abasio

Artist: Cell Title: Hanging Masses Label: Ultimae Records Released: 10th Dec 2009 Style: Ambient, Downtempo Tracklist 1 Calling 8:52 2 Switch Off 8:30 3 Second Shape Part I 9:02 4 Risky Nap Under Blue Tree 6:35 5 Hanging Masses 10:48 6 Vapor 8:32 7 Second Shape Part II 8:59 8 Universal Sunrise Cell has always been an artist that has impressed me on compilations and was long overdue to release another album. Phonic Peace was great, a fine example of how ethnic music can be good and not cliché ridden monstrosities. His tracks on Ultimae compilations though were in a different league & I could see it was in this style that he really excelled. So when word came that he was releasing a full length album on Ultimae I was delighted. I was not disappointed; Cell has outdone himself on this album. It is chocked full of cold atmospheres, cool relaxed beats, melancholic melodies and it has an overall feeling of reflective wistfulness. The use of vocal samples is perfect; they are soft, subtle and add to the atmosphere of trippiness rather than dominating the music or just not quite fitting in. The sample in the opening track Calling is a good example of what I like in sample use. It is of a man saying something in some context I don’t know which gives it an aura of mystery and intrigue which fits the music like a glove. The melodies in this album are fantastic. Melancholic beauty at its best, you can tell that a lot of time, effort and feeling has gone into the crafting of this album and it is most evident in the melodies. They are so subtle yet so intense, they run around my head twisting with complexities yet on the surface they sound simple and uncluttered. Listening to Switch Off featuring Aes Dana I get a sense, no matter where I am, that I am lying on my back with a cool breeze washing over me without a care in the world. The melody snakes through my mind and lets all my troubles float away. In this music no one thing dominates, the beats, the melodies, the atmospheric drones and the assortment of other sounds don’t ever take centre stage. All the elements work beautifully together and create something bigger than the some of its parts. Second Shape Part 1 for example has more focus on the bass but still it is not in anyway distracting from the atmosphere it creates or the subtle melodic lines. Second Shape Part 2 later in the album is much softer but follows the same beautiful blending and fits very nicely as the second part to this track. This album is a work of art, everything about it pure class. From the visual art contained in the booklet, which is the best art from Ultimae yet to the all important music and even the track titles. Risk Nap Under Blue Tree perfectly fits the track as it gives me a feeling of forbidden relaxation; catching 40 winks at work, dozing in church or smoking a joint in your bedroom with your parents downstairs unaware. The title track Hanging Masses is a perfect representation of the album as a whole. It is soft, subtle, complex under the surface yet simple on it. It has cold wistful melodies, a smattering of beats that tap on one side of your head while the rest of the music massages the other side. It is the almost 11 minutes and could have been longer, the progression works really well and it explores a lot of space inside my mind filling it up and preparing it for when the beats kick in proper in the second half. A great thing about this album is that it is never in a hurry to do anything. The tracks build up slowly and the melodies, beats and atmospheres seem to just come out of nowhere. Vapor starts off slow and relaxed and stays that way for a good 4 minutes never feeling the need to rush in with the beats or pushing a melody in your face screaming look at me. It all sounds so natural, unforced like this album was grown rather than made. All tracks are lightly mixed so there is no gaps between the music and this works well like on a lot of Ultimae albums adding a smooth feeling to the relaxed vibes. It really creates a nice journey and you never need be jolted out of your reverie when listening. This journey is one of peace, relaxation and cold melancholic joy. The journey is punctuated by the last track Universal Sunrise which is very ambient, very relaxing and has a kind of finality to it. It is like watching the sunrise after staying up all night, it is magical and an event unto itself. It never rushes, but naturally progresses through the sky. The vocal sample “wake up” is placed very nicely setting the scene more in my head. An excellent album, Cell – Hanging Masses is for me the best Ultimae release of the year beating Aes Dana, H.U.V.A. Network, Imaginary Friends and even Solar Fields – Movements for the number one spot in my heart. My favourite release this year in any genre and it is subtle and beautiful enough that I am confident that it won’t get old quickly. I have been listening to a lot as being released in December it ran the getting into my top ten list of 2009 and then me getting bored when I had fully explored it. So I spent hours exploring it and it passed the test with flying colours. Wonderful album!

