Cosmogenesis
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Posted : Jun 28, 2020 19:23:54
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Unreleased Goa Records proudly presents Cybercraft, an obscure French quartet that produced Goa Trance music between 1993 and 1995. This ephemeral project was born at the end of 1992 from the ashes of the Electro-Cold band "Babel 17", who released two albums: "Celeano Fragments" (1990) and "Shades" (1991) on the Lively Art label (a subsidiary of New Rose). Babel 17 had their own home studio in an underground crypt and released New Wave, Coldwave, EBM, Punk bands. Many artists frequently played at this studio, leading to new collaborations and side projects. Cybercraft slowly came to life as Babel 17 were completing their cycle. Babel 17 officially split up in March 1993 and 3 of their 4 members continued as Cybercraft: Vincent Porte (Le Peaucre), Franck Meissonnier (Murdock) and Jean Franceschi (JeanJean), accompanied by Thierry Discord (THX).
Goa Trance music was imported in France during the 1991-1992 season. Cybercraft members regularly attended rave parties, especially events organized by Tekno Tanz, Trance Body Express and Gaïa Concept. They met DJ’s, VJ’s and deco artists who were part of a deep humanist movement, a mystical and experimental dimension transpired from Goa Trance music, that was a source of inspiration for the band. "All The Sounds Of The Rainbow" was the first track they produced, followed by "Mental Flanged". These two, along with "Loops Of Heaven 7", were mixed by Murdock, who was involved at the time with the Ariane project (a trance collaboration with Section X) and later briefly joined Gangguru to produce "Ultimate". Under the Murdock alias he also released the track "Explora 2" on In Dia compilation in 1995.
After the demise of Babel 17, Cybercraft members produced their music on various places, until Vincent Porte hosted their mobile studio and day-long sessions of work and mixing took place at his home. They wanted to produce powerful tracks, similar to the ones played at parties, always seeking that precious mysterious element that would transcend the listener at the dancefloor. Unfortunately, the project did not last enough to perform at events. However, a few tracks were shared with DJ’s (most notably to Willy Butron of Gangguru), who played them at rave events in France and Full Moon parties in Goa, where they were highly acclaimed by the crowds.
Cybercraft’s early musical influences include The Overlords, Juno Reactor, T.I.P., Technossomy, Total Eclipse, Astral Projection, Psychaos, Etnica, X-Dream, Prana, Hallucinogen, Slinky Wizard, S.M.I.L.E., Planet B.E.N. and more, as well as music played by famous DJ’s such as Serge Souque, Yayo, Heyoka, Mike Maguire, Joti Sidhu, Tsuyoshi, Jens.
The band used an Atari PC, with Notator, the ancestor of Logic, then Cubase (which, at the time, handled only midi impulses, and not the audio part), Roland synths (Juno 6, Juno 106, JD-800), various expanders (MKS-50), drum machines, and two Akaï S-1000 samplers, all connected to a Yamaha or Mackie mixer, with the essential studio effect racks. As their equipment was limited, tricking the machines to reach the intended result was the rule.
The Cybercraft experience lasted until early 1995. The band dissolved due to a lack of vision and musical disagreements, leaving a legacy of 10 tracks of the pure Goa Trance tradition, which were never published until now. Today THX continues to produce trance music in his studio as "Cyber Mind", Jean Jean has reformed Babel 17, while Murdock produces albums and has become an experienced sound manager for various festivals.
Cybercraft would like to thank: Paulo Lopes (DJ Paulo), Fabi, Stéphane Mars, Patrick Beauvois, Jean-Yves Bourdais, Patrice Guéguen, DJ Mat, Kifran (R.I.P.), Céline & Manue (Chatterton Sisters), DJ Willy (Gangguru), Heyoka, Serge, Yayo & everyone @ Trance Body Express, everyone @ Gaïa Concept, Rackham (Tekno Tanz), Patrick Rognant, 303 @cid, Darius, Dédé, Fred AGA, DJ Loïc, Sophie, Laure, Guillaume, Max le sale gosse, Escalofrio, Kat ’Eyes, RGO, Hadra, Shiva, Ganesh… & all artists and DJ's who inspired them.
Unreleased Goa Records would like to especially thank DJ Patrice Heyoka, without whom this release would have simply never happened. The only clue the DAT Records team had about this project was an amazing track on a French DAT tape, mistitled “Speedkraft – Vol2”, which remained a mystery for many years. A few months ago, Heyoka, who was in touch with THX, shared with Unreleased Goa Records a video of “Amby” and mediated the deal. 10 demo tracks were sent to the label, among them the mysterious track from the DAT tape, at last with its real name: “Mental Flanged”. As a special tribute to Cybercraft, Vincent Perret, a member of Babel 17, produced a magnificent video for this track : https://youtu.be/UhAv4Cwf_NA
Bom Shankar!
Tracklist:
01 – Loops Of Heaven 7
02 – All The Sounds Of The Rainbow
03 – Mental Flanged
04 – Beings Of Light
05 – Venusian Freaks
06 – Maelström
07 – Qwark
08 – A Way To Goa
09 – Amby
Bonus Track
10 – Loops Of Heaven 7 (Live Mix)
Credits:
All tracks composed, recorded and mixed by: Franck Meissonnier, Jean Franceschi, Thierry Discord and Vincent Porte (Cybercraft)
@ B17 Studio, somewhere…
@ Blue Lotus Studio, somewhere else…
Between 1993 and 1995.
Post-Production (2020) by: Franck Meissonnier
Audio Restoration (2005) by : Jean Franceschi
Mastered by: Franck Meissonnier
Artwork: Shiva Ohm, Federico Draeke
Executive-producers: Vas Cosmogenesis, Federico Draeke
Catalogue number: UGR 010
Available now with bonus track on Bandcamp : https://unreleasedgoarecords.bandcamp.com/album/maelstr-m
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