abasio

Saul Stokes - Sopra

You're having an aural treat np The Circular Ruins - Empathy Test

I've only given this 3 listens so far (only had it 12 hours & I had to sleep ) so no in depth review yet but I have to say I like this a lot more than the first YB album which after many years I still don't find engaging at all after the opening track. This album is a bit cheesier, like the way IM went but much much much much much much.........much much better! I think my brother would like this & he's more into pop & pop trance but this is still good psychedelic music, just more accessible to non psy heads too. My favourite tracks so far are Happy Pills & Psychic Gibbon. More over this is not like everything else being released so it's guaranteed a lot of play time over here I wasn't sure about this one before, I didn't like the first album so much & people were saying this was not as good. But this fits my taste so much more & most tracks have got me engaged straight away! I'm looking forward to writing an in depth review of this later!

I'll wait until saiko sounds gets it & stick it on my wish list I really don't like psyshop. Can't afford this at the moment But probably later Or maybe I'll buy it from quintrix Nice to support the local shops

There's much better ethnic ambient out there. Check Dakini Records maybe I'll get into Golden Cap later but so far I have just found it boring boring music! So far!

Goa will never die if you still love it! Even if it's just you I agree that Psy has definitely seen an upturn of late. Not sure if it's the silver age of Goa but we'll see

Great stuff! What album is that off? I want that to be the only christmas music played around the office this year!

Younger Brother - All I want

I hear that

just bought the new YB album from a department store

Well, I now have the promise of money! Not actually got the money in my hand! Still, a few CDs can't hurt can it?

I recently placed an order to saiko sounds, Gus Till - Best Of The Rhino Years Vol.2 Cymphonic - Strataradialis Full Moon Fashions - Nocturnes Mathias Grassow & Thomas Weiss - Insights but I got an email from them telling me that Full Moon Fashions - Nocturnes was not in stock so I asked them to include Amir Baghiri & Wee Bandits - A Brief History Of Light and Jason Corder & Opium - Autunno instead. Can't wait. This is my first real order of music in ages

Amir Baghiri　- Planet X

Dreaming the Seed - Neon Metropolis

Off the Sky - Gently Down the Stream

Sweet! As I have got my job starting again in a few days I'll be able to make another order from Ultimae. Even though I have everything from Ultimae (almost ) I still like to order some of their other stock just because I love their business so much I'm thinking of the Native State compilations as they were kind enough to send me rena jones' album for free after I misunderstood their give away campaign some time ago edit: yeah, that looks like the CD I've got

Wow! Ultimae gave it you for free? What did you do to deserve that? Yes they do have great customer care

