Hoplite
Senior Member
- Jun 1, 2021
- 294 Posts
- 246 Thanked
- Age
- 28
Finally cast my votes. I must say that I quite enjoyed this year, at least from a musical perspective. Lots of great releases of the more underground psychedelic sector that I prefer most out of all the Trance sounds currently. I feel like 2024 is going to bring even more of that to the table, which I'm all for.
1. Mikkel Rev - Regrets [A Strangely Isolated Place]
(My favorite Trance-Breaks track I've heard in ages, fucking beautiful, and I'm not mincing words here. The dreamy and melodic ethereal pads, the hihats, percussion and kicks, the Platipus-like bassline. It just blends together so good, it really sounds like someone reminiscing on their regrets but in the form of a bittersweet track.)
2. Lund&Ronde - Deep Sleep [Sacred Interface]
(Am a huge fan of this Danish brother-duo, they play and create excellent music both together and separately. Heard this tune a few years ago and was tirelessly waiting for it, till I finally got it on vinyl this year. The track has everything that I like - intense, rumbling beatwork and progression, dark synths and melodies.)
3. Omformer - 10 000 OHM [Ute.Rec] (So much energy and euphoria and this one, the breakdown is wonderful and reminded me of experiencing some nice sunrises in Latvian summers.)
4. Rambal Cochet - Talpa Lionis [Spacelab]
(a straight-up early 90s Goa track made in 2023, really loved it. Reminded me of early Koxbox productions. The sounds, the progression, and the spirit of true Goa Trance is all there imo. Can't wait to hear more releases from this guy!!)
5. Alan Backdrop - Nootropic [Self-Released]
(My personal favorite off his album Insane World, intense drive, futuristic/spacy, almost dubby synth work, and musically reminds me of some nice moments and personal experiences from this year)
6. Enigma State - Lunar's Theme (E-State Remix) [Self-Released]
(Unexpected surprise, but a welcome one, from Mr. Enigma State, trying a more "underground" sound to great success. Thumping, energetic and very psychedelic, could easily see this get released on labels like Space Trax etc. Hopefully not the last E-State endeavour!)
7. Middle Aged Man With A Machine - 1994 [Self-Released]
(New discovery for me this year, first heard a track of his from a track off a V/A from Tadan's label area127, then sought out the artist on SoundCloud, discovered a variety of solid hardware-produced Oldschool Goa Trance and Psy-Trance. This track is no exception, it is straight up Goa through and through. Highly recommend checking him out)
8. Alpha Tracks - July/02 [Self-Released] (Alpha Tracks had a really good year imo, with switching his focus on releasing monthly E.P.s for the whole year, with each one having various flavors within them, from Fast Techno, to straight up Psy Trance and even slower, deeper dubbier tunes, such as the July Pack. Track no. 2, in particular, is very, very deep, dark and spacy, even old school prog-ish in ways I'd say.)
9. Oprofessionell - Search [Translusid]
(Incredibly patient track, with subtle but very hypnotic progression and build. The pads and the plucks that kick in around 4-5 minutes are just lovely. Really takes you on an "eyes closed" journey when heard live.
10. Alan Morrow - Willingness [Borderline]
(I'm usually not too crazy about Borderline releases, but this one was an undeniable highlight, really took me back to those feelings Gatecrasher CDs made (and still make) me feel. Very Push-y euphoric lead. And a proper bassline too.)
Best Artist -
Rambal Cochet. I feel like he's growing quickly as a producer and we will see a lot more good stuff in the future. But Mikkel Rev, Enigma State, and Alan Backdrop definitely deserve mentions too.
Best Album -
Mikkel Rev - The Art Of Levitation. It was a split between this and Insane World, but I feel like Mikkels album was a full-on journey with a wide variety of tracks, while Insane World was more a compilation of very good tracks.
Best Label -
Ute.Rec despite not having as many releases this year (no spring compilation cd
) I feel like musically they still had a decent year, as well as nice releases from their roster as a whole.
Best compilation -
Space Trax: Neo Tokyo.
Despite not having any tracks in my top 10, I feel like the compilation I enjoyed the most based on my personal taste was this one, as it's mostly straightforward underground Psy/Techno. That said I also enjoyed Mala Junta x Amniote, the 127VA002 off of label area127, and the Scandinavian Forest Psy comp Kon2eren from Danish label "Kontoret".
