I was surprised to find Iboga’s new compilation Digital Age available at Beatport today, as it seems to have been launched without any promotion or fanfare whatsoever. I remember reading about it a while ago, though I can’t quite remember where… at any rate, it’s a bit of an odd one. Three of the eight tracks are taken from recent Iboga releases, with Reefer Decree, Perfect Stranger, and True to Nature providing the material. FREq provided a track from 2003 entitled Monochrome; a rare early compilation appearance that may be interesting to fans. Two tracks are sourced from vinyl singles: Thomas Penton’s mix of More by Emok + Jokke off of Nanobeat, and Liquid Soul – Why (also available on the recently released Highway compilation). This leaves a pair of surprises: an act I haven’t heard of entitled Flow E Zeo & Audio Factory with a punchy melodic tune entitled Movin (later released on the Summer Collection 2006), and the progressive house monster Space Between from legendary James Monro.

Unfortunately, Iboga have failed to meet the potential of a digital release. With so many tracks already available on CD, combined with the lack of cover art, this is not an alluring production. The price is a major deterrent; Digital Age costs $15.92 (USD) in MP3 format, and there is an additional $8 surcharge for wave files. Compare that to the $14 standard rate for CDs at the major online shops! If Iboga truly wishes to shake things up in the digital era, they’re going to have to separate themselves from Beatport’s oppressive pricing scheme, and deliver a full-quality product complete with high-resolution cover art and primarily original content. I don’t blame them for skipping out on promoting the release on the major forums, in print, or even on their own homepage; it is a rather lacklustre effort suitable only for cherry picking individual tunes. Though I may level criticism against those involved, it must be understood that there have been no leaders in the field of digital releases as of yet. Far too many people still view the realm of pure information as an inferior counterpart to traditional physical releases – and who can blame them? No one has stepped up to the plate to really prove the value of going digital.

Update: as if it weren’t confusing enough already, it seems that Iboga or Beatport have pruned the compilation down to six tracks, removing the Perfect Stranger and Reefer Decree contributions.

Tech Safari are proud to present the return of AMAZONE at SPAG in Montreal downtown with Hallucinogen!

Tickets available on http://www.techsafari.ca with PAYPAL service: 32$ tx incl. or more at the door.

see you there

boom!

Tech Safari team
info@techsafari.ca
http://www.eclipsefestival.com
http://www.techsafari.ca

DJ Phink will be hosting Basilisk at Phink’s Night Out, the regular weekly Thursday night psytrance party at the Fun Haus in Toronto.

As always, there is never a cover, and there are drink specials before midnight. Be sure to mention you’re there for the psytrance event!

Through the yellow-cast fog banks that lined the Gardiner, we were led us out of the metropolis, awash in the deafening bass emanating from Jeff/Tweak’s car stereo. A quick stop in Burlington to load up more gear proved to be incredibly surreal for me; Pat/Mind Grinder lives in a house with the same plan as the one I grew up in. This comes as no surprise considering the prevalence of cookie cutter homes in the sprawling suburban neighbourhoods of the west end, and yet, I’ve never seen a home exactly like the memory of my own. From there, we made our way up to the highway and into the somnolent town of Guelph, headed towards Fractal Species. Continue reading the rest of this post »

The owner and founder of Avalanche Records and Slope Records, Sebastien Krueger is one of the most rquested producers, DJs, and live acts in the international psychedelic progressive trance scene. Under the names Bushbumpas, Tarsis, SBK, Kruger & Coyle, and others, he has released more than 130 tracks on 12 LPs and has played them in almost every corner of the world.

His tracks and remixes have been featured on almost every major psychedelic label out there, including, to name only a few: Spirit Zone, Global Trance Network, Spiral Trax, Transient, Free Form Records, AP Records, Green Ant Records, Yellow Sunshine Explosion, Leguan Records and so on. Further, big-time international DJs like John ’00′ Flemming are consistently featuring SBK in their sets.

