Filteria - Live With The Lag

Suntrip Records: 2022

I'm honestly surprised Mr. Tzikas had such a significant gap between albums, nearly a decade long. Right, he did put out that K.O.B. record between his two most recent Filteria LPs (wow, is it weird calling the twelve year old Lost In The Wild 'recent') but I'm confident most folks don't really count that.

And yes, as your keen eyes undoubtedly caught, both these albums are currently slotted one after the other in my alphabetical queue, which tempted me to maybe do a double review of them just to plug on through. However, the fates intervened, or rather a Reader Request did, slotting something else between Live With The Lag and Lost In The Wild. Guess I'll have to give each record their due, but given how influential yet skint Filteria releases have become, is perhaps fair.

So what to say about this one? Well, as said, it's fairly recent, less than year old when I bought that CD. Not that age has much of anything to do with anything when it comes to neo-goa, so many releases quite dedicated to sounding as '90s as they can get away with. And boy is Live With The Lag no exception, all the usual namedrops of Etnica and Pleiadians springing to mind with this. Understandable with Conquer Gravity though, as they actually contribute to the track.

Speaking of, some of their old stuff's gotten a remaster again, both the debut Pleiadians album I.F.O., and the Etnica album Alien Protein in another massive triple-disc bundle. And guess who's handling the distribution of those! Man, I know I've gorged myself on Suntrip to a ludicrous degree but that 30 Years looks mighty tempting...

Oh, sorry, Filteria. Yeah, I honestly don't have too much to say about Live With The Lag that isn't a repeat of other Suntrip reviews. This is all solid stuff, plenty of energy among the nine cuts, all doing all the things you'd expect of the sound. Some lay the acid on thicker (Crimefighter Frog), but most stick with squelchy synth leads keeping the energy always on the up and up. I was actually listening to this while working the elliptical machine for the first time in many months, and it was definitely the perfect music to keep my pace up. Heck, had to reign it in a little, not wanting to exceed my recommended heart rate after so long away from doing that particular workout.

That's the problem with Live With The Lag though. It's great music for in the moment of doing something rigorous and active, and not much else. Little really stuck with me beyond some of the usual gimmicks you can expect (key change at a climax here, a funny twisting of a synth sound there) and while I understand this is primarily a 'go-go-GO!' type of goa album, it flatlines the whole listening experience too. Or I dunno', maybe I'm just tempering expectations knowing I'll be doing another Filteria album in short-order.

Battle Of The Future Buddhas - The Light Behind The Sun

Suntrip Records: 2019

It didn't take long for me to realize this goa group was from the old school. The approach to vintage psy songcraft, the daring dalliances into unconventional sounds that weren't the usual stock samples and synth plug-ins... The somewhat flat overall production that was just the standard of the time. Oh, The Light Behind The Sun is certainly beefy in the same way all modern mastering is, but little is full-on in your face, almost subdued with space to breathe. Wow, I can actually visualize the sonic layers!

But yes, Battle Of The Future Buddhas do hail from ye' olden days, first emerging upon the land back in '97 on BooM! Records. It wasn't a terribly robust label, but held on for a couple decades before closing shop, leaving The Buddhas out in the wild. Actually, check that, they'd left long before, hopping about other labels, exploring other side-projects and collaborations, even hooking up with Ka-Sol on many occasions. And boy, some of the names they'd come up with in these endeavours: Dead Dog Barking, God Damn Ninjas, Church Of The New Age Hippie Disco Shit, Angriff. See, the cheeky name wasn't just some one-off for these Swedes, forever having their tongues firmly planted.

Anyhow, stay in the game long enough, and you're certain to attract the attention of Suntrip Records, which they done did for the label's big fiftieth release party The 50th Parallel. May as well stick around and release an album or three with them, which they continue to do up to present. The Light Behind The Sun was the first one, and is about as solid a selection of unabashedly retro goa as you'll likely hear.

I honestly don't know if I have much more to say about it beyond that. As mentioned, the production is generally subdued, in that there are few tear-out moments with tons of busy sounds and effects flying this way and that. You'll generally hear what you're gonna' hear near the start of a track – hypnotic synth rudders, burbling acid leads, a little warping and pitch bending of said sounds throughout the duration. This tends to give tracks that general flatness, remaining rather steady as things play out, even when things get a bit busier at the peak with additional layers thrown on.

In some ways, this is beneficial, never feeling like we're going on random side-tangents of go-nowhere wibble. On the other hand, it doesn't feel like we're building to much either, tracks existing purely in the moment and nothing else. Psy trance far better served in a live context as transitional moments than something demanding deeper analysis sitting at home.

Still, in that old school tradition, Fighting Future Buddahs have no problem throwing little unique items here and there. The Crane features crane calls, The Elite features throat singing, Ghost features a wailing synth lead, Life Behind The Sun features a climatic key change. All stuff worth at least a play-through should you fancy it.

Astral Projection - Let There Be Light

Suntrip Records: 2017

A rather obvious release in some respects. Whether as praise or damning with faint praise, one of Suntrip's longest-serving narratives is how much of their output pays homage to goa trance pioneers like Astral Projection, sometimes to a fault. So many reviews of their discography – including yours truly – will have some blurb along the lines of “...sounds like A.P.” And while kudos to the label should be given for always looking to promote newer talent, I'm sure the folks at Suntrip had to be itchin' for the chance of luring the real deal into the fold some way.

Trouble was, Misters Nissim and Perlmutter had essentially retired from the studio after their 2002 album Amen. Sure, they could be counted upon for the odd remix job or collaboration, and they remained plenty active on the touring trails. For the most part though, they seemed content in letting their legacy remain as was, uninterested in changing their style to fit in with the then-current trends of full-on and prog psy. Even for a label catering to a sound they'd made their breaded butter with, convincing them for a proper comeback wouldn't be easy. A tit-for-tat remix EP though? Sure, that's doable.

It's funny that Let There Be Light was chosen as the single's title, as only Filteria provides a remix of the old compilation tune. It's certainly a track that's about as vintage Astral Projection as can be, even finding a place on that burned CD of A.P. tunes I made ages ago. So a fine one for Mr. Tzikas to remix as anything from their discography, and since not as well known as some of their others, deserving of a little modern shine. As for what's different, there's more squiggly sounds, and given the sort of beefening of production you'd expect of a contemporary remix. Beyond that, it hits most of the same musical notes as the original. As for the return-rub, Astral Projection take on the track that opened Filteria's Daze Of Our Lives album, Filtertraces. Here they've sped it up, given it that goa trance kick, smoothed out the overall production, and there you have it. It certainly sounds like vintage A.P., I'll give it that.

