Vonoom Interview


I recently had the fortune of conducting an interview with talented ambient downtempo musician Michael Sundo a.k.a Vonoom via Facebook. Vonoom's music has always hit a chord with me with it's warm dubby bass lines, psychedelic filters and crisp percussion. So let's read on for a look at the life and times of this psychedelic ambient wizard.


PA :

How did you get started making music ? Do you come from a musical family ?

V:
I began making music back in 2003 as a natural development from my interest in DJ'ing psytrance. I loved the vast possibilities of sounds that synthesis provides, so I began to experiment with programs like Propellerheads Rebirth, Fruity Loops and Reason. It took a long time, however, before I really began to grasp what was going on instead of pushing buttons until happy accidents happened. I never really had anyone to show me the ropes, so getting to where I am today was a long process. It took many years before I began to be satisfied with my sound. My family is not really musical as such, but I was introduced to psychedelic trance by my brother, DJ Akindo, who is still an active DJ.

Vonoom - Michael Sundo

PA:
How would you best describe the kind of music you make ?

V:
Hmm that's a tough one. When people ask I usually say psychedelic chill-out for lack of a better label. I like to think that I have a fair amount of variation in my tracks, and I like to experiment with different ideas and atmospheres. Overall, my goal is to make positive music that puts a smile on your face while making sure that there's enough chunkiness to shake your ass to.

PA:
Did your early psytrance productions have an influence on the kind if psychill /psybient/ downtempo music you create ?

V:
I suppose it probably did. For the first few years of my experimenting it was mostly psytrance that I was attempting to make, but my creativity was a lot stronger whenever I was working on something that wasn't psytrance. I found psytrance to be too restrictive, the bass had to be a certain way, the kick in 4x4 and so on. You can of course break with these formulas, but I found myself just repeating what I'd already done or heard before, so I felt the need to do something different. My many years of listening to trance have definitely had an influence on the way I look at melodies and track structures though, so yes, it has had an influence.

Shpongle Homegrown Remixes - PsyAmb 54


Here is something a little different. I've mixed together a group of Shpongle homemade remixes made by various artists. These tracks do not appear on any official Twisted Records releases. One of them however was released as part of Sasha's remix album "Involver".

I came across these tracks over the years from various sources and have been building a Shpongle remix collection with them. In the mix you can here some of the better ones that I have acquired. There is a variety of styles on offer in the mix including latin jazz, dubstep, hiphop and psytrance remixes of some of Shpongle best known classic tracks. Enjoy 8)


Track / Remix Artist

  • 01. Dorset Perception ( Involver Remix )  -  Sasha
  • 02. Dorset Perception ( Xarj Remix )  -  Xarj
  • 03. Flute Fruit ( Delicorish Remix )  -  Face Invada
  • 04. I Am You ( Oscillator Z remix )  -  Oscillator Z
  • 05. No Turn Unstoned ( Too Stoned for Teledildonics Remix )  -  ir8prim8
  • 07. Dorset Perception ( Aarodynamics Remix )  -  Aarodynamics
  • 08. Behind Closed Eyelids ( Caius Remix )  -  Caius Augustus
  • 09. Shpongle Spores ( Shpongle Owns Remix )  -  Ruffian Soldier
  • 10. Room 23 ( Invisible Light Remix )  -  Invisible Light
  • 11. Star Shpongled Banner ( El Hornet 2CB RMX )  -  El Hornet
  • 12. Star Shpongled Banner ( Astrogenic Remix )  -  Astrogenic
  • 13. Flute Fruit ( Smurg Remix )  -  Smurg
  • 14. DMT ( Epic Remix )  -  rxr EPIC
  • 15. Infected Shpongle MashUp  -  Toxic Boy

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PsyDub Mix - PsyAmb 53


Seasons Greetings everyone. I have a Christmas stocking full of some delicious psychedelic dub treats for you all today. Ho ho ho ... let's get rollin` ...

We  begin today with a track from Digital Samsara's 2007 album 'Ceasefire'. DS have a lot of sounds available for free download on their soundcloud page so check it out for a great collection of ambient dub and ethno psybient sounds.
  
Don Peyote, Yvon Mounier, has recently released a follow up to his 2009 album "Eternal Now". The new CD "Heaven and Earth" is an all together more spacial sound and one which is for Don a rather personal journey with each song reflecting different times and experiences within his life.

After Don is Tremsch & Metzler. Tremsch  Metlzer aka Martin Maier  Daniel Fuchs have created their own style of music which is based on new school techno house. In this mix we have a a remix of their tune "20 Toes" by Salz. Salz is the project run by cologne-based artists Axel Erbstößer and Emanuel Geller. Nine 12inches, two mix-albums and lots of pumping live-gigs, has brought Salz a lot of respect in the dubhouse-scene worldwide. If you like your dub in the dub-techno style such as deepchord or yagya then you should definitely check these guys out.

Long time favorite Bluetech is up next with a lovely little remix of Ooze's "What's Up" from the album "Where The Fields Never End Revisited". The original Ooze album "Where The Fields Never End" is, in my opinion, one of the greatest ambient dub albums ever released and forms a part of ambient music history that should be cherished by all lover of downtempo music.

Blue Lunar Monkey follows on with a remix of the Desert Dwellers track "Spaces Between". Desert Dwellers are either remixing or being remixed all the time so in can be quite a task keeping up with what they are doing. I recommend checking out their facebook/soundcloud pages to stay up to date with all the latest from this group of exciting and much in demand artists. 2012 was a big year for Desert Dwellers and I'm sure 2012 will continue in that vein. 

