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.

Various - Galaxies: An Excursion Through Technospace

Havoc: 1993

I came across this while perusing Lord Discogs' tomes for Human Mesh Dance material, and almost instantly, a wave of weird nostalgia hit me. Of a bygone era when garish CGI cover art and track lists filled with utter unknowns were common place. When techno was still finding its way in a post-rave world, unsure whether to go harder, trancier, or minimal. Where such a CD would cost you $30 at the local record shop (because 'imported'), a total gamble when that was, like, half your monthly allowance, dude, for something you really didn't know would be good or not.

Initially I was gonna' pass on this from the Discogs seller, not willing to pony up that kind of cash for a single disc anymore. Then I thought, wait, I totally would have back in the day, when such money was worth more than it is now. Screw it, let's take that Excursion Through Technospace!

And yeah, this was worth it, at least where my interests are concerned. I'm always down for unearthing obscure electronic music capturing the early '90s freedom on non-genre conformity, and this collection has techno-trance acid-rave to spare. Absolutely some of this will sound dated and simple, but you can't help but fall sway to its retro charms as well.

Specifically, Galaxies was meant to be a label showcase for Havoc Music, one of Human Mesh Dance's earliest prints. Taylor Deupree, the man behind HMD, would go onto more success with 12K, but we all start somewhere, and the sound of techno-rave was the fresh hotness in New York City back then. Along with Taylor, this roster included early works from Dietrich Schoenemann (those who know, know) and Jason Szostek (partner in crime with John Selway behind the Serotinin print). Plus an assortment of way-underground names like Virus Crack Team, Hydraulic Clownhead, Lunik, and City Of God, because a good compilation can't be carried by just a handful of dudes. Okay, it can, but better having a little variety in there.

Yes, there's surprising variety here. It may not seem so at first, the initial clutch of tracks doing hard acid techno and ravey breakbeat. Then things get way deeper on Lovechild (Rise), downright trancey with Video Hallucination, deep trancey on Circuit, then... deep house on Human Mesh Dance's own Heaven (Recovered)? Huh, wasn't expecting that. Nor hearing the sort of synth pads expected from a Pete Namlook work on Prototype 909's I Don't Want To Grow Up (the Havoc 'supergroup', if you will).

Something more tribal from Axon (Flux (The Tribal Mix)), something weirdly Balearic in a warehouse rave sort of way from E-Sop (Dream Is A Shadow Of Something Real), and back to chant-riffic jazzy breaks in closer Io from City Of God. Yeah, that FSoL influence could be felt even on the Eastern seaboard. Very well-rounded finish, all said, and quite a spell from the bangin' acid homage to E' Dietrich opened things up with.

N:L:E - Gaia

Liquid Frog Records: 2022

Yay, a new letter! Boy, it felt like forever fumbling through the 'F' block. Like, did it take longer than my first run through my 'F' albums over a decade ago? Well, yes and no. Yes, in that it was one more month to do it, but there was nearly double the amount of reviews written in that first batch. Want some numbers? Of course you do! 56. That was the O.G. block, which included a complete coverage of Ultimae Records' Fahrenheit Project compilation series, plus the original Fabric On A Budget, not to mention that Final Fantasy VII box-set, where I detailed each individual CD.

By contrast, this run of 'F' albums featured 32 reviews, which... Okay, that's actually pretty impressive in its own right, even if a hefty chunk of them were Fabric CDs as well. This run also had five varieties of albums with 'form' in its title, compared to just one in the initial session. Stand proud with whatever laurels you've earned, 2024 'F' album reviews!

Okay, that was a fun divergence into statistical bollocks. What do I get to kick off the 'G's with? Oh, another Natural Life Essence album. Well no wonder I wasted all that word count up there.

