Jon Cocco

Oops! Thanks Antic! Indeed this album is available at both places. At saiko I typed in D-Nox as opposed to D-Nox and Beckers and different links appeared than that of this album. I must have spelt it wrong on psyshop. Now that was twice as dumb for me. I apparently wasn't focused at the time, under the influence of being unaware in the moment. So yes and again to everyone, Samples: http://www.psyshop.com/shop/CDs/elc/elc1cd002.html http://saikosounds.com/english/display_release.asp?id=6610

I like it. For electronica in general I like it. It's melodic, quite groovy and playful at times, catchy, and totally experimental in a positive way I feel. Okay so sometimes it seems a little repetitive or too subtle for its own good. I like how the artists gradually deepen the progressive groove as the song moves forward. Tracks 1, 5, 6, 7 sound pretty cool to me. View lengthy samples below in good quality. You can just stream a summary of the album by clicking the opening track and let it go...(!) http://www.mutekki.de/mutekki/modules/news....php?storyid=42 However it isn't clear where to order this for those interested. I'm not familiar with the sites above for ordering and haven't used them before. This album doesn't appear on saiko or psyshop when I check either.

Bump for relations to the new 2007 thread, "New Astral Projection album set for 2007... (!)"

Wow I never knew any of these existed until now. I've been in the dark with AP since they produced TEN in 2004 and released a short track called Mahamudra around the same time, which I liked, although it gets repetitive at even 4:46 it's quite mainstream friendly, nothing superb. Sample Astral Projections Back From Hell track. I like it. http://www.saikosounds.com/english/display...ase.asp?id=3997 http://www.psyshop.com/shop/CDs/pho/pho1cd299.html Sample Astral Projections Open Society song here: http://www.saikosounds.com/english/display...ase.asp?id=5256 Sample AP's Mohadive track here: http://www.psyshop.com/shop/CDs/pho/pho1cd307.html Sample AP's The Prophecy track here: (This is so climactic/melodic and well done for Full On) http://www.saikosounds.com/english/display...ase.asp?id=6236 More AP Info? http://www.trackitdown.net/genre/psy_trance/track/7521.html

That's sad. It's also unethical and wrong. The artist of Chi-A.D. should sue who ever is responsible for selling his songs to other companies without his permission unless He, the artist of Chi-.AD. in this case gave written permission for this to take place. What happened here (A record label releasing an artists songs on a comp without the artists permission but someone related to the artist) is taking place outside the initial label associated to the artist through written agreement. Meaning, this is a potential law suite I'd imagine. For example, if X produces you through his label, X has an agreement. It's unofficial. You sign a contract that gives permission to X to make it official and use your work. If X sells your material to someone else he or she has no longer abided by that agreement, contract. Was this included in the contract at some time is the question which will or will not give ammunition for legal battle. No artist is bound to a label for life unless they sign such a form, allegedly, and even then there are legal ways to fight and win such lengthy write ups, contracts. However I know of no contract or artist who has ever signed such a thing if even they've existed before. Throughout this artists life, Mr. Young has been taken advantage of as if bound by some contract, in this case, that says his songs can be released on various musical works at any time. If he seems bound to any contract in this lifetime, it's bad karma. And since you can't sue spirites as a spirit to my awareness then let me reiterate: Law suite. Or just take the hit and move on. Make a wonderful song or an album and release it individually to a label you can trust, like Suntrip. PS: A kind hearted, trustworthy producer and/or label should release the Earth Crossing album not only because it's excellent, but to take it out of the hands of those who abuse their power or think they have power over other people.

WOW...OH WOW!!!!!! :posford: GOD LET THIS NEW AP ALBUM BE AWESOME LIKE THE 90's ONES.. PLLLEEEEEASE!!!!!!! If this is true we MIGHT be all in for a positive surprise as opposed to the 2004 crapshoot disappointment titled TEN. Let's not go there since it wasn't even made by them per say. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astral_Projection_%28group%29

