Man this takes me back to Goa in the 90s. It was just about the only place that would book Russian DJs, so it was the only place where reel-to-reel DJing was better known than vinyl. It's amazing to see what people have done with the style in the intervening decades, but for me nothing beats the old tunes from the beach parties.
Psytrance Guide
61–70 of 291 posts
Re: Psytrance Guide
#62I’ve enjoyed listening to psychedelic electronic music while programming since discovering Shpongle twenty years ago. I feel like it helps my brain get into the right mode somehow. I’m not familiar with the definitions of a lot of these sub-taxonomies but interested in listening to them! I have a coding playlist I’ve put together over the years that is more towards the psybient/chillout end but includes some trance a…
If you like Shpongle, I recently bought a new album, Transient States - Ballade en Forêt, that sounds very derivative (in a good way!).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dLLzz4vxKb0
Hallucinogen In Dub (remixed by Ott) is another gorgeous album. Ott has a bunch of his own albums too.
Re: Psytrance Guide
#63I have never understood why psytrance subgenres are so focused on BPM range. There is so much more to music than the tempo, it has always felt overly reductive to me. I had a friend who was a psytrance producer and even hearing him talk at length about it, I was never convinced that BPM was a critical differentiator. Also respectfully I think categorizing a subgenre as falling within 4 BPM is outrageously too narrow.…
Many casual listeners
Since the target audience is 'people who dance to the same music from ~midnight to sunrise', the ability to sustain a steady pace over that period matters the same way it would for a marathon runner or similar. I haven't gone racing in a while but goa parties used to have a pretty consistent cycle of warmup for an hour, take off over an hour, full-on for 4-6 urs depending on the time of year, then the sun comes up and it would switch to 'sloa', basically the same musical flavor but coasting down to a walking pace.
Re: Psytrance Guide
#64“Hmm… I wonder where Infected Mushroom falls…” ^F Infected … zero results. o_O
Once they started singing like Moby, well, whatevs. They laughed all the way to the bank with the explosion in popularity outside the 5000 people globally that knew who they were prior. Oforia, MFG, Astral Projection, and more fill the void the disinfected mushroom left
They filled it equally well before IM showed up, if not significantly better; I still enjoy that early Israeli style although it sounds a little cookie-cutter by now. Can't say I vibed with the DarkPsy style & ethos that came in around that time.
Re: Psytrance Guide
#65I have never understood why psytrance subgenres are so focused on BPM range. There is so much more to music than the tempo, it has always felt overly reductive to me. I had a friend who was a psytrance producer and even hearing him talk at length about it, I was never convinced that BPM was a critical differentiator. Also respectfully I think categorizing a subgenre as falling within 4 BPM is outrageously too narrow.…
I play psy-trance at a range of tempos, from dub stuff at 70-80bpm, through prog stuff around 110-130bpm, to more high energy stuff up at 140-150bpm.
The main reason for sticking to a tempo is because psy-trance, and (good) trance music in general is about the constant pulse. The goal is to put the listener in 'the zone' (a trance even :P), and then give them a bunch of ear candy in the mids and highs to keep their happy little brains occupied.
So for any given set DJs generally pick a tempo and stick to it and deliver a driving, consistent pulse, and everything else is just colouring in on top.
Re: Psytrance Guide
#66Earlier quoted context omitted.
Once they started singing like Moby, well, whatevs. They laughed all the way to the bank with the explosion in popularity outside the 5000 people globally that knew who they were prior. Oforia, MFG, Astral Projection, and more fill the void the disinfected mushroom left
I don't understand why bands get so much animosity for "leaving their roots". IM make amazing, unique music and put on one hell of a live show. Is it as "pure" psytrance as Astral Projection et al? No but why does it have to be? They make music they like to make.
I don't understand your not understanding. Just because the band changes doesn't mean that the fans have to follow along if they don't like what they've started to produce. Everyone has their likes/dislikes. If someone makes specific reasonings for their tastes not following the new direction doesn't mean they are wrong. You're no better for making your comment than someone stating theirs.
For example, how many people that like Ministry have ever heard their true first album and actually likes it?
Re: Psytrance Guide
#67A little bummed not to see Blue Planet Corporation in there.
Re: Psytrance Guide
#68Earlier quoted context omitted.
Casual listeners can't detect it, but it strongly affects the possibility space for production purposes. For instance, if you're writing happy hardcore music at 170+ BPM with a kick drum on every beat, you will get surprisingly little time between those kicks to work with the bass and other instruments. While this is a somewhat extreme example, even something like the difference between 128 BPM and 138 BPM can change…
If you're interested in some BPM fuckery, there's a small-ish contingent of artists/labels doing some cool things around the 80/160-ish BPM range. Folk like Donato Dozzy, Patrick Russell and Forest Drive West have been putting together some great sets that sound like this militant-ish blend of Techno and Drum and Bass and just get really 'out there' in, in my opinion, the best way possible. There's one moment in a Fo…
Donato Dozzy is an amazing selector. One of the greats.
Re: Psytrance Guide
#69Earlier quoted context omitted.
thanks, my only comment on this topic was going to be "where can I find more like shpongle". Well, I guess the second comment would be "when will somebody make a Generative Shpongle?"
Shulman is one of my favourites - i wish they still made music. Incredible incredible music - not just for psytrance, just in general. Also recommend Bluetech.
Zero Degrees is one of the trippiest songs of all time.
Re: Psytrance Guide
#70I’ve enjoyed listening to psychedelic electronic music while programming since discovering Shpongle twenty years ago. I feel like it helps my brain get into the right mode somehow. I’m not familiar with the definitions of a lot of these sub-taxonomies but interested in listening to them! I have a coding playlist I’ve put together over the years that is more towards the psybient/chillout end but includes some trance a…
thanks, my only comment on this topic was going to be "where can I find more like shpongle". Well, I guess the second comment would be "when will somebody make a Generative Shpongle?"
Also try Aes Dana, Scann-Tec, Solar Fields