I recently wrote about top tens and hinted that I might get back into the practice. After all, compiling and publishing a top ten chart is an easy way to recommend music, something we all like to do. Well, here is the first set of tracks I have compiled–ten dark thrillers to light up the night, with links to the original releases they have been taken from:

Alter Egon & Loke – Spectral Ghost [Yggdrasil Records]
CPC – Lizard Metanoya [No Comment Records]
Derango – Eh Ehh Ehhh [Mighty Quinn Records]
Electrypnose – Make Or Quake [Digital Psionics]
EvsY – Don’t Dust My Cosmos [Sanaton Records]
Ghreg On Earth – Milk Of The Umbra [Helicon Sound System]
Para Halu – Hara Palu [Kagdila Records]
Polyphonia – Floating Away [Dark Prisma Records]
Procs – All Around Us [Manic Dragon Records]
Tutankhamon 9000 – A Bulk Of Hulks [Space Boogie Productions]

Photo credit: Shyald.

Shakti Collective is proud to invite you to a special spooky Halloween stomping event. Fear not the special line up that we have prepared you.

DJ JEREMY TAPWATR
Attitude Recordings / Montréal – DEBUT LIVE SET+DJ SET!!!

Born in Toronto Canada and now residing in Montreal, Tapwatr is the production project of long-time dj Jeremy Reid aka Jeremy R. Reminiscent of his original love of tech-trance, Tapwatr is churning out a new and unique sound that combines the drive and power of this classic style with the slower bpms and grooves influencing dancefloors today. With his productions being signed on many labels, 2008 is a marker year for this new project.
As a dj, Jeremy has travelled the globe playing in clubs and festivals along side some of the biggest names in the scene. During his eight plus years of experience, he has become very versatile with a reputation for tight mixing and steady hypnotic flow. Expect unique and unforgettable live set!

NEXUS 7
Substance Recordings / Toronto

The Nexus7 is Steve Chan, a performer, producer and remixer based out of Toronto. After spending a number of years in the U.K., Steve was inspired by live PA performers such as Lab4, K90, Nu Idol, and Captain Tinrib to begin to create what has become The Nexus7. The Nexus7 is described on Ektoplazm.com as “a fresh act rising from the underground featuring a tight blend of trance styles, both hard and psychedelic”. Over the past year, The Nexus7 live show has had great success, playing at events by Shakti Collective, Braincell ProductionsGlobal, Ektoplazm, at Darkrave, Outworld Resistance, and with Bizune Audio at the Tokyo CyberMonster Party2. Each one hour, continuous set has its own flavour. The show is in a constant state of evolution, as Steve is always remixing, writing and adding new material to the set. With an array of synths played and tweaked, and with real-time control over a multitude of parameters, each performance becomes a unique experience.

SHANKAR
Tribal Vision Records, Shakti Collective / Toronto

PLAN 2 B
Shakti Collective / Toronto

RUDEE
Buzzin.to

Deco & Visuals by:

Julien Seyer – MTL
Neuromantix Collective
Ivygrrl

Bring your friends, costumes and lots of smiles!

Saturday November 1st, 2008
@ The Basement – 178 Bathurst St., Toronto

10pm – 5am

Admission: $15 only @ the door

ROAR
+19

Planet B.E.N. (Ben Wierzoch) composed Ant Invasion in 1993, years before the widespread popularization of Goa trance. This enduring masterpiece of psychedelic electronics predates the vast majority of classics we commonly associate with the genre. Unfortunately, its place in history is often overlooked as it wasn’t released until 1996, when the movement was already in full swing. With a bit of research, it is now possible to reassemble the lost history of this highly influential track.

Ben began DJing electronic dance music at various Hamburg clubs in 1990, reputedly spinning early German trance and hard techno. Soon thereafter, he was initiated into the emerging psychedelic trance scene after being invited to perform at the very first VooV Experience, an important early trance festival held just outside of Hamburg in 1992.

Ant Invasion was originally written after Ben returned from the second VooV. Inspired by the sights and sounds of the event, Ben set to work in his studio under the influence of LSD. Encoding the specific visual quality of this drug into audio form is quite challenging but Ben managed it with great skill. The result is an astounding piece of music that vividly stimulates the imagination without any specific need for chemical augmentation.

Ant Invasion remained under wraps for several years while Ben completed the rest of the material for Trippy Future Garden, which was eventually released on the obscure and poorly-distributed Polytox Records in 1996, an obscure German imprint that was not widely distributed. As such, Ant Invasion remained largely unknown to global audiences until the legendary Blue Room Released licensed it for release on the Made On Earth compilation in 1997. Although this particular compilation was met with a lukewarm reaction from BRR fans, it introduced thousands of listeners to the exceptional sound of Planet B.E.N.

In the decade that followed its release, Ant Invasion has accumulated an immense following–it is often reverently cited as of the very finest examples of the Goa trance genre. For modern listeners interested in purchasing it on CD, it is perhaps most accessible as part of Ben’s third studio album, Test, which includes a re-release of the entire Trippy Future Garden album. Ant Invasion can also be purchased online from many of the leading digital download shops; look for it wherever you find music from Planet B.E.N. Records.

Listen to Ant Invasion (Flash required):

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

This is the third in a series of articles designed to profile the songs that shaped psychedelic trance history. The streaming MP3 is provided with permission from Planet B.E.N..

This Hallow’s Eve, Freak Addiction Krew and Tundra Records present a masquerade party featuring for their first ever Ottawa appearances:

Ekoplex – (Toronto) Live P.A.
DJ Basilisk – (Toronto) DJ set

Locals:

Data Decay – (Ottawa)
FAK

Clone – (Ottawa)
Tundra/Materia Rec

Visual Projections by:

Brainwerx
Tundra Rec

Warning: blacklight driven atmosphere.. you may want to costume accordingly!

@ Cafe Eri. 953 Somerset St. West and Preston (Take #2 or 3 bus)

Doors open 9pm-2:30am

19+ event ROAR in effect. Come to contribute, not consume!
Cover: $7 with costume, $10 without

This is also Mimsey Demon’s Birthday, so come on out and have a brew and congratulate the birthday boy!

An extra special thank you goes out to Hypgnosis for his contribution of graphics for the flyer design!

You can also find this event on Facebook, XVI, and Rave.ca.

Jikkenteki (Rennis Buchner) is an American producer and label owner based in Akita, Japan, since 2004. He operates PAR-2 Productions, an underground psytrance label with a distinctly noncommercial approach.

The history of the Jikkenteki project goes back to 1999, the year in which Rennis, a formally trained musician, cobbled together a basic setup from low-end gear, primarily for use in a live performance context. Lacking even a computer sequencer until 2001, he was forced by technical constraints to innovate and improvise. Even after systematically upgrading his equipment and techniques in the years that followed, the Jikkenteki sound retains an undeniable sense of free-flowing spontaneity, a holdover from the early days of on-the-fly experimentation.

In crafting his original sound, Jikkenteki draws upon disparate elements of the dark, minimal, and full-on movements that have dominated psytrance over the course of the last decade, but no influence has been stronger than that of mid-nineties Goa trance. Rather than simply recreate and imitate the old school masters, Jikkenteki incorporates the essence of golden age Goa trance magic into his own personal production style.

Jikkenteki has been very active in releasing music since 2005. Aside from his work compiling and appearing on A Walk Through Neptune’s Garden and Mainspring Motion, he has found time to release a double-CD album of trance and downtempo music, The Long Walk Home, as well as the highly successful Flights Of Infinity. Jikkenteki is now taking a break from writing music after the release of his third studio album, The Beginning Is At The End, in 2009.