We then move onto a bit of a more traditional dub sound with "Ish Dub and Juan Cano" and their track "Good Bye South Africa" which you can pick up from a compilation EP called "Family Tree". Released on Eardrum Music a few years back it has a number of nice dub tunes on it including tracks from artists Tor.ma and Austero ( one half of the exciting duo Sunmonx ).

Keeping things in that traditional instrumental dub vein then we have something a little special - dub from China ! Jiang Liang has an awesome roots dub sound full of reverbed spacial constructs, dripping with heavy bass. This one comes from a recent favorite CD of mine called "Umberto Echo ‎– Dub The World " which has a number of well known dub, reggae artists on it such as Damien Marley, Steel Pulse, Sly  Robbie and Seeed. 

Then we have two more straight dub tracks - "Warrior Style" from Phase Selector Sound and Wizz by Jangle Machine before moving into the last track in the traditional dub mini section of the mix. Alpha and Omega wraps up this  section of the mix with their classic tune "This Is My Prayer" which has been remixed by Tara Putra as part of the album "In Dubland". You can pick that album up from the the Ektoplazm website where it has received a very high average rating of 95% and quite deservedly so too.

Things start to get a little more psydub now with Scopes and his tune "Eyes Closed" from the excellent "Digilog" EP which is one of my albums of the year. Got to love the heavy rolling bassline in this one !

Following on we have the gnarling, growly bass sounds of Lunecell and the track "Off The Grid" from the "Dub Warriors Vol 1" compilation released on Triple Drop Productions earlier this year. A superb compilation of psychedelic dub. Have a listen and grab a copy of it from the Triple Drop Productions Bandcamp page.

Doug Surreal makes use of the words of Yogi Maharishi Mahesh to great effect in his effects laden track "Bondage Of The Mind" which is a pulsating dub full of thick bass, deep echoing chords and jiggering rim shots. Awesome stuff. The mix then gets a full injection of psydub from Brujo Bowl and his track "Subliminal Message" which has been remixed this time by Expedizion ( Guillermo Agnese ) and can be found once again on the superb Dub Warriors Vol 1 CD that I mentioned earlier.
 
Last year was full of top dub albums and certainly one of the best to be released has be "Dub Mates Meeting" which is packed full of so many good tunes that it's difficult to choose just one. Today I've gone for artist Fingerprint ( Jan Erik Rød ) and his track Kingstoned.

We then have a few more psydub tunes from psytrance legends Eat Static and Dickster before we get to the track Bura from Zookeeper ( Jesse Edwards)  and Helatrobus. This comes from one of the best dub compilations of the last few years, "Dub Meditations", which was released in 2009 on Full Melt Recordings. A truly epic release of ambient dub, psychedelic dub and psychill sounds that has become a real treasure in my collection.

After a couple of ethno tribal tinged dubs from Triburk Sound System and Celt Islam we have the track "Walter's Sugar Cubes" from Squatin' Mobile Studio which apart from being a top tune has some cool samples from TV show Fringe talking about LSD infused sugar cubes. It's been a while since I've heard some good ol' drug samples in psychedelic dub tunes. That used to be THE thing to do about 10 years ago so I remember this coming as a welcome surprise when I first heard it.


Well I've got head off and do some Christmas shopping before things get too chaotic out there on the streets and grandmothers start punching each other up over the last remaining pokemon DS games in the stores. So I'll wrap up by saying the mix finally chills out a bit towards the end with the mighty Vibrasphere who are sadly no more ! Shniff sniff 8( . Anyway have a great Christmas everyone and and a rockin New Year. See you all in 2013 ( assuming the Mayans forgot to carry over the digits ) for some more psydub mixes. 

Cheers ...

 Track - Artist
  • 01. Milarepa@Cave  -  Digital Samsara
  • 02. La Foret Perdue  -  Don Peyote
  • 03. 20 Toes (Salz Dub Mix)  -  Tremsch and Metzler
  • 04. What's Up (Bluetech Schaffel Dub)  -  Ooze
  • 05. Spaces Between (Blue Lunar Monkey Remix)  -  Desert Dwellers
  • 06. Good Bye South Africa  -  Ish Dub and Juan Cano
  • 07. Ye Hou Shan Dub  -  Jiang Liang    
  • 08. Warrior Style  -  Phase Selector Sound
  • 09. Wizz  -  Jangle Machine
  • 10. This Is My Prayer (Tara Putra Remix)  -  Alpha and Omega
  • 11. Eyes Closed  -  Scopes
  • 12. Off The Grid  -  Lunecell
  • 13. Bondage of the Mind  -  Doug Surreal
  • 14. Subminimal Message (Expedizion Remix)  -  Brujo's Bowl
  • 15. Kingstoned  -  Fingerprint
  • 16. Holy stone  -  Eat Static
  • 17. Couch Surfer  -  Dickster
  • 18. Bura  -  Zookeeper and Helatrobus
  • 19. Enter the Taj Mahal  -  Tiburk Sound System
  • 20. Attar (Feat Dawoud The Renegade Sufi)  -  Celt Islam
  • 21. Walter's Sugar Cubes  -  Squatin' Mobile Studio
  • 22. Making U Sadly  -  Kuba
  • 23. Don't Lose Your Green Spirit  -  Green Beats
  • 24. Silly Psybin  -  Akasha
  • 25. Heartsong  -  Kalpataru Tree
  • 26. Ice Flow  -  Vibrasphere

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Eclipse Mix Download - PsyAmb 52


Twisted Records recently released the latest chapter ( Eclipse 2012 - Following the Eye of God ) of the Eclipse compilation series of psychedelic electronica so I thought to celebrate this momentous event I would put together a mix that includes tracks from the series. The first Eclipse compilation "A Journey Of Permanence & Impermanence" was released way back in 1998 ( 12 years ago already ...sheeesh ! ). It was a ground breaking release as far as psychedelic ambient dub and chillout goes and was met with much critical acclaim. Simon Posford featured heavily on the album as part of Shpongle and a number of other side projects. You can hear a number of the tracks in the Simon Posford mix I did for PsyAmb 18 a few years back which has been one of the most downloaded mixes here at the PsyAmb site. 


