Origins of Psybient?

[Xpander 22]

I feel like I know so much about other genres and where they came from. Trance, Psy-Trance, House, Tech, Drum & Bass etc etc...it is all somewhat documented and clear where the cultures begin and travelled. For Psybient I don't know who were its pioneers, or where the first breakthrough records began? Would love to know more.

 

Oldest 'Psybient' track I could label is 1996, Man With No Name - Azymuth

 

[timeisart 170]

I always thought The Infinity Project's Mystical Experiences album was considered to be one of the first real psybient albums released in 1995. but you could probably say it started before then by a number of ambient artists. definitely somewhere around the early to mid nineties though.

 

[Gagarin Project 400]

together we will find out this and document for the future generations

 

here are the 2 oldest releases in my collection:

The Infinity Project ‎– Mystical Experiences 1995

Karma De La Luna ‎– Travel Without Moving 1995

[yiannis 201]

Well I guess it depends on what can be seen as a psybient tune. It could go as far back as the 70s at least with bands like Tangerine Dream, or artists like Brian Eno. I'm not a fan of either of those to be honest, but Phaedra by Tangerine Dream, though not much to my liking, does have some psybient elements. I can't avoid mentioning the Ozrics again as well. I mean, yes, the production values on this tune,

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n3_kHaKBIOk

especially the percussion, are admittedly crude, but the elements are all in place in my view. That was '86. I would argue that since psybient was a by-product of goa and psytrance, and because Simon Posford and Nick Barber among others have made the Ozric influence public, they can be seen as somewhat of the forefathers of psybient. You might want to skip the often heavily pronounced rock elements, but I am sure that at least some of the members of this forum will find some tunes enjoyable.

 

Hopefully someone can give me some suggestions from the 70s (60s?) until the 90s, as I'm not versed in those decades' psybient.

[Xpander 22]

Pink Floyd - Welcome to the Machine (1975)

This stuff, also Eno, Tangerine etc is I think were the ones that lay the earliest stones in the foundation of what we know as psybient today.

[Shpongle 59]

First "real" Psybient release i'll probably say The Infinity Projects - Mystical Experiences, of course there were other artists who venture into the sound here and there, Brian Eno, Jean Michel Jarre, Pink Floyd to name a few

 

 

 

Mystery Of The Yeti

Saafi Brothers - Mystic Cigarettes

 

are other early releases of the genre

[neil (spatialize) 77]

Ozrics. That's the stem.

 

Their stem was Steve hillage and seventies prog.

[yiannis 201]

Ozrics. That's the stem.

 

Their stem was Steve hillage and seventies prog.

I don't like all of Hillage's works, but Live Herald is mind blowing and Fish Rising and L have their moments. His work with Gong is also top-notch IMO.

 

As for 70s prog, it can be a bit too overblown for its own sake. And those high-register vocals of bands like Yes and Rush just grate on my nerves. But Floyd for example are right up my alley, especially from More to Animals.

[neil (spatialize) 77]

Yes, listen to the synths on live herald. Ozrics built on that but added more midi instrumentation.

 

Psybient uses more samples for drums etc though.

[yiannis 201]

It occurred to me that no one has mentioned Steve Hillage's Rainbow Dome Musick. It came out in '79 and I think a lot of psybient artists, especially people like Matt Hillier or Sinepearl have been influenced by this album. To my ears at least it could have been released this year or any other - it's timeless.

Bliss!

[platonicliquid 12]

I've always seen psybient as a subset of goa-trance, myself - not especially related to psytrance, it incorporates organic/cultural/(outer)world sounds which gives it its unique characteristics. 

 

Early goa sounds combined with ambient sound and other chill genres such as dub.

 

 

Here's an Alan Parsons project track featuring Shpongle.

 

Artists like Eat Static, Suns of Arqa, and later Shulman were also instrumental in bringing in modern psybient sounds. 

