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Master Margherita Afro Dots Blue Hour Sounds Tracklist: 1. Master Margherita & The Positronics - Frogs Dub 2. Master Margherita & The Positronics - Gaia Dub (Protogenos Mix) 3. [De]composer - Etude Simple II "Aleksej" (Master Margherita Remix) 4. Kliment - 3db (Master Margherita Remix) 5. Master Margherita - Sync Mode (Midi Mix) 6. Master Margherita - Strobe 7. Master Margherita, Mr Pink, Elvis Lobo - Bump Ride (Blue Hour Mix) 8. Master Margherita - For Aldo (Hanfstengel Remix) 9. Master Margherita & Ermetico - Freude 10. Master Margherita & Ermetico - Sei Otto (Original Mix) 11. Master Margherita & Ermetico - Campana 12. Master Margherita & Ermetico - Capodanno 13. Master Margherita & The Positronics - Santana Dub 14. Master Margherita - Blue Energy Part 1 15. Master Margherita - Blue Energy Part 2 16. Master Margherita - Rototom (Skin Mix) 17. Master Margherita - Tyrel Dub (Belgaroth Mix) 18. Grouch - Indifference (Master Margherita Remix) 19. Master Margherita - Spirit Dub (Ghost Mix) 20. Master Margherita & The Positronics - Scrumptious (Shorcake Mix) 21. Master Margherita & Ermetico - Sei Otto (Hibernation remix) 22. Master Margherita - Blue Fish (Sunrise Mix) Afro Dots is a very ambitious album - twenty-two tracks long with a meandering spirit that crosses several different styles of mid-tempo and down tempo styles before its journey is over. Naturally, with so many tracks in the offering, there is a lot of throw-away material here, approximately half of the tracks by my estimation. These filler tracks are mostly droning, experimental, uninteresting bridges to the album's better and more memorable moments. What is contained in those memorable moments is an album almost split into thirds - one-third techno, one-third down tempo, one-third dub. In fact, for an album mostly marketed as down tempo the first third of the album - and the first third of great music - is techno masquerading as down tempo. Some of it is dirty ("Sync Mode (Midi Mix)"), some of it is dark and rhythmic (the remix of Kliment's "3db") and some of it is pure beauty where well-known classical is married creatively to some dance-friendly techno (the remix of [De]composer - Etude Simple II "Aleksej" - one of the best on the album.) "Bump Ride," another mid-tempo gem, encapsulates Master Margherita's nice progressive psy flavors. The acoustic guitar and didgeridoo performance from Mr. Pink and Elvis Lobo, however, are the gems of this one. The sum of its awesome work speaks more to Margherita's overall vision for good and groovy music rather his ability to do it alone. Nice collaboration on this one. The invigorating hand-drumming and riotously infectious guitar strings of "Freude," co-produced with Ermetico, ushers in the fine down tempo moments of Afro Dots, with another equally effective moment in the same style cropping up at the end of the album playlist on the heavenly bliss of "Sei Otto (Hibernation Remix)." The dub segment of this album shows Master Margherita saving the best for last. Here the slow-rolling head-bobbing excellence of his dub style offers up gems on "Tyrel Dub (Belgaroth Mix)," an excellent remix of Grouch's "Indifference," a dark yet magical number filled with addictive female spoken word on "Spirit Dub (Ghost Mix)" and a co-produced beauty made with The Positronics on the delicious "Scrumptious (Shorcake Mix)." Afro Dots is a pretty long album and for half of its time it is not particularly interesting. However, with a little bit of careful editing, what is left is half an album of eleven stylistically varied and very well executed musical ideas. It is a gorgeous marriage between some great synthetic beats and some even better live instrumentation. It may be only half a great album, but what a great half that turns out to be. Bandcamp

Dear All! My new video is ready - a short journey to the Middle-East. Enjoy the Colours of the Souk!

