A goa album cliche

[Rotwang]

You see Mr Veracohr, this kind of music is called "drug music" and the "journey" ends with a comedown.

Thus, all goa, a very specific range of creation with very specific rules of creation, have comedown tracks at the end of goa albums.

I don't really agree with this. The drugs that are most associated with psytrance have an "up" period that lasts a lot longer than a single album. Seems like if you wanted the music to work alongside, say, an acid trip, then you would listen to several uptempo albums followed by a few downtempo ones.

[Lemmiwinks]

Anyone ever notice the tendency for goa albums to conclude with a down-tempo track? Why has this become so typical? When I first got into goa it seemed kind of nice to wind down an energetic album with a nice mellow song. But I've heard it so often now it's getting kind of annoying. It's not that these ending down-tempo songs are bad, they're often pretty good, but why are they always at the end of the album? I'm not sure if this is also the case with more widely-liked styles like full-on or darkpsy, since I don't really listen to those.

 

Other styles of music, like rock, often have a hard-hitting song at the end of an album. This is a strategic decision. Having an impactful song at the end of an album helps to imprint the memory of the whole album on the listener (assuming one has listened to the whole album from beginning to end, which is much less common now than in the past).

too lazy to read all the posts, so sorry if someone already said this but it goes like this: trance and downtempo are intimately related since the beginning of the trance scene. People who have been into ambient since the 70s will tell you that early trance was just basically ambient with a 4/4 kick... and listen to just about any trance comp from before 1993, you will find MANY downtempo tracks together with uptempo ones. Not only that, but the uptempo and downtempo tracks fit in perfectly since they both had a similar vibe. Most of the early artists would release downtempo and uptempo tracks under the same name (even make a double album like Total Eclipse's Violent Relaxation).

 

After a while though, trance evolved and became ever faster and more agressive, making it less and less related to chill-out. Most artists started releasing separate projects for their downtempo stuff, most of the time under a different name, even a different label. So for those who don't know, putting a chill-out track at the end of an uptempo album might sound odd but once you know how it all started it really isn't that surprising. Trance is NOT all about ripping the dancefloor apart, it's about meditating and having a spiritual experience through music (but I guess that most people new to the scene will find that idea odd as well )

[abasio]

Hence the name Trance. It's enTRANCing

[Redington]

Hence the name Trance. It's enTRANCing

>__>

 

 

<__<

 

 

 

>__<

 

 

 

[fluffymushi]

I don't really agree with this. The drugs that are most associated with psytrance have an "up" period that lasts a lot longer than a single album. Seems like if you wanted the music to work alongside, say, an acid trip, then you would listen to several uptempo albums followed by a few downtempo ones.

it's nice to let it breathe for a few minutes. & then off to the next wormhole.

[bwhale]

I mostly skip ambient track(s) in goa albums because truth be told I'm not at all impressed by them.

I guess you just have poor taste in music.

 

Can you give me some examples of ambient tracks at end of psy/goa albums that you find to be good? I'd like to give a listen, maybe I haven't tried enough albums. But what I've heard so far isn't that interesting really, except maybe for some AP stuff.

Start here...

* Astral Projection - Dancing Galaxy (1997): Ambient Galaxy (Disco Valley Mix)

* Blue Planet Corporation - Blue Planet (1999): Arcana

* Cosmosis - Cosmology (1996): Afterglow

* Cydonia - In Fear of Red Planet (1999): Narco Nympho

* Dimension 5 - Transdimensional (1997): Flow

* Doof - Let's Turn On (1996): Star Above Parvati (Mijli Mahadev Mix)

* Etnica - Equator: Be On Go; Funkadelia; Baraka

* Etnica - Alien Protein: Deep East

* Jaia - Blue Energy (1998): Sommeil Paradoxal, Awana's Paradise, After The Rain

* Hunab Ku - Magik Universe (2000): Wavespell

* Logic Bomb - Headware (2000): Normalised

* Man With No Name - Moment Of Truth (1996): Azymuth

* Miranda - Phenomena (1996): Weightless

* Miranda - Asynja (2001): Enigma

* Morphem - Out Of Focus (1996): Love Is An Ocean

* Pleiadians - I.F.O (1997): Celaeno

* Pleiadians - Family Of Light (1999): Seven Sisters

* Ra - To Sirius (2000): Sirius

* Shakta - Silicon Trip (1997): Earthrise

* Shiva Chandra - Spicy Moments (1996): Electron Seeds; In-Sense; Chilli Out

* S.U.N. Project - Drosophila (1997): Going With The Flow

* S.U.N Project - Macrophage (1998): Energia Magica; From Dusk Till Dawn

* Tarsis - Vacuum (1998): Vacuum

* The Infinity Project - Feeling Weird (1996): Noises from the Darkness (Dub)

* Transwave - Phototropic (1996): Phototropic, Ulysse Voyage No 3

* X-Dream - Trip To Trancesylvania (1993): Time Begins Tomorrow (Orbit Fly)

* X-Dream - We Created Our Own Happiness (1997): Relaxed Vortex

 

 

GOAmbient FTW!!!!

 

topic closed

QFT!

