Not your typical goa! Rather than going over the top with big riffs, Ciaran Walsh composes real trance music, with the emphasis on hypnotic patterns. Like the Blue Room Released material, this album has a futuristic sound, but with an unprecedented sinister touch. Melodies that are evil yet playful. I've never been anything other than sober whilst listening to this but it does seem to be communicating something uncanny, putting you in a state you're intimately familiar with but lack the vocabulary to describe, like a half-remembered dream. It's the Black Lodge in music form.

So it has atmosphere to burn. Does it work on the dance floor? IMHO, it entirely does. The basslines are groovy as all hell (elastic bang, indeed) and the drums are surprisingly hip tugging for old school goa trance. These are tight, intelligent grooves with a wide amount of variety between them, serving as a vital component of the music rather than being tacked on as an afterthought.

Along with Chris Gannon (Polyploid) and Matt Buggins (Acid Rockers, Red Back), Walsh is one of those overlooked, underappreciated British trance composers with a singular vision of future music. Perhaps too subtle for most, but if you're on the right wavelength, there really isn't a better trippy goa album.

This very rare old school goa trance release from Ciaran Walsh has all the traits typical of the old psy trance sound, and as far as this pair of ears is concerned, all of them are executed quite nicely.
"Brainwashing is childs play" is clearly not on a mission to turn the scene upside down or challenge a listener's perception of psychedelic trance music. He composes quality music through and through, loaded with awesome 303s, melodic structures which may not be as memorable and catchy as those of for example Etnica or Transwave, but Ciaran is not competing with the heavy weights here. He composed a competent album, full of party orientated tracks, which are simultaneoudly musically dense and captivating, with plenty of layers interacting and changing to bring you new things, yet he always keeps the tunes driving, very easy to bust a hip to, and well if you want to call it that, funky. The uptempo tracks really are fast, I mean, they really go high up in the BPM range, with heavy drum rolls.
The slower tracks are a treat as well. Very groovy albeit clearly not intended for the dance floor. It's like he took his faster tracks and pitched them down 25%. Melodic, subtle and floating - to briefly describe them.
Overall, this is a very worthwhile album, the problem is that Deviant Electronics, whilst unqestionably talented, fails to excel on any level. It's all quality material, but none of it will stick with you like plenty of other stuff from the era. Which brings me to my conclusion. If you want to own a copy of this album, it will hit hard on your wallet. Unless you've already collected virtually all the essential releases of the genre, don't even bother with this one. There are plenty 'must listen to before you die' releases getting re-released by labels such as Inpsye Media and Avatar, and in addition to that there are numerous old school classics still available for far more accessible prices.
Deviant Electronics' "Brainwashing is childsplay" does not belong into that category. It's one of those releases where they hype is not up to par with what the music has to offer. The expectations most potential customers have before purchasing this one are sky high, but are barely ever met. The price simply doesn't validate the music. With money you had in mind to buy this one with, you're better off hunting down better and more noteable releases.