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Is it possible that goa trance exhausted all its resources (so to speak) and has reached it's limits? I mean you guys are mentioning formulaic sounds. There is not a track in neogoa that has a sound I havent heard before. Same goes for most old school releases. Not sure what novelty you guys are expecting after 20+ years.

You could think that after Mozart with the "Classical" techniques, then along came Beethoven. Within old school Goa, there was a slightly samey quality, then along came X-dream's Radio. Innovations happen, and then are copied and improved. Just wait for the cycle, or bring in the next innovation ;)

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You must know that most of producers dont have musical backround or piano classes. They/we are just the guys who love music and one day open DAW and just make music. Producers making music they like and they can, not to impress some grumpy forum or facebook user. If doesnt match someones taste doesnt mean is bad on this or other way.

 

Last 10 years everyone is crying about new school how is not like old school, but i can say i am happy it isnt! It passed 20 years of golden old school era and its supposed to go this way. Times are different so its the music.

 

You see new school is exausted, i see it changing, blending with other genres and colleting stuff from them. As much as i love old school even most of old school was crappy, bad mixes, bad masterings, etc... it was analog now its digital and cleaner and louder.

 

Compare fullon from 2003 and from 2016, or psychedelic or forest, same story.

 

 

People complaining why there are no dark tracks? Personaly i dont like dark goa, i love acidish, floating and euphoric, sometimes psychedelic but not dark. Have you considered that artists are not interested making dark goa?

 

As scene is small its hard to get international gigs, and yes if artist want to be heard and want to play he must respect some 'standards' of today.

 

If you haven't noticed some new school Goa artists getting booked for major psytrance festivals worldwide... Boom, SUN, Lost Theory, Psy-Fi... and on them to get booked is almost impossible... but you see its possible because quality. And people want new music, not something they yeard 105120124 times :)

 

 

Time changed, music changed, everything changed. Like it should be.


Crowd changed what is most important! Here some are veterans some are new but worldwide there is much younger crowd now and they are interested in new music. For them Agneton or Filteria are Astral Projection of today etc. They see and hear music much different than you :)

 

 

And yes, now just like in 90s there is loads of crappy music. But what is crappy or not can be based on taste too. For you something is crappy, for me it could be new Teleport or Mahadeva.

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You must know that most of producers dont have musical backround or piano classes. They/we are just the guys who love music and one day open DAW and just make music. Producers making music they like and they can, not to impress some grumpy forum or facebook user. If doesnt match someones taste doesnt mean is bad on this or other way.

 

Last 10 years everyone is crying about new school how is not like old school, but i can say i am happy it isnt! It passed 20 years of golden old school era and its supposed to go this way. Times are different so its the music.

 

You see new school is exausted, i see it changing, blending with other genres and colleting stuff from them. As much as i love old school even most of old school was crappy, bad mixes, bad masterings, etc... it was analog now its digital and cleaner and louder.

 

Compare fullon from 2003 and from 2016, or psychedelic or forest, same story.

 

 

People complaining why there are no dark tracks? Personaly i dont like dark goa, i love acidish, floating and euphoric, sometimes psychedelic but not dark. Have you considered that artists are not interested making dark goa?

 

As scene is small its hard to get international gigs, and yes if artist want to be heard and want to play he must respect some 'standards' of today.

 

If you haven't noticed some new school Goa artists getting booked for major psytrance festivals worldwide... Boom, SUN, Lost Theory, Psy-Fi... and on them to get booked is almost impossible... but you see its possible because quality. And people want new music, not something they yeard 105120124 times :)

 

 

Time changed, music changed, everything changed. Like it should be.

 

 

Crowd changed what is most important! Here some are veterans some are new but worldwide there is much younger crowd now and they are interested in new music. For them Agneton or Filteria are Astral Projection of today etc. They see and hear music much different than you :)

 

 

And yes, now just like in 90s there is loads of crappy music. But what is crappy or not can be based on taste too. For you something is crappy, for me it could be new Teleport or Mahadeva.

We are not crying because neogoa is not like old school. We're, I am, butthurt because it's not AS GOOD as old school.

