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Various - Psionic Tonic - Digital Psionics (Australia)

Byron Bay’s Digital Psionics have drawn trance acts from all over the planet on this excellent album of outback open air doof doof wizardry. Lun by Bon is a nice wibbly way to start your day, and L.A.B.’s Spellbound is utter class: it’s got noises everywhere and more balls tan Wimbledon. Clifton by Comatose & Firdel is mental, 110% twisting and guaranteed to send them mental on the dancefloor. Freak Zone by Navajo is just plain rude – the noises get crunchier and more distorted as the tune progresses, and it’s quite unnerving – best classified as a mega acid nightmare situation. Things elevate to even higher quality with the last three tracks – Grasshopper from Battle of the Future Buddhas is mental, an incredibly original tune that sounds like it’s alive. Dark Nebula teams up with Paraphernalien – both from Australia – to produce Generator X, which has to be one of the most awesome tunes of the yea. Breakbeats come in that don’t fit, but the tune deftly manages to hang together. Samples about shamanic dancing; squelches darting around the place like zany hobgoblins; a flanged and sliced electric generator; and an incredibly danceable, lose-it peak. This, friends, has every ingredient of a classic. A tough act to follow, but Reefer Decree pull out all the stops with Psychic Substances. Anthemic, driving, universal, cosmic, kicking – with a killer synth riff and one of the bigest peaks ever. At the end of this album, you are literally left blown away – which is always a good sign in my book!

(10/10)