Various - Trancespotting

Hypnotic: 1997

This is about where I lost the plot with Hypnotic, though it was through no fault of the music within. Nay, the very idea of capitalizing on the hit ‘raver’ film Trainspotting (despite the movie having nothing to do with rave culture, beyond a kick-ass soundtrack), it rubbed me so wrong. Where had the nods to retro sci-fi gone? For sure CDs with names like Trance To Outer Limits, or Trance-2-Metropolis, or Trance Sexual were all kinds of chintzy, but Hypnotic owned it, wholly and completely embracing a future-pulp aesthetic that screamed vintage underground raves. It gave them an identity unlike few other electronic label of the American ‘90s, where most almost seemed embarrassed by the music’s lineage. All that promptly wiped away in a singular jump on a contemporary reference. I could see the end on nigh from there, my friends, the label that once guided me through my early trance explorations all too eager to fill its catalog with whatever trendy sub-genre happened by the Hypnotic office ears.

Hell, we even get a sampling of that right here in Trancespotting, with third track My Wonderful Friend from Trancemutator. No, wait, Hypnotic made another one of their infamous typos – this is Transmutator, a negligible difference sure, until you hear that the tune in question is about as big of a breakbeat as beats could big-up in the year 1997. This was also a side-project of one Romell Regulacion, more commonly known as way-‘90s industrial act Razed In Black. What any of this has to do with trance is anyone’s guess, and it doesn’t stop there. Kraftwelt’s retro-electro sound is here in Confusion, while Sunset Yellow gives us something far closer to the tech-house camps in Agent Yellow.

Alright, enough nitpicking. I said the music on Trancespotting was good in spite of the dodgy concept, and I stick by that. How can I not when the CD opens with the spritely goa trance System 7’s Hangar 84, the duo fresh off a new stateside distribution deal after their earlier “777” experiment caused too much confusion. Elsewhere, Leeb and Fulber show up under their Synaesthesia guise, giving us the closest thing to a trance track in Andromedia that they’d ever go. Astralasia’s The Seven Pointed Star and Bypass Unit’s Helium rep that old-school goa sound as fine as any act not named Juno Reactor, LCD’s Think Smart hits the acid side of psy hard, while Surface 10 gets chummy with ‘psy-tekk’ on Spotting Shmekno. And in case you inexplicably needed a piano trance fix, here’s another Omniglobe track in C’mon Yo, featuring ragga samples no less. Trancespotting, do you even know what kind of compilation you want to be anymore?

A showcase of material Hypnotic had licensing rights to, is what. And hey, this CD succeeds there, most of the acts on here having albums out on the label within the year. Still don’t know why it presented them as a lame style-bite of Trainspotting though. Hypnotic Sampler Pack wasn’t as marketable?

Various - Tranced Out And Dreaming

Planet Dog/Mammoth: 1997

Where could Planet Dog have gone had they survived through the new millennium? The tie-in for Club Dog and Megadog parties weren’t exactly gunning for dance music dominance, content in letting other labels claim the big acts and dominate the scene. Yet those half-dozen names they signed, they made an undeniable mark on the psychedelic side of ‘90s electronic jams, gaining plenty of critical plaudits in the process. Planet Dog came across as a label that nurtured the talent they gathered, even if most of them weren’t long for this world (come back to us, Children of The Bong!). Would another unique, unheralded name have graced our ears thanks to Planet Dog’s finger the scene’s pulse? Could they continue forging their own path when homogeny became the commercially viable option? Might they have compromised their identity to stay afloat, jumping on trends and bandwagons before collapsing regardless? Ugh, that’s bleak. Let’s try Alternate Earth #2,622,673 instead, where Planet Earth became literal Planet Dog. Snoop Dogg is Canine Overlord.

But wait, maybe we have a tantalizing little look-see into one of those more practical possibilities, this here CD called Tranced Out And Dreaming. First though, that cover art. I don’t know what the Doggie folk were thinking with it, looking all sorts of cartoony and crummy. If you didn’t know the pedigree behind the compilation, you’d swear this was some chintzy world beat or New Age bollocks. Hey, maybe that’s why the label folded the year after: bad marketing! No, no, it was the demise of parent label Ultimate, ‘tis all.

Anyhow, Tranced Out And Dreaming is Planet Dog’s stab at a trance CD, as was a popular trend in 1997-o-dickety. The label had ties with the genre, Eat Static already a mainstay on the psy trance circuit, but generally skewed towards the downbeat, world beat, trippy beat, and dub beat. Uptempo goa and progressive trance were not on their radar, and even with this compilation on the market, that argument still holds true. Only Tony Hunt, who has three tracks on this nine-tracker (Katouka, Spectral, and Ionosphere), offers the most traditional of trance tropes, what with high-octane beats, soaring synths, and ethnic chants. While these cuts instantly won me over back in my trancecracker youth, I find them rather obvious and rote these days, especially compared to the other tunes here.

The opening few tracks are decent enough stabs at trippy, acid techno, but the back-half of this CD offers some absolutely mint dub action. Blissy Psilodub from Transequence will give your bassbins a proper workout, while slow groover Drift (Fruit Mix) from O.V.N.I. will have you floating through the cosmos as expertly as any psy-dub offering of the era. Astronomix’ La Danseuse Obsédante is a perfect example of the ‘technorganic’ style Planet Dog made famous, while Feel’s Nyango gets back to some chugging progressive house action on that ethnic tip. Methinks a label forgot what a ‘trance’ compilation was supposed to sound like by the end. Or not. *wink*

Various - Trance Trippin'

DMC Records: 1997

Far be it for Hypnotic to have a monopoly on wacky trance art that screams ‘90s, here’s Trance Trippin’ from DMC Records! No, not the prestigious DMC that holds annual DJ competitions - this DMC was a short-lived print out of Los Angeles that apparently peddled a fair bit of deep house before taking a chance on trance (it was growing popular by ’97). Also, don’t go confusing this with that early-‘90s Trance Trippin’ from ZYX Records, for cover notwithstanding this one is surprisingly decent. There’s a solid gathering of names on here, with everything mixed by that smoothest of jocks, DJ ProTools.

I also can’t tell whether Trance Trippin’ is bold or daft in its attempt at linking fluffy vocal trance with smashing goa and acid. Consider: DJ Dado’s Revenge and Qattara’s Come With Me are a couple of the opening tracks, while the set’s final volley features the ‘buttrock’ of S.U.N. Project’s At The Edge Of Time and deep tweakin’ 303 action of The Pump Panel’s Ego Acid. I don’t think even Oakenfold would have tried bridging the two wildly disparate sub-genres of trance, always keeping his goa indulgences well separated from any club friendly material. This CD done does it though, using a varied assortment of trance to get there, twenty-two tracks in total.