I really feel like I'm almost picking on poor Juan Pablo now. Not that I'll have anything bad or mean spirited written about his music – I still enjoy hearing what I'm playing at any given time. As he's remained so musically consistent for much of his output though, I'm all but tapped out on fresh angles detailing his usual stuff. Like, there's a few concept sessions down the discography that I'll have some unique talking point for (I hope...), but for standalone items such as Gaia...?

Well, I can at least highlight what leaped out at me in of itself. Lots of field recordings in opener Intro, which makes sense. He didn't dawdle that long before introducing some rhythms, the first instance of such emerging in the back-end of the titular second track. Was quite impressed how, despite its lengthy eleven-minute plus runtime, the rather minimalist The Happiness Of The Simple kept me engaged for its duration. It's that ever-so gradual build in harmonic tension, teasing things out just enough to feel you're on some sort of journey, even if the destination doesn't feel as important as taking in the scenery passing you by. The Chant Of Welcome gets dubbier, which I'll never tire hearing from the N:L:E camp.

And then Gaia loses me in the second half. Again, there's nothing fundamentally poor about the music here, and if this is one of your earlier explorations of Mr. Giacovino's works, will likely sound quite pleasant and all. It's just old hat for me now, and not much different between this and any other number of his naturalist ambient dub outings. Not the best sign when I'm more anticipating the next CD to review over engaging with what I'm currently listening to.

Justin Timberlake - FutureSex/LoveSounds

Jive: 2006

I assume the request for this album is for more insight into Timbaland productions than ol' Justin here. I'm all for that. Mr. Mosley may occupy a genre lane that I seldom dwell myself, but I cannot deny how influential he was for so many decades. Nor can I deny that, when I did hear some crossover R&B hit, the ones that caught my attention and, dare I say, even liked, had a Timbaland co-sign on it. Yes, going all the way back to Ginuwine's Pony.

If you want my thoughts on Mr. Timberlake, as always I'll point to a Todd In The Shadow video, specifically his Trainwreckords dismantling of Man Of The Woods. Most of my over-arching sentiments are covered there, but here's an additional wrinkle. Even at the height of his popularity, I couldn't help but feel Justin was something of a Great White Hope for the R&B sector. So many American folks wanted him to succeed because they were so desperate for someone like him to succeed. There were plenty of pretty boys mugging in music videos before him, but they were often black or Latin or weirdly European or packaged with a pile of other pretty boys. Finally here was someone who not only freed himself from post Boy Band failure, but excelled in a field few of his ilk had dared to tread. Again, that Timbaland co-sign went a long, long way in the '00s.

FutureSex/Lovesounds is Justin at his peak, and it's arguable this is Timbaland at his peak too. Mr. Mosley's greatest strength was taking contemporary sounds and getting maximal punch from them with minimalist space, and you hear that in spades. Electro house one of the current hot trends? Make the lead single something of a riff on that, SexyBack not only crushing the Top 40 clubs, but even finding its way into the sleazy underground too (seriously, I knew DJs more prone to rinsing out DFA or Ed Banger records having this in their crates).

Funk was seeing a mini-resurgence thanks to Prince's return to Warner Records, and you can definitely hear his influence on many tracks, such that a micro-feud emerged between them. Yeah, sexy never really left, but its undeniable this album helped bring its funky potential back to the forefront after crunk's dominance. Oh, there's a crunk on here, because of course there would be, Three 6 Mafia doing the guest spot.

The things Justin sings about? Well, it's right there in the title, right? Half the tunes are about picking up girls at the clubs and whatnot, the other about bitter breakups. How these land for you probably depends entirely on how you view Mr. Timberlake's cache of pop world good will, which has significantly dwindled in recent years, no doubt. Still, when some of those operatic moments hit, like in What Goes Around... Hard not to get swept in all the melodrama that made FutureSex/LoveSounds one of that year's biggest albums.

