oceanz

Look, sorry for de-railing thread, I wibbled nonsense^ & I'll come back to delete post above. The album's great & lots of world class music makers involved.

Ah I just rambled here sorry. I apologise for being critical of stuff in a spiky way & I'm sorry for offence. Great musics^ no doubt.

"state2" Ah I'm just making stuff up as I go along eh - I think everyone in the world should imagine that the police read every single txt, email, social media post, with the internet lasting for ever and anonymity obviously impossible - I mean even curser hovers, access to everything deleted, really fucking easy remote invisible access to mobile phones as recording devices and laptop cameras even if they appear switched off to user. I mean we all appreciate this already yeah? So for one thing it's really fucking stupid for anyone who would ever like to travel overseas to say they EVER took drugs - like we all know that USA visas are refused merely for past - like fully decades ago admission. Just plain irresponsible for artists to chat like they live in a free world for an interview. But also, there's a sort of fuck this thing about being more open - like coming out of the closet and being prepared to roll with how it plays out. Mostly tho we should pretend we're stealthy ninjas, a resistance in a police state - never using tech to communicate about stuff that is pretty much sacred - in fact not even paper or abstract images/props - like we just share our empty head spaces with one another in joyful celebration at the wonder of being an alive part of the cosmos experiencing itself. Ha soz, I'm not helping - I guess everything is right here&now wherever that might be. I think I was thinking of a hard to read bit in the bytes cover too - I sit in space one and contemplate space two I think it said

Re:formats tho...I have an "AGPtEK" 8gb MP3 that takes 64gb micro sd (size of a little finger nail) - works & hi-fis ok - does need plugging in every 50-70hrs tho. Anyway, vinyl I'm over cos it just becomes heavy clutter or rare to worry about, cassettes? I really like t idea that kids can just find a boombox & good to go - much safer setting than via phone. But it's hard to find personal tape player now & restrictive about range of music to take away - I dunno tho - less chance of glitch than digital files/players so far? I've had mp3s fall apart in storage but WAV seems +5yr reliable so far, so I've gone with that. I archive cd & still crave records but nearly over compulsion to own - which I think was more about wanting to keep it safe more than anything - real world collection defo sucks if ever time to live overseas tho I know that much. iPad system is crazy to try and add files to - but possibility of being useful for making/playing esp with that ableton new link thing if works ok. I'm hopeful just iPad mini & prob one of the NI sound card things to take on road to share one day - esp via my surly long haul trucker - steel frame touring bikes for all sorts of win I say Anyway, I'm day-dreaming of maybe one of those pioneer usb players - CD esp CDr just not up to job of transit and use. But half feel like it's disrespectful truly not to even try vinyl turtablism skills - even just as prod technique - all more than a decade away for me I guess. I did play a few queer space uni parties one time, a single outdoor event, evening runs 'djing' in a veg cafe & then bought time to be on local radio - I think at the time I just wasn't into any adverts so I rather pay each week for a slot on the radio than alternatives - it was just AM station but felt more real to me than posting mixes up online or giving away someone else's music via sound cloud or wherever. Anyway I stepped up before I had sufficient skills & then there was a big flap about moving overseas again - really not feeling bar scenes at all - and I think I'd feel bit better about making my own music first before easing into showcasing finds - all really years and years away and well I dunno it might be ok in t end but well I resisting easy reflex to be critical - it's all just because music is a bit important to me I guess. MixMasterMorris said music was his life, his connection like a lover almost. Right now, esp after a break-up this week, music single closest thing/friend for me - just recently I'm getting passionate about career tho too - uni hoops and trying to focus are part of vanishing too for now I guess. I'm like pretty much the shyest person I've ever met unless I'm drunk and I gave up ever more than 2drinks already - never ever mix with state2 carry-on I, well not just me say. But yeah, potential to transfer tunes hand-to-hand I feel and pretty much our whole culture could be almost invisible online - except to collect music - band camp is neat t way u can surf collections - but unreal how few folk pick up on some 5star stuff even from big names. Anyway that really is me. Over&out. Also I feel a bit stink for Ott diss - he's called me much worse online tho & Shpongle app SiP says Ott turned down offer of opening the red rocks gig with an "ego" attitude response about how he'd rather oh I forget what but sounded rude if tru.

