5 comments on “Lucky Lotus Festival 8 – The Final Festival, 20th – 25th June

  1. I wasn’t there! Luckily I still caught your set on Soundcloud.

    Those new parts in City of Traitors are AWESOME! A shame they must have been added later than the original release, but man, with an update like that it would have been a crime to not let the world hear it. Dasein is fitting to follow something of that caliber. It was great to finally see The Fountain and Nightmarish Delusions in a mixed environment too.

    Speaking of uncommon sights…where to begin? I hate ice cream, even with strawberries, but that third-to-last track will never stop being excellent. The use of Vengeance was unexpectedly effective; the sense of precision in Alek’s tracks makes them work at nearly any speed, quite true to his demoscene and minimal techno roots. 12 little fragments functions brilliantly as a final track, provided it’s a rare example like this of the tempo being taken up to that level in gradual fashion. I was admittedly a bit relieved it wasn’t a Nomic Flintstones remix or something. The fluid progression after Tuonela was simply genius; it was tough to tell where Neurotic ended and Blackout begun, not knowing those two tracks, always a sign of good mixing. Anywhere from there to the end would be my favorite part, if not the opening.

    With all that said, there were times it felt like the set was going on longer for its own sake, mostly in the first half. I’d give an example, but it’s tough to name a specific section…good thing that’s what crowd reading is for, right?

    All in all, a shining example of both of your similar skillsets, and hopefully not the last of its kind, even if it’s the lilypads’ or chrysanthemums’ turn to get their share of the good fortune now.

    • Howdy Sherkel, long time no speak to you and everyone else here! As I’m on the verge of another little comeback this comment definitely deserves a reply, no matter how late. Says it all about recent times that I’ve only just seen it (!).

      The criticism that the set went on for too long in places is totally fair – I think we both knew that was happening, and what with Life getting in the way for the two of us it was a bit of a surprise that it worked out as well as it did. Speaking for myself I ended up having so much fun that I got carried away at a couple of points, the one that sticks out for me was Aether Storm – Dream Catcher, I would have shortened that a lot in a solo set.

      Glad you enjoyed the set on the whole! A shame you couldn’t listen live, there was a great atmosphere and a lot of chat going on, which probably managed to cover up some sections that dragged on a bit. I wish I could remember when that version of City of Traitors was doing the rounds, but the mix with Dasein was one of my favorites too.

      If it’s up to me that definitely won’t be our last b2b set, but before then I’m going to be working on some of my own. Been listening to some impressive stuff over summer that’s given me the necessary kick up the midi controller.

      • He returns! Good to see you again too. We haven’t talked in a while. Hopefully this means more In Praise of Shadows orders are possible; on that note, Photobucket tried to make up for the lack of heavy filters in the meantime, albeit in the absolute worst way possible… I’ve also been trying to make a comeback in my mostly one-person corner of the freeform scene, but this and that’s held it back for longer than I’d have expected, so I won’t make any empty promises yet.

        Looking at the tracklist again, I think I might have cut the entire Kamsheen – Revenge of the Vampire section for starters, with all respect where it’s due. No individual transitions struck me as odd, but then again I’m not much into mixing technique. Nor am I your average listener, so the audience that liked its wide variance is automatically more correct by majority rule. My favorite set is probably the one you did for the album, simply due to a sense of consistency I haven’t quite come across anywhere else (the one on Logical Progression 1 maybe, though I’m far from well-versed in that genre). Even Guld’s consistently NRG-centered mixes and Shimo’s various beginning sections in a similar vein don’t ultimately give me much reason not to listen to the tracks indivually. There’s a clear divide when Pure Evil comes in, but it doesn’t come across as abrubt in the slightest following the precise tone carefully set by the preceding portion. To sum up, in terms of “my kind of set” that one comes much closer.

        I think I can safely assume what you were listening to from the summer wasn’t freeform, but does this mean another stream is forthcoming?

        • I’m down to do another sometime. Interestingly the Kamsheen – Cyclone bit, was the first part of the mix and where everything expanded from if I recall correctly. Caused plasma a bit of difficulties though aha

          • @shimotsukei
            Haha it did, but the 7th world part was just as bad…

            @Sherkel
            I agree completely (as I often do), this time re. the In Praise of Shadows set being one of the best examples of what I’m going for in a TYFTH set. Good thing too! These sets with Shimo are a good excuse for us both to have a bit of fun I think, and as we’re never going to put together a set that flows as smoothly as one of our solo efforts I always like to mix some nice atmosphere shifts with a few surprises. That was the point of the exemia section, especially once I realised how out of the hand the set length was getting. My own sets will still be going for the Holy Grail though, like the FINRG Podcast last year.

            I have been listening to some freeform along with other bits and pieces, and plans are afoot for some streams again soon. I even had a practice last night! Hoping to post both on that and the return of the CD shop asap.

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