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Artist: K.O.B. Title: Identity Mash Label: Suntrip Records Date: May, 2017 1. Check In 2. Folie a Deux 3. Klecks 4. Grandiose Thoughts (Original Version) 5. Inculcating Ideas (Filteria Mix) 6. Identity Mash 7. Cousin It (2017 Mix) 8. Check Out feat. BOTB "I'm two people in one!" It's important to know who you are. It's the very foundation on which you build your character and what you go on to accomplish in life. K.O.B. is Jannis Tzikas and the alternate personality if you will of his more widely known project Filteria. While the latter is defined by melodies and is pure goa music through and through the former is a mash of styles relying heavily on the psychedelic aspect. This album is more concerned with driving rhythms and allowing the music to evolve. Sometimes building, sometimes deconstructing. It's robotic (not meant in a negative way), futuristic, and oftentimes the sound choices can sound metallic and harsh. But there is no mistaking who is behind this project as his goa soul shines through quite clearly. And sometimes angrily (which I like). The title and artwork accurately describe what is located within, a combination of forest and goa all tucked neatly under an umbrella of psychedelic psytrance. While not my favorite release from the vaunted Suntrip Records it continues to prove that they are not all sunshine and rainbows and haven't forgotten that psytrance indeed needs to remain psychedelic. Suntrip Bandcamp Psyshop Beatspace

Artist: Morphic Resonance Title: Trip To The Stars Label: DAT Records Date: May, 2017 1. Pleiadians - Alcyone (Morphic Resonance Mix) 2. Pleiadians - Maia (Morphic Resonance Mix) 3. Pleiadians - Taygeta (Morphic Resonance Mix) 4. Pleiadians - Moon In Your Window (Morphic Resonance Mix II) 5. Crop Circles - Full Mental Jackpot (Morphic Resonance Mix) 6. Crop Circles - Different Species (Morphic Resonance Mix) 7. Etnica - Phetalic Vibes (Morphic Resonance Mix) 8. Pleiadians - Taygeta (Morphic Resonance Mix II) 9. Pleiadians - Moon In Your Window (Morphic Resonance Mix) Undisputed king of goa trance Cristian Fernandez has attempted to produce an album in the face of overwhelming odds. The odds of seeing the bloated orange president's taxes seem like a sure thing when compared to remixing arguably some of the greatest goa trance tracks of all time. Music from the Italian's projects (Pleiadians, Crop Circles, Etnica) is sacred and I suppose if we had commandments in the goa scene most of their music would be on it. The tracks are special and some would argue that you should just leave perfection alone. What he has presented here are remixes, his interpretation of tracks that meant so much to him. It took him over three years to do this and he did it without any files to provide a roadmap. As a musician I'll tell you it is incredibly difficult to copy an original piece of work with such detail. But he did what a remix is supposed to do and that is to create something fresh while keeping the spirit of the original work. The sound quality is stunning, just stunning. The tracks are f*cking blistering, evolving, relentless masterpieces. At no time did I think his work was subpar or that he failed to capture the glory of what was done in the past with perhaps one exception. Maia. That track in its original form is just a beast and at least to my ears what goa perfection sounds like. That said his version didn't make me want to stop listening. Far from it. I just took it as something different and a great goa track to be added to my library. This entire album is superb, melodic goa trance and I'll go even one further. His 2nd remix of Taygeta and his last remix of Moon In Your Window is better than the originals. This quote by gfp1 in the Artist News and Label Announcements thread is something I agree with: "All in all, the challenge undertaken to create Trip to the Stars was massive and I have to respect that. It is a difficult proposition to win. Simply recreating the originals would just make people want to go and listen to the originals, while altering the core of the tracks too much might turn off people who enjoyed the originals. Morphic Resonance found a healthy balance between the two." Bottom line for me is that DAT Records has once again delivered a powerhouse and if you are a goa fan this is a must have. I linked to Psyshop and Beatspace, but you should purchase it from DAT if you can as the two downloadable add on tracks are brilliant. Great Job Cristian! DAT Records Bandcamp Psyshop Beatspace

Artist: Astral Projection Title: Y-Salem Ep Label: Dacru Records Date: May, 2017 1. Y-Salem (Astral Projection Remix) 2. Y-Salem (Remastered) Sigh. The original track was from the precursor of Astral Projection first released on the Trust In Trance compilation. It was meh back then and a remastering maintained its meh status. There is absolutely nothing redeemable about this lazy as f*ck effort. Did I hear a rumor that Suntrip was going to release an ep by these has beens? A little advice for Joske and Mars...better check it first. They haven't reached shameful Talamasca status, but we'll see. So disappointing. It's like they're striving for mediocre. Not linking to it. Embarrassing.

Artist: Various Title: Gate To The Past Label: Zion 604 Records Date: May, 2017 1. Radical Distortion - Year 2488 2. Declaration of Unity - Ohm Sun 3. Sandman & Radical Distortion - Tweakers 4. Shunak Idou - Journey 5. Radical Distortion - Voltage Source (Radical Frequencies Remix) 6. Cactus Arising - Solar Echoes 7. Radical Distortion - The Wizard 8. Cactus Arising & Radical Distortion - Ammos 9. Cydelix - Induction On the heels of the decent yet underwhelming Virtual Jungle re-issue comes a compilation of tracks put together by goa powerhouse Radical Distortion. Hell this could very well be a new release from that duo as their fingerprints are all over this. The release itself is very Greek centric with regards to tracks, mastering, and artwork. And ain't nothing wrong with that. The music is mostly goa trance done well (The Wizard is a powerful track which was released last year, the bouncy Induction, Journey, Voltage Source Remix, and Year 2488), sometimes goa that's a little too fluffy for my tastes (Ammos, Solar Echoes), and then a blurring of the line between goa/psytrance on Ohm Sun. So it's pretty good with outstanding sound quality, but I can't help but feel that the label is in a bit of a rut by releasing comfortable albums. And by that I mean albums that are good, but haven't reached that level which they have in the past. Weird to say that after I just told you that the compilation was pretty good, but I feel it's been since 2015's Robotized that the label has hit a home run. Still, a compilation worth having. Zion604 Bandcamp

