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Why all the "Ethno" in Psychill?


healium

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Ok, chanting and nature sounds etc etc seem to dominate psychill nowadays - since Shpongle came out they've all been like this..

 

An exception was Bluetech and Electrypnose albums...

 

WHy aren't more producers creating pure psychedelic downtempo electronica without all the ethno inlfuences? Like, much killer psytrance doesn't have that style, why can't producers create something more like proper psychedelic trance but in a downtempo format?

 

Why all the following with the nature sounds and ethno and shanti/hippy vibe - why not a wicked synthetic electronica based universe of sound composition instead?

 

For instance, I would LOVE to hear a psytrance style like Hux Flux or Nystagmus in a chill album....

 

Or like the way Sensient does music, but in a chill album - does this make any sense?

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look beyond the bounderies of psychill and thou shall find alot of cool shit!

 

 

 

 

 

 

give the following a try:

secede- tryshasla (sending orbs)

secede- vega libre (sending orbs)

welder- vines and streams (cyberset)

kettel

mike & rich- expert knob twiddlers

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Actually, Nystagmus' chilled-out side project Anahata released an album in 2007 and another one is in the pipeline. Check it out. Also, the next Zenon's release is going to be a chill compilation.

 

I'm also bored with most ethno stuff, because it all sounds alike and mostly same samples are used, but you have to look wider and deeper, there's still plenty of nice pure ambientish electronica out there, even in the psy-scene, you only have dig :)

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Aes Dana, Solar Fields, and Carbon Based Lifeforms never use any "ethno samples," at least from what I've heard. It's all just electronic sounds - it feels really alien, with no connection to reality (which is good). Aes Dana particularly feels like psytrance but at a slower pace.

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RIGHT!

The hippie ethno stuff goes on the nerves after the 100th use (Dakini records excluded ^_^).

Entheogenic for example ... I was a big fan at the beginning (as this Ethno wave started through somehow), but then lost interest rather quickly and now I don't give a flat f... about them. Ott aswell.

 

But it's not all ethno:

Aes Dana, Solar Fields, and Carbon Based Lifeforms never use any "ethno samples," at least from what I've heard. It's all just electronic sounds - it feels really alien, with no connection to reality (which is good). Aes Dana particularly feels like psytrance but at a slower pace.

yes, yes and yes! This man is right.

The music from Healer is in the same vein btw.

Also Chilling Matenda ... no ennerving hippie ethno going on there, only pure chilled beauty :)

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Check out Krusseldorf's album. No chanting or naturesounds in that one. One of the best chill albums of 2007 I may add.

 

But ye, I'm pretty bored as well with the ethnic stuff. Espacially when almost all of them don't know how to use it properly. Kaya Project are über ethnic but atleast they know how to do it so it rocks.

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Some Ethnic stuff is cool but a lot of psychill nowadays is identikit ethno shite!

Check Dakini for well done real ethnic sounds.

 

Ultimae do well without any ethnic sounds, also check Distant System - Spiral Empire which is also spacey not ethnic.

Bluetech

Androcell

Ian Ion

Native State Records, Kilowatts, Rena Jones, Krill.Minima

Healer

Secede

etc

 

Check more pure ambient stuff as well. There is a lot of really trippy music out there that is more psychedelic that artists that stick the psychill tag to their own music.

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Ok, chanting and nature sounds etc etc seem to dominate psychill nowadays - since Shpongle came out they've all been like this..

 

An exception was Bluetech and Electrypnose albums...

 

WHy aren't more producers creating pure psychedelic downtempo electronica without all the ethno inlfuences? Like, much killer psytrance doesn't have that style, why can't producers create something more like proper psychedelic trance but in a downtempo format?

 

Why all the following with the nature sounds and ethno and shanti/hippy vibe - why not a wicked synthetic electronica based universe of sound composition instead?

 

For instance, I would LOVE to hear a psytrance style like Hux Flux or Nystagmus in a chill album....

 

Or like the way Sensient does music, but in a chill album - does this make any sense?

Really a good question which I am asking myself, I usually don´t like the ethno stuff at all but to find really electronic psychedelic ambient is very difficult. I will check out the recommendations mentioned here because I am also pissed off by the ethnic stuff out there.

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Right on, thanks for the replies!

