Albums of Interest 2019

What has resulted from a combination of sheer volume of releases and my own listening habits. Where I found myself slowly gravitating last year to more beat orientated music (I’ve probably brought and listened to more techno than dub and chill at periods this year) in all honesty I haven’t come across as many stand out albums in 2019.

So you may well view this list and think why didn’t X or Y make it? On the other hand there may well be artists or albums you missed that appeal. For a more in-depth look at this years releases I’d recommend hitting this link for a whopping 60 album reviews of 2019 ... 

http://ambientmusicguide.com/best-of-year/ambient-music-guides-best-albums-of-2019-reviews/

1) Pitch Black – Third Light (Dubmission Records)

On the top of their game Pitch Black dive into deeper and mellower tracks and deliver wonderfully at times. However, there is still plenty of the techno and drum and bass infused dub they have crafted over the decades.

2) Pure Love: Pure Chill Out Vol 1 (Altar Records)

A collection from the back catalogue of Argus and friends which also featured six teasers from the ‘Invisible Sun’ album which followed. Simply an amazing collection of beautiful music.

3) Reverend John Chester – The Tibetan Book of Dub (Mutantra)

Initially pre-released last year under the title ‘Nature Never Lies’ a selection of spaced out eastern dubs with plenty of robotic vocoder. The full release including the more up-tempo re-mixes recently saw the light of day.

4) The Human Experience – Things Are Changing

A selection of tracks by Gone Gone Beyond an Americana/folk/electronica collective put together by the Human Experience. This album was on constant rotation for months on my daily commute.

5) The Human Experience – Stillness in Motion

A fantastic follow up later in the year chock full of Amerianca and world music collaborations.

6) Sven Laux and Daniela Orvin – The Writings (Dronavrivm)

Daniela's piano enhances Sven’s ambient drones and electronica into somewhat of a masterpiece in modern classical fusion

7) Hollie Kenniff – The Gathering Dawn (n5MD)

I’ve been following with interest the teasers pre-cursing this album and suspect now that Hollie has stepped out of the shadow of her husband Keith (Helios, Goldmund) and taken the plunge with this debut album, she will be one to watch out for in her own right.

8) Eguana – Destiny (Cosmicleaf Records)

A wonderfully textured journey of space ambient music that sets the mind adrift.

9) Suns of Arqa – Heart of the Suns :1979 - 2019 (Interchill Records)

If like myself you have only dipped into their vast back catalogue this is a worthy selection compiled by Andrew Interchill that features a few elongated ambient versions.

10) 100^th Monkey – Space Dubs and Other Miscellany 1992 – 2017 (Disco Gecko Recordings)

Another back catalogue collection of an artist I knew relatively little about. Due to the time frame some of the tracks do sound retro but I’ve found this album is growing and growing on me.

Suns of Arqa 'Hearts of the Sun 1979  2019' Review

Artist: 

Suns of Arqa

Title: 

Hearts of the Sun 1979  2019

Label: 

Interchill Records

Released: 

17^th of May 2019

Formed by Michael Wadada in 1979 the Suns of Arqa have blended Indian Classical and Celtic sounds with a constantly changing line up that over fourty years has astoundingly featured over 200 musicians. They have also worked with artists such as Prince Far-I, 808 State, Youth and Astralasia broadening the sonic pallet into fusions of Dub and Drum & Bass.

The Suns of Arqa will always hold a special place in my heart, as I utilised them for the first track of my first ever DJ gig and they also featured on the first mix of mine uploaded online. My first experience of their output came rather late considering, picking up their L.P. ‘Kokoromochi’ in 1992 and have dipped in here and there over the years ever since. Therefore, some of the tracks featured on this compilation were already familiar to me and I was also eager to hear those that were not.

Not surprisingly considering the longevity of the Suns of Arqa there have been a fair few compilations to whet the appetite and entice listeners into their back catalogue and future releases. So naturally the question of anyone standing on the precipice and intrigued to venture into their world, would surely be ‘Why this one?’. Now this isn’t the first compilation for me and the previous one is a treasured part of my music collection. What stands out about the tracks selected here, is that Andrew has obviously put a lot of thought with his extensive knowledge to include multifarious examples of their back catalogue, without being obvious. From the bamboo flutes, harmonium and other instruments that form the sound of the Indian Sub-Continent and their Ragas, to the electronic ambient re-mixes, dub reggae fusions and beyond. Which I found to be an intriguing and satisfying journey that takes the mind from the beaches of Goa to the river Ganges, from Spiritual ceremonies to Hindu Temples.