Best of the Noughties - Downbeat Tracklist 10. Rena Jones - Driftwood 9. Shpongle - Once Upon The Sea Of Blissful Awareness 8. Abakus - Opaque 7. Carbon Based Lifeforms - Mos6581 6. OTT - Angelic Particles (Buckminster Fullerine Mix) 5. Gus Till - Monkey In The Black Sky 4. Prometheus - Sweet Tooth 3. Jikkenteki - An Angel Takes Flight 2. Shulman - Invention 1. Solar Fields - Air Song Best of the Noughties - Ambient Tracklist 10. Hallucinogen - e 9. Nunc Stans - The Palm at the End of the Mind 8. Krill.Minima - Submarine Poetry 7. Elemental Journey - Air 6. The Circular Ruins - Immer Du 5. Ghostfriend - Moist 4. Mutagene - A Borrowed Skin 3. Cymphonic - Tau 2. Solar Fields - Detection (Far and Extended) 1. Ishq - Fluid Earth

6 months on, I forgot I had written a review for this and wrote another one Artist: Aes Dana Title: Leylines Label: Ultimae Records Released: 3rd Jun 2009 Style: Ketamine Trance, Downtempo, Ambient Tracklist 1 Alignments 7:57 2 Bam (Album Edit) 7:58 3 Oxyd 8:37 4 Heights 6:59 5 Adonaï 9:01 6 Leylines 9:11 7 Lysistrata (Album Edit) 9:23 8 Signs 6:44 9 Inter 6:04 10 Blossom 6:06 At first the new album by Aes Dana was a disappointment which in itself was kind of a relief. My favourite ambient and downbeat albums of all time have all initially failed to make an impact on me. Solar Fields – Leaving Home and Extended, Secede – Tryshasla, The Infinity Project – Mystical Experiences are all albums I can listen to a hundred times a year and not get tired of. Albums that at first really impressed me just don’t seem to have the staying power, so initial disappointment is a good thing. It then takes quite an effort however to make yourself listen to that disappointing album again but being from Ultimae and Aes Dana I knew that there was a good chance this could be a grower. The album starts quite ambient with Alignments which is quite nice but very soft and Aes Dana fans might not feel like it is the way to get into the album. I like it but it is not one that really grabs your attention. The next track however is where the album starts in earnest. Bam has an enticing melody and nice vocals that sound like transdimensional aliens screaming from the other side of reality. Oxyd is another track with a really nice melody. It starts off very empty feeling but the elements pile up over the course of the first few minutes and the resulting track with nice soft beats, relaxed atmosphere and the lush melody makes this a great track. Heights is a little heavier but still chilled with a very nice atmosphere that reminds me of cold winter evenings by a countryside road. Adonaï is where the album starts to get into the ketamine trance mode. The beats get progressively stronger throughout the track and it is a perfect lead into the upbeat part of the album. I especially like the synths in this track and the vocal sample is sublimely trippy. The title track Leylines is great. After my initial disappointment this was one of the first tracks to open itself up to me. The atmosphere created is immense. It feels so big and wide open like staring at the sky with an evening hue and seeing the first stars come out. Not cold but with a chill in the air, the beats are strong and steady driving this into a nice danceable but still chilled track. The best track on the album for me is definitely Lysistrata which also appeared on the Suntrip compilation Opus Iridium and was my favourite on that too. After a year and a half and having played this track in numerous mixes (it mixes so well with its lush ambient intro and ending) I still get blown away. It is beautifully sad with a lot of emotion crammed into its 9 minutes and 11 seconds. The vocal/synth thing going on is fantastic reminding me of lost souls crying out their despair from the netherworlds. This is my favourite Aes Dana track to date. The last three tracks take us down to the more relaxing depths of ambient. Signs is a nice beatless number with a lot of atmosphere and great ethereal vocal synths. Inter has soft breakbeats and an nice bass feel underlying the main melody, there is not as much atmosphere as in the previous tracks but it does feel warmer and more like a summer chill track. We the end the album then with Blossom which has more breakbeats, a little more upbeat here, a beautiful melody and the same warm summer chill feel. These last three tracks feel like they are in the wrong order. I would have preferred ending the album on Signs but that is a small gripe. As the album progresses the tracks become more beat orientated and go from ambient to soft beat chillout to thumping ketamine trance then relaxing more again towards the end. This progression reminds of an extended version of an Aes Dana track, which often has an ambient intro then a period of thumping beats then back to a nice relaxed finish. The more relaxed tracks are quite subtle and can take some time to get into but it is this subtlety that allows them to be more lasting. The melodies don’t stick in my head and each listen to the album is like a new experience. So all in all I think I would say that this is a great Aes Dana album. It might take some time to grow on you but then again all Aes Dana albums have taken a long time to sink in for me. I still have not managed to get into Aftermath probably because I don’t own the physical release (damn limited edition) and I struggle to connect to downloads.

