pedro

I am not sure what Apparat is doing in this section since it is has zero to do with trance. Perhaps it should be moved to the general section. Having said this, this is Apparat's best release, a worthy effort, and I heartily recommend a listen. I do hate the term IDM - I think "electronica" or "leftfield" are probably better terms. The "IDM" moniker is just so...90s in my opinion. I will resist giving recommendations in the genre, but just to say that of all the artists so far mentioned in this thread, if I would have to choose one I would choose Abfahrt Hinwil - theirs was a fantastic release and the best thing to come out of the now seemingly defunct (and somewhat over-rated) Toytronic label. Pedro PS This is not related musically - but am I the only one who thinks Pantha-du-Prince walks on water?

I also don't see such a great similarity between Vibrasphere and Sun Control Species. So far, I am enjoying the SCS release more than Vibrasphere's.... Pedro

Charlie, I could not help notice you have an Isotek (the Titans I think) for your mains. I am glad to see it works in your system. I have had terrible results with it - it seems to rob dynamics from my system. Apparently my Pass Labs amp already filters and adjusts for the dodgy mains current and the Titan is just overkill. However, on the other hand, quality mains cable make a positive difference in my system. Pedro

Wanted to really like this CD, but I find it not interestingly enough. It is not bad (Cosmosis does strike a decent balance between old-style and new full-on) - but the release is really not that special and is not worth me buying it. The music will probably sound better in a party and I look forward to seeing Cosmosis at the Glade Festival in a few weeks' time. Pedro

I am also eager for Atmos's next.

Has a couple of decent tracks but it is indeed devoid of ideas at times. Not recommended. Pedro

Its not bad, but there are better Kompakt releases.

This album is not so special in my opinion. Was not moved to buy it from the samples and would not encourage somebody to do so. But what a great DJ he is! Looking forward to hearing him at Glade Festival. Not recommended. Pedro

Good album from Sound Field. Tracks 1 and 3 are indeed great fun although the rest of the album never quite reaches those lofty heights. I also like the closing track. Several of the remaining tracks are competent (like 4) without being special. The dub track, however, is pretty blah. On balance, I do like this CD and am glad I purchased it. But I get the feeling that these chaps (particularly Prosect) can put in more winners on the next album. Recommended. Pedro

Very nice album. This is proof that in the midst of much mediocrity in ambient psy trance there are a few people who can put out an album which is consistently good. It can be a bit samey as you listen through all the tracks, but overall I would give this album a strong recommendation. Pedro

I liked the two Gi'iwa compilations (well, I like Schizm quite better), but I think this album is too uneven to warrant a positive recommendation. Most of the tracks are busy without actually being interesting in terms of ideas. Some decent tracks like 6 and 7. Pedro

To my ears, this album is a definite step up from his previous effort. I enjoyed the album more than I thought I would. It does have a few weak tracks, e.g. 2 and 8, but on average this is a strong release and does garner a positive recommendation from myself. This is better than the other Twisted stuff (such as the latest Koxbox) being released. Pedro

Your amp has 500 Watts into 8 ohm. Usually the wattage that is quoted is the one into 8 ohms with two channels. Most amps increase their wattage as they meet stronger resistance. I am not an expert at all on pro systems (I listen to hi-fi). But it sounds to me that your amp might be the problem - it seems like it is probably having trouble supplying stable, constant current. Have it checked out. Pedro