Two tracks down, but still two more to go on this Let There Be Light EP, neither of which are rubs of the original either. Instead, Morphic Resonance gets to have a go at another oldie in Enlightened Evolution, one of the duo's more bangin' tracks and definitely not nearly as obscure as Let There Be Light. Seems a shame Morphic didn't have a stab at Light, but Evolution does suit his tougher brand of psy better, and I'm sure he was plumb about having the chance to join this particular party anyway. The final track sees Astral Projection giving the lead titular single from Another World a spiffy upgrade. Cool, I guess, but would be cooler if it was something less known. We Are Controlling Transmission, mayhaps?

Various - Inti

Suntrip Records: 2012

And this is the last of the Suntrip CDs among my 'I' albums. Final tally: six, which may not be that much, less than ten percent of the whole she-bang I bulk bought from the label. Sure felt like a lot though, perhaps due to having a dangling 'H' album lodged in there, or so many bunched up towards the end of this month. We're also dealing with a compilation here, which is nice, those usually offering a little more variety than your standard artist albums. Yeah, there's typically a central theme, but different muses, different gear, different approaches, and all that fun stuff. And, if you're the sort that likes coincidental symmetry and such as, Inti came out just before K.O.B.'s Identity Mash, which, if you remember, was the first 'I' album I covered from Suntrip. Ah, the neocortex abides.

Aside from that, there isn't anything especially significant about Inti beyond what it is – that being the yearly Suntrip compilation. I suppose there's some talking point about this coming out in 2017, a strangely lean year for the label (the aforementioned Identity Mash, a single from Astral Projection, and a concluding trilogy from Mindsphere all they put out). Guess it's a good thing they loaded this compilation up with all of their then-current hottest acts!

Actually, I don't know how accurate that statement is. I know for certain that the usual artists most folks considered Suntrip's core of its old guard (Filteria, E-Mantra, Ra, Khetzal) aren't present. Still, that Crossing Mind fella', he'd been a steady compilation contributor for much of the '10s, plus two albums out by this point. Okay, he counts, even if this was one of his final appearances with Suntrip (and ever).

Having spent more time with this label now, names like Morphic Resonance, Triquetra and Celestial Intelligence are definitely familiar to me, and even supply some of my favorite cuts off here. Morphic's Varese Dream affirms my enjoyment of his high energy brand of psy, Celestial's Distorted Visions gives me a glimpse of their sound being less soggy, Triquetra get two tracks, both still on that strictly reverential goa vibe, and Crossing Mind's Entropy... hey, chill breaks! Well, for a little bit at least.

The familiar out of the way, let's check out the un version of that, starting with Ovnimoon. Okay, he's far from unknown, but I've sparingly come across him over the years. He does a goa too. Jagoa's Perverse Polymorph goes way darker though, really touching on that period when psy started leaning way more sinister. And at the way opposite spectrum is Sykespico's Glimmers Of Sunrise, coming off like a long-lost cut off Paul van Dyk's Seven Ways. Hey, that's, like, my favoritist PvD album! Guess I approve of this track too, even if its at total odds with the rest of the compilation. Oh, it's the final track? Well, alright, its a suitable 'in search of sunrise' closer for a compilation titled after the sun.

InnerSpace - InnerSpace

Suntrip Records: 2012

Not only is this the next item in my alphabetical queue following Crossing Mind's The Inner Shift, but also the next item in Suntrip's chronological catalogue as well! Wow, not even Hypnoxock's Beyond The Wormhole could claim that cosmic coincidence. Come to think of it, I have no other albums with 'inner' in its title either, these two now the lone options within my library. They'd be side-by-side no matter how I'd gotten them, as though ordained to be intertwined with each other.

Okay, not one-hundred percent so, InnerSpace the first of Suntrip's 'Limited Edition' run of CDs. Mucks up that 'Sort By Catalogue Number' sequence in Lord Discogs, InnerSpace shunted well away from The Inner Shift. I guess they also don't sit together in lists that include articles (like my MP3 player), Crossing Mind's album then lost among all the other 'The' records. Where am I going with this again? Oh yeah, coincidences, and how our pattern-seeking brains want to assign meaning to them. Careful of conspiracies, kids.

I – and by I, I mean Lord Discogs – have practically nothing on InnerSpace. A name, which came with the Bandcamp blurb: Jörg Schemczyk. There isn't much else info I can find, beyond some generic 'been active in Germany's goa trance scene' copy on a long-defunct website only accessible with the Wayback Machine. I'm somehow not surprised. This release has the feel of Suntrip doing a solid for a friend of the label, not the debut of an artist looking to make a major mark upon the psy world at large.

I've talked about many 'big fish, small pond' types, and I'm sure goa's got more of those than you can imagine. If anything, that scene is almost too generous in giving folks their moment of shine, hence the insurmountable glut of releases that's been an issue for as long as I can remember. They want to be as generous and rewarding for hard work as possible because hey, good karma and all that, but it really isn't always necessary.

So I assume it went with InnerSpace. Suntrip, always eager to bring exposure to any artist that may fit their neo-goa manifesto, convinced Jörg to put out something with them. It wasn't a lane he felt that comfortable exploring though, content remaining in the one he'd carved out for himself. So Suntrip says, “No problem, bro', we'll just 'limited edition' a one-off. Heck, we'll even give it that extra 'ripped from CDr' flavour, adding an annoying *click* to the start of every track!” Or I'm just blowing smoke as usual.

Oh, the music? Yeah, it's retro goa trance. Does everything you'd expect of the style, perhaps a little more on the deeper end than anything tear-out. Makes sense for an album called InnerSpace. A couple tunes slow things down to more prog-psy territory (Below, Lost City), but there isn't much sonic variation among the tracks either. About as middle-of-the-road as Suntrip CDs go. Darn grade curves.