[Anoebis]

Well, I'm a big fan of the downtempo tracks as well

 

It mostly shows a different aspect of the artists, it is more freestyle, and sometimes you find out they are actually really good at it! But as many said before, I think it was implemented in goa-cds because of the story telling so you have a magical ending of the journey

[Colin OOOD]

The next OOOD album will be 8 ambient tracks with a 160bpm ripper to finish.

[Time_Trap]

QUOTE (Malevol3nt @ Mar 19 2009, 07:37 PM) *

Can you give me some examples of ambient tracks at end of psy/goa albums that you find to be good? I'd like to give a listen, maybe I haven't tried enough albums. But what I've heard so far isn't that interesting really, except maybe for some AP stuff.

 

-=-=-=-

 

 

MFG - Mystic Dawn

[Veracohr]

The next OOOD album will be 8 ambient tracks with a 160bpm ripper to finish.

Excellent!

[Sideffect...]

goatrance albums track 7 was almost always the most melodic or dancefloor tinted...

[Manuser]

Anyone ever notice the tendency for goa albums to conclude with a down-tempo track? Why has this become so typical? When I first got into goa it seemed kind of nice to wind down an energetic album with a nice mellow song. But I've heard it so often now it's getting kind of annoying.

 

Other styles of music, like rock, often have a hard-hitting song at the end of an album. This is a strategic decision. Having an impactful song at the end of an album helps to imprint the memory of the whole album on the listener (assuming one has listened to the whole album from beginning to end, which is much less common now than in the past).

I don't like it

just 2 days ago i was listening to Cosmosis-Cosmology, great album, then thought what is the point of this track "afterglow" at the end, especially after the brilliant "key to the innerverse"? and most of the time it is like this, there are a few exceptions like the last track of the Hunab-Ku album or Orichalcum's "cosmic pillow" which is wonderful, but in general these last slow tracks are fillers. And like you said this is too predictable.

But the thing is, I wouldnt mind at all if the slow track was let's say track#6 in a 9 tracks album, Just the right moment for a slow interlude.

[Penzoline]

I also agree with the 5 year old sentiments that a downtempo ender is great, let's you cool off from an album. Having a short intro is also quite cool.

 

Then again Artifact303 - Back To Space showed how you can stick a downtempo number in the middle of an album very efficiently.

[franki]

Having a down-tempo / chill-out track at the end of a Goa or Psytrance album can be good if you are just listening to the one album, but I often find I'm getting impatient, hopping from one foot to the other, waiting for the slow track to finish, so I can get started playing the next up-tempo CD and get back into the trance-groove.

I realise I could skip the last track, but I'm all for playing an album in it's entirety.

[Manuser]

A nice one here (Time drop) to close a progressive trance album (Reefer Decree - Sound frames)

 

[Richpa]

I don't think compilations or albums gotta have that rule to finish it with slower tune, it depends on the mood and storytelling of the certain release. Of course, when you have different tracks by different artists than it's a little bit harder to make a decission, but in the end it's always fun to have a downtempo tune on uptempo release and vice-versa, no matter the fact where they place it. Diversity is a good thing.

[abasio]

I like it. Definitely a nice way to round off an album. I'd like a mix of all the classic downtempo enders.

[Paul Eye]

I'd like a mix of all the classic downtempo enders.

I've actually been thinking of doing this, some day

[Anoebis]

It depends... I remember we opened Apsara with a downtempo track of Aes Dana, and it got good feedback... in the Artifact303 album the downtempo track is in the middle... but I agree, it fits MOSTLY the best in the final part, so you "land" again imho...

 

(but I prefer an intro as well, like that you have some nice storytelling!)

[Balance]

IMO the problem is it's either some basic shanti sampled dub rubbish or else some kind of generic slowed down Goa melody with a rubbish broken beat underneath. Rarely do artists who make mostly uptempo tunes have the skill in making solid downtempo.

[Dolmot]

I'm OK with the general concept. Tracks have last minute outros, albums can have it too. Structurally it makes a lot of sense.

 

Sometimes I've complained about the approach of slowing a basic stomper down to 100 bpm and calling it downtempo but that's another problem altogether.

 

However, the cliché of downtempo ending becomes more obvious if all other tracks are strictly 8 minutes, 145 bpm each. Especially on artist albums you could do a lot more. Otherwise it's basically just a singles collection. Sometimes there's totally weird shit on albums, let's say, Gas 0095. Even if you don't go completely gimmicky with it, albums provide a chance to do things differently from singles. In other music, there's a strong tradition of 3 min radio hits, whereas the album edit may be 4:30 or considerably more like on PSB - Introspective. (Their first two albums had quite traditional 3-5 min pop tracks only.) In electronic music, albums tend to be closer to 80 mins than the traditional rock lenght of 30-40 so there's plenty of space - even too much for simply repeating the same formula for 70 minutes straight. Go ahead and paint a different picture next time. Put some 20 minute tracks, jazz, poetry or whatever there somewhere, for delicate pacing or just because you can.

 

Anyway, concerning the original topic, I still like how Synthetic Flesh's intro and outro have distinct signatures but they still run at ~140 bpm. On Rock Bitch Mafia, the fluffening is built into a track which starts uptempo.

 

To sum it up, you don't have to pad eight almost identical tracks with yet another which simply has a lower tempo. That's often the true reason why it appears so familiar and overused.