Templar^
IsraTrance Full Member
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Posted : Aug 20, 2014 22:28:31
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Psysutra - Gamma Phoenicis
Cronomi Records, 2014
1. Planet Of Illusions
2. Acid Rush
3. Air Trance Corporation
4. United States Of Mind
5. Lost Universe
6. JetMan - Female Animals (Psysutra's Male Perspective Mix)
7. Postcard From Goa
We Poles are not lucky when it comes to the political class and many other things, but we cannot be denied an exceptionally strong and individualized group of psy-artists. In contrast to many other countries (let's stick to the obvious example of Israel and its large group of disposable musical clones) we can boast of a team of people, where each and every one of them developed his own easily recognizable style. Thus I will smell Artha's tracks from a mile, then there is this specific vibe of TLG etc. Things are no different with Psysutr±, one of the new wave of young artists who, along with his music, is also an autonomous being on our psychedelic map. After many hardships Łukasz finally lived to see the release of his debut album under the Cronomi Records banner, a label that focuses on new talents in the field of goa trance. The label definitely stands out from the crowd, which in this case is only an advantage. In the end, why repeat the theme of sweet, ultra-melodic goa over and over again, when this music has so many faces? Psysutra thought the same, providing a record full of different shades of old school and strongly acidic psytrance under the goa banner.
After listening to all tracks a lot I found out that actually I have nothing to bitch about. The sonic design of tracks is great. Łukasz easily takes anachronistic ideas and themes of the past and showers them with new layouts, owing to which we end up with seven intense landscapes from the land of goa trance. A land, let us add, that has many names. The tracks are not monotonous and there is always something going on, a thing one cannot say about many other productions of this type. In the field of creativity Psysutra leaves the competition far behind thanks to his lively ideas. Various trance artists of all latitudes flood us with their music, which technically is great, it has the punch, but as far as ideas are concerned it is presented in a bland and flat way. Their main idea is to move the crowds on the dancefloor, as well as to wiggle the playing person's index finger - and that's all. Luke has not forgotten an important element of juicyness, color-play, oldschool audio-corridors and sharp, almost three-dimensional acids in opposition to foreign cookie-cutter, over-produced boredom fest, seasoned here and there with a touch of catchy sound to break the routine. Another advantage of the album is the length of the tracks, specifically four of them: "Planet Of Illusions", "Air Trance Corporation", a remix of "Female Animals" and "Postcard From Goa" all oscillate around an impressive time of 11-12 minutes. Works for me. I've always been of the opinion that with such time at one's disposal one can build and communicate a coherent story.
The album starts with the high-octane acid cyberpiece "Planet Of Illusions", which is a proverbial bullseye when it comes to this track being the opening one on this CD. The chameleon-like "Acid Rush" highlights just how far the music of Psysutra is from his milder colleagues from Suntrip Records. The more uplifting and cheerful "Air Trance Corporation" will serve as a proper musical tool for many open air parties during the more oldschool-oriented moments. The banging "United States Of Mind" with its batch of distinctive acids smells of old Transient Records compilations, which is only a good thing. A bit playful and laidback atmosphere is introduces by "Lost Universe", a track aimed at early morning hours of outdoor frolicking. Track number six is Psysutra's take on a tune by my colleague JetMan from Psytrance.pl. This mesmerizing track with Posford-like qualities spread over circa 11 minutes is certainly an interesting tune aimed not only at trancefloor workout, but also suitable for elemental breakdown at home. It is worth looking up the original version at SoundCloud to compare it with the version created by Psysutra. At the end we will not fall asleep with a "let's throw in a chillout lullaby at the end" routine done by so many, because the last track is also psytrance, albeit a bit calmer than its predecessors. This is achieved by a flowing, slightly magical atmosphere illustrated by the sound of the flute, which given an impression as if good ol' grampa Raja Ram is sitting somewhere in the background.
It is impossible not to mention about the colorful design adorning the album's cover. I send words of appreciation towards Psara (a Portuguese DJane named Sara Constance), who interestingly underlined the album's musical atmosphere with her butterfly-wings-on-acid graphics. Given that it is the seventh release by Cronomi Records, the CD itself is marked with a cheeky nod to James Bond movies ("My name is Wu, Łukasz Wu. CronomiCD007 Licence to Dance!"). Speaking about the cover, despite a musically and graphically strong album, it fell victim to minor editorial mishaps associated with evident laziness at Cronomi Records. I'm saying here about the typos on the album's back cover. However, looking back at the history of trance releases and cases of this kind, one needs to admit that if this is the only flaw of "Gamma Phoenicis", the album is really good.
The father of "Gamma Phoenicis" can be proud of his child. Through its spontaneity and inventiveness the album has a good chance not to get lost in the crowd of goa-productions of modern times, which at the time of them coming to life are prone to anonymity. This album is recommended both for someone who plowed through a whole lot of albums, as well as for those who just put their first baby steps in the psytrance realm. TLG and Space Element: your turn.
https://shop.cronomi.com/?page_id=571
http://cronomi.bandcamp.com/album/psysutra-gamma-phoenicis
http://nobient.pl/index.php?products=product&prod_id=2717
  www.ektoplazm.com/2011/panta-deus - download for free Psytrance.pl's 10th anniversary compilation featuring 100% Polish psy-music (goa, prog, dark, full-on, chillout): Artha, Sundial Aeon and many more
www.psytrance.pl - Polish psytrance website |
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