ATB - Future Memories

Kontor Records: 2009

Doing all those 'sportsing surveys' hasn't just been a means of maximizing my free time. I also dive deeper into discographies, unearthing nuggets of gold I wouldn't have heard before, and even springing for albums I feel deserve closer looks than a quick witty blurb on a social media site. So far I've done Cypress Hill and New Order, plus eventually Nas and The Roots who're only delayed due to alphabetical stipulations. There's a few items from Killing Joke, Stereolab and Underworld I have interest in as well, but for some darn reason, ATB has beaten all of them to the punch. Is this a dare? A put-on? A joke? Or could it be that I *gasp* actually like Future Memories enough to give it more shine than music of this sort normally would on this blog?

Well, I can honestly and truthfully say, if you want to get another album of Mr. Tanneberger's beyond Movin' Melodies, this is the one you should get, even if you're not a fan of his. By far, it features the most musical diversity, which may not be saying much given the generally narrow lane ATB typically resides, but it's far more than the bulk of his work. Even if you discount the second chill-out CD (which became a permanent feature of his albums from here on out), the main disc dabbles in such daft things like breakbeats. Again, not the sort of science you'd hear out of Hybrid, but for an epic trance guy doing them, these 2-step rhythms are quite fun. And there's four of them! Well, three, Gravity more on a shuffly, smooth tip than the peppy realm What About Us, My Everything, and the titular cut operate in. And heck, one of them doesn't even feature vocals!

Right, so all the singing. It's ATB, mang', the world of McProg and pop trance his chosen domain. Yeah, he could be some standard epic trance producer, and even does show he's perfectly adept at the sound (Luminescence, Terra 260273). When you've cultivated an audience that expects its singalong anthems though, you may as well give them what they want. And, hand on heart, I'll admit I don't mind most of these. Sure, a couple are more cloying than I can take, but nothing made me outright cringe as some of the most banal vocal trance has over the years. It's not like ATB is shooting for some grand gesture of presumptive artistic genius with these tracks. That's what the second CD's for!

I rib, the chill-out stuff quite pleasant in a non-intrusive sort of way. Just creative enough to keep it firmly out of muzak territory, but not so overt it demands your undivided attention. The only questionable moment is a cover of Everything But The Girl's Missing, because the original (or Todd Terry's rub) is so iconic, anything after can't help but come off lesser. Ah well, it wouldn't be a classic ATB album without at least one of those.

ACE TRACKS: July - September 2024

So a lot's happened since I last did one of these. Been a wild summer, to say the least, visiting more hospitals than I'd care to in such a short period of time. Didn't even go to all the ones I might have either, but making another lengthy trip back to the hometown just wasn't feasible so soon. I guess I should feel fortunate there weren't any more deaths I had to deal with, but sometimes it feels like the clock ticks ever too closer to the inevitable than we're ready to deal with. I know we all gotta' die some day, but it sure would have been rough going if they'd all bunched up in just a few months like it could have.

Maybe it's why I ended up distracting myself with yet another pet-project out of the blue. What is it? Ah, I can't really say for various reasons, other than it's been a fascinating look into an aspect of social media I wasn't really privy to before. Don't know how much steam it has long-term, but I've had fun with it this past month. Oh, that 'sportsing' thing I was so gung-ho about these past two years? Erm, yeah, about that... Anyway, here's the ACE TRACKS from this past summer!


Full playlist here.

MISSING ALBUMS:
Various - Fabric 28: Wiggle
Various - Fabric 34: Ellen Allien
Various - Fabric 46: Claude VonStroke
Various - Fabric 50: Martyn
Q-Burns Abstract Message - Feng Shui
Spiritual Fields - Fields Of Light
N:L:E - Floating Garden
WRNR - Floating in An Acid Can
Yahgan & N:L:E - The Forgotten Civilization
Photek - Form & Function

Percentage Of Hip-Hop: 0%
Percentage Of Rock: 0%
Most “WTF?” Track: Oh, definitely the Stereo Raptor stuff. Just don't jive with the house and psy trance, it don't.


