DoktorG

Please would you delete all the links to pirate sites with free downloads that you have posted. I'm sure the artists would appreciate that. Thanks very much. We look forward to your detailed reviews, especially of things which you think are really good and recommend that all should listen to.

Completely agree Tsotsi. I clicked on the link and was appalled to see the new Xenomorph ep, for just one example, for free download on this Russian site - I ordered the vinyl of this ep from Suntrip records directly and it hasn't even arrived in the post yet. A free flac download is a slap in the face to me, let alone Mark Petrick and Suntrip Records, and suggests disrespect.

Darn, I was hoping I could safely ignore another absurdly over-priced galloping horse or machine gun clone. Unfortunately, however, I'm just going to have to shell out, because this sounds great! Classic Prana percussive sensibilities are to the fore, not to mention blistering acid and atmospheric ambience/samples. ~*~ PS - it is highly unlikely to be 3 lps based on the 7 tracks on 4 sides that are the preview tracks.

Thanks for your comments Draeke; it is good to get a production perspective. I personally find the trifold for 3 vinyls a real pain to use - you have to lay the whole cover out flat to get the middle record out and put it back - a palaver. It may be even more expensive, depending how it is made, but in my opinion and experience the box set is best for 3 vinyls or more. Very easy and convenient to use and looks great. If the box is too flimsy, then you are back to problems and a sturdy box may cost of course. Another option, utilised by quite a few record labels like Matsuri who squeezed the 4 vinyls of Prana's Geomantik in one, is the super depth single sleeve. This probably requires just the right stiffness of cardboard and the right dimensions to be useable, but it can work. If done properly, this is a better solution for 3 lps than the gatefold or trifold I think. Just my 2c from a user's perspective. PS - the mastering on this Blue Planet Corporation release is better to my ears than the mastering jobs on previous Dat Records vinyls.

$69 each for these Kalya Scintilla albums. Prices are getting out of hand and this is harming the vinyl renaissance. "By the inexorability of the vampiric pyrrhosis, they always take more than they need" William Burroughs

Thanks Parasphere. I'm happy we implicitly agree that complexity is no guarantee of psychedelia or good music. You can pile on mega layers, but this can just create a chaotic mess and lose subtle textures and feeling. I've got no issue with complexity, but this idea that simplicity is bad is itself not good. For me, simplicity is the ultimate elegance. As Antoine de Saint-Exupéry had it: "it seems that perfection is attained, not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing more to take away".

Nervasystem Underground Culture Nervasystem – Underground Culture 7:54 Nervasystem – Perpendicular 7:50 Nervasystem With Virtuart & P2C – 3 Amigos 6:11 Nervasystem – Undercurrents 5:00 Nervasystem – Further 6:59 Nervasystem – ZipVelcro (BackTwoFront&InsideOut) 7:15 Nervasystem – Providence Of Fauna 6:20 Nervasystem With Process (2) – Discombobulator 7:29 Voodoo Voltage – VV777 2 x Vinyl, LP, Album, Limited Edition, Numbered UK Released: Jun 17, 2023 This is a difficult review to write. Why? Because I'm at a loss as to how to assess this album or what to say about it. Individual track commentary is almost redundant because the tracks are very similar to each other and none really stands out in any significant way. Nor is the aesthetic or style easily identifiable. Neither is it clearly good, nor obviously bad. I don't know how I feel about it either; I oscillate between thinking "faceless techno bollocks" and wanting to dance to some tracks. I'm not even sure whether this means that I should reassess my assessment criteria or undertake some other meta-cognitive revision. You see my quandary. What I can say is that the recording, mastering, and pressing is of good quality, though nothing exceptional. My copy had slightly dished vinyl and some surface noise towards the end of side 3 in "Zip Velcro", but otherwise was quiet and sounded well. The sleeve art is beautiful and is nicely printed on a very glossy gatefold sleeve. Generally this is a good quality production. I can also give a bit of background. Nervasystem is Mark Dressler from Brighton in England, a Goa veteran who produced some classic Goa tracks from the mid-90s onwards. I have the tracks that were pressed to vinyl and they are all really good, with the awesome track "Stardust" my personal favourite. Nervasystem also collaborated with Alexis Cousins as Nervasystem & Aether and produced 3 eps and an album on the obscure Elektrik Orgasm imprint and those are all also really good (though the mastering was somewhat on the bright side). There are a couple of defining features to these early 12" releases that are worth noting: from the start the beats were quite technoid and linear, though there could be breaky percussion, and indeed metallic percussion with great cymbal and hi-hat work was always prominent, with heavy 303 use. There was also a touch of industrial darkness in these releases, which were definitely not wave yer mitts in the air uplifting or positive. There was something grinding and hard about these tunes, tunes I grew to love. This tuff aspect has stayed constant throughout Nervasystem's by now storied career. Nervasystem's first album was only released on cd in 2002, 13 Amp Fusion, and is excellent. I don't know all the intervening albums so well, but 2013's Time Travel and 2016's Brainradio were also good. By this point Nervasystem had moved on from his earlier more Goa sound, creating even more technoish and linear tracks without much 303 use or percussive dynamism. Instead, they feature nice rhythm and subtle itchy twitchy noises and textures that are very or vaguely psychedelic. This latter is absolutely true of this latest album Underground Culture. This album is somewhere between trance and techno, with a linear rhythm section avoiding climaxes or build-ups and come-downs, zero galloping horse or machine gun one note bass, little by way of obvious melody, hardly any samples. This is anonymous music with little for the listener to latch onto, and that is its big strength and weakness. Anonymity. Due to this anonymous linearity the tracks do come off as sketchy, incomplete, not fully developed. On the other hand, the album is danceable and most enjoyable, in an anonymous kind of way. I can try to sum up how I feel by saying that every track here seemed like it could carry on and develop further and would have been a great track if it had done so. In a word: unfinished. As you can no doubt tell, this has been a difficult review to write. I like this album, but it is not one I can call "good" in a conventional sense. It seems clear to me that Nervasystem can improve by taking more chances, being more experimental, embracing melody, and ensuring that tracks are fully developed. Maybe the next album will be a classic? ~*~

