PsyAmb: April 2011

Hi everyone out there, back again with another dubish tinged adventure. This mix isn't purely dubbed out tunes but I guess it does at least carry a "head nodding" bass through most of the tracks. We kick of with "One Point One" by "Alexander Daf" [ Alexander Ivanov ] from the 2010 compilation "Dark Room Beats" on one of my favorite labels "Aleph Zero". Alexander is in esteemed company on this release which also features the likes of ambient legend "Robert Rich" and minimal tech maestros "Minilogue". Everything AZ puts out seems to ooze quality so check out their site if you are yet to do so. Alexander has released a couple of EPs on well-known European labels. His debut full length album “A Thousands Reasons to Be” was released by major american label "System Recordings" back in 2008. This album was highly acclaimed and entered Beatport's Chillout Top 100. His latest release is a collaboration with "Microcosmos" label friend "Aedem" titled "Prism".

Next we step into a sweet bit of dub from "Dubspeed Killa" featuing "Jazz'min" on the vocals. I'm not the biggest fan of vocals in dub to be honest but when it works as well as this I have to give my thumbs up. This tune comes from the compilation "Global Dub Feeders" from the growing "Mighty Fat Records". A particularly nice little comp tunes that would appeal to a wide variety of dub fans. It features a lush variety of groovy Dub infused tracks from Australia, England, Germany, Israel, Austria and Denmark. "Dubspeedkilla" a.k.a "Erdal Tosun" is the son of turkish migrants and was raised in Cologne, Germany. Early on he played saxophone live with a couple of German reggae bands [ Supa T. & The Reggae Cracks, Umoya ] and also featured on the records of some reggae artists [ Zoe, Umoya, Police In Dub ] . If anyone knows of a full release by Erdal please get in touch with me as I'ld like to follow up on him.

After Erdal is "Gregory Isaacs" , an artist who is far from short on info ! Isaacs was one of the worlds most beloved and respected of reggae artists. In his teens, Isaacs became a veteran of the talent contests that regularly took place in Jamaica. In 1968, he made his recording debut with a duet with Winston Sinclair, "Another Heartache", recorded for producer "Byron Lee". The single sold poorly and Isaacs went on to team up with two other vocalists [ Penroe and Bramwell ] in the short-lived trio The Concords, recording for Rupie Edwards and Prince Buster. The trio split up in 1970 and Isaacs launched his solo career, initially self-producing recordings and also recording further for Edwards. In 1974 he began working with producer "Alvin Ranglin", and that year he had his first Jamaican number one single with "Love Is Overdue". Isaacs recorded for many of Jamaica's top producers during the 1970s, including Winston "Niney" Holness, Gussie Clarke ("My Time"), Lloyd Campbell ("Slavemaster"), Glen Brown ("One One Cocoa Fill Basket"), Harry Mudie, Roy Cousins, Sidney Crooks and Lee "Scratch" Perry ("Mr. Cop"). By the late 1970s, Isaacs was one of the biggest reggae performers in the world, regularly touring the US and the UK, and only challenged by Dennis Brown and Bob Marley. Between 1977 and 1978, Isaacs again teamed up with Alvin Ranglin, recording a string of hits including "Border" and "Number One" for Ranglin's GG's label.

International stardom seemed assured in 1978 when Isaacs signed to the Virgin Records offshoot Front Line Records, and appeared in the film "Rockers", in which he performed "Slavemaster". The Cool Ruler (which became one of his nicknames) and Soon Forward albums, however, failed to sell as well as expected, although they are now considered among his best work. He signed to Island Records and released the record that finally saw him break through to a wider audience, "Night Nurse", the title track from his first album for the label. Although "Night Nurse" was not a chart hit in either the UK or US, it was hugely popular in clubs and received heavy radio play with the album reaching #32 in the UK. Isaacs' drug addiction had a major impact on his voice, with most of his teeth falling out as a result. Isaacs said of his addiction in 2007: "Drugs are a debasing weapon. It was the greatest college ever, but the most expensive school fee ever paid ? the Cocaine High School. I learnt everything, and now I've put it on the side."

In 2008, after some 40 years as a recording artist, Isaacs released a new studio album "Brand New Me", which was nominated for the Grammy Awards for 2010. The album received positive reviews from critics, such as this review from Reggae Vibes: "Gregory is back, and how! 'Brand New Me' is a very suitable album title for the cool ruler's new album. He is back in a different style, more or less like we were used to from this great 'lovers & roots' artist". This was followed in 2009 by the album "My Kind Of Lady". In 2010, Gregory Isaacs put out the last of his albums to be released while he was still living "Isaacs Meets Isaac" with Zimbabwean reggae singer, King Isaac. After a long battle with lung cancer, Isaacs died on 25 October 2010 at his home in south London

"Telemetry Orchestra" are a Sydney-based electronic music band composed of members Steve Scott, Gavin Angus-Leppan and Charlotte Whittingham. They have released three albums to date with several singles receiving regular airplay on Australian national radio. The video clip of their 2006 single "Under the Cherry Tree", by Sydney-based digital visual effects company "Animal Logic" won an award in early 2007 in New York. This tune comes from the group's 1998 debut release "Live Better Electrically" released through Australian label "Clan Analogue". I don't think they are active anymore as I haven't seen anything from them in over 4 years or so since the release of the rather excellent "Empire" CD back in 2006.