+1 for ALL state2 experiences and soundtrack to occur offline+1 for paper/fabric based static artwork. All animation/visuals to be presented as background ambience never as focus of state2 experiences. Ah I guess because it's easy enough to get drawn in and our heads are set up to look for connections so it's stimuli overload. +1 Remember stuff about sussing mindset & setting out before any state2 experiences. Internet/online world should be unplugged. +1 for music first - as a soundtrack to a dance/chill in the woods/beach - not assume our screen habit is beneficial. Also, none of us has all the answers I'm just thinking out loud. Everybody go learn Mindfulness skills though - empty head is where it's at. "Science-fiction" An off world perspective can transcend race/cultural/gender/sexuality divisions? We are the aliens or something. But also it might be a terrifying concept to perceive hints about aliens in music/packaging - I've spun out to eat static before. I rate bits of Gel-Sol and he's making a sci-fi concept album. I used to really like ScienceFiction parties at Brixton. Less woo/dropping-of-critical-thinking with futurology perspective too. Ah different music for where folks at, arc of state2 experience etc. Playing out must be super tough to make sense of it all - chapeau to folks that brave spotlight - I'm half thinking online distribution of WAV files for solo/group experience elsewhere is more useful setting for peak+ especially type things. Maybe gatherings are more about a single dance area & a cafe/relax space that's mostly horizontal - not sure I'm really feeling where a third/fourth/etc space fits into it all - unless it's a unifying thing then I'm up for that. Oh I have an empty Twitter, mixlcloud & easy enough to find band camp - but mostly thinking offline is t way to go - I just turned single too - hope to catch up one time. Also I used to post in a couple of other places but easy finds - ah one place has disappeared and another - in fact don't bother I've hardly ever said anything more than a couple of pages worth reading in my whole life - I'm just half wishing I was better at 'connecting' or fitting in sometimes. Some days I feel sane in a crazy crazy world out there. Music is my sanctuary the song goes I think.

I didn't mean to have a pop - I guess more where I'm coming from is that what's happening in someone's head might not fit very well into words - so if the makers vibration is coming from the biggest sense of self too then there's less key clash. Or if it's being or cosmic and what not words can really a person out of moment or something - also, I'm only just figuring stuff out but verbal cognition is I think at this stage correlated with reappearance of perception of neuropathic pain which may otherwise be absent in a silent empty head state2 experience.

Hi - this post is cheeky but also, it feels like from here, with positive intent also. It seems folk like Disco Gecko are inspired by a wide range of music. I remember a great MegaDog gig with BancoDeGaia live performing including the saxophone player from PinkFloyd's wish you were here album and I notice on this compilation here there's a track with Inuit singing on it - which, on the soundcloud page is considered to be a creative commons recording. Are you able to explain a little bit about the translation services that 'ethno' producers working with lots of material from a culture that they have no contextual understanding therof, nor even a vague grasp of specific meanings of words, utilise to ensure that a) the vocal does not include any sentiments of negative intent and that "b" there's no accidental Burrough's cut-up technique blunders whereby an unintended meaning is communicated due to a lack of thorough appreciation of source material. I'm sure you're well aware from a legal perspective that original artists as well as commercial control have a right of veto over artistic context. For instance, can you explain the process of consultation with the Inuit song-holders to do with seeking consent, perhaps for a song used in sacred rites, to have elements both removed and added to their song and replayed in the context of a venue seeking to maximise profit from the sale of alcohol? Also, can you explain the further investigation beyond an online tagging about Creative Commons from an un-related sound archivist - to ensure that the original artists gave informed consent and waived all rights. Finally, can you add any words to the ongoing request from the indigenous populations of the world, not to have their art culturally misappropriated? I guess bonus points for a perspective on whether or not 'ethno' snippets are targeted rather than samples from major record label artists, in part, because there's just much less chance of being hit with cease & desist legal letter for unauthorised use of another artist's music. ooh and given your love of Disco - what are some good leads to explore this really diverse, psychedelic culture?