SANDMAN - WITCHCRAFT 1998 01. 09'04" Perfect Stranger 02. 07'02" Flight Or Fight 03. 10'17" Turtle Beach 04. 07'56" Ghostrider (Time Tunnel Rmx) 05. 09'34" Shockwave 06. 07'19" Nostradamus (The Prophecy Rmx) 07. 07'16" Bad News (New Way) 08. 10'05" Mushroom Symphony Witchcraft is one of the most unique, dark, mysterious, and experimental Psychedelic Goa-Trance albums out there. For many years I considered this a secret album to self experience. I'd put it on via headphones, turn off the lights, and fall into its dark, deep, and mysterious world. 01. Perfect Stranger placed me with uncertainty initially. It sounded fairly repetitive, far from beautiful or hypnotic. My interest peeked up a bit when I first heard the single melody at 1:04 but it wasn't enough for me. Around that melody I found the song repetitive and empty. Some time passed and I returned to it. Whatever you call this sound, it caught my attention again and it seemed to correlate with my mind differently than before. It was like a gate had just creaked open that I wasn't aware even existed before. My mind was drawn in to this melody as if the melody was an intangible flame, a light in the dark. The visual I had was and still is in the POV (Point Of View) shot traveling down a long, dark hallway in a castle or pyramid filled with the presence of evil. Small and dimly candles stay burning on ledges on identical, opposite sides of the hallway. The hallway disappears into the darkness. Maybe this goes on forever. The hallway is narrow, kind of like what Pan's Labyrinth would later reveal (if the hallway was straight and darker in lighting) as the girl runs for her life in my favorite scene in the film. As I traveled further the atmosphere changes and becomes heavier, threatening. At this point the melodies in the song had become more aggressive. My mind visualized the darkness becoming more hostile as I prepared for something ominous in the fading to black distance. The part of the song around 4:00 is when my weapon of choice was revealed from my attire. Things became more chaotic as the melodies suggest anything but regressing to a gentle landscape. This is a dark hallway at the bottom of a castle or pyramid and I am about to come in contact with something very powerful and evil. At this point the sounds in the song bounce around the beat to the illusive *dong* melody. The visualization ends but the story continues inside my mind. This song initially did nothing for me. I sat listening, unaffected and unable to get into it or enjoy it. I would have probably not enjoyed it had it not been for the stand out melody note which stood out like a brief hook to me. Whenever I hear this song my mind associates to a powerful, dark scene and feelings of suspense, intensity, mystery, and intrigue. Such feelings makes me feel more involved and present with the music. This is a very difficult song to score because I'm talking none but subjectively it may seem. And I say "may seem" because you and I may enjoy totally different songs for similar reasons for instance. Musically I think this is an interesting song, how it gradually becomes more aggressive and involved as it progresses into the chiming void of uncertainty. The melody refreshes my attention as the song travels deeper into the dark unknown. Great opening track. A- 02. Flight Or Fight is very different from the previous track. It's faster, more involved, driving, and energetic. I won't bother giving a sound summary of the entire track but I'll state some things. The melody around 2:06 is pretty catchy. The echoed voice samples work to the music, which gives a more driving, electronic tone. I enjoy the melodies, how one is distorted as another plays consistent, sustained notes. The change up at around 3:29 is interesting. This has a very pleasant, dreamy sound to it. It's both chilling and effective in a distant, yet warm and gentle way. The female voice sample seems so random, however it blends in with the sound concoction and stands out. The tempo and pitch often change with the leading melody and melodies. Attractive is how often the main melody goes through altered variations to the driving beat. Naturally, there's other sounds going on around it. This song engages my attention from beginning to end. It's generally dynamic and unpredictable. The song combines light, dark, and feeling with greatness. A- 03. Turtle Beach picks up from 1:17 to 1:24. The melody tempo changes and the song becomes more aggressive. I like how often this artist changes up his sound and melodies so often, the frequencies and pitches used. I like how at 2:52 things seem to skip. Something else going into form around 3:19. And the melodies are pulled out at around 3:48. Of course none of these changes would matter if it wasn't catchy. I think the part form 3:48 to around 4:25 is great. I love the driving, tribal drums to the echoed, skipping male incoherent breathing. It's so creative and unique. And how the Goa melody cuts into that around 5:07. It just sounds so.....bizarre, all of these these strange events and sounds taking place around the cool, alerted and distorted melodies of Goa. I'm constantly following the stream of sound to see where they go next. It's like the songs have no linear direction in a sense. With exception to the first track, this and the previous track are like a roller coaster off the tracks in the sense they flow in their own dynamic, strange way without following a clear and set path, structure, or rules. I cannot predict what comes next and getting to that point is often catchy because I enjoy the sound combinations. This one ends with what seems to be oriental melodies. The last minute or two isn't as engaging to me but overall this is one of my most favorite tracks here. A little hint: If you pay attention around the middle of the track you'll hear a burp in the background followed by immense laughter or applause. It seems like wild psytrance artist Scatterbrain could've been inspired by small details like these. A- 04. Ghostrider (Time Tunnel Rmx) is dark at 0:35, the beginning. Where will this go? A strange alien effects melody is the first thing I notice playing as one key at times. I find the melodies catchy throughout the first two minutes to the sounds of chirping and electricity. Crashing sound effects take place at least twice. The chirping is alternated, skipping, echoed, etc and tribal drums enter. Again there are a combination of interesting sounds and change up throughout the song. A stand out feature is how the artist strengthens his rhythm during the middle of the song. You hear a melody and a more gritty sound is mixed in as if perfectly blending the tune to something more aggressive and angry. This is a very cool song but I prefer the last two over it. B+ 05. Shockwave is arguably the most stand out song on the album, but they all stand out and sound totally different in character. I love how this begins with the altered sample. It's easy. The melody work soon grabs my attention as if communicating with the listener that something very bad is about to happen. This is an example of successful, well done EVIL/Dark Goa-Trance. The stomping rhythm works to strong effect with the aggressive guitar and melodies. The "hyper space" is short but interesting as if we're approaching something evil, mysterious, and powerful in the infinite cosmos. Things begin to become worse around 3:39? The conversation talks about something that looks like a cross between a spider and your worse nightmare. I found this part very interesting and visualized an enormous, terrifying creature floating through space while listening to this. While using the music as a capsule I felt like I was one of the characters on board. Not to sound like a geek, I'm the type of person to dress up like Neo or a Lord of the Rings character and make fun of people standing in line for Harry Potter. It makes no sense because I actually like Harry Potter but it's the concept that's humorous to me. In other words, it isn't so geeky when you can have fun with something people seem to take way to seriously! I really enjoy the melodies throughout. It's kind of like some of the more Goa-esque music artist Velvet Acid Christ may have done without the annoying lyrics and singing. The song gets repetitive and less interesting towards the end for me. This seems to be the most characteristic, evil, and story driven song on the album. A- 06. Nostradamus (The Prophecy Remix) is the second or third track to utilize guitar I believe. It has a quick beat coupled with some energetic melody work and layers. A piercing, shocking in the electrical sense arrives around 3:44. It's very different from what I expected but I don't care for it as much as the new sound gets my attention. It's the driving melody work at 3:58 that scores my enjoyment. The beats change/speed up and sounds of electricity take place as they speed up again. I like how the melodies and sounds seem to be consistently added and removed. A new, more gentle sustained piano note plays and quickly disappears. This is such an unexpected piece of Goa. It's very musical and that's what I enjoy about it, the melodies and how they stream through all other sounds. B+ 07. Bad News (New Way) is slower and less melodic than most songs on the album. I enjoy the hard drum work at times coupled with the melodies. A more emotive moment begins around 4:29 with involving ambient. This following minute is my most favorite part of the song. The music becomes fairly floating, relaxing, and peaceful to the drum combinations. The gentle ambient repeats again in the end. Overall I find this a good track but less interesting and engaging than the others. B 08. Mushroom Symphony is a strong closing track. Around its soft ambient sounds and melodies is a rising drum. The downbeat tune-sound reminds me of the initial stand out melody in the opening track, though it's different. The drums sound like something out of an old 80's bad boy movie. They're soon mixed in with a higher pitched(?) kick-drum. It's modern and effective. I'm more into the music around 2:25 and especially from 2:43 forward. This sound appeals to me for whatever reason. Just listen to it from 2:56 to 3:12. This melody work honestly echoes days when a theme melody played in the "A Nightmare to Elm Street" films. This song feels nostalgic to me because of the main melody. It has a warm and unpleasant feel to it, as if I'm drawn to a place others are visiting but the end result is tragic. My mind associates to films I'd quietly watch behind my parents back as a kid which later gave me nightmares. B+ In conclusion, one of the reasons why I like this album so much is because of its relentless approach to innovation, exploration, and experimental work, that in my opinion, works better than most electronica albums. The melodies hypnotize my senses, pulling me deeper into Alice Goes to Dark Wonderland. I think many people fail to realize the strong 80's and Electronica/Retro influence, and how they compliment the album. From the hard drums, sounds of electricity and static, to its muddled, sometimes colorful atmosphere laced with sounds as if stripped and reorganized from various classic horror theme songs and movies; Witchcraft is a nostalgic, retrospective release. The artist has incorporated Goa to make his own psy/horror soundtrack in a sense. He's added a plethora of melodies, sounds, change ups, atmosphere, and special effects to convey such dark and mysterious worlds that encompass this epic Universe. He's made an imaginative piece of art where each and every song compliments the next. The songs occasionally have an emotive edge without being cheesy; this is another reason why I enjoy this album so much. To this day, Witchcraft sounds a bit alien to me; nothing produced afterwards was quite like it, making the album even more desirable and appreciative, at least for numerous music enthusiasts. In dark Goa-Trance, we've heard so many albums that could be nighttime music in the dark sense. Battle of the Future Buddhas had the hypnotic, moving walls like a nightmare labyrinth. Xenomorph created excellent horror influenced Goa-Trance with "Cassandra's Nightmare," taking advantage of samples and building wild, atmospheric rides around them. Tandu’s Multimoods brought climax to raging, dark Goa-Trance, creating a futuristic world on the edge and/or during chaos. Whereas Toi Doi's Technologic album seemed to create a far more dystopian, emotionless world; Menis’s Temporal Insanity album nailed the sensation with angry, driving streams and bad trip corridors. Sandman's Witchcraft however is where the art bleeds into the notes, or the notes into the canvas so to speak; it is one of those very rare, stylish worlds that shares aspects from titles just mentioned, though introduces many more. The voice samples add character, identification. Witchcraft is like the Velvet Acid Christ album I desired and never received because there were often lyrics, singing to VAC's infamous “Fun With Knives" album. Fortunately, this doesn’t involve singing. In a sense, it’s like a psychedelic, dynamic trance version of the best Castlevania soundtrack, minus verbatim, the theme songs from Castlevania. Witchcraft is a dark Goa story and soundtrack, and it was many years lady that I came to this realization. Even if this isn't your type of album, it's one of the more innovative and interesting albums out there. Favorite tracks: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 8. A-

You know what... Fine. You want to take attention from my "Best psytrance albums of 2007 ...... so far?" thread, I'll bring the truth into yours. The the best albums of 2007 to date in my opinion. 1. DIMENSION 5 - TRANSDIMENSIONAL - A 2. TRANSWAVE - BACKFIRE - A 3. V/A - TWIST DREAMS - B+ 4. PROMETHEUS - CORRIDOR OF MIRRORS - B 5. PENTA - HORN PLEASE - B

I only heard the samples but since you asked for what we think of it... I don't want to write too much giving some people the wrong impression that I'm reviewing samples again. Tea Time sounds nice, gentle and floating. Maybe Rumble Pack should introduce a second artist name and make a downtempo album? Just an idea. I like the female parts in Mental Scope giving the song some emotion. Same with moments in Packed And Ready but those songs are otherwise forgettable to me. Control Unit is decent with the emotive parts. The other tracks sound like general Full On to me. Typical. Nothing great or exciting to my ears. Rumble Pack may (more or less) appeal to general mainstream audiences. But not me. Full On is an over saturated market now. If an artist makes something awesome it will get attention. On another topic I liked the Blue Vortex - Mirage album by these same artists in 2004 now called Rumble Pack. There were more catchy [key word] melodies on the Mirage album. There seem to be so many so-so melodic bits bouncing around the kickdrum and bassline here. It's like yeah so? Is that it? This does nothing new or exciting really IMO. With emphesis on great melody work, energy, and actually some great and excellent songs these artists could make an album worth the attention this will not and less here as well INO. It's nothing personal. To the artists: Take your strength and capitalize on it while improving upon your weaknesses. Go nuts! Make awesome songs. Not decent or even good or great ones. Go beyond..(!) Blow people away with amazing psychedelic and maybe even emotive dance songs. Sure it's easier said than done. So take risks! What's the worst that can happen? You always learn and gain from each experience. Come up with something that stands out and is magical and powerful, that is stunning. Or not. Choices are life. Full On albums I found worth buying (they stood out) and maybe these can give Rumble Pack some insight what worked in the past, is 1200 Micrograms - The Time Machine. Some work by Astrix equates to good Full On too along with Lemurians - Secret Message album. Those artists made great songs that stood out and became hits on the dancefloor and in clubs, at psy parties, etc. They creates some wonderful Full On tracks with enough energy, kickass melodies, rhythms, beats, (and other sounds, fx), buildups, climax...I and a good amount of people who like strong Full On bought them.