So we should give them best grades because they are making music they like? No. We are on the receiving end and we judge. If the process of making music satisfies those producers, then great and they should not care about what someone says on this "grumpy" forum. The difference between this forum and others is that most people here were old enough to hear what existed before neogoa while the crowd nowadays is not.

 

"As scene is small its hard to get international gigs, and yes if artist want to be heard and want to play he must respect some 'standards' of today." and this is how this music takes it's turn for the worse. You let needs of the mass dictate how you should make your music so that you get to play on international festivals? So be it, but lets make it clear that that is called commercialization. You change music so that a bigger crowd likes it instead of letting it get attention as it is. Proof enough.

 

These are facts IMO and Im not trying to be toxic. Dont get me wrong though. I have been listening and exploring neogoa releases for past 2 weeks. Not a single old school one. Some releases are A M A Z I N G, while most are not.

I am not against change, but lets look at what ends up with musical change around the globe... Yup it changes for the worse because producers are trying so hard to satisfy needs of a bigger crowd, and the need of this high crowd is next to nothing.

 

And what is interesting about neogoa is that one of the best music I hear is FREE on ektoplasm. See my point? :)

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To be fair i havent listened Goa since 2012... only 10% of releases. First of all no time due too much music and gigs... plus random shit and life... just no extra few hours to check releases.

 

But what i heard i am impressed and i really love it, example Ephedra and Celestial Intelligence albums are insta classics for me, nothing less than Moment of Truth, Transidimensional, Phenomena, Dancing Galaxy in modern terms ofcourse :)

 

And when you know guys and story behind them like i do, how simple but how genius they are it gives you completly new level of understanding and loving such music.

 

 

What is lovely in new school scene is that everyone is connected and united. I remember last summer on Balkan Goa Fanatics i was going together with Celestial Intelligence and Zopmanika, 10-12h on road all we could speak is about music. There we met Cosmic Dimension, Veasna, Arronax, UX, Morphic Resonance, CoaGoa, Dalton, Stevo, Richpa and plenty more others. Days over days just speaking about production, advicing each other, reviewing, and enjoying in music everyone playing.

 

When you hear their opinions and stories you will know that nobody is making music just because they are bored or they dont have something else to do, their into this music with whole their spirit and body.

 

150-200 people, artists and djs going wild on dancefloor just like everyone else, hanging out with everyone, having food drinks and joints with them, it was like pure 95 for us.

 

 

But yes i heard some really bad stuff, like every music now and then have good, bad and solid music. Even some my stuff i consider as crappy :)


Someone see scene going to hell, i see it growing into something wonderful. I am not protecting anything, it's just personal and professional opinion.

 

Quot capita, tot sententiae :)

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The last time I like more Oldschool than Neogoa...

But now the sun is shining in Berlin... and then I remember the best goa-release of all time for me: Ra - 9th! And its Neogoa. ;-) Or wait... its from 2008.. Oldschool Neogoa. ;-)

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The last time I like more Oldschool than Neogoa...

But now the sun is shining in Berlin... and then I remember the best goa-release of all time for me: Ra - 9th! And its Neogoa. ;-) Or wait... its from 2008.. Oldschool Neogoa. ;-)

Oldschool NeoGoa. Damn, we are getting old

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- Its not because some artists are "popular" in Japan or so, they are good. This is one of the things that is wrong in todays scene. Some artists just promote themselves non stop and the result is "popularity" based on emptyness. One of your artists is very known here in Belgium, and he is more known for spamming as for his music!

 

Well than it seems to me that thoose artists are doing alright when it comes to promotion. We're in 2016, social media and DIY approach bloomed in recent years and I agree it doesn't always bring to table the best art, but for sure it makes things much easier and smooth. For example, nowdays you don't have to be a part of some label to release good music, there are crowdfunding campaings, social media exposure, easier communication chanells so, instead of paying a lot of money to be promoted, artists tend to have full control when it comes to their music and promotion. I disagree on the part when it comes to international bookings. If someone released something for free and in digital format and after some time he got booked for an international gig, that only means that his music is acessible and good enough for party organizer, denpending on what party organizer and his crowd like/dig. I don't know what artist are you reffering to, since I don't follow the psychedelic.be or other local communities in Belgium.