You get an early Ferry Corsten acid production with Pulp Victim’s I’m Losing Control, something that sounds like Brooklyn Bounce from Acidphase’s We Are Back, a little chemical breaks business with Solarstone’s The Calling (Inner Peace Mix), plus unabashed Sash! anthemage with 2 Lips’ Je T’Aime. A little further along, and DJ Scot Project’s Y (How Deep Is Your Love) offers the man’s cheeky ultra-build action, then the goa hits in with a Digital Blonde’s rub of Sandman’s Coimbra followed by Electric Universe’s Stardiver. Once the pummeling acid build of X-Cabs’ Neuro hits, you’ve likely long forgotten that Trance Trippin’ opened with Anomaly (Calling Your Name)!

Eh? These tracks all sound too disparate for a smooth flowing set? Well sure – it is a CD from 1997 after all, and ProTools can only do so much for you without some outside-the-box ingenuity. Trance Trippin’ doesn’t have that though, most tracks cutting in and out after three minutes of showtime, some transitions horribly clashing in key before quickly move on. Still, admirable effort for an obscure label jumping on a bandwagon. How did I get this anyway?

Funny story that! Forced to leave Vancouver and move back to the hinterlands, I knew once there I’d be without cool underground electronic music for a long time – my final purchase from the Lower Mainland had to count. Clearly Trance Trippin's cover art caught my attention, and seeing Atlantic Ocean’s The Cycle Of Life intrigued me, but I wasn’t sure about the rest. Then my sister, hardly a fan of this stuff, took a listen, enjoyed the first few tracks, and insisted I get this. T’was the only time she influenced a purchase of mine.

System 7 - Point 3 - Fire Album

Butterfly Records/A-Wave: 1994/2003

See, Point 3 makes good sense as the title of System 7’s third LP; threes, and all that. Except Point 3 wasn’t their third LP, but rather a split concept LP into two albums, Fire and Water. Point 3 – Fire Album is their official third, what with most tracks on Point 3 – Water Album credited as remixes. What, the option of ‘bonus ambient reinterpretation’ disc wasn’t available? That didn’t stop Astralwerks from doing the deed for Stateside distribution. Also, as the band still had to use the moniker 777, the double-LP was titled System 7.3 Fire + Water, clearing up the Point 3 pun if you didn’t get it originally. Yet, because this was only the second album released in the Americas, the ‘.3’ pun is- No, I must stop reiterating these convoluted release points! My mind cannot take the chaos!

*ahem*

Their debut album got them chummy with club culture, and 777 found Steve Hillage and Miquette Giraudy growing into their distinctive techno-trance space-rock hybrid. Point 3, however, is where their reputation as a collaborative supergroup truly cemented. Not that System 7 didn’t have all-star pairings either, but the sense was they were simply hooking up with folks that The Orb palled about with. Fair enough, as it was Alex Paterson that Hillage first connected with. And those associates persist into Point 3 as well, with Youth (Martin Glover) returning for a pair of songs: goa trance on Gliding On Duo-Tone Curves (with Total Eclipse and Juno Reactor in keyboard support, OMG!), and a meditative tribal-dub excursion into trippy world music on Dr. Livingston I Presume. The latter sounds more like a Youth production, something he might have done with Greg Hunter for Dub Trees. Right, Mr. Hunter was lending an engineering hand with the last couple System 7 albums too. Forever production pals!

But we expect that of System 7 anyway. No, it’s the pairings with techno legends that always gets the talk of Techno Town with this group, and for good reason. The Derrick May collaborations Altitude and Fractal Liaison were the most interesting cuts off their debut, and Mr. May brings his Detroit sensibility back for a couple more future-funk tunes in Mysterious Traveller and Overview. Seems like System 7’s dragging him to their trance-trippin’ realm though, both tracks quite out there in the cosmos. Fear not, all ye’ techno stalwarts, for a Frenchman in Laurent Garnier has shown up, opening Point 3 with Sirènes, sounding more like Garnier with Hillage guitar in support. There’s also Batukau, which you might remember in a remixed form on Garnier’s Early Works collection.

Additional names here are The Drum Club (Lol Hammond and Charlie May) on Jupiter!, providing Hillage's guitar the sort of thumping techno track Spiral Tribe alum would do. All this, plus System 7’s own pounding Coltrane (Fire Mix) and tranced-out Alpha Wave (Gliss Mix) makes for a remarkably varied album, with something both techno and trance heads can enjoy.

Lee 'Scratch' Perry - Technomajikal

ROIR (Reachout International Records): 1997

Lee 'Scratch' Perry and one of the guys from Yello? Sure, why not. Stranger collaborations have gone down in electronic music. Collaborations such as... um... well, certainly none along the way of The Orb or Pete Namlook so often indulged in. Those pairings made some sense, musicians with common synergy feeding off each other’s vibes. This is true for many scenes in electronic music, and though cross-pollination doesn't happen often, it hasn't stopped an occasional producer’s flight of fancy in trying something with someone outside their comfort zone. Guest rappers from the world of hip-hop don't count since that’s mercenary work unintended for a full LP's worth of material. This just might be the oddest pairing in electronic music I’ve ever seen then – most definitely within my own collection of CDs anyway.

Quick rundown of the players involved. Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry (aka: The Upsetter; aka: The Prophet; aka: Super Ape; aka: Pipecock Jakxon; aka: Toots; aka:...) is a Jamaican legend, often credited with being among the earliest pioneers of reggae dub. He’s produced countless records, famously burned down his own studio in a fit of paranoia, then moved to Europe for an extended bout of ‘quiet time’. Though nearing his 80th birthday, he continues to make music and tour in some limited capacity. In the other corner we have Dieter Meier, vocalist of synth-pop fusion weirdos Yello fame, carving out an incredibly unique sound of blended traditional Latin influences into a future-leaning world. Though often name-dropped as inspiration by many contemporary producers, their approaches to music was wildly different; not to mention their lifestyles. Perry was a Jamaican immigrant eccentric, whereas Meier was a millionaire industrialist making music as a lark. Nope, nothing in common at all.

Except for the fact they both were living in Switzerland. Ol’ Dieter, a fan of the Super Ape, got in touch with ol’ Lee, and convinced him into some sessions in his studio. I’ve no idea if the two had any idea of what they’d make, and legend purport Perry was barely committed to the project at all. Mr. ‘Scratch’ apparently went so far as to record his vocals outdoors, though given his famously eccentric behaviours, that part isn’t so surprising.

Unfortunately, the resulting album of Technomajikal plays to neither of each musician’s strengths. Perry goes on about psychedelia, representing music, and being “x-perry-mental” with rudimentary lyricism that, for the longest time, I thought were samples from other works. Much of the music crafted are proto-goa trance rhythms and sounds, and though more dynamic than such beats typically go, it’s still not much better than the filler on any number of budget compilations.

With half the CD taken up with pointless remixes and alternate versions, Technomajikal ultimately comes off like a project that was only half-realized before pushed out so it wasn’t a total loss. The only track that reaches the ‘Lee Meets Dieter’ promise is final cut Crazy House, with all sorts of off-kilter ‘Scratch’ ad-libs and quirky Yello percussion. A shame.