Next is a tango infused dub ( yes you read that right ) that is smooth as melted chocolate velvet glass."OMFO" [ German Popov ] brings us "Utomljonneje Solntse" from the albumn "We Are The Shepherds". As an explorer German Popov loves to travel around Central Asia making live recordings of everything from the traditional songs and melodies of the steppes to the modern restaurant bands of Tashkent with their tinny keyboard sound. So welcome to electronic Walachia, where folk meets Kraftwerk and where bizarre instruments and electronic sounds combine to create a whole new musical dimension. With his ideas and his musicians he bravely goes where no human ear has dared to go before. Futurism meets folklore imaginaire: Ladies and Gentlemen, we are floating in Eastern European space. His first album on the Essay Recordings label, Trans Balkan Express, put him in the international spotlight, and none other than "Sacha Cohen" has chosen two tracks from the album "Money Boney" and "Magic Mamaliga" for the soundtrack of his "Borat" film.

"Kukan Dub Lagan" is the work of Israeli producer Itay Berger. Itay spent over 3 years working as a sound engineer in one of the top sound and light companies in israel. His decision to make music was strongly influenced by his trip to Ibiza in 1997-8 where he visited Juan's "Muses Rapt" studio. At that time he also started to dj in Israel and abroad at mostly underground parties . During his travels he also played in Cusco, Peru as well as in New York along with Total Eclipse. Itay's general musical influences are wide-ranging. His journey into chill-out djing started in 2002 in Israel. During that time he was also signed by a UK techno-house label (www.klubdj.co.uk) under the name DJ Itay for a year and flew to Japan to play at parties in Osaka and Kyoto. Returning back to Israel, he enrolled in sound engineering college for one year and totally committed himself to music composition. Drawing from his djing experience, his early family musical influences as well as his own musical background he created his chill-out project Kukan Dub Lagan. It is a combination of three separate words: KUKAN, which means "space" in japanese; DUB which represents the music style; and, LAGAN, comes from the word "ba-lagan" which in hebrew means "chaos". The debut album of Kukan-Dub-Lagan "Life is Nice" was released by Candyflip-Records/Greece in 2004. His second album "Step ina Rasta Step" was released on his own label "MikelaBella Rec" in 2007. His last release "New Life New Vision" was released last year, again through MikelaBella.

Next up is Brazil's "Yubaba". Yubaba is the free-style lounge project of Frederico Drummond e Pedro Gomide. Their music is an evolving journey from dub into house, with a trip hop feeling and a touch of jazz. Active artists in the Brazilian chill-out and trance scenes for many years, they have appeared at several of the premiere festivals in Brazil, USA and Europe. They joined their musical skills together in this project, where they mix cultural influences and attempt to recreate the eclectic and open-minded mood of their homeland, Brazil. Their first album, "Paradiso", was released through "Cyberset Records" from California. In Paradiso, they feature singers Thailan and Nathalia Faria, the MC Blacklight, plus the trumpet player Dan Covan creating soulful melodies and rhythmic textures. With shows at Boom Festival, Symbiosis Gathering, Universo Paralello, Festival Eletronika and the latest in front of thousands of people at Savassi Festival - Jazz & Lounge, they keep amazing the listeners with their unique combinations and groovy rhythms.

"Ashtech" [Andrea Nicoletti ] is a producer, bass player and solo artist. His style combines original dub and urban electronica and it is uniquely characterized by the flavor of his heavy dubby bassline which features strongly in all of his productions. Andrea's career began as a dj where he developed a passion for experimental music. He soon became an established figure in the italian mainstream music scene collaborating with many artists both as a producer and as a composer on a total of 14 albums, 3 of which with Almamegretta (4/4, IMAGINARIA, Venite Venite) under the BMG Label. His 5 years long collaboration with Almamegretta saw him tour extensively in Italy and Europe playing to large crowds and sharing the stage with international acts such as Tricky, The Wailers, Erykah Badu, Mory Kante, Compay Segundo, Groove Armada and Asian Dub Foundation. After moving to London Ashtech released "With Me" for the compilation "The Dream Temple" , "Dub Hypnosisi" for the album "Continvvmi" on "Em:t records" and "Earth Orbit" for the dub compilation "Sub Signals" on "Interchill Records". This track is taken from "Walkin Target", Ashtech's debut CD on "Interchill Records" and features the awesome vocals of "Cheshire Cat" of "Leftfield" fame.

