Eallra Hālgena ǣfen (or, a spooky Halloween mix)

Originally assembled for my good friend James, I feel this mix to be quite appropriate for a Halloween Goat Ranch post.

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Statistics
Title:  Spoooky!
Length: 80:48
Size:   127MB
Format: MP3 (LAME v3.98.2, -V2 –vbr-new)

Tracklist
01 Coma – Eighth Hole [TRANR613CD]
02 Nucleus – Dark Horse [ATOM004]
03 Hallucinogen – Thugs In Tye Dye [BFLT37]
04 Semsis – Basso Profundo [MD002]
05 Darshan– Beast [AFR026]
06 Cydonia – The Kiddy [BR061]
07 Semsis – Sound Vandal [BFLCD37]
08 Battle of the Future Buddhas – Domestic Bliss [KAV02]
09 Deflo – Monomaniac [MPLP10]
10 Venom vs. Bus – Bugged (Insanity Pepper Mix) [AFR037]
11 XIS – Shadows & Flashes [MPLP14]
12 Tortured Brain – Electroencephalotramme [ATOM001LP]

About
Moving through a few years and styles, yet remaining predominantly within the realm of older Goa trance (especially the first half) this one presents some of the darker tracks of the genre together in one package. This is before the advent of today’s “dark psy”, or “trauma trance”, as it’s sometimes called. It’s a dark and tweaky mix, sometimes gooey (Nucleus) and sometimes techy (Venom vs. Bus), and might be something you’d hear at 2AM out in the forest back in the day.

Enjoy, everyone, and be safe out there – weird and scary stuff happens on Halloween!

Koxopod!

In the first edition of the Audio Dictionary For Music Geeks, the entry for “psychedelic trance” contains only one word: Koxbox. In the second edition they clarified things a bit by adding another: Psychopod.

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Statistics
Title:  Koxopod!
Length: 84:27
Size:   131MB
Format: MP3 (LAME v??? –preset standard)

Tracklist
01 Psychopod – Out Of Your Mind [TIPCDS026]
02 Koxbox – Too Pure [BR030CD]
03 Psychopod – Dreampod [TIPCD14]
04 Koxbox – Fuel On [TIPCD04]
05 Psychopod – Psychopod [TIPLP08]
06 Koxbox – Stratosfear [BR013CD]
07 Koxbox – Life Is… (Master mix) [BR055CD]
08 Psychopod – Universal Mind [TIPCDS026]
09 Koxbox – D. M. Turner [ORCD54234]
10 Psychopod – Friagram [TIPCDS026]

About
When everyone else was busy slathering their tracks with eastern minor scales and layers of melodic leads, these Danes were constructing some of the tweakiest, wickedly-intricate psychedelic spaghetti soup trance ever to be created. Back in ‘97 when I first heard Dragon Tales, it was so different from anything else I was listening to at the time – so “plinky ploinky” – that I honestly didn’t care for it. This is because my brain was unprepared for the psychedelic syrup tsunami that mid-late nineties Koxbox unleashed upon my feeble mind. In certain conditions, this music has been known to facilitate human-to-centipede metamorphosis – it is not for the beginner. It is music that conjures crystalline eels writhing in multi-hued obsidian love-goo at the edge of the event horizon. Yes, the event horizon. You know the one.

This is one of my older mixes but remains one of my favorites. Although I’ve likely listened to each of the tracks in this mix a couple of hundred times a piece, their intricacy continues to allow for the discovery of hidden hallows in the insectoid tunnels of the mind mine. Koxbox were able to dump layer upon layer of “weird noises” over one another, each of which compliments the other without muddying the audial landscape. It’s not dark, it’s not uplifting, it just is. And it kicks ass.

Happy swimming!

Practus Cactus

Hello from Nuevo Mexico! Somehow “new mix coming soon” turned into 5 months…whoopsies.