 

I'm looking for *very* psychedelic music here - I like Aes Dana, CBL, Asura, Solar Fields etc - but they aren't really that psychedelic IMO - they lack the "weirdness" that much of the best psytrance has - it's psychedelic, but only moderately so...

 

Hux Flux "Cryptic Crunch" and Koxbox "Dragon Tales" are two of the most "psychedelic" psytrance albums I've heard - I'm looking for downtempo music that is equally as weird and wonderful as these albums..

 

Chilling Matenda is good too, but not nearly that psychedelic as the above albums - that one and the Ultimae music is more the "classy" and "moderately trippy" type stuff I would say...

 

The Nystagmus side project "Anahata" sounded fully "ethno psychill" to me from the samples...

 

The first two Bluetech albums were very good IMO, among my favorites - but not that deeply psychedelic either IMO...

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well don't bite me but i think all ethno or ethno-psy-chill is waay better than synthstuff just because i really prefer the instruments n voices lol

 

as any psytrance-dance track with driving ethnic percussion (even so that the 4/4 kick is replaced by a huge drum-sound) is a major hit anywhere you play it, id better start a thread about this.

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The most psychedelic chillout act out there, that's not ethnic and still very fucking trippy, is Future Sound of London. Check out the following albums: Lifeforms, Dead Cities, ISDN (not necessarily in that order, but it helps).

Also very psychedelic, but not necessarily chillout: Monolake. Sometimes more like minimal slow techno (although not Minimal in the usual sense at all!) but definitely electronic and definitely psychedelic. Look out for e.g. Cinemascope. Also, look out for The Orb (my usual recommendation along with FSOL)

 

Personally I would find Solar Fields, Carbonbased Lifeforms and the like psychedelic. Very much so!

 

Some more electronic chillout albums that I would say are quite psychedelic (just some random ones)

 

Electrypnose - Subliminal Melancholies (a bit more sad, much more idm-ish, but a lot of really good stuff musicwise)

VA - Left Coast Liquid vol. 1 (great selection of more idmbient like chillout tracks)

Ooze - Where the Fields Never End (deep, moving, chilled out bliss)

Pole - 3 (you've got to like this kind of music, it's minimal clickhopped dubby music, but imo also quite psychedelic!)

Telefon Tel Aviv - Fahrenheit Fair Enough (not very chilled, but truly psychedelic in a beat-warping way of speaking... original stuff right there!)

Aphex Twin - Selected Ambient Works 85-92 (master at work, not great productionwise, but this is pure gold, as far as I'm concerned)

Higher Intelligence Agency - Freefloater (Kickass act from back in the day. You're gonna love it)

VA - Bioluminescence (quite new compilation with a lof of more glitchy, idm-ish tracks. I like it a lot, and it's not ethinc at all. What more could you ask for? :) )

Boards of Canada - Music Has The Right To Children (MHTRTC) or Geogaddi (sad, melancholic, but also quite trippy and original, groundbreaking albums I'd say)

 

Well, that's just a few albums off the top of my head. I have grown quite the disliking to anything ethnic in chillout, and really can't stand hearing it anymore either. I'm curious what you would think of my recommendations... keep us posted, and enjoy.

 

Snaap

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The most psychedelic chillout act out there, that's not ethnic and still very fucking trippy, is Future Sound of London. Check out the following albums: Lifeforms, Dead Cities, ISDN (not necessarily in that order, but it helps).

Also very psychedelic, but not necessarily chillout: Monolake. Sometimes more like minimal slow techno (although not Minimal in the usual sense at all!) but definitely electronic and definitely psychedelic. Look out for e.g. Cinemascope. Also, look out for The Orb (my usual recommendation along with FSOL)

 

Personally I would find Solar Fields, Carbonbased Lifeforms and the like psychedelic. Very much so!

 

Some more electronic chillout albums that I would say are quite psychedelic (just some random ones)

 

Electrypnose - Subliminal Melancholies (a bit more sad, much more idm-ish, but a lot of really good stuff musicwise)

VA - Left Coast Liquid vol. 1 (great selection of more idmbient like chillout tracks)

Ooze - Where the Fields Never End (deep, moving, chilled out bliss)

Pole - 3 (you've got to like this kind of music, it's minimal clickhopped dubby music, but imo also quite psychedelic!)

Telefon Tel Aviv - Fahrenheit Fair Enough (not very chilled, but truly psychedelic in a beat-warping way of speaking... original stuff right there!)

