Introduction
Artist: Lunar Dawn
Title / Release Page: Kolovrat
Release Date: 2015 Apr 1
Genre: Electronic / Goa
License: CC BY-NC-SA
Media: MP3 / OGG / FLAC
Pricing: Free / Donation
Label: Ektoplazm
Rating: ★★★★★★★
I keep trying to expand my electronica listening for quite some time. In fact, I grabbed this release earlier this year after I was impressed by a release that was noted as being “Goatrance”. So, is this the beginning of my expansion into other dimensions of electronic music? Read on and find out what I think of this release, and even more about this style of music.
Lunar Dawn: Kolovrat
This is the kind of release that works well for raves. And, at one time, I did go to a few raves. They were fun, I have to admit. It was a good way to get out of my normal environment and just cut loose for a bit and not give a care what anyone thought about me (yes, I am somewhat self-conscious, but I don’t let it get to me…you won’t see me giving in to peer pressure often).
But, the issue has always been that taken out of that environment, much of what is current electronic music falls flat on it’s face. It’s not really something that can be listened to, often the craft that has gone into it just provides a bunch of special effects or breaks for the sake of putting something else in the mix of sounds that are bombarding the listener from every direction.
But, that’s where Lunar Dawn has tried to do something that is a bit different. While they are still staying very strongly within the format that is the goa style, they infused this release with a number of Slavic themes based on the old pagan Gods.
These references to Slavic culture is one of the more interesting twists I’ve heard on an electronic music style in some time (in fact, the last one that made an impression on me was Kurbeats Folktronica. .
Perun’s Stones is a successful example of the integration of Slavic music style into a straight-up piece of Goa. Svantevit (Part I: White Horse and Prophecy) manages to do this to a lesser extent with a leitmotif that adds a flavor of old English style to the piece. And I am certain there are similar elements in all the other tracks on this release. However, I find that often these references are too buried in the tracks to be effective much of the time. But I am still glad they are there to add some extra dimension and flavor to this release.
Conclusion
So, I am still undecided if Goa is really for me. It seems like there are elements that I can appreciate, and I would certainly prefer listening to Goa over House or Techno music, there is no doubt of that. However, the potential to make this music more interesting as a listening experience often gets lost in the mix. Even with the concept that Lunar Dawn has worked with on this release I’m still not at a place where I feel it has left the rave / party environment.
