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yiannis

Swamp?

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I was browsing through a guide to the sub-genres of psychedelic trance yesterday when I came across swamp, 'born from the merger of [forest] and downtempo.' The author goes on to give some example releases, and they all happen to be Ektoplazm-released. I remembered that was where I first saw the term, but I had no idea what it actually referred to. The suggested releases are Goch - Terrapin, VA - Through the Afterlife, Bogtrotter - Catawampus, and Seamoon - A Twisted Downbeat Adventure. 

 

Has anyone got any more info on it? Who are some leading artists (apart from Seamoon, whose music I enjoy a lot) and/or labels? Does anyone like it? I find its vibe interesting to say the least.

 

Thanks

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First time i hear about "swamp" but since i don't care much about labelling artists, or pay much attention to genres that's probably why :D 

I enjoyed Seamoons album "Expression of The Moment", but i'm going to check out that one as well and see what all this "swamp" is all about ;)

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I've also only ever seen the swamp genre tag at Ektoplazm. I can't tell if it's supposed to lean more towards bass music/dubstep/glitch hop-ish stuff or if it's more psytrance-ish like forest, as there seems to be a lot of variation between albums. I think I prefer more psychedelic bass/psystep (like artists on Shanti Planti, Merkaba Music, Luminosity Project, etc.) on that end, and for the psytrance part, I was never able to get into much higher tempo stuff except for goa trance which I love.

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The first time I heard of swamp whomp was in reference to Dirtwire.  A cross between bluegrass and bass music.  Although maybe that's also what grass hop is, but less bassier.

 

I tend to get confused by genres a little also, and have always thought that what I understand to be a specific genre may not be what someone else considers.

 

This is fairly 'swampy', and probably one of the most psychedelic tracks I have ever heard (when completely straight!) :

 

(play it loud!)

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Good tune Schofield, thanks. And thank you Shpongle and timeisart for your replies.

I mainly listen to goa from the psytrance realm too. I find the subgenres of the latter quite confusing, hence the question here. But listening to Through the Afterlife and of course Seamoon, this style/genre/whatever seems to have a lot of space for quirky, twisted atmospheres, which I think is something relatively unexplored in downtempo - and please correct me if I'm wrong. I wonder if Tengri, who I also think is awesome, can be said to be part of it.

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Coming from Ektoplazm, I really like this album in the swampy style:

http://www.ektoplazm.com/free-music/frog-prog-swamp-stories

 

I'd recommend this guy as well, cited by Yiannis at the beginning:

http://www.ektoplazm.com/free-music/bogtrotter-catawompus

 

And since we're at it, let me give you the link towards Goch:

http://www.ektoplazm.com/free-music/goch-terrapin

 

I'd also point you to Brujo's bowl / Beatroots who creates sounds like these.

 

I guess the name is in reference to the forest style in psytrance, but slower, quirkier

https://brujosbowl.bandcamp.com/

 

I really like the ambience of this tiny niche. I never miss an ekto album tagged with swamp! :-)

 

blop blop blop

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Dunno ...

 

But a very quick search led me to discover this page:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swamp_music

 

That links to other types of swampy music, blues, rock and pop. Makes me curious, I'll explore that soon.

 

For instance Baby scratch my back by Slim Harpo. Lol and an itchy back is a great pretext to feel the blues. (After listening to the song, I couldn't really explain the difference between blues and swamp blues ... while it's sensitive in downtempo) Maybe it was simply linked to Louisiane bayou?

 

Could you share the link that gave you this threat idea? Looking at the artists you mentioned in the beginning, I'm wondering whether you simply skimmed through ekto swamp section, but since you selected a good set of albums, I guess you found the info elsewhere?

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Could you share the link that gave you this threat idea? Looking at the artists you mentioned in the beginning, I'm wondering whether you simply skimmed through ekto swamp section, but since you selected a good set of albums, I guess you found the info elsewhere?

It's at the end of the first post on this psynews thread. https://www.psynews.org/forums/topic/70402-the-psychedelic-trance-in-its-entirety/You have to download a pdf file.