Crossing Mind - The Inner Shift

Suntrip Records: 2012

Well, I liked this one more than his other album, Beyond Duality. I can actually recall more to this CD than just production aesthetics. Again, it's not that Mr. Bèze's second release with Suntrip was bad – I haven't really heard anything out of this label that I'd classify as being bunk. I've just come to realize there's certain styles within this micro-niche genre of neo-goa I prefer over others, and for whatever reason, the sound on that Crossing Mind record just didn't click for me.

I recall reading somewhere that Stéphane intentionally tried doing something a little different for Beyond Reality, and fair play for artists stepping out of comfort zones. Perhaps that's why The Inner Shift was an easier sell for my earholes though. While technically not his debut album by any stretch, it was his chance at re-introducing himself to a fresh audience, one that was far more receptive to psy trance on something of a retro bent. And the best way to accomplish that is to offer something familiar while throwing your own spin on it.

It's the melodies, mang'. Like, the sort that actually hook into your brain, and aren't lost among all the assorted psy trance wibble. Sure, they can get twisted and contorted into trippy, squiggly variations and progressions, but at least they're there. The sort of tunes that draw you away from whatever primary activity you were doing while playing it in the background, forcing you to notice what the track is doing and even enjoy doing so. Yeah, not gonna' lie, part of the reason many of these Suntrip CDs don't always leap out at me is for that very reason, too often content remaining agreeable music existing in the peripheral of my attention. That cuts like Modulated Self Reminders and Magnetic Fields of Life managed to overcome that hurdle for yours truly is worth recommendation alone.

And then The Inner Shift does that other thing I'm always ranting about these neo-goa albums are in desperate need of: diversity! Granted, it's shunted towards the end of the CD, but the fact there's two tracks of lower BPM out of eight is far more than we usually get out of Suntrip releases. Plutonia is only marginally slower, not even enough to end up in the realms of prog-psy, but it's at least moodier, bringing a change of tone. Optronic Circles (Inner Shift Remix) is definitely 'chuggy' enough though. There's even a short 'secret song'!

Eh, that 'production aesthetic' quibble I brought up about Crossing Mind's second Suntrip album? Yeah, The Inner Shift has a bit of that plastic flatness to it too, but it's not nearly as noticeable. It's funny how, when the hooks are strong enough, keeping your focus on them, such things like 'production aesthetics' aren't as much of an issue. Weird how that's been a factor with music for as long as I can remember, yet it continues to come up. You'd think artists would have learned that by now.

Celestial Intelligence - Incandescent

Suntrip Records: 2019

Wait, another Macedonian psy-trance duo known for live shows? Just how many of these kinds of artists are there? ~ crickets ~ Okay, maybe there's a few more, but I can't imagine there being more on Suntrip, right? And even if there is, it's a damn impossibility they'd be following Celestial Intelligence and Cosmic Dimension in my alphabetical queue, right? Right...? *checks upcoming CDs* Right.

Seriously though, seeing as both hail from Kumanovo, I had to double check to make sure I wasn't dealing with the same pair of pairs. For one thing, Cosmic Dimension's lone album on Suntrip came out a couple years before Celestial Intelligence made their debut, and neither seem to have lasted on the label beyond The Great Shutdown of 2020. C.I. has also appeared on Global Sect Music, though much earlier than C.D. did. Plus, both appeared one after the other on the Ten Spins Around The Sun compilation, which means... Well, probably mere coincidence than anything conspiratorial. Still, it didn't stop me from clicking through the names of Branislav Dimkovski and Dalibor Anastasovski at Lord Discogs, making sure they weren't somehow aliases of Antonio Simonovski and Denis Bogdanovski. When you're dealing with so many '...ovski's, it's easy to get them crossed.

So Celestial Intelligence. Fiddled with other musics elsewhere before teaming up, released a number of compilation-only tracks for half a decade, landed on Suntrip as you do. And in my usual convoluted manner, am reviewing their second album first, because nothing can be that straight forward and simple.

Incandescent was another album I was looking forward to on cover art alone. With its bright, aquamarine blues and tropical setting, I thought this could, just maybe, be something a little different from the usual neo-goa norm. Dipping toes into more prog-psy territory, or even - *gasp* - Suntrip's lone experiment dabbling in psy dub. Surely they've tried their hand at something like that in their history? Perhaps, but this wasn't that album.

So it's another neo-goa album that's perfectly fine with some strong peak-time moments, but doesn't really stand out much more than that. Actually, no, there is one thing that makes Celestial Intelligence unique from all the other Suntrip acts I've thus far heard: their effects sound rather... wet? Juicy? Moist? I don't know how to describe it beyond that. Not so much 'drippy', as you hear in psy dub, just really... 'squirty'. It doesn't add much to the tracks either, the sort of superfluous noises you associate with the more wibbly portions of psy. Guess it'd make these tunes most effective at dawn's early light, when the morning dew is glistening off the surrounding foliage of whatever outdoor party you've been at.

Gotta' wonder if the Suntrip management noticed this too, hence the water-themed cover art. Heck, maybe this is a deliberate choice by Celestial Intelligence, tweaking the knobs on their gear to 'Soak' or 'Saturate'. Really 'marinate' that acid such that its 'drenched' in that 'damp', 'sopping' texture.

Cosmic Dimension - In A Special Kind Of Space

Suntrip Records: 2013

I could have sworn I already covered an album by Cosmic Dimension, but that's impossible. Not only is this the duo's lone album with Suntrip, but about it for their releases in total. They did put out another album a few years ago on Global Sect Music, which seems to be something of an alternate outlet for former Suntrip artists (Artifact303, Merr0w, Clementz). Hm, I actually like some of these producers, maybe it's a print worth bulk-buying from? Oh dear God, no, not again!

Anyhow, back to figuring out why I thought I'd already covered Cosmic Dimension. Am I getting them confused with Morphic Resonance or Hypnoxock? There are some similarities there, in that they all have kaleidoscopic cover art on their albums. More pointedly though, they're all operating in the high-octane, peak-time vein of psy trance, which I tend to prefer from these CDs. Granted, In A Special Kind Of Space doesn't have quite as much punch as The City Of Moons or Beyond The Wormhole, but it is enough that I could play these tracks alongside those and they wouldn't sound that much out of step with modern production standards. Okay, I'll go with that answer, and not the much more bunk one of just getting all these neo-goa acts mixed up from one another, especially when listening to a bunch in rapid succession (foreshadow!).

