travbrad1001

TOP DOWNBEAT/CHILL ALBUMS OF 2007 (Rank-Artist-Album-Points) #1 Younger Brother - The Last Days of Gravity 112 #2 Asura - Life squared 104 #3 Sync24 - Source 39 #4 VA - Oxycanta Winter Blossoms 32 #5 Flooting Grooves - Upsyde Downe 23 #6 Outolintu - Odd Man Out 20 #7 Shulman - Engless Rhythms of the Beatless Heart 18 #8 The Peaking Goddess Collective - Organika 18 #9 Krusseldorf - Smokers Lounge 17 #10 Chronos - Steps to the Great Knowledge 12 #11 Khooman - Life is a Flexible Liquid 12 #12 Pushmipulyu - 133 Thursdays 12 #13 Master Margherita - Mastura 11 #14 VA - Chiller 1 10 #15 VA - Midnight Soul Dive 9 #16 Zero Cult - Ikebana 9 #17 Polyploid - Grow Your Own 8 #18 Sundial Aeon - Apotheosis 8 #19 Kilowatts - Ground State 7 #20 Krill.Minima - Nautica 7 #21 SynSUN - Unstoppable 7 #22 VA - Cosmik Chill Orange 6 #23 Anahata - The Unmade Sound 5 #24 Audela - Audela 5 #25 Bola - Kroungine 5 #26 Cymphonic - Strataradialis 5 #27 Evan Bartholomew - Borderlands 5 #28 Tom Middleton - Lifetracks 5 #29 Kuba - Through A Lense 5 #30 Deep Dive Corp - Undiscovered 4 #31 Dymons - Druids Brew 4 #32 Evan Bartholomew - Caverns of Time 4 #33 Liquid Stranger - The Invisible Conquest 4 #34 Sensorica - The Realm of Fancy 4 #35 VA - Ear Pleasure 4 #36 VA - Kokopelli 4 #37 VA - Moonshadow Beats 4 #38 VA - Bioluminescence 3 #39 VA - Pop Ambient 2008 3 #40 Grey Area - And Then the Clouds 2 #41 Kukan Dub Lagan - Step Ina Rasta Step 2 #42 Outersect - Caldera 2 #43 Proem - A Permanent Solution 2 #44 The Orb - The Dream 2 #45 VA - Bliminal 2 #46 VA - Intermittent Memories 2 #47 VA - The Art of Chill 4 2 #48 Electro 7 - Habanadelic Gozadera Experience 2 #49 Astropilot - Fruit of the Imagination 1 #50 Kettel - Whisper Me Wishes 1 #51 Pan Electric - Conscious Pilot 1 #52 Pitch Black - Rude Mechnicals 1 #53 Secede - Vega Libre 1 #54 VA - Tibet, A Culture in Danger 1