Elve Infinite Garden Virtual Musical Reality 2006 Ambient Tracklist 1 Vale (13:23) 2 Elvish Tea (2:26) 3 Utoia (10:04) 4 Luminessence (3:34) 5 Aeolian Woods (1:54) 6 Mozaic Rain (2:45) 7 Sunshine Windmill (3:21) 8 Mycelium Dawn (5:31) 9 Sycamore Breeze (1:11) 10 Cyantium Flower (9:58) 11 Summerset Hill (6:25) 12 Autumn Leaves (2:41) 13 Awaken (3:05) Well Matt Hillier is back again under yet a different name with an even more relaxed album. On first listening to this I really couldn't get into this, it was too relaxed. It's beatless & I had it on in the background. It's definitely an album that needs to be focused on. I should have put in on in headphones and closed my eyes. It's really natural, light & beautiful ambient. Very minimal with with birdsong and sounds of the river & the wind. You have to listen carefully to let the whole world represented here to unfold. 1. Vale Children playing, birds singing, a stream running through the countryside is all we hear for the first few minutes before a really light synth drone comes in over big plopping sounds that sound like it's water played on bamboo canes. Even the blatantly electronic sounds manage to be green & natural. Someone sings a song I can't quite make out but it sounds childlike & innocent & leaves me wanting more. The other vocals though sound more like a muttered conversation than a song. The song comes back but it's not a voice this time, it's been twisted beyond my recognition into an instrument. I'm left wondering if it's a voice or not, and if it is a voice if it's a child's or an adults, if it's a boy's or a girl's. As that leaves we are once again left with just the rustle of the wind, he birds & the water. 2. Elvish Tea The birds lead us into Elvish Tea & the sounds of the elves can be heard briefly before they are drowned out by the reply from the God they are talking to. Very powerful sounds dissipate & leave me with a sense of awe & the rain. 3. Utoia If nature is an industry, creating life & sustaining it's existence & trying to grow then this track represents natural industrial ambient. It has all the mechanical structured heavy sounds you'll usually find in industrial ambient but all using very natural sounds. I'm put in mind of a vast forest & in the centre the trees come alive and work at creating new trees & animals to grow & populate. A natural factory in the forest clearing. A difficult concept to get your head around, you might just have to listen to understand. 4. Luminessence A downpour of light made into sound drenches me in mild euphoria. This acts as a bridge to the Aolian woods. 5. Aeolian Woods Once again the birds carry me into the woods for a short time. The river flows & the birds sing while someone half plays a familiar Chinese instrument, a very serene moment. I can just imagine the sun lighting up the moss on the rocks, the leaves on the trees & glistening on the river. 6. Mosaic Rain The sound of real rain, amazingly pouring down. A half melody plays over it but my mind is captivated by the sound of the rain. I love this sound so much I could happily listen to a whole CD of just this it's so beautiful. With the birds in the background the rain stops 7. Sunshine Windmill After the rain must come the sun & the sun beams down on this track. It feels like green feels in summer with every colour lit up. A rushing sound goes unnoticed until it stops leaving a tiny melody all alone. 8. Mycelium Dawn Warm melodious sounds play tunelessly but beautifully. Each sound rises & falls at the same time. Faint mist can be heard behind the tuneless melody summing up the atmosphere of suspended falling. 9. Sycamore Breeze An ever so slight melody played on a cello can just about be heard at the start here but it fades into imperceptibility & leaves only a flute, the water & the birds. 10. Cyantium Flower Ethereal voices sing a beautiful song. The most prominent vocals on the whole CD are complimented by some trippy little electronic sounds & some soft natural ones but the vocals are definitely the focal point and they fill my head with their song. Halfway through a godlike drone washes them away & we are left with just the electronic sounds. A natural wind though tries to fight back & tries to bring the nature with it. Synths rush in & electronica wins out but it all still feels very real, very green & very natural like a genuine fake of nature. When all the electronica fades away we can here the real nature, the distant rushing of water, in the background. 11. Summerset Hill Imagine the top of a hill overlooking a forest & a river, in the distance are other hills and there is not a road or a building or any other people anywhere in sight. Now imagine that you are lying on your back on top of that hill on a warm summer's day watching the cloud patterns in the sky. That is Summerset Hill, beautifully relaxed & the only other signs of life are some sheep in the distance. 12. Autumn Leaves A slightly colder track has a driving rhythm as such that an ambient track can drive. It moves about very briefly then fades into nothingness. 13. Awaken The last track leaves us with the sounds previously visited in the Infinite Garden. The sound of rain, birds calling to each other and little bits of electronic melody. Well Matt Hillier has treated us again to an ambient masterpiece. A very natural album & this time the electronic elements don't just work well with the natural ones they seem very natural themselves, very green. Not quite the story of Magic Square of the Sun but a nice relaxed stay in a natural environment. This CD is possibly the opposite of Dark Psy. It's completely beatless & each sound is beautiful, blended in to the rest of the music & sets the brain into journey mode. It may take some time to get into, but it's definitely worth it.

