Chis

SynSUN - Unstoppable Spliff Music 2007: SP2CD018 Disc 1: Psytrance (72:57) 1 Dancing Machines (8:00) 2 Unstoppable (Album Version) (6:55) 3 Science Fiction (7:02) 4 Embryo (7:57) 5 Ride The Lightning (7:24) 6 Psy Hit (8:06) 7 Vampiria Night (9:37) 8 On The Tron (Bonus Track) (8:00) 9 MDK (9:52) Disc 2: Freestyle (71:40) 1 Zak (2:28) 2 Neo (6:08) 3 Laser Show (5:36) 4 Asian Dub (5:58) 5 DNA (7:50) 6 Sleep Now (6:48) 7 Classical (3:43) 8 Slow Down (6:28) 9 Eldar (7:36) 10 Storm (5:50) 11 Reason To Live (3:14) 12 Ragga Fagga (7:42) 13 Guitar Particle Illusions (2:13) A brief note: Well, here it is. I hope that I'm not the only one here that needed a change of pants after reading the announcement for this monstrous double album! SynSUN are two gifted, talented musicians that clearly pour a lot of love, time and effort into their music. Sure, their production shares sounds and styles of other psytrance artists, but considering how insular this genre is nowadays, you have to expect this. So why do they stand out? Melodies, arrangements, structures, every aspect of their music screams of a greater depth and ability than many other trance artists (psy or otherwise). I would dare to say that these guys and Safi Connection (and perhaps Sattel Battle) are pretty much the only artists bringing any sort of creativity to, at least melodic, psy any more. (I'm not talking Goa here, we have Suntrip after all ) What of the album itself? Well, I'll be honest, I've barely heard it through once so far. But I can already tell you that it is an overwhelming journey, overflowing with great melodies, breakdowns, and sounds. And as much as I love the trance disc, the freestyle disc is possibly even better. Some slow trance tracks, downbeat tunes, chillout numbers, but not a whiff of generic Shpongle New Ageiness. And quite a bit of guitar. Yes, guitar! No cheesy power-chord riffage either, but lots of understated, sympathetic soloing on tunes like Laser Show, Sleep Now and Guitar Particle Illusions. If you have even the slightest love for the Ozric Tentacles, you need to hear this! Perhaps I'll add some more to this over the next few weeks, but for now I'd urge EVERYONE on this forum to get this album. For a genre so steeped in copycats and mindless "sound effect" full-on artists, an album such as Unstoppable doesn't come along too often, and you'll be missing out if you don't try it. Samples :- http://www.juno.co.uk/products/255816-01.htm http://www.spliff-music.co.nr/synjukebox.html http://www.spliff-music.co.nr/syn1jukebox.html

Not even that. This is merely 80s metal riffs married to a generic psytrance bassline and drums. It's really, very embarrassingly cheesy. Yes, cheesy - THIS is cheesy. Safi haters take note, you have no good reasons to defend IM any more, this is dumb music for teens off their tod on <Insert Current Drug Of Choice >. Christ, what a come down from Bust A Move.

So far the only track that's really waking me up is Talpa's. Probably because he actually has a lead melody playing over the Endless Derivative Goa Arps , which is all that I heard on the first three tracks. Cosmic Silence: One note bassline (most of the time). Shame on you! Fucking hell I'm picky nowadays. I still enjoy Apsara though.

Get yer ears cleaned! If more goa albums sounded as warm and Not-Computer-Produced* as Backfire does, I'd be happier. *I have no idea what Transwave used to produce these tracks, but I'm guessing an Atari ST purely to sequence lots of HARDWARE synths. Likely, isn't it? Also, I have to say, coming out at the same time as Twist Dreams, it shows who the real goa geniuses are: Transwave were able to compose far FAR better melodies and modulations than anyone that's had a release on Suntrip, I'm afraid. Khetzal isn't far off, and initially I thought Filteria had it as well, but his second album is much weaker.

Chis: http://www.myspace.com/chischis http://www.chis.nildram.co.uk/chis Casimir's Blake: http://www.myspace.com/casimirsblake http://www.chis.nildram.co.uk/casimirsblake The former is my main project: psychedelic space techno/trance The latter is my side-project: same again I guess, only more ambient. And spacey.

Philistine! Whether they're covers or not, it's the most creative, diverse and memorable trance album I've heard in 2006. And - unlike ANY other psytrance artist - Mishel isn't afraid to let his sense of humour reveal itself in his music. I'm getting sick and tired of people flying around descriptions such as "cheesy" the moment a psy/goa artist attempts something vaguely new, creative and MELODIC. It's those sort of opinions, and trance artists that pander to them, that are holding this genre back. Though the same could be said of techno, these days.