Aphex Twin - Selected Ambient Works 85-92 (master at work, not great productionwise, but this is pure gold, as far as I'm concerned)

Higher Intelligence Agency - Freefloater (Kickass act from back in the day. You're gonna love it)

VA - Bioluminescence (quite new compilation with a lof of more glitchy, idm-ish tracks. I like it a lot, and it's not ethinc at all. What more could you ask for? :) )

Boards of Canada - Music Has The Right To Children (MHTRTC) or Geogaddi (sad, melancholic, but also quite trippy and original, groundbreaking albums I'd say)

 

Well, that's just a few albums off the top of my head. I have grown quite the disliking to anything ethnic in chillout, and really can't stand hearing it anymore either. I'm curious what you would think of my recommendations... keep us posted, and enjoy.

 

Snaap

I agree with every single aspect of this post. :D

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I think ethno chill sounds boring, because everybody produces it on their laptops instead of real instruments. When ethno/folk music was formed there was no electricity :) Overused ideas. I'm sure holding any instrument in your hand gives you wider imagination than placing bars on your display.

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every now and then I can enjoy a track like that. however, my kind of chill in general does NOT contain any kind of blah and bluh :D

WORD !!! :lol: the blah and bluh is way overrated :).

 

Ethno mostly keeps me at floor level and I want to be taken away by deep floating alien sounds and melodies. Sometimes some nice driving bass or well worked out percussion etc.

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Entheogenic for example ... I was a big fan at the beginning (as this Ethno wave started through somehow), but then lost interest rather quickly and now I don't give a flat f... about them.

Definately agree to that. I enjoyed entheogenic for about the first two listens. After that I just found that exceedingly boring and hopelessly unoriginal. Not my cup of tea anymore, shpongle are the only ones that can really do it right IMO.

 

And also definately agree with snapihno's post. FSOL are the masters of psychedelic ambient, and the others you mention all rock too.

Don't think anyone's mentioned people like:

 

 

Trentemoller

BT (this binary universe, not the early stuff) or

Sasha's Airdrawndagger album

 

 

yet though

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First off - I don't mean that I don't like ethnochill stuff - I love Shpongle, Ott, Gaudi, Slackbabba (killer album BTW!) - but I think there is a conformist trend going on here and it would be nice to see an artist create something really fresh and new sounding...

 

Abakus "That Much Closer to the Sun" is very good I have to say, and sounds unique compared to many other albums - I forgot to add that one to the exceptional non-ethnic chill albums in my first post...

 

I have FSOL - Lifeforms - I like it but don't find it overly psychedelic or transdimensional sounding - mainstream electronica listeners find it digestable whereas I think the super psychedelic stuff they would be more challenged by...

 

I have the other ones too, mostly - don't have the Monolake album though, will have to check it...

 

All the one's listed are pretty "straight" sounding to me - in other words, they don't have the super zany sound effects and such going... It's all about the "sound palette"....

 

I think this is what I mean by "psychedelic" in this case - if any of you have heard Hux Flux "Cryptic Crunch" or X-Dream "Radio" you know they use a variety of extremely psychedelic, synthetic, wicked sounds in their fx and melodies... I don't hear any downtempo that has sound palettes like these albums - some interesting trippy sounds sure, but not the super trippy tech'd out sound the above albums bring...

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I have FSOL - Lifeforms - I like it but don't find it overly psychedelic or transdimensional sounding - mainstream electronica listeners find it digestable whereas I think the super psychedelic stuff they would be more challenged by...

Lifeforms takes a loooot of listens before it finally hits you. I kinda liked it for a long time, until i listened to it by myself one night whilst a little high, alone in my room and the amazingness of the album suddenly hit me, it all fell into place. I've heard the same thing happens with quite a lot of people with this album and that this is the beauty of it (correct me if i'm wrong?)

Dead cities on the other hand... if you dont find that a psychedelic journey through alien, desolate landscapes then there is something wrong with your brain IMO ;)

 

e. and i agree with you on the slackbaba album too. not sure id call it ethnic though, definately not as much as ott anyway

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Love chill, but the thing that moves me to the main dancefloor away from chill is wailing women! arghhhh!!!!! drives me mad.... if everything was like Doof/pavarti track i`d be well happy:)

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