Artist: Ovnimoon Title: Voyage Label: Ovnimoon Records Date: May, 2017 1. Mystica (feat. Moon Tripper) 2. Be Human (feat. Spiritual Mode) 3. Asension (Ovnimoon album Mix) 4. Voyage 5. This Makes Sense To Me 6. The Honest Meditation 7. Tranceport 8. Universal Healing Transmission (feat. Spirit Architect) 9. Dance With The Creator (feat. The Digital Blonde) Hector Stuardo just keeps chugging along doesn't he? Since 2006 he has released an album every year or every other year not to mention all his compilation work. Dude's a machine. And it wouldn't be such a big deal if half of them were sh*tty, but he puts out quality music each and every time. This album comes on the heels of his last two (Holistic, Trancemutation of the Mind) that have been firmly planted on goa soil. Sure his bass lines aren't very varied, but to me that's the only minor flaw located within. He has this ability to slowly carry you into goa bliss with his melodies, turning the cutoff knob ever so slowly. While he doesn't overload you with melodies he does more with less, building layers around that bass line. The sound is always immaculate and with both the upper and bottom end represented well. Another home run for me. Ovnimoon Bandcamp Psyshop Beatspace

Artist: Various Title: Goa Files Vol. 1 Label: Code Vision Records Date: May, 2017 1. Ultimate Xperience - The Night Creatures (III) 2. OOOD - Silence (2017 Reboot) 3. Goasia - Analog Steroids 4. M-Run - Alien Brain Train 2017 5. Celestial Intelligence - Phantom Dancer 6. Joyfull Natives - Gate Of Aliens 7. Miranda - Svarg 8. Omnivox - We Are Infinity 9. California Sunshine - Wonderland (2011 Edit) "It's so weird I've never forgot it." Well, repetition is a good way to remember things. But we'll address that later. This digital compilation arrived out of nowhere from a label that most would be hard pressed to say they had heard of. Regardless of that fact they seem to have gathered an impressive artist list. UX does what he's been doing lately and that's making long, epic tracks that straddle the psytrance goa line. This has a futuristic vibe with an ethereal voice and driving rhythm. Pretty good even if it ran a little long. I wasn't a fan of this reboot of the OOOD track. I don't know if the original artist was behind the reboot, but gone are the gravitas and melodic momentum that made the original such a bad ass. No offense to the artist, but this comes off as a weak Talamasca-esque full-on "ing" of a goa trance classic. The Goasia project fits into an alternative niche in the goa genre. Often people love them or hate 'em. They are definitely different then most of the goa producers today and this track is no exception. It swarms like a uh, swarm waging galactic warfare with a myriad of color. Outside of the lead melody though it's a little thin. Nice, but I would've liked more detail. M-Run has only one album to his credit (still waiting), but what a doozy it was. With that spirit this track is unmistakable M-run. Groove intact with sparkly goa madness throughout. One of my favorites here. Phantom Stormer blasts right out of the gate with an imminently danceable sound. Relentless in your face goa trance. Joyfull Nature is the sole unknown artist represented and this track starts off...well, joyfully. Not long after it assumes the mystical sound of goa beaches with a gentle flowing motion. Like a smooth introduction to the goa producers club. Not bad. Miranda is back (always a good thing) with a decent if not unremarkable effort. I liked the weird voice in the background, gave it an air of mystery. Omnivox absolutely slays with We Are Infinity a track with a boisterous bottom end. Closing things out is an older remake of Wonderland by California Sunshine. Never been a fan of this project and repeating the sample 12 times isn't going to help. The same sample. 12 times. That means on average every 43 seconds you hear this sample. Nephew please. The background sounds added to the alien feel (if you're in the mood to be funny and I always am it could also sound like cats) and this had the potential to be a creepy success. Had. It's a decent comp with 3 or 4 really good tracks and the rest are decent minus the two I obviously had problems with. Bandcamp Beatport

Artist: Gido Title: Orange Sunshine Label: Blue Hour Sounds Date: May, 2017 1. Tangerine Ice 2. Goa Merkabians 3. Sacred Substance Mechanizm 4. Orange Sunshine 5. Bangkoxx 2055 6. Via Gravity 7. Another Civilization 8. Mystical Vision 9. Space Pirates 10. Glowing Freedom Seriously. The debut album of one Adomas Juozapavicius from Lithuania was an album I was looking forward to. Unfortunately after multiple listens I came away a wee bit disappointed. Look nobody would like to see Blue Hour Sounds back on top more than me, but my goodness this sounds like one long track. Where's the dynamism and variety? The formula seems to be punchy bass preset which always takes center stage, gurgling sounds (which are great), and keep the melody on the light side. Sacred Substance Mechanizm gave me hope as it seemed to be heavily layered and acidic, but that track was followed up by droning full-on filler. I miss the days of Beware of the Fish by Ianuauria which was a juicy, forest surprise that was constantly shifting focus. This resembles that album with the darkness and acid, but without the same detail. I don't want you to think I don't like it because enjoyable moments are there. He creates some vivid musical hallucinations at times, but listening to this all the way through is a bit of a challenge. Blue Hour Sounds Bandcamp (Digital) Psyshop Beatspace