Guest Kk Posted January 4, 2003 Share Posted January 4, 2003 V/A - Earthtrance Artist: Various Title: Earthtrance Label: Positiva Date: 1996 Track listing: 01. 02'28" Medicine Drum : Invocation 02. 08'38" Speedy J : G-Spot (J-Spot Rmx) 03. 06'12" Banco De Gaia : Kincajou (Wild Monkey Fever Rmx) 04. 05'44" Man With No Name : Osmosis 05. 08'57" Eat Static: Chlorophyte 06. 06'38" Koxbox : Point Of No Return (Ionizer Rmx) 07. 07'10" Hallucinogen : Orphic Resonance 08. 07'36" Indigo : Guajibo 09. 07'46" The Source Experience : Environmental Breakdown (Part 1) 10. 08'55" Sven Vath : Rainforest is Calling 11. 06'33" System 7 : On The 7th Night (Live At Glastonbury Festival) Review: "Earthtrance" is a comp from the good ol' days of the mid-90's, when "goa trance" was the possible Next Big Thing; when Oakenfold and Rampling played the music, and psytrance records suddenly started turning up on labels such as Perfecto and, in this case, Positiva. This ain't a cash-in compilation, however, as it was released "in aid of the world's endangered forests" – all proceeds of the album went to a foundation called the Earth Love Fund, and all the artists donated their tracks for free to support this cause. Being a hard to find gem these days, this piece of plastic is quite sought after by trance heads, as it includes several exclusive tracks from the likes of MWNN and Hallucinogen. The CD features an impressive lineup, comprising artists from both the psytrance, techno and IDM/electronica scenes – a good thing in my book. From the "intelligent techno" camp, Speedy J fares best with the cinematic electronica of "G-Spot" (the version which is also featured on his "Live" album on Harthouse). Trance pioneer, Eye Q/Harthouse founder and DJ legend Sven Väth dishes out an OK listening track with studio partner Stevie Be-Zet, and the stone age hippies of System 7 deliver a fine version of "On The 7th Night". What about the psychedelic acts, then? Well, the Danish masters (that's Koxbox, in case you wondered) rarely fail - sadly, the "Ionizer Remix" of "Point Of No Return" which is featured here isn't exclusive at all, and any serious psytrance fan has probably got it already. Still, it's a top track in the old Koxbox sound. Martin Freeland's "Osmosis" is a good track in the unimitable MWNN style, with catcy minor-key melodies and polished sounds – in this case so smooth it's almost pure pop. Not his best, and employing rather over-familiar chords, but still entertaining. Hallucinogen's "Orphic Resonance" is better; kaleidoscopic, full-on old school psychedelia that luckily avoids the messy 303 overload that clutters a lot of Simon's dancier output. However, this reviewer's favorite track is The Source Experience's "Environmental Breakdown Pt. 1" – a slowly building hypnotic techno trance track with intricate percussion and trippy sounds from the master of the game, Robert Leiner. Eat Static's "Chlorophyte" is less successful, as it meanders along aimlessly without really leaving any impression on the listener, but the real turkeys are the terribly dated tracks from Banco De Gaia and Indigo, which have definitely aged less well than some of the other tracks on this record. All in all a nice comp which is worth tracking down, and the (mostly) beautiful sleeve and the good cause for which it was released will probably sit very well with the eco-conscious psy head. Happy hunting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RTP Posted March 28, 2006 Share Posted March 28, 2006 but the real turkeys are the terribly dated tracks from Banco De Gaia and Indigo 470832[/snapback] Well, I don't find Banco De Gaia's tune "turkey" at all ... in fact it's one of the best tracks on this CD for me (because of the incredible ending!), altogether with Man With No Name's Osmosis. It's some of the other tracks which I don't find that special ... but anyway... All in all I'd say get it, no matter what psychedelic sound you are into now, this CD is a classic featuring many of the good old psy/goa artists and is interesting for everybody that likes or does not know the old sound (pretty cool booklet with some infos about the artists (and ad articles for the Earth Love Fund ) for the people not familiar with the sound). And it's good for the rainforests! So get it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Taika-Kim Posted March 29, 2006 Share Posted March 29, 2006 The Duskdesign gfx are really top notch on this one! And it's the only CD release of that Hallu track AFAIK... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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