Even with the amount missing, there's still a decent amount of variety in this playlist. Probably helps that A). all those Fabric CDs provided plenty of unique tunes from each other, and B). I reviewed much less Suntrip Records than my usual average. Of course, being stuck in the 'F' block of music all this time didn't hurt either. So many different 'Form's...

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.

Ugasanie - Freedom And Loneliness

Cryo Chamber: 2020

Ah, the life of the hermit. Unshackled by societal necessities, uninhibited by that which is expected of you. The master of your realm, answering to no one, only subservient to the whims of nature herself. Such self-determinate isolation has its drawbacks though, most prominent of which the crippling depression that can settle in detached from any and all communal comforts. Some claim the land is your company, connecting to the essence of mother earth itself, but what happens when even that's a barren waste? Rock lichen makes poor conversationalists, much less whatever stray migratory bird happens your way. Life's proven astoundingly resilient to most climates upon this planet's surface (and below!) but there's still regions few dare to traverse for good reason.

This is of course taking things to an extreme, but then Pavel Malyshkin has never shied away from exploring the most inhospitable clime's of terra firma. Throw in the existential dread that comes with trying to survive in such environments has its own intriguing considerations where dark ambient is concerned. I think that's what piqued my interest enough to spring for another Ugasanie outing, the title. There's some romanticism in living off grid, absolutely, but what cost does it come with? How addled does the brain become when so detached from society? Do you turn into some affable goof like Radagast The Brown (as seen in the Peter Jackson Hobbit movies), or perhaps something far worse, far more sinister and self-destructive?

I wish I could say Freedom And Loneliness gets deep into such concepts, but no, it's a fairly straight-forward drone excursion Ugasanie takes us on. It's still captivating in that frigid way most of his releases tend to sound, but this is quite well-tread territory I've traversed from him by this point. Kind of the reason I started drifting more towards his Silent Universe alias, not to mention a couple collaborations with other dark ambient artists.

Things start off promising, in a journeyman sort of way. The first few tracks paint a picture of arriving at your new residence due to circumstances outside your control (damn, that's some frigid waters sounding in Cold Coast). Since you're now here in this Dead Wasteland, however, you might as well make the best of it, maybe even conduct a little Ritual to get better acquainted with your surroundings.

Following that though, the album goes about as deep into the foreboding drone as Ugasanie ever gets. Which hey, does keep the album's theme consistent: the relatively 'upbeat' first half of freedom contrasted with the bitter loneliness that follows. It unfortunately leaves the second half rather repetitive and uneventful, save a sombre piano piece for closer Sorrow. And I don't want to undersell how effective Pavel is at creating an appropriate mood and tone given the subject matter, I've just heard him do it plenty times before. If Freedom And Loneliness happens to be your first Ugasanie session though, then this is a good primer into his body of work.

Natural Life Essence - Forms Of Life (Other Versions)

Liquid Frog Records: 2019

When I saw this was subtitled Other Versions, I thought I might have another skippable item from N:L:E on my hands. Not that there wouldn't be something worth talking about here, but with so much still to get through in this discography (just... so much), cutting corners has become a must. I figured if these were just remixes, I could refer back to them whenever I got around to covering the original tracks proper-like.

After checking through what material of his I did have, however, I realized I didn't have the original tracks! That... couldn't be right? I bought his entire catalogue as it existed on Bandcamp, they had to be there! This being an earlier release, there weren't many options they could be hiding, yet sleuthing through the comparatively scant items available, I found nothing. Could there be *gasp* other Natural Life Essence albums out there, that didn't even reside on his crowded Bandcamp?

Indeed there is, though far as I can tell, this is the only item that exists as such. I can understand why it wouldn't be among Juan Pablo's own catalogue though, one of those 'label rights' things that makes redistribution of one's own music at times a sticky situation in streaming circles. Heck, that might even be why he went about releasing this particular EP, artists doing 're-recordings' or 're-masters' or 're-mixes' that skirt around rights technicalities.