The Eclipse series is the brainchild of Australian Danielle Buntman whose concept was to create a compilation series that could celebrate the full lunar eclipse moments around the globe as a memory of the events and sounds that we experience and share in. There are four compilations so far which include 
  • Eclipse - A Journey Of Permanence & Impermanence - 1998
  • Caribbean Eclipse  - 1999
  • Cornwall Eclipse - Shepherds Warning - 2001 
  • Eclipse 2012 - Following the Eye of God - 2012
A number of artists feature across several releases such as 100th Monkey, Woob and Atmos so it's nice to see that many musicians continue to support the series with each release. It's also interesting to listen to all the four records together and get a snap-shot of just how much psychedelic ambient sound has changed in the past 12 years. The latest album includes some rather heavy bass which I guess comes from the influence of genres like dubstep and breaks.

Another feature of the new album is that it is the first double CD on the series with the first CD containing more dance music in the form of progressive trance from acts like Flowjob, System 7 and Freq. The second CD contains the majority of the psychill and there are some real amazing tracks to be enjoyed there. I was especially pleased to hear the track from GUS ( Gus Till ) as it might hint at something we can expect from his new album which is to be release on Twisted Records some time soon. On Gus Till website it mentions that his new album is "...a fine collection of tribal down-tempo with hefty doses of his own brand of psychedelia". Yeah !! That sounds awesome !!

Another one that impressed me was trance DJ and producer James Munro with his track "Swoon". Wow ! What a tune. I never realised Mr Munro could make such superb slower tracks. He did team up with Dick Trever on one of the earlier Eclipse albums as the duo Bumbling Loons and had a really first-class track ( Luna Solaire ) but I think this might be the first time I've heard him solo doing a chilled tune. I would be cool if he could do a full album in that style.

For those of you not interested in the progressive trance stuff you can always download separate tracks from the second CD via Beatport, iTunes and the like. I actually opted for both CDs as the first CD isn't too full on and all the track are really, really marvelous. It's good to see they didn't create a standard psytrance-psychill double CD as that would have been a bit cheesy I think.

One of the best albums of the year for sure.



Track / Artist
  • 01. Spirals  -  Nomads of Dub    
  • 02. Nakano Ghost  -  Total Eclipse    
  • 03. Purple Pygmies  -  Walter Ego    
  • 04. Shadow Hunters  -  Pan Electric    
  • 05. Fly  -  Western Rebel Alliance    
  • 06. Eclipse Dub  -  100th Monkey    
  • 07. Giant Stroke  -  Woob    
  • 08. Moonchild  -  100th Monkey & Angele    
  • 09. 3 Orange Lights  -  Atmos    
  • 10. Moment Of Eclipse  -  Gus    
  • 11. Seeing Things  -  Desert Dwellers    
  • 12. Crystalline (Younger Brother RMX)  -  Younger Brother

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Tribal World Music Mix - PsyAmb 51


This week I have uploaded a kind of world music mix that has a variety of styles from minimal ethnic ambient sounds to ethno-dubstep and beyond. I haven't done too many of these before as I'm not so familiar with the world music genre. However from time time I do run across some rather nice ethno tribal tracks on psychill compilations and the like. So I've gathered a few of the good ones together here in this mix to create a psychedelic world ambient fusion journey. Its runs at around 70 minutes which makes for a nice CD should you want to burn one.


We start with "Gham Dub" by Echo Wanderer, which is the first track from his album "Moving Through Dub" released by Full Melt Recordings in 2011. FMR has a nice selection of bass heavy and dubstep sounds on their books so check them out if you are into that kind of sound. This track has a great slow build to it that is full of ancient tribal trance like atmospheres and creates a smooth intro to the set.

Next is a track from a little known album called "Liquid Dreams" by Ma Faiza and Veet Sandeh. Released in 2006 this album didn't get much distribution in the psyamb genres of psychill or psydub which is unfortunate as it certainly would appeal to such listeners. It's a great album of slick dub/downtempo tunes with Indian vocals. The pair have released a few tracks from the album on a number of noteable compilations including "Goa Beach Vol 6" and the excellent "Mar Y Tierra 2" so it's surprising that they haven't released anything further.

picture of emancipator playing live
Emancipator
Up next is a remix of Emancipator's tune "Rattlesnakes" by saQi. Emancipator ( Doug Appling ) is an American producer who is really riding a wave of underground success at the moment. His music is to be found at the crossroads of melodic downtempo, instrumental hip hop, and electronica. Doug really shot to fame over the past 2 years but has actually been around since 2006 when he released his debut album "Soon It Will Be Cold Enough". That album sold 5,000 copies in the first six months on sale here in Japan. He then landed a Puma sponsorship, gave an interview to Rolling Stone Japan, and even had his song “Maps” played at the Beijing Olympics. Not bad for a guy who was still just 20 years old !