Right, that's sorted. So who are Cosmic Dimension anyway? A pair of Macedonians, they hit the scene pretty hot, dropping this debut album after just one compilation appearance with the label. They were apparently already making some waves on the live circuit, which I can easily believe. In A Special Kind Of Space is the sort of album where you can just tell the artists involved are well-honed in their craft, in this case delivering psy trance purely focused on maximum energy for the 2am crowds. There's plenty of wiggly-squiggly acid, but its never wiggly-squiggling about just for wiggly-squiggly sake, always there accentuating the driving rhythms. Sometimes you'll hear that full-on bassline, but its never so prominent that it becomes a distraction from the good stuff. Backing pads and strings help keep things properly cosmic without ever getting cliche. There's even a couple outlier tracks, a self-titled slow-beat intro, and a closer that, while still pretty peppy, is a good ten BPM lower than the rest. I could nitpick most tracks are kinda' similar throughout, but eh, neo-goa, amirite?

Yep, this all sounds like a solid entry into the Suntrip catalogue. Why, then, did Cosmic Dimension never release anything else with them? Well, I know nothing about that, but maybe In A Special Kind Of Space wasn't meant to be a proper artist launch? The CD was designated a 'limited edition', yet if I still nabbed a copy nearly a decade after, perhaps it didn't do as well as hoped? Then again, some acts just prefer sticking to the live scene, not having to worry about what sounds better in a home-listening environment.

Filteria - Heliopolis

Suntrip Records: 2006

Oops, looks like I missed one in my alphabetical queue! How did that happen? Like, I'm usually very meticulous in keeping things orderly, especially since every item I have gets added to my digital library one way or another, right? Normally, yes, but this one sneaked by unseen for a couple reasons.

One, this album actually isn't part of Suntrip's Bandcamp library anymore, Filteria having retained the rights to his early releases to put on his own page. Cool beans for him, but when I bulk-bought the label's entire catalogue, I mostly just downloaded all the items – much easier process than ripping Every. Single. CD. Plus, some releases were digital-only, including a couple of their older albums (Ka-Sol's Fairytale the most prominent example), which makes sense in the modern era. That I'd be sent some CDs that weren't on the label's Bandcamp just didn't cross my mind.

However, this isn't the first instance of this happening with Filteria, his Daze Of Our Lives also not part of Suntrip's catalogue anymore, only receiving the CD. How is it I caught that album in not this one though? Frankly, the cover art helped it stand out from the rest, wholly unique among all the other mystical, fractal, kaleidoscopic designs the label typically likes. Heliopolis though, gads, is this one ever garish, even by classic goa trance standards. I'm surprised I could even see the font well enough to slot it in my CDs close enough to where it should be, even if I was off by a little. And remembering to rip it to my library? Forget it, Filteria's sophomore effort so quickly lost among all the other jewel cases sporting such a mess of reds and blues.

*whew* Did I ever waste a lot of words going on about that. Surely I should have spent more time going on about Filteria's much-anticipated second album, being one of the key players in Suntrip's rise and all? If I'd heard this when it was brand-spanking new in 2006, you bet! The notion of retro-leaning goa and psy having any sort of presence at the peak of full-on and prog psy's dominance was still turning heads.

From my current position, however, nearly two decades removed and many more having taken their stab at the sound, a lot of the stuff on Heliopolis kinda' passes me by. For sure there's plenty of spik and spunk to the tunes, energy to spare and no doubt a fun time should you have heard them live (and maybe still do). However, I've covered so many more interesting takes on neo-goa now, even from when Suntrip was just starting out, that I can't see me throwing this one on again anytime soon. Heck, the one track I could say at least shook things up, a surprising appearance from Solar Fields at the end, was already featured on his Blue compilation.

Guess this conclusively proves Daze Of Our Lives was the superior 'follow-up' to Sky Input.

Triquetra - Human Control

Suntrip Records: 2020

Can't go through another letter block without also stumbling into another Suntrip CD. And hoo, because this seems to be the lone one among my 'H' albums, it had to make up the lack of representation by dishing out a double-LP! Far as I know, this is the only two-disc album in the label's catalogue. Yeah, there's a couple multi-CD compilations scattered about, but I'm talking original musical material from a singular artist (or duo, in this case).

Come to think of it, double-LPs are generally rare in the psy trance scene, and for good reason: it's just too singular a style of music to warrant it. Whenever they're done, it's usually with a second CD of downtempo or experimental-leaning sounds. Eat Static's Dead Planet or 00.db's Heaven & Hell, as examples within my own collection, though Infected Mushroom's Converting Vegetarians is probably the most well-known one. In more recent years, we've seen a near-glut of multi-disc re-issues of older albums, overstuffed with rarities and b-sides. So which version do we get with Triquetra's Human Control: a chill CD2, or a 'b-side' session?

Kinda' the latter, apparently, disc two a collection of live recordings. They're original tracks, true, but that's not saying much, Misters Elric and Jurian having only released one (1) album and one (1) EP to that point. Besides, as an act that was making their rep on live analog shows, its natural they'd have a stockpile of unreleased material sometimes created in the moment, on the fly, as the party happens. Real free tekno vibes, yo'!

So I was surprised that the 'live' disc is rather... mellow? Like, I don't want to say 'under-produced', but there's no denying it lacks the same amount of beef behind the beats as the studio album. The acid doesn't have quite as much bite, and everything just sounds comparably flat. Not to mention its unmixed, which makes sense since these tracks are from disparate gigs, but doesn't really help sell the notion of this being 'live' and all. On the other hand, there's more didgeridoo, so that's a plus. I dunno', guess it's a nice bonus, but lacking the kinetic energy that comes with live recordings, so that's all it is.

The main disc, then, is that any good? It's more dynamic, that's for sure, though like Triquetra's first album Ecstatic Planet, highly reverential to '90s goa and acid trance. They even go so far as to include that one (1) track (Rotary Reality) with the really goofy drum kick that every psy album had back in the day. The heavier into the acid they dip (Forget About The Earth, Eternal Crusader, Future.exe), the better the track develops, but I'm glad they didn't rely on it as their only crutch. Human Control is just diverse enough for at least one play-through. Whether you'll come back to it often though will boil down to just how much you dig on way-retro goa and psy. The typical Suntrip refrain, amirite?

