HARVEST FESTIVAL: Autumn Equinox Arts and Music Celebration
September 19th – 21st, 2008
harvestfestival.org

Come celebrate the changing colors of fall by the fire, on the dance floor and under the stars at Midlothian Castle – the rolling hills, waters, forest and home of artist Peter Camani and his amazing sculptures.

The Performers

ITD
[*]JUNIOR BOYS – DJ SET
[*]METALOGIC – LIVE
[*]THE .GATES FOUNDATION – LIVE
[*]NOAH PRED
[*]ERIC DOWNER
[*]MIKE GIBBS
[*]FABIO PALERMO
[*]HALI
[*]IAN GUTHRIE
[*]DALIA
[*]CRYOGENIC

ITP
[*]KOMODO – LIVE
[*]DUNKELBUNT
[*]ANDREW McCALLUM
[*]FRIENDLYNESS
[*]SHEN
[*]ALAN BEST
[*]CHOCOLATE & PATRICK ROOTS
[*]MEDICINEMAN
[*]AIA
[*]DON “RED LION” WILSON
[*]ROLLIN CASH
[*]RICHARD WINDEYER

MPG
[*]EKOPLEX – LIVE
[*]REPEAT CUSTOMER – LIVE
[*]YANN
[*]JEREMY TAPWATR
[*]MACHINELF vs RON HAVOC
[*]SHANKAR
[*]SKETI
[*]PLAN 2B
[*]JAREK
[*]IVYGRRL – VJ
[*]WUZZLE – VJ
[*]ORIGINAL PLASTIC – VJ
[*]TOMASZ CIESLA – Deco

Features

Lunacy Cabaret – Annual Harvest Lunacy Cabaret by Zero Gravity Circus
The Good Ol’ Boys’ – Live Bluegrass

Location

Midlothian Castle, Burk’s Falls Ontario

Friday Camping Option

Relax by the Screaming Heads Bonfire and unwind for a restful night with no music
and enjoy a full day Saturday exploring the land and surrounding area before the big
show takes hold.

Membership

Saturday : $55 + CAN FOOD DONATION
Friday + Saturday : $70 + CAN FOOD DONATION

TORONTO
[*]Shanti Baba (546 Queen W)
[*]Moog / Slinky Records (442 Queen W)
[*]Play De Record (357A Yonge)
[*]Studio Gang (112 Ossington)

KITCHENER
[*]Shakedown Street (276 King W)

HAMILTON
[*]Cottage 13 (224 King W)

OSHAWA
[*]Earthtones (16 Simcoe S)

PETERBOROUGH
[*]The Spill Coffee Bar (414 George N)

Gates Open
Friday 4pm to 12am / Saturday from 2pm on

Contact

info@harvestfestival.org

Web Links

harvestfestival.org

ABSOLUTELY 100% NO GLASS! LEAVE NO TRACE!

Operating a successful psytrance label in today’s market is not an easy thing. Among many other business realities, labels must contend with the widespread availability of illegal downloads–which are often cited as the primary cause for slumping sales figures. But one could not simply say that the psytrance industry is in trouble because people are downloading music illegally–that would be a gross oversimplification. I would argue that psytrance labels have been slow to adapt to changing listener habits. Many people no longer use CDs or other physical media–they have gone completely digital. Are psytrance labels catering to this emerging marketplace? In order to assess the situation I have performed an informal survey to find out how many new CD releases are also available for purchase from some of the major digital download shops. Continue reading the rest of this post »

System 7 made a huge comeback with the release of Phoenix earlier this year. They also came out with a great video made for an edit of Hinotori, the first song on the CD. From their web site:

A lot of time and a lot of love went into this 21st century manga animation, based on Tezuka Osamu’s original image of the mythical bird. Maximum respect to the animation team Mu-°C Magic. Hinotori – literally “Bird of Fire” – is the Japanese title of Tezuka’s groundbreaking series of manga graphic novels about the legend of the Phoenix. When intervening in human events Hinotori speaks with a magical telepathic voice directly into peoples’ minds. It is our wish to celebrate the power, the magical voice and the emotion of the Phoenix in music.

Here is the video (Flash required):

Cytopia is the leading digital download shop devoted exclusively to psychedelic trance. Unlike some of the larger operations out there, Cytopia is a genuinely underground business. Read their about page to get a feel for their ideology. They provide equal exposure for big names and new producers alike, fostering the development of up-and-coming talent through their in-house label, various contests, and other initiatives.

For the end-user, Cytopia is among the more inexpensive download shops around (although their sliding scale prices may confuse some first-timers). Payment is processed via banked credits with significant discounts available when you purchase in bulk. Full-length previews are available so you always know what you’re paying for. Of course, CD-quality downloads are readily available–I wouldn’t be posting this if there weren’t!

Cytopia’s ever-expanding catalogue features music from labels like Iboga, Digital Structures, Trishula, Triplag, D-A-R-K, VaporVent, PAR-2, Dacru, Shivlink, and MindFunk. It is too bad that more labels have not signed up as the relatively sparse selection is the site’s main drawback. This is particularly inexplicable given that Cytopia offers some of the best rates in the industry (up to 70% of net earnings). The next time you hear a label owner complaining about lost sales check and see if they’ve bothered to put their catalogue online. If not, tell them to get a move on–absolutely every psytrance label out there should sign up with this service. Continue reading the rest of this post »

This excellent article by Björn Hartmann is required reading for anyone interested in the ideology behind Ektoplazm and the free music movement in general. Hartmann delves into the history of EDM netlabels and explores what motivates artists to release their creations under the Creative Commons licensing regime. I was particularly moved by a passage that examines why it is that so many people devote themselves to niche genres despite the economic hardships involved:

There is the fervor driving the individual to create, and beyond that, a rich network of social interaction to partake in. If one looks at music not as a business, but as a communication medium, a more valuable social payoff comes into sight. It is the function of music as a universal connector, a topic for community building, a nexus for artistic exchange and creative experimentation that marks its true value. Turning away from unaccommodating commercial networks, a number of artists realized this potential and moved towards its realization online, avoiding the pitfall of merely replicating the restrictive brick-and-mortar model of music distribution in the digital domain.

Hartmann later identifies four major reasons why so many netlabels have adopted Creative Commons licensing. Releasing music for free is great promotion, liberates the creator from the economic pressures associated with traditional distribution systems, and fosters community building “based on respect and trust rather than intimidation and litigation.” The last point is somewhat subtle: music released under the Creative Commons is “future-proof”; even if the content owner disappears, the availability of a single copy of a work ensures its longevity in the collective sphere of human affairs. This means that–barring some unforeseen catastrophe–what we do here is forever.