42 Modern Psychedelic Visionary Artists You Need To Know

The world of psychedelic art has been around for as long as people have been getting high and picking up paintbrushes. Many believe it reached it's popular peak in the late 60's when the hippy movement and flower power was all the go. I guess that is a fair argument. That's not to say that psychedelic and visionary art isn't popular anymore. Far from it - there are thousands of psychedelic and visionary artists around the globe who are creating amazing images using a whole range of interesting techniques.

Here I would like to present what I believe are some  of the leading psychedelic and visionary artists working in the field today. Some of these artists are so technically brilliant in their usage of digital processes that it makes my mind boggle as to how they do it. A number of these names will be instantly familiar to some of you such as artists Alex Grey and Martina Hoffmann while others might be lesser well known so take the time to follow up on them and visit their websites for some amazing visions of the inner mind. 

This list is in no particular order and I'll add more details about other artists listed soon so check back again sometime.

1. Andrew ( Android ) Jones


Currently one of the leading digital psychedelic visionary artists in the world today. Andrew works in the field of visual concept art, creating images for film, fashion and gaming. More recently he has been working on designs for music festivals and bands. His artwork has been featured on album covers of several electronic and psybient music artists such as Bluetech, Beats Antique, Sporeganic, and Phutureprimitive.

2. Justin Guse




Justin is a highly skilled digital artist who creates stunning fantasy visionary hybrids. He is also very active in creating vector art, logo designs, promo material and user interfaces. His work has a leading edge look to it that combines patterns and shapes from a digital world with the more organic feel of spiritual practices.

3. Tokio Aoyama


An artist who paints with a combination of metaphysical, spiritual, and music themes, Tokio Aoyama hails from a tiny town in the north of Japan. Tokio has painted murals and has done commission work for clients all over the world. He has designed art for record labels Epistrophik Peach Sound, Mello Music, Moamoo, and Jazzy Sport. Presently he is looking to share insight into Japanese culture, history, and tradition such as tattooing and art trends of present day Japan.

4. Andy Thomas


Andy Thomas' work creates a visual fusion between Nature and Technology. By taking photos of plants, insects and machines and compositing them with artificially created forms in various 3D programs. The very process of the art he creates is symbolic of mankind’s continuing corruption of the natural world. His photographic endeavours have led him to such exotic locations as Borneo, Laos and the rainforests of Tasmania and the Daintree River.

5. Carey Thompson


Psychill Mix Download - PsyAmb 50


Today is a special occasional here at the PsyAmb blog as it marks the 50th mix in the PsyAmb psychedelic ambient music series. So with that in mind I decided to do an especially long  ( over 2 hours ) mix full of psychedelic chillout gems. Before I begin giving you the details of this mix I would like to thank all you listeners, downloaders, sharers, likers and hikers who have given great feedback and spread the tunes in this series worldwide for all to enjoy. Long may it be so !

So this week we kick of with "Aligning Minds" ( Daniel Merrill and Michael Folk ) with the track "Satsand Orchard". This can be found through the "Adapted Records" bandcamp website ( and Soundcloud ) were I picked it up as a free download as part of the compilation "Acquiring Influence Volume 1". This is fantastic tune with lots of great new sounds on offer from a group that is getting better and better with every track they produce. Their tunes have a spicy mix of genres like dubstep, breakbeat, downtempo, idm/glitch, and techno. Check out their 2011 release "Universal Automation" for a real enjoyable psychedelic music experience. The guys have a number of upcoming gigs which U.S listeners might be interested in. On November 10th you can catch them at Dosha Bar Club in Savannha, Georgia and then at Pour House Music Hall in Raleigh, North Carolina on November 30th.

Trollwood
Up next is the little known "Trollwood" ( Denis Bogachev ), a solo artist from Russia. Denis is known on the Russian trance circuit where he can please a crowd with his warm and spacious progressive trance tunes. However he is yet to crack it internationally but I have no doubt he will get there soon. This is one of his first downtempo oriented tunes and it sure is a beauty. Hope we can hear more of his chillout tunes in the near future.This comes from the compilation "The Martian Chronicles". Denis has an 2 track EP as well titled "Tears Of An Angel" which was released on Trimurti records last year.

"Vonoom" ( Michael Sundo ) has impressed of late with his stylish psychill production techniques and a number of excellent psybient tunes. He has featured on some of the best chillout compilation albums of the past few years and has recently started collaborating with Lague and Baba Gnohm on a number of tracks. What I really love about Vonoom's sound is it's close association with psytrance. You can hear the influence that producing psytrance in his early years has had on his current music which is full of squelcy and trippy psy synths and gated effects along with warm and funky basslines. Excellent stuff.

Another outstanding tune that you can pick up as a free download is the track "Follow The Shaman" by U.S producers "Digital Folk". From the Bay Area of the West Coast,  Digital Folk ( Dan Alvidrez and Daniel Lesser ) are long time friends who have worked on separate solo projects and together to create some of the best bass driven sounds to emerge from the Bay Area's respected dubstep and glichhop breeding ground. Some of you may be familiar with Alivdrez's solo project known as "Builder". As Builder he has done some top notch work including a number of superb remixes - most notably a dubstepish remix of Shpongle's "Star Shpongled Banner".