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Statistics
Title:  Practus Cactus
Length: 74:13
Size:   112MB
Format: MP3 (LAME 3.98.2 -V2)

Tracklist
01 Necton – Slowmotion
02 Deedrah – Claro!
03 Wizzy Noise – Error
04 Lube – Frogrock
05 Psychonaut – Brainshaker
06 Igneus Sauria – Next
07 Process – Funktion Junktion
08 Mumbo Jumbo – Techno Boom Boom
09 Jammy Wizard – AngstRom Dispidooshan
10 Tristan – Martian Arts
11 Ocelot – Don’t Freak Out

Moving half-way across the country has been quite an experience and my normal routine was blown to bits by doing so (a welcomed happenstance). Thus, it’s taken me quite awhile to finally get my shit together with regards to getting back to DJing and posting mixes.

Here we have a bit of music that I call a “practice mix.” Although I use Mixmeister for DJing, a five month break even when using software has shown me to have gotten a bit rusty. The tracks in this mix range from 134 to 146 BPM, and vary greatly in style. I grabbed tracks from all over the place all willy-nilly style; there’s some really old stuff and some newer stuff, minimal deep stuff and maximal tweaky stuff. (read: no flow!)

This one’s a brain-challenger with all the switching around, and there are some ridiculously psychedelic tracks included. I’m not sure if this mix will stand the test of time or slip to the back of the stack due to lack of flow or theme, but I’d be interested to hear what ya’ll think. It’s definitely not in line with the style of the mixes up on the Goat Ranch so far, so give ‘er a whirl if you’re in the mood for something different.

ps. Special thanks to A & P for the cactus pic!

New mix coming soon!

Hi all,

Just wanted to drop a quick note to say that the Goat Ranch is still alive and kicking! My apologies for the extended break from new-mix-posting; my wife and I have been busy relocating ourselves across the country from rainy Seattle to sunny (albeit a tad windy at the moment) New Mexico, and this has been taking 100% of our time.

I hope to have my office/studio setup in our new place by the end of the weekend, and should have something new out to you all early next week.

Take care, hope everyone is doing well out there in goatranch land!

Etnica, Pleiadians, & Crop Circles – The Singles Volume 1

How much old-school Etnica is too much? What about Pleiadians? Crop Circles? Is there a “too much” when we’re talking about these acts?

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Statistics
Title:  Etnica, Pleiadians, & Crop Circles – The Singles Vol. 1
Length: 79:18
Size:   127MB
Format: MP3 (LAME 3.98.2 –preset fast standard)

Tracklist
01 Pleiadians – Zeta Reticuli (Lazy Spiral Remix) [AFRCD1]
02 Pleiadians – Time Dilation [MPCD3]
03 Etnica – Trip Tonite (Remix) [MDMT2001]
04 Crop Circles – Full Mental Jackpot (Pleiadians Remix) [TITCD14]
05 Etnica – Tribute [BR010]
06 Etnica – Vimana [BR027]
07 Etnica – Nice Toy [2110-2]
08 Crop Circles- Lunar Civilization [AURAEP003]
09 Pleiadians – Headspin [BFLT50]

About
While I admit that I’m an Etnica fanboy of the highest order, even I think we might be bordering on Etnica-overload here considering the content of the last two mixes. However, the timing of my finally obtaining the last piece of this mix in CDA quality – and the need for a new mix on the Goat Ranch – presents us with this onslaught of melodic intricacy and lucsciously-layered, gooey Goa goodness that is Etnica, Pleiadians, and Crop Circles.

While not consisting totally of “singles” in the strictest sense, this mix represents what I consider to be some of the highest-of-highpoints in the Italians’ vast discography as Etnica, Pleiadians, and Crop Circles. Only one of the tracks, Headspin, resides on a full-length album (Family of Light) in the form in which it appears here (it was first released on a 12″, however). The rest were released only on 12″ vinyl singles, CD singles, or compilations, and most often some combination thereof.

For those of you unfamiliar with these guys, you are in for a treat! For while oft-imitated, not many artists before or since have been able to attain the level of melodic complexity of these tracks, all the while somehow remaining quite outside the “cheese zone”. Of course, your mileage may vary on this last point.

Enjoy the mix. I know it’s tough, but someone’s gotta do it.

ps. If you are tiring of all this melodic stuff, stay tuned for the next Goat Ranch installment, which I promise will be a departure from the trend that’s been established thus far. I’m working on putting together a set of tracks for the next mix that should quite effectively counteract that which has appeared before. RAWK!