 

I think the beauty of psybient is that it is so inclusive of other genres while still predominantly using the 4/4 time signature - and it's a constantly evolving sound. 

[Lorn 74]

 

I think the beauty of psybient is that it is so inclusive of other genres while still predominantly using the 4/4 time signature - and it's a constantly evolving sound. 

 

Well said.

[Gagarin Project 400]

It has been more then 5 years that I listen to psybient and never got bored, truly inclusive and evolutive genre

[Xpander 22]

Eat Static - Implants (Album) [1994]

This album is for sure a early Psybient record, some tracks more than others. Fuck, it's amazing actually.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qtTfLXfl8Q8&list=PLJnsX9GucEmvNQSb2wnuO_Af3v5VhL7EI&index=2

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WjUI1rqA5cs&index=5&list=PLJnsX9GucEmvNQSb2wnuO_Af3v5VhL7EI

[Lorn 74]

Here is my input. Heaven and Hell by Vangelis from 1975. This is movement II of the piece. Especially from 3:18 I think is an early indication of what is to come from electronica/psychedelia. Perhaps doesn't have the structure we are all used to but this is where it starts.

 

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[Xpander 22]

The Mystery Of The Yeti album The Mystery Of The Yeti, Is another great example of oldskool Psybient. This time a bit later at 1996. 

A favourite of mine:

A Welcome To All Extraterrestrials 

 

[Lorn 74]

Would be great to see M Yeti released in digital format!

[Fuluf 37]

For me the whole thing starts with this guy. More Ambient at times, but still

[Solastalgia 8]

I agree on the roots in '70s prog rock and early electronic ambient music through the '80s. Also, let's not forget about the KLF's Chillout (1990) with the start of what continues evolving today on psychill stages at festivals. All of which can then be rooted in earlier psychedelic music from the '60s, and on and on and on, back throughout history and past that into pre-history. I think the beauty of psybient and psychedelic music in general, is that it's roots are so diverse and lay in our ancient beginnings as music/trance loving human beings. Lots of ancient instruments and sounds used in the latest releases, and the most primal sounds even with all the nature environmental recording elements.

[Xpander 22]

First ever Dub Psybient tracks? Another one from UK group Eat Static, this time 1992.

 

The Fourth Dimension

 

Instinct

[arakoon 17]

Eat Static - Implants (Album) [1994]

 

This album is for sure a early Psybient record, some tracks more than others. Fuck, it's amazing actually.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qtTfLXfl8Q8&list=PLJnsX9GucEmvNQSb2wnuO_Af3v5VhL7EI&index=2

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WjUI1rqA5cs&index=5&list=PLJnsX9GucEmvNQSb2wnuO_Af3v5VhL7EI

 

all awesome modern music was created in UK )

yes, you are right, this is truly psy downtempo, it means that psybient was born in 1994

but not last two tracks from 1992, it is trance, first goa trance releases was with 130 bpm.. 

[Xpander 22]

Not as early as Eat Static, but The Infinity Projects 'Mystical Experiences' Album from 1995 is another classic packed with amazing Psybient releases.

 

 

Actually TIP also made this untilted track in 1991. The first part (Side A) in particular is very psybient, perhaps this is the earliest attempt at Psybient there was!?

[Abasio 1]

I've always assumed it stemmed out of the habit of finishing a goatrance album with a downbeat track. Some artists like The Infinity Project just took it a bit further and made full albums. Sure there are lots of earlier influences but then there is for everything.

[Lorn 74]

I recently heard some very convincing evidence Psybient originated from a small planet where mushrooms grow to the size of oak trees in the outer rim of the Antares galaxy.

[thanosp81 16]

IMO we have to distinguish between the roots/origin of a genre and the first release clearly defining that genre (in other words when the artist or compiler know what sound they are striving to create).

 

So the root of this genre could be any ambient artist/comp from the 70's, but the first Psychill release is clearly (IMO) TIP - Mystical Experiences.