Next is a french act "Zenzile". After a thirteen years , including: seven albums, five Maxi LP's and hundreds of live concerts throughout the world, you would think you knew all about Zenzile. However, those who have been following this band since their beginnings in Angers, France, know well that no one knows what will resemble a new album of Zenzile before it gets out. Instead of cloning their music precisely year after year, the quintet has always chosen to focus on their trade mark sound which is rich and various, thanks to a dazzling bass and whooping guitars and create new sounds around that foundation. From the start, Zenzile has been having fun mixing the same influences (post punk,dub,folk,soft rock,soul jazz) with a savvy sense of measuring them all out, in order to produce a unique album every time.These days Zenzile seems to have found the right balance between staying simple while being demanding. Strings and organs are more present than ever to form melodies never dared before. Evidently freed from any past inhibitions, the band now sweats out many old legendary vinyl albums, reminiscent of their teen age years. Shadowy organs, bony guitars, ramping bass. There are also lingering feverish memories of ESG, Pink Floyd, Nick Cave or PIL but everything is digested and sublimated only to be more accomplished. As diverse as their music can be you would do well to check them out and track down their dub or bass heavy tracks as there are some real gems to be found. This tune comes from their 2007 release "Living In Monochrome" on label "UWe".

"Vonoom" is the brainchild of Michael Sundo, who was first introduced to the psychedelic culture while living abroad in Tokyo, Japan and later in Vienna, Austria. He began his musical career as a DJ around 2000,. He later began to dabble with music production in 2003. Back then the main focus was psychedelic trance, but as he grew older the music slowed down and his main passion, when producing, became various downbeat and dubby experiments, but always with a healthy pinch of the psychedelic to spice things up. Vonoom has also been working together with "Lauge & Baba Gnohm" on a few projects, so expect to see more from this trio in the future. Today's track comes from the "Beyond Borders" compilation on "Sentimony Records".

Next is "U-Recken" [ Yaniv Ben-Ari ]. Yaniv got into trance music in 1998, when he was 20 years old. He was born in Haifa, Israel, and was playing in rock bands since he was 14. Soon after that he was working as a music producer and sound engineer in recording studios in Israel. Yaniv also worked as a sound engineer at theater plays in New York and Great Britain. The long exposure to music drove him to start Dj-ing and organizing trance parties. After a while he realized that playing his own music was much more fun, so he started to write music, which was soon appreciated by "Doof Records". His musical style has developed from harsh dark banging full on trance, into a more melodic (yet still pumping) form of psytrance, which made Doof records decide to invite him into the rising "Dooflex" project. This atmospheric tune is off Yaniv's debut CD on "Dooflex" titled "Aquatic Serenade".

Following that we get back into a bit more vocal dub madness from "Nagual Sounds Experiment". Original Dub Soundsystem since 1996, NSE has morphed into a full on production alias of psychedelic dance producer Cameron Leonard-Schroff aka psybreaks/psystep pioneer Mood Deluxe on Liquid Records. The NSE sound draws heavily from the dubwise ethic, fusing Jamaican style engineering, with futuristic and psychoative elements. NSE has managed to craft a style that draws heavily from roots dub and rockers reggae, the urban dubstep genre, IDM and glitch, hiphop, triphop,ambient breaks, industrial, shadowy techno and dripping psychedelic dub. I think that just about covers him ! Great tunes so check out his debut CD "Movements" which you can find here at the "Liquid Records" website.

Finally today we have an interesting remix of The Doors' "Riders On the Storm" by Ibiza resident "Lenny Ibizarre". Lenny Ibizarre emerged into the music scene in Ibiza in 1997 where he started work on his first album, the Ambient Collection, which was signed by Warner Music UK. Since 1997, Lenny has produced 12 albums and has become a multi-platinum selling artist. His Chilled Ibiza Compilations sold over 1,5 million copies in the UK. The Ambient Collection reached its 7th edition in 2007. Lenny Ibizarre is also a much respected remix artist favoring seasoned multi-platinum artists such as The Doors, Bob Dylan, Bob Marley, Jefferson Airplane, Nat King Cole and Henry Mancini. As a DJ, Lenny Ibizarre has held residencies at Cafe Del Mar, Pacha, Khumaras, Ku (Privilege) and Amnesia and he is a demanded international DJ. In 1997, Lenny Ibizarre also founded his record label, Ibizarre Records and co-founded the DJ Awards .
Happy listening all and just a quick note to finish on - tune into the psychill channel over at DIFM this Sunday, November 21 for the next installment of Psionic Geometries - my 2 hour long psychill mix show. Until next time ...

Track / Artisthttp://psy-amb.blogspot.com

01. One Point One - Alexander Daf
02. Goodbye to the City - Dubspeed Killa ft. Jazz'min
03. Gregory Isaacs - Night Nurse
04. Swingers International - Telemetry Orchestra
05. Utomljonneje Solntse - Omfo
06. New Life New Vsion - Kukan Dub Lagan
07. Earthforce - Ashtech
08. Giant Undertow - Zenzile
09. Space Baby - Vonoom
10. U-Recken - Aquatic Serenade
11. Forward - Nagual Sound Experiment [ With Ital Roots Players ]
12. Riders on the Storm - Ibizarre

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