Jagoa Solar Journey Ae Records & Neogoa Tracklist: 1. Solar Journey 2. Freedom 3. The Sky Is Crying 4. Searching For The Light Finally! After the lovely psychedelic down tempo offerings of Neogoa's past releases Turlitava and, especially, Spiritual Doping, the ambitious and impressive organizational skills of the one called Richpa launches Ae Records. Not sure what Ae stands for, but the birth of the down tempo-focused sub-label is off to a decent beginning. Here, Richpa's lovely alternative existence away from goa, his wonderful taste in chill, gives the debut of Belgian Jagoa a great platform to shine. As per usual the Neogoa standards are well in hand with crazy-good cover art and crystal-clear production values. Unfortunately, I'm not overly impressed with this one though I am also far from being disappointed. On Solar Journey, Jagoa offers up three good tracks and one that is quite excellent. Certainly, nothing here is subpar. Still, for as decent as the title track and EP opener is it feels somewhat incomplete, as if there is just something else missing that would make the track remarkable. It is a nice chill intro, all the same. By comparison, "Freedom" is simple but profound. The track may deserve a better title, something more befitting to the magic it offers up, but musically, where it matters most, it's tough to imagine what could make the moods any more evocative. This one is superb! Things dip back into chill territory on the decent third track "The Sky Is Crying" and back toward groovier psychedelic realms on the "Searching For The Light" closer. If you are looking for a nice way to experience some pleasant, quality relaxation for the next 40 minutes, "Solar Journey" is a good choice. However, if you're looking for pure magic without the buffers, "Freedom" is where you'll find the spiritual doping. Available for free play or download at: http://www.ektoplazm.com/free-music/jagoa-solar-journey ()

Tentura Beyond Illusion Sentimony Records Tracklist: 1. Alchemy 2. Interstellar 3. Liftoff 4. Beginning Of Time 5. Echoes 6. Vivid 7. Rising 8. Presence of the Sence 9. Resonance (Remake) 10. Resident (vs. Specialmind) An excellent and hypnotic down tempo album that offers up an epic 83-minute run time and two beautiful compositions that break the 10-minute mark. To get the negatives out of the way quickly, I'm not a fan of the guitars used in "Interstellar" (similar in sound to Ajja & Cosmosis' "The Alien Jams"), the hearty energy of the "Resident" conclusion (made with Specialmind) breaks up the hypnosis established by nearly everything else in this work and "Vivid" is too in-your-face where most everything else here is wonderfully subtle and nuanced. Too, I am not a big fan of the cover art because (1) I'm not interested in seeing someone's footwear when that elaborate Tentura logo looks like it would be fascinating on its own and would probably pop well against a dark background and (2) common sense says if something that intricate is coming up from the water at you, don't stand on a cliff edge with that much LSD in your system. Where the cover works, though, is during the album's best track. On the appropriately titled "Liftoff," a majestic 12-minute masterwork, you can almost picture yourself launching off the edge and flying amongst the clouds. An absolute beauty that works its magic immediately whereas many of these tracks take a couple listens to become great. Courageously, Tentura begins the album on the ambitious (and successful) 16-minute expanse of "Alchemy," a track that feels not a second too long. Elsewhere, the samples in "Beginning Of Time," the wispy female vocals in "Presence Of The Sence" and fantastic spellbinding rhythms in "Echoes" and "Rising" assure the album's overall greatness. Quite possibly, the excellence of "Resonance (Remake)" may become one of the better tracks over time. But with much in this album, with so much subtlety happening in the background of each track, it is difficult to say how great these tracks will become. For now, though, with absolutely no question, it can be said that "Beyond Illusion" has a great chance of being one of the very best down tempo albums that we see in 2015. ()

