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Goasia - Amphibians On Spacedock (Suntrip, 2014)


Richpa

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It’s been 4 years since the last Goasia album ‘Dancing With The Blue Spirit’ was released on Kagdila Records, okay, three if we count the re-release at Dimensional Records. Since than, many Goasia fans had huge expectance for a new record due to the fact that they were able to raise the bar with ‘Dancing With The Blue Spirit’ album. For all people who might be living under rock in last couple of years, Goasia is project between Balint Tihamer & Vladislav Radulovic, releasing melodic Goa trance music for a long time.

 

  1. God, Good Morning
  2. Amphibians On Spacedock
  3. The New Orient
  4. Mental Mutator
  5. Dolphins Of Jupiter
  6. Promised Land
  7. Sundance
  8. Orbital Saturation
  9. Tetrodotoxin

When I received my promotional copy of a new album entitled ‘Amphibians OnSpacedock’ released couple of days ago under Suntrip Records banner, I stated that I feel the the relation between last and this album is like relationship between Terminator and Terminator 2. For sure ‘Amphibians On Spacedock’ can be seen as an upgraded version of it’s predecessor, especially because the formula of a great Goa trance record is present on this one, and the key factors suchas: great production, the sense for storytelling and being able to create memorable moments/tracks can be found on AOS.

I don’t want to spoil the fun with this review by analysing and reviewing each track, since many people are awaiting their copies to arrive and to check it in person, but for all people who might be afraid that some things gonna miss here I have to say – you’re wrong. Remember the great morning anthems from the last record such as Terra Incognita’ or ‘Dancing With The Blue Spirit’, on this one the very first track, opener – ‘God, Good Morning’ is in the same league with thoose two tracks, and after hearing it almost on daily basisi in last two weeks, it’s getting even better.

 

Tracks such as ‘Amphibians On Spacedock’, ‘Dolphins Of Jupiter’ and ‘Orbital Saturation’ are the best example of the upgraded sound. The trademark Goasia vibe and feeling is still there but it’s enriched with new interesting and psychedelic sounds and blended perfectly so that you in the end got that feeling that you’re listening to a new record. One great positive shocker on this album was the last track entitled ‘Tetrodotoxin’ which is a representation of more experimental Goasia sound, a less melodic track with nice driving beats and retro-Goa feeling.

As I mentioned earlier this album got all the key ingredients and one of them is the sense for storytelling and flow. The only thing that I see as a negative factor on this album is ‘Sundance’ track, which is a great track already released earlier, but the sound is kinda out of the foucs compared to the rest of the album and it feels like it doesn’t belong here, but hey, it’s a great track and I’m sure guys from Goasia wanted to have this one on their new album.

Conclusion – Amphibians On Spacedock proved the fact why it’s been one of the most anticipated Goa trance releases in last two years and people who are into melodic Goa trance music should have this album in their collection because it represents the new era of Goasia production. I feel that the most memorable moments on this one were tracks such as ‘Orbital Saturation’, ‘God, Good Morning’, ‘Tetrodotoxin’ and ‘Dolphins/Amphibians’ combo. Goasia demonstrated once more why they’re one of the few who are on the top of the Goa trance pyramid nowdays and without any doubt, with the new record they will gain even more attention from people who might not heard about their work. Let’s not forget that Goasia duo is one of the few who proved that music got no limits, and their work-routine is the best showcase, Kanc (who is living in Croatia) and Balint (who is living in Serbia) are successfully producing music even they’re hounderd of kilometers away from each other. In the end I have to say that mastering of the album is flawless thanks to Tim Schuldt who made a beautiful job.