Nice point! In earlier years we could go back and edit our votes as long as we edited our original voting post. In this new system can we go back and change our mind? I think if we can't people will strick with their cagey bets around January 5th and come March 2nd everyone will have changec their minds without being able to express themselves.

Well, it is my most gut wrenching for the most gut wrenching photo. My dream woul dbe irony but I think I can just go for realistic

Yeah, I was happy with that one. It might go in my book along with a poem Why we weep. The Firefly has lost its light. All burned up in the fires of yesterday. Its head aches like bad mornings. Morning comes and remembers, all the things that should be lost. When you see the bright fires of the past, Can you help but resent the cold touch of the here and now? Before you became a lion you were a cub. When was the time you dreamed of being a worm skin rug? Nothing is how it seemed it would be. Never dreamt of this life I don’t need. How is it that it has lost its light? How will I see myself returned to glory? Can I beg for empires lost? Can I forge ahead into a brave new world? What does it all mean when I stare at infinity? What is the ouroboros that scars my soul? Is it blight on my never ending life? Is it what is necessary to endure the passing of it all? When will the questions stop? Not until I am long cold. I dreamt of being a tiger. If only for an hour I would take it. Destined to live 10 lifetimes as a worm, I am like all others who stop to think of life. I work, I play, I interact, I stay alone, I sleep, I bathe, work and think. When will it end? The end is not for you my friend. Some people check out early, some check out late. They say it is as guaranteed as taxes. Am I the only one on this sphere of pestilence that has no gift? The angels were jealous of man’s gift. Man did not want it and tried to give it away. But when it’s gone he cannot bear and he now knows why the angels weep.

I think we should be able to see what everyone is voting for. 1. It's good to see what other people have liked as it can help others look for more good music (there could be another thread but I don't think as many people would vote in it). 2. It would stop people just pissing about and voting for any old crap as they could if it was anonymous. I know most people wouldn't do this but we have our fair share of gits out there. 3. It's more fun! If someone is embarrased by what they are voting for then that's too bad for them. Even if I want to vote for Infected Oforian Skazi Project then I will, it's the internet for god's sake, how anonymous do you need