Astral Waves - Magnetique

Altar Records: 2015

I always keep forgetting this, but Astral Waves is Gabriel Descoutieras, more commonly known as DJ Zen; aka: the head of Altar Records. This isn't some scene secret or privileged information. Heck, just last year, I made mention of it in the Fire compilation review. He doesn't turn to this alias often though, so it's easy to overlook his association with it. I believe he's only released two proper albums as Astral Waves anyway, including this one. The first, Mystique, came on Monsieur Descoutieras' original print, Sunline Records. After getting Altar Records up and running, he returned with Magique, a remix album of other Altar artists. Oddly, this wasn’t made clear on the backcover, tracks listed as though they were his tracks. Um, oops? There’s also a very recent collaborative album with one flutist Aeolia called Yoga Temple, which looks to be exactly like what it says on the title. Pass on my end, thanks.

So DJ Zen doesn’t get behind the producer’s chair much, content in being a facilitator for other artists while giving them a spiffy mixdown and super-spiritualized cover art. In terms of music and talent, I’ve often mentioned Altar comes off like a little sibling of Ultimae Records, but their overseers are definitely cut from a different cloth. Aes Dana is quite prolific on his label (by Ultimae standards anyway), while DJ Zen’s much more chill. I sense a reason for that though - and oof, do I feel a bit of a cad typing it. Aes Dana just has more unique ideas worth exploring as a producer than Astral Waves.

For sure, Mr. Descoutieras is a solid producer, crafting his psy leaning chill and prog as capably as anyone on his roster. He may not kick out as much music as AstroPilot, E-Mantra, C.J. Catalizer, (Altar namedrop, etc.), but he definitely knows what works for the genre. Opener Emergence with Suduaya (France) and Sukhush (Brooklyn) (!) does the dubby bliss-out vibe with extra flute action, Le Rêve Éveillé with Sufi’s Life and Merlin (really, Lord Discogs, the fortieth Merlin?) ups the tempo into prog-psy’s domain, and Les Liens Du Sang with Aureohm (singer from Costa Rica, I think) soars in that spaced-out hippie-flail way any solid outdoor party goes. Astral Waves goes solo for the next two cuts, the happy, spritely Déploie Tes Ailes (que?) and darker groover La Danse De Elfes (ooh, I know what that one is in English!). There’s another spaced-out prog-psy cut with a rub on Androcell’s Efflorescence, plus two collaborations with Alwoods in Suntrap and L'Oiseau De l'Aube, both going more goa (acid! nice).

And yet, through all of Magnetique, I can’t help but feel this is just DJ Zen ticking off the things that makes this music work, seldom exploring it any further. There’s good tuneage here, yet with so much collaborative work, nothing I can identify as a definitive Astral Waves stylee. Maybe that’s all we need from the Altar Records curator though.

Various - Fall

Altar Records: 2015

We now return to Altar Records' current running compilation series, The Seasons! But wait, three of you cry, how can we be doing Fall already, when there's still a Summer CD out there? Did I not get that one too for continuity's sake? I did indeed, but even continuity must give way to arbitrary blogging rules. Both were acquired during that long-ass trip through the latter half of 'S' albums, which technically put Summer into the backlog queue. And now alphabetical stipulation states that Fall must come before Summer, despite making none of the thematic sense. Yeah, I could have just lumped Summer in with all those other 'S' CDs, but if I can't honor my own rules, what honor can I give in life? What price is my honor? (twenty bucks American, cold hard cash)

I can't say I was waiting with bated, chilly breath for this one though. Spring was cool, and Summer was fun (spoiler!). In the end though, it's still Altar Records we're dealing with, and if my sojourn through their Elements series proved anything, it's that headmaster DJ Zen maintains a consistent style with the artists he taps. Even glancing at the track list once again finds plenty of familiar names from the Altar roster: AstroPilot, Alwoods, E-Mantra, Astral Waves, Asura, Terra Nine, Tentura, Cabeiri, and so on. I approve of all this, of course, but picking up Altar compilations has quickly become a case of comforting familiarity, a high standard of prog psy and psy chill with very few surprises along the way. As it goes with most genre niche labels anyway.

And I'm repeating my Altar Records caveat again, aren’t I. And the only reason I could possibly be providing such redundant information at this point is pretext, a set-up for a... 'fall' of expectations! Eh? Eh? Come on, give it up, don't leave me hangin'. Alright...

So the surprise with Fall comes with how much raw acid there is on this CD. The first few tracks don’t hint at such a turn; Cabeiri, Alwoods, and E-Mantra (plus bonus Tentura on the digital version) doing as Altar typically does. Mindphoria (aka: Mindsphere; aka: Ali Akgun) then does the unexpected in starting his track (also called Fall) with some pleasant classical piano diddling. Huh. Then a funky acid bassline comes in with a New Beat groove and are we still listening to an Altar compilation? There’s some spacey zaps and synths, but the focus soon turns to chunky old-school goa acid, as does next track Stay In Meditation from Azriel. I’d expect such sounds from bonus track Farewell, Beloved Sunshine, since that’s Khetzal’s schtick, but even AstroPilot and Astral Waves gets in on that acid with their collaboration Inflation Eternelle. Meanwhile, third bonus The Heart Of The Matter from Terra Nine has me feeling the ancient System 7 mojo, and closer Rise Of The Earth Keepers from Innerself goes full New Age sap. Ack, a trip within Fall. Nonetheless, a surprising, solid compilation.

Eat Static - Dead Planet

Mesmobeat: 2015

I was wondering if Eat Static would ever release another album, then ol' Merv goes and gives us a double-album. No wonder he took so long then, and a good idea too. His last foray into the LP domain saw two CDs released as well, though on separate labels focusing on completely different styles. It was a neat idea to feature an exclusively downtempo album for Interchill, but it’d probably be a hard-sell twice. Folks come to Eat Static for the tear-out psy with the crazy cybernetic leads and pulpy sci-fi samples; the few mellow moments under the stoner sun are best served as respites.

Well nothing doing for Dead Planet, once again splitting the Eat Static stylee up between two discs, uptempo stuff on the titular CD, and a chill offering in the second tray titled Human Upgrade. Interestingly, this has been released on Mesmobeat, the label Eat Static set-up for themselves after Planet Dog died, and been in semi-limbo for the past half-decade. What, did no one else want to give this double-LP a chance?

Dead Planet kicks off with another System 7 pairing, tickling all those old-school goa trance triggers in my head. It pretty much goes for the twisted full-on stuff from there though (with one obligatory mint d’n’b leaning cut with Ringlefinch), tracks evolving in dark-psy fashion before unleashing a spacey bit for the climax. It’s all well-produced, but as with so much modern psy-trance, hasn’t evolved much in the past decade, and the same is true for Eat Static’s take on the sound, sci-fi quirks aside. And yet, it’s better than Merv’s dip into other music here. Dragon’s Breath is a frightfully dull tech-plodder, while In All Worlds with Robert Smith is a fine track on a cyberpunk soundtrack, but way out of place here. And Odious Odium sounds like it’s building up to a hideously obnoxious brostep drop (clap builds! glitch-bends!), then does an awesome one-eighty into spaced-out tear-out psy (that low-end!). That’s the Eat Static I love!