"All Species" is another downtempo duo, this time hailing from Athens, Greece. The track in this mix is called "Jaipur Drive" which was released earlier last year as part of a 5 track EP "Magic Roundabout". The EP was touted as being reflective of mid-90's early chillout sounds. I'm not quite sure what they would mean by that as chillout music in the mid 90s was pretty diverse and hard to pin down and besides I think this tune sounds just as fresh as anything released in the last 12 months so why not celebrate the present. You can make your own mind up if you like by checking out more of their work at the Kraak Records website.

Swen Stroop
Someone who is definitely not able to be put under any label or genre of music is our next artist - the delightfully inventive "Swen (Dzoncy) Stroop". I think I got the name right ? Swen's music is wildly psychedelic and unlike anything you are likely to have heard before. If you enjoy your music a bit further out on the edge then his album "Forest In Peace" might be just what you are looking for. More Swen !

Psychedelic Skulls


British company Our exQuisite Corpse ( not to be confused with the deviant art collective of the same name ) have recently commissioned some Huichol Indian art in the form of resin sculpted skulls encrusted with psychedelic beaded patterns from the Huichol Indians of Mexico. 

These are wonderful colorful works of art that are sure to appeal to the most discerning of psychedelia collector. They are not cheap though - at close to 500 pounds a pop through retailer LN-CC. Still, we are talking one of a kind original authentic collector artwork here so I guess such a price tag isn't too exorbitant. 


Psychedelic skulls made by Mexico's Huichol Indians


Eclipse Festival Australia 2012



The eclipse festivals have been a popular event on the trance music scene for close to two decades now. Previous total solar eclipse events have been celebrated by music fans the world over as they seek to merge their love of music with the spectacular experience of a full solar eclipse. This year the event is to be held from Nov 10th to 16th 2012 near the town of Cairns, in Queensland Australia. The solar eclipse will occur early morning of the 16th. The team behind the event includes management from well established and respect music festivals including Australia's Rainbow Music Festival , The Symbiosis Festival from USA and the UK's massively popular Glade Festival.

This year will see a vast lineup of musicians, artists, authors, poets and let's not forget all the wonderful food and craft retailers too. Even if you don't hear any music, the sheer amount of performance art, workshops, market stalls and organic food on offer is more than enough to satisfy even the most discerning of festival goers.

One of the highlights of the festival this year will surely be the appearance of psychedelic artists Alex Grey who will be launching his new book "Net Of Being" at the event. Along with Alex there are a number of amazing artistings represented including international psychedelic and visionary artists Android Jones, Amanda Sage, Andy Ross, Andy Thomas, Luke Brown and Martina Hoffman.

As far as the music is concerned expect nothing less than a phenomenal lineup of the world's best trance and chillout bands, DJs and producers. I won't go too far into the trance side of things here as I am more into the psychedelic ambient sounds.

So with that in mind here are some of the ambient,dub and chillout groups you can expect to hear at this year's event :
  • An-Ten-Nae
  • Andrew Till
  • Beats Antique
  • Bird of Prey
  • Banco de Gaia
  • Birds of Paradise
  • Chris Deckker
  • Circuit Bent
  • Deep Fried Dub 
  • Ganga Giri
  • Dub FX and Flower fairy
  • Dysphemic and Miss Eliza
  • EPROM
  • Eskmo
  • Freq Nasty
  • Desert Dwellers
  • GAUDI
  • Heyoka
  • Kaya Project
  • Kalya Scintilla
  • Supercozi
  • Outersect
  • Terra Nine
  • Whitebear
  • Vladislav Delay
  • Zen Lemonade
  • Solar Fields
  • Hypnagog
  • Kaminanda
  • Random Rab
  • Richard Devine
  • Spoonbill
  • Sunmonx
  • Temple Step Project
  • Tipper
Quite a tasty lineup I'm sure you would agree. I am especially pleased to see Solar Fields, Kaminanda, Gaudi and Bird Of Prey all making the long haul flight to Australia this year. Aussie fans have been waiting quite a while to see those  artists bring their unique sounds down.  

So you might be wondering how much does all this cost ? 7 days of international music, art and performance can't be cheap to put on. Well according to the eclipse web site these are the current ticket prices :

$250 Super Early Bird 1
$300 Early Bird 2
$350 Early Bird 3
$400 General Presale
$500 On the gate

Given that we are fast approaching the event date you can probably assume that early bird tickets have all been snapped already so if you are still keen on making it to the party then you might have to fork out for a general presale or on the gate ticket. Yikes ... $500 !!! 

Actually I just check the ticket office and there are still a number of EB3 tickets available at $350 AUD . That's not too bad - especially if you plan to stay for a week. For international travelers there are a number of world wide ticket outlines where you can acquire tickets too.


If you need more info relating to travel, camping or health and safety I recommend checking out the Eclipse website. It is very well well designed and informative with plenty of FAQ information to read up on. 





More Awesome Psychedelic Wallpaper Images


Back in May I did a post about psychedelic wallpaper backgrounds in which I uploaded some of my favorite trippy images that had been hanging around on my drives. I thought it might be about time to do an update on the psy wallpaper theme and share with you some more pictures that have found their way onto my computer over the last half a year or so. There are some really nice trippy and surreal images here so I hope you all enjoy them.

There are a number of different psy wallpaper styles here, all displaying a psychedelic motif. These pictures are good to use as desktop backgrounds and wallpaper for your PC or mobile. Recently I have been using some of these images to create psychedelic iphone cases which I talked about in my previous post here at PsyAmb.