Desert Dwellers The Great Mystery Black Swan Sounds Tracklist: 1. Warm Desert Sands 2. The Great Mystery 3. Crossing Beyond (ReVisioned) 4. View From Laniakea 5. Our Dream World 6. The Elephant's March 7. Walking Between 8. The Sacrament (ReVisioned) 9. I Dropped It 10. Bird Over Sand Dunes 11. Wings Of Waves 12. Give Thanks Now I'm not sure what past Desert Dwellers album I had heard but it was a while back that I had written this duo off as being too chill, too meditative for my tastes. Even a little too New Age, too floaty, too hippie, not enough groove, not enough edge. To be clear, I have no idea if this American duo have another album out there like The Great Mystery but I would be damned eager to hear it. This one floored me because it redefined everything I had opined about the Desert Dwellers and, more importantly, because it is a truly amazing album. In its very best moments The Great Mystery is superb tribal down tempo with intricate detailing, groovy rhythms and ethereal female vocals. Some of those moments also happen to be immersive and transporting psychedelic music. And all of those opinions were formed before learning of the back story where the duo say to have recorded this mostly on the road, in several different countries, in several different studios, over the course of two years. By any rule of standards, this album should sound like anything but the smooth and near-perfect encapsulation of beauty that it is. Also consider the dizzying number of nine vocalists and instrumentalists employed throughout many of these tracks and the legend of this one continues to grow. As far as the music is concerned, immediately I dismissed the opener and conclusion and "The Elephant's March" in between, all falling into that "too floaty" category. It wasn't until the second or third listen that "View From Laniakea" and "Bird Over Sand Dunes" began to become thinner than the rest. Of the best of the rest, which leaves seven tracks in case you weren't keeping count, there is some gorgeous aural magic to be had, accentuated in no small way by that intricate and gorgeous cover art that seems to shimmer and morph with these sounds. The title track, "Walking Between" and "Wings of Waves" are sweeping and majestic, sometimes inducing hypnosis through its elements, sometimes getting a little grimy with just a pinch of glitch, sometimes just being nothing more complex than utter beauty. "The Sacrament (ReVisioned)" and "I Dropped It" become flavorful doses of diversity, adopting a West Coast style of glitch and bass music that is frenetically effective. "Crossing Beyond (ReVisioned)" is energetic, hypnotic, just a little dirty and pretty near flawless, certainly one of the best of this bunch. However, "Our Dream World" gets top honor here, though it is no easy task trying to pick a favorite, it is simply epic with the vocal melodies weaving spells that are difficult to shake and if this one gets deep into you, chances are you won't want to be rid of it so easy anyway. The Great Mystery is one superb journey and for all of the proclaimed trials and tribulations stated by its producers Amani Friend and Treavor Moontribe that back story also makes it a brilliant one. Black Swan Sounds

Blue Lunar Monkey All One Altar Records Tracklist: 1. Omkara 2. One Love 3. Metilbufotenina 4. The Unknown 5. Interstellar Travel 6. Dream Wonderland 7. Union If you've enjoyed anything from this Mexican producer's previous three full-length down tempo albums then you'll be sure to find much to appreciate on "All One." At his very best (which he offers up quite often), Blue Lunar Monkey is pure magic. And at his least, his tunes are good without ever sounding like filler. In short, this is a very solid outing for the veteran. Of course, there are many out there who need to know if this is the best album that the Monkey has yet come up with, if his art has come to the pinnacle of his abilities. To that, I'm not so sure there is a "best" album from this guy. Perhaps his impressive debut on 2007's "2012" is his best or maybe the gorgeousness of 2011's "Here And Now" is. No question, there's much evidence for 2013's "Spirit Molecule" to be his signature work. However, there are many reasons to consider this outing as his best yet. That's kind of the point. Blue Lunar Monkey is a very gifted producer and he taps into many of the same heavenly frequencies that he has in the past making the very best moments of "All One" equal to the very best moments of any other track he has ever created. If that means he has not progressed much as an artist then so be it. More accurately, perhaps, is that this is a great producer who is continuing to make some very great music. The 10-minute "Omkara" opener is pure bliss, a spiritual journey of sound where the samples are a lovely invocation toward the listener's relaxation and the constant "Om" chants in the background are hypnotically beautiful without ever becoming too chilled-out. Here, on this great track, the Monkey grooves and weaves a very wonderful spell. Too, on the sunny dub follow-up of "One Love" much magic is conjured from his hands and mind, remembering not only the lovely dub moments of his own history but also seeming to recall some of the most pleasing times of another great down tempo producer, Androcell. The swaying dub and spirit-soaring rhythms and melodies on "Union" seems to combine the best of those first two tracks and emerges as a staggeringly good album closer. "Interstellar Travel" is an outer space gem, content to float among the star dust with eyes wide open at the wonder of the galaxy's expanse, an imaginative seven-minute piece of gold. And if there are three other tracks here that do not work nearly as well the feeling is that BLM did not skimp on the quality of those. He certainly tried but I found different things not nearly as enjoyable, be it with some of the melodies or rhythms. Long one of my personal favorites for down tempo producers, overall, "All One" is a testament to how good Blue Lunar Monkey is at his craft. No better than any other album he has created but just as equally good as he has ever been before, a fantastic continuation of one man's excellence at making soothing and wonderfully rhythmic music. ()

