Robert Carty - Photonic Movements

Platonic Movements by veteran producer Robert Carty, released for free on the Earth Mantra netlabel is some of the finest deep, atmospheric spacemusic i've heard in a while. a richly detailed mix of subtle Berlin-school sequencer touches, floating pads, soaring leads and sparkling stardust make for an intensely rewarding immersive listening experience.
available as flac and mp3 from archive.org

Space Forming Vol. 3

Russian/ukrainian netlabel Gliese 581c were first introduced to me when they co-distributed several of their releases on my current favorite netlabel Ektoplazm. Gliese 581c presents a modest but growing catalog of music centered around psytrance, chillout and dub styles.
I have especially enjoyed their Space Forming compilation series, and Vol. 3 is a monster! 2.5 hours of the finest in deep psychill downtempo ambient. If you're a fan of artists like Solar Fields, Carbon Based Lifeforms, Shpongle or Bluetech, do not miss this compilation!
Direct download: ZIP (mp3)

Siddhartha Barnhoorn - Pillars of Light

for his debut solo release, prolific film and television composer Siddhartha Barnhoorn presents Pillars of Light, a mini-album of deep cinematic spacemusic which could be the soundtrack for an as-yet unmade scifi thriller. as the music unfolds, images appear in the mind's eye of epic space battles above the horizon of a distant world, colliding planets, gigantic spacecraft soaring through burning nebulae, and maybe even a secret meeting of two alien lovers under a purple twilight sky of vibrant stars. highly recommended listening for fans of ambient music with a vastness measured in lightyears.

Terence Day 2011

download mp3 98 MB 160kbps
mix currently unavailable- contact for download link

once again this mix for Terence Day was thrown together somewhat at the last minute, but i decided to post it anyway. i have been spending my time preparing for the Breaking Convention conference going on this weekend at the University of Kent where i will be helping the lads from the Shroom with a View podcast record conversations and interviews for their show. stay tuned for more on that.
once again its a [somewhat disjointed] mix of consciousness-expanding psytrance, ambient and downtempo music which features samples of The Bard McKenna (and sometimes other people) speaking. the mix begins with the audio from a rare video (embedded below) of Terence performing a wild blend of spoken word poetry, chant and glossolalia with the band Lost at Last. also included is the track El Alien by NatureLovesCourage which is better known as the theme song to the Psychedelic Salon, the podcast which first introduced me to Terence McKenna.
"each artist is an antenna to the transcendental other, and as we go with our own history into that thing, and then create a unique confluence of our uniqueness, and its uniqueness, we collectively create an arrow. An arrow out of history, out of time, perhaps even out of matter, that will redeem, then, the idea that man is good. This is the promise of art, and its fulfillment is never more near than the present moment."

playlist:
1. Terence McKenna Performs with Lost at Last
2. Space Time Continuum - Alien Love
3. Persistent Aura - Greco-Mayan Civilisation
4. Saffron Slumber - Mind Revealer
5. NatureLovesCourage - El Alien (Trance Mix)
6. Globular - Synesthesiasia
7. Ekoplex - Forest Shaman
8. Jar Jar Binks - Psychedelic Experience
9. Bezoar vs Onionbrain - Mindless
10. NatureLovesCourage - Terence McKenna @ Uxmal '98


Terence McKenna Performs with Lost at Last from Allan Lundell on Vimeo.


cover image by Dominic's pics

Aethesia

Aethesia was released a couple of months ago on as the debut release of the Energostatic netlabel and every time I put my ipod on shuffle and a track from it comes up, I think "wow this is goooood!" Not only are the individual tracks of top quality, but the overall flow fits  together perfectly- a blend of dubby minimal techno and hazy ambient spheres which will leave fans of chilled nighttime electronica deeply satisfied.