I have so many gaps in my listening, it's not even funny - lol I think Laraaji did some laughing workshops? http://www.theguardian.com/music/2014/jul/08/laraaji-brian-eno-of-laughter anyway, I only have the re-issue comp of his cassette releases, but felt like exploring a bit more of his music today, starting off with this track - sounds like a cd to order already https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_hes0hRY9v8 edit: woah, he's made some incredible! music - defo keen to investigate more : ) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=87E2ZRy21V8 editx2: no doubt it's the sort of stuff 'psybient' international touring "DJs" are already show-casing, but if somehow it's slipped thru the gaps, then can I suggest a CD by Audio Active & Laraaji (!) It rocks my world to find such a rich seem of wonderful music - thank you Laraaji *giggles*

Can you explain that a bit more? I grew up raving to (happy) hardcore in the uk early 90s and I liked how inclusive the scene was. It sounds like you do not wish to attend events with these people? I kinda like some popular stuff at times - for instance I think the Skrillex/Justin Bieber track is decent! The bassline is fire I reckon - those beats are treats to my ears

I was critical here in a spiky way about Ott music - which is great. I'm sorry for leaving up fr so long here.

http://massappeal.com/thundercat-and-monopoly-paris/?utm_source=Twitter&utm_medium=Bitly&utm_content=Photo&utm_campaign=ParisTribute "Sometimes a eulogy needs no words. Thundercat—L.A. bassist, multi-instrumentalist, and acclaimed producer on Kendrick Lamar’s To Pimp A Butterfly—has come forward today to share an instrumental composition dedicated to the victims of the Paris shootings." - also Recloose with his Hit it & Quit it radio show is always worth a listen over&out

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ScYz9sNaQk ^first watch for me just now of this video for a FlyingLotus tune - worth a click! I'm a random nobody and not much use for finding music, but the beats of that track remind me a little bit of Dabrye styles - believe it or not, I took some of Dabrye's instrumentals along to soundtrack a day at the seaside amongst music from ISHQ and MarkPritchard. Anyway, very surprisingly to me, the Dabrye beats worked sublimely. I guess freaks hide out in all sorts of unexpected places. I think that's one of the things that DJ culture used to be about - years of digging thru music to find the good stuff - sadly for psybient/psytrance fans it's mostly just cross fades between this weeks releases from a really restricted pool of music. I wonder what a true school DJ would make of someone standing on stage for claps, pressing play on music they didn't make, and that anyone off the street could find within 10minutes of browsing online.

I like this track by KingBritt feat Bahamadia - I think it was the bbe recs comp series of 'Instrumentals' that first drew me in to investigating the scene a bit more. Then a few years of following connections to explore more of the soul/funk/rock/jazz stuff that was sampled in amongst the beats - but much better sources of info out there than me. https://bahamadia.bandcamp.com/track/transcend Also, I don't mean to cause offence but I'm aware how social identities can be bundled up into what music we most like. I'm just trying to send out a gentle reminder that 'our tribe' means everyone on the planet and movements are global not exclusive. I'm a bit undecided about lyrics mostly - conceptually I don't really like how they interrupt a sort of timeless listening thing, but now and again a voice even in a heightened state feels welcome. Also I've had fun out 'dancing' sometimes, moderately tripping, and enjoyed the percussive element to how rap lyrics can work - equally some turntablists blow my mind compared to the slow cross-fader blends of "DJing" within psybient. I think I'm most drawn to the idea of wordless music that doesn't need a translation to communicate and is able to transcend illusions of borders.