Skazi, surely? My argument is that, even if Tumult sounds complex and trippy, it's due to all the crazy sound effects and NOT due to any melodic content. I don't mind these effects in trance, hell Hallucinogen used them and vocal samples quite a lot, but not when it becomes the focus of the music, which is clearly the case with Tumult. Perhaps as darkpsy goes, Tumult is a "good example". If so, me and darkpsy as a genre will just have to learn to live without each other!

When some of my friends practically shove it down my throat? Look I'm not saying there are no tuned notes, no leads AT ALL on this album. But 95% of it seems to be - again - pounding 4/4 kick, full-on bassline and crazy sound effects. And THAT'S ALL. Now, I'm listening to Transwave - Backfire at the moment. THIS I enjoy very much: melodies everywhere, and a lot of them very memorable. Lots of great arps, 303s, leads etc. Some cool sound effects used SPARINGLY - often during the crescendos and breakdowns. This is the kind of trance that I really REALLY enjoy. THIS is the reason why, when I attempt to listen to dark/forest stuff like Derango, I'm utterly nonplussed. It is the antithesis of what I look for in trance music, and I find it impossible to enjoy. Hey, I'm allowed an opinion, right? Dark psy is overrated. It sounds "cool" played loud but is generally soulless and lacking any depth. The only dark trance I've heard that's worth a damn is Cybernetika.

Oh yes. Course. Silly me. Yes, I can hear some warbly acid lead come in.... after FIVE MINUTES of yet more stupid sound effects. God this stuff makes me want to punch someone. What I will say, now, is that Tumult has been beaten in the "dumb basslines + sound effect trance" arena, by "Heaven's Gonna Burn Your Eyes" by Isentropic. Which is even worse. Come on Suntrip, hurry up with Twist Dreams! Edit: So I'm trying to force my way through this thing again, but still the same problems just piss me off. Sure, the bassline note changes every so often, but it's still the same 16th note full-on "same note" bassline in practically every song. I just don't understand how anyone can enjoy this stuff, unless they're mashed on hash. Perhaps.

Nope, can't hear any leads anywhere on this album. Just incessant, dumb, one-note basslines and those silly sound effects. Utter rubbish. Come on Synogen, your own music is so far superior to this!

Anyone wanting this in the UK might want to keep an eye on Amazon's marketplace sellers - there are none listing Twist Dreams yet, obviously, but Arabesque themselves distribute through Amazon's marketplace, and will surely list it soon.

Great stuff. Now get the album out! ASAP. Please?

I wish my own music sounded this rich, composed and well produced. You call that a work in progress? I'm truly speechless. No wonder Suntrip have included you on Twist Dreams. I'll be grinning from ear to ear if they also put out your album! Powerful, in-your-face, highly melodic goa trance. I love the rising bassline around 1:50. Keep it up! Um... can't really say much else. (Well, I prefer Spacious Endeavors, but I'm a goa modulation whore)

You're late with this one! I don't think it quite matches Hydrophonic Garden, but it's more of the same - definitely not a bad thing. If you liked their last album, do NOT hesitate to pick this one up. Check out Solar Fields last two LPs as well.

Thanks for replying! I know you went on to say "....others like yourself told us it blew them away! [which is what I think too!]", but... Ask yourself, now that it's 2007, isn't it about bloody time someone did? Honestly, as much as I enjoy those Filteria albums, they're nothing more than well-produced "full-on-ish" goa (but nothing less, mind). There are a fair few artists trying to replicate the same thing, I'm just hoping you guys don't entirely fall into this trap. If I were lucky enough to be able to produce music like this (my stuff always ends up too damn "spacey"), "Spacious Endeavors" would be precisely the sort of thing I would want to shoot for. For what it's worth, I realise that I'm just one opinion in a sea of them. Good luck to you both, I'm looking forward to hearing your album!

You guys had me with "Spacious Endeavors". Good god... the melodies on this are excellent. Key changes! I can't get enough of them in goa trance tracks, when done right they REALLY get the euphoria going IMHO. I've only heard Synsun and - to a lesser extent, I'm afraid - Filteria do this in pure goa tunes. More like "Spacious Endeavors" please! Edit: Listening it to the eighth time (no joke), please PLEASE please tell me this is going to be on the album! We could be looking at IFO 2 here...

