• Contributed Releases (21)

• Pending Submissions (27)

• Browse Collection (48)

• Browse Wantlist (7)

• For Sale (2)

• Lists (1)

• Contact

laserflip's groups (1)

• Goa / Psy-Trance

Tom Lurk - Get Your Wonk On - 15-Feb-09 02:10 AM
Being honest is good, so I’m going to be honest. British DJ Tom Lurk, who compiled this album, is a good mate of mine. A very good mate of mine, in fact: I’ve known him in various states and on various continents for years, we’ve talked 13,576 hours of abject shit, and I’ve stayed at his house more times than anyone else I’ve ever known in my life (an utterly pointless bit of trivia that I only realised when sitting down to write this review.)

It came as something of a concern, then, when I learned he was compiling an album. Obviously I would be expected to provide a review, which would presumably go some way into deciding whether or not I would continue to receive Christmas cards from the Lurk family in the future.

It would probably be fair to say that Tom Lurk and I disagree with about 80% of what we think is brilliant, and agree with about 80% of what we think is shit. Somewhere in the middle there is evidently some sort of crossover, and happily that’s exactly where Get Your Wonk On sits.

The vibe here is sophisticated, understated, and rather cool. Much like Lurk’s DJ sets, there are no cheesy breakdowns; no dodgy keychanges, no Michele Adamson and no Raja Ram. He’s given space to fresh new talent (Hemi-Sync, Beatnik, Fromem_Ory), and of the more established acts (Fractal Glider, OOOD, Zen Mehanics, Rastaliens) he’s plucked artists who share a discernable common thread: groovy without being too funky, baggy without being lazy, focused without being moody.

None of these tracks will tear the roof off, but that’s sort of the point. The sequencing and selection all point to maintaining a tight vibe, like a slow-boiling casserole rather than a microwave vindaloo. This means, of course, that the album grows on you the more you listen to it – which is a good thing.

Rastaliens’ Chaos Theory is exceedingly fine, as is Beatnik’s appropriately wobbly Balloon Tricks. Braincell’s Total Control has some lovely little melodic flecks, although hearing that “LSD unsanity” sample again is something of a drain.

OOOD’s Starseeker has some of the finest trans-track progression around at the moment, a pure wide-eyed fantasy that picks up exactly the right amount of melody at exactly the right time. My personal favourite is probably the Flip Flop remix of Zen Mechanics’ New Propulsion Technology: you can hear Zen Mechanics in there, but you’re not sure where or how – and the spacing between the sounds is like an old friend with a wet nose to those of us who believe that less is more.

Your obvious reaction to this review is that I’m being cod-positive, telling you to buy a mate’s album because “it’s flawless”. It’s not flawless, nothing is: Touch Tone’s crisp, French-sounding Ammo sounds out of place amidst the other, far more solid tunes; and Fractal Glider’s Spherical has a melody that gets too silly. This may be the point, but it’s still silly.

Get Your Wonk On is another segment in the orange of decent new UK psytrance. It’s fresh, it’s fun, and it deserves points for sticking to its guns and not going over the top with big choons which, while selling well, make you want to cut your ears off.

Confident, tight and unswervingly not gay. Tom, you’ve done well here mate.

8/10

Tristan - Substance - 24-Jan-09 01:16 AM
By PKS.

ally Tristan Cooke is out with his second album on Twisted Records. His
debut album Audiodrome, came also out on Twisted, in 1999. Tristan is without
doubt one of the leading trance djs out there. He plays on festivals and
parties all over the world. He has his own way of serving the crowd a voyage
on the dance floor. But he is not only good at djing. He has also made his own
music for many years. The first track is a kind of morning track. Drifting
progressive sound picture, with floating sounds. Not very varied, but pleasant
at the dance floor for sure. Track two goes faster with more darker and
psychedelic sounds. One of the better tracks on this album in my opinion.
Track 3 goes fast and dark too, but I sort of get a little tired of these
sounds. He is good at making a trancey vibe for the dance floor, but the music
easily get a little boring for home listening. Track 4 starts with an audience
screaming and some vinyl crackling. Then we get some tribal house influenced
rhythms and a little female voice. Is it house or trance? You decide! In track
5 we go back to smooth morning trance vibes again. Stumping trance with a
little melodic sounds above, which makes it pleasant. Nice one in the sunrise
after a night of full on dark music. Again, not varied music, but a nice dj
tool. Track 6 goes full on again, with more cool sounds and heavy rolling
rhythms. Track 7 (Brazilica Psychedelica) is really Brazil influenced. Again
very influenced by tribal house! Tristan is for sure one of those artists who
push borders between music styles a little closer to each other. Track 8 is
full on night time music again. Rolling rhythms pushing all the way through,
and a few dark sounds swirling around. The last track is a chilled down tempo
track, with some pleasant echo effects and groovy sounds. This music is for
sure a really good dj tool, but for the regular home listener, this will
probably get very boring after some listening. All the music released on
Twisted Records is so different from this, so why are they releasing it on
that label? He sort of doesn`t fit in that label. Just take a look at the
Tristan track on the Unusual Suspects compilation released earlier this
year... That track had nothing to do among those other masterpieces on that
compilation...

Various - Progressive Goa Trance Volume 6 - 18-Jan-09 01:16 AM
My favourite Compilation from the "Progressive Goa Trance"-series. The name is a joke, because it has nothing to do with Goa Trance and most of the tracks are't classic psyprog either. The comp. shows good examples of crossover-prog.

