I am very happy to announce that the entire Digital Diamonds back catalogue is now available from Ektoplazm in lossless FLAC and WAV format. If you enjoy a little techno with your trance be sure to check out the seven EPs they have released thus far; there are some real gems in the lot!

Mark your calendars; the inaugural Gelatinous Beats event has been rescheduled and relocated! Originally planned as a Hallowe’en event in Guelph, Cerebral Vortex will now take place on November 14th in Toronto to accommodate an extended set by Ocelot at the DLM dance studio. Ocelot is a charismatic figure in the psychedelic underground; this is a great opportunity to hear some bleeding edge material from one of the genre’s most idiosyncratic producers.

I will also be performing at this event as the promoters have asked me to prepare a special old school Goa trance set for the morning hours. Expect to hear a dazzling assortment of classics from Psychopod, Dimension 5, Transwave, Pleiadians, Koxbox, Prana, and other artists from the golden age (1994 to 1999). If anyone has any special requests I’ll see if I can incorporate them into my set! Be sure to stick around…

I would like to present a new project I have been working on; a vast archive of (mostly psytrance) releases that I personally recommend: DJ Basilisk’s Essential Selections. Please read the introduction; it explains a lot about my intentions. In a nutshell, this little project provides a “big picture” overview of psytrance history as told by the releases themselves and according to my personal taste. It isn’t meant to be an authoritative guide… but given the scope, it should provide some insight into how the music has changed over time, among other things. Drop in and have a look!

The term progressive refers to a number of different aspects of electronic dance music. In a technical sense, the word progressive suggests deep rhythms, slow-burning arrangements, hazy atmospheres, and a subtle approach to composition. Progressive can also mean cutting edge, fashionable, or “forward thinking.” It is a slippery concept, always changing. I tend to fall back on the more technical definition of the word progressive—a consequence, perhaps, of paying little attention to passing dance floor fashions. The whole DJ world is so concerned with immediacy, gaining access to unreleased music, and caning the hell out of hot tracks before anyone else does—but this is not a game I play. I prefer to enjoy quality music and share my findings with others who might be interested. On that note, I have compiled a list of twenty progressive tunes that have been in heavy rotation here at Ektoplazm. These selections range from the deeper end of psytrance to progressive house and minimal techno territory, or whatever you want to call it. To me, this is progressive music—and it is much more fun to blend it all together rather than separate the strains. Without further ado, here are my recommendations for October (with links to release information on Discogs):

Behind Blue Eyes & Krusseldorf – The World Is Our Oyster [Iboga Records]
Duca – Snowman [Tribal Vision Records]
Fuzzion – Free Tibet [Boshke Beats]
Gregor Tresher – A Thousand Nights (Extrawelt Remix) [Great Stuff Recordings]
Human Traffic – Laughing Guys With Tits (Lish Remix) [Blue Tunes Recordings]
Kasey Taylor – Trapped (Dousk Remix) [Iboga Records]
Kino Oko – Remedy Express [Tribal Vision Records]
La Baaz – Trinity [Echoes Records]
Midi Miliz – Phenomena (Atmos Remix) [Horns & Hoofs]
Morax – Out Of The Blue (Perfect Stranger Remix) [Spiral Trax]
Nano Mechanic – Encounter [Flow Records]
Özgür Can – The Distance (AGS Remix) [Save Me Records]
Pion – Busted [Ultra Groove Records]
Psysex – Birth Of A Pitched Wave [HOMmega Productions]
Robert Babicz – Dark Flower (Joris Voorn’s Magnolia Remix) [Audiomatique Recordings]
RPO vs David Weed – Plovdiv [Open Records]
Tegma – What Time Is Up? (A Tribute To The KLF) [Tribal Vision Records]
True Lies – Whisper (Fiord Remix) [Blue Tunes Recordings]
X-Dream – Building No. 7 [Boshke Beats]
Zen Mechanics – Ground Control V2 [Neurobiotic Records]

Photo credit: Obojdite.

I designed this flyer back in July to promote Ektoplazm at the Eclipse festival in Quebec. I had 500 copies printed and ended up distributing them all, mainly to exhausted revellers waiting for the shuttle bus out of the Bonnet Rouge campsite. Although I have not traditionally enjoyed the whole process of promoting stuff in person, handing out those flyers was a lot of fun. I was fortunate enough to meet a lot of people that already use the site regularly and heard a good deal of feedback from people about what they liked about the site and the whole concept of what Ektoplazm is about. That sort of information is always very valuable and I really appreciate receiving it.

I am now posting up the source files for these flyers just in case anyone out there would like to print up a few, either for your own use or to promote the site wherever you are. Here are the full-size images for high-quality printing, although you might need to convert to CMYK first: front (PSD/JPG) and back (PSD/JPG). I have also cut a few smaller images for use on the web: front and back. Lastly, if you like the image on the front, I have a version that is only 300 pixels wide available here.

If you need any other promotional materials, visit this page.

P.S. “flyer” is the Canadian spelling of “flier” in case you were wondering. Firefox lies!