Okay so I was REALLY bored this morning, so I tallied up some unofficial results from the thread. People who didn't vote for separate genres (downbeat/upbeat) I just counted as one top5 (ie 5,4,3,2,1 not separate). Also it's only Artist/Album, no label or any other cool results. Anyway here goes TOP UPBEAT/TRANCE ALBUMS OF 2007 (Rank-Artist-Album-Points) #1 Solar Fields - Earthshine 49 #2 Goasia - From Other Spaces 46 #3 VA - Twist Dreams 46 #4 Logic Bomb - Sonic Algebra 43 #5 Eat Static - De-Classified 40 #6 Vibrasphere - Exploring The Tributaries 40 #7 Prometheus - Corridor of Mirrors 30 #8 Transwave - Backfire 30 #9 Dimension 5 - Transdimensional 26 #10 Tea Chairs - Tea Chairs 26 #11 D-Nox and Beckers - Left Behind 21 #12 Ace Ventura - Rebirth 20 #13 Mindsphere - Inner Cyclone 20 #14 Trold - Time of Illusion 20 #15 Bigwigs - National Heroes of Sonic Parallel 18 #16 Sound Field - Audio Surfin 18 #17 Penta - Horn Please 17 #18 Xenomorph - Demagoguery of the Obsurants 15 #19 Vishnudata - Dreamforce 15 #20 Cosmosis - Psychedelic Melodia 14 #21 Sattel Battle - Sounds Cool 14 #22 Scorb - Ipso Fvcto 14 #23 Perfect Stranger - Changed 13 #24 VA - Mainspring Motion 13 #25 Furious - Uncanny Beats 12 #26 Gappeq - Speaker Seeker 11 #27 Mr Rogers - Ooze System 11 #28 VA - No Tone Unstirred 11 #29 Sienis - From A Nutter Perspective 10 #30 Sun Control Species - Scienza Nuova 10 #31 Troll Scientists - Useless Science 10 #32 VA - Ultrapop 2 10 #33 AMD - Big Fish 9 #34 Kindzadza - Waves from Inner Space 8 #35 Matenda - Natural Development 8 #36 Protonica - Search 8 #37 Astroschnautzer - Astroschnautzer 7 #38 Braincell - Tranformation of Reality 7 #39 VA - Golden Vibes 2 7 #40 Shadow FX - Direct Influence 6 #41 Talamasca - Obsessive Dream 6 #42 Antix - Wanderers 5 #43 Cujorious One - The Art of Mindfucking 5 #44 ESP - Sensor Overload 5 #45 Hiyarant - Collision 5 #46 ITP - Loose Your Illusion 5 #47 Mr Peculiar - Infinite Evolution 5 #48 Neelix - The Same Thing But Different 5 #49 Opium of the Masses - The Lost Planet 5 #50 VA - Pure Planet 2 5 #51 Vibrasphere - Archipelago Remixed 5 #52 Alien Mental - Mind Hack 4 #53 Electro Sun - Double Troub;e 4 #54 Frozen Ghost - Edible Technique 4 #55 Heterogenesis - Revoluciones Maquinicas 4 #56 Hujaboy - Black Belt 4 #57 Igor Swamp - Metsa Vastaa 4 #58 Lamat - Fearless 4 #59 Ocelot - Psymatix 4 #60 VA - Kaleidoscopic Vision 4 #61 VA - Positive Alchemists 3 4 #62 VA - Set 7 Declivity 4 #63 VA - Vapour 4 #64 Concept - Paranormal 3 #65 Deeper in Zen - Silence 3 #66 Gus Till - Best of the Rhino Year 2 3 #67 Kiwa - On the Frequency 3 #68 Paranoize - In the Lab 3 #69 Pitch Hikers - Sting 3 #70 VA - Dream Theatre 3 #71 VA - Japanhythm 3 #72 VA - No Time No Space 3 #73 VA - Phunk Core 3 #74 VA - The Hidden Dimension 3 #75 Ziki - Eliminator 3 #76 Electrypnose - Where Do We Go Now 2 #77 Gaudium - So Called Life 2 #78 Haldolium - QNT 2 #79 Klopfgeister - Travel Diaries 2 #80 Ocelot - 9 Lives 2 #81 Symphonix - Music Prostitute remix 2 #82 VA - Deep Mental Trauma 2 2 #83 VA - Future Cuts 2 #84 VA - Human Hyperactivation 2 #85 VA - Mysterious Force 2 #86 Vox - Innerpolarity 2 #87 Ajja - Psychogenica 1 #88 Bitmonx and Fabio - Plugged 1 #89 Cosmic Tone - In-Action Remixed 1 #90 Cosmo - Akustical Pollution 1 #91 Funky Dragon - Massive 1 #92 Life Extension - Side Effect 1 #93 Phobium - Future Uncertain 1 #94 Prahlad - Movement of Consciousness 1 #95 Shift - Alternator 1 #96 The Observer - New Born EP 1 #97 Tripswitch - Circuit Breaker Rewired 1 #98 VA - Extrasensory Perception 1

Here's a few off the top of my head Kaya Project - Both albums FSOL - Lifeforms Shpongle - First 2 albums Bluetech - All albums Omnimotion - Dream Wide Awake Capsula - Synthesis of Reality Pedra Branca - Pedra Branca (very heavy on real instruments but I'd still consider it chill) OTT - Blumenkraft (more dub than chill I guess) I think some ambient would go really well with those games too.

The only midis I've found are some short samples of IM songs, and also a "full" version of Bust a Move (by IM). I have no idea where I got these, they've just been sitting on my computer for years. They aren't completely accurate either...but the Bust a Move one is pretty good. http://download.yousendit.com/34AEA0FF14B39986

I totally agree, this and Khetzal are the only modern goa I've heard that really "stood out" as being great and taking me into that special trippy world. Not only are the tracks amazing, but it's a whole album full of them :posford: I've only listened to it a few times so far, but it's one of the best goa albums I've ever heard (new or old), and I agree with Cosmogenesis about it being the best of the last decade (along with Corolle )

I've never been to one at all unfortunately There is rarely a festival/party within 1000 miles of where I live. The Twisted party in San Fran would have been awesome, but that's a 2000 mile trip. That's a bit too far/expensive for me. If a party/festival ever does come near me I'll probably end up going alone though, my friends like a lot of different types of music, but none of them like trance.

Shpongle, it just seems more like generally good music, more timeless. Even people who don't really like electronic music often like Shpongle (at least my hippy friends lol). Hallucinogen is good, or even great trance, but I have to be in the right mood for it. With both of them though, I've sort of over-listened to them, so I tend to not listen to either of them nearly as much as I used to.

:lol:

Just checked out the samples and it sounds amazing. I love spacey music and this seems like some of the best I've heard in awhile, can't wait to hear the full quality/length recordings

I still listen to it (as well as other music) but what's there to say about it really? You can only say "hallucinogen is killargh" so many times. Also, it seems to me a large chunk of the people here still listen to "oldschool" trance, I don't know why you assume we don't. It's just that most of us also listen to new music and people tend to talk about new things rather than dwelling on the past.

It can be done well, but more often it's the same old samples, or just a sitar playing something that isn't very musical. Seems a lot of people just put it in there to sound "cool" but ignore actually making it fit into the song, creating decent melodies, etc. That said, I really like a lot of actual indian music (Shakti, Ravi Shankar, L Subramaniam, Debashish Bhattacharya, etc..). Basically I like when people come up with their own melodies/music instead of just throwing samples in. A good example of this is Pedra Branca, they play a lot of the instruments rather than using samples, although they use a lot of Chinese/Japanese/homemade instruments as well.

