PsyAmb: December 2009

Top Psychill Albums - PsyAmb 20

Making a Top psychill albums list is never an easy thing. You are locked in a battle of what you think the listening public likes versus what you know , in your heart , to be the most amazing releases of the year. We all have our own opinions and ideas and the psychedelic ambient genre , despite it's somewhat specific nomenclature , encompasses a variety musical styles. This can lead to a lot of heated debate as to what actually should be included in a list - "Is it really psychill ??".

There are some stand out albums I heard that did not make the list such as "Tokyo" by "Marconi Union" ( who also ranked #1 on the most relaxing song list by a british research team), "Here for Now" by "Seventh Swami" and "Undercurrent" by "Kilowatts". These are top albums that I enjoyed very much but I felt they did not sit comfortably with my definition of what makes up psychedelic ambient music. So all I can do is present a list of albums that in terms of the "style" of psychedelic ambient music that I like, left the biggest impressions on me for 2009.

Some potential top 25 entries were released very late in the the year and as such I may not have had an opportunity to listen to them yet. A prime example is "Hanging Masses" by "Cell". One final filtering point I used was the exclusion of some albums that comprised half psychill tunes and half uptempo trance like tunes. To be fair this is an ambient site and I did ponder over whether to include such releases for quite some time. In the end I felt that to be true to the nature of all things this site is about I couldn't include such albums in the list.

2009 has been a great year for top psychill music. We saw many releases from new artists and a few from established heavy weights. Some like the Ultimae crew 's Aes Dana, Solar Fields and H.U.V.A Network sent us on emotional journeys across the outer reaches of the galaxy. Others such as Shpongle , Kliment and Yggdrasil journeyed inside out minds , tweaking frequencies with psychedelia , groove and humor. Then there were artists like Don Peyote with his meditative masterpiece that reminds us all to look around and take some time out now and then.

Rank	Artist	Album
01	Shpongle	Ineffable Mysteries From Shpongleland
02	Don Peyote	Eternal Now
03	Capsula	Sense Of A Drop
04	Chronos & C.J. Catalizer	Quid Est Veritas
05	Yggdrasil	Prose Edda
06	Kliment	The Perpetual Ritual
07	Aes Dana	Leylines
08	Solar Fields	Movements
09	Third Ear Audio	Third Ear Audio
10	Zero Cult	Dreams In Stereo
11	Val(Liam)	Daydreamer
12	Koan	When Silence is Speaking
13	Bluetech	The Divine Invasion
14	Master Margherita	Hippies With Gadgets
15	H.U.V.A. Network	Ephemeris
16	Various	Hope ( Fluid Audio )
17	Various	Natural Born Chillers 2 ( Aleph Zero )
18	Vlastur	Interaxion Dub
19	James Murray	Where Edges Meet
20	Kuba	Bringing it all back home
21	Mystical Sun	Energy Mind Consciousness
22	Various	Imaginary Friends ( Ultimae )
23	Various	Fire ( Altar )
24	Various	Peace Therapy Volume 3 ( Kagdila )
25	Various	Vampire Sunrise ( Celestial Dragon )

So there we have it , after much contemplation , my final top psychill 25 albums of 2009. Let me know what your favorites of 2009 are sometime. I'd love to hear your own ideas.

As for PsyAmb , 2009 ha s been a fascinating year full of love , dreams and growth. I thank each and every one of your for your support and wish you all the best over this festive season.

Today I have a special mix comprising of tracks from every one of my top 25 psychill list. This is the longest mix I've done to date. Sorry for the file size , if you have the time and patience to download it all then I hope you enjoy it. There are some awesome tunes in this one !