This will be his FIRST appearance in Canada, giving Toronto the opportunity to hear his new sound, encompassing the best elements of progressive house and deep psychedelic trance, in an exclusive live set.

SBK’s more recent work includes the following impressive releases:

SBK – Trieibstoff (2001, Spirit Zone)

This is SBK’s first solo effort and the result was an instant classic
in the vein of the German minimal progressive sound. Most people in the
psy-trance scene will recall the summer hit “Morgenlatte” and all of its various remixes. This track alone was a huge influence in defining the sound of what would become the sub-genre of “morning progressive” at psychedelic festivals throughout Europe.

SBK – Hertzattacke (2002, Spirit Zone)

After the smash success of “Morgenlatte”, SBK followed it up with a slightly harder-hitting album. Still with the percussive elements of before, he upped the ante with a few morning dancefloor smashers, and kept the rest of the tracks in the percussive vein. Standout tracks that have appeared on psychedelic compilations include Retro and Demosong. This last track will get tired morning crowds on their feet in no time.

TARSIS – Evolve (2002, Nova Tech)

This album marks the beginning of SBK’s journey into sublime psychedelic progressive tapestries. Evolve has it all with groovy progressive rythms, super clean and intelligent percussion and subtle dreamy ambient accents. This really is one of those lesser appreciated early progressive gems which deserves greater attention. Standout tracks include “Lakota” and the title track “Evolve”. Most of the rest of this album is simply outstanding as well.

SBK – Borderline (2004, Avalanche Records)

With this album, SBK’s sound achieved a new level of dynamic style and composition. The tracks on “Borderline” exhibit SBK’s new confidence to blend tribal progressive house rythms with his already impressive knack for deep psychedelic landscapes. This is definitely a new and welcome sound for the psychedelic trance faithful while also attracting attention from
the other progessive genres. Standout tracks include the not-to-be-missed dance floor driver “Rubbaworm”, and the deep hypnotic “Borderline” but, as with Tarsis – Evolve, the whole album is very strong.

KRUGER & COYLE – Randy Expander (2005, Acid Casualties)

Here, SBK teamed up with Greg Coyle (of Purple Lunar fame – he wrote the banger hit track “Subtle Thrust”) to churn out another whole album in the percussive deep-yet-dancey style of “Borderline”. However, the addition of Greg Coyle to the mix appears to bring with it more blatant sex appeal and in-yer-face house elements. It only takes one glance at the cover art and track names to see this, and get a sense for where these guys are coming from with this release. Expect fun dancey house from anyone else. From these guys, it transcends house with perfect percussion and incessently hypnotic psychedelic elements. Standout tracks include the genre-crossing hypnotic hit “The Witness Remix” and the intense psycho-builder “Kiwi-Rider”.

V/A – Avalanche of Sound Vol. 4 (2005, Avalanche)

There’s lots of great tracks here, particularly the fresh and groovy SBK – Miles and More.

V/A – Deep Proggy Choons vol. 1 (2005, Slope)

This is the first compilation released on SBK’s new progressive house sub-label Slope, which also features SBK’s brother making his own mark with a recent release and a bunch of excellent remixes under the moniker Philo. Check out the deep funky psychedelic journeys on tracks like SBK – Deep Down Inside and Kruger & Coyle – Love Juice.

We encourage everyone to take the time to get to know SBK’s music to make the experience that much better on May 13th.

This event will also feature the UV artwork of Toronto’s own Neil Gibson. Come see why Neil has joined the global trance jet set, having recently shown his work at parties in Europe and New York City.

In addition, there will be a number of live performers and dancers giving the party a unique festival-like atmosphere.

Admission is $20 before 1 a.m. and $25 after.

We look forward to seeing all the familiar faces and hopefully a few new ones as well. Mark your calendars and spread the word…

Well wishes,

The Cosmic Babies crew

http://www.avalanch-records.com
http://www.kruegerandcoyle.com
http://www.neilgibson.ca
http://www.cosmicbabies.ca