Can I ask though, have you ever listened to any FlyingLotus, or did you decide that because he might be connected to hip-hop culture - the superficial element of which you find it hard it relate to - then it shouldn't be investigated. That kinda looks a bit like a prejudicial attitude. But hey, there's a line about us being here to see each other through not see through others and for me for instance, I used to be a bit closed minded about HeavyMetal but it's interesting to explore areas where there might be resistance. RobertAntonWilson wrote about 'reality tunnels' and how it was sometimes useful to spot them and then take off the blinkers to see another possible version of reality. As a broader MUSIC community, I think we could benefit from lifting up our blinkers and exploring areas that we've previously considered off-limits and playfully dropping any petty genre laws that prohibit us from enjoying a much wider sense of community and plenty of really incredible music that we've missed out on. http://noisey.vice.com/en_uk/blog/flying-lotus-interview-youre-dead "I think people think I fuckin’ take acid and do DMT every week. Those moments aren’t as common as people assume. I do psychedelics maybe once or twice a year, if that"

Ah everyone has different preferences eh and that's cool. The songwriter from Oasis for instance said about how much he hates hip-hop and that he thinks 50cent is an idiot. I would encourage everyone to dig a little into the culture of turnablism, sampling and some just straight ahead incredibly psychedelic music at the heart of that scene. I mean sure there's a whole culture of weed smoking and enjoying beats, but there was cross-over to all sorts of other scenes - for instance some Graffiti artists were into listening to their progressive/fusion sounds as they painted vibrant trippy murals all over their city. Also, it's wrong to make an assumption about the content of all of the lyrics - for instance there was an early blend of disco and hip-hop culture that's made with such positive intent. As well, there's so much to learn from the production techniques and the kinds of records that were sampled. Plus I've heard hip-hop described as black CNN - and there's a voice given to express ideas about the state of it all - I mean surely even just as weed smokers everyone is a bit concerned to see such racism by police and so many people locked up in jail for committing no crime at all. There's a PBS documentary about alcohol prohibition times that is context for how utterly futile the war on drugs is - or at least the war on undesirable elements of society as it becomes. Embarrassingly, I'd not really investigated hip-hop culture in much detail until I turned 30 and there's some brilliant stuff in amongst. At a very basic level psy community should at least explore NinjaTunes/BigDada with label head already giving talks out in Boom and being open about liking LSD. Similarly it's rude not to tuck into FlyingLotus - he makes beats for rap artists and at the same time, along with Shpongle, writes instrumental love songs to DMT! Beyond that, there's honestly some great stuff - how about rare cuts by Bahamandia & Ursula Rocker if interested in hearing more a female voice in amongst it all. Ah it's not for me to give out every lead, but there's so much goodness within hip-hop community - or even beat makers of footwork/jungle fusion styles that it's really missing out to avoid it all, let alone not really fitting in with the whole psychedelia open-mind sort of thing.