Artist / Track

01. Don Peyote - Temple of Dreams
02. Chronos & C.J. Catalizer - Voice Of Infinity
03. Aes Dana - Signs
04. Kliment - Travels to the infinite
05. Capsula - Illusion Hill
06. (Val)Liam - Somewhere Not Here
07. Koan - The Island of Deceased Ships
08. James Murray - Where Edges Meet
09. Bluetech - Rite of the Dragonfly
10. Zymosis - Summer Twilight
11. Master Margherita - Binghi Dub
12. Third Ear Audio - Ethereality
13. Zero Cult - Inside The Urban Ocean
14. Kuba - Maria from Huddersfield
15. Vlastur - Neverland
16. H.U.V.A. Network - Dissolving Time
17. Interlaced - Insologic
18. Mystical Sun - Incense
19. Shpongle - Invisible Man
20. Yggdrasil - Everyone Is Looking
21. Dagas - Chibchas
22. Rena Jones - Photosynthesis (Nalepa Remix)
23. Distant System - Lost Sequence
24. Field Rotation - Regenzeit
25. Solar Fields - Breeze

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DIFM - Psionic Geometries Vol 2

Here is the DIFM PsyChill radio mix for November 2009. DIFM is a great resource for chillout radio. If you are looking for a place to kick back for a few hours of endless streaming high quality ambient and chillout sounds then check them out asap.

DIFM Link : Listen Now

Tracklisting:

Artist / Track

01. Sounds From The Ground - Razz
02. Mental Orange - Elements
03. Asura - Crossroads Limiter
04. Greg Hunter - Hypnos
05. Gus Till - North by Northwest 6 (Midnite Sake Dub)
06. The Peaking Goddess Collective - You Are One
07. Eat Static - Walkin With Spirits
08. Ajja - Pearcushion
09. Khusuk vs Bius - Exhilariam
10. Tripswitch - Shamanic Tea (Manasseh Rmx)
11. Shpongle - Ineffable Mysteries
12. Easily Embarrassed - Extraterrestrial Life Forms
13. Puff Dragon - Chinese Radio (Beijing Taxi Version)
14. Chronos - Ice Hearts Age (Sideliner Rmx)
15. Zero Cult - Z-51

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You might also like this psychill mix

Psybient Mix Download - PsyAmb 19

Hello. Back with another psybient journey after a few weeks. This week's episode kicks off with another tune from "The Peaking Goddess Collective". If you like this opener , check out Episode 16 for more info on TPGC.

Next up is "Aquafur" , a group I had never heard of until only a few weeks ago when I picked up the debut "Fuzzy Emotions" CD. It was from there that I found out that Aquafur is none other than "Bruce Tupling" of "WaterJuice" fame. "Fuzzy Emotions" is a terrific release with a variety of styles including 2 or 3 really standout psychill tokers that you shouldn't miss.

Following on from Aquafur is an interesting tune from "Argaman" (Itai Argaman) . This song sounds very "Shpongle" like to me with it's abundance of unique sounds , manic gated percussive effects and the odd bit of tounge in cheek sampling . Itai Argaman taught himself to play the piano from the age of 6 and has been playing the guitar since the age of 9. When he was 15 years old, he composed his first classical piece that included orchestral instruments. A few years later he made his entrance into the world of electronic music and has not looked back since. Check out his awesome CD "My Little Forest" in which he can be heard playing bass, drums, flute, guitar, piano, vibraphone and violin !

Next up is the mighty "Evan Bartolomew" a.k.a "Bluetech" with his tune "Probability Tree". I would rate Evan as perhaps the leading glitch dub psy artist on the planet for the last 8 years. His music made an instant impact of the community since the release of the acclaimed "Prima Materia" CD back in 2003. Since then he has explored other styles of music under various names but for me it will always be the tunes under the Bluetech name that have the most impact on my ears. I recommend his latest CD "The Divine Invasion" as his most beautiful , accomplished work to date.

After Bluetech is one of my alltime favorite artists - "Kuba". The first I heard of Kuba (Laurence Harvey) was the track "Aushadhi" by "Grey Beard" ( Humphrey Bacchus, Laurence Harvey, Nigel Walton ) on L.S.D record's "Mana Medicine" compilation. I used to play that tune to death ! Grab Mana Medicince if you can - a classic piece of "L.S.D records" history right there. Brilliant album. Since then Laurence has released three solo studio albums with each one eclipsing the previous in terms of production values, imagination and groove. His lastest CD "Bringing It All Back Home" is absolutely stunning. One of the my top CDs for the year.