 

- You seem to be proud to have released 12 hours of music in 1 year, this seems more quantity over quality to me. Of course there is good stuff in between... But if you would focus on the music, you could have released 3 hours of fantastic music in stead of 9 hours of maximum mediocre one. This is the goal of labels, making sure only the good stuff is released, no?

The goal is always to release good stuff I believe. Speaking from my personal point of view, I really enjoy more darker kind of Goa trance music, BUT that doesn't mean we will publish only that kind of releases, as I said, our aim always was to bring some diversity and if possible to discover new artists and names. Having that in mind, I feel proud with 12 hours of music, even no one should like all of it, but I feel that there is something for everyone. I could go with option to have 2 releases per year, but once again, our approach is different and we wouldn't have enough of space to promote new discoveries or give a fair chance to people who (IN OUR OWN HONEST OPINION) deserves a release slot. For me it's simple, if you don't have a need/time to follow our work, you can always focus on labels who are having 1-2 releases per year, I'm fine with that (especially if that is some community-accepted standard for quality music).

 

- I dont want to compare. you are a smart guy. You use the social media as a tool, which is a good move these days. Because of this you demand your followers for praising reviews, and then people download. Simple as that and a good move. So every comparision would be wrong, because your tactic is right and smart.

I don't demand anything and our tactic always was to have a straight forward approach, to keep people involved into our work in best possible way, to share our thoughts, ideas, new updates, involve other creative minds into work of Neogoa. It's not something we demand, it's an optional thing. When it comes to reviews, I told to everyone here who is doing reviews, if you're interested, I will gladly give music for that purpose, no matter how that review will look like, positive or negative. Heck, on our page all reviews are linked with releases (positive and negative ones), and that says something how much tolerance and respect we have towards reviewers and their opinion about our music. Also, saying that we're forcing someone to download our music is ridicilous. Without even posting any updates on our social media, people will notice new music and probably download something from the website.

 

- I liked The World Beyond and Jagoa, so this has nothing to do with "you", just with the majority of the music released by neogoa and labels like that.

I'm glad you enjoyed it. I never told it's something related to me personally, it's related to my work and what I do. So don't mind if I speak to you from that same perspective.

 

- Last but not least, I talked about Ohm Mind as an example of perfectly generic music. I want you to be honest, is there any tracks you think are amazing or are good enough for a cd release? Because this kind of music is exactly that is destroying the scene these days... (and I could write 10 more names). Always the same presets, always same notes, same sounds and no surprise or twist at all. Then, promoting himself on fb like a god, and the result is there: neogoa-release and blatant popularity.

 

Hey I'm fine if you don't like his work or music, you're not the only one here and it's alright. I don't agree that someones music is destroying the scene, there are worse things on this scene which can be seen as a real cancer. That music is his vision and expression, we liked what we heard and we gave him a release slot, made the artwork and did the promotion. Believe me, if it wasn't released by us, it would be by some other label, maybe Goa Madness or Timewarp. So, saying that we're destroying the scene by offering music for free is harsh. No one if forcing anyone to download or to review something. Speaking about his Facebook promotion, me or Neogoa isn't involved into that. What I did is that I gave honest feedback, advice and tips how to improve Facebook pages to look more professional, to post only important updates, to have great organic reach and to keep people involved into your work and that has been given to all our artists who are active on Facebook, as a friendly gesture. Funny thing, you're so bothered by underground Goa artists and his Facebook promotion, but you don't mind numerous fullon/prog and similar projects with +100k followers and how they promote themselves and their music :)

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Personaly Im not big fan of old school goa stuff. I like just a few numbers, few albums. So, when I see comments : nowadays neogoa sounds bad.. or doesn't sound as good as old school.. I would say - depends on taste.. for me old school goa sounds ( I mean about quality ) worst very often. Maybe I'm looking on quality because I'm producer. All of you who complained about new school goa ,just imagine how would see goa scene without US (new school goa artists ) like Filteria, Emantra, Artifact303 and many many more ,amazing new school artists ? And you will have only your old school goa.. then you would complain that this one is too old and we need something fresh ;) everyone have own taste. My music is very newschool because I'm not listening to goa trance a lot...very little. Mostly psytrance , dark psy, chill. E-Mantra also doenst listening to goa trance for example . That's why each artist got his individual sound, for one is bad for another is fuckin amazing :D If someone dont like neogoa or newschool, just keep listening your old goa, no problem :) if most of neogoa recs stuff would be shit , We (neogoa recs artists) would not get so many invitations around the world for parties guys ..now Proxeus and Ohm Mind will play in Japan .its fantastic

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If you don't like what is being produced in Goa Trance, I suggest you produce it.