Ishvara Magic Square of the Sun Virtual Reality Music 2005 Ambient Tracklist 1 Nomad (21:06) 2 Green Sun Prismatic Sky (17:48) 3 Iqqoa (8:22) 4 Blue Helix (5:50) 5 Sun In Venus (5:57) 6 Utopian Moon Garden (7:20) 7 Infinity Beam Home (6:34) Matt Hillier of Ishq fame under a different name serving us up with another dose of ambient bliss to enjoy. This is a similar style to Ishq - Orchid but it's a little darker & has more of an alien feel to it. Think outside in an alien garden at night with full moons lighting everything in an eerie glow. Such a harmonious mix of nature and mechanical elements which blend together complimenting each other perfectly. 1. Nomad A long moonlit drone sets a mood of night time wonder. Elicit meetings & secret goings on. Ever so slowly the beats creep in & the energy builds up. Not quite a party atmosphere but more like watching an outside gathering from a distance. Watching the lights, the people talking to each other but no dancing. It's not that kind of party. As the track goes on though more energy is fed from nowhere & I start wanting to nod my head & tap my foot. As it rushes & rushes it seems to use up all it's energy & what was rising is now falling into a more relaxed state. Voices call & sci fi noises come from the darkness, suddenly the atmosphere is very spacey like a garden on an alien planet. All the sounds seem alien now. All the energy dissipates and now I'm standing in the centre of an alien world. Dark yet comforting, everyone else has left & I'm all alone among the unfamiliar nature of this world. An alien rain falls down all around me musically, drenching me in beautiful sound, permeating my body & refreshing my tired mind and making me feel invigorated. Finally it all seeps slowly out of every pore, taking all the energy with it & leaving me lying on the ground staring up at the moons. 2. Green Sun, Prismatic Sky The seems ready to rise. A faint glow on the horizon lights up the sky in a spectrum of colours, all dark moody colours. The sounds of dawn can be heard, birdsong & an electronic breeze. Strange eastern robotic life arises around me & the sun seems to stutter before it breaks over the mountains. A voice comes from right beside me but when I look down there is nothing there. As the sun rises it spreads it's warmth over the soundscape & it covers all the mechanical life surrounding me in an eerie light. A strange sensation, so natural & synthetic in the same sound. F1 cars screech by & ships land near me but these machines, rather than dominating & destroying like they do on Earth, live as one with the nature, complimenting it not detracting from it. A confusing track for me as in my experience machines & civilisation always detract from nature & when I'm out in nature I want to be alone with no signs of machinery or people. This track though manages to blend the two together magnificently & when the vocals come in they sound half human & half computerised. It's a woman but I can't find her, like her voice is detached & spoken only over the airways. The sun doesn't rise very high in the sky & only manages to cast a dim light before setting back down and leaving everything in moonlight once more. The stars come out & everything seems more relaxed. There is still some hustle & bustle but everything is moving more slowly at this time. 3. Iqqoa Something big rushes down & crashes near by, a beam of light projects in all directions before the batteries die & it all goes dark again. Little robotic blips form what is almost a melody & they grow in intensity until they fill the air while retaining the melody. But it's more than that, it doesn't just fill the air, it fills all my senses. It seems like the noises are looking for something that this song is some kind of alien search method. As I lie here I secretly wish that they never find what they are looking for & I can listen to this tune forever. 4. Blue Helix After the dissolution of the search party, from out of the sky comes a twisting melody. It seems to spin around itself as it moves moves inwards towards me. A soft baseline follows it & from somewhere I can hear a voice trying to tell me something. The message though is too faint to make out so I ignore it & focus on the blue twisting sound now right in front of me. It plays around as I lie & watch it, the stars and the moon behind it like a beautiful picture. Finally some birds, can it already be dawn again? 5. Sun In Venus The light covers me quickly as the new sun rises much more quickly than the old one. All of a sudden the world around be is ablaze with light & colour. Around me all manner of things come to life & make their presence known. Lots of little noise some natural some not combine to make a cacophony of relaxed visions for my mind. Nicest are the chimes that whisper through my my brain & tug at my memories. Memories of warm summer days in meadows as a child. Lying in fields of gold as the wind rustles through the ears. As quickly as the sun rose though it sets leaving us once again with the moons. 6. Utopian Moon Garden A very mystical night time feel mixed with the robotic feel of this world. Sounds rush & bleep & float in the darkness but in the centre of all these electronic sounds is a rich verdant garden with flowers & trees all lit up by the moons. The alien rain falls down to feed the organic life that is here & feeds my soul as I lie here. The natural & electronic sounds blend harmoniously & it's a joy to behold. Once again I can almost hear a woman but as I hear her, she's gone. 7. Infinity Beam Home After such an enjoyable stay on this planet it looks like it's time to leave. The Tachyon Express is here to beam me home faster than light. As I rush through space the stars wizz by & strange sounds come at me from hyperspace. Again I hear the woman but I've raced passed to quickly. As I float through space closer to Earth I miss the natural sounds of the planet. The solar wind is strong and the closer I get the more sounds of humanity I can hear. NASA's messages beamed out for aliens are only intercepted by me. The final leg of my journey sees me quietly drop through the atmosphere into quiet chatter. how very human. Matt Hillier has managed to create a journey here through an alien planet filled with nature & machines & back through space to Earth. The whole journey is spent not moving but lying horizontal on my back as the story moves around me. A fantastic relaxed journey should be enjoyed as all Matt's work, alone, horizontal in the dark!