+1

X-Dream is one of my favorite artists in Electronica although I had mixed feelings with 2004's We Interface, the album. I should have looked this up before. I sometimes wondered why two big X-Dream albums were in the 1997 review section here. In 2007 before writing a real review on 1998's Radio and most recently 2004's We Interface album I had been reading through the Trip To Trancesylvania (currently in the 1997) review thread. I noticed an informative comment by Mindphilux on page 3 but never investigated this until now. So today I decided to look it up online at Wikepedia since Tunnel Records NEVER included dates in my copies. Many people are not informed of the actual release dates. Your perspective of X-Dream's debut may change if you knew it was made several years before Hallucinogen's Twisted in 1995 next to a handful of others. Everyone check these links out below on X-Dream's history. Wikepedia has information on virtually every publically known thing on the net including artist, book, movie, game, sport, word definition, etc. Many of you know this I'm sure and aren't sure about some things that are easy to look up in few clicks. Not sure about somethinig? Look it up! Trip To Trancesylvania is from 1993. We Created Our Own Happiness is from 1997. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trip_To_Trancesylvania http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/We_Created_Our_Own_Happiness http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radio_%28X-Dream_album%29 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/We_Interface_...-Dream_album%29 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/X-Dream

X-DREAM - WE INTERFACE 2004 SOLISTICE RECORDS Track List: 01. The 1st 02. We Interface 03. Superintelligence 04. Try To Save Your Song 05. Ultratube 06. Quantum Lab 07. Virus 08. Distresser 09. Slim Drum 10. X-Ray Eyes 11. The 1st (Fluke Remix) I generally love X-Dream. I own every main album and side project they ever released with exception to The Delta sequel to date. Regarding X-Dream's main albums: "Trip to Trancesylvania" is the much acclaimed debut. Initially I thought the opening track was too repetitive but it's grown on me along with the overall album. There are some truly beautiful songs on it and I recently wrote a review on this in the 1997 section. "We Created Our Own Happiness" I enjoyed far more than their debut. It was more experienced, mature, involved, and beautiful. It is my favorite X-Dream album of all time followed by Radio and I don't know what's next. The release dates were always confusing for both this and the debut because they're not included with the copies. I don't believe that both were made or released in 1997 as it says on here. The sound and style is far too great on this strong follow-up, cult classic. "Radio" is an album which impressed me with its storming selection of super songs nearly back-to-back. I wasn't in love with the entire album but the majority I found excellent for what it was. I recently wrote a review for this in the 1998 section. "Irritant" was the long awaited X-Dream album after two or three side projects and released in 2002. Initially this was described as a follow-up to Radio because this was dark psytrance. Comparisons were silly because the album was clearly not Radio Part 2. However it shared some ideas, dark driving melodies, and influences from both Radio and The Delta at times. The less I compared it to Radio the more I enjoyed it. From what I remember it was a good album with some great songs, nothing spectacular overall. I liked it and for some reason I never came back to this one in around 4 years(!), until this weekend of writing this. Regarding X-Dream's side projects: I found "Children of Paradise - Urban Alien" more or less great during three tracks (Bloodsuckers, Fairytale of the Dragon Forest, El Nino) while others were too repetitive, uninteresting, and lacking in being super or engaging enough songs for my taste and preference. This was an extremely dark psytrance album. "The Delta - Scizoeffective" debut is no doubt dark, hard, and stomping. I generally find it repetitive and too minimal for my taste. I will admit that there are several great and/or excellent songs on it. I have to hear this one again too. It's been a while. "The Delta - Send In...Send Back" I never bought. The samples turned me off and general reviews throughout the internet were often mixed and negative. It seemed that this album lacked the impact and super character songs on the first album but I can't say for certain. I avoided it. Which brings me to an album I quickly bought after its arrival and quicker soon forgot. Ladies and Gentlemen, I re-introduce to you the most "stylish but shallow" ... "talkative but inhuman" ... "projecting yet unemotional" ... "over-hyped and overrated" (these things combined) album I've ever heard in my life. I re-introduce to you... It's innovative and different, if they can simply employ some originality on the cover from existing albums such as... *Oops!* we didn't know about that. But who cares! It's just a cover! Hmmm... Let's take a look underneath the plastic, so to speak. Placing the CD into my disc-man back in 2004 gave me some similar feelings I experienced again and in 2007 a third or forth time. My analysis and over view has become far more understanding and aware than before. I simply never wrote a review until now. On first listen I generally didn't like this album with exception to the first song and few others. It was a forgettable album. Clearly X-Dream decided to change their general psytrance style to something on the Tech-Trance or what many people have referred to as Electro side. 01. The 1st is a cool, catchy stand out opening song. This is is the track that most attracted me to buy the album. I really like the deep, strong Booooooom.... Booom.. bo bo cha *repeat* beat, the female/vocal's first impression, and the general melody and sounds throughout. It's groovy in a chilled Electro/Tech-Trance sense in that it's fairly consistent and seems to have other electronic influence other than Tech and Trance present. The female cpu-alterated voice dds more dimension and characte which represents the opening to a new new direction and sound. The songs shorter compared to the general X-Dream song which is fine. It ended well at 5:51. I generally like this song very much but by the end it seems like little more than a cool beat and sound. I'm never in awe but I like the feel of the song. It's cool especially to drive to at night time while listening to loud. X-Dream created a solid effect and sound by doing more with less and I really like, the way it's done here. B / B+ 02. We Interface begins with the dial-up internet connection sound for those familiar with harsh, lengthy loading times from back in the day. The intro echoes what a follow-up intro to the X-Dreams cult-classic Radio album might sound like if the tracks storming psytrance which it isn't of course. The song is faster, fairly and more danceable than the opening track in a sense. The main female vocal sounds similar to Madonna to me. I own many of her albums and it almost seems like the artists were going for that authortarian, direct voice work existent in Madonna's character and how she occasionally pronounces her words. I.E: Vogue. The song has some melody work around a fairly repetitive kick and beat. The voices make the song feel far less empty than what would have been without them. B- / B 03. Superintelligence is the first song that doesn't put voice work as its main focus. This is the first track that appears to be entering the psytrance genre. It's rather a good Tech-Trance (and/or Electro I assume) song. I like the chomping beat coupled by crisp sounds. The transition is totally the X-Dream I remember and love. The music returns in a flurry with an echoed melody and other sound effects. It's nothing superb or great to me. It does however sound influenced by what a cross between albums Radio and Irritant may sound like with exception to not being a killer, super song as the songs often were on Radio. There is little voice work. The main focus seems to be on creating a catchy, dark, and driving track in this new style and influenced by others. In that it succeeds. This is a good track and one of the best on the album. I ask X-Dream for more dark, driving tracks like this one, but that are superb like a post 21st Century Radio album. B 04. Try To Save Your Song is the most dance friendly track on the album so far. Around the beat is a strong leading melody. I never really cared for this dance song or the leading melody and how it's programmed to the music because of the big picture. With exception to the transition I've heard so many similar-in-concept house and trance songs done like this before and done better, with more engaging melodies and turbulance. The initial up-and-down lead melody returns and repeats after the song floats without a beat during the middle transition. A siren sound appears short lived. I think some people will like the strong dance approach here. The idea is great. The song has no lyrics or vocal work and didn't need any. However I'm not impressed. They could have created an amazing dance track in their Electro style when you think about it. And that actually happening has yet to take form and actually be developed into something smashing and excellent. This is a decent dance song. If you say it's good I won't argue. I strongly feel it's lackluster and generic to put it nicely. I expect more from some of the best artists on Earth and yes, in this Electro style they can get more creative than this. The song stands out but not much more than being a general dance song. It also has one repeating melody throughout that is far from great, in my opinion. This is basic forumla and X-Dream is known for breaking such basic and derived works by creating something wonderful and fresh. This isn't wonderful IMO and I fail to hear unique, strong Electro influence. Nonetheless it's a cool dance song. People generally seem to like it and I can see why. B- 05. Ultratube is another dance friendly song, albeit less successful. It's more empty. It's less satisfying and energetic than the previous one. This is until around 4:30 where some gentle melodies appear. They're nice and add some flavor but do little to save the boy who cannot swim. In other words, by the tiime I get to them my interest has been drained due to sitting through the far from great repetition of this track that could have been a weaker Delta song and I'd never know it. This is a very average track to me. Personally, I don't like it one bit, but it isn't terrible. Coming from X-Dream I expect more. C 06. Quantum Lab begins interesting. Initially with the third and maybe forth track, I was happy to hear some strong dance and more or less driving tracks. After the previous one the return to futuristic computer/Electro and female voice control born on the opening track is refreshing! I like the melody, the melodic bits. The voice work compliments yet again. X-Dream can make a handful more tracks like these if they like. And it would be great if they incorporated the voice work into more musically involved and superb songs, both dance and otherwise. Their is some interesting work, sound distortion and (nice albeit repetitive melody around 2:05) altering throughout. However few things seem to be going on that really arrest my attention around the vocals. This is still an interesting song. In the end I feel like there's something shallow and lacking at hand but it's fairly catchy in the moment. The melody work and rhythm from 4:35 to 5:39 is pretty good as well as the following continuation of the song to close. It's pretty good to me, nothing great as a whole. I like it. B- / B 07. Virus is a cool return to the more drivng, danceable, and stomping Tech-Trance began with the third song. The beat seems just as strong. A general leading melody carries through the song as few melodies arrive and leave, and repeat. The music falls under the beat and soon returns in a short, quick burst. In a sense the song sounds so basic, so unambitious. It has a nice melodic rhythm beginning at around 3:17 and plays consistent to being dance friendly throught. Several melodies combine together at around 4:17. I like the rising high pitched vacuum-esque sound during the 4:20 space. It's short, put to good use, and returns at around 5:00. It seems that the artists took a handful of tried-and-true ingredients and applied them here to create their own dance track in their Electro style. I don't mind the success of the dance concept less than I mind the fact that no risks or innovation seem to take place here. It's very formulatic, predictable, and risk-free. For the general mainstream it will blend right in and be soon forgotten. For X-Dream fans however it isn't so special although several are bound to like it. Some nice melodies give the track more appeal than it would have without them. Regardless I wish these artists created more with less so to speak as I feel like they've done on the tracks with the female voice work so far with exception to tracks 3 and 4. B- 08. Distresser is a lame, repetitive, flat, repetitive (for the record) track. It's less than a filler song because I feel unfulfilled after hearing it. To be honest I cannot think of a more unoriginal, pointless track in the awesome career of such super talented artists and musicians as X-Dream. The beat loops along with virtually everything else until the song ends at 4:39. There isn't anything half decent about this song. It fails at being anything but a failure at appealing to anyone but general fans of focused repetition, average minimal trance, and little else. It's a bad song. F 09. Slim Drum is a less regressive from the dull dribble of the last empty void but far from a saving grace. This is another another filler, with sounds unfulfilling and repetitive. They come and go to a looping gabber beat as if X-Dream decided they were out of time producing this album and decided to rush through something in under an hour. I've heard better tracks made in less than ten minutes on a 76 Key Korg by my backbeat maker back when I was doing Hip Hop in the Phildelphia and New York area in the U.S., 2002-2003. I think X-Dream will greatly benefit from focusing on greatness and beyond in their future. This isn't either. I'm at loss as to why they chose to let this and the previous song appear on this album. D 10. X-Ray Eyes is a refreshing return to the vocal work again after the previous two forgettable, empty tracks. I really like the female voice, the lyrics, and how they're said by the voice in this track. I'm not a big fan of the male and female singing words "X-Ray Eye". The lyrics saying: "This is a Promise. This is a threat" is damn convincing, provocative, dark, and effective in my opinion. I don't know what "device" this computer is referring to but it loads the track with allure and stands out where the previous ones have failed. Not much else seems to take place around the Electro sound, chorus, and voice work. Note that the musical part from 2:55 to 3:09 as it plays around the guys voice is catchy. I like it very much and would love to hear X-Dream create more cool rhythms and Hooks if they choose to follow up this style on a future album. The overall tone is dark throughout and I like that. X-Dream was always creative and taleneted when it came to dark material and this is no exception. There's some good and great work here. This is one of my favorite tracks on the album. B 11. The 1st (Fluke Remix) is a remix of the first track. It's slower. The focus is less on the beat. The sound is less pumping and driving than the generally slower opening drive and beat. Many lyrics take place and the melodies around 2:10 sound a bit cheesy at first but improve at around 2:30. The tempo changes and it seems that a slight shade of darkness (sound at 3:07 and at 3:34 for instance) is present but it's few sounds really. The best part is the true reprisal of the opening track at around 3:45. I'm listening to the entire album while writing this. And this song, during this transition, has an amazing opportunity to lift up into an amazing fireball of energy, a super/killer driving dance song. It doesn't. The beat and what some new melodies return to the general sound present before the transition. This is disappointing. This song had so much potential to leave listeners with an awesome, positive (if even the track is dark in the negative sense) impression. The funky Down-Beat, Electro beat isn't that funky and is far from electrofying. I had such excitement and anticipation during the transition of this song. I now hear why I don't remember it as I put it on record. It isn't that the song is bad. It's that it misses a wonderful opportunity to be great. This song hugely in my opinion misses the chance to redeem itself after most of the filler garbage we heard on the second half of the album. The artists of X-Dream chose to not end the album with a bang, but a whimper. It's their choice. And we chose to listen, fingers crossed, that it will be worth it. C In Conclusion, it's ironic and interesting how X-Dream can go from music so emotive, soulful, and deep (or powerful, dark, driving) to something so stylish (at times) and shallow. I bought this album because I liked the thumping, groovy Electro opening track and general tracks with female voice work I found intriguing. These artists have began a new direction with so much potential. However strong results in this new direction is what this album lacks at times. The first half has some strong work for instance, but it only includes around two songs in this new futuristic style. The second half of the album is weaker with exception to few tracks. We Interface has some great ideas and execution however gimmicky and simple in creation it arguably is. The second half of this album is less engaging and includes one or two of the weakest songs I've ever heard on an X-Dream main album to date. The songs with the female voice are my favorite because it's new and catchy. They stand out. The vocal words and how they sound create greater dimension to most of the tracks, the ones to have them, had they not had them. Several good dance songs separate the vocal tracks. For example, Superintelligence and Virus are not dependent on the general female voice work and they're very well done although I favor Superintelligence over Virus. The combination of voice to less to no voice tracks work until you hit a weak lyrics free song, and X-Dream has most experience with lyrics-free songs. Hearing an average one can be very disappointing. And that's when the album really starts to cut into my tolerance and enjoyment. If X-Dream is going to give me a Delta-influenced track or a Tech Trance song, be it a great that people throughout the world can talk about and return to time and again. There are at least 2 to 3 songs on the second half of the album that in my honest opinion, are very weak and disappointing. A track like the repetitive, dull, generic, and looping Distressor (and several others) is an example of boring, filler disappointments from X-Dream. I don't care what type of techno or whatever this could be. If X-Dream wasn't so talented they would have given us such classic albums as We Created Our Own Happiness and Radio. I accept that this overall album is somewhat novel and in a different style, and I like when X-Dream makes great and excellent songs with their new style. I'd rather have waited another year or two for 2-3 more great songs than several not good ones that are present here. This album is like a shiny, thin blade. It doesn't stay with the listener long after the CD ends. Sure I enjoy the songs with voice work, but where are the super songs? More importantly, we hear what the songs sound like without the robotic female voice and with exception to two or three really, they're repetitive, dull, unambitious, failures at even being fillers in a sense. They're monotonous! X-Dream's greatest work throughout their main albums often revolve around melodies. Granted this is Electro/Tech-Trance whatever but that doesn't excuse X-Dream from slacking off on almost half the album. There are some very cool songs on this album. They're intrigung. I can imagine some of the voice tracks being played in a trendy, modern lounge, bar, and club amongst the technology, young iPod generation as if it's the cool drug of choice. But a really great drug needs more than a catchy cybernetic, robotic mask. It needs an infectious taste to hook you so you want it more, deep down to the core and this is where We Interface feels empty. It has some catchy elements and songs thanks to the innovative vocal work. Think of each track as an ingredient. The better the ingredients, the better the drug. If this album was a powerful drug I wouldn't be looking at it from afar. I'd be inside it. It's cool at times and needs to be more powerful so I can lose myself and let go. My recommendations to those who haven't bought this album yet is try before you buy. To X-Dream: May we please have 8 to 12 great and excellent/superb tracks in a developed, powerful style and follow-up with infectious melodies, rhythms, strong beats, and awesome female vocal work and dialogue, and whatever other tricks you can roll out your sleeves? Basically what this album began and could have been. Favorite songs: 1, 2, 3, 6, 10. C+ Samples http://www.saikosounds.com/english/display...ase.asp?id=4371

