Aquirax Uno Posters ( Japanese Psychedelic Design )

While doing some organizing around home I recently re-discovered an interesting book I picked up some years ago at a second hand book shop here in Osaka. Titled Aquirax Uno Posters 1959-1975, it contains a number of cool psychedelic designs from Japanese artist Akira Uno. 

 

Uno was most prolific in the 1960s and 1970s where his trippy illustrations were used in theater stage event advertising. He also did logo and fashion advertising for a number of boutiques in and around Tokyo. 

Here are a number of posters from the book I scanned in. I like his simple line work which is somewhat reminiscent of the work of Western 60's psychedelic artists. Many of his posters display sexual themes that were perhaps more openly accepted in Japan than the advertising standards allowed in the USA/Europe at the time. 

Singularity - PsyAmb 95

This week we have a psychill mix that includes themes of space exploration, galactic transmissions and other worldly communications. It starts off in a slow ambient fashion before later building up to a hyper-drive driven blast of progressive chill beats. 

I think this mix compliments the last psychill mix I did, episode 91, so if you enjoy this one be sure to check that out too. 

Cheers ...


Track  - Artist

• 01. Ava - Martins Garden  - 00:00:00
• 02. Melting Sky - Yarn -  00:06:35
• 03. Stars on Ice - Germind - 00:15:30
• 04. Duende (Mixmaster Morris Ambient Sunrise mix) - Irresistible Force (feat. Nik Turner) - 00:21:00
• 05. Jaya Jagatambe (Aes Dana Remix) - The Bhaktas - 00:00:27
• 06. Cognitive Dissonance - Encke Division - 00:32:20    
  
• 07. Moon Cloud (feat. Suduaya) - Reasonandu - 00:38:10
• 08. A.I. Data Fields - Wakhan - 00:44:40
• 09. Endless Horizons - Dhamika - 00:52:16
• 10. Unknown Space - Hesus and Mobitex - 01:00:08
• 11. Ciel - Profindita - 01:07:10
• 12. Reflected Sky (Ambientium Remix) - Condensspur - 01:14:00

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Cloud Surfers - PsyAmb 94

After last week's odd little pop dub covers diversion its back to regular programming here at the PsyAmb blog with a fresh new psybient mix. There is nothing I like more than a good solid bass with twisted synth melodies and this mix has plenty on offer.

We kick off with a slice of heavy psybient bass with the track "Vera" from the compilation album "Blue Moon". This is a surprising collaboration between Mahaon and Vlastur. It's top notch tune and none the less than one would expect from Mikelabella Records. Label DJ Johnny Blue has compiled some awesome compilation albums for the label over the years so check out the label's back catalogue for more excellent goodies.

We then move onto "Green Poison", the opening track on Spanish duo Green Beat's second album "The Moon Antidote" which was one of last year's standout albums. I like how this one has an old school goa flavor to it - especially with those voice samples. Sensational tune that sounded breathtaking when I played it at an outdoor festival earlier this year in the hills of Kyoto. 

After that we have Seamoon ( Simon Neumann ) . This guy is always quality. Today's tune comes from a recent compilation release titled "Compilation Tracks Vol 2" which is essentially a 4-track release of songs that appeared on past compilation albums. Still, its nice to have them together in a single releases. He also has a brand new EP out titled "Crystal Language" which sounds marvelous. 

Next is a new artist to my ears. Tribalicious is a duo comprising of  is the Bastiaan Swager  and Sam David. Their music contains "a multitude of organic sound healing instruments blended with cosmic beats, natural spheres and spacious synthesized soundwaves" accorinding to their bandcamp page. I would have to agree with that thought process. Wide, spacious and glorious , their music evokes a feeling of ancient tribal trance rituals. 

Following on then we get to Wakhan ( Alejandro Pantoja ) a Bolivian producer based in Spain. He has been producing tracks, mostly psytrance, for quite a number of years. This track comes from what I believe is his debut album - "Mystical Encounter" - which was released just a few days ago. It's well worth giving it a listen - every track is great with about a 50/50 mix of psytrance and psybient tunes on offer. I especially like the opening tune "A.I Data Fields". If he keeps putting out music like this he is going to be in much demand around the world.

I then mixed in a track from Pete Ardron's new album "Unexpected Pleasures" which I reviewed in my previous post. You can read that online here. Realistically I could have chosen any of the track to put in this mix. I've gone with "Bridges" this time because it's a little bit more upbeat and fits the overall flow of this mix best.

One of the best psytrance/psybient compilation albums you will hear is the Hadracadabra series released by Hadra Productions. They are now up to volume 6, from which the next tune comes. Kaya Project needs no introduction to regular listeners here and I'm sure you will all dig this tune "The Seventh Citadel" - a typically classy slice of tribal chillout from the musical maestro.