Reviewed by Woodzee

Links

https://interchill.bandcamp.com/

https://www.sunsofarqa.co.uk/

Liquid Sound Design 'Society Of Inner Light' Compilation Review

Artist: Various

Title: Society Of Inner Light

Label: Liquid Sound Design

Released: 9^th of September

Youth started the Society For Ancient Enchantment in 1999, with the intention of combining ritual, music performance, spoken word and DJ's to be able to dive deeper into the mystery and meditation of the music.


This created some legendary events and recordings and is directly connected to this Society of Inner Light album and future events. The inspiration behind this compilation goes back to the 1930's and "Dion Fortunes Order Of Inner Light ".

Some of her rituals in Bloomsbury were said to have ushered in the 1960's flower power era ... Our intention here is to facilitate that same intention and free the spirit of those times for our present and future tribal, dance floor, chill out gatherings and facilitate and create an esoteric counter culture that communicates to mind, body and spirit.

The album begins with Tripswitch 'Collider' which begins in a tribal dub fashion before adding his  distinctive progressive touches applying plenty of reverb in places and the balance of the two styles on the whole works rather well. This is followed by the Youth re-mix of Kuba's 'By The Foot Of Your Mountain' Where classic ska, dub, spoken word samples, horns and harmonica are chopped up with the original Indian vibe to great effect.

The next track takes a more chilled out eastern dub-step approach with the Youth re-mix of Elfic Circle's 'Om Beach'. The chilled out atmosphere continues with Mixmaster Morris and his Ambient Sunrise Mix of his alter ego Irresistible Force featuring Nick Turner (of Hawkwind fame) and Youth's 'Duende' a stunningly gorgeous piece of ambience further enhanced with Nick's accompaniment on the sax.

Then we enter the dub wise riddim's with Brother Culture vs Youth in Dub 'Urban Rebel Dub' a stereotypical speaker shaker featuring the dubbed out lyrical meanderings of Brother Culture. This is followed by the Outer Space Chug Dub of the Dub Trees featuring Jah Wobble 'King Of The Fairies' and it's an aptly titled track where the tribal drums chug along with plenty of dubbed out fx with the odd vocal snippets sounding quiet different from the original piece. The album closes with the Youth re-mix of Mycal 'I Wonder What Happened In The Future' which picks up the pace somewhat and utilises those classic ska sounds again along with the catchy vocal chant.

Overall I really like this album I'd go as far to say it's probably my favourite of the L.S.D. releases over the last couple of years. It may not contain a great number of tracks but everyone's a winner for me.

Reviewed by Woodzee.

Links

https://liquidsounddesign.bandcamp.com/

https://www.facebook.com/LiquidSoundDesign?fref=ts

Suns of Arqa 'All Is Not Lost, All Is Dub:The Remixes' Review

Artist: Suns of Arqa

Title: All Is Not Lost, 

All Is Dub

The Remixes

Label: Liquid 

Sound Design

Released: 

28^th November

The Suns of Arqa's released 'All Is Not Lost, But Where Is It?' On Liquid Sound Design back in April this year. This wasn't a stereotypical S.O.A. release of Carnatic Indian music fused with Rastafarian Niyabinghi drumming but enhanced and focused on the dub elements with Youth, the Orb and Raja Ram on production. Label manager Robin Triskele has drafted in a wealth of talent to dub-the-dub so to speak and add a fresh lease of life to the tracks.

The proceedings kick off with Total Eclipse's version of 'Mother Tongue' which initiates with a tripped out raga fused with NASA samples and fades in and out of some beautifully melodic synth sequences and guitar licks. I must confess I'm not really familiar with Total Eclipse but I like the way they've stepped back and mellowed this track out but retained the original drive of the piece. The Saafi Brothers put their stamp on 'Sadrayama' which again seems to take a step back into a more eastern dub and dropping the squelch of the original.

Following on Kakan Dub Lagan add's his magic to 'Eramus Dub' which retains plenty of old skool reggae dub flavours alongside laid back synths, samples and scratches which he modesty but effectively tweaks I definitely got a soft spot for this one. Tor.Ma In Dub's take on 'The Fool Ascends' begins with a dark atmospheric intro with slow piano bass notes, before the reggae is slowly introduced, gaining volume and then is dubbed out in alluring and dream like fashion along with the eastern instruments and vocals.

