This picture was taken this evening: no, this is not a WITCHES BREW...German speakers among you will probably recognize the characteristic profile of a burning Koelner Zuckerhut, well-laced with high proof rum!

This was hands down the best Feurzangenbowle I ever sampled, due certainly to its overnight incubation. We prepared the wine yesterday at our friends' house, then did not "do the burn" because Mama Lycan fell sound asleep whilst putting young Solaris "dodo" (hiya, night night...you know). So, the wine, orange and lemon concoction was heated with cinnamon, allspice and cardamon, then cooled and left sitting overnight. The flavor today was simply divine!

Better yet, after heating issues since moving into the new house, we splurged and started a fire with the stove in our new house. Talk about efficient - we are roasting in here, and only added 1 log since starting the fire 8 hours ago...the coals are red hot and the stove is still blasting heat.

So, just a quick note to wish you (yes, YOU!) all the best for the holiday season and every day. We are really excited about this upcoming year: Nelson will continue to focus on his music and Lycantrop. I will continue to help with the "marketing" side of Lycantrop, and will also focus on my passion: sustainable business. As some of you know, my background is in technology sales and business development: my goal now is to assist companies in re-tooling their strategies for maximum sustainability. In Jan/Feb, I'll be taking a course in Triple Bottom Line Accounting (People/Planet/Profit). Anyone interested in this stuff, get in touch and let's share information!

Hi Friends, little update..

First, we are NOT stopping Lycantrop Records! Not sure where these rumors started. Maybe because I blogged that we move to a new location? Yes, we are moving and the studio may be down for 1 month, but our release schedule will not be affected.

We will have 2 to 3 releases next year. Nelson is almost done compiling HYBRIDES EVOLUTION, which will be 100% collaboration (2 or more projects) tracks. A challenge to compile a good story with such diverse input, but the finished result will deliver a highly concentrated smorgasbord of sound.
Expected Release date: March or April

After that: Lycantrop DJs Iguana and Corious are compiling something nice and hot to go along with the summer sunshine.

For autumn, we have TIGHT SHIP, all tracks custom-produced around one common theme. Since "loose lips sink tight ships", I won't say more about this one so early on, but stay tuned.

ps - We are thrilled to be syncing up with DIST ELECTRONIC for our digital distribution: Distorted Shire is the first release they will manage, release date is 8 December

pps - just a few Lycantrop Records "v 1.0" tshirts left! A perfect holiday gift - see our special package deals: http://www.lycantrop-rec.com/shop.html (click on the TSHIRT symbol)

Permatrance Culture (Will we Figure it Out?)

Okay, this is a bit of a rant - yes, I'm grumpy! It has occurred to me...the global psytrance scene must have the highest concentration of sustainability phreaks of any group on the planet. Why, then, are so few of our artists sustainable in their music-creation lifestyles? There are very few artists making a living from their music - most either have other jobs or other sources of incomes. The night psychedelic scene, in particular, is the least commercial and the most poverty stricken!

The global economy is 10 times the size of the global money supply. So, everything runs on credit, except The Underground. In our world, cash is king. So, if you are going to make a party, have someone who understands finances make the budget. Charge the cover price you need to charge so that everyone gets taken care of. Don't compete with other events. Remember that the music-makers are our technoshamans, they modulate the trance energy, they must be supported, for without them, the beating pulse of trance is nought.

It's not right and it is not fair and it is not sustainable when people get something without reciprocating. Long term, it does not add up: pain and hardship hit the very shamans we are honor-bound to protect. We see this problem on a global scale (I sometimes think I hear Gaia weeping), but we don't fix it in our own scene. And if we can't get sustainable in a cash economy, how on earth (pardon the pun) will we unwind all that global credit and balance things out on a global scale?

We are the canaries in the coal mine, friends. Credit is dried up. Now it gets ugly. Or beautiful. (Anyone else read Jared Diamond's "Collapse"?)

Lycantrop Celebrates Birthday with YOU ( + Godzilla friend!)

Note: Double-click images for larger size

Wow, many thanks to all for your birthday greetings - yes, Lycantrop turns 1 year old today, this being the one year anniversary of our flagship release: Lycans' Meeting! A special thanks to people who have bought CDs from us - your support really and truly is keeping this label alive, Lycan friends like T in Japan and J in South Korea (J, hope the tshirt fits PERFECT), Belinda, Jose, Vincent...EVERYONE: massive gratitude: obrigado, thank you, danke schoen, dank je wel, grazie, arigato, merci, gracias!

As a special thank you to online-connected friends, we will sell Lycans' Meeting for 7 Euros for the rest of the month of November. Even better, you can purchase Lycans' Meeting + Distorted Shire (including access codes for 2 free downloads) - 2CDs - for just 12 € (Currency Converter here on our main blog page). Shipping costs additional (much less expensive if we remove from the plastic jewel cases, but you can choose: packaged or not).

To order, contact us on Facebook, Ning, MySpace or directly by email at LycantropRecordsAdmin@gmail.com

Now is probably a good moment to remind you that the first 10 Lycantrop CDs will form a VISUAL BOXED SSETt, with a special image visible when you place the 10 CDs sequentially.

Look at the picture: can you already guess what the image will be?

• A few tshirts and tanktops are still available – ask for your size and save BIG on shipping costs when you place a CD+shirt order!

Must run, time to put Solaris to bed. Then back to packing and organizing for our upcoming move to new Lycantrop digs. Overijse experiment drawing to a close, time for the next phase!

Auuwooooohhhhm!

Auuwooooohhhhm! Do you like my new word? It is a combination of wolf's howl and AUM.