Thanks Mars. I see that Miranda's "Phenomenon" was highlighted at some point. These are all solid recommendations, though there are quite a few albums from the list that I personally would highlight in retrospect: Asia 2001 (most of them) Battle of the Future Buddhas "Twin Sharkfins" California Sunshine "Nasha" Cydonia "In Fear of a Red Planet" Deviant Electronics "Brainwashing is Child's Play" Dimension 5 "Transdimensional" Doof "Let's Turn On" & "It's About Time" Double Dragon "Continuum" Electric Universe "One Love" & "Stardiver" Elysium (all albums) Fractal Glider "Parasite" Galaxy Gal Sebbag & Gal Calmi "In Trance" Juno Reactor "Transmissions" Medicine Drum Orichalcum and the Deviant Ra "To Sirius" Reefer Decree "Sound Frames" Sandman "Witchcraft" Shiva Chandra "Spicy Moments" Sun Project "Drosophila" Transwave "Phototropic" UX "Ultimate Experience" Xenomorph "Cassandra's Nightmare" Of course, ymmv. I love it that back in those days there was not really much awareness or emphasis upon genre cubbyholes: there's old school Goa, techtrance, breaktrance, psydub, progressive trance, etc etc in this list. ~*~

Wow, Mark Petrick and Kristian Thinning with new work - oh happy day! There are no samples of the Xenomorph yet, but given how good the tracks that he contributed to recent compilations are, I have little doubt that the new ep is phenomenal. The sample tracks of this Vaporized album are just fantastic: old school heaven with Kristian's trademark slapping dynamic bass and acid. ~*~

I don't know this compilation, thanks for the heads up. I do like Prana for the dramatic sensibility and the percussion. Children's recommendations were mostly spot-on, but I complained at the time that he didn't bold Miranda's Phenomenon - in retrospect, I would say that most Goa fans would rate that album as a classic. ~*~

Does anybody remember Children's red bolded album recommendations in the early days? Those were not just red, they were gold to me at the time! Ever since seeing Tsuyoshi Suzuki at the new year's eve rave in Cape Town in 96 I had to have more of that wild alien music... 👽

As a tribute to the fallen; may they be at peace 🙏 https://www.discogs.com/release/74899-Atmos-Drums-Dont-Stop-Biorythm

I empathise with the discomfort of being forced to choose a side. No one should be forced or pressured into narrowing their sympathies (though I see no evidence of such coercion here). Nevertheless, I feel it is very important for us to understand that throughout human history art and creativity has attracted censorship of various sorts by those who see innovation as threatening and who are upset by the power of art to bring people together. Deviant artists must be controlled! I think of Shostakovich nervously smoking and fidgeting every night on the ground floor so that when Stalin's KGB came to take him away they would not take his family sleeping above. I think of attacks on the supposedly "red" and "communist" scriptwriters in McCarthyist America. There are so many other examples, it is hard to know where to stop. Unfortunately, this is true of trance culture too. Do not forget the UK's 1994 "Criminal Justice Bill" which attempted to outlaw any gatherings to "repetitive beats". The police have shut down many outdoor parties and "raves" in many different countries. Now trance culture is once again being attacked by those who are threatened by its dangerously sensual and decadent and free aspects (though they are superficially from the other side of the political spectrum). I wonder if they targeted it precisely because it is colourfully multicultural? Goa trance attempted to bring together east and west. I am sure you can see which "side" I am on. Along with my deep condolences for the many victims, I want to express my solidarity and support for music, art, creativity. I feel it is important that we never forget that there are those who will seek to turn the music off. We must not allow them to do that. We can use this dark hour to bring us together in a reaffirmation of beauty, inclusivity, and creativity. I believe that this is what our fellow dancers and dreamers who are no longer with us would want. Can we all agree that the drums don't stop? ~*~ PS - "Drums Don't Stop" is the title of a fabulous Atmos track...