Abre Ojos - Chakras

Melbourne artist Abre Ojos has created a fascinating series of ambient music video meditations based on the 7 chakras, or energy centers of the human body. in stark contrast to the sugary angelic "new agey" music usually associated with chakra meditation music, the music in these videos is deep and dark, almost ominous. the sometimes harsh and mechanical soundscapes might be at first off-putting for those who are not fans of dark ambient music, but the long reverberant drones make for a very interesting deep meditation experience. accompanying the music are slowly-evolving kaleidoscopic mandala-like animations which greatly enhance the hypnotic, meditative atmosphere.
the first of the videos, "Root" is embedded below. five more can be streamed or downloaded from his vimeo page and the seventh is available only on the Chakras dvd (which includes lossless flac downloads)


Root from abre ojos on Vimeo.

URM - stratification

One sub-genre of ambient music which hasn't gotten much attention here on the blog is classic Berlin-school spacemusic. Stratification, released for free on the ping things label, skillfully combines the classic elements established by pioneers like Tangerine Dream and Klaus Schulze-- long evolving arpeggiated sequences, light electronic percussion  and deep echoing soundscapes in a one-hour flight into analog synth heaven.

Tetarise – Through the Silent Void

I previously featured Tetarise's excellent LP k.a.m.a. so it goes without saying that anything by this artist is well worth hearing. His latest release on Silent Flow netlabel is another excellent work not to be missed.
Wide open spaces, delicate atmospheres, crunchy beats, deep basses and soaring leads sometimes reminiscent of hiddenplace favorite Planet Boelex make for another thrilling journey through auditory headspace, with a few unexpected twists along the way. Once again, a brilliantly produced album of cinematic idm which will definitely be spending a lot of time on my iPod.

twitter links

As you may have noticed, real-life obligations have prevented me from posting here as often as I would like. However, I frequently post links to my most interesting new musical discoveries on my twitter feed (along with occasional cynical political commentary, rants, venting, and links to random weird stuff). Because not everyone uses twitter, here is a summary of some of the [mostly] creative commons music links I have "tweeted" in the last couple weeks.

A dark, groaning, spacey atmosphere - Desolatus by @philwilkerson http://bit.ly/9EPAcb (available only until 31 Oct!)

lovely acoustic music for autumn -- Maps & Transit 'Songs for Divining' on @Camomillemusic - http://bit.ly/cTwbs1

a brand-new dark/weird/noise idm release by idmf label http://bit.ly/apOzN7

new Lucette Bourdin/Darrell Burgan collab out on Earth Mantra. deep cinematic ambient http://bit.ly/91WYcS

new interactive iphone app featuring the music of Steve Roach http://ericfreeman.com/immersion/

new album by Etnoscope on @ektoplazm progressive tribal trance at its best! http://bit.ly/abXK4Q

dubby chilled drum n bass album by Spotless aka Kondencuotas Pienas http://horizontal-madness.com/

Hypnagogue podcast number 38. "please leave your body at the sound of the tone" http://bit.ly/9DVjZ7

sadly i dont speak dutch, but the newest netwaves has some great "idiot dance music" http://bit.ly/aJoBLJ

Tange - Eternal Dreaming-- 5 hours of peaceful drifting ambience on Treetrunk Records http://bit.ly/ak0fwF

another great idm mix by phalanx http://bit.ly/aK2XrG

"mystical environmental sonic poetry" by Gastón Arévalo http://www.archive.org/details/pass009_a

Psilicon Dreams 11 for October 2010 http://bit.ly/brX76G

new experimental dream pop/folk album by german sound design maestro Emil Klotzsch http://emilklotzsch.bandcamp.com/

Awesome new track by @planetboelex on the new kahvi.org compilation. two tunes for the price of one!

new edition of low light mixes featuring tracks with vocoder sounds- air, eno, boards of canada, robert rich, etc http://is.gd/fRlmG

really nice world music flavored ambient/chillout mix from elpamusic http://bit.ly/aINbgb

eclectic dnb: Zengineers - The 5th Realm http://www.ideology.de/archives/audio000241.php

beautiful, lush, melodic idm sounds: Rumorse - Halogen Eve http://www.i-absentee.com/IA036.html


As a reminder to those reading this in an rss reader, I also share new music links on the right side of the blog page, and through my Google shared items.

aKido - Gamechanger

In the process of writing the reviews for this blog, I've discovered that often the best music is incredibly hard to describe. Gamechanger is just such an album. As I listen to it, any attempt to define it or make comparisons seems insufficient. I just know it's good. aKido combines intricately sequenced idm-esque beats, electro melodies and a smattering of ethereal vocals with rhythmic guitars and post-rock elements, but in such a way that it transcends any attempt to attribute genres or influences. Brilliantly composed and produced, this album is a must-have for fans of melancholy, emotive electronic music.

