Only A Dream, A Dream of A Madness and of Darkness
Absolut Shit Record's first event was a benefit for the SIMS Foundation, and nonprofit organization, an Austin group that provides access and financial support for mental health and addiction recovery to Austin music professionals and their family members.
Demente also featured creator and founder of Absolut Shit Records, Herbert Quain! Herbert Quain has been in the psytrance scene as long as I can remember; I met him throwing an event in his living room, over 13 years ago! Impeccable taste in music, which made for quite the slamming set at Demente.
We also had musical support from Nivlem with FYB and Samana Records! Nivlem's set sounded great and was the perfect start to the night.
Visual artwork was provided by the talented Tony and Caleb from Prismatic Productions, and we had the most amazing sculpture art on stage by Haven Meadows. With both creative productions in collaboration with the music, the ScratchHouse became a unique beast that night unlike their regular nights!
For more music samples and images from Demente, head to our gallery and events page. We look to host more events in the future, so keep posted here on our website for updates!
Our newest EP is another free download, and has some fantastic sounding tracks by Datakult,Yoshua E.M., Oroboro, and Anficlavis. Listen to the album here: https://asrecords.bandcamp.com/album/ep-6.
As 2017 draws to end, I find myself thinking about what an AWESOME year it's been for psytrance. Between the music being released, parties that are happening, and creative ideas that are circulating, there's an excitement that I haven't felt since around 2003-2005. This year has been a powerful reminder of why I fell in love with psytrance in the first place.
2017 was full of uncategorizable tracks that were danceable yet strange, dark yet melodic, and raw but powerful. Tracks ignored subgenre restrictions and many artists produced at a wide range of bpms. I could go on and on about my favorite tracks and releases, but instead I'll highlight five tracks that grabbed my attention in 2017: Anficlavis - LunaScorpio
This track is contained on the incredible album "Remembering," which features tracks by three projects from the same Switzlerland-based duo: Argot Digamma, Anficlavis, and Sectio Aurea. The release is a reminder that artist albums at their best cover a wide range of tempos and sounds, taking the listener on a journey that develops and changes over the course of the album. This track stands out because it's at a classic proggy tempo and features classic (non-psy) trance sounds that come in starting at 4:18. Between that and the groovy baseline, in the hands of a lesser artist these elements would result in cheese. Instead it's combined with a phenomenal sense of pacing and sound design, making for an intensely psychedelic listening experience.
Walpurgisnacht Projekt - No Dream Sequence
Mexico-based duo Walpurgisnacht Projekt's track No Dream Sequence was released on on the terrific compilation Paradelika Records compilation The Last Trip 30. Superficially it contains many structural elements of traditional darkpsy, but with Walpurgisnacht Projekt's trademark killer sound design and baselines. But what makes this track special is the beautiful melody that bookends the track. It's the perfect melody-not dark, not euphoric, just right. Incredible at home and on the dance floor.
Tzu-Jan - The Day We Met in Shaman's Garden
Another duo (I'm sensing a pattern here) Austria-based Tzu-Jan self-released an EP this year that was definitely a highlight of 2017 for me. This track is actually not my favorite from that release. That would be their Baudelaire-referencing, Asa Chang & Junray sampling masterpiece Le Fleurs du Mal, my favorite track of 2017. That one is only available on the EP. Fortunately, the title track is available online and it's fantastic as well. For many years, a criticism of psytrance I've heard from followers of other genres is that psytrance lacks low end. The Tzu-Jan project does not have that issue. Clean production with awesome sound design and deep bass makes their music stand out in the best way possible.
Hutti and Uttu - The Crack of Thunder
Traditional forest psy is a subgenre I've largely drifted away from over the last few years. Hearing this track that sits comfortably within the forest psy tradition makes me want to delve back into that style. Pretty much forest psy at its best, with a wicked and distinct melody thrown in to give this track a little something special. It was released on Yggdrasil Record's triple-CD release of foresty downtempo and trance Good Vibrations.
Ankur - Nonno vs G2
Ankur's album Koinophobia blew me away. It's fairly traditional psytrance in its core elements, but still creates a unique sound by drawing on a variety of influences. One of the great things about the album is that each track is distinct. Nonno vs. G2 reminds me of a period of psytrance before full-on, darkpsy, and prog became the three primary categories people spoke of, and artists were making what was simply called "psytrance." Plus there's some techno aspects to my ears, which is always a plus. What's especially exciting and forward-thinking is that Ankur will be releasing most or all of the tracks as stems for people to remix, and will be releasing the three tracks made in Ableton as project files, creating an amazing educational opportunity and potential for remixes. It's hugely inspiring to see artists helping push the genre forward, and I hope we all work together in this spirit in 2018!
What were your favorites in 2017? What were you blown away by that was unexpected? What was most nostalgic? Discuss your thoughts with us in our forum here: absolutshitrecords.com/forum/music-reviews/2017-music-review-now-up-on-our-blog, and keep posted here on our blog for all of the Absolut Shit upcoming releases, as well as information on releases from around the globe!
