abasio

He had tracks on the two Oxycanta compilations on Ultimae, Trampoline Hotel & Strawberry Planetarium were just great & I am really looking forward to a full album! I guess it will be on the more ambient side of ultimae though

What is that? Looks proggy np The new shpongle album

No love for Hybrid Leisureland?

I think they'd be good if it wasn't for the horrible font used for the title

A Hybrid Leisureland album? Woohoooooo

That is a really big shame. Everything that came out on Gi'iwa was pure gold! RIP Gi'iwa

Nunc Stans - Night Vision

That's exactly right, no shanti baba psychill clichés in sight

I remember you saying you cut up the dijipacks to put everything into CD cases maybe a couple of years ago now. It does make sense if you are trying to save space and don't care about the collectors value or aesthetic quality of a collection. It is better than most people with these feelings who would just download everything. But little did you know you would catch the collectors disease and now you must try and replace everything you destroyed in your youth. Good luck in your search. Unfortunately I have a collection too and don't want to be without all my back covers.

Galaxy - Angel Lustmord - Juggernaught Adventure Time - Dreams Of Water Themes Electric Universe - Cosmic Experience Stephan Mathieu + Taylor Deupree - Transcriptions

I don't think it's just you. A lot of people seemed disappointed by this album but I think if you give it a year to grow, people will start seeing more to it than they initially did. The trick with a lot of Ultimae is to listen to it then put it away for a few months and come back to it later, usually I much prefer it it later

This is the latest in my Poetry series, the music is good even if the poetry is rubbish Download Link

Nope, I listen to a lot of ambient from outside the psytrance scene. Just because it is a different style to beatless drone ambient though, doesn't make it bad. I still like this release despite obvious mastering problems.

Artist: Various Title: Imaginary Friends Label: Ultimae Records Released: 30th Sep 2009 Style: Ambient, Downtempo Tracklist 1 Field Rotation - Regenzeit II 7:20 2 Kevin Andrew - Three Weeks 5:30 3 Rena Jones - Photosynthesis (Nalepa Remix) 7:09 4 Offthesky - Gently, Drown The Scene 6:28 5 Murya - Gray Daze 4:39 6 Cell - Out Of Breath 5:55 7 Aes Dana - Resin 7:23 8 Hol Baumann - Handwritten Notes 5:27 9 Asura - Longing For Silence 8:14 10 Solar Fields - Times Are Good (Sometimes Remix) 8:10 11 James Murray - Eleven (Decades Mix) 7:46 Imaginary Friends, a compilation of audio poetry collected by Nova was something I was not really expecting. I had no expectations of the album except that it would be up to Ultimae’s usual high standards. I still managed to be surprised though as this compilation is like nothing I have heard from Ultimae before yet still in keeping with the Ultimae feel. The first half at least is full of artists who have not yet before been released on Ultimae and they bring a fresh new look to it. This is a rare Ultimae release as I fell in love with it straight away. Something I am usually quite wary of as that might make me fall out of love with it just as easily. I gave it a heavy rotation in my CD player and I even played it two or three times back to back, a sure sign of a quality release. It’s a great blend of music with enticing atmospheres, melancholic melodies and cool relaxing beats. Field Rotation’s heavy use of strings in Regenzeit II adds a nice mournful atmosphere extenuated by the sounds of rain. The piano track Three Weeks by Kevin Andrew continues with this acoustic blend of urban atmosphere’s and human weakness. Rena Jones is up next with Photosynthesis (Napela Remix) which seems to fit this album more than the original would have. The extra layer of scratchier atmosphere gives this a similar urban night time feel as the last two tracks while remaining true to the originals summery vibe, an odd mix but it works. Offthesky – Gently, Drown the Scene may be a play on words of his album Gently Down The Stream and is what you can expect from Offthesky but with an Ultimae edge to it. That is it is a glitchy scratchy track but with a deeper atmosphere than usual, very cool. My favourite track of the artists new to Ultimae is definitely Murya – Gray Daze of which I have never heard anything from before, on the strength of this track though I will be eagerly looking forward to hearing more in the future. It has a deep reverberating bass, a lush melody and cool chilled beats. It has the kind of sound that I find heart-warming in a sad kind of way and could really be a movie where the main character is in a period of depression, self-reflection. The second half of the album contains tracks by more regular Ultimae contributors like Solar Fields, Asura and Aes Dana. Artists where you usually know where you stand, you are going to get some great deep tunes lovingly crafted by artists that really really care about the music they make. If this is what you are thinking then you wont be disappointed with the offerings here on Imaginary Friends. Cell – Out of Breath is similar in style to his new album Hanging Masses in that it is cold and quite dark but it has more glitchy beats and scratchy atmospheres. It is nice that having a compilation track released close to his album, he didn’t just do the lazy thing a put a track from his album on this comp (or put this track on his album instead of making another). Aes Dana – Resin is another great Aes Dana track. Steady 4-4 beats in the latter part of the track, driving melodies and nice string like synths. Hol Baumann – Handwritten Notes I think has the best title for a track with a very human atmosphere, nice guitar and a bell like melody sounds very similar to his album Human and although it is very good it would be nice to see him try something a little different. Asura – Longing For Silence is making me look forward to his next album. The little ethnic melodies he puts in are great, never overpoweringly ethnic but just a nice subtle feel that makes you think of eastern culture in deep space! The best track on the compilation is definitely for me Solar Fields – Times Are Good (Something Remix) which is even better than the original which is on one of my all time favourite albums. It keeps faith with the original melody and style but adds more. More melody, more atmosphere and more feeling. I really really love this track and want to play it over and over again. We round of the compilation with another remix, James Murray – Eleven (Decades Remix) is a very ambient track to end with. It has very soft beats that just cradle your mind and stroke it softly and an atmosphere of sitting on a bench in the station watching the morning people rush by starting their day, safe in the knowledge that your day is done and only sleep beckons you. Imaginary Friends is a great compilation, showcasing new talent along with established artists. Overall I prefer the new talent shown here, especially Murya and I hope that these artists will release more on Ultimae in the future. Their particular styles when merged with the overall Ultimae feel and mastered by Vince work wonders. The established artists are still great and Solar Fields never disappoints as the stand out on any compilation. If you like good quality downbeat then give this a chance. If you like Ultimae chances are you have already go this and have been playing it a lot.