Nebula Meltdown - Gloria In Excelsis Lumen

Suntrip Records: 2022

This album feels all over the place. Makes me wonder if it had one concept going for it, got course adjusted on the fly, then kinda' slap-dashed for the final lap. Not that it makes for a bad album, just one difficult parsing out. With most Suntrip CDs, you know what you're gonna' get within the first couple tracks, many releases sticking to their chosen micro-niche of psy trance. I've come across a few outliers, sure, but as label standards became normalized, these tropes are well familiar to me now.

Gloria In Excelsis Lumen is different though, in that what started out as something rather unique settled into that familiarity, then took a swerve I wasn't expecting. If this all made logical sense within the context of the album, I'd be singing its high praises, but clearly I'm not, so something must have gone askew in the process. Better get into particulars before all this preamble blather begins to bore.

Things open on a fairly standard goa trance number. Nothing wild, nothing harsh, Unfolding Light a nice, little spacey number with deep atmospherics, tasteful acid, and melodic leads content riding out in the background. Oh, and dynamic range! Gotta' love hearing space between all the sounds, even with the beefy modern production standards. Follow-up Bless This Dream looks to up the tempo and energy some, but doesn't get more complicated than its predecessor, keeping things simple as the ol' school could. All well and good, but gosh, this track sure isn't letting up, and we're nearly done. Is it heading for an abrupt end? Ah, not quite, next cut The Origin picking up almost immediately after. Oh... Oh! And it's an even peppier track than the last! Dude, is this album gonna' play out like a live PA? That'll be awesome if so!

Sadly, no. The Origin ends, then we're treated to something completely different in Luminous Configuration. I was not ready for a lengthy trip into triplets, nosiree. I'll give credit for even throwing in a track like that in the middle of an album, but coming off the high energy two-combo punch of Bless This Dream and The Origin, can't help but radically alter the album's momentum.

Following that, we're treated to some fairly standard retro goa trance – the typical Suntrip fare. I figured it was the lane we'd remain for the duration of the album until another curveball is thrown, a remix of Cosmicman's Back To Unity. The name may be wholly unknown to most, and certainly is to Lord Discogs, his biggest claim to fame being a remix of Lange's Don't Think It. And yes, even with Nebula Meltdown doing a rub, this track is totally in that epic melodic trance vein you'd associate with Lange.

A titular psy-dub closer does lends credence there was some effort to making Gloria In Excelsis Lumen a complete album experience. The way it all comes together though, just feels too scattershot for that classic front-to-back listening session.

Various - Gamma Draconis

Suntrip Records: 2020

Can't go far into a new letter block of albums without also stumbling into a Suntrip CD, oh no. I swear I need to start some sort of betting odds for each one. “1/5 odds on two releases deep for the first goa trance outing!” “1/10 odds for an N:L:E session!” “1/20 odds for any alias of Mr. Giacovino!” “2/1 odds for a box-set!” Or maybe I can take bets on how many total items from Liquid Frog and Suntrip will appear in a given block? Could be fun, if I had any way of actually paying out, but I need more income at this point (stupid expensive summer), not further debt.

Gamma Draconis is more interesting than Suntrip's usual compilations for a couple reasons. One, they strictly relied on true veterans of the goa scene rather than spotlighting fresher talent. Chaps like Astral Projection, RA, Xenomorph, MFG, Battle Of The Future Buddhas, and a clutch of others that I don't recognize but Lord Discogs tells me they're very old school indeed. Hey, that's cool, though not entirely unexpected, the label having helped resuscitate a few vets by this point. Usually Suntrip would mix them up with the newer cats, but I guess they wanted to focus solely on vintage goa sounds on this outing. And the only reason for doing this I can surmise is the fact this was the label finally dipping into the vinyl market.

They'd released a couple prior records as singles, but I'm talking an entire double-LP compilation. Having proved all that they needed to in other markets, why not get a little adventurous into other formats? Sure, vinyl was never popular in the psy trance scene, but surly a newer generation into collectibles might give it a shot. And if it proves successful with a compilation, you're damned skippy they'll go forward with vinyl re-issues of classics from their catalogue (and they did).

So if Suntrip's confident in the music enough to roll out a pricey vinyl option, then Gamma Draconis must be among their top-tier releases ever! Well, I don't know about that, but I had more fun with this than some of their other offerings. What can I say, my ears still lean heavier towards vintage goa and psy than the beefier production standards of the newer stuff. It's that space between all the squiggly, acid sounds, music that's not quite so bricked or plastic as neo-goa sometimes goes. Does it capture the same vibe as the '90s stuff then? Let me just say opener Mentalogue from Roy Sasson reminds me of one of the better tracks I heard on those Psychedelic Flashbacks box-sets from Rumour Records I endured.

Okay, I'll say more. The pedigree is here, so if you're down for hearing more from the names I mentioned above (plus Shakta and Oforia), then yes, you'll dig this. And if Gamma Draconis is somehow your introduction to classic goa trance (!!), I suspect you'll have a pretty good time too.

Goasia - From Other Spaces

Suntrip Records: 2007

I don't know what's more remarkable: that it's been a whole month since I last covered a Suntrip CD, or that it's been a whole year since I last covered Goasia. Maybe the former, though September was a bit of a sluggish week for yours truly and this blog. Y'all know how this ADHD thing works. Ooh, new pet-project idea, such sparkly creative possibilities, let's explore that for a few weeks! Never mind a decade-plus long concurrent project getting waylaid in the process, that'll always be there. Forever... and ever...

So the fact I last covered this Serbian psy duo nearly a year ago is perhaps more interesting. Such an innocent time, just starting on this insanely comprehensive dive into Suntrip Records. I didn't think too much of their Amphibians On Spacedock album, going on about how I found it “corny”, as least lovingly so. Which hey, at least gives me spare word count in the here and now to go into more details about their history.

Actually, there isn't much else that's not the usual stock background story you hear from most psy trance acts, but at least they were among Suntrip's earliest signings. In fact, this From Other Spaces was the label's ninth release overall, so capturing them at that sweet spot of reviving goa trance for the full-on generation, but not quite having settled into the predictable formulas that defined neo-goa in the coming decade. Retro without sounding too much so, not so overwhelmed by modern production standards such that everything gets mushed and bricked. Goa that sounds clean and crisp ...but is it also 'corny'?

