Often a release has this one really mindblowing track which stands out from the rest. So while the release doesnt deserve a place, the track does. This is a list of tracks that stood out in otherwise average releases not covered above.

Thats the list of the best artists, albums, and tracks of my favourite genre Goa Trance! Its a great introduction to the genre. There dont seem to be any Goa Trance specific lists on the web despite the Goa sound being distinct from mainstream trance, hence this list. All feedback is welcome. If youre new to Goa trance, it may be easier for you to go through this short list first which has a complimentary torrent.

If you feel Ive missed out any noteworthy tracks, or have any other feedback in mind, dont hesitate to drop a reply.

Some QnAs on Goa Trance and this guide.

Q. Argh! Im not going to listen to all this. Give me the top 3 albums! Why cant you order them so I know what I should listen to first?!A. Here is a short list of the best Goa tracks.

Its too difficult to arrange all this stuff in order. I ask you, which is best, Twisted, Trust in Trance or Alien Protein? Or maybe Lets Turn On, or Cosmology? Because I havent the faintest idea. Well, okay, 3 albums you must get before anything else:

For a general flavour of Goa you can try getting Dragonfly presents: A Voyage into Trance mixed by Paul Oakenfold

Q. Whats the history behind Goa Trance?A. Goa Trance is a subgenre of trance that originated in Goa, India stemming from the hippie influence. It had its roots in psyrock and the mid-80s electronic music in Europe. Goa Trance was also called Trance Dance, hence the names of the Astral Projection and Cosmosis tracks. It slowly morphed into Psychedelic Trance around the turn of the millenium, and today there isnt much Goa Trance produced.

Here is a map of all the sub genres of psy and goa trance by Anoebis of Psynews. It was originally posted here. You cant see the whole thing properly so save it to your computer and then open it and zoom into the top left corner which shows Goa and its sub-genres.

Goa is a small (by Indian standards) state halfway down Indias western coastline and was a Portuguese colony for hundreds of years. It still retains signs of Portuguese influence, evident in the beautiful churches youll find there, which makes it distinct from the rest of India. Perhaps this made the Goans more tolerant of hippies. The story is that till the mid-70s hashish was legal and this, coupled with the beautiful beaches and the freedom, attracted the hippies. Anyway, till the early 90s, no one really cared about the drugs. Then it seems the police started cracking down and the scene shifted to other countries while Goa became a magnet for the usual tourist crowd.

Two albums which kicked the scene off were: Project II Trance from way back in 93. Order Odonata Volume 1 from 94.

The entire scene was managed by foreigners, mostly Europeans and Israelis. The only thing Indian about the scene was the location. Youll find that all the major Goa artists are from Israel, France, England and Italy. This will be clearer when you look at the list of major Goa labels down a page. It is said that a major reason for the spreading of Goa in Israel were RnR visits paid to India by Israeli soldiers after their compulsory military service. For playback, in the late 80s, casette disks were predominately used, replaced by DAT tapes in the 90s. (Vinyl warped in Goas heat). The party scene grew through the late 80s into the early 90s as DJs explored the sound, pushing sonic boundaries to give ravers the trippiest experience possible, and out of this desire to explore that experience, through music and parties that built up through the night, came the Goa sound.

Cathedral of St. Cajetan in Old Goa

The Goa sound is acid-filled, with the bass comprising of a thumping kick, very melodic and ecstatic without sounding cheesy (!). Goa trance tracks are melodious, but the harmonics are very important too. They start off slowly with a plain melody. Then the kick is added, then synths and the melody becomes faster and faster with the acid notes becoming quicker and closely spaced. The track then rises to a climax, and the dnouement is rather short compared to the tracks length. Goa tracks are generally 8 minutes long and can stretch to 11 minutes in length. They frequently have vocal samples, often from movies, generally referring to aliens, space travel and other New Agey themes. For example, Identified Flying Object had theories on space travel on the inside cover.

Goa Gil drew a link between Goa Trance and ancient tribal ceremonies. Goa trance wasnt just music to get you high, it was supposed to be a mind-altering experience.