Following Kuba's "Shining Rage" track we have "Master Margherita" with his tune Deepchandi from the CD "Hippies With Gadgets". This is a brilliant tune and at over 11 minutes in length it harks back to the old days of psychill where artists were more than happy to make tunes 15 - 20 minutes long. I have featured a few of MM's tunes in the past . If you like this one then I recommend using the search box on the PsyAmb home page for more tunes from this magically melodic manipulator of minds. Also, do checkout the Peak Records homepage for links to various talented people surrounding the Master Margherita universe.

Next up is the Mexican duo "Lunar Sound" with another excellent funky bass psychill production. This is taken from the 2007 compilation "Temple Of Science" on "Nice Dreams Music" label , a chillout offshoot of psytrance heavyweights Spun records. I'm not sure if the offshoot label is still around as their old website doesn't seem to exist anymore. That's a shame as the two CDs they did release were really solid and full of the kind of slick bassline driven psychill that I just love. I haven't seen much from Lunar Sound over the last few years however Raul and Juan are still pumping out quite a deal of psytrance so who knows there might be more chill tracks from them some day.

Australian record label "Up Records" is home to the next tune , "Drive" by "Mental Extensions". This is a fabulous tune with some really nice breakdowns. You can definitely hear the psytrance influences built into this track. "Mental Extensions" are Aussie duo Felix Greenlees and David Kastner. Felix has released tunes under a number of monikers dealing mostly with psytrance production. A debut full release was due for the duo for 2009 titled "Inner Reality" , again on Up Records. "Drive" has really peaked my curiosity in this collaboration so I'll definitely be keeping a close eye on them in future. Oh , for the time being , you can also download some free tunes from one of Felix's other aliases, HYPNAGOG , through the Up Records homepage.

After that we "Indigo Violetta" by "Nystagmus" . This is also available on "Up and Away" , the same compilation the previous track "Drive" can be found on. Nystagamus is one of the names used by psychedelic trance and downtempo artist Matte Gillard. Matte has made a few appearances on the excellent and highly popular "Natural Born Chillers" compilations. Under the "Anahata" alias you can find him on the chart topping Midnight Soul Dive compilation that Aleph Zero Records released back in '07. Fluid Motion has a interesting interview with Matte that you can read at the Fluid Motion website. Check out his CD "The Unmade Sound" for some truly epic psychill in that glitchy dubby vibe that Aleph Zero are famous for.

Kuba makes another showing next with his tune "How The Future Sounded" from the CD of the same name. This one has a nice cruisey summer vibe about it that reminds me of "Abakus" in a way. Without getting too hippy on you, I can really feel a lot of positive energy in this tune - you can't help but feel good listening to it. Thumbs Up !

Rounding things of in a big way is "Amazing Gnejs" by "Yggdrasil". Yggdrasil consistis of Mathias Eriksson and Andreas Lingbrand. I don't know a lot about this project, this album just sneaked up on me and slapped in the face with its crazy psychedelic tales of Nordic Folklore. Anyway, it's a top notch release that has been getting lots of attention the last few months and for good reason. Check out the Digital Psionics website for more info.

Well that's it for another episode of PsyAmb. Hopefully with the head cold defeated I can get things back on track with some regular weekly releases. On the 19th you can tune into the PsyChill channel on DIFM where I'll be presenting another 2 hour mix in the Psionic Geometries series ( 12:00 pm - 2:00 pm U.S Eastern time) .

Thanks for listening and the positive email I've been getting. Next week I will be presenting my top psybient and psychill CDs and tunes for 2009 so check back then to see how your lists compare.

Cheers ...

Artist - Track

01. The Peaking Goddess Collective - Love & Peak
02. Aquafur - Mythical Conspiracy
03. Argaman - The New Vibe
04. Bluetech - Probability Tree
05. Kuba - Shining Rage
06. Master Margherita - Deepchandi
07. Lunar Sound - Genetic Evolution
08. Mental Extensions - Drive
09. Nystagmus - Indigo Violetta
10. Kuba - How The Future Sounded
11. Yggdrasil - Amazing Gnejs

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