So...music discussion.

That doesn't happen often here. Let's take a moment to talk about the music we love and, hopefully, support in some way.

Anyone get a chance to sift through Juno Reactor's latest album "Gods & Monsters" yet? It's out in Japan now with some killer artwork by anime visionary Koji Morimoto and no doubt due for domestic release on Metropolis Records. To be honest, I only cared for "Inca Steppa", "Immaculate Crucifixion" and "Tanta Pena." The rest -- TOO MUCH SINGING. Ben Watkins himself even takes up the mic for the last two ballads and I have to say -- yik. Things were looking grim on 2004's "Labyrinth", with its Matrix score tie-ins, and "Gods & Monsters" takes Juno Reactor down another notch. I can commend them for the exploration of new jazzy/acoustic ground, and for the handful of salvageable tracks, but I can't take this album as a whole. It's a track-skipper.

Bliss's "The Looney Bin" on Phantasm wound up being another slight disappointment for me. A fan of his solo tracks and collaborations, I couldn't wait for this second album. I found the "Grandma's Boy" samples from the title track (the only previously released one) amusingly implemented, but other sampling throughout the album rubbed me wrong, especially the awkward, untimely ode to Southpark "A Walk In The Park." Bliss seems to be following in the footsteps of Eskimo here, with many Prodigy-esque throwback synths and glitchy breakdowns. "Bella Donna", no doubt named for the infamous gap-toothed xxx starlet*, features the annoying chorus "You gotta lick it / before we kick it / you gotta get it soft and wet so we can kick it." I dunno. There's fun in the vein of the Dick Trevor pair-up "Blisster" but there's too many unforgivable moments that make even my cheese-loving ass blush. *Disclaimer : I am a pious, married man with absolutely NO knowledge of the adult film industry whatsoever.

That's the letdowns out of the way...now let's get to the GOOD shit 2008 has thrown at us so far...

Human Blue "Base Basket Buffet" // Somewhere along the line Transient records lost its awesome graphic designer and its products began dipping in class on a purely surface level. Human Blue's new album is no exception; the packaging is ghastly. That, fortunately, is the only bad thing I can say about this album. Wow. Just...thank god people are still making subtle, groovy, controlled trance like this. It's the first time in a while I've been so pleased with a psy album that I've purchased multiple copies to give to friends. I'd have a hard time choosing a favorite track, but if pressed would have to say "Dessert Desert" -- truly a profound piece of space-chugging dancefloor music that holds up just as nicely in your headphones.

Hol Baumann "Human" // Thank you Ultimae Records for delving deep once again and offering up this corker of a midtempo idm/world crossover by a unique producer the world hadn't heard nearly enough of yet. I was stuck in traffic on 183 earlier this week and the only thing keeping me from flying into a serious road-rage meltdown was the mighty, mighty "Benares (Varanaci Edit)." Turn it up and bear witness!

Distant System "Spiral Empire" // At last -- the long awaited new project of Androcell brainchild and skillful graphic designer Quasga/Tyler Smith! I guess it's been floating around in unreleased form for a while, but this was the first I clapped my eager hands on it. Sounds like Mr. Smith has taken a cue from all that wonderful Ultimae stuff and sent us a transmission from waaaaaay, waaaaaaaaaay out. This is music to dock your starcruiser in the hull of some impossibly huge alien vessel. Good news : your offworld security clearance checked out. You are free to taxi to bay 509.

Meeo "Highlight Me Please" // Whoa, a Demon Tea release? Thought it was all about Sundance these days. Well, glad to have this album under any imprint! Think Talpa crossbred with oldschool Hallucinogen with a dash of suomi-style wonkyiness.

Tryambaka "The Color Of Time" // I remember hearing my first Tryambaka track on an older Ketuh comp and thinking, wow, "This guy will go places." I was not wrong! "The Color Of Time", if you can see past the samples (come on people -- enough with the Saw movies already), is very akin, stylistically, to Gappeq's debut LP "Speaker Seeker" in that it's fast-paced dark trance with lots of imagination. I don't do a very good job of masking my contempt for 99.9% of dark releases, but will gladly leap behind acts like Tryambaka, because the shit is genuinely catchy and musical, with an impish intelligence so often lacking elsewhere.

Ticon "2am" // See also : electro. While perhaps not as jam-packed with awesome as "Six.Zero.After" I have to hand it to Ticon for doing the retro 80s thing with panache. Opening and closing tracks are my favorite, mainly because they're the "tranciest."

Tegma "Lo-Fi Adventures" // Careful Tegma! Your new album is coming in hot on the heels of Ticon, a hard act to follow in the prog psy arena! Even so, tracks like "What The Fuzz" offer more of the "Six.Zero.After" sound I was perhaps hoping to hear more of on the aforementioned "2am." Nother nice moment : the spinny, whirly, dizzy "Twister." Girls would look nice dancing to this. Mmm...girls...