People often have amazing misconceptions about speakers. First of all, speakers do not have WATTS. WATT is a measure of power - amplifiers do WATTs. Speakers do not. One can talk about how many WATTs a speaker can handle, but even then it is not always a good indicator. Secondly, the most common (by far) reason why speakers blow up is not because the amp is too strong for the speakers and pushed it to the edge. Rather the opposite is true. The amp is not strong enough to drive the speaker beyond a certain decibel level and as you push it the amp starts giving up and starts spiking. It is these spikes which then destroy the speakers. Often you can hear these clipping noises - if you do, this is not a good sign. Turn down the amp. So what are the ideal speakers? It does depend on lots of variables but if you want speakers to go loud without blowing up you should check their impedence and their sensitivity. These give you an idea of how difficult a pair of speakers are to drive. In fact, you can calculate (roughly) how loud a speaker can play in decibels if you know the speaker's sensitivity and the amp's wattage. For simplicity purposes I will skip the question of impedence (usually the higher the better, 8ohm being quite nice, but there are other aspects to consider as well since it is a matter of an impedence curve and not a single number) and just focus on sensitivity (or efficiency). Speakers are usually rated at how many decibels sound pressure level (SPL) of sound they will make one metre away if 1 watt of power is applied. You then need to apply roughly twice the wattage to add another 3db of sound. So if a speaker says it is 85db efficient it will take you 128 watts to make it go 106db (fairly loud). This is calculated as follows : 106-85=21 db increase. That is seven steps of 3db, seven times you double . 1 -> 2,4,8,16,32,64,128 watts. If your speaker was rated as 100 db (which is equite efficient) you would only need 4 watts. 106-100= 6db. 2 steps of 3db 1-> ,2,4. Therefore, the second speaker sounds 32x louder than the first one. You would need an amp 32x (!!) stronger for the first speaker than the second speaker to get to the same loudness. If you had a 50 watt amp on the first speaker you could probably destroy the speaker if you went too loud. A 50 watt amp on the second speaker would drive it comfortably to ear deafening levels without any damage to the speaker or amp. There is also the question of how many db a speaker can go before it starts to misbehave. But the point I am trying to make (in a simplified manner) is (1) to make sure you get an efficient speaker (2) it is measured in db per 1 WATT and not WATTs (3)and make sure your amp can handle the speaker to the noise levels you want. Usually within the same speaker range of the same company, a larger speaker will go louder because it is easier to drive. Think of the energy that you use to bang on a small drum and on a large drum. With the same energy (i.e. WATTs), you make a larger noise with the large (or more efficient drum). Hope this helps. Pedro

I am glad Emmanuhell did edit his response. His previous one did made him look even more like a twat than his current response. At any rate, Emmanuhell obviously has problems expressing himself. As far as the best of 2006 voting is concerned, I welcome it. The actual ranking is less interesting to me than the CDs being mentioned. And like most people, I will not take the fact that one CD is ranked 6th, it means that it is more appreciated or better than one ranked 9th. In my view, what is interesting in doing this exercise is seeing what CDs other people enjoyed the most in 2006 - giving me a few pointers on other CDs to explore. The rankings themselves I believe are of secondary importance - but they are a good way of organising people's opinions and preferences. If you have the info - why not rank them. As long as you don't take it too seriously. Perhaps some people really do attach huge significance to the rankings themselves - but they are a minority. If it was up to me, however, I would just collect people's unranked top 5 CDs, assigning 1 point each, and then only rank them in the final group collected list. Pedro

Choosing 5 of the best releases is an interesting exercise. I personally find it pointless then to rank them 1 to 5. Perhaps because that is not how my thought process tends to work - of course I like my CDs in varying levels, but to do a 1 to 5 or a 1 to 10 ranking seems a bit artificial to me. It would be better, in my view, to just collect the top five CDs from everybody, assign equal points and then do the ranking. At any rate, here are five of my favourite CDs from this year. I have ordered them alphabetically - you may assign 1 to 5 points or you may give each of them 3 points (my preferred choice). Downbeat Liquid vol. 1 Igneous - Skip Insect Perfect Stranger - Learning = Change Tegma - Around the World Various - Gear I also do not know why some of you add non-Psy releases to your lists. Here are some of my favourite non-psy stuff from this year (in no particular order). This is what this old man has been grooving to this year. Donnacha Costello - 6*6=36 Various - min2max (Minus) Kode 9 + Spaceape - Memories of the Future MadLib - The Beat Konducta vol. 1 & 2 The Nova Dream Sequence - <interpretations> Bodycode - Conservation of electric charge Various - Offbeats 3.0 (Subversiv) Various - Elektronishe Musik Interkontinental 5 Post Industrial Boys - Trauma Pedro