For the mind altering experience some people at these parties were on drugs and their drug of choice was LSD, simply referred to as acid. To know the hows and whys simply listen to the vocal sample in Hallucinogen LSD or read them here. A sample from the track isYoure introduced to LSD, an its not like taking some other drug for instance like marijuana or something, hm, well, you know, its altogether a new thing, and you actually can have a religious experience, and, hm, and it can be even more important than reading the bible six times or becoming a pope or something like that, you know

Goa Trance parties generally started in the late evening and went on all night, ending the next morning, although parties in Goa could go on for days. This gave rise to a phenomenon singular to Goa and also Psychedelic Trance, a track is given a sub-genre by the time of the day it is most suitable for. For example, some tracks will be called morning. Another point to keep in mind is that one producer can or will have several seemingly separate projects, which is why its a good idea to use Discogs so you know which albums and projects to connect. For example, Ofer Dikovsky has worked under the monikers of Phreaky, Omputer, Tandu, Indoor, Sound Pollution, Oforia and Pigs in Space!.

Major Goa labels include:

NOTE: Acid, as in referring to LSD the drug, and acid as in referring to music are two different things. For LSD click on the link. Acid in music refers to the high frequency, high pitched tweerps, bells, whistles, squeeks, squeals, whooshes etc.

Heres great album cover from the Flying Rhino release, VA First Flight

Q. What happened to Goa?A. Well, essentially all Goa has been produced in 6 all too short years, 1993-1998 after which the sound became psychedelic. Psychedelic trance is much less melodic, has sharper distinct sounds instead of melodies which flow into each other and is darker. Goa Trance is more organic while psytrance is more mechanical.

A good illustration of the music around the time of transition of Goa into psychedelic trance is Koxboxs Dragon Tales album and Children of Paradise Urban Alien.Or, quoting sljiva for this,For a real contrast between goa and psy I would recommend checking Raja Rams two labels: TIP Records and TIP.World. TIP Records were releasing melodic, organic and eastern influenced trance prior to 1998 from artists such as The Infinity Project, Doof and Psychopod, while on the other hand TIP.World is some kind of psy successor of TIP Records and they release this metallic, cold and mechanical type of trance from artists such as Alien Project, 1200 Mics and Logic Bomb.

Another case in point is Etnica. By 2000, it lost 2 members and went the psychedelic way. Essentially all genres need to develop further, artists began to explore and wanted to branch off themselves from the Goa sound. Some produced more listener friendly music, others preferred the dark, more twisted atmospheres of Psytrance.

However, thanks to the efforts of Suntrip Records among others, a new wave of Goa artists have come up in Filteria, Khetzal, Goasia to name a few. I find the newschool Goa artists lean towards the morning or uplifting sound to a greater degree than oldschool artists, this can give the feeling that their tracks have less substance.

I dont want to give the impression that goa trance is better than psytrance. Its just that there so much mediocre, run of the mill psy out there that finding good psytrance takes time. You just need to look really hard for it because its hiding underneath a heap of commercial releases.

Q. All Goa sounds the same, with the same acid TB303 sounds!A. To really understand Goa or Psy Trance for that matter, Id say you have to dance to it. Goa/Psy Trance party listings are next.

Otherwise it takes time to develop a liking for Goa. Give the tracks a couple of listens and some patience. The sounds will be the same to a new listener but with time youll appreciate the different melodies and the acid. Goa Trance is not fluffy or cheesy so if youve started off by listening to that kind of trance, it will take some time to appreciate Goa Trance.

If youre new to Goa Trance or Acid Trance you could these tracks first:

Q. Goa Trance and Psytrance party/festival listings?A. Isratrance Party Listings all worldIsratrance Festival Listings all worldPsynews Party/Festival Listings all worldEktoplazm Event Listings mostly focused on the States and CanadaGoatrance.de focused on Germany for the large partPsyevents Parties in and around AustriaOzTrance & Australiens AustraliaPsytribe and Psycircle CaliforniaFractaltribe Listings North America

Q. Where can I get these tracks and the artist discographies?A. Dedicated Psy/Goa database at PsyDB Discographies at http://www.discogs.com .Tracks sold online Saikosounds or get them off Soulseek . There is also Psyshop which but people say Saikosounds is better.