I really like Elektron Bender! V.T.O.L. is amazing!!!!!!

TIM SCHULDT - FIRST ERROR CODE 2003 AURINKO RECORDS Track listing: 01. Prologue 02. Stained 03. One Step Closer 04. Search For Salvation 05. Tearing The Fright 06. Constant And Sharp 07. First Error Code 08. Pick To Pieces 09. Traced Back 10. When Anger Cries 11. Deceived 12. Forget My problem with this album is directly related to exactly what the first reviewer wrote above. The artist here mixes singing tracks with non singing tracks. The non singing electronica consists of few tracks. One is ambient, another is psytrance, and the last is Down-Tempo. The singing tracks generally remind me of how the harsh singing is done in Velvet Acid Christ for those familiar with them. There are some seriously well done non singing tracks are on this album. I get irritated skipping to them because there are so few without lyrics. I don't hate singing as much as I have difficulty enjoying it the way it's done here, the angry/heavy harsh male voice. This is another genre from psytrance and I respect that. It isn't the style I prefer listening to. That's all. I don't know if heavy rock and industrial (with singing) is the correct term but much of this album seems to be in that style. I grew up with Nine Inch Nails for instance and love many of their tracks but this is very different from NIN too. The reality is that when I hear the tight, gripping psytrance or electronica work of Search For Salvation I instantly wonder how great it would be if Tim Schuldt made an entire album of great and superb ambient and/or driving, melodic psytrance songs, none with lyrics. He's created some excellent tracks both in and around his singles collection. I listen to the opening "Prologue" track. It's an extremely dark and brooding ambient piece. Wow I think. This is interesting. I feel so sad and hopeless and alone while listening to it. I don't enjoy these feelings per say but damn this good music in how well portrayed it is to bring out such emotions in the listener! I listen to the sweet melodies around the action packed industrial tech-trance song in "One Step Closer" around the singing from around 2:05 to 2:30 and I imagine how well done and powerful this could be without the distraction of the angry lyrics and singing. I can barely make out these words anyway! And I don't want to read the inside flip to know every word being said, no offense. Musically he does some amazing work which puts me in states I can't fall into with the distraction of singing. Tearing The Fright is a fast, breakbeat track with some lyrics. I actually like this song most with lyrics on the album because of the beat, the breaks, and the melody work. The singing doesn't bother me either because I enjoy the music behind it in some strange, zippy, techno-esque way. The artist even creates a fairly solid downtempo song to end the album on titled "Forget?!." This closing track follows a hidden bonus track involving dark, crunching Industrial-Metal Ambient (for the first half) if I'd ever call a song one. I'm not familiar with todays heavy rock (or hardcore) but I believe that the style works best when kept separate to psytrance. I know this artist has made and can make great and excellent work. I can hear some wonderful music at times with even the singing taking place in tracks like "When Anger Cries" but I just can't enjoy the other parts. To be fair I'm not saying the lyrics are out of place here because they seem to be on the majority of the tracks. If anything is out of place it's the electronica (ambient, downtempo, psytrance) songs because they are the few without lyrics. They may even bum out the guy buying this album for the heavy rock/industrial which is ironic in a sense, or not. I bought this album thinking it would have less lyrics than it does. I wanted Track 4 here hearing the sample. The album had already intrigued me with its strong opening ambient piece. I had also read great things about Tim Schuldts singles or singles collection. I was disappointed with this album in the end (2004 when I bought it) because it provided very little of what I was looking to find. In that sense I'm biased and I admit my biasness but the album doesn't have the best flow. It's more of a comp of newer (at the time) tracks to fans of Tim's general styles and work. http://www.Psyshop.com listed this album as Psytrance at the time and they currently still do which isn't accurate for the most part. However I heard the samples and knew I was taking a chance. This artist creates some extremely good work with melodies, atmosphere, mood/tone, instruments, beats, and emotion. And I'm happy he released the Four Carry Nuts - Mechanical Age album in 2004. For the most part I feel like my prayers have been answered. I don't know how to score this album because I'd be looking at it for what it isn't. In that sense I'd score the following tracks... 1. Prologue ... B+ 4. Search For Salvation ... B+ ... I highly recommend this artist make more tracks like this one and beyond! Boom!!! 5. Tearing The Fright ... B- 12. Forget?! ... B- / B Favorite Songs 1, 4. I currently will not score this because I feel too biased. To be honest I'd give it a poor grade and there is some seriously great work on this album in such small pieces to what I was looking for. I love track 4. With exception to the opening and closing ambient/downtempo ones, the general songs are out of my liking due to another sub-genre I don't care for and I feel too biased scoring something I have little to nothing I enjoy to compare it with. Samples http://www.psyshop.com/shop/CDs/aur/aur1cd003.html

FOUR CARRY NUTS - MECHANICAL AGE 2004 Update: November, 2008 Track list 1. Hexagon 2. Mechanical Age 3. Falling Chains 4. Theory Of Gravitation 5. The System 6. Red Shift 7. Pendulum 8. The Violet Ray 9. Convergence Mechanical Age is one of the best albums of 2004. It is also one of the most solid, dark Industrial/Metal influenced albums in Psytrance. Four Carry Nuts is comprised of artists Tim Schuldt and Detler Funder. Tim Schuldt has made some super songs in music and this 4CN debut allbum is no exception. The album is loaded with good tunes, melodies, song variation, and some of the most stomping beats I've heard out of 2004. There are couple guitars at times in a few tracks. Not every track has guitars in this abum and they are not the main focus of this album. I'm very selective with guitars in psytrance because I find it can quickly enhance or ruin a song. Generally speaking, the several (maybe 3-4) tracks with guitars are well done. The tracks are generally storming, dark, driving, stomping, aggressive, melodic, involving in unexpected twists, turns, or transitions, and intense. 1. Hexagon is a hurricane. Wow. This song wastes little time exploding. The fast and powerful melody lead beginning around 1:19 is excellent!! The leading melody would steal the show if it weren't for all the other great sounds that compliment it, though the song isn't all that arresting around the two monster climax extensions. A catchy, distorted NIN-esque piano tune starts playing around 3:32 combined with an uprising sense of euphoria in background melody work. The music soon vanishes and we're left with a chilling, dark sample regarding what should be done with what appears to be the life of someone. Cold water drops fall with gentle echoes as if someone's locked in a chilling basement. Silence... Then *WAM* the tornado returns around 4:50 like rocket blasting off in the listeners face. Awesome! This is a powerful, climactic dancing rocket from start to finish. Great/excellent Psytrance/dance track. A- 2. Mechanical Age may not be a super song but it's very well done for Tech-Trance. There seems to be a strong industrial/metal psy influence throughout. The winner here is a powerful, stomping beat and bassline. At around 2:43 the beat disappears for an interesting melody. It sounds as if children are playing. This is the first unexpected part on the album after the moster melody of the opening track. At around 4:40 several sustained notes combined with an attractive sound /melody. It's good and doesn't last too long as the core and rugged sound takes the front seat again. The melody returns one more time at around 6:03, providing the track with something distinct and catchy. Surprisingly I'm disappointed with this song after the high octane Hexagon. The artists have created a completely different and solid sounding track in their elaborate, varied dark (general metal-industrial influenced) Psytrance style. This is a good track, albeit one without a climax like the first and that's fine. B 3. Falling Chains is a strong follow up. This is closer in style to the second track than the first. The echoed sound of metal hitting something is catchy. What will they pull off here I wonder? Don't let the opening several minutes fool you, though around 2:27 takes place the first guitars on the album. They're pretty cool I suppose for those who don't mind them in Psytrance. The entire song changes around 3:30 when a strong, inspirational melody begins with someone proclaiming words as if speaking to a large group of people. This section really develops nicely to the strong beat and bassline. When the voice sample ends the melody was released too. Returning is the driving energy and psychedelic rhythm. This is a great, stand out and guitar free part in the song. Soon after the guitars return and are tactfully gone around 6:27 to let the choir and melodies lead the path. This was an unexpected and refreshing, smart decision. The artists end the track strong, with clarity and soul. It's very well done. B+ 4. Theory Of Gravitation is very different from the previous two stomping beats and similar in two ways. First, it's another stomping Tech-Trance song and second, it has melodies. What's the difference? The main focus is on the super cool melodies and sounds around everything else which works as strong support. I really like the melodies in this song. Coupled with choppy, crazily edited voice work, the track has this intense, non-stop action feel to it with some of the best leading melody work since Hexagon. The industrial sounds mixed in with the melodies can get a bit noisy at times but I think the intent was for this to be chaotic. The overall beat and bass line is strong. The melodies are great. The song is driving, more so than the previous two tracks I feel. Overall it's good. B 5. The System is the least track like on the album. But its grown on me over the years. This is the only track with a sense of singing on it, though not entirely. There are two types of voices and I prefer the latter, more altered/robotic one. The song starts out interesting. It's dark, a cross between industrial/metal and then around 1:58 begins the second part, a heavy rock/metal sound. It is at this second part, at 2:28 that an angry male voice appears for a verse.. "Religion doesn't work. The system doesn't work." It actually sounds pretty relevant today surprisingly. I like the voice alteration and electro part around 3:45 to 4:30. The effect is pretty cool though it may split Psytrance fans down the middle. The third part at around 5:08 is a repeat of No religion.. etc., there's a virus that kills us all. I was never a fan of this type of harder core music and this is no exception. But musically, when the heavy rock/metal sound isn't Full On guitars I enjoy the song. Overall this is the one song on the album that I least expected to be here for better or worse. I can't say it's bad but I can't say it's great or what I consider good either. What they basically accomplished was a hardcore (in a sense) Psy Industrial/Metal song. Since I don't like hardcore or the heavy parts here it's kind of difficult for me to judge it. C+ 6. Red Shift is another song that stands out from every other. It starts well. Around 1:50 establish a string of melodies. They're catchy. Soon at around 2:19 appers to be several quick, smooth notes of a guitar and it sounds great. If this is guitar I barely notice it from the rough way I'm used to hearing one in psytrance. Sustained notes enter giving the song more feeling. There is a sample that seems to be from an X-Men movie with Professor X. It's cool. As it it ends the tone and sound because a shade more serious and the stream of melodies return from their birth at 1:50. This would be a repeat if it weren't for a second deeper leading melody, born around 3:07 that I hadn't mentioned before. The track is musical and refreshing in comparison to some of the others, especially after the previous track. It's uplifting too, a wonderful reversal actually from all of the darkness taking place before. The music cuts out at around 5:20 for an interlude voice bit. Professor X is talking about helping the mutants with something, regarding his respect for mankind. The song gains edge at around 5:50 with a stomping beat coupled with a wonderful melody lead. This is soon complimented by another gripping lead at around 6:45. The song is very musically flavored and catchy. I think it's great, a very well done melodic Psytrance number. B+ 7. Pendulum is my favorite song on the album next to Hexagon. This is more ambitious and involved than the opening which relied on a infectiously climactic melody lead. This huge number has an emotive, cinematic feel throughout. There are 2-3 strong melody leads throughout this song. The first begins around 1:45. It's very catchy. The second begins around 1:55. It's excellent!! The third begins around 2:40 and sound like the theme song from Requim For A Dream. Yes! That is where I've heard the melody now. Excellent movie by the way. I wonder if this is copyrighted or rewritten and slightly changed. Anyway, Pendulum is an incredible cinematic mini-epic so to speak. It develops two leading melodies on twice the support and foundation, and has enough taking place around it to create a storm, fire, and sea around its inner world, which the opening capitalized upon without as much going on around its center focus, lead. There also appears to be a female sound or gentle tune I now notice in the background towards the last several minutes that are great. The melody/sound work on this song is awesome. Pendulum is hands down, one of the most provocative and catchy Psytrance songs I've heard in years. A- 8. The Violet Ray is a return to nitty, gritty rough and hard hitting Psy/Metal Psytrance. This is one of the darkest tracks on the album, if not the darkest. The first sample sounds dark and twisted but the second takes it to the next level of darkness. I like the melodies as they build anticipation like a tune in a classic Caslevania game. Suddenly the drums, bassline, and all else appear. The song builds in both rough and stomping development. This is a good track with moments of greatness, great ideas I feel. Okay I listened to it again while writing this. Wow the voice and tone is dark, evil. It goes perfectly with the song. Great work! B+ / A- 9. Convergence is a solid conclusion to a great album. First there are some good melodies. Second there is a real stand out guitar playing along with the more floating, emotive ambient, melodies, and more. So few tracks on this album seemed to use guitar(s) or employ them as the leading melodies during moments when you actually count. In a sense I'm greatful for that and I enjoy the moments with guitar in a track like this one for instance because of that. They basically took too songs, a soft relative to the melodies and a a heavy relative to the guitar and mixed them together. The guitar has verses and the layers of melodies upon melodies have even more time show. The artists have kindly made a song not too hard or soft, but a song incorporating multiple ideas throughout the album. My only complaint is the bonus track that does nothing really to enhance the album. B In Conclusion, this is a great industrial-metal influenced Psytrance album. The melody/sound work and track variety is strong and several songs have powerful, driving intensity and/or climaxes that are quite refreshing in industrial/metal Psytrance, a sub genre who's albums are seldom as dynamic, developing, and evolving as this one is. If I were to complain about one thing, it would be to say track 6 is more Industrial than Psytrance and doesn't correlate so well with the rest of the numbers here. The opening track is a rocket. Some of the best songs from 2004 (and the 21st century in Psytrance) are on this album. Mechanical Age is underrated. Anyone into dark psytrance with melodies I recommend checking this out. It's not perfect; I don't care for track 6. But the work around that is often so strong, that this one industrial-metal piece is forgivable. Overall this is one of the best Psytrance albums of 2004. It's also 78:29 minutes long! Favorite tracks: 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8 B+ Samples http://www.psyshop.com/shop/CDs/aur/aur1cd004.html http://www.saikosounds.com/english/display...ase.asp?id=4065

One of the coolest tracks ever made. FULL MENTAL JACKPOT (PLEIADIANS RMX), PENTAGONE, and LUNAR CIVILIZATION are all awesome. My favorite Crop Circles track ever is Full Mental Jackpot (Pleiadians Rmx) or Pentagone followed by Lunar Civilization and now Antonomasia. Turns out I had the original all along in a mixed album free on here from months back. I'm glad I head it. The Pleiadians (Rmx) seems to have really capitalized on bringing out those streaming layers on layers sonic melodies more. There are more differences too but I can't list them all. The original has more elements of less intense moments while the Rmx is builds to barely comprehansible adrenaline from near start to finish. Both are awesome in their own right. If you don't breath consistently to say the least it probably isn't that healthy to hear these as I feel like running around and by sitting in a chair I get tighter. It's like..these songs are so intense that I'm going against my building energy while listening to them by not doing anything energetic.

X-DREAM - RADIO 1998 BLUEROOM RECORDS Track list: 01. 09'52" Radio 02. 09'27" Freak 03. 08'33" Electromagnetic 04. 09'25" Telegram 05. 07'59" The Frog 06. 08'00" Psychomachine 07. 10'08" Oscillator 08. 07'58" Out Of Your Control Ladies and Gentlemen, X-Dreams Radio is an awesome album. Nine plus years later this is one of the coolest Goa/Psy-Trance albums ever made. Some people argued that this isn't Goa. To me it sounds like an excellent Psy-Trance album with Goa influence throughout. Naturally we're talking about X-Dream here who contributed to making some of the first and best Goa-Tracks ever assuming The 5th Dimension on their Trip to Trancelyvania album was really made in 1993. What makes Radio some awesome? For starters the level of excellence in virtually every track, the super songs(!), the super style. This is a provocative, stylish, groovy album and I love it. I was never in love with X-Dreams side projects such as The Delta or Children of Paradise. I own both of them and have listened to them attentively. Both side projects have several excellent songs on them I find, but they fail to capture me throughout. They have few songs that really utilize the style and sound to craft an excellent or superb song. Repetition is not a rare thiing and super songs are fewer and further between. Nonetheless The Delta's debut album and Children of Paradise were and still are cool in their own right. Nevertheless I highly recommend Radio over side projects The Delta and Children of Paradise. And overall I find the dark style here fun! 01. Radio is an excellent opening song. The mysterious, grainy radio introduction to the song is brooding, and s [spooky] as SkeletonMan put it. The pulsating beat at 1:40 is great, played continuously to a skipping female voice. The sounds and elements are played to excellent effect. It's the sounds X-Dream chooses, where they place them, and how they're used which makes this song so superb. This is an excellent ignition track with substance, style, and wonderful chemistry throughout. Listen to the Goa melody around 4:28 as it swims into the mix. I think this is an awesome song. A- 02. Freak is an excellent, energetic driving song filled with deep, pushing melodies and aggression. It's an extremely well mixed song too as is quite common on this album. I love the skipping melody in the beginning as it's soon removed in the first minute in place of too many things. A Goa melody sprouts at 3:08 which will be the first real leading melody on the album to me. This also fronts the energy of the song which has now developed more stamina and endurance. More melodies are intoduced on top and around this main melody. The melodies are removed and the song drives along to many interesting, bubbling landscapes. A very cool melody quietly enters the mix at around 6:20 and rises into focus. Everything lowers into transition without beat or the newly born meody. Suddenly there's a wonderful return at 7:30 like a quick/thick rush! This song is dipped in enough sweet psy-sounds to near wet my panties. Fortunately I'm not overwhelmed as a listener and X-Dream actually has some wonderful melodies to lead the crisp path. This is a song Derango may want to take note of in my opinion. As with the opening song before it, Freak seems to move in one direction throughout however its direction is great, excellent. A- 03. Electromagnetic begins most dark and intriguing since the opening self-titled track Radio. Again the X-Dream crew have chosen some sweet sound effects and altered, distorted, and echoed the living cells out of them. They've created melodies out of some of the most unexpected, inanimate objects (so to speak as sounds) and brought them to life. The track ignites at 2:03 and begins its development during drive from there. One of the most interesting moments takes place from around 2:57 to 3:08 as nothing but a pulsating machine sound echoes. Suddenly a catchy leading melody arrives and the sound from 3:26 forward is great. Through sound effects of rushing wind arrive new tricks and treats to the rhythm. Sounds of buzzing, zipping, stirring, popping, and twisting seldom sounded so damn good. I really enjoy the leading melody around 7:28, returning from its birth at 3:10. The work invested in this song is generally very well done. Nonetheless this is the least infectious and memorable song to me so far in relationship to the first two. B+ / A- 04. Telegram begins with another eerie, suspenseful introduction. If these songs weren't so much fun to listen to I'd think their intro' were a preview to the next Stephen King movie. Crap I'm going to have nightmares tonight. As with Freak before, this is another raging, driving psy-beast loaded with poweful punches and kicks of sound forming rhythm. The break into silence and voice sample at 7:05 is excellent and builds relative character to the song titled track. I love how the artist involved what seems to be a beeping sound on the type writer as a melody before removing it simoutaneously with a more complex rhythm. A- 05. The Frog is almost funny in the concept of how the artists mixed in the frog blurp into the melody. I love the consistently chomping beat as it switches up, the emotive choir notes, general melodies, the skidding car, and the sounds of the frogs. What they did with the frog voices are not only innovative, it's fun, creative, and extremely catchy when mixed to everything else going on. Initially I found it Frog a bit too monotonous compared to the previous tracks. Some people may argue that this is or isn't a killer song. However it's successful in its own simplicity because it creates so much with less. It's a song basically built on the foundation of a frog. For years to come many artists would be attempting to recreate the successful creativity here with basic sounds to the concept. Few would be better or as original. Either way I suggest people who had mixed feelings about it back then play this again loud. It's a very well done song for not being a super dancefloor song. A- 06. Psychomachine is a super song. Frog was generally less driving and powerful although powerful and quite effective in its own way and right. This one has a surging, pushing rhythm coupled with some excellent melodies, sounds, special effects, and change ups in rhythm. Naturally these ingredients wouldn't be so pleasent if they weren't crafted to near perfection. The song cuts out for a cool voice bit at 5:50. It's ironic in a sense and the music returns in a rage to the sound of a smashing door. However I find this voice sample less effective, the way it fronts the returning burst of powerful music is excellent. More melodies enter the second half and braid together to the monster rhythm. If I had a gripe with any of these powerful tracks it's that they seem to be brilliant songs to get your adrenaline pumping as opposed to tell a deep story. Nonetheless for what this is it's excellent. A- 07. Oscillator I didn't care for the first time I heard this album. It's a very good song however, maybe great. It simply isn't as powerful as the previous tiger which is acceptable. This is a different type of song. Some of the melody work here is interesting around the less driving tunes that occasionally appear throughout the song like puddles during a rain storm. This song seems to take a handful of elements in addition to several new songs on the album and create a solid track with them. I actually enjoy the more quiet parts from 6:28 - 7:15 for instance and how they spill into the new groove created. The more quiet parts create a nice excursion to the often charging bull of Radio. B+ 08. Out Of Your Control seems to be less popular amongst people in talking about. It begins with an interesting, atmospheric, and dark current of sounds to a slow, thumping, echoed beat. The first 2:28 minutes are basically the introduction extended until a short female voice sample at 2:31 takes place. The beat is gone a slow, catchy, gritty melody and a supporting sound of static plays to rising ambient. This becomes more engaging once a sustained melody at around 3:40. The song stays it's slow, plodding, dark ambient course until around 4:40 where the beat is removed again. At around 5:00 the beat returns with some old and newly introduced sounds. I listen patiently, attentive, and in anticipation as the drum goes into combinations around 5:50. The drum taps are catchy as is the overall song throughout the sixth minute for what this is. Nonetheless I feel like I'm waiting for something to happen that never comes. This is downbeat, downtempo, psy/ambient track. It slightly reminds me of the downtempo/ambient closing track on Battle of the Future Buddhas debut called Marsmellow (Miditation Mix). I love that song and find it more visual, motive, engaging, story telling, and deep than I ever found this one to be. Overall I find this the least enjoyable and catchy track on the album. It's somewhat interesting and different and I wish there was more development and payoff along with the suspense and buildup generated throughout. B In conclusion, this is the strongest album X-Dream has ever released next to the wonderful We Created Our Own Happiness in my opinion. The tracks generally follow one direction but the overall fusion of sounds and energy is excellent. They build as some of the tastiest burgers on the planet. Many dark Psy albums are repetitive, noisy nightmares to me. This is one of the very few dark albums I'd say is close to the pinnicle of Dark Psy. Each track is a concoction of awesome sounds, rhythm, momentom, creativity, style, and energy with exception to the last one. The songs more or less have character, power, and some of the most suspense induced introductions I've heard in memory. They pull the listener into the world of the track without needing to make the entire album continuous to keep things going. Each and every song has and stands on its own. I have difficulty distinguishing masterpiece songs here because the entire album has so many excellent tracks. I feel that each and every song is more or less excellent for what it is with exception to the last which is good too. A track that most impressed was Frog because of the wide variety of feelings I experience when listening to it. For once in an X-Dream side project, I feel like these artists have utilized their dark style to make awesome song after excellent song. In that very same sense and regard, this album is superb. Favorite songs: 1, 2, 4, 5, 6. A-

Saturn, Rino, Please forgive my initial scores. I became aware of something after reading your comments. Recently I've beenb listening to alot of Etnica/Pleiads, After listening to Merope, Headspin, and Modulation for instance in CD quality on F.O.L, I drew an inaccurate, poorly judgemental comparison to the two Crop Circles ones I gave lower scores not in high quality. I realized these songs were in 128kbps. My iTunes preferences were set to 128kbps at the time these were uploaded so anything I got was uploaded in bad quality. Fortunately I switched the preferences back then to 192 but by then it was too late for the Crop Circles ones. I listened to the tracks again today on my head phones and adding a dance EQ to the tracks to help compensate if even just a bit for the low quality. And raised the volume! Antonomasia (the version I have) is a wonderful song but I don't know if this is the remix or not. This track title isn't fairly good nor is it good. If recognized earlier I would have given this no less than a B+. In all fairness I think a B- was insulting and I apologize. Your comments made me realize the weakness of the upload and therefore my perspective changed to more positive relative to the score I felt it deserved because I wasn't judging the song anymroe due to a poorly compressed upload. Different Species I listened to again today with head phones and after setting a dance EQ to it as well. I can tell this is not one of my top favorite tracks by them. For me at least, it is good or great, nothing spectacular but interesting overall and well done. Pentagone is awesome. I like this more than Antonomasia and naturally some people may disagree. It's what you feel as we all have somewhat different feelings and sound perceptions to certain songs even when we agree at times.

MFG - NEW KIND OF WORLD 1997 PHONOKOL RECORDS Track list: 01. 07'15" Electric Bubbles 02. 07'53" When We Dream 03. 08'11" Experience 04. 06'51" Alien's Land 05. 08'25" The Waking Mind 06. 08'51" We Are The Machines 07. 08'03" Born Into A New Life 08. 07'40" Peaceful Relaxation 09. 09'31" New Kind Of World The first time I heard this album, I thought it was boring and bland. Boring and bland?! I thought the kick drum was too prominent in the mainstream *bomp* *bomp* we're in a club sense. Moreover, I was expecting something darker and more Sci-Fi-esque via themes of Project Genesis that stood out to me more (at times). I had heard Project Genesis before this one and thought it was the first sequel to The Prophecy and that the darker tone I enjoyed from PG was regressing. Being so focused on what the album wasn't in my mind, at the time, I shelved the thing for FIVE YEARS (maybe longer), until 2007. Prior to this review, I put the disk in the computer, turned off the monitor light which bothers my eyes, equipped head phones-- and what an awakening! 01. Electric Bubbles I read so much negativity about on the first page. Are you nuts? This may not be a super song. But I think it's great! It doesn't give away the GOLD just yet. The crisp, chiming melodies are interesting. The synth lead at 5:15 is strong. This is a catchy albeit less intense and visionary. I'd rather build up to those so the album gets better as it progresses! The track sounds GOOD and DIFFERENT from anything MFG has ever done AND it has GOA written all over it. Did some of you forget that this is an INTRO track??! B+ / A- 02. When We Dream is more developed and visionary. Excellent sound/melody. I love the part where the music becomes clearer and louder upon its return in the last act. This is an outstanding MFG track. I really think they top themselves a handful of times on this album though! A 03. Experience showcases a brooding, dark rhythm. The first half is catchy but lacks the punched up ingredients that showcases their often elaborate, mystical, and intergalactic style and approach. But it builds with suspense and intrigue. The scenery is simply less enchanting/WOW scenery here despite the song being strong, danceable, and catchy! Fortunately, A LOT of positive surprises happen in the second half of the song, buildup, engaging sound/melody work. The music is more exciting in second half while retaining the dark undercurrent synth. The track is different which is good for variety, but I found the previous TWO tracks (especially Track 2) so much more enjoyable in comparison. B+ 04. Alien's Land even MORE PSYCHEDELIC than the previous track. There's more variety too. Lots of little soundscapes, catchy synths, and development. So far found the sound/melody work most memorable in Track 2, and a few more surprised would have been nice. But the dark and psychedelic stomping approach here works. A- 05. The Waking Mind is more emotive and varied compared to Alien's Land. The first 1-2 minutes are simply there to get to the delicious fruits (melody work) to come. Once the third (or so) minute kicks in, the track is marvelous! The melody/sound work, development, transitions, buildup, and climax are superb. And that little squeaky 'accent' sound is so catchy! I love this track! A 06. We Are The Machines is another complex and meticulous, infectious vehicle. Good buildup, mixing, use of samples, and excellent sound/melody work in the song's second and third act reward listeners. Set to a core, stomping beat, the music keeps changing up and keeping our interest. The melody (tune) work I found more memorable in the previous track, but this is going for a more technologic, articulative design and in that sense, it's excellent. A- 07. Born Into A New Life gives us another solid core synth foundation. Some very nice melody work enters later on, showing that there are brains included with this dark and driving dish. Some fantastic sound/melody work happens in the second act. The WHOLE track transforms into something catchier at some point. I love when these artists surprise and impress, make the songs more dynamic, fun, energetic, and exciting. The unexpected buildup and climax is just one example of this. The best aspects arrive in segments rather than drive the overall track I feel. That said, it's a great track. MFG never disappoints. They simply combine very good/great songs along with super/superb songs on the same album. I forgot how interesting this song is at times. B+ / A- 08. Peaceful Relaxation again impresses when we least expect. The first minutes are mere buildup to some really punchy, stand out sound/melody work. The overall music becomes more arresting as the song progresses. Some AWESOME surprises, one stand out one with a VOICE SAMPLE. A peaceful state is encouraged during this transition before the music EXPLODES. Fun things like this make the songs more memorable and bring us back! Another memorable track. A- 09. New Kind Of World begins with a beautiful Middle Eastern intro. The melody driven song is optimistic sounding. It improves, becomes more lush, harmonious and enjoyable as it moves forward. Lots of Earth/Nature/Animal influence here. Some would say spiritual. It's a carefully made track and retains the storytelling aspect in the album's final chapter. A- New Kind of World may just be the strongest album MFG ever released. It's too bad it took me around five years to appreciate it. While Project Genesis is still my favorite of MFG's first three Pure Goa albums, this is a fantastic album, one I found renewed love and appreciation for years later. New Kind of World is one of the best Goa albums ever released. Now it's off to Project Genesis and then more Astral Projection, the pioneers that inspired MFG I can only imagine, and look how they broke into their own with this album over The Prophecy when we draw AP influences. New Kind of World is its own visionary album with a dualistic arc. It's pretty grand. Favorite Tracks: 1, 2, 5, 6, 8, 9 9/10

Double post from below.

Great! Someone opened the same exact thread to mine yesterday. Can someone merge both threads together please?

CROP CIRCLES - SINGLES * Updated: June 28, 2007 Full Mental Jackpot (Pleiadians Rmx) is so cool. A- Lunar Civilization ... I always thought the original was by Pleiadians per say. The one I have says it's by Crop Circles but I'm not so sure. It's still an excellent track, which ever version this is. A- Pentagone is a very well done song that could have easily been great or excellent on the Family of Light album or any comp it was on I presume. - A- Different Species a very well done song filled with high and low pitched sonic sounds. It has some nice melody structures as it progresses. I'd say the only fall back is that it isn't a super song. It would be a good breather in between Pleiadian super songs if they had released a third album maybe although in comparison to I.F.O. and several excellent FOL tracks this isn't as up there. It's still good! B Antonomasia again involves those fast, twisting sonic streams of melodies and melodic complexity. Many are high pitched however and the song becomes generally repetitive as it progresses. This honestly sounds like a track that didn't make the Family of Light album because it wasn't good enough or accepting to what they wanted for what it is. Updated to B+ Cerealogy is a song I don't care for, the sounds especially. It's bland and dull I feel, filled with far from many slow currents of low sounds througout. This isn't bad per say, just different. It seems like more of an experimental track however, one that should have not released anywhere by such talents if it did. C+ I suppose if Crop Circles ever released an album it would have maybe looked something like this. Are there any tracks I'm missing. And since some of these never released or became available it isn't wrong to know that all of these tracks could be floating around on a free site to download called limewire if you're patient and search for Crop Circles. It may take multiple times and catching that user who has them in his shared files to get these. After all they aren't so known. Not many people have them I'd imagine.