There's dashcam footage of these terrorists looting bodies and rooting through bags: thieves as well as mass murderers, they hide their greed and jealousy behind resentment (for which, no doubt, many of them have good reason). Make no mistake this was a planned attack on music, just like at Bataclan in Paris not so many years ago, just like the Taliban burning guitars and drums and pianos as though a bunch of wood and wires is a threat. The self-styled pious, the self-declared righteous, the extremists, the fanatics, they all hate music because it gives joy to people without ideology. We should feel sorry for them in their silent hell. These extremists driven by hate can murder peaceful dancers, but they cannot stop music. THE DRUMS DON'T STOP!

Apparently the Israeli Defence Force are reporting over two hundred dead at the party - a massacre. This must be the darkest day in the history of trance music. Rip and condolences to all the survivors, family, and friends. 😭🙏 They will never stop the music!

Thanks Tsotsi. I probably should have mentioned "Human Control", which is for sure great, though in the past I preferred the first album for its infectious fun and spontaneity. I think this third album is the weakest so far, which is to say that it is still a solid work. I strongly agree that Triquetra is a talented act and I look forward to their future creations.

Haha hilarious! 😅 We know that the great Bernard Hermann, who composed so many wonderful film scores and was thoroughly immersed in the "western" symphonic tradition, was influenced by Holst and Berlioz, amongst others, especially in his work for Hitchcock. I don't immediately recognise the "Gamma Goblins" chords, but I'm almost willing to bet that they come from the symphonic and/or folk traditions. I personally am of the opinion that if you discover plagiarism it is best to say nothing as imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. For every finger we point, there are three others pointing back at us! 😉

Well that is very generous of you Tsotsi; why not go ahead? Even if nothing comes of it, it would be fun.

Yo mofo if you is crazy enuff to visit de halls of amnesia and try dat Goa stuff you will have a dust clad beard for sure, so the question is: is you crazy and is you tuff?

Haha hilarious Parasphere. Chat GPT sure ain't Shakespeare. My best line: "Dust-clad beard". 😆

I took your comment that "i suppose starting with the actual music would be better than thinking of names" to mean that we should start with tracks already out or at least make sure that there was a nucleus of a couple of good tracks to start with. I think it is a good point.

Thanks Tsotsi. Well we could send them the text of course. I wonder if I may make a general comment on compilations? I take some inspiration from Paul Oakenfold's "A Voyage into Trance" - Oakenfold became terrible but back in 95 he put out this extremely good compilation that really understood flow - ok, it is mixed together, but even with a non-mixed compilation, flow is essential. I like the idea of ambient, or at least more chilled, intro and outro tracks, a plateau, and a peak. But even if this classic version of flow were tossed out, flow of some sort is important I think. So perhaps we could ask particular people to contribute something in a certain tempo for a section of the compilation? Or perhaps it is best to work with tracks already out, as AstralProjection suggested above?

I'm not quite sure why I was thinking of this as a compilation album but I'm happy to fiddle with the text, for you to play with the text, or for it to be ignored. I just hope some of the irony and humour comes across?

What about Enya meets darkness? https://music.youtube.com/search?q=lustmord+karin+park+alter You won't like this if you are in the mood for upbeat music, but these glacial drones are like Dead Can Dance being crushed by tectonic plates colliding in slow motion, like Katie Melua drowning in molten lead, like the music of nature meets an impromptu blues church service, like Lustmord vs Karin Park...

Halls of Amnesia My name is Nyx. I’ve been a planetary anthropologist for 3000 of my 5023 years. My most puzzling and psychedelic assignment without doubt was being posted to planet Earth in the Solar System to report on the discovery of a miraculously preserved temple in the jungle of a coastal region of what was called India, a place called Goa. Earth had been through various catastrophes, including a radiation disaster, runaway desertification and warming, followed by four ice ages and a meteor strike since the builders of the temple had lived. There were few remnants of these builders, a bipedal simian species who called themselves "humans". Nevertheless, the state of preservation of the temple was remarkable; by some twist of fate the crenelated ceiling composed of mysterious twirling shapes and fractal patterns of inscrutable esoteric design had survived the vicissitudes of disasters. The letters A-M-N-E-S-I-A were inscribed over the lintel of the entrance. Even more remarkably, under a thick beard of dust I found this ancient and crude yet ingenious technology, which via reverse engineering I managed to reanimate. I presented the findings to the Pangalactic Council and the rest is a matter of public record: the 7 “songs” found on this gnomic yet extremely exciting and energising recording were leaked and became a transgalactic hit, which as you know is a vanishingly rare event, ushering in an unprecedented era of peace, love, and decadence. These 7 songs are gathered together in the recording known as the Halls of Amnesia.