Human Jukebox

I used to hate electronic music of any kind (probably around the time most of you were just getting into psy....SIGH!!!) I think that the biggest part of this music is how it makes you feel. If you like it and it gives you an emotional tweak of ecstacy or happiness or some primordial grunt or an arms flailing wildly in the air sort of feeling, then rate it as highly as you want. The more seasoned music listeners however will want much more from EVERYTHING they deign to lend an ear to. The more music I hear, the more closely i listen. So doesnt that mean that i should put more effort into the way i review my music collection, if only for myself to give me a reference for future enjoyment, AND to pass on to our friends and fellow psylovers.... I'd also like to point out here that i've only been listening to psy seriously for less than a year. My first 10/10 album is always going to be Classical Mushroom, which i heard for the first time at the end of 2002! So for me all the stuff that everyones already tiring of or is placed at a seemingly unreachable level of greatness is all new to me. And yet i find myself atuned to what is obviously good. Transwave - Land of Freedom was mentioned and its a track that ive fallen for only in the last week or so! Etnica - Alien Protein is also an album i would be tempted to give a 10 to, but whats the point? Everyone already knows its great. The innovation it sparked back in 1996 has already flourished and died/changed. Yet for me to use it as a base point to reference anything else i hear back to that might be my way of personalising my system of reviewing. Lastly, but seemingly not controversial enough, 1200 Mics - The Time Machine. Now i believe i gave this a 9/10. I stand by that, as it was true at the time of writing it. I had a freaking awesome time with that album... the first time i listened to it. Maybe it's lost some of that original appeal, but while it was still fresh in my mind i actually made the effort to voice my opinion. So at this point, somewhere down the track from that first burst of sound into my ears, i might downgrade it to an 8/10. But that's only for my own taste. Another new listener might hear it and want to give it a 9 or 10 and keep it, or change their mind and degrade, or just get bored and forget that they ever listened to it in the first place. (Im not sure just HOW short people's attention spans are getting) All we have to remember is that ANYTHING you say has an effect on the community. If we let it slide too much. Get too soft. Try to like everything. Then the music will suffer. There has to be some sort of weeding process. Verily we cannot be too hasty to criticise pointlessly either as this will put doubt into the newbie's mind or even the experienced critique's. Im not saying we're all weak minded followers, but there's got to be a point where your opinion comes second to someone elses enjoyment of a thing. It is easy to criticise someone else's art/music/psy, it is when you start to create your own that you find it impossible NOT to criticise. ahhhh... i think some of that's been brewing for a while now. Rant over Peaceful, Insightful, Psychedelic Symphony

Cheezy-Meaningful Music???? I cant believe that so many people are bagging 1200 mics!!! For me, they are re-inventing the whole style and concept for a psytrance act. Sure they have some cheezy build-ups and some samples that are strangely uninteresting when compared to the music. Has no-one picked up that each album they've released has been a concept piece relating to the psychedelic revolution. 1200 micrograms: An awesome tribute to the most powerful psyco-active chemicals on the planet. Heroes Of The Imagination: A rare tangent off into the world of hard science(not that there's any formulas or whatever), yet again a tribute to some of man's greatest discoveries. The Time Machine: The Spiritual Question. After one has taken mind-altering substances, and explored the scientific and philosophic ideas that arise. Once one knows what the universe is made of, what does that mean for human kind. How do we fit in. All we can do is worship the energy and chaotic chance that one has to confront when taking powerful drugs. That's what this whole album is about. "In the beginning there was nothing. God was bored. So God created the Heavens and the Earth, and Trance Music, and Drugs for Pleasure." What an awesome opening sample to start an album with. Then we travel to some of the ancient cultures, Egypt, Celtic Britain, India, The Andes, Greece, and Arabia. They take certain elements of these cultures and they're own style of trance music and give it to you in a format that just gets your heart pumping and your feet dancing. my verdict: 9/10 the only drawbacks are the start of Glories of Greece (i freakin hate zorba), and maybe the start of Stoned Henge (although 4.50 onwards is gold "We offer up our spirits, we offer up our souls") Give it a chance. Listen to it in the sun. It may just make you think.