Mindex Intergalactic Kung Fusion Merkaba Music Tracklist: 1. Deep Forest 2. In Search Of Truth (Re-mindeX) 3. Beauty and the Beast 4. Alien Shaman 5. Sphinx (Re-mindeX) 6. Inner Flame So glitchy, so bass driven yet so chill and smooth and impeccably gorgeous. In short, awesome psychedelic bass music. The opener "Deep Forest" is the best of these six delivering speaker-shaking bass lines with deliciously interspersed samples ripe with enrapturing chants, soothing harpsichord melodies and soaring female vocals. It is the most complete and fully realized of this bunch but I would not recommend against any of them. The steel drum effects in "In Search of Truth" are paired so well with the invigorating vocal samples and that glitch solo in the middle of the track is more than just a little awesome. It's some of the best down tempo psychedelic dubstep to be found outside of Phutureprimitive's "Kinetik" album. "Beauty and the Beast" is not just the most growling of these tracks but it is also a very apt description for the entire album. "Sphinx," "Alien Shaman" and "Inner Flame" piece together much in the way of mysterious mood with body-swaying syncopation, almost primitive in their rhythms yet so effective in their methods. My only gripe is with the track lengths as none go over the five-minute mark. Considering how well-crafted these tracks are and how damn fine they sound it seems criminal that none stick around for another two or three minutes. Regardless, I do believe this is the best non-Kalya Scintilla release to be put out yet by Merkaba Music. ()

::: SUMMER : Compiled by DJ Zen ::: The new psychill compilation from Altar Records out now! .::PRESS RELEASE::. Altar Records is ready to release "Summer"! With the "Spring" album last year, this compilation continues with as promised, one compilation release every year in celebration of the seasons. Dj Zen, head of Altar Records, asked 9 exclusive Altar Records artist's to take up their sounds and build a track with raw beauty, inspiration and the scents of summer in mind. These 9 tracks are solid in telling their tales of ear-tantalizing melodies which will have you fall in love with one of our artist's. Coming from the studios of the most famous Altar Records acts, be prepared for an exceptional aural excursion! Bring this music with you to your favorite outdoor festival and play it on the way there, the stage and everywhere you can for a positively mesmerizing effect. The sounds will send you everywhere on the dance floor in a trance we all love. Prepared for 2014 under the sun with a shine like never before on the worldwide psychill scene! Enjoy! credits released 24th July, 2014 Compiled and mastered by DJ Zen at Altar Records Studios, Qc., Canada. Artwork by Dj Zen and Marie France. Available formats: CD: Bandcamp Digital / CD + immediate download: 9.99$ 9.99$ Next release (September 2014): LAB'S CLOUD - "Imminent Awakening" The new anticipated album from Lab's Cloud is coming up ! releases September, 26th in 16bits and 24Bits format CD reservation : 14€ Thank you for reading ! Happy summer and festival season everyone!

"Unity" the new album by SUDUAYA http://altar.bandcamp.com/album/unity http://www.altar-records.com/unity.html http://www.altar-records.com/Newsletter_45.html A not-to-be-missed down-tempo album by Suduaya, entitled "Unity" coming up this fall 2013 on Altar Records ... ... . Louis-David has been touring the world with his guitar since 2010 playing live sets of top-class progressive and ambient music. His music encourages people to gather onto the dance floor, enjoying an open earth experience and a deep communion all together with nature. Enjoy! http://www.altar-records.com http://www.altar.bandcamp.com