Great album. Wonderful ambient album. I'm very pleased that CBL have the taste to avoid "laptop-ambient/glitch" which is so popular these days. Hydrophonic Garden harkens back to the days of Gas (Mat Jarvis), Higher Intelligence Agency and Global Communication, and all those other wonderful ambient trance/techno albums from the mid-90s. Hydrophonic Garden is a tad repetitive, but the generally good melodies (Comsat, MOS 6581) make up for it. Lovely vocals here and there as well. Very glad to have this in digipak!!

Why is this so popular? Why are people still commenting about this so long after release? Clearly this album represents something about psytrance that make people sit up and take notice. I'm glad then, to see similar dissenting opinions about this album, because I can't find anything about it that makes me want to keep listening to it. I'll be honest: I haven't heard it all the way through. I have real trouble finishing one track, let alone the whole thing. I _have_ to keep skipping through tracks lest I fall asleep, and all the time, all I can hear is: one note basslines, generic 4/4 psy kick drum sound, crazy dark wooshy sound effects... and that's it. Now, I guess if you're stoned off your arse, this may have some sort of effect on you - and perhaps it'd make for one hell of a trip. But I'm sitting here asking myself, what do I make of this music? What does it do for me? Nothing. It bores me to fucking tears. Makes me want to put on (for the millionth time ) IFO, Twisted, Shout Aluma or Sky Input just to hear some fucking VARIATION and MELODIES. I promise not to rant any further about this - Derango, and this dark/"forest trance" style clearly has their fans, and I've no wish to deny anyone music they enjoy, but I just cannot find anything to like in this, and the sheer volume of mentions this album gets forced me to comment. I'll finish by saying: thank christ/god/jah/(insert your favourite deity here) for Suntrip. Edit: However, as a non-darkpsy fan, I did find CPC - Double Bouble had its moments. Certainly a lot more going on than Tumult.

Please try Safi Connection - Shout Aluma. I know it's not "cool" and dark, but it's so melodic, and fun. My pick for the best trance album in 2006. I'm quite serious about this. The trance tracks on Night Time Lullabies sound so by-the-numbers and lazily composed, by comparison.

Juno, don't fail me now! Can't wait for this.

The interludes and "orchestral" themes are all quite decent and appropriately disconcerting... (e.g. Sorcerer's Theme, Song of the Forest - sounds like they're straight out of Harry Potter, hell that film could have benefitted from the odd dark trance tune here and there ;P) nice strings, piano, glockenspiels etc. and check the harpsichord on "Gabriel's Theme"... ...but the trance tracks are just generic full-on dark psy with one-note basslines, and lots of wizzy, funny fx and sounds flying everywhere. Fun if your stoned, but musically it sucks. Shame really, this is one of the first proper concept trance albums I've encountered. Great idea, poor execution. Edit: Okay, the non-trance stuff is actually pretty cool. So "poor music" wouldn't be right. The trance tracks are all pants, though.

Every track on this album has a one-note bassline (two at the most). Generic full-on kicks/hats, and absolutely sod all melodies, except the usual generic arpeggios. Oh sure, all sorts of acid-y, trippy psychedelic sounds and samples... but WHERE ARE THE MELODIES? FM 17 has an okay main acid line but it takes ages for it to appear, and This Can't Be Real has a really nice 303-style bass line - yes, a real melody - but neither really develop beyond the usual psychedelic sounds and build ups. Acid Drome is interesting though: it's more of a hard acid techno track. http://www.psyreviews.net/index.php?option...d=308&Itemid=46 I'd like to hear the album this guy heard, cause U-Turn bloody well ISN'T it. U-Turn = Overrated generic full-on trance album number 289257651 (but with some mildly creative acid sounds, rarely). *Runs back to Shout Aluma*

Thanks DP.

Anoebis, now that Chaos Unlimited have closed shop, where can we look for UK sales? I'm hoping to see this comp on Juno at least. The last couple of years have been good for psytrance releases, not least because of Suntrip. I'm looking forward to this compilation very much!

Phoenix is one of the best melodic psytrance releases I've heard in recent years (doesn't quite beat Safi Connection - Shout Aluma, I'm afraid ). Everything else I've heard by SynSUN has been at least good if not great. Who needs a new Pleiadians when we have acts like SynSUN, Filteria, and Safi? Very VERY much looking forward to this new album. If the trance disc is more of the same style as on Phoenix, I'll be ecstatic. If the chill-out disc is anything like Mami and Magic Fly (fucking excellent guitar work on this - MORE PLEASE MORE MORE MORE), also on Phoenix, it too will be fantastic. Just keep it melodic guys. And more key-changes! No one-note basslines. ;P I keep coming back to Phoenix because it has a lot of memorable lead lines. A lot of psytrance music just doesn't have them (looking at you, Derango).