Over here at Lycantrop headquarters, we are just starting to get back to a normal pattern, after a summer of travel, followed by our son being too sick to go to daycare for over a month. That set us back a bit, especially with our website, which still needs a lot of work - but only Mrs Lycan can do it, and only when she has some time. Musically, we are pushing ahead: Hybrides Evolution is very very close to being compiled. Expect a March release date. The concept is 100% collaboration (2 or more projects) tracks. A challenge to build a good story, but Nelson is feeling good about the flow so far! So, stay tuned.

Local parties are back now that summer is over: I had a great time and made a little money doing a shop for the last Lost Theory party: highlights were Neil Gibson deco (and hanging a biwith Neil: a most considerate, interesting and fun dooooooood - tks again for the Js!), hanging a bit with Gus Till and the DJ set from top Belgian DJ Entre Nous (formerly Makkura). Standout tracks in his set: Encephalopaticys (don't know what track it was) and Megalopsy's new track "Derrames" from Lost Theory's Forest Frequencies release. How could I forget: also had mucho funno with Mike and Pieter - Repsycled all the way. In fact, the strangest thing about this party in a boy scout building somewhere in Belgium, was the fact that we had 4 native English speakers just chillin and all of us are so used to our odd lives, that it didn't seem strange. Then, we were like, "How did we all get here?" ;-)))))))))))

Just 2 days until Solaris turns 2 and we will celebrate with our extended trance family (our own families are farther afield) this Saturday. Serendipitously enough, our friends Ryko and Pedro make a free "Elektro Shankar" party in Brussels that night and Nelson is going to DJ (get your asses down there, Mario aka DJ Device is playing, too - and Ryko and Mozkatt and and and!!!)...and Luis has agreed (THANK YOU!) to stay home with Little One so that I can enjoy. That will be a real celebration: I love being a mom, but it has been a while since I saw Nelson play, so this will be a day to enjoy both of my guys. :-)))

Okay, gotta run, just wanted to say HELLO, thanks for staying tuned. We are alive and kicking (and bass-ing, too) !!!!!!!!!!!!!! Boooooooom and Auuwooooohhhhm!!! K Lycan

ps- for realtime miniupdates, follow us on Twitter: LycantropRecord ;-))

What doesn't kill you only makes you stronger!

Let's hope the old adage proves true in the case of super son/sun Solaris, today diagnosed with bronchitis after over 2 months with a cough. I did take him to the doctor between returning from Portugal and leaving for the US, but the doctor said she "did not hear anything" in his chest...long story short, it got worse and worse, and then he got a high fever, vomiting stomach flu on top of it...not good.

I am sure he will be fine: he is incredibly strong and still has a lot of energy for being so sick. He is taking 3 medicines through an inhaler machine...which he hates and which requires assistance (endless gratitude to Luis, aka Pikalel, aka Krono Psy). His father cannot help because he is in Guatemala, resting up for Crossroads of Fantapsy tomorrow - should be a great party, and Nelson is in the mood to PLAAAAAY after a killer set at Aurora Festival in Greece last month.

On the Lycantrop side of the world, top priority is finishing the artist profiles complete (finally) and doing some other necessary website stuff. As soon as Nelson finishes compiling for the Hybrides Evolution compilation (a tricky CD this one, as every track will be a VERSUS...or as we like to say "WITH"...so you have to build a story that flows with many different producer sounds in it), we will announce it - right now, the tracklist is perhaps 70% finalized. Realistically, we probably won't get it out before the end of the year, as we had been hoping to do. March looks more likely and you know what they say about March...IN LIKE A LION. We'll keep ya posted.

DISTORTED SHIRE - the DarkShiRe+Mind Distortion System "split versus plus friends"comp just released in August) continues to sell well - currently sold out in Saiko Sounds and Bravo, but Beatspace has promised me they will restock soon. It's been #12 or 13 on the Psyshop charts for the past week. As you might know, this CD was HANDMADE WITH LOVE right in Lycantrop HQ - and I cannot tell you how many people have told me they never would have guessed it - the quality is very, very good. A reminder that every time you buy the full release (digital from our webshop or physical CD from our shop or any retailer), you get a code for 2 free downloads- X by Dark Elf (DarkShiRe rmx) and Space Race by MDS...

As usual, a big thanks to YOU for your support - if you are reading this, your good energy is coming our way (and vice versa)!!

Finally, a few words to acknowledge the untimely passing of Rodney, internationally known for being the main man behind Shanti Jatra festival in Nepal. I did not know Rodney personally, but all my contact him was professional and pleasant, and it was a shock to hear that he is no longer part of our material realm. Condolences to his friends and family.

Peace to all,
K. Lycan


ps - Hopefully, this post will NOT show up 3 times on Facebook - I think I fixed the problem. I cannot believe that some dude thought I was triple posting intentionally.

pps - little videomix of Solaris hitting his current favorite tunes: "Eensy Weensy Spider", "Oh Susannah" and the Sesame Street classic "C is for Cookie" right at the the end of our US trip...it looks more dangerous than it was, we were going very very very slow in a big traffic jam and I just held the camera behind me (I wasn't looking). Yes, he likes to pretend that a pretend Jupiler remote control is his telephone....good little Belgian. ;-)))

We would thank you from the bottom of our hearts, but for you, our hearts have no bottom!

Big thanks to Belinda in Denmark, Will in the UK, Marek in Poland, Christoph in Austria, Bjorn in Norway, Yu in Japan....Jelle in Belgium, Sylvain in France....just a few of the many who have shown their support for DISTORTED SHIRE by purchasing the CD!!!

This week, DISTORTED SHIRE is #3 in Saiko Charts and #12 on Psyshop.