I'm conscious about the absurdity of me, as a white man, moaning about the absence of non-white artists from playlists. But I'm struck also by how I've found some great abstract techno by women producers that is ignored by the psy community too. I can't help thinking that slightly more open ears would do us all the world of good. Anyway, apologies for clumsy words, I acknowledge that it is a sensitive area and I do not wish to offend. FlyingLotus (nephew is it of AliceColtrane?) is out as into his psychedelics and a bass player he works with ThunderCat posed for a photo recently in an Native American Headdress - which made me think about the concept of 'cultural appropriation' - like adidas I think is helping US football teams to transition from using iconography from a prior civilisation. In NZ, there's a unique bi-cultural basis, so the indigenous people can have a say, on whether it's appropriate for some Moko tattoo designs to be stolen and used as a logo on a wine bottle label for instance. It strikes me that in swiping misunderstood aspects of foreign cultures that there's a similar level of disrespect amongst the psy community. Ah, it's not so much that aspect as the blatant ignoring of a huge swathe of psychedelic music made by non-white people that bothers me a bit. But sure, you move onto that in yr post Yeah I hear you about it sometimes being weird that it's some other person on stage, perhaps enjoying being a centre of attention, playing music made by someone else. But we don't even have existing selectors bothering to hunt for real world music, let alone the original artists having a chance on stage too. I'm out of touch but there's obvious exceptions - like did Juno Reactor perform with Ammampondo was it?...the Orb gigged with Kakatsitsi too I've a vague distrust of the sentiment sometimes expressed too, by some in the psy scene about always having respect for 'the ancients'. One random thing is that it appears amongst some old cultures it was normal enough for children to take psychedelics and I think this breaches my concept of informed consent, let alone the fact that developmental psychology suggests youngsters are less able to distinguish pretend from real - that characters on telly are thought to be real for instance - so I'm not sure it's wise to give kids hallucinogens as part of yr culture and I think it's OK for that to be questioned rather than blindly respected.

woah, out of curiosity, I followed your Facebook page and you're an international touring psy artist? but you assumed that every psy artist was white already?

I agree...and to my ears some of the very best music ever made is apparently ignored by the psybient/psytrance scene and I'm concerned in case there might be a bit of a prejudice involved. To be honest, it's only really in sets by MixMasterMorris, within the broader global chillage community, that I see a representatively diverse range of music makers being picked up on. I still think that record collection check might be a bit of an indicator about where people are coming from. Ah I didn't want to paint the existing psybient/psytrance scene as exclusively white artists. I mean obviously there's Mubali (Greg Farley) on Parvati Records, Nitin Sawnhey who had his track Streets picked up on the second InfiniteExcursions Tip compilation, Adam Shaikh and...well there's lots of Psytrance from Japanese artists. Besides a lot of music is made fairly anonymously - once the uk music press dismissed some dance music as "faceless techno bollox" and I think even Underground Resistance were stealthy about their identities. I think another aspect of it is that lots of black music - I mean that's a whole other thing I guess about whether it's legit to suggest that hip-hop for instance is black music despite the MOBO awards - seems like that culture was pretty diverse as it got started and defo dug thru a really wide range of music for the soundtrack...Anyway I was saying another aspect is that take reggae for instance, some of the broader culture is to do with a Black Deity incarnate as JahRastafari with lyrics about the horror of 400yrs of slavery and dreams of returning to Zion - which might be a different experience compared to a white gentleman with a head full of dreadlocks. I'm not sure I'm convinced by white artists making dub music and then sprinkling samples of Rasta vocal snippets in amongst it as if that makes it legit. But sure, the whole thing of OneLove like in a BobMarley lyric is beyond race and speaks of real global community. I guess I hear lots of influences of black culture within psybient/psytrance but it's fairly rare to see black artists included in a playlist and I'm still baffled why that's the case. Or there might be a fondness expressed for 'tribal grooves' but not many selectors venture into picking out some deep spiritual jazz tunes - in fact, after a little bit of listening and nosying thru collections of psy folk - I'm honestly shocked by the absence of wonderful music made by non-whites. So...if that's sort of where we're at then it doesn't look like the most accepting community to welcome and start to build a true global community. It's weird too that we have samples or imaginings about different cultures within the scene, but there's a whole wave of electronic music made in places like Peru or by folk living in the Sahara with access to laptop music kit and that isn't given a platform at festivals very much - as if tokenism is acceptable but real world music isn't. I was just reminded of Inter:Laken, the new signing on Twisted records - really liked his set at one of the Twistival events. I wonder how he felt about the the genre tag EthnoStep to describe the Enig'matik compilation he was on.