Just finished listening to this. It's sublime

Ishq Orchid : Sonic Incense vol.1 Interchill / Dakini 2CD 2002 Ambient Tracklist CD1 1 Skyblue (11:46) 2 Yu (9:38) 3 Opal (Opaque Mix) (7:45) 4 Daisy (8:39) 5 Cyandragonfly (13:27) 6 Bhakti (10:18) 7 Arc (7:23) CD2 1 Fluid Earth (20:02) 2 Blue Haze (6:19) 3 Opal (Original Mix) (11:13) 4 Essene (4:48) Matt Hillier is an ambient genious. His sound is so far away from anything else I've heard but in style & quality. His music sounds so natural, so clean. so relaxing & uplifting with every element in perfect harmony. Orchid, as far as I know, is the only full release under the Ishq moniker. Released on Interchill Records as a a single disk, I was lucky enough to get the Dakini release with an extra CD with 40 more minutes of ambient bliss. CD1 1. Skyblue Starts off with just beats & a subtle building sound in the background. That continues to build as some strings and rushing sounds build a melody. Light squelchy sounds, what could be a sonic waterfall & a woman's voice come in & out throughout. After the beat breaks down you can hear the sound of seagulls & waves against a shore. In the background is a melody played on first what sounds like a harp but the sound morphs into piano then harpsichord. Everything stops briefly & the track has to rebuild itself. I light drone followed by a melody is all we have until the light beats kick back in an it's as you were. This very nice dreamy opener puts me in mind of a clearing in the forest with a lake on a warm summer's day. Knowing that life is good & you are safe to relax in the beautiful surroundings. 2. Yu The waves cross us over into Yu & along with the waves comes a trickle of a stream. A small chime & an Asian voice sound briefly before the melody played on a harp(?) and an accompanying double synth melody float us into the sky. It all sounds very mystical with a hint of Eastern promise. A very laid back piece, perfect for a warm summer morning sitting on the porch watching the fish in the pond & the birds in the trees. Music to help you commune with nature. Mystical flutes & ethereal voices give this morning a sense of wonder, like anything or nothing could happen but either way it's going to be a great day. 3. Opal (Opaque Mix) Water is dripping & as the rate increases into the steady flowing of a stream we float down it. Very very soft subtle beats in the background are under the water yet don't sound wet. Even more subtle than the beats are the vocals. So subtle that when you hear them you know they are there but when you can't hear them you wonder if they are missing or just to soft to hear. A fantastic piece of Ambient, manages to sound percussive & beatless at the same time. 4. Daisy Sounds like a Zen Garden of Paradise. The sounds of birds can be heard in the trees & the melody sounds like a small bamboo water feature ever tipping. The water comes in fills it up, it gets to heavy & expels the water continuously tipping. There is no sound of the water though, just the tipping. There are an influx of very natural sounding synthetic sounds combined with more real sounds making an atmosphere close to a fantasy world. Like this garden is in another dimension. A dimension of light, a dimension of sound, a dimension of Peace & Tranquility. Almost voices whisper from just out of earshot, muffled warmth with the ever present tipping, the trickling of a stream & the birdsong. 5. Cyandragonfly Keeping with the garden theme but with a much more aerial feel to it. This track seems to fly over the water rather than sit by the side of it. The sound of water seems to pass by quickly but never leaves, like skimming over a pond then round the edge & back again. Cyandragonfly also feels a little later in the day, the midday sun has relaxed his glare & has fallen a little deeper in the sky. Kids play by the side of the opposite side of the pond to where I fly, halfway through I land on a small rock in the middle of the water & watch as the children play in the distance. The birds are still singing and the breeze brings with it bits of melody & conversation yet not enough to understand if it is human conversation or not. What really gets me about this track though is towards the end, Ishq samples a bird. i don't know what bird it is but I've only ever heard it in Britain & I'm instantly put in mind of the woods near my house as I was growing up. 6. Bhakti The transition sounds like a plane passing overhead but when it goes there is stunned silence, just the sounds of a few birds. 