There's no particular BPM that I prefer. It all depends on the particular song, type of music, my mood, etc. I generally don't like really high BPM stuff, but there are exceptions. Khetzel's Ganesha Pramana comes to mind, as well as a lot of jazz music, I believe some of Duke Ellingtons music is about 250BPM . I can't even stick to one genre of music, let alone a particular tempo.

I try to just sit back relax and put on my Sennheisers, at least on the first couple of listens. At this point there is some music that I simply know I won't like no matter how many listens I give it. For the music that seems good/ok I give it another few listens (though not as "focused" at the first listen, often just on regular speakers rather than headphones, and sometimes while driving). After hearing it 5-10 times it usually becomes clear how much I actually enjoy it. This is when a lot of music that seemed good at first starts to get boring, and music that didn't seem that special starts to seem good. Of course there is some music that is just good from the start. I'd say it's about 50/50 for me whether my opinion of the music will stay the same or change after repeated listens. This whole process depends on the type of music too, if it's rock/blues/reggae music I tend to be less "thorough" in my listening than I would be with electronic, classical, or jazz.

Really depends on the album. Some VAs are well put together and flow nicely, but others just seem like a bunch of random tracks. I tend to like albums more though, if you like 1 song by an artist, chances are you'll like more. VAs can be more hit and miss.

Awesome, looks like I'll be busy today Thanks again

Does anyone know of any realistic sounding orchestra or wind synths? Software or hardware...but preferably software. In particular I'm looking for violin, cello, clarinet, and saxophone. I know there are many samples available of these instruments, but I'd prefer a synth because it's easier to work with/tweak, especially since the difference between a "long" note and a "short" one on strings is huge. Any tips would be appreciated, thanks

Not sure what it is about this album, but I just can't get into it. I liked the previous albums too, so this is very dissapointing. Nothing here really stands out as being terrible, but nothing stands out as being good either. Overall it just seemed uninspired. Just my 2 cents

Hmm, i'd have to say probably Orbital - Halcyon On and On (and I still think its great) as well as Prodigy - Smack My Bitch Up/Firestarter (dont really care for them anymore). I also liked some old Nine Inch Nails stuff which I guess could be considered electronic, but I just thought they were a "grunge" band (hey i was only about 10 years old ) As for the 'psychedelic' side of electronic music, that would be Hallucinogen - LSD, and Hallucinogen is still my favorite trance music to this day, although I consider LSD to be one of his worse songs

Here's my list so far, im getting some albums in the next few days that will hopefully replace some of these though TRANCE (was a really dissapointing year for trance, maybe im just growing out of it or something...Tea Chairs is miles above any of the others IMO) 1.Tea Chairs - Tea Chairs 2.VA - Ultrapop 2 3.VA - Phunk Core 4.VA - Mainspring Motion 5.Eat Static - De-Classified CHILL 1.Younger Brother - The Last Days of Gravity 2.VA - Ear Pleasure 3.Pushmipulyu - 133 Thursdays 4.VA - Intermittent Memories 5.VA - Minight Soul Dive

I really can't stand the radio...I like a huge variety of music, but still 99% of the music ive heard on the radio is crap. I occasionally listen to recommendations from last.fm, but that's about it. Even on there I don't like most of the music, but it's better than normal radio at least. Basically what it comes down to is there is only a small fraction of music I like from any given genre, but it's worth putting in the effort to find the good stuff Most of the new bands I discover are from concerts or friends.

I don't like most "dark" or "progressive", so there hasn't been much trance for me to look forward to this year, so when i heard about this i knew it was something i had to check out. I just got done listening to it for the first time, and it's easily the best trance album of the year IMO (Eat Static is 2nd ). There isn't a single bad track here (or even an okay one). It's hard to say which tracks really stand out after just one listen. The E-Mantra track has a nice Total Eclipse kind of sound to it (but with a modern twist), It'll take some more listens to really wrap my head around this album, but after 1 listen I give it a 9/10 Great stuff!

Wow...it's just as horrible as I expected, perhaps even worse. Every song here is ridiculously cheesy. The "best" song is heavyweight, but even that is pretty cheesy and not worth listening to a 2nd time... It's not that it's bad for psytrance, I like all different kinds of music, and this music just plain sucks. Boring, uninspired, predictable, and cheesy is the only way to describe it really. Just my 2 cents...your mileage may vary.

And so was your original post. He was using this "evidence" to say shpongle sucks, while you're using it to say shpongle is great. Music is not 'good' or 'bad', it depends on the listener..trying to justify that your music tastes are superior and providing "proof" is just silly. Just enjoy whatever music you enjoy. I like Shpongle too, but i don't come up with ridiculous reasons why i like it. It just sounds good to my ears. Infected Mushroom is liked by a lot of people that dont like trance, so that means IM is the best trance right?

lol yahel is the king of stupid covers.

Totally agree with this. Fantastic album On the chill side I recommend Omnimotions album