Haltya "Book of Nature" // Never, NEVER miss an Exogenic release. Not when acts like Haltya, now three studio albums strong, can serve up the forest flava like this. Sure, there's some slightly embarrassing artificial orchestra sounds here and there, but you better believe no one else is doing this Mos Eisley cantina trance better. Features collabs with Neuron Compst and Calamar Audio.

Electric Universe "Burning" // Fuck you, guitar trance haters! This stuff gives me fire! Okay, all but the crappy vocal tracks near the end, but c'moooooooooooon. "Gaijin Rocker Remix" : buttrock goa OR best commuting music ever? I'm going to go with the latter, because I've got numerous S.U.N. Project, Tim Schuldt and Dark Soho tracks emblazoned in my brain as being awesome for all eternity. Boris Blenn gets a free pass, no questions asked!

Orchid Star "Birth / re-Birth" // Any fans of Delerium out there? No? Okay, well how about Kaya Project? Good, glad we reached some middle ground there. Orchid Star is for you. It's beautifully lush, incredibly sexy, female-vocaled world music that playfully juggles many instruments and tempos while maintaining a cohesive listening experience. There's even some atmospheric d'n'b rhythms on here. And, as if that weren't enough to hit any chillout aficionado's g-spot, the likes of Kuba, Youth and Tripswitch show up on disc two to remix the album. "Same journey, different perspectives." Man, REALLY loving that soaring Tripswitch remix. Guess that means I have a g-spot.

V/A "About Time" // This third compilation from Aussie label PsyPneumatix was compiled by Jon Kenobi & Fresh, who clearly have awesome taste. Tracks have nods to progressive, goa and breaks with standouts including contributions by Telepathik (aka Rain/Phutureprimitive), Sinewave and Beatnik -- my god, ESPECIALLY the Beatnik. "Kazoodle Beach" is going down as a favorite psy-anthem. I don't need to think twice about it. It's nice, after so many years of listening to this music, to still be so affected.

V/A "Future Memories" // Here's the latest comp from Interchill, and boy is it pretty! Not just the music, a formidable roster of chillout maestros, but also the presentation : a gorgeous digipack layout on par with their last concept "Devil In The Detail." While I would say 90% of psy packaging resembles a clothes hanger abortion performed by Photoshop 3, I feel sorry for all the downloaders who miss out on physical media done this well. Carbon Based Lifeform's "Relaxation" sums it up : this is a soundtrack for taking it easy, looking within and enjoying life's ride.

V/A "Sprite" // DJ Stomas compiled this CD for Liquid & Solid Records. You're my kind of guy, DJ Stomas. You kick it off with another of Eat Static's flying saucer themed tribal tremors "Hollow Earth." From there you treat us to a full-on funfest that winds down into softer, progressive tracks by Jaia and Ticon. Jaia's "Exosphere 2007 Remix" is soooo lovely -- like what Platipus Records might have become had it continued along its initial spiritual route. Again, this is the stuff that, just when I think I'm through with this music, reminds me that there is still gold in them thar hills. Trust in trance, yo.

V/A "Halu Beats Vol. 1" // I'll buy anything with a Sentient track on it. While I wouldn't say this comp is the strongest in this category of music making ('fraid Zenon kinda corners this market), there's definitely some catchy, booty-bouncers on here. The Kalumet remix of Tegma's enchanting "A Night In Cairo" walks away with my best-of. Will always be a sucker for that Middle Eastern vibe.

V/A "No Possible Soundz Vol. 3" // Fans of 6 Dimension Soundz will find themselves scratching their heads at first. "Vol. 3? What happened to Vol. 2? Vol. 1 came out in 2006." WRONG. Apparently the 2006 comp, which incidentally featured some of the slickest psy illustration since the unfortunate passing of genial sequential artist Flowering Nose/Seth Fisher, was actually Vol. 2. Vol. 1, turns out, was a limited CDR distributed privately sometime before. Vol. 3, like its predecessor, also features radass illos -- fucked up mutant spores with cyclopian stares and insectoid appendages. It compliments this music perfectly. In fact, stop what you're doing right now and take a listen to "Shingen Takeda" by Mandalavandalz and tell me all psytrance territory has been explored.

So, yeah, tribe...what's your experience? What's flown up your flagpole recently and why? Did someone touch you in an inappropriate place? Show me on the doll.

Anybody got anything to say about Evan Bartholomew's "Caverns of Time" or Skeetaz's "Off?" I do, but I'd rather have someone else take the floor. I'm out of breath.

Your pal in trance,
Underfoot