Enjoy these trippy wallpapers and as always feel free to share this post and spread some psychedelic wallpaper love.



psychedelic art of alex grey

blue fractal

Create a Psychedelic iPhone Cover

If you are tired of paying good money for the same old bland iPhone 4 case designs one finds these days then why not create your own psychedelic iphone case that you can be pretty sure that no one else has. This is a cheap way to keep your phone looking cool and allows you to change it anytime you feel like without having to pay for a new case each time. 

psychedelic iphone case


To do this trick you will need the following :
  • a clear iphone case ( any will do but I recommend the clearest you can find for best results )
  • a printer 
  • glossy photo print paper ( not 100% necessary but it does give a nice finish )
  • your desired favorite psychedelic image in digital format
  • image software such as GIMP, Photoshop, Painter etc. 
  • an iPhone case image template

For the iPhone template I use one created by Ahoodie.com 


Once you have all that in order here is what you do :

Step 1 

Open the case image template.

Open the image you want to use as your case design. I have used an image created by Android Jones. Check out his website for some incredible artwork.

Here I have the template in one tab and the image I want to print in a new tab

Step 2 

Select the template image tab.

Select the magic wand tool ( most popular image programs should have one ).

Click inside the template area to select the template without select the black and red lines. You may need to lower the magic wand thresh hold attribute to do this effectively.

Using the magic wand to select an area

Step 3

With the template area now selected, go back to the image you want to print and copy it to the clipboard ( Select All, Copy )

Now go back to the template tab and select "paste into" from the the edit menu. This will paste your image into the template ( see image below ). Note that the black border and red dotted line in the top left corner are still visible - you want to keep it this way. The red line will but cut along to provide a space for your iPhone's camera.

Image pasted into iPhone template

Step 4

After pasting the image you will need to move it around until it is in the position you like. You can do this with the selection move tool. In GIMP it is the cross looking icon ( see selected icon in image below ) . 

Once you have everything looking good it is now time to print.

Image centered and ready to print

Step 5

Printing the image may require a few trial runs until you get it perfectly the way you want it. I suggest printing onto regular printer paper first until you are happy with the print results. Once your are satisfied, load your printer with some glossy photo print paper. I use premium postcard size glossy paper. It costs me about $6 USD for a pack of 60 sheets. Not too bad.

Image printed on postcard size photo glossy paper

Step 6

Next you need to cut out the image using the template guidelines. First cut around the outside of the black border that surrounds the image. Go slow and be careful not to cut too far into the image. I cut right on the outer edge of the black border so that no white paper shows in the final cutout. 

Once you have cut around the border you need to cut along the red guidelines to allow for a space that the iPhone's camera can use. 

You should now have something resembling this :

Looking good ... 

Step 7 

All that is left to do now is to place the image inside the the clear plastic iPhone case and attach it to the back of your phone as you would any other case. The printed image sits between the phone and the case. 

A new iPhone case ready to go !
And there you have - a new iPhone case that is totally upgradeable anytime you like. Use your favorite album cover, painting, logo or original design and as soon as your get tired of just print something else ! If you make any cool psychedelic cases then send me a photo - would love to see them and share here on the blog. 

Cheers ...



Ott Interview Backstage


Here is a entertaining video that provides a view into the mind of UK producer Ott. Ott is getting more open and comfortable online recently which is great to see as he has tons of fans worldwide who are interested in hearing about his past and musical inspirations. 

This is a really  cool interview I think - very laid back and honest. He doesn't hide anything. Of all the interviews I've ever seen of producers withing the psychedelic ambient music scene this might possibly be the best I've seen ! There are some real gems of information here so if you have a spare  40 minutes, grab a cup of tea and enjoy this candid interview with the world's greatest psychedelic dub producers.




Ott is currently on tour in the US with his band The All Seeing I. For full tour dates check here.


Nokorimono Vol 4 - Chillout Mix - PsyAmb 49


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This is the fourth of the Nokorimono chill out music series ( for more select "other" in the tags on the right menu ). These mixes are a collection of chill out mixes / ambient mixes comprising of tracks that don't quite fit into the regular PsyAmb mix genres of dub,ambient or psybient music. 

Nonetheless, these are all excellent  tunes that carry a very chilled out vibe and are well worth listening to and following up on the artists involved. One tune of note in this mix is a remix of "Quintessence ", that classic track from OOZE. This comes from his new remix CD of "Where The Fields Never End". It has contributions from a number of great artists so check it out all you OOZE fans out there. Hope you enjoy the mix. I even got around to making a nice little cover image this time !


Track / Artist
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  • 01. Under Over The Clouds [Matho Sky's Tears Mix]  -  Micromattic
  • 02. Sleep Tight Tiger  -  Husky Rescue      
  • 03. Gray Daze  -  Murya
  • 04. Tell  -  Baba Yaga
  • 05. Continuous  -  Aerostatic
  • 06. Revelation Ridge  -  Echopilot
  • 07. Duotechnolique  -  Abakus
  • 08. Mushroom Soup  -  Krusseldorf
  • 09. Omalian Globes  -  Muffle
  • 10. Stay With Me  -  Murya
  • 11. Thinking Of You  -  Dream Stalker
  • 12. Quintessence [Spatialize Remix]  -  Ooze
  • 13. Air [Chill Version]  -  Rabitza
  • 14. Reverse Engineering  -  Radiate
  • 15. The Cows At Jodrell Bank  -  World Of Apples

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> You might also like this chillout music mix - psyamb32



Huichol Indian Peyote Art


Modern art is awash with images that reflect the psychedelic and surreal and question our concept  and understanding of reality and consciousness. While a number of modern art practitioners make use of modern psychedelics to find inspiration for their art, a long time ago our ancestors made use of  traditional entheogens to connect to the spirit world and paint what they saw there. Some authors within the field of psychedelic research have put forth the idea that all art and religion is in fact a direct result of our ancestral ingestion of naturally occurring psychedelic plants such as psychedelic mushrooms and cactus.