Absolutely not! Well, unless you find any and all psy corny, in which case, what are you even doing reading this far? Regardless of personal preference, From Other Spaces is fairly even-keel with its goa. All the sounds you associate with the genre's heyday are present and arranged at efficient levels. Tracks last as long as they need to without feeling like they're just aimlessly wandering between peaks, with little melodic and trippy tangents keeping things fresh as they play out. It's hard faulting any of it, and I'm sure when this came out in ye' olde year of 2007, it was another breath of fresh trance air after so many years of full-on dominance. Nearly forty (!!) albums deep into Suntrip's catalogue now, however...

Okay, it's still pretty good – I definitely enjoyed it more than Amphibians On Spacedock. It's an easier recommendation for those who are interested in diving into this micro-scene of neo-goa than some other items I've heard, though I can't say it'll be an immediate winner for those just getting their feet wet either. An album for those who need just a little more convincing, then.

As for Goasia, that's a wrap on my end where their discography is concerned. They released other albums and EPs elsewhere, but nothing else for Suntrip. *whew* Another artist ticked off the list. Only took a year to get there.

Denshi Danshi - Fluid Dynamics

Suntrip Records: 2015

It's a strange feeling, completing another Suntrip artist discography before starting others. I'm not talking the one-and-done types either, but those who have at least a couple LPs under their belt with the label. Mind, that list is quite pared down now – I think there's only a couple such examples left – but I do wonder if I'll even be halfway through this catalogue before I get to them. Hm, just how far along am I now anyway? *clickity-clicky clack* Oh, wow, I'm actually 43% done! Man, when I look at the pile of 'To Do' against 'Done', it sure doesn't seem like it. Then again, a few items I've reviewed were digital versions, hard copies long sold out (Ka-Sol's Fairytale the most prominent example).

So I'm back with Denshi Danshi (hyphen optional), the duo with a proper, distinct logo to their name. I mentioned on Brain Chemistry how so very important that was in helping them stand out from the glut of goa trance CDs currently occupying my space. Something striking, with colour contrast popping out at you. Okay, not so much their sophomore album, a bit over-busy with all the kaleidoscope colours. This one though, there's no averting your eyes, stark blue and yellow against deepest grey and black. Really nothing else like it in Suntrip's catalogue before or since.

Also regarding that album, I felt the full-on party sound of it was a little relentless, which was par for the course with many Suntrip outings as the years wore on. Thankfully, their debut shows a little more diversity, which makes sense as Monsieurs Frère and Acher have been around since the early days, among the earliest acts out of France going goa. Easy to forget just how many micro-labels sprung up in that country – not a touch on the U.K.'s, obviously, but a respectable amount nonetheless.

And if you somehow didn't know you were getting proper vintage with Fluid Dynamics, opening track The Dancing Shiva harkens as far back as you can get with this stuff, the bassline strictly a New Beat affair. Dang, it's dope hearing that slower, menacing rhythm with the usual trippy stuff. And the retro style doesn't end there, though it is pretty much the '90s vein of goa and psy we're dealing with. Some of it goes chunkier (Feed The Mugwumps, A Fast Trip Straight Down The Ladder, Tsuki), some more tear-out (Make Make, Maelstrom), plus those quirky outliers that spice a play-through up (Vanaspati, Kraft Karamel). And best of all, each track feels different from the other. I can only assume it's that 'analogue duo' factor playing into it.

Seriously, most of the best psy trance acts have been 'bands', in some fashion. What makes them so unique is that interplay between producers, letting one go off on some psychedelic tangent while the other holds the rudder steady. Not that this can't be done solo, but boy, does it ever sound 'looser' with multiple people at play.

Imba - First Encounter

Suntrip Records: 2016

I'm gonna' run into more artists like this one, the deeper into Suntrip's discography I go, aren't I? Like, I'm pretty sure I've touched upon most of the primary players for this label, and many of the agreed-upon classics from their catalogue. There's still many CDs in the pile I bought from them (just... so many), with artists that are either just emerging, or were fly-by-night producers.

Imba, for instance, has only this album to his name. Several compilation contributions prior, a couple EPs after, and that's all Nikola Petrović wrote for his time in the psy trance scene. Not that this is an entirely uncommon thing to happen, many working hard keeping that initial enthusiasm burning hot, only to gradually recede in the aftermath of their accomplished goals. Or something else happens, like bad drama and whatnot. Hmm, now I'm curious, and whenever I get curious about something regarding Suntrip's artists, there's one place that's time and time again proved quite resourceful, the psynews.org forums! Man, am I ever fortunate that place still exists, and has a functional search engine. Anyhow, back in a pantomime moment...

*bad A.I. psy music plays*

Okay, I'm back, and boy, was Imba ever active there. At least, for a long time leading up to this album. Seems I wasn't far off in my guess though, the chap airing some grievances about the static state of neo-goa as the '10's wore on, how there just wasn't much room for innovation or growth without the purists declaring the music not vintage enough or too modern sounding. Hey, I feel that, the sort of gripes you'll come across damn near every micro-niche music scene in existence. And Lord knows psy-trance's micro-niche scenes can have some of the most anal-retentive, stylistic pedants about. How else does such a specialized genre of music have dozens of offshoots? It's definitely an issue, and I'm glad he felt compelled to talk about it.

Or maybe Nikola was venting that his music wasn't gaining the traction he hoped it would, for those very same reasons. Could be, could be.

So First Encounter just didn't grab me. I really don't know why. Maybe it's because of his insistent use of prominent 'modern' (re: full-on) basslines, which overwhelm much of what else his tracks have going on. The squiggly sounds and melodic leads all seem fine, but don't really leap out in any significant way, almost subservient to the dominate rhythms that vary little between tracks. I'll grant it's not so bad as the random wibble you'd often hear in regular full-on utilizing similar basslines, but nothing I'm anxious to hear anytime soon either.

I suspect, because the rhythms are so high in the mix, this stuff is better served in live settings, but even as I was playing it during my regular walking commute, little hooked me beyond “yeah, this gives some pep to my steps”. And any ol' Suntrip release gives me at least that.

Antares - Exodus

Suntrip Records: 2011

What a curious year Suntrip had in 2011. Only three items came out on the label, none of which were a compilation, and two of which featured debuting artists that would barely release anything after. Well, okay, Artifact303 did re-emerge a decade later, but this Antares, not a single thing. It's like he had an itch to try his hand at that emergent new goa trance thing, put out a few tracks on some comps, made enough original tunes for a proper full-length, then basically ditched the scene thereafter. Did he just find it wanting? Felt his talents were better parlayed in metal bands? Something along those lines, I guess, but for whatever reason, the year 2011 was hexed for whoever Suntrip was pushing as fresh talent. Man, good thing E-Mantra was already well established by that point, eh?

