Basilisk

Awesome. I had those vinyls back in the day... but digital quality is best!

I figured you might have something in the works

A recent thread about what your preferred BPM range got me thinking... when we go back to the roots (podcast here), to the very early sound of Goa trance, much of it was way slower than the highly-energetic stuff that began to emerge in the mid-nineties (and has since acted as the template for the new school Goa trance revival). There was a time when 120 to 130 BPM was perfectly normal for peak-time dance floor action. Speaking as someone who is really into the deeper end of this tempo (I've been moonlighting as a house music DJ for some time now but shhh, don't tell anyone) I feel like there's a notable lack of really good dance floor-blasting new school Goa trance between 120 and 130 BPM. This isn't to say that there isn't any at all... but much of what's out there takes a more relaxed approach. You know how it goes; plenty of artists release an album full of mind-melting Goa melodies at ~148 BPM with a 120 BPM downtempo trance finale tacked on at the end... or we get some kind of Ultimae-influenced deep trance style that is very nice to hear but won't keep people moving. What I wonder is this: what if the slower stuff were treated as the main course, not an after-dinner mint? It would require an entirely different approach... more than just slowing the tempo down you also need to write in a different way to keep the energy levels high. A couple examples of what I'd like to see more of: (More examples welcome, of course... but just think of stuff that you could play on the main stage, not in the chill dome.) The challenge, in a nutshell: let's hear more upbeat (as opposed to chilled out) new school Goa trance below 130 BPM! And while I'm dreaming I may as well request a bit more direct influence from EBM, industrial, disco, early techno, and so on... the new school sound is, at times, a little too boxed in for my wide-ranging taste switch off the Etnica and Dimension 5 and throw on what they were listening to back then for inspiration... this is a good start!

So this guy was just trolling? He's banned: http://www.psynews.org/forums/index.php/topic/69079-what-happened-to-ravantion/ For anyone surfing in out of curiosity I'd suggest reading the distribution policy on the site: http://www.ektoplazm.com/distribution This is a common charge. Some perspective: Ektoplazm is committed to diversity... this means that not everything is going to be to everyone's taste. My yardstick is "will visitors to the site enjoy this?" There's some guesswork involved, of course, and since I give breaks to new and non-standard projects the quality is not always super high, but I feel that it is my duty to take some chances now and then. One wrinkle: some labels have come to rely on Ektoplazm for distribution so I have a hard time turning down their applications when the releases are, in my opinion, sub-par. Negotiation behind the scenes to beef up a track list or re-master a release are not uncommon. Anyway, it's not a perfect system by any means, but I don't want anyone to think that quality standards are low and that you can send in whatever.

Haha, occasionally. I do try and limit forum time but I lurk now and then to see what people are saying and I always read the reviews!

Dolmot, I think you're right about that... here's the originals. Razor's Edge - The Zoo: Sunkings - Starbuck:

Good ear... how about the other two? I'm also curious about opinions of the legality (or even creative justification) for doing this sort of thing... seems a bit dodgy but it's obviously a complex issue. Here's an article I dug up that might be of interest: http://www.residentadvisor.net/feature.aspx?1460

I am only peripherally aware of a subculture of disco re-edits based on polishing up obscure old records and re-releasing them, usually on vinyl. I suppose the idea is to breathe new life into forgotten music? Anyway, a friend of mine passed on links to a re-edit that was immediately familiar to me (and will probably be familiar to you as well). Check this out: There's also this one, can anyone ID it? Sounds super familiar: Have a look at the promo text for the release: http://www.rushhour.nl/distribution_detailed.php?item=74939 They've also got two more here not without samples on Youtube: http://www.rushhour.nl/distribution_detailed.php?item=77821 Here's their profile on Discogs (which will allow you to follow the trail back to Atomic Records of all places...): http://www.discogs.com/artist/3766554-Full-Circle-16