Q. Are there any free Goa releases I can check out?A. Few Ive come across: Golden Vibes I Golden Vibes II Pyramidal Trancedence

Q. I wanna know more!A. Awright, here are some linksIsratrance Big trance forum with lots of party listings In-depth article on Goa Trance Site which chronicles the origin of Goa Trance till its transition into Psytrance Another article on Goa Trance, shorter and easier read then the other links Psynews Meet other people who have good taste ^^ and are into goa/psy A tryst with Goa Trance Another article from someone who was there The first half is a good first hand feel of the party scene in Goa What is Goa Trance? History and Development of the scene An article on the evolution of Goa after 2000 by one of the founders of the Suntrip label. Road to Goa Part of how it started in the 60s & 70sThe Rhetoric of Psytrance: Anix Gleo, Astroff, The Fusion, and Martin Cloud PsyTrance in Russia

There some movies made on the Goa Trance phenomenonKarahana Ganey Huga [Download] Movie on the famous party in Israel.Liquid Crystal Vision Ok movie if you ignore the hippy mumbo jumbo, has some nice visuals.Last Hippie Standing Has Goa Gil in a leading role

Q. I want to hear Goa tracks with Eastern/Oriental/Tribal influences, and those tracks that marked the point where the Goa sound began to form.A. Eastern/Oriental/Tribal influenced Goa tracks-Shakta & Moonweed Micronesia This one rules them all, with the strains of a beautiful sitar starting the track.-Shakta Silicon Trip (album) Many tracks have an Oriental/Indian feel to them.Canda Luxman-Sundog Touch the Sun-Bass Invaders Nene Naha-Chi-a.d. Pathfinder-Dogma Sutra Sarma-Pharagonescia Pharatropic-Elysium Monzoon has this eastern-tribalish atmosphere-Juno Reactor Beyond the Infinite-Juno Reactor Navras has a lot of Indian chanting, that complements the atmosphere of the track beautifully.-Medicine Drum Supernature-The Nommos Amma The best tribal track I have ever heard. In the climax of the track you will find this crazy, primal female vocal sample o/-Juno Reactor Beyond the Infinite (album) Similar to Shaktas Silicon Trip in that you will find many tracks with an Eastern/Indian feel to them.-Mysterious Wizard Visions of India

Oldest Goa/Proto-Goa/Goa-ish tracks-Tangerine Dream Pheadra (1973)-KLF What Time Is Love (Pure Trance Version) (1989)-Dance 2 Trance We Came in Peace (1990)-A.B. Kazes Out of Space Trance (1989) (album)-Trilithon Trance Dance (1991) (album)-The Overlords Sundown (Ionizer Mix)-Megabeat Twin Beats

In conclusion, Ive written this from the point of view of introducing someone unfamiliar with Goa Trance to the genre. I hope you liked it, and it helped you get to know the genre. There are many more artists out there like Bypass Unit, Dogma, Electron Wave, Kopfuss Resonator, Kumbh Mela, Kode IV, Lords of Chaos, Metal Spark, Mindsphere, Moksha, Ka-Sol, O.O.O.D, Ololiuqui, Planet B.E.N., Psychaos, Psyko Disko, Quirk, Shakatura, Sandman, Shaolin Wooden Men, Tarsis, Ypsilon 5, Xenomorph that there isnt really any end to listing albums & artists. Use Discogs to find other projects by artists you like (look up all the projects each individual member was part of, and the projects of members of those projects and so forth and youll quickly find a lot of releases to listen to) Psynews.org review section to discover more, Psydb and keep exploring the sound ^_^

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Best Goa Trance: Top Artists, Tracks & Albums - Karan Gill