You know what would have made this even more remarkable? If Exodus was just as awesome as Back To Space was. It's not, but then that album still ranks among the upper crust of what I've heard out of Suntrip thus far, with very little knocking it from that podium. Exodus is good enough, for sure, but man, that would just be the right all dickens if somehow the label had pulled that off in 2011 as well. (I'm assuming Pathfinder will be dope, just in a dependable E-Mantra sort of way)

Anyhow, Simon Helix shows solid fundamentals of 'getting' goa trance in this debut, which is remarkable considering he was still just a teen when he wrote this. In a way though, that's kinda' what holds Exodus back from being an all-timer, settling in that 'above average' zone many of Suntrip's releases dwell in the general psy trance scene. If you like neo-goa that doesn't muss and fuss with complications, these tunes will go down easy-peasy into your earholes. Heck, I'll go and say that it's what helps make this one of the more enjoyable sessions of psy I've endured on this comprehensive label dive, even if there isn't much here I'll actually recall later. I know calling music 'vanilla' is often used as a criticism, but sometimes you just want that inoffensive flavour tickling your tastebuds. I'll even be generous in giving Exodus a Vanilla Bean Seal Of Approval!

The titular opener offers more of a prog-psy groove, a solid mood setter that wouldn't sound out of place on an Altar Records collection. Off to the races after that, treading the same lane as Ra of new and Astral Projection of old. Squiggly synths, cosmic vibes, squelchy acid, the usual assortment of sounds. And of course I ended up liking Astral Plane the most out of this bunch, the sort of track you'd likely have found on a Hypnotic CD rather than the usual Distance To Goa fare. Closer Sun Sanctuary brings the party back to the prog-psy pace, book-ending Exodus in a fine fashion. Yep, everything wrapped in a nice, tidy bow. So, who's playing next?

Afgin - Eternal Freedom

Suntrip Records: 2021

Speaking of artists who dropped an album during Suntrip's formative era, then seemingly disappeared for a decade after, here's Afgin again. True, he emerged at the tail-end of that first wave, but releasing Astral Experience around the same time Filteria and E-Mantra were releasing records ain't nothing to sneeze at. Merr0w too, I guess, Born Underwater's mermaid forever etched into the annals of unique Suntrip covers. (don't know anything about Radical Distortion's Psychedelic Dreams - the 'P's are still a long ways down in my current queue).

Okay, comparing Afgin to Khetzal is silly, and it's not like Elad was as quiet as Matthieu throughout the 2010s. True, Emotional Peaks was quite the departure from neo-goa, instead getting its toes wet with regular ol' progressive trance, what with the breakdowns and diddly piano bits and basslines that have actual chord progressions, not just key changes. Look, I like you, goa trance, I really do, but man, you could use more dynamism in your low-ends, even just once. I mean, it works for the prog-psy guys, so why not you?

Anyhow, whether Emotional Peaks was intended as a deliberate appeal to the Trance Family that failed, or just a passing fancy on Afgin's part, it cannot be denied that it curtailed whatever production momentum he had entering the '10s. He pretty much spent the rest of the decade on the DJ circuit, which is where he probably would have stayed had a pesky little pandemic not interrupted the clubbing sector something fierce. Can't tour festivals for a spell? Welp, may as well hunker down in a studio and crank out a few tunes, see where the inspiration takes you, and wouldn't you know it, there's a whole album's worth here. Maybe give the Suntrip lads a call, whether they're interested in some more material.

Right, I'm just forming conjecture based on little more than what Lord Discogs tells me. Still, it's funny how all these seemingly dormant neo-goa artists suddenly re-emerged at the turn of the '20s.

That all said, is Afgin's Eternal Freedom any good? Well, I like it better than his Astral Experience, if that helps. Not that I felt his first Suntrip CD was bad or anything, but it didn't really leap out at me as anything more than an Astral Projection nod, fairly standard fare as far as retro-goa acts were concerned. This one has that too, with plenty of acid to spare, but holy cow, th'ar be basslines here! It's like Elad's taken the best elements of his progressive trance tunes, and fused them with your regular wiggly, squiggly, ultra-punchy psychedelic Suntrip stylee. Chord progressions, oh so sweet chord progressions!

Okay, it's not in every track, acid-drenched goa still the dominant strain of trance we're hearing here. Still, if you don't mind a little of the classic progressive in your diet, final track Reaching Sunrise is a tasty morsel to end on, plucky synth breakdown and all. Reach for those lasers, crusties!

Khetzal - Etamines

Suntrip Records: 2021

Mr. Chamoux's debut wasn't just hailed as an instant classic for the psy scene at large, but a defining statement for a new breed of vintage goa trance, cementing Suntrip Records' status as the label if you wanted more. So, y'know, absolutely no pressure at all in providing a follow-up. Fans eagerly waited, and waited, and waited, and... Y'know what, mates? I think he ain't gonna' do it. What's he doing, pulling a Burial on all of us? Well, even the post-dubstep artist released enough EP material following Untrue for a double-LP once consolidated. All Matthieu managed following Corolle were sporadic compilation tracks, keeping the name out there, while dashing expectations in the process. Keep 'em hungry, but not anticipating.

Then, kinda' out of the blue during the Lockdown Years, here's Etamines, a sophomore effort sixteen years in the making. Okay, not that long, but officially the time between it and Corolle. For perspective, the birth of goa trance to his debut is a shorter gap than both Khetzal albums. What's even funnier is the genre had gone through so many variations up to 2005 that tracks on Corolle were considered retro, whereas on Etamines, general consensus is “yep, it's more neo-goa”.

Which had to be expected, right? Like, it's pretty rare any artist gets to define a new micro-genre, much less do it again (Aphex Twin aside). I doubt folks expected Khetzal would create another nu-retro strain of psy, but where exactly could he go that still sounded fresher than his contemporaries when hailed as The Next Great Hope was never part of the exercise? As said, the Burial Problem.

