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IronSun

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Posts posted by IronSun

  1. So all in all, after repeated listens I must admit (and god knows I tried) that I'm a bit disappointed.

     

    The concept in my opinion is good, the somewhat slower funkier acidic approach to Goa that fits as a warm-up slot at parties. Not too much of this kind of music around these days, so I'm glad Zion is trying to present this type of Goa.

     

    It's clear where the inspiration came from, looking at the reworks from well-known oldschoolers Space Cat and Union Jack. Like I said, I applaud the intention but it still comes down to the fact that these two reworks are easily the best tracks on the compilation (with skizologic and the square coming in second, but we already knew they was good). The other tracks fail to completely grip me and some of the samples used just don't scratch my itch. Especially Basic, The Cure and Reality suffer from this. The sound is a lot more minimalistic than I'm used from Goa so that took a bit of adapting as well. Energy-levels never really rise too high.

     

    That being said, the compilation is far from bad and I still expect it to grow on me. It's just that Zion604 raised the bar to insane levels with their comps Flight 604 2, Sandi90ies 2 and the awesome debut album of Skizologic... Last weekend I had the pleasure of hearing a lot of Zion604 artists (Octapulse, Skizologic Live, Skizologic vs Shidapu, Shidapu Live) and that was just fantastic so keep on doing what you're doing Zion604!!!!

     

    Fantastic artwork though!

    • Like 1
  2. Interesting question!

     

    But why not have styles of psytrance with, without, a little bit, a bit more, still a bit more of melodies? I like both melodic and a-melodic (organic forest/good dark) psytrance. I don't think that either is better than the other, although I tend to gravitate more towards melodies because of the strong cathartic aspect a good melody has after a night of dark swampy psychedelic music that twists your head (but makes for a great time as well!).

     

    So all in all, my answer is NO! Psytrance does not need melodies per se. Is Psytrance with melodies nice? Yes! Is Psytrance without melodies nice? Yes!

     

    It all comes down to taste though when we're talking about melodies. To me, the right harmony, rhythm, placing, pacing and key of the melody used is pivotal. Most often I experience a melody as simple if it's overly simplistic and in C Major... Although these ingredients can also make for a very good one.

    • Like 1
  3.  

    Sadly only two tracks on that album was for me legendary, the rest were awesome, but no more than 3.5-4/5.

    For a Better World and Mysterious Fantasy where the only two 5/5, the 4/5 being Beyond Lightspeed. Which happens to be one of my most favorite "cocky" goa tracks. Like its basically a showoff, like "haha. Look what I did suckers. Mohohoahaha I PWNFACE SO HARD" with that melody after the awesome LUDICROUS SPEED sample- Thats how I felt anyway, lol:D

     

    But still great album ofc. I love him and top 3 new school artists:)

     

     

    But it's pure ear candy all the way through! I really like the fact that the tropical sunset is in the middle too, it kinda bridges the fluffy side and more psychedelic/in your face style of the album. Beyond Lightspeed is indeed a bit cocky :D It works wonders on the dance floor though :D (probably because of that).

     

    I'd personally go for Celestial Intelligence regarding the Kumanovo/Macedonia connection :)

     

    I would agree that from a production point of view perpetual energy is the better album but from an idea/composition point of view I still find Cosmic Dimension's debut a lot more exciting. Tracks like Nucleosynthesis, Time Beyond The Universe, Telekinetic Mind and Acid From Above have really stuck with me.

  4. Definitely go for Artifact303's awesome Back To Space! (It's still one of my favorite albums of all time)

     

    After that, also check out these:

    • Portamento - The Portal
    • M-Run - Some Run Just For Fun
    • Goasia - Dancing With The Blue Spirit
    • Lunar Dawn - Kolovrat
    • Lost Buddha - Untold Stories
    • Crossing Mind - The Inner Shift
    • E-Mantra - Arcana
    • Mindsphere - Mental Triplex - Presence
    • Cosmic Dimension - In A Special Kind Of Space
    • Skizologic - Robotized
    • Radical Distortion - 12 Dimensions

     

    I consider all of these fantastic trips in their own right. (I left out Alienapia's Goapocalipsis because I understood you already heard that one?)

    If you're done with those, you should have a pretty good understanding of how diversified 'new school' truly is (even though you'll hear a lot of it sounds all alike).

     

    Bonus VA's:

    • Erta Ale
    • Aurora Sidera
    • Flight 604 II
    • The Call Of Goa
    • The Mystery Of Crystal Worlds
    • Like 1
  5. Here we go... Tough decisions! Haven't listened to enough 2015 downtempo releases to make a top ten for those though. I real want to stress that it's been a fantastic year so a lot of very good releases just didn't make it to the top ten.