Huichol indian yarn painiting

How To Hallucinate Without Drugs ( Top 10 )


What's that you say ? Get high without drugs ? Pfffftt ! You must be joking ! While it's fair to say that quite a lot of people in the psychedelic music scene have or currently do enhance their lives though the use of psychedelic drugs there are also a number of people for whom such drugs hold no appeal for their own personal reasons. 

One of the most common reasons is that some people simply grow tired of using drugs because of the associated down that comes after the high. Did you ever experience that exhausted feeling one has Monday morning after tripping all weekend ? That can add up after time and cause people to seek more natural psychedelic alternatives that have fewer after effects.

trippy patterns

So with that in mind I thought it might be nice to share some of the current methods to get high without drugs. That is to say, how to make yourself hallucinate in a more natural way.

There are many web pages devoted to the causes of hallucinations and getting high without drugs ( LSD, MDMA etc) but these tend to focus on obtaining a feeling of euphoria such as one experiences after intense exercise.

What I want to concentrate on in this list is the visual high that comes with the psychedelic experience and if it can be obtained without psychedelic drugs. Should you be concerned about the effects of hallucinations then I suggest reading about them further at my hallucination help blog.

1. Light



The use of light to have a hallucinogenic experience is an idea which is growing in popularity. For some people, being subjected to a series of repeating flashes of light is enough to induce a psychedelic trip. 

There a number of companies which offer products that allow you to attempt this at home. These devices are typically constructed of a pair of goggles in which there are a number of small LED lights which are set to flash off and on at a particularly frequency level.

They are often sold under names like "mind machines", "dream makers" and other such terms that make you leave your wallet firmly in your pocket however recent scientific research and an increasing amount of user feedback has been giving weight to the argument that these machines do in fact work. 

Devices range from the cheap and simple to the quite exorbitant depending on the materials and technology involved. One of the more recent devices to be making a splash is the Lucia no. 3 developed by a couple of Psychologists and neuroscientists. It uses stroboscopic lighting techniques to activate your pineal gland which in turn produces visions not unlike a psychedelic trip.


Trip glasses :

Create your own :

2.Dance


Dance has even used by humans for thousands of years to allow us to enter a trance like state and cross over the bridge into the spirit world. Native cultures such as the Australian Aborigines, African tribespeople, Sufis and American Indians have utilized the power of dance to make contact with the spirits as they enter a world of vivid color and surreal architecture and archetypes.


3. Breathing and Meditation

 

picture of person mediating on rock in a tranquil lake

Breath control and meditation have long been used by many cultures in Asia as a means of clearing negative thoughts, finding inspiration, spiritual enhancement and becoming more self aware. Now that such practices have become world wide it is easy to find a teacher who can guide you on the meditative path. I wouldn't suggest telling your teaching you are only interested in meditation in order trip balls though. 

Many people who practice insight meditation have reported experiencing hallucinations. From simple shapes and colors such as one might see on a low LSD dose to full on "out of body" experiences where entire characters and environments are formed and interacted within.

Nobody knows for sure why it happens and the suggested reasons put forth by teachers, yogis and even Buddhist masters differ just as much as the visions reported. Some people have said that unexpected visionary hallucinations while meditating have caused long term psychological issues so it would be wise to do as much research on the topic before you dive into the deep end.

4. Sleep Deprivation



I have had an interest in sleep deprivation and hallucinations since I read an Aldous Huxley essay on the subject as a teenager. It was some years later when, after a particularly busy weekend, I experienced some of what Huxley mentioned all those years before.

I had not slept for close to three or four days. Suddenly I began to have audio hallucinations ( hearing things that were not there ) and began to see waves of colors and geometric shapes. I fell asleep and woke about 20 hours later !

I'm no scientist but it was easy enough for me to conclude that lack of sleep definitely has an effect on how certain areas of the brain and the visual cortex function. To read more about the science behind sleep deprivation try this link :



5. Dreaming

 


For most of us dreaming is a pleasant and surreal excursion during sleep in which our brain processes the thoughts, ideas and emotions we experience during our waking life. A kind of cerebral washing machine of you like.

Generally speaking dreams are unhinged and out of our control. No matter how many times you dream about your wildest desires we often wake up right before things get really juicy !

However on occasion I have had the feeling being very much in control my dreams. Like a movie director or those dudes in the movie Inception, it felt like I could simply think about a wall, a river or a thin crust pizza and it would magically appear ( no anchovies please ). 

After mentioning this to a friend of mine, he lent me a book about lucid dreaming which detailed the process of being able to fully control your dreams at will ( after considerable training and effort ).

I imagined with lucid dreaming one could experience any kind of fantastical hallucinogenic visions one could possibly think of. The psychedelic world would be my psychedelic oyster. Unfortunately after a few failed attempts I gave up on the idea. That's the problem with non-drug induced hallucinations I guess - if it doesn't work first time it's difficult to keep trying because you have that bias of having experienced instant gratification through the entheogenic and the synthetic methods of self exploration. 