These mixes contain tracks from my top 10 albums in the respective genres from 2000-2009. The mixes are mixed according to the rank of the album going from 10th place and culminating with the best track from the best album (for me) of that genre in the Noughties Best of the Noughties - Psytrance Tracklist 10. Infected Mushroom - Shen 9. Principles of Flight - The Chase 8. Cyberbabas - The Second Revelation 7. Doof - The Second Revelation 6. Reality Pixie - Phloem of TLSG 5. Scorb - Klangman 4. Principles of Flight - A Heavy Responsibility 3. Sienis - Form Another Perspective 2. Jikkenteki - A Bowl Gruel World 1. Jikkenteki - Stepping Forward Best of the Noughties - Prog Tracklist 10. Kino Oko - Messiah Formula 9. Cinkofa - Sparta 8. Deviant Species - A Night To Dismember 7. Atmos - Fill The Hat 6. Blue Planet Corporation - Lubianka / Hemo Static II 5. Nuclear Ramjet - Cloud Sailors 4. Planet BEN & James - Repeater 3. BUS - Disco Suns 2. Gus Till - BusTed - Uncontrollable Substance / BUS - Metatron 1. Solar Fields - Brainbow Best of the Noughties - IDM OK, now this mix is terrible but it is random in the way IDM is random and hard to mix Well that's my excuse anyway. Tracklist 10. Sandspider - Levchenko 9. Ulrich Schnauss - Monday - Paracetamol 8. Yasume - The Prevailing Wind 7. Plaid - White's Dream 6. Kettel - Kroost Kids 5. Takagi Masakatsu - Rama 4. Kettel - He's His Own Man 3. Yagya - Rigning Sex 2. Ulrich Schnauss - Nobody's Home 1. Secede - Leraine also available at my site Pink Siroccon Cows This was my last gig of 2009, played in The Pink Cow Shibuya (Tokyo) Antediluvian Panorama A mix of some oldschool ambient classics A Lasting Impression The first in my poetry series It's always too late The second in my poetry series

Really? PoF vs Artifakt? That is pants creamingly good

Cheers! I downloaded it and I am struggling through figuring out how to use it now

Very nice work アキラ mate I might try to make some of my own, thanks for the name of the software

Happy New Year everyone. Well 2009 is all but over. Seven and a half hours left to my year in Japan. My year will be 9 hours shorter than most people's aswell as 2009 started for me at 0:00 Jan 1st in England and will end 11:59 Dec 31st in Japan. What happened to two fifths of a day? Oh well, 2008 was 9 hours longer than most people's To celebrate 2009 I would like share with you the mix from my last gig of this year. Me and the other Sirocco boys played in The Pink Cow in Shibuya, Tokyo. It was a great night and I played a fully Ultimae set (hope that doesn't break any copyright laws ) Tracklist 1. Sync24 - White Pixels 2. Solar Fields - Sol 3. Carbon Based Lifeforms - Photosynthesis 4. James Murray - Where Edges Meet 5. H.U.V.A. Network - Something Heavens 6. Asura - Like A Summer Day 7. Aes Dana - Opalin 8. Sync24 - DOT 9. Asura - Back To Light 10. Malik Trey - Sleepy Shadows 11. Aes Dana - Leylines 12. Vibrasphere - San Pedro 13. Solar Fields - Air Song 14. Carbon Based Lifeforms - Mos6581 15. Aes Dana - Season 5 16. Cell - Hanging Masses 17. Solar Fields - Times Are Good (Sometimes Remix) 18. Amos - Fläktsystem 19. Subgardens - Listen to the Flowers Grow (Aes Dana Remix) 20. Subgardens - Asleep Clockmaker 21. Solar Fields - Monogram 22. Aural Planet - Sunfruits Avenue 23. Carbon Based Lifeforms - Metrosat 4 Download Link In the first few days I hope to put together a few diffferent mixes I'd like to share with everyone. First 5 short mixes showcasing my favourite tracks of the last 10 years. A prog mix, a psy mix, an ambient mix, a downbeat mix and an IDM mix. Each one will be my top 10 going from 10th favourite track to favourite track. It might be a challenge to mix as I am not taking into account anything apart from how much I like the track in my track selection Second will be a downbeat mix of my favourite 2009 tracks. I don't have enough to make an upbeat mix this year. Third I hope to put out another ambient mix, possibly in my poetry series. Hope you all have a great new year's eve! Joseph abasio

Great! Will be purchasing that CD very soon me thinks

Am I the only one that thinks the CG just looks shit? I mean it doesn't for one minute look like I am watching live action here but something more along the line of CG animation (Toy Story etc) I can't see what is so groundbreaking here. It just looks like poor Disney graphics. Much less compelling than even the Final Fantasy CG.

Aye, that'd be great

Maybe he hooked up with a demanding new girl who forces him to make utter shite that she will like or else she'll withhold the goods

Cool! I'll be buying the CD in January