Human Upgrade meanwhile... holy cow, where did this album come from? As the chiller side of Eat Static, I was expecting some psy-dub rubs, or maybe a throwback cut that might have appeared on the old Planet Dog compilations. And the first few tracks do offer this, even getting Robbert Heynen of the former Psychick Warriors Ov Gaia in with Near Future Myth (dear Lord, such expansive sonics!). The back-end of CD2 then grows more ethnic, orchestrated, and wordly with the beats. There were hints of this sound on Back To Earth, but ol’ Merv’s taken things to another level here, sounding like latter-era Juno Reactor in some parts. I know I said hearing Eat Static without the quirkiness feels off, but if lush production like this is what we can also expect, I’m all for it.

Dead Planet as a whole is quite a bit to take in, but is well worth the investment for followers of the alien nation.

ACE TRACKS: June 2013

Oh hey, it’s another throwback ACE TRACKS playlist that coincides with the month it’s being made in. Probably the final time that’ll happen too, though maybe the possibility exists things will line up again in October, if I slack off on these enough. Since it took almost no time putting this one together (you’ll see why), I could have posted it earlier this month, but I felt it best doing this now, just before leaving for a two week holiday. Where else would I announce such a thing, eh?


Full track list here.

Missing Albums:
Various - Global Underground: Paul Oakenfold - Live In Oslo
Various - Global Underground 003: Sasha - San Francisco
Various - Global Underground 014: John Digweed - Hong Kong
Various - Global Underground 29: Sharam - Dubai
Del Tha Funkee Homosapien - Golden Era
Various - Goa Trance – Psychedelic Flashbacks
Various - Goa Trance – Psychedelic Flashbacks 2
Various - Goa Spirit 3

Percentage Of Hip-Hop: 31%
Percentage Of Rock: 0%
Most “WTF?” Track: ICP. Always ICP.

Well, this was one seriously nerfed playlist. June of two years past was already a lean month for reviews to start with, what with so many double, triple, and quadruple CD releases. Then there’s the lack of old Global Underground material on Spotify, so many classics of the progressive era now lost to a generation of online streamers. Why must you make us seek alternative methods of hearing your CDs, defunct labels of the past? Then you got way obscure psy-trance, though much of which is best left forgotten anyway. Surprised Del’s Golden Age wasn’t available on the Spots tho’ – guess he likes keeping his shit proper underground that way.

So that leaves with very little left, less than two hours worth of music. Almost wasn’t worth making a playlist for, but whenever else will you get to hear Canadian conscious hip-hop, ancient goa trance, and Oliver Lieb all in the same short span of time?

Eat Static - Science Of The Gods

Mammoth Records: 1997

I may have pre-hyped this album a bit much, what with so many namedrops in past Eat Static reviews. For all I know, Science Of The Gods was unanimously rejected by the psy-trance faithful, seen as a betrayal of all that the goa scene held true. The hippies and techno crusties were in no need of their chosen heroes getting in on that surging d’n’b action, and junglists were even more insular, waging their own war over classic Amen Break darkside productions versus the new tech-step hotness. There’s no way these two disparate scenes should have any business interacting. It’s poison. It’s toxic. It’s catastrophic. You don’t cross the scenes!

So of course Eat Static said nuts to all that and delivered some of the gnarliest d’n’b I’ve ever heard. In adding the tricks they developed performing goa and psy, these aliens don’t so much invade the junglist’s realm as take some artefacts for themselves for display on their own world. The main tune off here, Interceptor, features a pummelling tech-step rhythm with thick, chunky kicks and a grimy acid bassline, serving as a rudder for all manner of sci-fi sound effects, knob tweaks, drum fills, and general psychedelic craziness to hang off. If Eat Static made this track specifically as a tie-in with the RTS game Conquest Earth, it’s about the only saving grace in that forgotten crap game. Come, bask in its glorious ‘90s CGI alien invasion video. It’s like watching a demo episode of Babylon 5!

Two other tracks on Science Of The Gods work the d’n’b angle, Dissection going deeper with Amen Break business with their usual assortment of sci-fi sounds and noises. Following a brief interlude, they tentatively dip their toes in jazzstep’s calmer waters on Bodystealers before going full-in with experimental beatcraft of micro-bleeps and reverb effects. Can’t ever say these guys never ventured where no others dared, even if this portion grows overindulgent after a couple minutes.

For all the supposed talk of this album straying from Eat Static’s core audience, folks forget that’s only three tracks out of eight, the remaining attending to the needs of their loyal outdoor followers as expertly as ever. The opening titular cut is all kinds of trippy fun, giving us a dirty bit of twisted acid funk before seemingly falling off the rails. Nay, it’s just the duo playing, soon enough unleashing a beast of acid techno for the remainder. Elsewhere, Kryll floats about with a spacey, proggy vibe, Spawn will kick the shit out of you, and Contact leans way old-school goa, sounding like a leftover from the Abduction days. Finally, The Hanger is one seriously dubby, low-riding monster of a track – imagine Predator cruising the cosmos with blunts billowing against the stars, feelin’ chill after a successful hunt.

I’ve no more else to say about Science Of The Gods. It may look campy, but that’s always been Eat Static’s charm, fooling the suspicious with the weird before unleashing their face-melting weaponry upon your ears.

Various - Rave-Trance 2001

Electronic Dance Essentials: 2001

On the surface, Rave-Trance 2001 is the chintziest pieces of bargain-bin detritus you'll ever come across. I certainly thought so, and prepared for a good guffaw upon flipping it over to see what names made up the track list. I wasn't disappointed, such hilarious credits including DJ Ibiza, DJ Airbourne, DJ Pebbles, DJ Glamer, and Bypass Unit. Wait, Bypass Unit? Those guys were awesome, a dope blend of German trance and early goa. What are they doing on this? For that matter, might the other tracks be just as good?

Not really, most of the tunes sounding quite dated by post-millennial standards. The mixing's barely adequate, occasional vocals corny as all Hell, and CD1 features an awful, flat mono mastering, utterly shameful for the modern era. Still, it's mid-'90s German trance, with plenty of spacey acid, driving rhythms, and delicious minor-key melodies throughout, thus giving me the wayback feels no matter how dodgy the packaging. It was something of a revelation even finding such a CD in 2001, figuring all the sounds that drew me into trance had been kicked to the curb in favour grotesque Dutch excess. But music aside, Rave-Trance 2001 is rather fascinating in its own right.

For instance, Electronic Dance Essentials is a sub-label of Big Eye Records, whom in turn is a sub-label of Cleopatra. Suddenly the cheap presentation made a lot more sense, but this story gets even better. While submitting Rave-Trance 2001 to the mighty Lord Discogs (because of course I'd be the only contributor with a copy), I discovered an identical tracklist on an obscure 1999 ZYX Music double-disc set called The World Of Dream & Trance. So not only did a sub-sub label of Cleopatra release a cheap-looking collection of trance with music far better than expected, but did so by 'copy & pasting' another unremarkable release from a label that has – as far as I know – absolutely no association with Cleopatra, for no reason other than 'just because'.

But wait, this story gets even better! The World Of Dream & Trance may not have much going for it, but regarding its origins... hoo boy! The World Of... is a long-running series of double-disc collections from ZYX Music featuring such eclectic gatherings as rock, soul, reggae, house, salsa, techno, italo, rap, schlager, Russische folklore, surf music, krautrock, Indian pop, jodeln, truckers, and telefonansagen. What. The. F!? There's even a release for phone sex conversations. Who buys this stuff?

All this delightful associative info, but possibly the most interesting comes from an anecdote. While moving from one Canadian hinterland to another, I stopped over at a town where a couple friends lived for a rave happening that night. At the pre-party house, I rummaged through the host’s CDs as I’m wont to do, and saw a familiar blue sleeve with tacky clip-art and unrelated Time Magazine quote on the back. “Oh, wow,” I say to owner, “You have this too?” “Yeah,” she replied, “It’s a great CD, isn’t it!” It sure is.

Various - Psychedelic Goa Trance

Omnisonus: 1996

Debates raged throughout the ‘90s over what differentiated goa trance from psychedelic trance. Was it identifiable melodies that defined goa? Out-and-out twisted acid noises that marked psy? I suppose so, though I suspect the terms that were finally settled upon came about for convenience’s sake. Something had to eventually be made sense of it all, and with new sub-genres like full-on and prog-psy emerging at the turn of the millennium, it was easier to go back to the older tunes and start categorizing them by their unique attributes. I mean, what were we supposed to do at the time, rely on label marketers? They only made things worse!

Take, for instance, this CD that I just so totally by chance am reviewing right now, Psychedelic Goa Trance, brought to us by yet another French label, Omnisonus. This print was broader in its electronic music promotion, releasing everything from Basic Techno to Hypno Techno, plus the future sound of Paris (whatever that was) and hardcore music that'd give you a fever, apparently. I jest, of course, but mark my words there were plenty of doe-eyed ravers believing these were actual genre names. And here we have psychedelic goa trance. Not just simple ol' goa, nor cutting edge psy, but a mesh of the two, offered to us when terms and classifications were an increasing clusterfuck. And here was I, only just venturing into the world of trance, picking this CD up because it looked weird and had a whole bunch of names on the back I was unfamiliar with. Ah, those exciting days when every compilation was a mystery.

Yeah, this was my first introduction to goa, or psy (whichever). I can’t say it immediately won me over, so radically different from the hard German stuff I enjoyed, it was. I probably couldn’t have lucked on a better primer though, as it has a solid assortment of names and tunes to its credit. There’s the lengthy psychedelic stuff with Etnica’s Party Droid and Witchcraft’s Whale, trippy fun cuts care of Total Eclipse’s Free Lemonade and Kox Box’ Fuel On, high octane acid trance like Indoor’s Dubull Click and Karmic Energies’ Bonobo, serious shit like Prana’s The Earth and Karmic Energies’ Born To Be Wild, awesome noisy acid bedlam like Trans-Lucid’s Flying Reindeer and Karmic Energies’ Equal & Surpass, and total tribal nonsense like Karmatic 767’s Kalashakra. So overall a nice mix of recognizable and obscure tracks, though obviously overkill in jamming in all three tracks off Karmic Energies’ Equal & Surpass EP. Mighty suspicious, that.

Omnisonus would release a second volume of Psychedelic Goa Trance the following year, which included recognizable names like The Delta, Technossomy, Man Made Man, and Tristan – also, two more Karmic Energies cuts (geez, Charles Rapeneau only ever released two singles under the alias). It doesn’t look as remarkable as the first compilation though, and even this one likely won’t impress seasoned goa veterans. Whatever, I still get a kick out it!

DJ Orphée - Psychedelic Goa Core 3

Javelin Ltd.: 1997

What's up with all these mid-'90s French psy trance labels? Did France have big enough of a goa scene that it could support dozens of compilations every month? Britain was big, sure, and Israel came to dominate in the new millennium, but I'm hard pressed to recall much press for the trippy side of acid trance as cultivated by Francophone folk. I'd never heard of this Javelin Ltd. print before, yet a quick peruse of its Lord Discogs data reveals nearly one-hundred CDs of various trance musics, much of which on the psychedelic trip, all released in a brief window within ‘95 through '97. Some of it was domestic distributions for larger albums like Juno Reactor’s Beyond The Infinite, Total Eclipse’s Delta Aquarids, and Etnica’s Alien Protein, but for the most part they flooded the market with compilations. And that's just one label out of at least a half-dozen I'm somewhat familiar with, yet nary a soul brings them up anymore. Damn disco and house producers stole all the spotlights, that's what happened I wager.

Psychedelic Goa Core was one of many compilations series Javelin put out, headed by one DJ Orphée, as much a mystery to Lord Discogs as most goa DJs of the ‘90s are. Going by this third volume, the emphasis was on the harder, deeper side of the genre, reflecting a gradual shift from goa’s earlier melodic side to the minimalist ‘psy-tekk’ style that most producers adopted at the turn of the century. Hell, a few names on this track list were almost solely responsible for it: Nervasystem, Tristan and Process, though the latter two with individual tracks rather than their collaborations. Lesser known names on Psychedelic Goa Core 3 that go this route include Noosphere, Doda, Germinating Seeds Of Doda (yes, it’s the same duo, but with additional convoluted nonsense in their name) and Growling Mad Synchro. Hey, I know this one, they were on that Goa Spirit 3 CD I reviewed from way back. Wait, how come I’ve two instances of only have the third volume of two long-forgotten ‘90s psy trance compilations? They both even have yellow as their colour themes. Damn, it can’t be a random coincidence, there must be a connection! Send your theories to sykonee@crackpotpsytranceconnections.goa.

Okay, bitchin’ time. Psychedelic Goa Core 3 is in fact a DJ mix, a format for ‘90s psy trance I’ve seldom heard good examples of, and this is no exception. I’ll grant the music was never the most mix friendly form out there, but that’s all the more reason sticking with traditional track showcase collections was superior. Tunes like Man Made Man’s Drama and Electric Universe’s Technologic are busy enough, we don’t need forced attempts at beat-matching incompatible drum kicks gumming things up further.

As a mix though, Psychedelic Goa Core 3 is fine enough, mostly sticking to the hard, minimalist stuff for the first half before unleashing a few high-energy space acid squawkers for the end. I’ll never tire of that trippy Indian scale!

Various - Platipus Records: The Ultimate Dream Collection

Popular Records: 1995

I honestly haven’t a clue how this 2CD collection came to be. On paper, it’s simple enough: the first two volumes of Platipus Records’ annual label showcase in a single, tidy collection – an ‘ultimate dream collection’, if you will! – now made available in North America without obscene import fees. Simon Berry’s growing print needed a foothold over here as it was, and surely one of the homegrown, underground electronic music labels would provide an outlet: Moonshine, Hypnotic, Instinct, maybe even Astralwerks. Wait, you’re going with Popular Records? The upstart Euro-Dance label that’s promoting the likes of J.K, 2 Brothers On The 4th Floor, and N-Trance? Berry, you boss, how did you pull a deal like that off? Your brand of acid trance might have critical buzz in your U.K. homeland, but here in Americas, no way was there any commercial potential for-

Oh, Robert Miles’ Children (Dream Version) is on here. Well, that explains that. Popular just wanted that one track, and you let them have it in exchange for taking on the first two volumes of Platipus Records as well. That’s my theory, but if so, bravo, Mr. Berry, for it sure conned a few people I knew into buying this double-discer for only one song.

Contrarian that I must be though, I bought Platipus Records: The Ultimate Dream Collection for the other twenty tracks. Okay, roughly eighteen others – I can do without the goofy What? from Catalyst and way under-produced Sea Of Tranquility from Art Of Trance. An affordable 2CD set of trance though, how could any budding 'cracker resist such a deal? I'll put up with Children if it means I get to discover new artists like Art Of Trance, Union Jack, Poltergeist, and Clanger! Wait, why do they all sound so similar, what with distinct burbling acid basslines, rough rhythms, and vocal ethnic samples?

Yeah, I realize Platipus was young, had yet to gather an extended roster they could promote, but holy cow, Mr. Berry, whore out your own music much? Whether as original artist, collaborator or remixer, ol' Simon has credits in all but four tracks: the aforementioned Children and What?, plus Quietman's Plastic Gourd, and Technosommy's Elektron Bender. Of course, this is great news if you can't get enough of his vintage acid trance, with plenty of classics making up the track list: Two Full Moons & A Trout, Red Herring, Cambodia, The Colours, Seadog, Orange, and Cactus. And hey, there's even two versions of Octopus (original and Man With No Name Remix) and Vicious Circles (Spirit Level Mix and Union Jack Mix). This last one's a bit funny hearing twice, since, beyond a bassier climax, there isn't much difference between the two mixes. Then again, they were initially on two separate releases so most folks wouldn't have noticed it.

They'd definitely notice how much of a sore-thumb Children is on this collection though - off to BMG with ya', Mr. Miles. There's acid trance to soak in here instead!

Menno de Jong - Intuition Sessions Volume 1: South Africa (Original TC Review)

Intuition Recordings: 2007

(2013 Update:
So much for being the "future of trance". Ol' Menno doesn't even rank in the very poll promoted by the magazine that gave him such accolades way back when this came out. Then again, judging by this year's results, trance itself doesn't have much of a future, at least in the commercial sense it did for so many years. Boy, did a lot of them tank. No, don't check for yourself, you can take my word for it. Still, you know what this means: underground resurgence, woo! One can only hope.

Listening back on this CD, I can hear why some of the newer cats on the trance scene would rank a year that had such utter tripe as Filo & Perio's Anthem so highly, as there are some lovely tunes on here. Hell, I didn't even give Orkidea's Eternal Love an ACE TRACK nod, when it so totally deserves it. If CDs such as this had been their main exposure to the genre, then the kids, they were in alright hands in 2007.)

IN BRIEF: A 'nice' trance set!

Menno de Jong was mostly known only to the ardent fans of a decaying trance scene. A member of the new Dutch generation whom appear primed to take over where the likes of Tiësto and Armin left off, his style wasn’t particularly innovative but consistently solid. Along with producers like Jonas Steur and Paul Moelands, his fame would probably have never reached further than those still living in the year 2001.

In a flash though, Menno became known to far more folks than he could have anticipated this early in his career. Was it that write-up in DJ Mag proclaiming him to be “the future of trance”? Hardly. Rather, it was that picture. Captured at a show where things weren’t exactly going well, it caught the trance DJ in a moment of pure rage, flipping the bird at a bird whom was trying to get him to shut things down early. Menno’s since apologized for the incident, but why? It’s got to be one of the best DJ pictures I’ve ever seen! “Fuck shutting this party down, I’m going to fucking rock this motherfucker!” Well, it's better than yet another Jesus pose in any event.

Still, I can understand his hesitation to be tied to such a photo. This isn’t, say, the drum’n’bass scene, where attitude is just as valuable as the music you play. Besides, Menno has larger plans for his future than to be known as The Punk Trance DJ (not that it’s a bad title, Mr. de Jong!), one of which is to own a successful label. He’s certainly taken the right steps thus far to achieve this goal, as Intuition Recordings has seen a small but respectable number of trance singles released. With Intuition Sessions, Menno has taken the next step: the label compilation.

Much of what you see on disc one’s tracklist is new to this release, as Menno got in touch with a bunch of his trance buddies and asked them to spot him some fresh material for a DJ mix. In return, they’d get their singles released on his label as vinyl samplers. Certainly not an uncommon practice in this industry, but all too often this leads to very bland sets. Far too much emphasis is placed on making the forthcoming singles the highlights, even when the actual tracks themselves aren’t always worthy of such. The rest of the set is then padded out with filler and the odd well-known hit that’s been making the rounds to grab casual interest. Just glancing at the tracklist seems to hint at this being the case with Intuition Sessions as well. Remarkably though, Menno managed to elude this trap and crafted a decent mix in the process.

What aids him here is the fact these tracks are quite good. While this is still mostly melodic trance that hasn’t seen much innovation in years, the stuff on here isn’t the kind of tripe that is drowned in overproduction or sentimental sap; these producers keep arrangements simple and the hooks agreeable. Listening through, I’m hard pressed to find any particular tune sub-par. Honestly, the worst thing I can think to call the weaker ones is ‘nice’. Granted, a couple spots are questionable: the vocal in Cliff Coenraad’s Manjula is useless, and First State’s Evergreen contains an orchestral breakdown that teeters ever so dangerously close to gushing parody. However, they hardly hinder from the rest.

And of the rest? Quite a bit of variety, actually. Of course, you do have typical melodic numbers scattered about, some more on an Ibizan tip (El Cortez’ Desert Rose), others following the standard breakdown/build mold (Menno’s offerings, along with Kimoto Lopez’ Sub Runner and Yarune’s Airballoon). Elsewhere (mostly in the beginning), you get groovey spacers that are quite literally trance-inducing (Coenraad’s Escalate - under the Mulika alias - being a clear highlight). And at various points, techy hitters add some spice to the proceedings: Sjamaan (Menno as Myth) comes through on this, although Maor Levi (as MLV) holds his own as well.

Towards the end of the set, Menno brings in some heavier bangers, and ends on something of a surprise: melodic acid trance. Actually, Whirloop’s Cirrus Station could almost be considered the 'g-worded' sub-genre of psy trance, but I’m afraid to actually call it that, lest I frighten that lovely old style back into the nether regions of the underground again. It’s a sweet tune though, and a wonderful (and proper!) way to close a set on.

It’s a bloody shame Menno didn’t try to make more use of it. Yes, I do realize most of the guys that contributed here don’t produce in that style, but it would have made a good trance set even better. In fact, this is possibly one of the better trance sets I’ve heard in a while now, and certainly far better than what’s come from the superstars clogging up the top of popularity polls (Christopher Lawrence exempt, as always). If there’s any complaint, it’s that there’s a stretch in the middle where the breakdowns grow redundant, but even my calling it ‘redundant’ is small praise in itself - usually words like ‘annoying’ or ‘momentum-killing’ are featured in such instances.

Included with this release is a bonus disc containing four of Intuition’s early singles. Many of these you’ve probably heard in various sets since their initial release. Without getting too detailed, it’s nice to hear these in an unmixed version on CD for the first time, as these were enjoyable cuts to begin with. And Airbase’s For The Fallen remains a standout, in that it’s such a rarity: a breaks tune made by a trance producer that’s actually great!

While Intuition Sessions probably won’t light the trance world on fire, it is nonetheless solid. Menno has provided a release that makes good use of the melodic sound without abusing all the traits that turned the genre into a punchline, all the while adding just enough variety so it doesn’t sound like you’re listening to the same bloody thing over and over. While I don’t quite agree with DJ Mag’s assessment this is the future of trance, he has at least shown the potential to bring the genre some credibility again.

DJ Brian - Hardesertrance3 - Son Of The Moon

Moonshine Music: 1999

And so he did. Erm, keep the hard-hitting tech-trance vibes going for the duration, I mean. DJ Brian, that is. For the follow-up, Hardesertrance3? Goodness, didn’t you read the previous review? What do you mean you’re in the future and stumbled upon this review by accident? Reading this blog in reverse chronological order, I can understand, as Blogger’s layout isn’t exactly conducive to continuity attempts. But from the literal future? That’s far out, man. Far out of space and time!

Okay, enough of that. Someone must have mentioned those plusses and minuses I brought up on Hardesertrance2, as DJ Brian’s jettisoned almost all progressive trance for this instalment. There’s Salt Tank’s Rezmorize near the end, getting you two progressive names for the price of one (if you don’t know why, please hand in your ‘progressive card’ to the lady at the exit), and that’s about it. For Hardesertrance3, Mr. Brian Golub starts out hard and trancey, and barely lets up.

As before, you get a goa-leaning opener, this time care of Human Movement’s Traveller’s Theme, and for a whopping ten minutes at that. Yeah, it’s one of those ‘journey’ tracks, but pretty cool nonetheless. Shortly after, it’s back to our good ol’ friend Oliver Lieb again, but this time under the one-off Snakeman guise, which he used to indulge himself with some proper tribal beats, and Medicine don’t disappoint, son.

And the hard techno keeps coming. Geezer’s Tickling The Trout is here, its raw, thumping acid goodness almost out of place for a set supposedly meant for the desert (harsh my vibe, yo). Even deeper into the tribal techno is Electronic Home Entertainment’s Traffic EP (yes, it’s called that), which mixes wonderfully into another vicious Lieb tech-trance beast, Quantensprung as S.O.L. – if you ever wanted more in The Black Album style, there’s your cut, my friends.

DJ Brian can’t help himself from pulling out an anthem though, but for once he’s ahead of the curve. Joshua Ryan’s bleepy, fist-pumper Pistolwhip was yet another inescapable trance hit, featured on tons of obvious track lists and compilations throughout 2000 and especially 2001 when the single was re-released on NuLife Recordings. This here Hardesertrance3 CD’s a ’99 offering though, the same year the original Pistolwhip came out on Fragrant Music. And according to Lord Discogs, this was the tune’s first major release. What I’m getting at in this long-about way is, even though Mr. Ryan’s hit was quickly played out by the end of 2001, I’m quite content hearing it on this CD due to these conditions. Okay, and the surrounding tracks are kick-ass as well.

So Hardesertrance3, an overall better set than the previous one, if you like your hard desert trance (techno) with a proper kick to it rather than all psychedelic and wibbly. Surely this is the direction of sound that will take this series to the next level, establishing it as a string of classic DJ mixes. Wait, this was the last one? Well, f-

Various - Global Underground: Paul Oakenfold - Live In Oslo

Boxed: 1997

When I wrote the 2013 Update on that Dubfire Global Underground, Sharam’s offering was the only one available on the cheap. A couple weeks later though, while looking around for other material on Amazon, I found a few more Global Undergrounds in the ‘under-five’ price range. So what the hey, let’s grab them, since they’re surprising names to be rendered low.

“But wait,” you say, “this is Global F’n Undergroud! How can such a prestigious DJ mix series be so cheap?” (a likely crappy Sharam-solo effort notwithstanding) Well, these are used CDs, and sometimes they come in less-than-mint condition, which I'm perfectly fine with – chipped case here, minor doodles on the booklet there, a hint of white powder embedded, and so on. This Oakenfold one though... my goodness, but is it ever a disgrace. Jewel case wasn't the best, but the booklet appeared to have something poured on it, rendering all the pages stuck (until I tried prying them apart anyway, ripping them in the process). What was even spilled on this? Pop? Beer? The previous owner's splooge? Whatever. All that matters is the condition of the discs, which were fine.

So what is there to even say about Live In Oslo at this late stage? As the third entrant of the series, Global Underground was still finding its footing, trying to capture the superclub phenomenon without the direct superclub association. Swiping Oakenfold from his Cream residency of '97 certainly helped give them more clout, but it'd be another year or two before the series' mystique really took off, especially overseas where British media hype properly penetrated American clubbing (tapping other big-name DJs didn't hurt). At best, it’s fondly remembered as a unique addition to the Global Underground legacy compared to all the prog that came in the years after, so its weaknesses are overlooked.

Oh yeah, the music. This was during Oakenfold's 'jazzy, atmospheric jungle is cool' phase (really, all of Britain was on that), and the Side A of CD1 is where he indulges in the stuff. There isn’t anything here that someone with at least a passing fancy for Bukem won’t have heard before (and mixed better), but it’s a nice collection of tunes nonetheless. After that, plus the shameless plug of the Perfecto Mix of Olive’s You’re Not Alone, it’s all aboard the Balearic and Goa vibes. Standard stuff as far as most Oakenfold mixes of the era goes, yet I can’t complain about hearing Bedrock’s Forbidden Zone, Taucher’s Waters, Astral Projection’s Ionized, or Pablo Gargano’s Trance In Saigon again (Noob Sykonee fun-fact: for the longest time, I thought Chapel Of Rest’s Last Prayer was a remix of Banco de Gaia’s Heliopolis; silly, it’s just the same vocal sample).

Of course, Oakenfold’s mixing is naff – almost mixtape like in some parts – but then Global Underground hadn’t quite become the progressive standard yet. Definitely hints of potential in this early edition though, what with such a slick package and all. Except my copy, sadly.

Various - Goa Trance - Psychedelic Flashbacks 2

Rumour Records: 1999

That Psychedelic Flashbacks box set must have been reasonably successful for Rumour Records, as there couldn’t have been any other point in them releasing another volume of it (much less dropping ‘Goa’ from the title, and carrying on with four more afterwards). How could they even manage it though, when they barely scrapped together enough material from the first seven editions of the main series?

Remember that Jake Stephenson guy? Yep, he’s all over this collection – well, the first disc anyway. And if you can fool costumers they’re getting a bargain with so many unique, exclusive names once, why not do it again and again? The result is a different producer on each CD, all operating under numerous aliases, a ‘gimmick’ the series would continue peddling to the very end. Goodness, even Beechwood wasn’t this overt in their antics. Still, it’s too easy to rip into this sucker based on that knowledge alone, thus I’m taking the high-road here, and pretending each disc is a separate artist ‘album’ (since each producer retains distinctive aesthetics, they pretty much are).

So Stephenson's gets the first CD, and he carries on with the same 'wall of sound' style he used before, again a unique approach to goa, but tedious to endure if the loops used aren't all that interesting. His downtempo efforts are better, but if the Super Skunk stylee didn't work for you before, it likely won't here.

Faring better is Dave Hendry on CD2. Dare I say it, but this disc could have been a proper artist album. Despite the production coming off dated (even by '99 standards), his ideas and arrangements are sound, with enough variety between tranced-out groovers, bubbly psy-dub floaters, and acid freak-outs to satisfy goa heads with at least some aesthetic leniency. Seriously, Rumour, why didn't you release this as a regular album? Did Hendry even agree to have his tunes treated like this?

Much of the same can be said for Mr. CD3 chap, Phil Merrall. His sound is lighter, a little goofier at times, and very mid-rangey, if that’s any way to describe goa trance. Again, these tunes have some good ideas in them, even a few memorable hooks and amusing use of samples, but still under-produced for the year this was released. Merrall’s efforts make me think of Eat Static demos, not necessarily a bad thing given how ace that act’s material typically is.

Bringing up the rear is Dalisto Sajiawandani, which Lord Discogs lists as his only credit. His stuff’s woefully under-produced and forgettable, though some of his piano anthems are charming in their own right.

I can’t give Psychedelic Flashbacks 2 much of a recommendation, as the whole package just reeks of dodgy marketing on Rumour’s part. Should you stumble upon it though, it’s not quite as bad as you’d expect, as at least Hendry and Merrall offer agreeable tunes. Whether they continued to do so in the later editions, I haven’t a clue, as I’m done with this series.

Various - Goa Trance - Psychedelic Flashbacks (Part 2)

Rumour Records: 1998

I knew it’d take a while to finish listening to this box set, but I didn’t think it’d take me the whole weekend, especially considering I’d finished half of it before I left. Darn it though, I made my trip when it seemed everything went down in that little corner of the world. Graduation ceremonies! Children’s birthday parties! Epic moving! Waking early enough to receive free complementary breakfasts from the hotel! With so much to do in such a small crunch of time, who can listen to music, much less write about it?

Actually, I did listen to a little bit, though it was always whatever others happened to be playing. My sister’s almost random taste in contemporary and ‘80s pop; my father’s dedicated taste to classic rock; ‘50s music coming from a diner’s speakers at seven-thirty in the morning; a begrudging ‘top hits’ playlist on the local radio station where you can tell the DJ would give anything to never play Black Eyed Peas or Will.I.Am again; anthem house blasting from the waterslides' sound systems…

Eh, I’m supposed to be doing something else other than recounting my trip? Ah yes, finishing this review of Goa Trance – Psychedelic Flashbacks. Yeah, there was some goa trance on it. Not all of it good, though the filler on this collection was at least better than the filler on Goa Box – Trance 4 Motion was. I really only finished listening to it while on transit home from the airport, sporadically taking in a few tracks here and there while away. With so much distraction and activity, it’s difficult to recall any particulars. For sure, the last two CDs weren’t nearly as good as the first two, but properly pacing multi-disc compilations has long been a tricky task, and the Goa Trance series, though decent enough, didn’t have much to work with.

Trouble is so many tracks on this back-half fall into that generic trap of goa trance that has all the elements, but little of the song craft that elevates the cream of the crop. There’s some acid, some vaguely Indian tonal scale, an occasional trippy sample… the usual stuff one identifies with goa and psy. Yet, for the life of me, I cannot recall anything about, say, Darshan’s Warped Dimension when I stare at it on the tracklist, despite mentally noting that this was an Ace Track contender! Probably the only tracks I distinctly recall are Jake Stephenson’s, mainly because he has an odd ‘wall of sound’ loops approach to his tunes, no matter what alias he uses (they’re all rather interchangeable anyway).

Okay, I’m wrapping up this disgrace of a review now. The unfortunate side-effect of taking time off is you lose the momentum that can carry you through even the most mundane of material. In the end, this box set was probably best summed up when my seven year old niece asked to listen to a bit. After five seconds, she handed the headphones back, saying, “That’s weird.” Yep.

Various - Goa Trance - Psychedelic Flashbacks (Part 1)

Rumour Records: 1998

Yay, another four-CD collection. Like hell I’m gonna go through this one disc by disc though. There’s just not enough variety between all these tracks, and despite a few recognizable goa acts floating about, I’d run out of things to say in short order. Nay, I was quite content to do a simple one-off review for this one, whenever I finally plowed through it all; however, due to a weird coincidence of timing, I’ve planned a mini-vacation for this weekend, which means I’ve no idea when I’ll finish listening to this beast. So, here’s a review of at least half of Goa Trance – Psychedelic Flashbacks, and if I somehow find time to complete the second half while on my trip, maybe I’ll post it then as well. Yes, this has been a glorified explanation for the lack of updates in the coming weekend (trudging through four CDs of goa trance ain’t no walk in the park either).

This particular goa trance series – uncreatively titled Goa Trance - comes from Rumour Records, a London outfit primarily known for several other compilation series of various underground electronic music. They were the first to give Nomad their break, though soon abandoned the singles and LP market in favor of collections of old school rave, hardcore, techno, garage, ambient dub, trance… Rumour covered it all, really, with various degrees of success before running dry about a decade ago. As with so many other ‘up for any genre’ labels in the ‘90s, they jumped on the goa bandwagon with a few compilations. Eventually they’d licensed enough material (seven volumes worth) to put together a retrospective box set, subtitled Psychedelic Flashbacks. Of which I found sitting in a used shop for about a tenner. Well, at that price, there’s bound to be some decent stuff, what with names like Prana, ManMadeMan, Green Nuns Of The Revolution, and, um… hmm.

Hey, it's not like Goa Trance is some dodgy series - the first volume alone featured such luminaries as Astral Projection, Man With No Name, and Etnica. And to be fair, this collection holds fine 'second tier' acts. Unfortunately, of seven volumes to gather material up for a four-disc set, the selections are disappointing if Psychedelic Flashbacks is intended as a retrospective.

So what do we get, at least for the first two CDs? Solid enough goa trance – some brisk, others mellow - though rather acidy and under-produced compared to what the best of the genre has to offer. No surprise that the names I recognize right off provide the best cuts, and final track on CD1 - Nervasystem's Zones - is a strong, moody bit of psy. What's with this Jake Stephenson guy though? He crops up several times under a number of different aliases (Shamanic Tribes On Acid, Super Skunk, Mekhala). Lord Discogs has him under dozens more, some even to come in the later half of Psychedelic Flashbacks. You'd think he was some studio guy hired by Rumour Records to-

Uh oh...