yiannis

Just love CBL albums - my fav is "Hydroponic Garden"  but "World of sleepers" is most personal as I`ve got serious illness in short time after I bought this CD and was in coma for 3 weeks - then my wife put headphones over my ears with music from this album as she knew how much I like it, (hoped it`ll help me to get better soon)  - she was absolutely right   I belive it could be effect of sample from track "Abiogenesis"  ( "wake up" )

 
 
 
btw. :  Remastered by Vincent ( Aes Dana ) reedition of "Interloper"  will be released shortly  
https://www.facebook.com/carbonbasedlifeforms?fref=ts

Makyo - Sigh.I was totally oblivious to its existence. Sounds great.
 

I will come clean and repent of my evil ways....I have not listened to it.

What Raul said applies to me as well, more or less... With that said, I believe this is perfectly normal for most us. Don't forget, its the meteoric rise of computer technology that enabled most of us to spend time with musical composition. Before that, it was way too expensive to get the necessary gear and you probably couldn't make them fit in your bedroom! So I find it perfectly normal, actually wonderful, to have a great many people coming home after their day jobs and express themselves creatively through music. In our day and age, with ever-longer work hours, ever-lousier salaries, passive entertainment and a mindless consumer attitude, every one should have a way to express him or herself creatively, be it music or anything else really. That's a huge accomplishment in itself and helps to bring balance back in to our lives.

I try to make people around me see the funny side of life. I encourage my (mostly teenage) students to do their best and praise them when they do well. Also, I try to teach them by example that it's OK to be an individual and not follow the norm if it doesn't appeal to them. I try to remember to show my wife I still appreciate her. Finally, I play with my four-year-old niece and nephew as often and as much as I can.

I try to make people around me see the funny side of life. I encourage my (mostly teenage) students to do their best and praise them when they do well. Also, I try to teach them by example that it's OK to be an individual and not follow the norm if it doesn't appeal to them. I try to remember to show my wife I still appreciate her. Finally, I play with my four-year-old niece and nephew as often and as much as I can.

I can't remember what the first EDM track I heard was, but the first one I truly enjoyed was Astral Projection's Mahadeva. That would have been some time in '97 I think? I never got heavily into goa, though I did attend some parties in the late 90s, by which time it was all minimal and not at all to my liking. I only liked some late '97 - '98 parties when the music was still melodic and layered. Still enjoy the occasional old school album/compilation/own playlist/party. In fact there'll be a party with Sid Shanti, Kuro and Orion that I'll go to in March.

I can't remember what the first EDM track I heard was, but the first one I truly enjoyed was Astral Projection's Mahadeva. That would have been some time in '97 I think? I never got heavily into goa, though I did attend some parties in the late 90s, by which time it was all minimal and not at all to my liking. I only liked some late '97 - '98 parties when the music was still melodic and layered. Still enjoy the occasional old school album/compilation/own playlist/party. In fact there'll be a party with Sid Shanti, Kuro and Orion that I'll go to in March.

as for best of the year is also not really an objective exercise, because this year thee were > 700 releases referenced at this page.
 
i will speak for myself, i have probably listened to 100 of those, so basically i will be able to vote only for some of the one i listened without possibility if being objective. Nevertheless if we are 50 people to make the poll happen it can be already a very interesting preselection.
 
I am actually thinking that two rounds of selection are necessary. In first round we pre-select releases and in second round we really give points to each release in order to have the real top 10.

I haven't read any books in the last few years but my faves would be Journey to Ixtlan by Carlos Castaneda, The Life and Times of Alexis Zorbas by Nikos Kazantzakis, The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test by Tom Wolfe and The Doors of Perception by Aldous Huxley. I enjoyed the few parts of the Murphy's Law series I read several years ago too plus Ozzy Osbourne's I Am Ozzy, on the entertaining side of things.

Maybe some works by:
 
Bombay Dub Orchestra (the closest IMO, especially their latest, Tales from the Grand Bazaar)
Celt Islam
Desert Dwellers
Eastern Dub Tactik
Eastern Spirit
Outersect
Seb Taylor's Kaya Project and Angel Tears projects
Shakatura
Gio Makyo's own Padmasana project is definitely worth checking out if you haven't already, though it's a bit spacier than Makyo.
 
Some of these artists are either inactive or haven't released anything for some time now though.

Agreed. Although just like any other culture a lot of what people do is done in order to conform to it (and I admit I've been guilty of this in the past), I think that the psychedelic culture seems to have less defined, or a more relaxed attitude to, gender roles than, say, rock. It might be because the music is not defined or limited by the content of lyrics and generally attempts to dissolve all kinds of boundaries. I reckon this leaves somewhat less space for feminism, as there is hardly anything to fight against. I'm referring to western or wetern-like societies of course, as that's all I have experience of. In any case I'd be interested to see how your work develops. Best of luck with the funding.

I can't bear to watch this stuff. I want to be there, not drool over videos. Still waiting for Harris Fishimself to put together a psybient event here, last one was before summer and I couldn't go to that because of work.  

Lovely chillout.
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EkqG9yXQ0ds

Brand new Dhamika EP, released today: Solitude. I love his sound. Not groundbreaking but always deep and emotional.
 

Crystal Vibe was last years revelation for me as I'd never heard of him before and his album is delicious.
 
Is it OK to talk about older releases too? If so, I'm playing Open System's Sanyasin atm, which I hadn't listened to for quite a while. Sounds every bit as deep and moving as it ever did. God rest Jake Stephenson's soul.

I want to look at the spiritual component of psy culture (ideas like oneness, the self as god, the divine feminine, etc) in relation to the cultural position of women and the feminine principle. I believe our culture is one of the most progressive in existence in terms of gender equality, both in terms of the involvement of women themselves in producing roles (DJs, producers, organisers, etc), and in terms of the kinds of images of and ideas about women and the feminine principle that are shared among us. So I want to look at how that works, what can be done better, and what feminist scholars (and society at large) can learn from it

Looks like an interesting documentary. I'll try to watch it when it becomes available.I used to rate that side of psychedelic music highly, but nowadays I mostly enjoy the spiritual feeling I get from the music the moment I'm listening to it without digging any deeper. Having said that, what are the contents of your proposed PhD snowdrop? Sounds interesting.

Hmm, although I enjoy it, it's probably my least favourite of his albums. Who knows, maybe it'll turn out to be a grower?

There was actually a full page on psybient at the time, with recommended artists and labels. I started buying some of the recommedations and downloaded any bits and pieces I could get my hands on on Limewire. And yes, the psybient packs were pure gold too, I learned loads from them. Nowadays it's mainly through your site I learn about new releases, but also YouTube, Ektoplazm, some bandcamp pages and some other, less, erm, legitimate sources. We're spoilt for choice nowadays so it's not a big deal if I miss some releases.