I don't care if all you do is spend a few hours in (name your favorite software). I want to hear it. Send it to me and I will listen to it. No two artists have the same interpretation/production style and Goa Trance is open to anything and everything.

 

If there is anything this genre has taught me is that it is the closest to good, honest, inclusive, expression that is not found in the vast majority of other genres. Of course, the labels have their own sound/interpretation that they like and want to release. If you don't like Suntrip or Neogoa or whatever, make your own label. I want to download and/or purchase your albums. Go search soundcloud for someone whose style appeals to you. Check around here on psynews. Lots of people post all kinds of crazy stuff, even a certain Bulgarian who happened to like steep mountains and had a thing for Boris Blenn.

 

There is no sense in being critical when you are a part of a genre that literally can be produced and distributed for free. It's your personal expression. I produce goa trance, I don't even know why. It's just an impulse. I have ideas in this head of mine that have to come out. I don't know if what I produce is even remotely good. That's not for me to say, but it's out there. And of course the greatest reviews I can give are contained within those tracks. Words are pretty meaningless.

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  • 1 year later...

Personaly Im not big fan of old school goa stuff. I like just a few numbers, few albums. So, when I see comments : nowadays neogoa sounds bad.. or doesn't sound as good as old school.. I would say - depends on taste.. for me old school goa sounds ( I mean about quality ) worst very often. Maybe I'm looking on quality because I'm producer. All of you who complained about new school goa ,just imagine how would see goa scene without US (new school goa artists ) like Filteria, Emantra, Artifact303 and many many more ,amazing new school artists ? And you will have only your old school goa..

I gotta agree, I find old school lacking in psychedelia, they nail melodies but lack that psychedelic side. There are so many incredible goa producers around these days that I don't know how anyone could saw new school producers are lacking originality or amazing melodies, maybe if you only listen to soundcloud stuff.

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Last 10 years everyone is crying about new school how is not like old school, but i can say i am happy it isnt! It passed 20 years of golden old school era and its supposed to go this way. Times are different so its the music.

Yes, I agree with this sentiment. The problem is, artists will use that same argument to hide their lack of competence. Example: Think of Linkin Park in the early 2000s vs what it is now. "Freshening" one's style isn't necessarely bad (Dimension 5 -> RA), but it's not always good, either (Talamasca). New school can't be like old school, that's why we make the distinction. People are rather "crying" about the overall decline in production quality [at this point, its meaning is open to discussion]. [A handful of groups SEEM to be serious about what they are doing]

 

Shoot me down for being a hater :blink:

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What I miss in many newschool goa is that 3-dimensional "spaced-out" feeling. Everything is super intence, very loud and agressive, screechy resonances, disharmonic melodies. There are lots of layers but they all are thrown right into your ears, nothing sits in the background, lots of melodies but they are mostly chaotic, atonal and not very pleasant. Judging from the reviews here this is what goa fans actually appreciate the most, so probably I'm the only one who misses this sound

 

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Judging from the reviews here this is what goa fans actually appreciate the most, so probably I'm the only one who misses this sound

no, you're not. i can barely bear a whole morphic resonance track. intensity isn't everything and constant intensity for a whole track is like a constant hum instead of a kickdrum. it quickly gets boring instead of exciting. most of the "average" goa trance released in the recent years is a constant assault of either harsh, acidic melodies or soft, pleasant melodies (think mindsphere). having such parts in tracks is perfectly fine, but if it's the whole track it's just tiring. as a consequence most goa trance is also missing the ambience, the atmosphere. one of the reasons why my preferences shifted from fullon to goa trance is that goa trance had the atmosphere and melodies in a time when almost all fullon lacked those. (as you can guess filteria was not my introduction to newschool goa ;) ).

