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Jikooha - Spacemen Underground


Trance2MoveU

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Artist: Jikooha

Title: Spacemen Underground

Label: Matsuri Digital

Date: June, 2017

 

1. Neo Tokyo Apocalypse
2. Decode Reality
3. Gravity Controller
4. Shamanarchy
5. Shambhala UFO
6. Lemuria
7. Nextgen Odyssey [Jikooha & Asteroidnos]
8. Ecco Weed
9. Mandalavision

 

 

I hope to go to Japan one day and experience the melding of an ancient culture and a modern metropolis.  So many things to see and do.  From way over here in the states it seems so foreign and that they aren't afraid to be different.  That principle also applies to their goa trance as it doesn't sound like anything currently out there.  This duo has been around a long time and they seem to push the boundaries of goa into sometimes loud and abrasive places.  Perhaps it's the punk vibe flowing through their veins.  It's been five years since their last album Sirius Rising and what do you know this is their fifth album.

 

They open things with an onslaught of analog sounds, thumping beats, and a progressive feel.  Neo Tokyo Apocalypse is mostly a positive track, but that vibe doesn't last very long.  Decode Reality brings an ominous analog wave pierced with 303 tones as if in warning.  It churns and throbs while Gravity Controller oscillates with no less insistence.  Not as dark, but still driving.  Shamanarchy is tribal and mysterious with intense melodies.  Shambala UFO brings guitar into the mix, but merely as a handrail for the electronics yet it's my least favorite track on the album.  Lemuria is an addictive track with electric analog sounds pulsing in layers.  Nextgen Odyssey has a more groovy and less aggressive feel with ample opportunity for head nodding.  Ecco Weed is a more mellow offering that seems to say the album is winding down from its intensity and I believe should've been the final track.  But they close with Mandalavision, and the intensity makes a final appearance raising the blood pressure like a new Trump executive order.

 

Their sound is dancing in an underground club until the wee hours of the morning amidst flashing lights and multitudes of colors.  Taking a simple melody and twisting it until it becomes hypnotically lush.  Before you know it you've sweated through your clothes.  As I've mentioned the beat is always heavy and there is an analog presence throughout while adding tribal elements in some tracks.  While none of the tracks for me rise to the Etnica/Pleiadians level of detail  this was a solid goa trance album and definitely worth the wait.

 

Psyshop

 

 

 

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Extremely cool, superb sound, not overproduced at all, everything sounds very smooth and natural. Good spirit. There's more actual trance here than what I've heard in a long time, since psytrance became just a bag of tricks :P I wouldn't really listen to these at home since the leads are quite jarring at times, but I'd love to hear all of this on a party outdoors.

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  • 2 weeks later...

just finished my first listen through, and for what it's worth, i enjoyed it

 

any time an artist takes 5 years off, i worry that they might have lost touch with what made them good in the first place but this isn't the case here. this is creatively made psychedelia from 2 guys that are well versed in their craft.

 

the album sounds something like if goa from the 90s made a linear progression to today, rather than veered into the faster, more chaotic neo-goa sound.

 

 

i'm not a fan of guitars in psytrance, so there's a couple of tracks that aren't too enjoyable but all in all, there's some great sequences and it's a melodic ride awesomely mastered by COLIN OOOD.

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Trance2MoveU said it all in his review. I can only agree with him.

 

Fantastic album by Jikooha, whom I find to get better through the years. This album is a bless for acid lovers.

It doesn't screech with harsh sounds, but instead it makes bubbles of acid up and down. And nothing too fast, it keeps a chunky and steady pace.

I really like the uplifting warm sound of this album. Hypnotically lush, as T2MU said.

 

Bought it and keeping it safe. :) Extremely well done guys!!

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On 5-1-2018 at 9:49 AM, Celaripo said:

i fail to appreciate this album

is it me or there is something wrong with the frequencies or the bass in the tracks? 

Do you mean the off-key sounds they use? Synths that doesn't exactly match the track's main key.

It's typical Jikooha, but not everyone is a fan of it. :ph34r:

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