2 more planes go by, something cries & then the most beautiful of melodies comes in. It's warm & melancholic at the same time like remembering a lost love on a warm summer evening. Light beats come in & I feel like I'm back on the porch after a long day. Psirens try to call to me but I'm happy in my chair with a long drink & a long memory. The melody reemerges but falls under long drawn out sounds. The wind too has picked up & makes the wind chime hanging from my porch cry out. 7. Arc A long drawn out synth is followed shortly by another & together they manage to sound like an empty choir. The most subtle of melodies can be heard under the voices but just as you catch it it disappears from your mind. It all changes at once yet it's not sudden & it feels quite right. The new melody is over some piano chords and the birds are still singing but with less vigour than before. As the music leaves we are left with just the sounds of the water & the quite singing of the birds. CD2 1. Fluid Earth The sound of a river & water dripping into it from high places greet us at the start but the more the dripping grows the less river there is until there is only dripping. Over the drips comes a light shifting drone. It shifts up then down then invites all the other sounds to join in it's dance. Like a sunbeam lighting up all the falling dust. As the beats come in so do a few darker (yet not dark) sounds & I feel like I'm in the mouth of a cave with the bright daylight to one side & the mysterious earth to the other. Mysterious voices call from each side & I want to go to both but end up staying right where I am wondering but not acting. Weird sounds float around me, drip around me, rush up from underneath me. Both musical & relaxing, beautiful & surreal. From outside i can hear frogs by the pond croaking in unison but from inside the cave I can hear beautiful Angelic voices. I follow them inside & rush deeper & deeper. They call to me, am I a drop in the ocean or an ocean in a drop? The more the synths push me deeper the more I become submerged in the music & in my own mind. I stop & rest & take in the wonder of the hidden nature. As I stop the voices come closer but disappear in a crescendo of dripping water & all I can hear after is the frogs. I open my eyes & I'm back in front of the cave listening to river below me. 2.Blue Haze The river flows into Blue Haze but as I disembark onto the banks I see an old man playing an instrument unbeknown to me. He plays it nonchalantly & draws me in. I cannot pass by, I must stay and watch as he plays his tuneless tune. It's just a long drawn out drone with a few strings but it's amazingly engrossing. 3. Opal (Original Mix) Well CD1 has the opaque mix & now we are treated to the original mix. The melody is more prominent & the wet sounds are more reserved. The air sounds clearer like the day after a big storm. Clear blue sky up above & beautiful wet greenery all around. Beatless, no percussion except for what's created by the drops of water falling from the leaves to the ground. Amazing how the opaque mix is so different from this original while retaining the overall feel. Both very nice and perfectly placed on this journey. 4. Essene Remember, Remember, Remember, Remember! a soft voice repeats at the start. He repeats other words too softly to comprehend. A light uplifting drone is just about all else there is. Occasional sounds like bells & chimes come in & out very lightly. A perfect track to end the journey & send us into the realm of dreams. A beautiful journey through a natural wonderland. Perfect for relaxing to. Turn off the lights, get horizontal close your eyes & drift away. You wont regret it believe me.

Well I think any contribution is good! Most artists get more money from parties than album sales now anyway right? It's just the double standard that gets me :drama: