Simon Posford Mix - PsyAmb 18
Greetings. The new "Shpongle" (Simon Posford , Raja Ram ) album has landed at "Twisted Records" and I have to say it is awesome. I would go so far as to say their best album to date.
Shpongle's debut album, "Are You Shpongled ?" , exploded on the psytrance scene back in 1998 and was hailed worldwide as the finest album of psychedelic electronic ambient music to date. The following two releases , "Tales Of The Inexpressible" ( 2001 ) and "Nothing Lasts" ( 2005 ) were met with a little less enthusiasm as the group's sound deviated somewhat from the the formula that worked so well in their debut effort. Fortunately for all us Shpongle fans they are back on track and better than ever. In this mix you can hear tunes from various projects that Simon Posford has been involved in over the last 15 years or so.
Big breath ..... here we go ...
1.Anubis - Invocation - 1998
Members : Simon Posford , Chris Deckker
This is from a compilation titled "Eclipse - A Journey Of Permanence & Impermanence". A really great CD that I highly recommend to anyone who loves long dubby tunes. Chris Deckker doesn't seem to be producing tunes anymore however as founder of "Earthdance" I'm sure he is very busy. Earthdance, the Global Dance Festival for Peace has grown to become the world's largest simultaneous music and dance event. Founded in 1996, with 22 cities and 18 countries participating, Earthdance has grown to over 200 locations in 50 countries. Every year, in alignment with the International Day of Peace, over 200,000 people unite in dance with hundreds of thousands more joining online in support of global peace, sustainable culture and humanitarian aims.
2. North Central Positronics - Smell The Glove ( Slight Return ) - 1994
Members : Simon Posford , Ben Kempton
Possibly the earliest ambient work in my Simon Posford collection this one. Simon Posford teams up with Ben Kempton, who also did some additional production work on the original Posford goatrance tune "LSD" that became a monster hit back in the mid 90s. This is really a lovely tune that hints at what is to come from Posford's ambient work in the following years. Track down the release if you can as there is an awesome thumping old-school goa tune on it called "The Great Bear".
3. Binah - Crescent Suns - 1999
Members : Simon Posford, George Barker & Jewel Stanbridge
A somewhat Shponglishy sound in this tune and another step in the evolution of Simon Posford's swirly synth based psychedelia. From the "Caribbean Eclipse" compilation released by Flying Rhino Records. I quite like Jewel's vocals - almost Bjork-like. Check out her MySpace page for more music from this Swedish goddess. George Barker is a member of psytrance superstars Slinky Wizard. This was the only tune that they created - such a shame really.
4. Hallucinogen - The Herb Garden - 1999
Members : Simon Posford
Hallucinogen , Simon Posford's solo trance project had been around since 1994 ,producing goatrance tunes that were melting brains around the world. This little gem of a tune popped up in 1999 and showed us just how wacky and brilliant his tunes can be when you strip back the four-four beats. At over 14 minutes long , incredibly, it isn't the longest tune he has produced - more of that later. If you like this then you just have to get a hold of "The Mystery of The Yeti - Part 2" compilation from Tip.World Records. Freakin amazing album for it's time and still delights the senses 10 years later.
5. Walter Ego - We're High - 2000
Members : Simon Posford
I'm not sure if this was actually produced in 2000 but the CD it comes from was released in 2000. It sounds a bit older to me in terms of Posford's production skills for that period. Anyway , this is a nice dub number with a funny bit of sampling from Jurrasic Park. Like Hallucinogen , Walter Ego is another name for Simon's early solo work. Other great tunes include "Dub Stuff" and "Purple Pygmies".
6 . Dub Trees - Magnetica - 2000
Members : Simon Posford, Greg Hunter & Martin Glover
Dub Trees are somewhat something of a psychedelic dub super-group. This tune comes from their phenomenal dubadelic 2000 release titled "Nature Never Did Betray The Heart That Loved Her". Greg Hunter was featured here at PsyAmb back in episode 14 . Martin Glover ( a.k.a Youth ) is known to many psydub fans as the original founding member of Butterfly records , Dragonfly records and Liquid Sound Records. Those three labels released some of the best psychedelic ambient music over the last two decades or so. Dragonfly was also the label through which Posford released his first solo albumn, "Twisted", back in 1995. One could fill an encyclopedia on the life of Youth , his labels , popstar shoulder rubbing etc. so hit up Wikipedia if you want to know more.
7. Purple Om - Armageddon Dub - 1999
Members : Simon Posford , Nick Barber
This is a terrific tune from the "Liquid Dub - Vol 7" compilation albumn. As discussed in episode 14 , "Purple Om" only made one tune however another equally stupendous tune under the name of "Nomads of Dub" was released on the same album. Nick Barber is also a member of "Third Ear Audio" which released one of this year's best albums - the much loved ,self titled "Third Ear Audio" from Dubmission Records.
8. Shpongle - Divine Moments Of Truth - 1998
Members : Simon Posford, Raja Ram
Now we are getting into some serious mind melding melodies here. This comes from the debut "Are You Shpongled ?" album which I'm sure a great many PsyAmb listeners know of and love. There is not much to say here except that it doesn't get much better than this , well perhaps the CD's closing tune "...And The Day Turned To Night" but at close to 20 minutes in length I wasn't about to add that to the mix ;>. I remember some guy did a cool fan video for this song years ago.... ahhh... here is it :
9. Younger Brother - Crumblenaut - 2003
Members : Simon Posford & Benji Vaughn
Formed in 2000, Younger Brother didn't take long to establish themselves as a true musical force on the dance floor and the chillstage. Benji Vaughn had previously been producing loads of psytrance under the name of "Prometheus" but also showed his ambient production skills on the Mystery Of The Yeti album with his track "Under Mount Kailash". The first track the collaboration produced was "Evil & Harm" in 2003. The success of this tune gave them encouragement to continue on and they released their debut album , "A Flock of Bleeps" in 2003. Last year saw the release of their second CD , "Last Days of Gravity" with extra members added to the group and the introduction of more of a live band feel. Think Pink Floyd meets The Cure meets Shpongle.
10. Gargoyles - Evil Do'ers - 2003
Members : Simon Posford & Ott
This was always going to be an interesting project. Ott , fresh after having produced his mega hit remix CD of Hallucinogen tracks called "Hallucinogen In Dub", teamed up with Simon to produce this great squelchy dub tune. Sadly , to this point , only one other tune has been produced by the duo. Ott himself has not ruled out the idea of a Gargoyles project CD however given Simon's workload it may be some years away.
Ott has two of his own CDs available called "Blumenkraft" and "Skylon". Both are fantastic and you can hear plenty of tunes in previous episodes of PsyAmb.
11. Celtic Cross - Jade Gates (Beauty Knows No Pain Mix) - 2009
Members : Simon Posford, Saul Davies & Martin Glover
This is taken from the 2009 remix CD of Celtic Cross' debut release of 1998 titled "Hicksville". Hicksville was released around the same time as Shpongle's debut CD and togther made for many hours of listening pleasure. Martin Glover is back again and this time we are also joined by Saul Davies of UK indies group "James" fame ( I used to really like that band ). The new remixed CD is awesome - everything sounds so much fuller. All the tunes sound like they have gone through a sonic car wash and come out sparkling and rinse free. Recommended.
12. Hallucinogen - LSD (world sheet of closed string mix) - 2002
Members : Simon Posford
This tune is a remix of Hallucinogen's classic goa anthem "LSD" by Ott. I recommend checking out the Twisted Records DVD which contains interviews with various Twisted artists including Ott. On the DVD Ott talks about his work with Simon on making the "In Dub" album that this track comes from , his studio setup and why people can't believe his name in just "Ott" , nothing more , nothing less ... just "Ott". Anyway , the album is simply gorgeous and has some really fat bass dubby remixes throughout. Let's hope for another "In Dub" album by Ott , perhaps after Simon releases the new Hallucinogen album which he is currently working on.
13. Younger Brother - All I Want - 2007
Members : Simon Posford & Benji Vaughn
Another YB track here to provide a bit of contrast to their earlier song. In this tune you can hear how the band has evolved into having more of a typical band type sound but still maintaining the original electronic shenanigans.
In the photo , left , we have Simon in the foreground pondering which nob to twiddle on the mixing desk while Benji reads all the positive feedback the new album is receiving online.
14. Shpongle - Around The World In A Tea Daze (OTT rmx)
Members : Simon Posford, Raja Ram
This is remix by Ott of a track from Shpongle's second album , "Tales of the Inexpressible". To some the second album was a bit of a dissapointment and I must admit I too felt a bit let down initially. Gone were the long hypnotic trance inducing excursions and in their place we had shorter tunes with more traditional instrumentation. It was obvious to many Shpongle fans that the group was aiming for a more universal appeal by doing away with the way out psychedelia of the debut CD. Still there were one or two great tunes on their but I much prefer this remix by Ott.
15. Shpongle - Circuits Of The Imagination/Linguistic Mystic/Mentalism - 2001
Members : Simon Posford, Raja Ram
Shpongle's third album saw the group change their sound once again. In an attempt to get back to their original sound from their debut they ditched the traditional instruments and came up with a full on experimental electronic psychedelic extravaganza. This was much more like it ! Only disappointment was that the songs them selves were quite short and sometimes the sonic experimentation went a bit over the top. Still , most people agreed that it was a stronger effort this time around.
16. Shpongle - I Am You - 2009
Members : Simon Posford, Raja Ram
What a delight this song is. Full of glimmering melodies , mind warping percussion and ethereal vocals , "I Am You" is but one of the many standout tunes on the fourth and latest Shpongle album "Ineffable Mysteries" . Shpongle are back in a big , big way ! Possibly my album of the year. You can listen to samples of the albumn on line at the Twisted Records website.