Once again it seems like a step back from the initial release with Kuba's version of 'Discordant Dream' with a more dream like quality to the piece and the tribal drumming more of a pitter patter nestled amongst the dub. This theme follows once again somewhat surprisingly with Eat Static on 'The Truth Lies Therein' where you might expect a more full on approach he utilises the poetic spoken word perfectly throughout this frankly excellent eastern dub. The release concludes with Youth's re-mix of 'Pablo's Lament' which if you've brought either of the two previous S.O.A. releases on L.S.D. you will already have if not it's a harmonica fused piece of reggae dub with some interesting twists and turns.

As I mentioned previously this is not a stereo-typical S.O.A. release however, I would imagine most long-term fans of Michael Wadada's Suns of Arqa are fans of dub and will accept this for a S.O.A. in dub release. Personally, I'm definitely taking that view even though the Indian vibes take a back seat and I have to say I actually prefer this re-mix album to the original release.

Reviewed by Woodzee.

Links

 https://liquidsounddesignuk.bandcamp.com/

https://www.facebook.com/LiquidSoundDesign/?fref=ts

https://www.facebook.com/RobinTriskeleDJ/?fref=ts

Liquid Sound Design 'Dakini Mother Tongue' Compilation Review

Artist: Various

Title: Dakini Mother Tongue

Label: Liquid Sound Design

Released: 10^th October

Liquid Sound Design was created in 1998 by Youth as a sister label to Dragonfly showcasing the more down-tempo output aimed at post-club listening. Eventually, the management of the label was taken on by Pathaan and is currently in the capable hands of Robin Triskele.

The album commences with the Ozora mix of 'Return To The River Ganges by Celtic Vedic and features a wealth of established talent from the world music scene including legendary dub bassist Jah Wobble and Youth himself. As you may of anticipated the track is a heady exotic fusion of Celtic and Indian vibes easing you in gently before dropping the dubby bass line and introducing Shri's sultry vocals (who some may recognise from previous work with TaTva Kundalini and Gods Robots with Janaka Selecta). This is followed by the Bhanda Dub of 'Amethyst Corrida' by Wadada Youth Mundy which maintains the theme with tribal drums rolling along behind melodic harp strings, flutes, sitars and an orchestral violin break which complements the piece perfectly.

The album then moves away from the eastern mood with the Irresistible Force Dub Mix of Tecktures feat. Mixmaster Morris 'Giant Robots In The Sky' which is frankly a beautiful piece of dubbed out choral ambience. The compilation then switches back to the eastern fusions with Kuba's 'By The Foot Of Your Mountain' which begins with a Ravi Shankar'esque Sitar intro slowly teasing intermittent drum hits before the laid-back dub and Indian vocal takes full effect.

With the general stance of this compilation so far it's no surprise that Youth's Navigator Dub of Suns of Arqa's 'Navigator' is plucked from the previous L.S.D. re-mix E.P. packed full of tribal chants  & flutes that provide the listener with a dubbed out chill before exploding into pounding drums with trance like sequencing sections. The mood switches once again with the Bhanda Dub of Brother Culture vs Youth on 'People Love The Music' a bass heavy dance hall riddim bringing the reggae back into the dubs.

Yet again the style reverts back to the east with Ghostliner's 'Phoenix' an exotic dub with tribal vocal stabs and percussion that's rather fitting to the compilation as a whole. The album closes with the long awaited return of the Dub Trees (Youth, Greg Hunter and Twisted Records Simon Posford) where the Youth vs Cosmic Trigger Dub of 'Future Roots' is a lovely fusion of speaker shaking reggae dub and psybient sounds.

To conclude this is a solid release and continues the quality and style fans of Liquid Sound Design have come to expect. There's a heavy eastern element to the album which made me wonder why they didn't stick with that format throughout the whole release. However, I can answer my own question as the tracks that didn't fit that pigeon hole are too good to leave out.

Reviewed by Woodzee.

**For the chance of winning a Bandcamp redeem code for this release tune into the Chill Out Sessions on Boxfrequency.fm at 20:00 G.M.T. on Sunday the 25^th of October and keep your eyes peeled on the facebook event page https://www.facebook.com/events/1494797440820745/ **

Links

https://www.facebook.com/LiquidSoundDesign

https://liquidsounddesign.bandcamp.com/

http://www.triskelemanagement.com/

Suns of Arqa 'All Is Not Lost, But Where Is It?' Review

Artist: Suns of Arqa

Title: All Is Not Lost, 

But Where Is It?

Label: Liquid Sound 

Design

Released: April 2015

The Suns of Arqa have been producing their blend of Indian classical instrumentation and Rastafarian Niyabinghi drumming under mainstay Michael Wadada and a prolific number of guest artists from around the diaspora since 1979.