Now and Then, Part 2 (Then)

And now, then. A companion to “Now & Then Part 1″, we have here the original versions of each track dropped into a mix for your evaluation.

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Statistics
Title:  Now & Then, Part 2: Then
Length: 79:27
Size:   120MB
Format: MP3 (LAME 3.97.1 –preset standard)

Tracklist
01 Etnica – Trip Tonite [BR014CD]
02 Transwave – Land Of Freedom [SUB4809.2]
03 Astral Projection – Aurora Borealis [2041-2]
04 Chakra & Edi Mis – X-File [KRBCD001]
05 The Infinity Project – Stimuli [TIPCD1]
06 Blue Planet Corporation – Alidade [AFRCD17]
07 Psychaos – Chaos To Order [TRA039]
08 Koxbox – Electronic Brainwash [BR058CD]
09 Etnica – Vimana [BR027]
10 Spectral – Kundalini [BR004]
11 Crop Circles – Lunar Civilization [AURAEP003]

About
Yes, ideally the track order in this mix would’ve exactly matched that of Part 1, though due to some wildly differing BPMs between a few of the originals and their remixes, that would’ve just plain sounded bad. Also, I had to get a bit creative on one of the mixes; those of you who know these tracks like the back of your hand will no doubt catch it – hopefully it works as “interesting”, not jolting.

Well, whaddya think? Remixes or originals?

Enjoy, please!

Now and Then, Part 1 (Now)

This week’s mix – and the first of the New Year! – is the first in a two-part series entitled Now & Then; this being the “Now” part. The mix consists entirely of modern-day remixes of classic Goa trance tracks, and while some of the originals of these tracks are more “classic” than others, each has stood the test of time and they have as such warranted remixes even 10-12 years later.

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Statistics
Title:  Now & Then, Part 1
Length: 77:31
Size:   127MB
Format: MP3 (LAME 3.98.2 –preset fast standard)

Tracklist
01 The Infinity Project – Stimuli (Hallucinogen remix) [TIPWCD35]
02 Blue Planet Corporation – Alidade (Wizzy Noise remix) [CFRCD15]
03 Chakra & Edi Mis – X-File (Species remix) [ET-015]
04 Psychaos – Chaos To Order (Joti Sidhu remix) [NBRCD013]
05 Etnica – Trip Tonite (Fractal Glider remix) [BOOMCD019]
06 Astral Projection – Aurora Borealis (Deedrah remix) [TRANR650CD]
07 Psychopod – Frankie’s Farm (GMS remix) [SPUNCD02]
08 Etnica – Vimana (Back 2 Old School Mix By Dickster) [ET-017]
09 Crop Circles – Lunar Civilization (Filteria’s Higher remix) [SUNCD04]
10 Spectral – Kundalini (GMS remix) [SPUNCD006]
11 Deedrah – Land Of Freedom (2001 remix) [HADSHCD12]

About
It’s always a bit more difficult for me to put together a “planned” mix, it seems, but I wanted to pick tracks that were all classics and all remixed by those other than the original producer. In this I failed on Transwave’s “Land Of Freedom”, of which Deedrah was a member, and Psychaos’ “Chaos To Order”, remixed by Joti himself. As for repeats, I ended up with two GMS- and two Deedrah-remixed tracks, but wanted to stick with them because I think they’re great remixes. To note, “Frankie’s Farm” is actually a remix of the Koxbox track “Electric Brainwash”, found on their Dragon Tales album.

Do these remixes update good, yet dated tracks and make them even better? Or are they blasphemous abominations, defiling the holy originals and killing their cosmic trance dance spirit? I leave this to you, the listener, to decide!

Please, for the love of all that is right and good in the world, enjoy the mix.

Mixed Nuts, No Peanuts

Better late than never, here’s last Thursday’s mix almost one week after it should’ve been posted! But, hey, we had a Christmas holiday in there, so I’m hoping you can forgive me.

