reactor. There was always something unique about these artists that most others have never captured. None of these artists really exist anymore and that is sad. But we do have this new BPC release now and hopefully DAT Records will continue to pull items out of those DAT bags for a longtime to come. And maybe this release will motivate Gabriel to make some new trance music and put the chill-out music on hold for a bit. We need some new energy from the Blue Planet world. I think it is time. xoxox -A’damn