It is virtually impossible for me to write my top 10 favorite songs AS each artist (Astral Projection, MFG, Pleiadians, etc) made a various number of tracks that rank as favorites. So I made what I currently believe is my Top Goa albums. If I had to choose a favorite song in Goa the first one that comes to mind is ASTEROPE by Pleiadians on the phenomenal I.F.O. album...but there are so many superb songs it's silly to think this one is better than literally all else. As with below, it's one of the top best. These are currently my Top 10 main Goa Albums 1. PLEIADIANS - I.F.O. ... A 2. ASTRAL PROJECTION - DANCING GALAXY ... A 3. HALLUCINOGEN - TWISTED ... A 4. HALLUCINOGEN - THE LONE DERANGER ... A 5. TANDU - MULTIMOODS ... A 6. INFECTED MUSHROOM - CLASSICAL MUSHROOM ... A 7. CHI-A.D. - EARTH CROSSING - A- 8. ASTRAL PROJECTION - ANOTHER WORLD - A- 9. ASTRAL PROJECTION - TRUST IN TRANCE 3 10. CHI-A.D. - ANNO DOMINI Followed by (in first ones to come to mind order): COSMOSIS - COSMOLOGY followed by SYNERGY MFG - THE PROPHECY and PROJECT GENESIS JAIA - BLUE ENERGY DOOF - LET'S TURN ON INFECTED MUSHROOM - B.P. EMPIRE and THE GATHERING ETNICA - ALIEN PROTEIN FILTERIA - SKY INPUT and HELIOPOLIS SANDMAN - WITCHCRAFT TALAMASCA - BEYOND THE MASK GREEN NUNS - ROCK BITCH MAFIA X-DREAM - WE CREATED OUR OWN HAPPINESS RA - TO SIRIUS CALIFORNIA SUNSHINE - NASHA (And the list goes on. And I encourage everyone into this music to hear these albums, any you haven't!) It's currently too soon for me to place DIMENSION 5 - TRANSDIMENSIONAL (2007 re-release) on my list because I just heard it for the first time in June, 2007. I feel it's one of my favorite Goa albums of all time but I need more time. The others above I have put much more energy into because I've had and listened to them far longer. I feel certain that they are favorites in my mind.

MFG - PROJECT GENESIS (UDPATED OVER A DECADE LATER) 1998 PHONOKOL RECORDS Track listing: 01. 00'41" Intro 02. 07'30" Intelligent Machine 03. 07'34" Project Genesis 04. 08'08" Open Mind 05. 08'12" Why? 06. 08'27" Voices 07. 07'41" Sunshine 08. 08'02" On Mars 09. 07'42" The Creation 10. 09'29" Metamorphosis PROJECT GENESIS is my favorite MFG album, though I find New Kind of World and The Message strong too. Initially I was drawn to the darker style here. This was one of the first dark Goa-Trance albums I heard. It's also a rare and a different (dark, edgy) approach from MFG's previous album. For those who forget what addictive melodies sound like, I highly recommend revisiting older Goa-Trance albums by Astral Projection, MFG, Hallucinogen, Pleiadians, Cosmosis, Transwave, etc. MFG is smart like Astral Projection in that they put the super songs in the middle of the album. They build up to them. Yet somewhere close by, there's always a less strong track, Voices here. I recommend listening to this album at night with ear buds when doing something, exercising, driving, laying down visualizing. I find this album so nostalgic, fused with the excellent synths, bass lines, rhythms, and atmosphere. I always come back to this one, as it's one of my all time favorites. 01. Intro is too short to score. It involves little more than slow psy ambient notes that connect to.. 02. Intelligent Machine establishes the darkly imaginative tone, as well as the cybernetic Goa style on this concept album. The song's coupled with sweet development, catchy synths, bass, high energy, and rhythm. The aggressive drum combo around 3:38 transitions so well to the next part, and the sample compliments. The last act is excellent too! Great opening track! A- 03. Project Genesis is another strong track with a leading melody wave that takes place on and off throughout. At 6:30 is a return to the leading wave. It's great and the cyborg / cybernetic sound is fantastic and refreshing! A 04. Open Mind is more melodic, less dark and edgy than the previous two vehicles. I really like the sound/melody work (synths), and the song's growth and development. It's well done and compliments the other tracks. A- 05. Why? is so interesting. I'll never forget the first time I heard this song. It was night. My eyes were closed. The first several minutes were pretty good but nothing exceptional...like a roller coaster in the dark, continuing to climb in anticipation. It levels out before climbing again. We reach 5:00 as the song grows richer, more complex, psychedelic, existential, and arresting as it progresses. The song is an adrenaline beast-- a cybernetic fan's we dream, a dance floor diamond, and my favorite track on the album and by MFG to date. It's all about one's state of mind to dive deep, appreciate, and enjoy this radical treasure, or hover near the surface, consciousness-wise, and overlook any meaning to some degree or entirely. A 06. Voices - Some nice synths, just not as memorable or enjoyable as previous tracks. Lots of energy, psychedelic. But the melodic ingredients feel less infectious. The song could have been more imaginative, daring, and complex, but it's not bad. Fortunately there's some pretty cool (catchier) synth variety and complexity in the last act. B 07. Sunshine opens with a bang. The song has skipping voice samples that are VERY CATCHY and enhance the song... SUUN SSHHH -- SUUNN SHHIII.. The track is fairly dark and rhythmic too, rough, and sleek. The first 1-2 minutes are excellent, though repetition sets in by 3:40, until its awesome SUNSHINE chorus saves it. The second act is strong, similar to the opening two minutes with a few extra layers. MFG could have added a super synth or something more to really elevate the final third, but we get is a thick, storming rhythmic rush of sounds that are, well, quite homogenous to the first two acts without really raising the bar. The song is solid throughout with a great hook that elevates it. A- 08. On Mars is better than Voices. A bit slow to get started save its power and momentum. Synths in the second half grow catchier. It has a main current/synth throughout, but that power surge prevents the song from feeling more varied and refreshing until the second half, final act where some wicked, blazing synths arrive. Great track! B+ 09. The Creation is borderline uptempo. It has a solid, thick rhythm throughout, and many psy scapes, but no memorable synths (or leads) until the last act. It's pretty good and one of the less appreciated tracks here that took me until 2016 to appreciate and enjoy. This is more IDM via Goa-Trance. It develops nicely. Pretty interesting/good overall, but nothing spectacular. B+ 10. Metamorphosis is the slowest song here and possibly the most innovative and interesting as well (aside from Why?). Rich, unique, gripping, and ever-changing. The song gets catchier as it progresses. The sound fusions throughout are where cyber/dark meets elegant Goa in this beautiful concoction of imaginative beauty, ingenuity, and excellence. The song evolves and is a wonderful closing track. A Project Genesis is a super follow-up to New Kind of World. I loved this music back then and still do today in 2018. Project Genesis will surprise you in its concentrated moments and tracks. Its darker, more powerful and Cybernetic / Sci-Fi influenced approach at times makes for a tour de force in Psy/Goa-Trance. That said, the album's not for everyone. This has a very distinct UNCONVENTIONAL sound, and is one of my favorite Goa albums. The only track I find fairly weak or less strong is Voices. After their less layered [comparatively speaking] but still VERY GOOD follow up album to this third one via The Message (2001), they returned with Message From God (2006), a Full On release that was just not Goa anymore despite some MFG influences. The Message (2001) is there last Goa-influenced album showcasing some very good/great work. But Project Genesis was crafted in a time when they were dishing out such phenomenal work, like a prodigy teenager full of energy, excitement, rage, and creativity. I'd still recommend The Message if you're a fan of this music. It's good and showcases some great work. Still as overall main albums go, there was a love and a kinetic energy that was last heard to this most fierce PURE GOA degrees from them on THIS ALBUM. MFG peeked with New Kind of World + Project Genesis in terms of PURE GOA. TO MFG: THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THIS INCREDIBLY INSPIRED RELEASE THAT SOME PEOPLE COMPLETELY MISSED OR DIDN'T FULLY GRASP OR APPRECIATE BACK IN 1998. Favorite songs: 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 10 A-

What this artist should do is make a real follow-up to Twin Coast Discovery. I'm generally not a fan of Progressive Trance and I've listened to Twin Coast Discovery more than any Progressive release album I own since I got it. This artists groovy, smooth, occasionally cool/emotive or prog influenced progressive style and melodies won myself and many people over with that album. It received much praise. Twin Coast Discovery As much as I encourage innovation and taking risks, there was nothing wrong with Twin Coast that needed fixing in the sense NO ALBUM Antix released since has came close to succeeding it.