I have no idea if this is the situation surrounding the original Forms Of Life as it appears on Ovnimoon Records, but then I don't know much about that label to begin with. They seem to have a lot of material though, one of those multitude of psy trance labels that sprung up in the past two decades, and still going to this day. I can't say I recognize much of anyone on their roster though: a lone AstroPilot item here, a LemonChill there, and... yeah. Still, they were releasing CDs for a spell, so can't be all netlabel bunk, can it? Haha, oh, if you think that, then you really don't know psy trance labels very well.

Anyhow, I can't be bothered doing a compare-and-contrast between the original Forms Of Life, so here's what we get with Other Versions. Lapse (Little Snail) (Lucky Return Mix) does the N:L:E spritely ambient thing with a little pulse of a rhythm that invokes something more mysterious and Middle Eastern. Liquid Frog (More Rain Mix) does... Hey, that's where Juan Pablo got the name for his self-release label, isn't it! Cool. The track gets closer to the realms of ambient dub, which is pretty much a brand standard for N:L:E even this early in the project's lifespan. Nomad Dragonfly (Tranquil Wind Mix) is the most interesting of the lot, if you like your pure ambience with nice field recordings, sweeping synths, and deep meditative tonal harmony. And finally, Symbiosis (Insects Gathering Mix) gets back to the spritely ambient style as heard in Lapse. Yep, all par for the course.

In The Face Of - The Formless

self-released: 2024

(A Patreon Request)

Not also a 'skip the queue' one at that, but this requester, oh they're clever. Rather than have their item sit somewhere in alphabetical purgatory for who knows how long, they have me covering an album that slots damn near the front of the current queue. See, folks, there's always ways to manipulate established systems to your own favour! Or it could be just a massive coincidence the request coincided with my backlog's current status. Be one heck of one if so.

In The Face Of is David Miller, a rather new project for the chap, though how long he's been an active producer, I'm not sure. There isn't much info on him on his Bandcamp page, and good luck finding out which David Miller he is within Lord Discogs' tomes.

Pretty sure he's not the Scottish David Miller of FiniTribe, nor the classical theorbist David Miller. Guaranteed he's not the old-timey West Virginia guitarist David Miller (he dead), much less the label mogul David L. Miller (also dead). More alive is the country bassist David Miller out of Texas, also the Juilliard graduate classical viola player David Miller, but odds are In The Face Of isn't them. Hmm, there seems to be a running theme of David Millers at least being capable musicians with string instruments, so maybe this David Miller is too. But then there's a trumpeter David Miller, a hip-hop singer David Miller, and a 'pop-opera' tenor David Miller! How many David Millers do we have on this website anyhow? Thirteen... twenty-one...forty-four... sixty-one... seventy-four... eighty-three... My God...! I've fallen into a multiverse of David Millers!

What I do know about this particular David Miller is his influences for this debut album, specifically the industrial and dark ambient sonic experiments of Zoviet France and their offspring (Rapoon being my usual go-to). That's definitely in my wheel-house, forever fascinated by the sound collages invoking imagery of societal collapse, but it's a delicate balance. Under-production can leave it sounding hollow, while going too far the other way leads to noisy power electronics, a scene I really don't have much time or use for in my regular listening habits.

Fortunately, The Formless mostly hits that sweet middle-ground, where the overbearing presence of atonal drone never completely extinguishes whatever musical ideas Mr. Miller offers up. Don't get me wrong, closer Golden Dawn grinds things out with the best. Most tracks keep things on a more subtle tip though, where rhythms have room to march along, samples are clear even when warped, and the melancholic harmonies seep through the digital effects.

While each track is distinct and the album's overall tone is consistent, it's another one of those experimental drone outings that really isn't the easiest to detail. There's only so many ways I can type “industrial grit” or “dark ambient atmosphere” before it grows redundant, which kinda' defeats the purpose of an LP titled The Formless anyway. More of a 'vibes' session, as the yoot' might say.