Nowhere as astonishing as "After 10 years...", Far East Technology is still a fun release. Several tracks are on the borderline as far as the clubby and cheese factors are concerned (e.g. the first four tracks are on the wrong side), but there also some stuff that will put a smile on your face, like tracks 6 and 8. Tracks 5 and 11 are also enjoyable. There is a definite feel-good vibe throughout the CD. I give this CD a moderate recommendation. I bought it and am not sorry. Pedro

It is good to see a regular-speed psy-trance artist choosing not to making typical ambient trance when it is time to slow down. And Electrypnose almost pulls it off completely. There are some great tracks in this album - particularly 2, 6 and 10. But there are several mediocre ones such as 3, 4, 5 and 8. All in all, I would recommend this album and am encouraged by its attempt to be somewhat different. Pedro

This compilation is very different from the very tasty JP Noir. Nevertheless, I also very much enjoyed this CD and would recommend people give it a listen. It may not be particularly psychedelic, but it is bloody good fun well done. I hope to hear more from bpf records. My favourite tracks - 1,2,3,4,6,7 Pedro

Not all the Toytronic stuff is brilliant, but it is a worthy label. Martin Haidinger, however, is quite special. I actually rate the Abfahrt Hinwil (Links Berge Rechts Seen) CD much higher than the Gimmik releases. I would recommend the Abfahrt album without hesitation. That is the HIGHLIGHT of the Toytronic label. I do not think the Toytronic label is active anymore - either that or they are doing a good impersonation of being dead. Pedro

My views on the matter are as follows: (1) First of all I think Trentmoller is vastly over-rated. Frankly, I do not understand what the fuss is all about. (2) Isan and Schnauss are not that great either (Isan better than Schnauss). Although I confess to having purchased their albums in the past and still consider Isan's Lucky Cat to be a very nice release. It is not a bad label, but a lot of the Morr Music releases can be a bit iffy (although there are some fine ones as well...). (3) I bloody hate the term "IDM". Particularly when it is used to describe stuff like the above artists. (4) I, too, think that a lot of the Psy chill stuff is glorified muzak. And, yes it is the Entheogenic, Schulman style generic stuff which really gets my goat. This is not to say that there are not plenty of interesting psy chill tracks - there are, and I will happily concede as much. However, a lot of tracks should simply not be released. Of course, I do appreciate that this is an accusation that can also be levelled at 'regular' psy trance as well (e.g. the full-on, or the dark psy). I do not believe that saying "psy-chill sucks" is necessarily being unconstructively negative. Rather, I feel it can also be taken as a pointed lamentation which perhaps some might treat as a exhortation to improve quality in the genre (ignoring the matter of how ill-defined the "genre" is), . Hopefully, it will also encourage us to seek out the better releases and share the information with others in wonderful sites such as this one. In its defense, it can be said that while a lot of the psy chill is clearly an unambitious and less challenging form of music, it nevertheless can still achieve its aim - to provide some relaxing music. In this context, much of psy chill does 'work'. Perhaps, this is destiny (in some cases, the overt aim) of much of the psy chill body of music. Finally, I do want to make it quite clear that I do buy psy-chill here and there. Pedro

Place was too crowded (at least for this old man) and the bar was semi-chaotic. On the whole I had a good time even though I had a rather strange trip. Musically, the highlights were the Process and Green Nuns sets. Two further points: (1) No guitars should be allowed on stage (2) Neither should Raja Ram. Pedro

Some decent tracks (such as 7, 8 and 9), but I think some of the praise in this thread is excessive. It is above average full-on, but not that special. In its genre, I have heard far worse. And yes, I am damning this release with faint praise. Pedro

There are no Psy-trance releases in SACD format. Nor will there be any. At any rate, SACD is pretty much a dying format. The closest you will find to psy-trance is Paul Van Dyk's Reflections. Given that the trend among psy-trance community is to rip-off music using awful sounding MP3, I seriously doubt there is a market for SACD. Pedro