I'm enjoying the sounds of PopAmbient2016 on Kompakt here, featuring the Orb amongst another 11 artists I'd not heard of before. It's AMBIENT rather than BASS music and the tracks work really well together - smooth with subtle details. Was it BrianEno that wrote about ambient music being like 'audible wallpaper'? - as if it was sometimes like an invisible part of the space, but then u can get drawn in by the patterns for closer attention. I've picked this track out because I think it might be a sample of the Baka people water-drumming from Cameroon in amongst track 8 - the original was sort of tech-house in the rain with an ulrich-schnauss-meets-boards of-canada pad near the outro but this remix could almost be a track released on ISHQ's record label - so maybe it isn't a sample of another culture but a processed field-recording instead? not that there's a real distinction, with people part of nature I guess. Anyway, I like the track: ah, my CD just arrived yesterday and I can't find a youtube clip already, but there's snippets up via Juno website. This track8: Dave DK -Veira (Leandro Fresco remix) is incorrectly featured as tracks 9&10 on the Juno player but the whole album is lovely I think - with a pink orchid cover - maybe the makers like ISHQ too! http://www.juno.co.uk/products/pop-ambient-2016/587968-01/ It is an almost beatless compilation and one for horizontal chilling I feel, but more of a background thing as a whole rather than to soundtrack a journey. Some tracks hint at a different experience in another setting perhaps. Also features some non-tonal elements in amongst the space drones - this Leonardo Fresco track now felt warmer with the introduction of warmer pitched tones and an acoustic guitar. Overall, it feels friendly and I like the spaciousness rather than too many layers. Hmm now it's a shifting synth pad than feels alive and warm - I like that hint of a reed instrument too. Ha I didn't mean to live blog my listening - just a heads up about the album : )

Hi - it's been troubling me for a while but it's still a concern, so I hope here is ok to speak and please excuse clumsy words as it feels like I'm coming from a good place. not sure where to start...KingBritt tweeted last week about how when he tried to check in for a flight, the attendant questioned his premium seat status and it's the sort of casual racism that, as a white man I never see. There weren't any black kids in class/church throughout my whole time in school and uk radio just completely ignored any soul/funk/reggae/hip-hop - or at least JohnPeel would have picked up on it after bedtime and I remember buying JustBuggin single at 13yrs old and BobbyMcFerrin's don't worry be happy (I still really rate his music) apart from that, we had I think MisaLuba and a NatKingCole album in amongst my mum's Mantovani records and my dad's JamesLast LPs I saw recently a line somewhere about calling out a person as a racist by the content of their record collection and it made me think about psybient/psytrance...From inside psy culture it might just be folk picking the music they most want to hear - like it's done without much attention to who the makers are - but if the overall effect is that the musicians of a scene don't really reflect diverse society then perhaps it's worth sitting with a bit... There was a discussion one time about Trance records - to do with what was the first track and it struck me that it's much more typical for black artists to be tagged as house or techno. Maybe with Trance, was there a distancing from the gay culture slice of disco/house too? Hmm...so I mean an obvious solution is that we drop psytrance/psybient and look with wider ears - so BASS for instance is a global thing and reflects diversity a bit more - it could open up to feature real world music too, rather than just samples for an 'Ethno' prefix. The alternative of sticking where the scene is at and waiting until more diverse makers meet entry requirements doesn't sound too swish to me. To be honest it took me a while before I found much black music that I thought had been made by tripsters - but obviously there's stuff all over the place/time so again I'm not sure why psy scene doesn't tend to pick up on it...Defo at a basic level of stoned beats then its weird that 'psybient' selectors don't consider more black artists - unless is it something that's done on purpose? that the Namaste crowd want distance from hip-hop culture, whatever that might mean? anyone else ever thought about any of this?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k0HtiEOTh7k&list=PLYRro_BpR6Kab_x7CY20x4R1rdc35Z9KY ^system7 point3 water album