Amphibians On Spacedock gets 8,5 glasses of rakija (out of 10)

Review by Richpa (iparic70@gmail.com)
http://www.facebook.com/ohitsrichpa

Buy this album at Suntrip webshop: http://www.suntriprecords.com/release/cat/SUNCD33/
Like Goasia on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/goasiamusic

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Won't do a full review since there are other folks who are much more talented in writing out their thoughts but even though this uses similar formulas from the older albums, I still love that. It's not a bad thing at all. One track I really love is Dolphins of Jupiter. I find it so funny when the part with the dolphin like sounds come up. Definitely a great album.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I have positive feelings with this album. Its a good one. :)

After some listings "The New Orient" and "Dolphins of Jupiter" are my favorites. I imagine this two tracks works very good at the dancefloor. The parts with the fast and positive melodies are pure moments of happienes. If I hear this i go crazy on the dancefloor. :-)

The very good thing about Goasia is they have their own style. If I hear an unknown track from Goasia, i know this is Goasia! Other good thing is they compose unique melodies, which i can remember after two days. ;-)

 

This album is better than their second "dancing with the blue spirit". :)

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I enjoy different styles of Goa. It creates variety and opportuneness for innovation.

 

That said, I did not like this album that much the first 1-2 times I heard it. I thought it sounded too folk, too middle Eastern, and too similar sounding. My feelings are more balanced now. The artists got a handful of stuff right on this one, being what they were going for. Goasia's not about maximal, dark, intense/climactic, or super acidic.

 

I don't mind.

 

My favorite tracks on this third album are the ones that I consider more cosmic, dreamlike, or intricate. Those songs are the ones with (!)

Amphibians On Spacedock

Mental Mutator (!)

Dolphins Of Jupiter (!)

Promised Land

Orbital Saturation (!)

Tetrodotoxin (still adjusting to this unique, mechanical beast)

 

Songs I enjoy less (or not very much) I consider more folk sounding, or too Eastern influenced (for me) to the point I find the melodies distracting from the cosmic (or lack of cosmic) ingredients. And yes, a few tracks above crossover to elements on the ones below and vice-versa. I realize that.

 

God, Good Morning

The New Orient

Sundance

 

None of those are bad per say. They have elements I like. The New Orient is pretty cool, especially the last third. Sundance has grown on me. These songs simply capture less of what I like in Goa Trance music, but that's me.

I like this THIRD album more than their second, Dancing With the Blue Spirit. There is some great work on it, especially for those who enjoy the very melodic, non-maximal side of Goa. The album took time to grow on me too due to some similar sounds as well that appeared more varied and better distinguished upon further listens. I find parts of Mental Mutator and Orbital Saturation infectiously catchy on repeat listens. The overall direction and "accents" throughout both of them are great.

Hearing the album the first few times sounded like one long, continuous track to me. I enjoy the album more when listening to a few tracks at a time.

This is a pretty good album I think. It gets pretty addictive at times and will appeal to numerous lovers of ultra melodic Goa Trance. At times the level of positivity (without being cheesy) excites and lifts me up. My thoughts are give it a few listens and let it grow. At least it's ultra melodic. :) Suntrip doesn't release many Goa albums a year and this one, while not one of my favorites to date by them, is not bad. It has some very pleasant, enjoyable work.

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i don't like new goa direction

i want more power, more melody, more acid.

I hope 1 album is not your definition of "the new goa direction". This is the direction of Goasia. Others will take another direction :)

 

The next one (Shakta) will be more acid, Filteria is more powerfull then ever before... And melodies? Well, I can't think of an album with more melodies than this one :)

 

Anyway, thanks for the reviews! :)

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[...]sounded too folk, too middle Eastern[...]

Umm, I'm not sure how do you perceive 'folk' melodies but honestly I can't find any of thoose on this album. Maybe it's because I consider folk melodies to sound and have different approach, perhaps something like this. Middle-Eastern-influenced music, yes, but folk? Not sure about that mate. Anyway, interesting point of view.

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I hope 1 album is not your definition of "the new goa direction". This is the direction of Goasia. Others will take another direction :)

 

The next one (Shakta) will be more acid, Filteria is more powerfull then ever before... And melodies? Well, I can't think of an album with more melodies than this one :)

 

Anyway, thanks for the reviews! :)

i loved Suntrip old works
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i loved Suntrip old works