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Statistics
Title:  Mixed Nuts, No Peanuts
Length: 72:40
Size:   104MB
Format: MP3 (–preset standard)

Tracklist
01 Montauk P – About Montauk [BR073CD]
02 Space Tribe – Atomic Pow Wow [SPZN017]
03 Planet B.E.N. – Welcome to the Future [PR0014CL]
04 Mindfield – Let’s Get Stoned and Watch the Freaks [PTM11]
05 Psy Phy Six – Quirly Bazar [BTM106]
06 Biot – Sol Stream [BTM104]
07 Orichalcum & The Deviant – The Curse of Uqbhar (Nasty Mix) [TIPCD11]
08 Cydonia – Haunted World [BR079CD]
09 Prana – Message for Eastedge (Trance Express mix) [MPCD01]
10 Battle of the Future Buddhas – Tranceportamental [BOOMCD003]

About
Another set of tracks I’ve not commonly seen in old-school mixes, this one was put together after tossing a bunch of stuff into the Winamp playlist, listening for a few days while working, and piping the ones that caught my ear into a new playlist. Each track seems to have its own little hook, and for some odd reason the mix as a whole brings to mind the word “underdog”. Maybe this is because – again – these tracks don’t seem to grace old-school Goa mixes very often, and I think they’d do quite well if given the chance to get off the bench and onto the field.

Enjoy!

Hungry Hungry Hippocampus

Here we go with the first mix posting for Mix Thursday! Wheeee!

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Statistics
Title:  Hungry Hungry Hippocampus
Length: 73:38
Size:   112MB
Format: MP3

Tracklist
01 Mantaray – Anima Mundi [DMTCD03]
02 MFG – Journey Beyond The Planet [WHYCD04]
03 Exotonic – Creative Alternative [WHYCD02]
04 Brainflowers – Goaliens [WHYCD04]
05 Nucleus – Superluminal [BFLCD19]
06 Disco Volante – Moonraker (Man With No Name remix) [DA56000-2]
07 Miranda – Green Man [DA56017-2]
08 Chi AD – Spirit [CUCD01]
09 The Antidote – Sunrise [TIPLP08]
10 Zodiac Youth – Atoms (Angel Fish remix) [BFLCD19]
11 Kopfuss Resonator & Jorg – Whipbird (Session version) [SHIVACD001]
12 Alloy Trex – Track 01 [Algo-rhythm]

About
I’ve been on this kick lately of throwing mixes together consisting only of tracks I’ve never before put into a mix. This is mix #4 or #5 in a series of such mixes, and this one’s a bit more on the melodic side. I’ve been thoroughly enjoying listening to these as it’s almost as if I’m listening to another DJ’s mixes. Sometimes they come out sounding great, other times you can hear why the tracks weren’t “hits”, but overall I think they’re quite enjoyable for their track-variety alone.

Random Thoughts
Since we old school Goa DJs are dealing with a finite amount of tracks from the era, we have an increasingly difficult time creating unique mixes; we’ve all heard the thousand best tracks a thousand times each, either in our own or others’ mixes. I find that most mixes I see posted these days (including my own) contain a high percentage of tracks that – while admittedly being stellar tracks – have been played to death over the years. Thus, the mix remains in the “I’ll get to it one of these days” listening pile, and I sadly never really get around to listening to it. The “tossed salad” mixes like this one have been quite rewarding in this respect, as I’m re-discovering tracks I’d written off years before as being mediocre, only to find now that lined up in a mix together with other “uncommon” tracks, they can really shine.

Enjoy the mix!

Welcome to the Goat Ranch!

The plan for the Goat Ranch is to provide a way for me to easily distribute my mixes from a central location, talk a bit about each mix, and allow others to comment on said mixes. Music will predominantly be of the mid-to-late 1990’s Goa trance flavor, with a smattering of later psychedelic trance and other styles thrown in from time to time.

Mix posting frequency is expected to be weekly each Thursday, so check back each week for your 604 fix, and feel free to comment on anything. If there’s one thing I like to yammer on about, it’s old-school Goa, so don’t be afraid to yack it up!

Before I end this inaugural post, I’d like to point you, dear reader, to a most joyously anticipated release:

Crop Circles – Tetrahedron [DATCD001]