I took some of Tengri's Shipibo EP out to soundtrack a daytrip by the seaside a while ago and it works. That same day, my favourite track was Flooting Groove's next level track from the first pappedelic compilation. Last time, I picked out tracks from System7, Hedflux, Bluetech & SebTaylor. It takes me quite a while to build up trust of an artist - even now it's the System7/Bluetech stuff I'm more sure of. I like to have something dependable that I've pre-listened to really, then I might trial just a few other artists and think about trying them another time. You know, I'm sort of of the opinion that there's not very much good music that's been made so far. ISHQ orchid is the sky highest I've ever listened to music. I'm sometimes surprised by how some music might be in a different setting - for instance, on another daytrip stroll, there was a track from LTJ Bukem's mixmag set that worked. I'm slowly forming the opinion that we might all have slightly differently calibrated ears so what which sounds truly perfect for one might not work quite so well for another - I think there might be less subjective stuff about how rhythm works for the way humans move but we're all different shapes too. Diversity and an open heart might be a way forward. I think I'm maxed out for input and I'm trying to finish a bit of uni study too, so I'm going to turn off my internet now and hope to bump into folk sometime soon.

^there's a GregHunter track I'd missed via Canadian Spiritech records. You know I think it's closer to 170bpm than 85bpm, it defo has a two-fold rhythmic overtone and I'm guessing inspired by underground drum&bass https://spiritech.bandcamp.com/track/wingmaker If, in an eclectic frame of mind, that track might play along nicely with something from dBridge (ex BadCompany D&B outfit) label Exit records. This tune also runs at 170/85, from Instra:mental (who was also picked up by Scuba/Hotflush - I like the Sepalcure project on that label which is Praveen Sharma plus MachineDrum ) https://exitrecordsuk.bandcamp.com/track/fist-level-2b I just found an interview with MachineDrum chatting to Praveen (Braille) https://www.xlr8r.com/features/2015/03/b2b-machinedrum-interviews-his-sepalcure-production-partner-braille/ "Sharma: House music speaks to me because it speaks my love to dance, my love for emotion and soul, and for its timelessness." http://exitrecordsuk.bandcamp.com/album/exit-lp011-mosaic-vol-2 http://spiritech.bandcamp.com/album/velvet-vibration-2 (I'm not sure how to embed a single bandcamp track, hope these album links work alright - doh! might be worth clicking links anyhow ) LinguaLustra also worked with GregHunter, ISHQ, Mauxuam and more? on the cloudcycle project. There's uploads over at archive.org and companion releases to Mauxuam's Interchill label too https://archive.org/search.php?query=creator%3A%22Mauxuam%22 - I only found that Spiritech recs chasing Snufmumriko who did a nice hydrophoney track on Warmth's Archive label, I like the quote from Spiritech: "we want to bring together spiritual electronic musics from all corners of the world..." (apolgies for trivia, but that instra:mental track has a sound in the intro that made me think of ocaso by panoptica - electronica from Mexico in 2002 but still sounds fresh and not really surfaced on youtube or online much so far. It was released via cert18 which I thought was more of a d&b label, not sure if they reached out to much more diverse stuff but Ocaso is a 5star track I reckon)

+1 to silent season record label. Last night I picked out Shaded Explorer's album and the ambient EP on Warmth's Archive record label is quality too. There's a couple of tracks on that ambient archive2 with hydrophone field recordings on I like the sound of - well it's an element that a sprinkle of might work in the mix - I wonder is there a biological/womb or evolutionary/fish aspect to underwater sounds that appeals. That vague dubtech area seems to draw me in t most for chilling right now - even for low key trips I like the Bluetech/SteveHillage dreamtime submersible album a lot. I've tried a few big name 'psybient' mixes on occasions and it was like there wasn't enough space to breathe in amongst it all or something. Everyone's different I guess. Some other times, pitched tonal bit melodic stuff hits the spot - but I really flinch at bit crushed fx and any vocals beyond less-than-words - which means finding stuff that doesn't grate a bit tricky. I think it's the exclusion aspect of language that turns me off - that most of a global audience doesn't understand - plus words really draw me out of some type of timeless listening thing. I worry too in case the words, if I can't understand them, might be mean-spirited in intent - doesn't seem to bother a lot of producers. Ha do fish even have ears?