Well, of course we can't only release stuff everyone likes, it's impossible as a label, but I know the future releases are much more diverse compared to a few years ago... What we have in stock... We have more acidic old school releases from the 90s (Shakta, Denshi Danshi, Asia 2001 Reprint, Ethereal), the top of today (like Mindsphere, E-Mantra, Goasia, and more Filteria coming) and newcomers coming up (Celestial Intelligence, Imba,...) :) I guess ome of them will fit your taste for sure. I can imagine Goasia may be too melodic for some for sure, but as a label we try to cover all styles within goa trance :)

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I'll try to be objective as much as it possibe, as I work with Goasia for a long long time and have way more then only regular listener feelings to this project and people behind. However, I understand completelly more or less every single of you what you are talking about and what you mean with that, expect maybe guy who didnt find acid and melodies on this album, and the one who hear this album as one track, but hey, we all have different kind of perceptions for stuff. Anyway, I bumped on a lot of different opinions about Goasia music in general, especially for all of their 3 albums. What I realised is that many people have no sorted opinion about music after firsts couple of listenings and I completelly understand why, because it happens to me too with some of their tracks. Difficult, complex and serious material. I think I can compare like you take to read Tolkein, Williams, Martin or Paolini. Most of the people discover more and more with several additional readings. It is not like you take to read...I don't know..."Hollywood in Heels", or "Kardashian Konfidential" or i don't know what more. This music is hard to digest on first listening in a way of season music. This can be ungrateful from one point of view, but from the other hande it's awesome that you can perform with 10 years old track today as it is new and people would love it. I witnessed to that several times. So if you like Goa Trance keep on track with this album and after while if you can't feel it, leave it. At least today we have an opportunity to try before buy :) As i hear all those tracks in a process of creation, after album concept was assembled, I had some favorits but today i really can't find which one is better. IMO trance scene in general is richer with this album. Thank you Suntrip!

Enjoy all of you ;)

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  • 4 weeks later...

"Dancing With The Blue Spirit" had magic and imagination and deserves many repeat listens. "Dancing With The Blue Spirit" offers up something new to me each time I listen, wonderful and complex melodies, a true journey and adventure, an album I hold in high regard alongside E-Mantra's "Nemesis" and Faxi Nadu's "The Dangling Thread".

 

"Amphibians On Spacedock" just does not enthrall me at all. It sounds glossy and superficial, it does not have the same depth as his previous release. Maybe a second listen will unlock some magic but I doubt it. I did not listen to any of these tracks all the way through and that in itself speaks volumes to me about the quality of this release. I approach an artists work with respect and attention and if I do not make it through any of those tracks through to the very end, well, in my opinion, it just isn't very good listening.

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  • 7 months later...

Hey, this album is a real joke. Oriental pop or cheerleader goa, name it what you want. Some of the melodies from this album seem to be lifted from Bollywood and put over a kick/bassline combo that doesnt change for the whole album. What a disappointment!

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i don't like new goa direction

i want more power, more melody, more acid.

Exactly! That's why I am so in love with the stuff Neogoa has provided lately (and in the past, too: a good example being DJ Stevo Multiverse set released 2012 on Ektoplazm summoning up the best of Neogoa during the first two years of the label's existence: that release is a must-have so check it out if you still haven't) and is continuing with e.g. Proxeeus that should be with us soon, maybe July, after Ektoplazm is back from the break. I have this Goasia CD but it is gathering pretty much dust on it after few spins :( But I am glad Suntrip is taking a better (read: more to my taste) direction with new Aurora Sidera!

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  • 3 months later...

I feel like this album took a step back from Dancing With The Blue Spirit. It felt less daring and more straightforward in the vein of the first album. Still there are notable tracks such as 2, 4, 6 and 9, all of which have enough ideas to last till the end while tracks like 7, 3 and 8 felt very monotonous. Also with the first track, Terra Incognita shares the same type of approach but does it much better, this is the first time I truly found a Goasia track so cheesy that I can't listen to it, the main big synths just don't work. On the other hand what I was surprised positively about were the tracks Mental Mutator and Trodotoxin, they're darker and quite psychedelic, would be interesting to hear a whole album in this style and it just shows these guys don't have to stick this morning goa routine.

 

It's not a bad album, but coming off of Dancing With The Blue spirit, an album where I can't find a boring track from start to finish, an album that innovated(imho), I was left disappointed.

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