1200 Micrograms* – The Time Machine

Truly despicable cheese. Not just cheddar, quattro formaggio. Ew! How did Goa become this kitsch ethno-porn? ~*~

Say what you want about commercial vs underground psytrance, but 1200 Mics knows how to make tunes that rock the crowd, without getting into that awkward pop-psy territory, like some of the more famous acts have recently become. Rock Into The Future is a bomb tune. In rock-centric America, it has just the right blend of hard-hitting psy, without overly cheesy melodies, and with the right rockabilly feel in the guitar riffs to make even the most ardent anti-psy raver jump and shout. I may not find the other tunes on the album quite as catchy, but they're all good in their own right. This is certainly better than a good deal of psy that is released, and while it may be tailored more towards a wider audience, it is by no means inferior musically. If you're looking for psy that's trippy and weird and sounds good on acid... go listen to some darkpsy compilations. If you want psy you can leap and shout and feel good to, and still get that proper psy vibe and energy from, give this a listen. I think you'll dig it.

I find it odd that 1200 mics are so incredibly variable in their production. I guess that's what comes from producing such volumes of music they do (one album each year, plus GMS work). While I found their debut album ok, with some very nice tracks, and Heroes mostly brilliant, this really is... Crap. This album is cheesy in the absolutely worst meaning of the word, I almost cried the first time I heard "The Glories of Greece"; it's so damn stupid and inappropriate in every way. The rock thing was great the first time around (on "Heroes...") but now, OHH it's so used up. Maybe I'm just not getting the humor here, though I certainly did on the last two albums. In general I feel these tracks have a terrible quality level; though some might work in a pinch. Conclusion: Not recommended!