sleepingzombie

303 303 303 303 goooo .... blow my mind !!!!! this cd is so amazing fuuuuunnn !!! why nobody does music like this anymore ? what to say more ? very fast, but most of all very funny ... party party party if I should look for flaws in this cd, the only thing is that production here and there is someway rhough... but who cares ? It's sooo fun ! rate : 303/10

Solar Quest - Euphoric Acid and Bluetech - Leaving winter behind feeling melancholic so I choosed a two song playlist looping for the whooole day

RexAnthony - Technoshock Eight Artist : Rex Anthony Title : Technoshock Eight Label : Futurex record Date : 2000 Track listing: 01 Bad Element (8:10) 02 XTC Cocktail (5:13) 03 Maskk (7:19) 04 Myphuture (5:11) 05 Drink & Sex (Without XS) (3:37) 06 For You Marlene (4:22) 07 Loverkill (4:15) 08 To Hell And Back (5:35) 09 I Don't Give A Damn (5:41) 10 Capturing Matrix (3:36) 11 No Message (10:32) 12 Synthetic Flat (6:26) 13 Rexample (5:38). Review: This may not really fit in a psy/goa range. Anyway , I think 1) this artist is worth a try, 2) maybe is contaminated by other genres of electronic, but this is actually a trance cd. 01 Bad Element. Start up track. "Old school" keyboard patterns, with pashered saw sounds, some progressive arrangements, and an aggresive drumkit line. It's a pity that the riffs are not very inspired, maybe the aim of the song was just to wink to a more mainstream target. 5/10 02 XTC Cocktail. Hardcore track. Not inspired and repetitive. 2/10 03 Maskk "Old school" progressive, like Kay Tracid. Production is good, but the keyboard melodies aren't too much inspired. Nice break at 03'24" where the melancholic mood prevales. Nothing particularly original, though. 5/10 04 Myphuture Other track in Kay Tracid's style. More adrenalinic than the previous one. Keyboard patterns are more appealing, but the structure of the song is very classic. Good interlock of phasers, but high sense of deja-vu. 5/10 05 Drink & Sex (Without XS) Party song ! Fast progressive (but not much bubbling as I like) , adrenalinic and well structured. Good production empowered by the use of electric guitars and of a cool break-in sample. 7/10 06 For You Marlene Old rave/hardcore track, released previously before 1994. Added here I think for nostalgic reason. Adrenalinic, but the production really sounds too outdated today. Historical value, at least in the Italian scene. n/a 07 Loverkill. One of my preferred progressive track ever. Aggressive drumkit, fast acid bubbling bass, rhough distortions ... Very raw, makes me think to the best productions by Emmanuel Top. Pure flow of dopamine. 9/10 08 To Hell And Back . This song features a great use of electric guitar inserted in a trance environment. Think to some works by Juno Reactor , even if the quality of the overall production here rests on lower levels. This could have been a great dark/ adrenalinic song, but sadly the artist choosed to ruin it inserting a keyboard pattern that sounds too "happy techno" to my ears. Anyway, it gives moments of high adrenaline. 6/10 09 I Don't Give A Damn . Commercial trip hop track , with electric guitars and "punk" vocals. Maybe influenced by Prodigy. Appealing here and there, but repetitive in the end. 6/10 10 Capturing Matrix. Another historical track. "Old school" progressive, with very catching keyboard pattern. Every time I listen to it, my memory returns to some of the best nights of my life. Sorry, I love this song and can't be really objective about it. 9/10 11 No Message. Maybe the most "psy" track. Hipnotic beginning, slowly growing on dark atmospheres. Kick enters at 2'25", and the track evolves in a fast trance, with some dark fields breaking the progression of the bassline. 7/10 12 Synthetic flat. Commercial dance that become the single choosed to promote the cd. Created only to catch occasional mainstream listeners. 2/10 13 Rexample. As in many of his production, here's a bonus track with the samples used throughout the cd. Nice gift. n/a Overall rate : 6/10. Beyond the whole cd, that can be too mainstream here and there, I suggest to give a try at least to the track Loverkill. IMO is one of the best progresssive song ever.

Another two questions . Surfing this forum, I often meet two terms and I don't know what they exactly mean. The first is "old school". Forgive my naive point of view, but what makes "old school" , ehm , "old school" ? Is it just the release date of an album or the definition involves more technical backgound, i.e. : use of new synthetizers, structural changes in the concepts of songs, use of particular patterns or samples ? The second is that "full on". I've read posts about it and listened to some songs labeled as "full on", but I don't understand yet. What does "full on" mean ? Why a thing is "full on" and another just "goa" ? Thanks again. P.S. : I'm listening to Solar Quest and I like it

thank youuuuuuuuu

This says it all. Albums like this needs patience to be "catched". My favourite with Season 5 by Aes Dana. Great in everything, but you'll need to lay down and listen to it some times , maybe wait when you are in a right mood. Better if in a rainy day. 8,5/10

First time I listened to it I thought : hey, what's that junk ? Then I read the name of the artist on the cd and ... Juno Reactor ? So I gave it a try . Listened to it some times ... ... and still dunno what to think.

