GOA Trance Goa trance is a electronic music style that originated during the late 1980s in Goa, India. The music has its roots in the popularity of Goa in the late 1960s and early 1970s as a hippie capital, and although musical developments were incorporating elements of industrial music and EBM (electronic body music) with the spiritual culture in India throughout the 1980s, the actual Goa trance style did not appear until the early 1990s. As the hippie tourist influx tapered off in the 1970s and 1980s, a core group remained in Goa, concentrating on developments in music along with other pursuits such as yoga and recreational drug use. The music that would eventually be known as Goa trance did not evolve from one single genre, but was inspired mainly by EBM-groups like Front Line Assembly, Meat Beat Manifesto, Front 242 and A Split-Second, acid house (The KLFs What Time Is Love? in particular), techno, Orbital, and psychedelic rock like Ozric Tentacles, Steve Hillage and Ash Ra Tempel.In addition to those, oriental tribal music/ethnic music also became a source of inspiration.[citation needed] A very early example (1974) of the relation between psychedelic rock and the music that would eventually be known as Goa trance is The Cosmic Jokers (a collaboration between Ash Ra Tempel and Klaus Schulze) highly experimental and psychedelic album Galactic Supermarket, which features occasional 4/4 rhythms intertwined with elements from psychedelic rock, analog synthesizers and occasionally tribal-esque drum patterns. The music played was a blend of styles loosely defined as techno and various genres of computer music e.g.: high energy disco without vocals, acid house, electro, industrial gothic, various styles of house, electronic/rock hybrids. The music arrived on tape cassettes by fanatic traveler collectors and DJs. It was shared (copied) tape to tape amongst Goa DJs, which was an underground scene, not driven by labels or music industry. The artists producing this special Goa music had no idea that their music was being played on the beaches of Goa by cyber hippies. The first techno that was played in Goa was Kraftwerk in the late 1970s on the tape of a visiting DJ. At the time the music played at the parties was live bands. Tapes were played in between sets. In the early 1980s, sampling synth and midi music appeared globally and DJs became the preferred format in Goa. Two tape decks driving a party without a break, continuous music, continuous dancing. There had been resistance from the old-school acid heads who insisted that only acid rock should be played at parties, but they soon relented and converted to the revolutionary wave of technodelia that took hold in the 1980s. Cassette tapes were used by DJs until the 1990s when DAT tapes were used. DJs playing in Goa during the 1980s were Fred Disko, Dr Bobby, Stephano, Paulino, Mackie, Babu, Laurent, Ray, Fred, Antaro, Lui, Rolf, Tilo, Pauli, Rudi, Gil. The music was eclectic in style but nuanced around instrument/dub spacey versions of tracks that evoked mystical, cosmic, psychedelic, political, existential themes. Special mixes were made by DJs in Goa which were the editing of various versions of a track to make it longer. This was taking the stretch mix concept to another level, trip music for journeying to outdoors. Goa Trance as a music industry and collective party fashion tag did not gain global traction until 1994. By 1990/91 Goa had become a hot destination for partying and was no longer under the radar: the scene grew bigger. Goa-style parties spread like a diaspora all over the world from 1993 and a multitude of labels in various countries (UK, Australia, Japan, Germany) dedicated themselves to promoting psychedelic electronic music that reflected the ethos of Goa parties, Goa music and Goa-specific artists and producers and DJs. The golden age of the first wave of Goa Psy Trance as a generally agreed upon aesthetic was between 1994 and 1997. There have been attempts to formalize parties, such as those held at Bamboo Forest, into commercial events, which was initially met with much resistance. The need to pay the local police baksheesh means that theyre now generally staged around a bar, even though this may only be a temporary fixture in the forest or beach. The parties around the New Year tend to be the most chaotic with bus loads of people coming in from all places such as Mumbai, Delhi, Gujarat, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Chennai and the world over. Travelers and sadhus from all over India pass by to join in. Maybe the first Goa party in London was an underground TIP party in December 1990.[citation needed] TIP parties are legendary underground events.[citation needed] TIP, standing for the band name The Infinity Project, consists of Raja Ram and Graham Wood. They went on to do special, one off events and set up Tip Records in 1994 which became one of the pioneering labels of the Goa Trance genre. In 1993 a party organization called Return to the Source also brought the sound to London, UK. Starting life at the Rocket in North London with a few hundred followers, the Source went on to a long residency at Brixtons 2,000 capacity Fridge and to host several larger 6,000 capacity parties in Brixton Academy, their New Years Eve parties gaining reputations for being very special. The club toured across the UK, Europe and Israel throughout the 1990s and went as far as two memorable parties on the slopes of Mount Fuji in Japan and New Yorks Liberty Science Center. By 2001 the partners Chris Deckker, Mark Allen, Phil Ross and Janice Duncan were worn out and all but gone their separate ways. The last Return to the Source party was at Brixton Academy in 2002. With the proliferation of Goa trance music across the globe, parties are now being held at locations all over the world.[citation needed] Among the most notable of these parties are Boom Festival in Portugal, O.Z.O.R.A. in Hungary, Full Moon Party held monthly at Ko Pha Ngan, Thailand and several events held in Australia as well as Israel, Japan, South Africa, Scandinavia, Germany, Switzerland, Brazil and British Columbia, Canada. Goa parties have a definitive visual aspect - the use of fluoro (fluorescent paint) is common on clothing and on decorations such as tapestries. The graphics on these decorations are usually associated with topics such as aliens, Hinduism, other religious (especially eastern) images, mushrooms (and other psychedelic art), shamanism and technology. Shrines in front of the DJ stands featuring religious items are also common decorations.
Posted on: Mon, 07 Jul 2014 03:12:18 +0000
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