2008 was a fantastic year for free music. Now, having had more than a month to reflect, I have compiled a list of personal highlights. I’ll own up to being involved in some of these projects in some capacity or another, but this bias shouldn’t come as a surprise—I wouldn’t be working so closely on some of these projects if…
Voojoo Rituals is an obscure Israeli psytrance compilation from the turn of the millennium boasting an impressive collection of exclusive cuts found nowhere else. It is lightly mixed by DJ Gidi, who orchestrates mercifully brief and mostly non-invasive transitions, almost certainly arranged in a DAW (digital audio workstation). The packaging is peculiar; this CD comes in some kind of…
The question of tradition interests me because Goa has become the site, both mythical and historical, for a sort of tantric hand-off between an earlier generation of Western trance dancers and today’s psychedelic ravers. Whether or not Goa is the core source of rave spirituality, the freak colony has grown into a spiritual origin, a source. But this…
This set was recorded live at the Om Reunion Project’s winter solstice celebration, Dreamcatcher, held on December 19th, 2008, in Toronto, Canada. The style is a frosty blend of progressive house, psychedelic techno, and deep trance influences mixed and arranged on CD decks. The scope is somewhat limited as it is a relatively short set, but there is some progression…
Counterculture blooms wherever and whenever a few members of a society choose lifestyles, artistic expressions, and ways of thinking and being that wholeheartedly embrace the ancient axiom that the only true constant is change itself. The mark of counterculture is not a particular social form or structure, but rather the evanescence of forms and structures, the dazzling rapidity…
It is possible that the noosphere contained thought patterns in the form of very weak energy until we developed radio transmission; whereupon the energy level of the noosphere went out of bounds and assumed a life of its own. It no longer served as a mere passive repository of human information (the ‘Seas of Knowledge’ which ancient…
The term progressive refers to a number of different aspects of electronic dance music. In a technical sense, the word progressive suggests deep rhythms, slow-burning arrangements, hazy atmospheres, and a subtle approach to composition. Progressive can also mean cutting edge, fashionable, or “forward thinking.” It is a slippery concept, always changing.
I recently wrote about top tens and hinted that I might get back into the practice. After all, compiling and publishing a top ten chart is an easy way to recommend music, something we all like to do. Here is the first set of tracks I have compiled in recent weeks—ten dark thrillers to light up the night: Alter…
Planet B.E.N. (Ben Wierzoch) composed Ant Invasion in 1993, years before the widespread popularization of Goa trance. This enduring masterpiece of psychedelic electronics predates the vast majority of classics we commonly associate with the genre. Unfortunately, its place in history is often overlooked as it wasn’t formally released until 1996, when the movement was already in full swing. With…
DJ charts have long been a fixture of the electronic music movement. Charts serve a simple purpose: to recommend music. I haven’t seen it mentioned before, but I suspect that the widespread popularity of top tens is at least partially rooted in the fact that they transcend language. Absolutely anyone can figure out what a top ten is all about…