Hiddenplace dj mix roundup

lately a lot of my daily listening consists of podcasts and dj mixes. They don't really lend themselves to individual review, so here's a semi-random selection of mixes I've particularly enjoyed lately:

Ambient Dubstep 1- 7
Not really ambient, not really dubstep. I'd call it dubby chillout. In any case, very enjoyable.

Michael Gaida - Mindscapes 97
deep proggy house, perfect vibes for (what's left of) summer

Nick Warren - isolatedmix 10
One half of UK techno duo Way Out West spins a very chilled and eclectic mix of electro-acoustic ambient tracks.

phalanx - downtempo set @ melyvarazs
Finest selection of netlabel downtempo/idm/brokenbeat grooves.

Michael Gaida - Urban Sounds .06
another mix by Michael Gaida, but this time drum n bass. to be honest, this "liquid drum n bass" pretty much all sounds the same to me, but I don't care. It's great for a mid-afternoon mood lifter.

Lenzman - Reprize.021
More smooth and soulful drum n bass, with vocalist Riya acting as MC. maybe not for everyone, but a little something different.

PsyAmb 29
Every episode of the Psy-Amb podcast is great, and I found myself listening to this one several times. as usual, a top-notch mix of deep dubby and mellow moods, along with very detailed and informative show notes.

TC - Flying Dutchman 2010-08-16 The Needles
Don't miss season 6 of one of the first electronic music podcasts ever, spacemusic.nl

Makunouchi Bento - Swimé

Romanian producer Makunouchi Bento's newest release Swimé is an ambitious avant garde work containing an exotic blend of organic instrumentation, electronic effects, and a jungle of clicks, buzzes, chirps, screeches, and roars. each movement in the work tumbles through a cavalcade of colorful vignettes. in one passage, an abrasive barrage of chaotic sound design breaks into a soaring string quartet arrangement accompanied by an out of tune toy piano. in another, a wandering accordion is baked by rhythmic splashing water and tropical balinese chimes. Swimé is an album full of surprises and aural curiosities for fans of the cutting edge of sound design and classical composition.

Nettless - Phobos and Deimos

with the double album Phobos and Deimos, released to the world by the ambient über-netlabel Earth Mantra, finnish producer Nettless graces us with 2 hours of blissful spacemusic. 129 minutes of deepest empty coldness, brightest white-hot light, shining quasars, streaming supernovae, and massive galaxy clusters- lightyears distant yet beaming into your ears like tiny pinpricks of starlight...

A Shroom with a View

a couple weeks ago i had a lovely skype conversation with nexus112 from A Shroom with a View podcast. we talked about conspiracy theories, the technological singularity, creative commons music, meditation, entheogens, being your own shaman, the meaning of the psychedelic experience, and probably some other stuff ive forgotten about. somehow we managed to record it and Nex made it into episode 20 and 21 of his podcast. i cant promise it will be remotely interesting to anyone else, but i had a good time, and the SWAV podcast is definitely recommended if youre interested in mycology, psychedelic thinking, celtic music and odd scottish humor.

Secret Archives of the Vatican

having already released several LPs, compilations, and free singles, Secret Archives of the Vatican has recently put out two free EPs, The Glidepath and Wisdom Truth. ive been following their podcast and original production for some time now and i think its some of their best work so far. the Secret Archives style is well-defined: an exotic far-east-flavored blend of dubstep, downtempo and "global beat" with a bent for post-religious and anti-establishment themes. Deep wall-rattling bass, crisp rolling beats, dubby echoes and middle-eastern/arabian instruments, along with a smattering of spoken word make these eps a thrilling ethno-musical journey into a post-apocalyptic future.