Psytrance Saturday! Here’s a great full length album from Flowertz. Downtempo, dubby goodness.
Tag Archives: Downtempo
Ghostly 2012
A facebook friend recently steered me in the direction of the album Dive by a band called Tycho. Tycho is an ambient electronica act that is really superb if you like Boards of Canada. Tycho releases albums on Ghostly.com – which is not exactly a record label, more like a storehouse of art-related items that happen to include music. So Ghostly.com has a handful of free releases, by their own collective of artists. So far I have listened to the 2012 release, and it is nice. Not quite post-rock, not quite ambient, it’s all mellow and chilled and relaxing and pretty much perfect. I am looking forward to checking out all of their artists, and in the meantime I have Ghostly 2012 on pretty much on constant repeat in the Jeep. It’s really perfect driving music. So go check them out asap. You will not regret it.
Blossom – Blue Balloons
Mellow guitars start this release out, but it doesn’t take long for the nicely mellow breakbeat to show up. Blue Balloons is reminiscent of Revolution Void and Boards of Canada, though not as all over the place – these tracks are more structured, and would be perfect background for some trip-hop vocals. I especially love the big fat square bass synth in my favorite track from the album and that is track 5 – Nightbeat. All in all, this is an excellent release, one of the best I’ve heard this year.
Th.e n.d – Metaphors
Th.e n.d is the artist Norman Dauskardt who hails from Berlin. Norman has a style that is hard to define, for it is so unique. Blending ambient movements and middle eastern acoustic trance elements with well timed rhythms and diverse imstrumentation, Metaphors gives the listener a chilled out experience. Down-tempo and minimal, each track has something different to offer – from distant, spacey ambiance in The Bane of Tadziu (is that the scanner from the bridge of the original star ship Enterprise I hear in there?) to acoustic guitar backed by a heavy hip-hop beat in Wild White. Favorite track on this release is definitely Chromatic Sins; I love the Asian sound the lead instrument takes.
Length and Brecht – Remixed
A pleasant, quiet experience is Halogens Length and Brecht, an ambient track that meanders in and out of the dream-state. This EP is Halogens track along with three remixes, each one a superb take on the original. The remixes cover styles ranging from glitch to chillout to idm. This is a great set of music, don’t miss it.
Sliptone – Funk Agent 1
Awww snizzap son, it’s time for some downtempo hip-hop. Check out this funky six-track release from Budabeats. Mixing hip-hop with elements of house and funk, this is an all over the place audio trip that will have you tapping your feet and drumming beats on the desk. Reminiscent of Revolution Void, this style of music features jazzy basslines, breakbeats, wah-wahed synths and funk guitars – you name it, it’s in there. The first track, entitled Birds And The Bees, is a humorous take on ‘the talk’ (don’t worry, it’s family friendly). The other five tracks follow suit, making this an first-class, entertaining and just downright fun release.
Rho – October Turncoat
A nice little EP that sounds reminiscent of Boards Of Canada or Orange Crush. Mellow electronica grooves with acoustic guitars and chilled, downtempo beats. A nice, relaxing EP.
Lunar – Wall Of Sound
Remember Lunar? Another stunning release has been issued forth from the brain of Lunar. His last release, Hybrid Awaken, was top notch and the follow up is only better in every way. Wall Of Sound has everything – ethnic instruments blended with electronic beats and synths, staccato rhythms and minimal basslines mix it up with orchestral strings, piano and electric guitar. This release is such a melting pot of different styles but it still boils down to one style and that style is simply Lunar.
Mark.Nine – Artificial Horizon
Mark.Nine brings a great set of tracks to the table. Very reminiscent of BoC, Mark.Nine utilizes breakbeats over washy synths that create a perfect mood for chilling out. This style could be called ‘inspirational breakbeat’. Artificial Horizon contains fifteen tracks that sort of fade into and out of your head, instilling a flying feeling. Very interesting for the detail oriented type, this is one of the best finds in quite a while.
Gas – Microscopic
Coming in at almost ten minutes, Gas brings us a moving downtempo track. Solid synth work with lots of reverb and delay carries us along over a well-chilled beat through a trip in the ambient zone.