This latest offering produced by Youth who has also roped in Raja Ram on flute and the Orb to step behind the mixing desk and add their years of production experience to enhance the release.



The opening track 'Mother Tounge' begins slowly with a mish-mash of chopped up SOA clips and samples which are soon accompanied by a powerful rolling beat providing a whirling dervish of psychedelic dub. This is followed by 'Sadrayama' which for the first couple of minutes is a more laid back affair. However, once the drums kick so does the squelch which works in perfect balance with the sitar sounds.



Bird song and spoken samples are the introduction to 'Erasmus Dub' a laid back piece of dub jam-packed with reverb, samples and scratches. Soft female vocal samples and fx are blended with bamboo flutes and song in 'The Fool Ascends' which although still dub ditches the reggae elements in favour of a more ambient chill feel.



'Discordian Dawn' begins with a cello like intro integrated with sequenced synth's before bamboo flutes and tribal drumming which are dubbed out in appropriate places stream through the main body of the track. There's an elongated piece of poetic dialogue nestled over distorted and dubbed out SOA with 'The Truth Lies Therein' before the vocal song and rolling drums are implemented along with trance like synth's.



The closing track is Youth's Dub mix of 'Pablos Lament' plucked from SOA's last e.p. and for me it's a gem. Traditional reggae vibes and harmonica are fused with SOA vocal hooks and reggae vocal samples in this dub-fest. There's also plenty of twists, turns brakes and turns of speed within the piece to maintain your interest.



If hearing the Suns of Arqa put through the array of fx and reverb and echo chambers of the dub laboratory appeals to you, then you can't really go wrong with the men behind the desk on this release.



Reviewed by Woodzee.

http://www.sunsofarqa.co.uk/

Suns Of Arqa "Ancient Temples" Review

Artist: Suns Of Arqa

Title: Ancient Temples E.P.

Label: Interchill Records

Release Date: 19^th November 2013

I first came across the Suns of Arqa on a free cassette from a magazine I’d brought to pass the time on a train journey in the early 90’s. It was one of those tracks I played over and over and not long after I came across “Kokoromochi” on vinyl which proved to contain some perfect openers to a set. After that somehow they dropped off the radar for me for many years until I picked up a compilation of their tracks over the years “Through The Gates We Go” mixed by Tom Fu.

Through the internet I discovered there was a vast back catalogue of Michael Wadada & Co’s fusion of Indian Raga’s and Rastafarian Niyabinghi drumming dating back to 1980. I still have some way to go to fulfil this collection and was very impressed with Youth’s mix of “Jagnath Bhairavi” that Matthew Foord played on House of the Flying Eyeball’s “My Favourite Things” radio show recently (which sparked an interest in obtaining the Interchill album).

Considering the above I was eager to hear this E.P. (a precursor for a new album to be released in 2014) from the word go. The release opens with a re-mix of “Ancient Temples in the Southern Cape” by master of dub and vintage electronics Gaudi and I have to say the dreamy synths and reggae chords grabbed my attention immediately and the spacey vocal I can’t put a name to just adds to the appeal. Next up is a mix of the same track by Astralasia’s Swordfish. This version seems to take a more orchestral stance and although it doesn’t quite reach the heights of Gaudi’s, it’s still a nice alternative.

There’s certainly no lack of talent on this release as next up is Youth dub mix of “Pablo’s Lament” which to me blends soundtrack vocal samples, with Augustus Pablo’esque melodica heavy reggae and psychedelic dub.  The closing track “The Truth Will Set You Free” mixed by Gagarin is the nearest to Indian Classical music on the release and sets me in mind of the vibe of On-U Sounds “Pay It All Back” releases so it’s no great surprise to discover it was recorded in their studio with Skip McDonald on bass and drums.

To summarise, this E.P.I love it and can only surmise that if you’ve read this far you’re tastes are similar to mine and you’re probably playing it already.

Review by Woodzee.

Release Link interchill.bandcamp.com 

Links for artists:

Suns of Arqa

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suns_of_Arqa

http://sunsofarqa.bandcamp.com/

Gaudi

www.gaudimusic.com/

www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaudi_(musician)

www.facebook.com/gaudimusic

Astralasia

www.astralasia.co.uk/

www.facebook.com/pages/Astralasia/9053864353

Youth

www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Glover

www.biglifemanagement.co.uk/producers/producer/youth1

Gagarin

www.gagarin.org.uk/

www.facebook.com/pages/GAGARIN/81533059428