My Favs:

Atmos - KNS (PS Remix)
One of my all time favs. It keeps the melancholy of the original but fused with bangin Electro-House, but far away beeing lame and cheesy.

SCS - Kick Me , Shake Me
Also one of my all time favs. Deepest prog track I've ever heard.
Very smooth and dreamy, look out for the surfer guitar appearing in the track!

Earsugar - New Era
The most traditional psyprog track of the comp. Rolling bassline, long progression with an awesome peak.

Other: 3,5,11,15,18
The only bad track is the Supress You Rmx.

Recommended for all open-minded psyprog listeners.

Alchemy Records (3) - 29-Dec-08 11:01 AM
One of the best labels if you are looking for quality Full On. The music ranges from morning (Freakulizer,Fitali) to night (Rinkadink, Dark Soho) and musicians from all over the world:
Brasil: Burn In Noise
South Africa: Broken Toy, Rinkadink
UK: Flip Flop
Switzerland: Freakulizer

Favourites:
Rinkadink - Rabbits From The Dark Side (one of the best Nightpsy Albums ever)
Flip Flop - Floppy Drive (deep and creative Full On)
Burn In Noise - Passing Cloud (acidic morning stuff)
VA - Echo (good Uk Trance)
VA - Solar Agent (morning sound)
VA - Luna Agent (night sound)

If you like Alchemy Rec. check out these other labels:
- Nano Records
- Neurobiotic Records
- Vagalume Records
- Liquid Records

Principles Of Flight - Night Time Lullabies - 16-Dec-08 10:15 AM
I had never heard of this before it was recommended to me but the cover looked cool & I liked the track titles so I though I'd give it a go. When I opened the CD I was treated to a little booklet telling the story for each track. Nice Idea & it made me think this might be a very nice story of an album (which it is).

1 Gloopy Theme
Sound like the title of the album. A dark, slow lullaby. Some slow strings & bells & then some hard orchestral kicks before...

2 Disease In The Shadows
We pick up into trance, a fullon baseline fits in well although the track itself is not high paced. Dark ambient sounds in the background make this sound like I'm in a forest at night, scared of what the forest might hold.

3 A Heavy Responsibility
We pick up the pace a little more here. This track is definately more moving, it has a sense of urgency to it& the changes in it are superb. Fullon Trance -> Lullaby -> Classical Orchestra -> Fullon Trance again -> Drum & Bass beats.
This for me is such an amazing track. Throughout all the changes the atmosphere stays the same. It never loses it's dark, urgent feel.

4 On This Journey To The Human World
A slow intermission connects the tracks well

5 Never Talk To Strangers
Sounds like Cramina Burana at times, this does. I has am urgent pace again but also manages to sound like it's doing something bad. A great atmospheric track again, love the chanting in it, very dark temple of doom stuff.

6 Sorcerer's Theme
Drops right down into another intermission. A very classical sounding piece with cello playing a funky bedtime story kind of tune. Short but excellent

7 The Escapee
Back to trance, this track sound very tecky to my ears, the background sounds may give an outside organic feel but the main synth sounds very retro tech.

8 Strange Woods (Featuring - Phonic Request)
Another energetic, atmospheric, outside track. The baseline really moves this track & the synth work is absolutely out of this world amazing. Lots of cool background noises give this a running through an enchanted forest atmosphere.

9 Harky's Swarm
Very alienesque voices throughout the track as if some weird creature is trying to communicate. After 3 minutes the track changes in to something like infected mushroom circa Classical Mushroom with the melodies & atmosphere but changes again when soft strings come in & again with weird tech sounds. This track progresses strangely but it's good & sounds quite a lot like a battle.

10 Song Of The Forest
Another downbeat intermission. Quite nice but that's it

11 Gloopy Is Missing
Another baseline driven track, sounds more urgent again. More very strange sounds which to me sound like monsters talking. This "conversation" also manages to sound urgent. That is until it slows down to lullaby pace in the middle. This to me sounds a really dark, night time atmosphere. When the beat kicks in again it seems less urgent and more plodding but continues to build before the end.

12 Growing Hatred
Another short slowbie, bells, strings sounds like it's leading into battle, think Lord of the Rings when in the battle scenes with huge armies marching.

13 Battle Of The Great Oak
Well, this is the battle track. Growing Hatred served as a brilliant introduction leading into this one & it really sounds like a battle. Just as much as Harky's Swarm does. The progression of the track, how it slows down & kicks back in again really gives this a movie feel. Very nice!

14 Gabriel's Theme
Very short, slow, sound like the end of a battle.

15 Shivering At The Sound
This track has a slower pace than the previous trance tracks. You can tell we are coming to the end, the end of a story. There is no baseline driving this track & all sense of urgency has disappeared.

16 The End
The End! Another slow lullaby paced track track to finish the story. Beautiful strings & bells round us off!

All in all then this is a fantastic concept album. It's dark and atmospheric all the way through. It has a lot of classical & orchestral influences & it really does sound like a story, a lullaby maybe but told through trance.
The intermission tracks really help with the storytelling element here, they act as bridges to the next chapter of the story.
I think that listening to samples of this would never do it justice so if you are a fan of dark, atmospheric up tempo music then get yourself a copy of this. It sounds a little similar to Infected Mushroom's Classical Mushroom but IMO this is better & sounds more like a work of art.
I've listened to this so much since I got in this month. Definately one of my favourite releases this year.

View all 19 reviews...