I recommend getting yourself a quality pair of headphones , a nice comfortable place to rest without distractions and listen to this CD from start to finish. The production levels are through the roof . Each microsecond of sound clearly and crisply manifests within your mind. I The sheer amount of different sounds going on is phenomenal. A+
17. Hallucinogen - E - 2001
Members : Simon Posford
This is taken from the Tip.World concept compilation titled "Twelve". Very Eno-esque if you ask me. I think it's a nice one to cool things off with. I wouldn't mind seeing Simon do an entire album of music in this style. Perhaps a new solo project ?
Well , there you have it. A brief look into the musical mind of Simon Posford. There were so many tunes I wanted to add to this mix but for purposes of download speeds and disk space limits and what have you I just couldn't fit any more in, no matter how "waffer thin" they were. Perhaps a "part 2" in the future. I hope you enjoy it. For now , peace to you all and spread the Shpongle love and light.
Artist - Track
- 01. Anubis - Invocation
- 02. North Central Positronics - Smell The Glove (Slight Return)
- 03. Binah - Crescent Suns
- 04. Hallucinogen - The Herb Garden
- 05. Walter Ego - We're High
- 06. Dub Trees - Magnetica
- 07. Purple Om - Armageddon Dub
- 08. Shpongle - DMT Divine Moments Of Truth
- 09. Younger Brother - Crumblenaut
- 10. Gargoyles - Evil Do'ers
- 11. Celtic Cross - Jade Gates (Beauty Knows No Pain Mix)
- 12. Hallucinogen - LSD (world sheet of closed string mix)
- 13. Younger Brother - All I Want
- 14. Shpongle - Around The World In A Tea Daze (OTT rmx)
- 15. Shpongle - Circuits Of The Imagination/Linguistic Mystic/Mentalism
- 16. Shpongle - I Am You
- 17. Hallucinogen - E
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16 comments :
Awesome. :) You can never go wrong with an all Posford mix.
Awesome set!!! I love the added samples from the Twisted DVD near the beginning!
i'm just recently getting into the whole 'psychedelic' side of ambient, and believe it or not, i've only heard a couple tracks from shpongle before. this mix was awesome, and i'm definitely going to be looking for some more shpongle in the near future!.(as well as continuing to check out the back episodes of PsyAmb!)
I really don't think they ever got off track. Both records after AYS? were awesome. Can't wait to hear the new one.
I agree with Skin. They just delved into some other great psybeats to produce some quality tunes.
I posted this mix on my blogsite. Thank you for this great mix, awesome selection! Big respect from Hungary :) Posford is the best!
Btw, do you know what is Ozora festival? This is a big psy fest in Hungary. 2010, we some cool name: Shpongle (Twisted Records) LIVE IN CONCERT – UK, Tristan (Nano Records/Twisted) – UK, Younger Brother (Twisted Records) LIVE IN CONCERT – UK, etc. And on the chillout stage: Aes Dana, Asura, Blue Planet Corporation, Carbon Based Lifeforms, H.U.V.A. Network, Solar Fields, Ott, etc. Here is the full line up:
http://hardergeneration.hu/2009/12/25/ozora-festival-2010-08-03-10-line-up/
I just sumbled onto this site and must say: WOW! What a nice place you've got here!
Really enjoy listening to some of these older tunes that I had forgotten about. Thanks you so much for creating this awesome mix.
I guess I'll take a break from soma.fm and just listen to your mixes in the next couple of weeks. You've got yourself another follower. =)
If you're in the mood for watching a wonderfully weird movie, please stop by my own blog at www.cultcinema.net
Came upon your blog while looking around for all things Posford, on account of the new Shpongle release. Fantastic mix. Really smooth 'n trippy. Great to hear it and read the track list notes. Much thanks.
Day off work today feeling very ill found this sit WOW feel much better now thanks for sharing. Welshgreengragon
I've been listening to this mix for years now, these songs really are beautiful. Thank you so much dude, your mix opened my ears to one of my favourite genres of music. :)
This is hands down the best psychedelic ambient mix I've ever heard, it's just such a classic.
And I have the feeling it's a hidden gem, you should get more thanks for this amazing selection, dude!
Thank you, thank you for the most wonderful times of my life listening to this mix!
Sublime psychedelic twisted
hi there
thanks for this superb mix, but i think you forgot to mention the name of the track beginnig at minute 47 .
eargasm!!!
I discovered your mixes after searching for Simon bootlegs and am very pleased to have found this. Thanks so much. It has been quite some time since this mix was posted though, and It seems most of your newer postings have been at higher quality. Although It would be great to see everything updated to 320kb, I do not expect it. I would request that this mix in particular be re-offered in such a format though. Just a hope. Thanks!
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