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I thought I was kind of obsessive, but this guy has reached another level ... If he has listened to all the albums listed in his document ...

Psytrance is a lot more compartmentalised, for want of a better word. So far the psy downtempo world has had less easily definable parameters/subgenres, which I find very liberating. 

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It's at the end of the first post on this psynews thread. https://www.psynews.org/forums/topic/70402-the-psychedelic-trance-in-its-entirety/You have to download a pdf file.

Well damn, that dude must have spent a crazy amount of time to do that :huh: i just think people worry too much about genres nowadays, always have to label an artist or song

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Especially since a single album does not stick to a single specific subgenre ... I guess all these genres are not that important, but it's also nice to get to know a little better different examples of the different styles, just to discover the impressive variety of a genre that is not that big in the end (I mean psychedelic trance). To me, the most important is of course what the music makes me feel ... And in this regard, swamp has definitely a good name :-).

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The world of music is in a interesting place right now. You see this trend of micro-genres splinterring all over the electronic genres, however people can become a bit too caught up in it. Psybient in particular can draw from so many influences that things are a lot less straightforward than lets say House or other forms of traditional Trance. The fact that its not tied to a specific beat pattern, like 4/4, breakbeat, 2step etc gives it an openness most other genres don't have the luxury of. There are new ways to describe music daily now, but lets not get carried away...

Swamp? Another example of a micro-genre that doesn't even know itself what it is. Every example in the original post is of a different style. Seamoon album is not 'Swamp', Niether is Through the Afterlife (this is mix of many styles). You have dark elements in Bogtrotter but essentially it's glitch/experimental with dark psy vibes. Is this what Swamp music is? Maybe? Although as someone noted above the original Swamp label came from a form of Louisa Blues music so should there be a relevance, who knows?

 

Ultimately time reveals all. If every single artist making his own unique sound got given his own genre then there would be 10,000's by now. Looking back in 10 years people are more pragmatic, most likely Bogtrotter will be seen as psychedelic glitch, but recognised for its darker style. 

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Here's a helpful thread from the psybient subreddit that's asking the same as you, yiannis.

 

https://www.reddit.com/r/Psybient/comments/23apak/psybient_army_help_me_find_chill_music_with_a/

 

Artists mentioned:

 

Androcell

Bogtrotter

Seamoon

Slidecamp

Holy Other

Boozoo Bajou

Slotmachine

 

Swamp Music (record label) https://www.facebook.com/Swamp.of.Life

 

...and their creative director, TheMetaphysics, suggests:

 

Globular, Aligning Minds, Bluetech, Quanta, Somatoast, Mumukshu, Griff, Spoonbill, Heyoka (Andreilien), Kaminanda, Biolumigen, sunmonx, hypnagog...

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Hm interesting. I would never associate Globular, Bluetech or Androcell with this sound. They're less dark and eerie. I think the people on that thread are talking about music to play near an actual, physical swamp rather than "swamp music". Even the last guy says that he's talking about psydub. It seems there aren't that many artists who make this music, it's quite niche.

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I don't think there are many artists that entirely dedicate themselves to making "swamp music" exclusively. So you're more than right that they're hard to find with few and far in between. I do think there are dark and eerie swamp elements in some songs from Globular, Bluetech, and definitely Androcell. Also, if the music is meant to be played near an actual swamp then why not call it "swamp music"?  :)  As well as any other label we can throw on it..

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I do think there are dark and eerie swamp elements in some songs from Globular, Bluetech, and definitely Androcell. Also, if the music is meant to be played near an actual swamp then why not call it "swamp music"?  :)  As well as any other label we can throw on it..

Can you give some examples please? My brain refuses to make the connection.

 

Maybe I should call the music I listen to "computer music". I play all of it (minus my old rock and metal vinyls) on my computer, digital or CD. Or "ThePlace" as that's where nearly all live gigs are. :P

 

As I've mentioned before I'm not against labels per se; I think they're useful if they are applied descriptively rather than as borders.

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