Despite my own failed attempts to create a practice of full dream control I haven't given up on the idea as a viable means of hallucinating without drugs.

Some people argue the point that Lucid dreaming can not be called a hallucination as they have strict definitions on what constitutes a hallucination. That is, in essence, that it should be experienced during a non-dream, awake state. Part of me agrees and part of thinks that if you are lucid dreaming and controlling your dreams, are you really asleep ? Which also leads to arguments about what really constitutes sleep and pretty soon it's, as they say in Discworld "turtles all the way down".

6. Cheese



If you can't be bothered with lucid dreaming but would still like to make your dreams a little more surreal then look no further than cheese. Stilton cheese to be more precise.

A 2005 study conducted by The British Cheese Board concluded that close to 80% of men and women reported strange and vivid dreams when they ate Stilton cheese 30 minutes before bed. That's quite a significant figure. A selection of different cheeses were provided for the research with the Stilton coming out on top in the number of reported fantastical dreams experienced by the 200 participants in the study. 

I have also experienced such dreams after eating blue cheese. It does have a very high amount of calories and the stink it leaves in your mouth might melt the bristles off your tooth-brush so it's not something I would eat regularly.

Some people point out that cheese contains high amounts of the amino acid tryptophan which can relax the body and mind and may be the reason for "cheese dreams". I doubt that however because other foods have just as much or more grams of tryptophan per 100 grams of food. Eggs and soybeans for example are higher in tryptophan than cheese and yet I don't recall ever having "egg dreams" nor "tofu dreams". 

Another possible reason for cheese dreams I have heard is that cheese takes a long time for your body to digest so if you eat it before bed then your brain is too active at a time when it should be resting which results in vivid dreams.

This also sounds like hocum to me as I regularly eat before bed ( as my waist line can prove !) and again never experience the kind of dreams I have after eating cheese. Does cheese have some hidden chemical that is secretly effecting our nightly visions and creating a natural way to get high ? Maybe, but science hasn't provided us with an answer as of yet.

7. Nutmeg



Nutmeg isn't the most useful of spices. Apart from fruit pies and eggnog at Christmas time, most of us rarely touch the stuff. So it might come as some surprise that nutmeg has another use, one which is just as likely to make you feel as good about yourself as the festive season. Eat nutmeg, get high ! 

Nutmeg contains small amounts of a compound called myristicin, which is chemically similar to mescaline, the active compound in the peyote cactus. The downside about this legal high is that you need to consume an enormous amount of the stuff to have any noticeable hallucinogenic effect.

If you can handle that then you should also know that the effects can last for up to 48 hours and that you will likely experience a lot of vomiting, stomach pain and diarrhea. Some people have had positive experiences on nutmeg so it's not all doom and gloom. You can read a nutmeg trip report here :


8. Isolation Tanks / Flotation tanks



In the depths of my record collection is a treasured copy of the soundtrack to the 1980 movie "Altered States". The movie which stars a young William Hurt and Richard Dreyfus details a Harvard scientist's search for an out of this world spiritual experience through the use of an isolation tank. In the end the guy gets more than he bargained for. I won't give the plot away here as I think it's kind of a cool movie and well worth watching is you are interested in exploring inner space. 

If you have never heard of an isolation tank ( sensory deprivation tank ) before, it is a light-less, soundproof tank inside which subjects float in salt water at skin temperature. They were first used by John C. Lilly in 1954 to test the effects of sensory deprivation. Such tanks are now also used for meditation and relaxation and in alternative medicine. 

Isolation tanks use the idea of sensory deprivation ( the removal of one or more sensory stimuli ) to promote hallucinatory images within the mind. Users reports are mixed after the first experience however if they persist in their isolation tank usage and are able to "let go" then many have reported the most fantastic journeys.

I would love to try one some day but sadly there aren't any available in my home town. Maybe I should make it part of a holiday in another city some time... a trip within a trip !

9. Magnets




Over the past 20 years an increasing amount of research has been conducted into magnetic fields and their influence on the human brain. Apart from obvious medical applications that might arrive from such research there are also a number of more alternative research applications that are hinting at magnets being responsible for a number of hallucinogenic states. 

Some scientists are suggesting that natural magnetic fields may be the reason why people see ghosts or why groups of people have shared UFO or alien sightings.

Science has proven that magnets do indeed create hallucinations - colorful lines and geometric patterns - akin to what people experience when under the influence of hallucinogens such as psychedelic mushrooms, LSD or peyote cactus.

In the future magnets and transducers could well become the new entertainment playground. Imagine a home console where games are played inside your mind rather than taken in through your eyes ? Sounds like fantasy ? Japan's SONY corporation already has a patent for such a system in place :



Here is a link to a bit of the science behind magnets and their effects of the the brain ( PDF Format ) :



While I don't know of any devices for tripping on magnets at home there have been a number I personalized size devices created by people in the past. These are typically made by converting bicycle or football helmets into a comfortable magnet housing with gauges for field strength etc. One such device that captured the public's imagination was the God Helmet.

10. Drumming


Tribal drumming is a traditional ritual technique used by shamans to enter the spiritual world. The practice is thousands of years old and is passed down the generations as a way of keeping in contact with their ancestors or seeking healing advice.

The repetitive nature of tribal drumming is key to the hallucinations it can produce. The short repetitive sequencing in tribal drumming reduces the amount of sensory input and encourages the brain to generate images and feelings which are spiritual or mystical in nature. Earl Vickers wrote a nice article about tribal drumming, music and consciousness which you can read about here

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