     

    Uptempo:

    1: Pleiadians - I.F.O. (DAT Records)

    2: Various - The World Beyond (Neo Goa Records)

    3: Various - The Mystery Of Crystal Worlds (Global Sect)

    4: Skizologic - Robotized (Zion604)

    5: Denshi Danshi - Fluid Dynamics (Suntrip Records)

    6: Hutti Heita - Hutti Heita (Yggdrasil Records)

    7: Various - Aurora Sidera (Suntrip Records)

    8: Arjuna - Primal Contact (Parvati Records)

    9: Lunar Dawn - Kolovrat (Neo Goa Records)

    10: Celestial Intelligence - Perpetual Energy (Suntrip Records)

  6. Well it's hard to pick only 3 releases, since a lot of Goa trance production back than in mid '90s was more psychedelic indeed, especially in terms of storytelling, production technique(s), fresh ideas and sound sculpturing. My pick isn't related to the favorite albums published, but for sure I consider these three albums to be highly innovative, weird and psychedelic among other releases from that era, at least in my personal definition of what psychedelic trance-dance music is.

     

    Pleiadians - Family Of Light

    Sandman - Witchcraft

    Battle Of The Future Buddhas - Twin Sharkfins

     

     

    I like this list a lot!

     

    It's really too hard to pick a top 3 psychedelic albums... And it could change every day again, maybe even depending on the hour of the day...

     

    Pleiadians - IFO (Nothing will ever beat the majesty of this psychedelic space opera Magnum Opus)

    MFG - Project Genesis (WHY?)

    Green Nuns Of The Revolution - Rock Bitch Maffia (still remember tripping to this album in a mate's flat, hi-la-ri-ous!!!!! Klunk is like 'WTF IS THIS SOME KIND OF JO... OMFG THATS GOOD')

     

    Like I said, this could be different tomorrow :D

    • Like 1
  7. Fluorostani Transcendence from the Unconscious Collective is just too good... I still vividly remember discovering that track. It's perfection to me, the definition of a good trip. Playful, psychedelic, awesome samples, and the climax is just fantastic!

     

    I should really do myself a pleasure and listen to some more modern of their stuff.

  8. So 2015 was a magnificent year for Goa! It's great to see labels like Zion604 and Neogoa really step up and firmly place themselves next to suntrip as the top labels in this niche of psytrance, while DAT rereleased two absolutely stellar old mega favorites and Global Sect realized something entirely different concept-wise.

     

    My top 10 was a really tough choice, I consider all of these releases to be top-notch:

     

    1. Pleiadians - IFO (DAT Records)

     

    No need for further explanation I think. It's the best Goa album of all time and Federico outdid himself on the presentation.

     

    2. VA - The World Beyond (Neo Goa)

     

    It deserved first place really, and as far as new releases go, nothing blew my mind more than this one. It's an epic achievement, and the fact this is a free release is just baffling. You have my never-ending respect Richpa and all artists working on this!

     

    3. VA - The Mystery Of Crystal Worlds (Global Sect)

     

    Part because of the great presentation, and part because it brought Artifact303 back. I love Artifact303. Great surprises from Katedra and Psy-H Project as well. A lot of good other tracks as well. CD 2 is one of my absolute favorite compilation cd's ever. Oh and did I mention I love Artifact303?

     

    4. Denshi Danshi - Fluid Dynamics (Suntrip)

     

    What a surprise! Great sound, varied tracks, true old school masters. Thanks Suntrip for bringing this act to my attention.

     

    5. Skizologic - Robotized (Zion 604)

     

    Groovy, psychedelic, pumping, acidic. My oh my this is SUCH a great album!! This was the record I grooved all summer to.

     

    6. VA - Aurora Sidera (Suntrip)

     

    Probably the best sun trip compilation up-to-date together with ten spins around the sun. The variety of the tracks, the placement, the quality... Everything just clicked with me with this VA.

     

    7. Doof - Let's Turn On (DAT Records)

     

    Doof was one of the first old-school legends I 'discovered' when I first began to dig deeper in old-school Goa back in 2009-2010. I was immediately hooked to his sound, and to this day Let's Turn On remains a very special album to me. Thanks Federico for re-releasing it in such a nice edition.

     

    8. Lunar Dawn - Kolovrat (Neogoa)

     

    This was a very pleasant surprise for me. The way they managed to merge to slavic elements with the goa elements in such an uplifting and storytelling way is a great example of how flexible this genre really is. A very talented duo that I can't wait to hear more of.

    9. Celestial Intelligence - Perpetual Energy (Suntrip)

     

    Full power melodic Goa the way it should be. The mastering on this one was a bit of a let-down as I find the record unpleasant to listen to in long stretches, but that definitely has nothing to do with the music itself as Celestial Intelligence have positioned themselves as one of the top new school Goa acts out there. Who is bringing them to Belgium?