 

don't let this post fool you to think that i'm unhappy with the state of goa trance. it's nothing new that most tracks of a particular subgenre are just average and lacking something a given person will value in music. some time ago most average "goa" had nitzho influences — these times are past, some time ago most newschool goa was fluffy (atmospheric ;) morning sound and there were barely any darker tracks. now we have lots of intense, acidic goa trance of dark and light flavours. in a few years the music will have changed, will miss something different and we will lament about having too much of something else.

 

meanwhile, enjoy some atmospheric goa trance from last year that's completely different than todays "average" goa:

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I know this Ra album and like it, it is indeed something different from average newschool goa and much closer to what I'm looking for in goa trance. But Ra (Dimension 5) were the part of the first wave of goa trance in 90's (longest lifespan on the scene?). I also like some tracks by Mindsphere, especially from his latest uptempo album. This "melody after a melody after a melody" approach may work if the melodies are good, though I agree that it becomes tiresome when you have several such tracks in a row (and someone should tell him that the notes may be longer than 16th). FIlteria is , well... not for me. He does have nice melodies and great sounds here and there but for me the whole thing is ruined by hectic arrangements and very raw mixing. It is more like punk rock than trance. Actually i find the aesthetics of most modern goa releases closer to death or black metal than to Astral Projection.

 

Among the new guys Artifact 303 and Psy-H Project are great, Centavra Project is a nice surprise. Some good tracks by Crossing Mind (though his mixing approach takes time to get used to), Scarma, Liquid Flow.

 

All in all for me this track is the pinnacle of modern goa, arguably as good as People Can Fly

 

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Have a listen to recent Hypnoxock's album on Goa Madness Rec.

 

It's one of very few neo-goa releases that surprised me positively over the recent years. It's incredibly cleanly produced, with very selective layering and the right sounds and melodies entering and leaving at just the right moments. It's not very complex, but is sufficiently elaborate to not sound dry. It's constantly changing and is beautifully melodic, in a way the classic Shakta or The Infinite Projects releases were: mystical, alien, otherworldly but still grounded firmly in 12-note scale so not very 'atonal'. Sure, there will be some more piercing acidy sounds, but that's goa trademark.

 

 

Purchase at official Goa Madness Rec. Bandcamp -> https://goamadnessrecordsofficial.bandcamp.com/album/eurythmia

 

Or better yet at artists' own account -> https://hypnoxock.bandcamp.com/album/eurythmia-album-2017

 

Highy recommended!  :wub:

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I gotta agree, I find old school lacking in psychedelia, they nail melodies but lack that psychedelic side

 

Ok, this has got to be the most ridiculous post ever (yeah, I'm overreacting).

 

Have a listen to those - just a few of the top of my head:

 

 

 

 

 

 

...and tell me again they lack 'psychedelic side' :blink: 

 

Must be our definitions of what is 'psychedelic' are completely different...

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Have a listen to recent Hypnoxock's album on Goa Madness Rec.

 

I have mixed feelings of this. Very good clean production and great sound design (love these plastic acids) but most tracks sound somehow too linear and predictable. Also while it is sufficiently melodic most melodies are not my cup of tea. I listened to one of their old full-on albums the other day, don't exactly remember which one, and I liked it much more.

 

Still better than the average.

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Among the new guys Artifact 303 and Psy-H Project are great, Centavra Project is a nice surprise. Some good tracks by Crossing Mind (though his mixing approach takes time to get used to), Scarma, Liquid Flow.

i totally agree with artifact303; all of his output is either good or great. psy-h project aren't shy to try unusual melodic ideas, sometimes it works out and is great (as in precession of the universe), sometimes they miss the mark. centavra project is always good (though sometimes a bit samey like mindphere). crossing mind has nice atmosphere, but sometimes the melodies and "unsteady" synth patches make it hard for me to like his music. skarma sounds almost exactly like astral projection (just a little more melodic) ; the only issue i have is the muddy mixing (there's often barely any audible kickdrum). 

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Recently gave a listen to Hypnoxock's album thanks to antic, not much of a follower of neo stuff but me like it, those symbiosis and transformation tracks were quite trippy and packing crazy in a good way soundscape

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