Our next artist, J.P Illusion ( John Panagoulias ) has been producing tunes for around a decade now and has a great amount of psydub influenced tracks you should check out. He has appeared on many top compilations and is also an accomplished psytrance producer. This track comes from a two track EP titled "When Night Falls" released earlier this year on German label Blue Tunes Chillout.
  
One label that has been building a loyal fan base recently is the UK's Visionary Shamanic Records. Certainly one of my favorite labels at the moment. They are putting out some really progressive sounds you are not likely to hear elsewhere so check them out for something a little more challenging. The next tune comes from VSR's album "Ancient Forest Dub Remixed", a remix album of psytrance tunes mixed into psybient/psydub tracks by The Elder ( a.k.a Mahaon ). If you like the feel of this one be sure to check out the awesome follow up album released last month. 

The fourth episode of "Ethneomystica" was released in April this year and once again Mystic Sound Records have delivered the goods with a solid all encompassing psychedelic chillout adventure. Featuring many established psybient acts such as Hinkstep, Iacchus, Easily Embarrassed and label manager Maiia, the album is, in my opinion, the best in the series yet. For this mix I have chosen the HuuHaa track "Grapevine Drums". Finnish duo HuuHaa previously made an appearance here way back in episode 70 ( one of my favorite mixes ) so it's great to hear from them again. The boys have a new album out too - Starizona which is a great collection of downtempo,psybient,psydub and tribal sounds released through Belgian label GreenTree Records.

Thorazin ( Alex Urias ) from Mexico is name you may not be so familiar with. He has been uploading tracks on Soundcloud for a couple of years. A mixture of psybient, bass and experimental stuff. After a great track on the Looney Moon Experiment album "Experiments Vol 1" he is back with a new album out titled "Stream Enterer" on Triple Drop Productions. It's currently a name your price release on Bandcamp. Show some love and send some good vibes the way of this talented new producer. Oh, if you think Stream Enterer is an odd name for an artist then you might find this little tidbit interesting. 

Okay, getting towards the end now and we have the mighty Ozric Tentacles with a track off their latest release "Technicians Of The Sacred", their 100th studio album ! Just kidding, but yes - they have a truck load of albums. Anyway this is another great release from OT and here is a nice little review you can read over at Prog Archives. By far the best album they have done in quite some time. Great cover art on this one too by Natan Lenski ( aka Mantismash ) !
 
This is then followed by another new artist to me - Sharkweek. New to me, but not to others as this tune was released back in 2010 on the album Shark N Taties Remixed. Its a pretty cool tune - kind of a cinematic dub/bass track. Actually all his music is well worth checking out on New Zealand label "Electrode Records". Both Sharkweek and label seem to have gone MIA since 2010 in terms of musical output. If anyone knows what they are up to please drop a mail as I'm really getting into this guys tunes, albeit somewhat belatedly.

2016 has seen the release of many great albums and one that sits in my top ten would have to Charade by Supersillyus. If you dig Shpongle and Younger Brother then you should definitely pick this album up. Many of the songs share similar structures to Shpongle/YB even right down to the puntastic track names ! It's also a bit tongue in cheek too which is much appreciated. For today I've gone with the song "Aeon Bahamut" -  a spiraling psybient tune with some samples from The Onion's classic marijuana smokers parody.

We finish off this mix with "EastWest Land" by Greek producer Naturelement from the album "Ingrained" on Russia's Mystic Sound Records again. Speaking of Shpongle - Naturelement also has shades of the Shpongle sounds these days too. Check out his tracks "Current Dreams" or "A Way To Find A Sunray" for instance. Ingrained is a lovely album and another of my favorites for 2016 so check it out for plenty more psychedelic shenenigans.

That iss it for this mix guys. Hope you enjoy this one. Check it out and share on Mixcloud below where you can follow me and listen to all my recent mixes.

Cheers ...


Track  - Original Artist

• Velda -  Mahaon & Vlastur
• Green Poison  -  Green Beats
• Fractured Fractions  -  Seamoon
• Starmantra  -  Tribalicious     
• The Green Planet Of Dub  -  Wakhan
• Bridges  -  Pete Ardron ft. Onyx Ashanti & Myo
• The Seventh Citadel  -  Kaya Project
• When Night Falls  -  J.P. Illusion
• Indianopolis (The Elder Remix)  -  CUMHAU
• Grapevine Drums (Original Mix)  -  HuuHaa
• 2 Byculla (Thorazin Remix)  -  Juno Reactor
• Far Memory  -  Ozric Tentacles
• Moonrise Over Kerala (NSU Remix)  -  Sharkweek
• Aeon Bahamut  -  Supersillyus
• EastWest Land  -  Naturelement

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