     

    10. Radical Distortion - 12 Dimensions (Zion604)

     

    Old-school with high production quality and a cinematic approach.The guys from Radical Distortion have come a long way since their solo-debut on Suntrip Psychedelic Dreams. Great Album.

     

     

    I still have to listen to some releases from 2015, so in the definitive Psynews top 10 this could change. It's also just my selection of favorite Goa. I'd have to fit in Hutti Heita somewhere as well...

    • Like 3
  9. What can I say? One of the best releases of this year! I love it how there are still so many old-school artists for me to discover after 8 years of listening to goa!

     

    The selection of tracks is very varied, which is one of the great strengths of this album I think. Many of the tracks are absolute in-your-face acidic stompers though and MAN these hit the spot!!!

     

    Favorites are the Mariposa Live Remix, Mugwumps, that Fast Trip Straight Down The Ladder, Tsuki and the bass of that Dancing Shiva! Such a primal, satisfying feeling when it kicks in.

     

    This is dance music that makes sense, and I agree with Nammai that it feels tribal.

     

    Comparisons to Green Nuns (Especially the collab with slinky wizard) and Unconscious Collective can be made imo for the acidic tracks.

     

    Great and unexpected release!

  10.  

    彼らは知らない人のための尊重のビットを持っている必要があり、ここで何人かの人々がありますが、私たちは悪い態度を持っていない、我々は単にゴア音楽を愛し、我々は良い感じを示し、良い音楽を広めるためにここにいます。我々は、他の何かのために気にしません。何フィリペfiipe ?ここに何人かの人々はまったく意味がありませ薬を必要とします!ありがとう。

     

    Google translate? I studied Japanese for seven years, there's no Japanese on earth who would write like that.

     

    Also, your Katakana on your band camp reads "mun moon records".

     

    But hey, kudos for hanging in there and not giving up the charade.

  11. Let's see, this won't be simple:

     

    • Artifact303 - Back To Space
    • Portamento - The Portal
    • M-Run - Some Run Just For Fun
    • E-Mantra - Arcana
    • Filteria - Lost In The Wild
    • Crossing Mind - The Inner Shift
    • Mindsphere - Patience To Heaven
    • Ra - 9th
    • Khetzal - Corolle
    • Cosmic Dimension - In A Special Kind Of Space

    Honorable mentions go to Antares - Exodus, Lunar Dawn - Kolovrat, Artha - Influencing Dreams. Without regret for the music itself it needs to be said that it's a bit of a pity that this list is dominated so much by 1 label (actually 2 if you consider the relative small catalogue of Cronomi).

     

    Compilations, all ten of these are SUPERB:

     

    • Phoenix (Zion 604)
    • Ten Spins Around The Sun (Suntrip)
    • Era Ale (Cronomi)
    • Call Of Goa (Ovnimoon)
    • Flight 604 2 (Zion 604)
    • People Walk Funny (Cronomi)
    • Temple Of Chaos (Suntrip)
    • Twist Dreams (Suntrip)
    • Space Of Power (Global Sect)
    • The World Beyond (Neogoa)

    Actually the number of pretty decent compilations seems to be greater than the individual albums. Other strong contenders are Colors Of Goa (Ovnimoon), Voyager: First Plateau (Hado), Planet Riders (Dimensional), Opus Iridium (Suntrip. This only got left out of the top ten because imo Ten Spins trumps it... Monster classics like E-Mantra's voyager 2 and Artifact303's Feelings, Ethereal's Moondawn will always have a special place in my heart.), Blacklight Moments (Suntrip) and Dimensional Gateway (Neogoa).

     

    Good Topic! We should start paying more attention to these 'new' classics. Other 'goa'-related releases from the last years that really stood out for me include Ovnimoon's Trancemutation of the Mind and Psylocibian's Dreamtime although imo neither of these can be classified as pure goa.

     

    God I love New School!!

  12. This remains a fantastic compilation. Zero Gravity by Goasia is one of my favorites. Talk about your never ending bliss.

     

    I agree! Too bad it seems like they stopped releasing goa compilations....

  13. Teah TW3 looks amazing, wasn't a big fan of the 2nd (I always prefered the 1st one and its grittier, darker atmosphere, even with its stupid combat system). Only problem is the required specs..no way my PC is capable of handling that hahah.

     

    Get a PS4 so you can also get Bloodborne... Imagine... Bloodborne AND The witcher 3! hehehe

     

    I am going through the borderlands handsome collection at the moment, having fun with the psycho in borderlands 2 and the enforcer in borderlands the pre-sequel. Amazing how much value you get for your money with that collection!

     

    I'm going to keep the witcher 3 for my summer holiday, as I want to dig in deep from the get-go :D

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