I missed out on their events, but The BigChill managed to step up from bar gigs by picking unusual venues/times. Did they start on a Sunday avo/eve at Union chapel in London? +1 to the call for spacey planetarium styles too (there's a lush I:Cube album from a gig at one - was that in Paris? via versatile recs anyway) I've seen Scanner at an art gallery and Biosphere in a university concert room. Those last two had arts council funding to allow artists to travel overseas. Relying on psytrance parties is a bit problematic, with ambience often pushed out of a second room in favour of beats, or else the chill space is full of sound spill from t other rigs...So is some sort of 'virtual' event possible, like the record label name suggests? So, we all get comfy at home with snacks and treats and then turn on...but until we have full wall projection screens at home, the potential is a bit limited - visual element is part of our scene but I'm not convinced by the idea of just sat watching a box, rather than a sort of soft fascination with images - like catching sunlight on t waves, raindrop ripples in a puddle, autumn leaves or whatever. Hmm, so it's all the set-up of the venue (along with chances to make friends etc) that home listening misses out on. But, we can DIY our own chill-out spaces with lights, art, lava lamps etc...and 'connect' a bit online? Except I reckon Facebook is properly bogus - twice now they've done a nasty social experiment on users without informed consent and I don't like how it's full of adverts too so I don't participate. Genre forums I struggle with because ithey always seems to miss out a massive chunk of music I love. Online streams so far seem either glitchy or at best tied to an online world that doesn't seem like part of an appropriate 'set & setting'. Grrr, even Twitter has ads - but if there was a way we could know each other more somehow - like are we 0.1% of the general population? so we might pass each other by mostly...How about badges/patches to wear sent via the post with CD/online/USB-hand-to-hand/cassette-tapes(?) distribution of music? That way, we can spot another chiller. I think the Shpongle app was all set to flag up other listeners nearby as a way to catch up. I dunno tho, some folk are understandably in stealth mode rather than flying freak flag waiting to be arrested or heckled by straights. Or, what if ambient music makers made dance music too, then their fans could catch up at those gigs? I guess we'd need a network of possible venues, with residents to pull in locals and info sharing about it all. NewZealand had a mag called LowHum that featured lots of venue ideas and travel logistics like fans with spare couches etc Busking? could it work, hypothetically, for an artist to set off on a bicycle tour to meet fans en route to a festival? SteveHillage writes that artists should try really hard never to give away content for free because it devalues the broader scene (I like DJ set downloads but I prefer paid for mixes so the artists can consent and even get a drink out of the deal) But an artist could release tunes via something that collected emails for a mailing list and then email out details. Then the, realistically, 3 or so fans from each town could lurk around at a street performance of ambience and buy exclusive tracks, chit-chat etc. That might be nice especially for summer - in parks - even with a little portable (solar?) rig for a mini chill-nic sort of thing Really, I want a booze-free, friendly chill space in my high street. That's open 24hrs a day for late night disco-dancing and afternoon lounging. Like an Amsterdam coffee shop - so I guess it's all a little bit in the future for now. Seems like there'll be legal pot soon tho from artic circle of Alaska and Canada, down thru California, Mexico and much of South America past the Tropic of Capricorn. Meanwhile, Ireland looks set to do a Portugal with hope of Scotland joining in, plus decriminalisation movements in Belgium, CzechR, Croatia, Germany, Italy, Switzerland, Lithuania, Malta, Russia, Slovenia, Ukraine, etc. Wow legal pot for all in Spain already too, I'd missed that news - in fact UK media seems mostly hopelessly biased. It's tomorrow already - we're the people we've been waiting for - diy ravolution-a-go-go. Thanks heaps to all the folk that work so hard to make events, art/music, scenes - hope to actively participate a little more again some other time/place.