amazing work, anoebis !!! great topic !!! BTW, I 'd like to profit from this opportunity to ask here a question. I hope not to go OT, but it should fit with the overall topic. I like very much a song by Emmanuel Top called "Acid phase". The music I'd like to listen to would be something like that song, with more melodical layers, maybe with a mystical flavour (like the vocal sample in "two moons and a trout" by Union Jack), and more "acid" bass progression (I'm not sure about this, but the correct term should sound something as "bubbling 303", I think ... ) So, which sub-genre should I look into, when buying a cd ? Or, even better, which artists ? Thank you for any suggestion. And again congratulations for all the work

Yes, I understand your disappointment. First of all, I beg your pardon for having dismissed a group made of pure genius (FSOL) and an album that has great historical value (ISDN) with a couple of short and superficial comments. So, let me go deeper. The motivations of my rating are subjective , and I made another mistake here for not having specified it in my previous post. About my subjective motivations : - it's stronger than me , I can't like anything involved too much with acid jazz. Now, I don't feel at ease with labels, so I don't know if "acid jazz" can rightly apply to some arrangements of ISDN, but it's the best term I have in stock . I don't like many of the bass loops, many of the drum patterns and most of all the jazzy trumpets waves used in a couple of songs. I know that if FSOL choosed to put them in the cd, they should have had their reason. But I can't put apart my personal tastes, too. - I have to admit, I am too mainstream for ISDN . IMO, Dead Cities is more appealing to people coming from mainstream trance : a part from the dance hit, most of all because it has plenty of melodical patterns . ISDN is without compromises : it's one of the best albums out there to "trip", but Dead Cities offers an easier listening. So, if you like it better, I have to admit that basically I don't like ISDN because of my personal limits

I found also two great remix : the first by Tektonik (tender, more centred on the "estathic" vocalism) and the second by Caspar Pound, with a great progression among different environments (starts with melancholic piano, grows with some 4/4 kick drum and "old school" loops, breaks into a "mystical" bridge with the vocal sample, and then a great trance closing). Sorry, I had to download them from emule ... does anyone know a compilation or a cd with these remixes ?

Thank you guys for this one ! I hadn't never heard union jack before. Two moons and a trout has really been a superb discovery. Now I can't stop listening to that song .

baby killer by infected mushroom

Stillness in aerial movement. A rising trace from the background. So wide. Unlimited gray spaces. And it fades. And your mind fades with it. This cd takes me mad. At a first glance, it is nothing special. No special production, no catching melodies, no pumping bass ... But after some time you listen to it, hey, what's happening ? No more boredom, no more angry, no more concepts ... where am I ? What is left of myself ? This is a trip. And its path swallows your body, your mind and everything you thought you knew about yourself and the world in general. Please before listen to it wait to be in solitude and in a suitable mood . Be aware that the first listenings won't render the real power of this cd. First time you listen to Season 5, it could sound like some boring ambient junk, with background noises, bubbling effetcs and minimal drum... Please be patient, and you'll be rewarded. You will need to listen to this cd at least ten time to gain access to the Season 5 dimension. Awesome. I rate it 9. Favourite tracks : 5 and 6.

Before adding my review to this cd, let me introduce my relation with Enigma : 1st album MCMXV (sorry, don't remeber well) : loved this album and listened to it thousands of times ; 2nd album (forgot the title) : disliked a part from the song Dream of the dolphin (beautiful ambient vocal/piano song) ; 3rd album Shade behind the mirror : liked very much some songs , expecially those with samples from "carmina burana" . ... and now this one . Its force is the same as its weakness. Let me explain : it's a good Enigma album , with Enigma feel, Enigma sound, Enigma samples ... and this is the problem ! it's a good album only if you are absolutely new to Enigma sound , because it's really *too* much the same as the previous albums ! It's really too similar to their previous works ! it's like they're eternally remaking the same old song in every album . A part from it, the cd is good : well produced,poetic and relaxing; and ok, its bpm is very quiet but if you feel adrenalinic you don't look for Enigma. Conclusion : 8 if you own a lounge bar and you are running out of cd to play during the happy hour , 5 if you have already buyed every Enigma album, beacuse the sense of "deja-vu" is high.

The album is more structured and "straight" (in FSOL's limits) than LifeForms, with less musical landscapes, less monotony and just a few dead moments. Very innovative in creating musical situations never heard before. Even if it features a mainstream dancefloor track (we have explosive) some other tracks are ill ,slow and paranoic. I would have appreciated some faster bpm here and there. It's a very good cd , but to fully appreciate it you must be in the right mood and in the right environment ... don't listen to it on your car before going to work , wait for 3 A.M. and let night and music wash away all the shit the dead city spreads on you ... Favourite track : Antique toy 8/10

DIGERIDOO is amazing and one ot the most impressive song I've ever heard. Still today.

dunno ... while I love Dead Cities and many of their songs as amorphous androginos, I haven't liked much ISDN . I found it too much drum'n'bass for my tastes , and it lacks the complexity of dead cities . Sadly, even it's a release by FSOL I rate it only 5/10.