The fascinating thing about Corolle is when you get down to it, the album was still very much a product of its time. Yeah, there was some blistering ol' school goa trance on there the likes that hadn't been heard for an age, but it was book-ended by prog psy tunes that wouldn't have sounded out of place on an Ultimae collection back when. That diversity is what gave it such lasting appeal. Etamines, on the other hand, does that typical Suntrip Records thing of hitting things hard right out the gate, maybe upping the tempo a little as things move along, but mostly just giving slight variations on the same basic formula front to back.

Only Didge Voices breaks things up some, a second-to-last track that slows the tempo a little to prog-psy levels over the brisk goa before. Everywhere else, there's acid, there's ethnic melodies, there's squiggly synths and soaring climaxes. As I said, standard Suntrip stuff, just a little heavier on the vintage goa.

Still, I can't say this was a disappointment. It's not like I was personally waiting sixteen years for this to come out or anything. Given the bulk of releases I've heard from this label thus far, it's certainly in the upper tier. However, it also highlights just how special Corolle was when it dropped, and remains to this day.

Various - Epoch Of The Terrans (The Best Of Neogoa)

Suntrip Records: 2014

Driving the point home that Suntrip was onto something in 2010, another neo-goa label launched, called Neogoa. Oh my, can this micro-scene be robust enough to support two prints promoting the stuff? Well, maybe not anymore, as I can't say many of their roster sparks any recollection on my part. Not that Suntrip was filled with highly recognizable names before I jumped in there either, but I knew a few (E-Mantra, Khetzal, Ra). And while Suntrip held strong, it looks as though Neogoa didn't quite survive the Pandemic Era, Lunar Dawn's The Purge their lone release in the last four years.

But hey, for a time, this new wave of retro psy was getting all the attention, and Neogoa carved out their little niche on the always awesome Ektoplazm. It was enough that a few years into their run, Papa Suntrip came along saying, “We like the cut of your chai, kid. Interested in a little cross-promotion, give your artists extra shine off our back?” Thus we got Epoch Of The Terrans (The Best Of Neogoa). Yet cheekily, Suntrip released their own 3-CD ten year anniversary extravaganza Ten Spins Around The Sun that same year. That's some mighty fine struttin' there, Lou.

The first two cuts off here are from artists that would make the jump from Neogoa to Suntrip: Crossing Mind and Morphic Resonance. If you recall, I wasn't too enthused about C.M.'s album Beyond Duality, feeling it held back by rhythms sounding a tad plastic compared to what I expect out of Suntrip material, and it holds true for this Virtual Mind Cleaner, the same aesthetic ever present, and just not grabbing me. M.R., on the other hand, had a fairly kick-ass debut on Suntrip with The City Of Moons, and his offering of Chromatic World here is... Okay, it's an earlier tune, probably still finding his footing, and all that good stuff. It's a solid slice of psy and acid, f'sure, but just not as solid as his debut.

Astrancer is also here, his Tetragammaton getting on the squiggly vintage space goa vibes. Somnesia's another name that appears on both this and Energy Waves, but only in collaboration, and with different partners in each. I will give this pairing with Arronax though: their Black Hole (Revisited) definitely hits the Suntrip style of modern goa proper hard, which is more than can be said for the other artists featured on this comp'.

Yeah, I just can't ignore it, but these tracks from Lunar Dawn, BlackStarrFinale and GoaTree all carry that same plastic sheen as Crossing Mind, the sort of production I more associate with full-on psy than Suntrip's standards. Supposedly the label gave these Neogoa stars some extra beef, but as when they bring old, dusty, unreleased '90s trance to the modern ear, there's only so much that can be done with the source material. Epoch Of The Terrans was an interesting look-see into what other branches of this micro-scene was up to, but hasn't really compelled me to dig further.

Various - Energy Waves

Suntrip Records: 2010

Brace yourself, more goa trance is coming. No, I mean, all at once, in a row. As alphabetical organization has decreed, I now have a run of four Suntrip CDs ahead of me. And even after getting through this mini-block, I still won't be done with the label among my 'E' albums! Heck, I nearly had another one included in this bundle, Morphic Resonance's Extrasensory Perception coming out mere months after I splurged. Psy trance peeps just really love the letter 'E', I guess.

On one hand, hey, swell beans, knocking off a bunch of these in one fell swoop. That'll help getting through this catalogue a bit quicker, right? Then I look at what I still have sitting in my CD rack, just the barest of dents made. I swear, Suntrip's discography didn't look this big when browsing it on Bandcamp. Who knew over seventy CDs was actually a large amount! Maybe should have settled on one of their smaller packs, like the thirteen CD 'Darker & Acidic Goa Sound' one, or the nineteen 'Suntrip Classics', or the twenty-one 'Melodic Overdose Extended'. Bare minimum, the thirteen 'Compilations' bundle, to at least get a feel for the label before going whole hog on it.

Like, if I'd nabbed Energy Waves first, it would have been an easy sell after. Yeah, the title and cover art is kinda' corny in that too-retro goa trance way, but it's hard faulting the music within. Suntrip itself had firmly found its footing by this point, emerging acts like Filteria and E-Mantra rubbing shoulders with established vets like Ra and Dimension 5, and a whole burgeoning micro-scene with up and coming talent chomping at the bit to make their mark among all the cyber-crusties.

Like that Mindsphere chap that opens the comp'. He'd been around already, but would soon become a fixture within the Suntrip camps. Right, The Awakening is more of a prog-psy outing, but gotta' start things off on a slower beat before unleashing the blistering 140+ BPM. E-Mantra's here too, giving a rub on Khetzal's Indian Attic, while Ra's Time Current provides another other of their smooth, no squiggly fuss psy tunes. That's about it for the heavy hitters, the remaining tracks featuring relatively new cats, at least at the time. This CD's almost fifteen years old now, at least a couple of them went on to make proper albums since.

Such as Antares, who's Eureka breaks the ten-minute mark of unrelenting, ever-building goa vibes – essentially the de facto Suntrip stylee, come to think of it. Meanwhile, Astrancer gets two tracks, Athanaton going a bit deeper compared to the flying-high Inhabitants Of The Sun. Getting this much shine on a nine-track collection, you'd think he was a sure-shot of future success, but instead mostly stuck things out on compilation market after. Huh, who'd have predicted that? Then again, Khetzal was tapped for Future Star status, and look how long he took for a follow-up to Corolle.