These are ones off the top of my head.
A ton of tracks I enjoyed didn't make the cut, maybe later I'll post some more personal highlights somewhere if I'm not too lazy
1. Mikkel Rev - Regrets [A Strangely Isolated Place]
(My favorite Trance-Breaks track I've heard in ages, fucking beautiful, and I'm not mincing words here. The dreamy and melodic ethereal pads, the hihats, percussion and kicks, the Platipus-like bassline. It just blends together so good, it really sounds like someone reminiscing on their regrets but in the form of a bittersweet track.)
2. Lund&Ronde - Deep Sleep [Sacred Interface]
(Am a huge fan of this Danish brother-duo, they play and create excellent music both together and separately. Heard this tune a few years ago and was tirelessly waiting for it, till I finally got it on vinyl this year. The track has everything that I like - intense, rumbling beatwork and progression, dark synths and melodies.)
3. Omformer - 10 000 OHM [Ute.Rec] (So much energy and euphoria and this one, the breakdown is wonderful and reminded me of experiencing some nice sunrises in Latvian summers.)
4. Rambal Cochet - Talpa Lionis [Spacelab]
(a straight-up early 90s Goa track made in 2023, really loved it. Reminded me of early Koxbox productions. The sounds, the progression, and the spirit of true Goa Trance is all there imo. Can't wait to hear more releases from this guy!!)
5. Alan Backdrop - Nootropic [Self-Released]
(My personal favorite off his album Insane World, intense drive, futuristic/spacy, almost dubby synth work, and musically reminds me of some nice moments and personal experiences from this year)
6. Enigma State - Lunar's Theme (E-State Remix) [Self-Released]
(Unexpected surprise, but a welcome one, from Mr. Enigma State, trying a more "underground" sound to great success. Thumping, energetic and very psychedelic, could easily see this get released on labels like Space Trax etc. Hopefully not the last E-State endeavour!)
7. Middle Aged Man With A Machine - 1994 [Self-Released]
(New discovery for me this year, first heard a track of his from a track off a V/A from Tadan's label area127, then sought out the artist on SoundCloud, discovered a variety of solid hardware-produced Oldschool Goa Trance and Psy-Trance. This track is no exception, it is straight up Goa through and through. Highly recommend checking him out)
8. Alpha Tracks - July/02 [Self-Released] (Alpha Tracks had a really good year imo, with switching his focus on releasing monthly E.P.s for the whole year, with each one having various flavors within them, from Fast Techno, to straight up Psy Trance and even slower, deeper dubbier tunes, such as the July Pack. Track no. 2, in particular, is very, very deep, dark and spacy, even old school prog-ish in ways I'd say.)
9. Oprofessionell - Search [Translusid]
(Incredibly patient track, with subtle but very hypnotic progression and build. The pads and the plucks that kick in around 4-5 minutes are just lovely. Really takes you on an "eyes closed" journey when heard live.
10. Alan Morrow - Willingness [Borderline]
(I'm usually not too crazy about Borderline releases, but this one was an undeniable highlight, really took me back to those feelings Gatecrasher CDs made (and still make) me feel. Very Push-y euphoric lead. And a proper bassline too.)
Best Artist -
Rambal Cochet. I feel like he's growing quickly as a producer and we will see a lot more good stuff in the future. But Mikkel Rev, Enigma State, and Alan Backdrop definitely deserve mentions too.
Best Album -
Mikkel Rev - The Art Of Levitation. It was a split between this and Insane World, but I feel like Mikkels album was a full-on journey with a wide variety of tracks, while Insane World was more a compilation of very good tracks.
Best Label -
Ute.Rec despite not having as many releases this year (no spring compilation cd
) I feel like musically they still had a decent year, as well as nice releases from their roster as a whole.Best compilation -
Space Trax: Neo Tokyo.
Despite not having any tracks in my top 10, I feel like the compilation I enjoyed the most based on my personal taste was this one, as it's mostly straightforward underground Psy/Techno. That said I also enjoyed Mala Junta x Amniote, the 127VA002 off of label area127, and the Scandinavian Forest Psy comp Kon2eren from Danish label "Kontoret".
These are ones off the top of my head.
A ton of tracks I enjoyed didn't make the cut, maybe later I'll post some more personal highlights somewhere if I'm not too lazy
Last edited:
, I have changed my vote now