I'm really proud of these old school mixes: http://www.ektoplazm.com/mixes/dj-basilisk-circadian-rhythms http://www.ektoplazm.com/mixes/dj-basilisk-moonshadow http://www.ektoplazm.com/mixes/dj-basilisk-in-exile http://www.ektoplazm.com/mixes/dj-basilisk-live-at-regenerate-2011

01 - Artificial Bloodline (80 BPM) 02 - Neuronal Interface (178 BPM) 03 - Distress Beacon (177 BPM) 04 - Monolithic (179 BPM) 05 - Bio-Magnetic Tunnel Transport (179 BPM) 06 - Stinger (178 BPM) 07 - Sol Nexus (160 BPM) 08 - Constellations (179 BPM) 09 - The Outcast Of Deadspace (150 BPM) Cybernetika makes a triumphant return to Ektoplazm with Solar Nexus, the long-awaited follow-up to Colossus, released nearly three years ago. In that time Cybernetika has been working hard to further refine his ground-breaking fusion of psychedelic trance and drum ‘n bass, uniting these disparate genres under the aegis of far-future science fiction storytelling. Download it direct from Ektoplazm in MP3, FLAC, or WAV: http://www.ektoplazm.com/free-music/cybernetika-solar-nexus

All my earnings were recycled into digital music distribution online... mastering all those releases on my label wasn't always free and don't even get me started on hosting costs

Actually, "neotrance" is a thing, though it might not be what you think it is. Classic example: Minilogue and Extrawelt also qualify.

I once had thousands... now I own nothing physical.

I'd love to work with Intriga to get his music out there again. It isn't as if I haven't tried...

Not many. I saw Filteria a few years ago and he was great. I also caught one of Shakta's old school DJ sets, though that might not really count. I need to get out more!

Don't forget about Eat Static! Mandrake is such a beauty... and they have many more, some seldom mentioned, like Flapscratcher... Another new artist to watch is Mindex; he's got some tunes up on Ektoplazm if you want to give his work a sampling.

Have you tried clicking on a track title?

Yeah, me too! I liked his work so much that I gave him a $300 advance on a release. Then he disappeared.

Believe it or not I moved here to work on Ektoplazm. Lower cost of living = more time to code, post music, etc. There are cheaper places to live but Taiwan offers great value and keeps me productive. I like it here in Taipei but I'm thinking of moving south to Tainan for a change of scenery. Make sure to get to the east coast if you have a chance; it's a world apart from the endless concrete, tile, and smog of the west.

I've not heard much about Zhongli

Yeah, Taipei, though I may be on the move in the next couple of weeks.

I've been based out of Taiwan for the last year. There is a scene here but it seems fairly insular, at least in my experience. The one exception is Earthfest, which took a break early this year but will return in the fall. Good luck!

There is a CUE file included with the mix. You can use software like this to split the files... or you can load the CUE file into a compatible player like Foobar2k and you'll be able to skip between tracks. There's not too much of a point in splitting the mix though... some of those mixes are pretty tight and you only get a minute or two of a song without another song being mixed in or out.

DJ Basilisk proudly presents The Colours Of Ektoplazm, a 5-hour, 69-track midtempo and downtempo odyssey featuring 100% Creative Commons licensed content released through the Ektoplazm free music portal. This mix explores the incredible diversity of Ektoplazm's electronic music catalogue, shifting seamlessly between intricate breakbeat patterns and pulsating four-by-four rhythms, touching on all points of the sonic spectrum from deep trance and psy dub to psybreaks, glitch, IDM, and beatless ambient. Download it from Ektoplazm in MP3, FLAC, or WAV: http://www.ektoplazm.com/free-music/dj-basilisk-the-colours-of-ektoplazm Stream it now on Mixcloud: http://www.mixcloud.com/Basilisk/dj-basilisk-the-colours-of-ektoplazm/ New to Ektoplazm? Read all about the story so far: http://www.ektoplazm.com/blog/a-beginners-guide-to-ektoplazm

Yes, this has totally occurred to me... the 1990s were a crazy, tumultuous time, but the Internet Age somehow managed to facilitate islands of stability where some of the old styles that were only briefly touched upon could be explored in greater depth...