Downloading now. Any tracklist?

This all sounds like quite a lot of work on your part Mars. Thanks a lot

Hey everyone. I hope you are all enjoying the start of 2010, getting ready for the year ahead and breaking your resolutions already I have very much enjoyed my time off work. 3 mofre days of my 9 days off, how quickly it goes. I feel so much better and muct remember never ever go a whole year without taking a decent length of time off to do nothing In my time of doing nothing I managed to get a few of the mixes I promised done. My Best of the Noughties are all completed. Not every mix is perfect as all tracks were chosen as they were my favourites not because they mixed well. But the tunes themselves, well they are the best (IMO) from the last 10 years so you can imagine how much I like these mixes Best of the Noughties - Psytrance Tracklist 10. Infected Mushroom - Shen - Classical Mushroom (YoYo Records) 2000 9. Principles of Flight - The Chase - Chaos Opera (Timecode Records) 2009 8. Cyberbabas - The Second Revelation - The Secret Of The Thirteen Crystal Skulls (TIP.World) 2003 7. Doof - The Second Revelation - The Mystery Of The Thirteen Crystal Skulls (TIP.World) 2001 6. Reality Pixie - Phloem of TLSG - Musica Discordia (Gi'iwa Productions) 2006 5. Scorb - Klangman - Scorb (Ambivalent Records) 2003 4. Principles of Flight - A Heavy Responsibility - Night Time Lullabies (BooM! Records) 2006 3. Sienis - Form Another Perspective - From A Nutter Perspective (Gi'iwa Productions) 2007 2. Jikkenteki - A Bowl Gruel World - Flights Of Infinity (PAR-2 Productions) 2008 1. Jikkenteki - Stepping Forward - The Long Walk Home (PAR-2 Productions) 2006 Best of the Noughties - Prog Tracklist 10. Kino Oko - Messiah Formula - Alphabetically Divided Highway (Tribal Vision) 2008 9. Great Leap Forward - Sparta - Cinkofa (Flying Rhino Records) 2001 8. Deviant Species - A Night To Dismember - In The Hands Of The Randomiser (Ambivalent Records) 2004 7. Atmos - Fill The Hat - Headcleaner (Spiral Trax) 2000 6. Blue Planet Corporation - Lubianka / Hemo Static II - A Blueprint For Survival (DAT Records) 2009 5. Nuclear Ramjet - Cloud Sailors - Mission To Sedna (Spaceport Records) 2006 4. Planet BEN & James - Repeater - Singularity 2-001 (Flying Rhino Records) 2001 3. BUS - Disco Suns - Morebusinesslinkyouthere (Sub) 2005 2. Gus Till - BusTed - Uncontrollable Substance / BUS - Metatron - Best Of The Rhino Years (Sonic Dragon Records) 2007 1. Solar Fields - Brainbow - EarthShine (Ultimae Records) 2007 Not all of this is strictly prog but I don't care Best of the Noughties - IDM Tracklist 10. Sandspider - Levchenko - Music For An Imaginary Film (Millenium Records) 2004 9. Ulrich Schnauss - Monday - Paracetamol - A Strangely Isolated Place (City Center Offices) 2003 8. Yasume - The Prevailing Wind - Where We're From The Birds Sing A Pretty Song (City Centre Offices) 2003 7. Plaid - White's Dream - Tekkonkinkreet (鉄コン筋クリート) O.S.T. (Aniplex Inc.) 2006 6. Kettel - Kroost Kids - Myam James Part 1 (Sending Orbs) 2008 5. Takagi Masakatsu - Rama - Private/ Public (P-Vine Records) 2007 4. Kettel - He's His Own Man - My Dogan (Sending Orbs) 2006 3. Yagya - Rigning Sex - Rigning (Sending Orbs) 2009 2. Ulrich Schnauss - Nobody's Home - Far Away Trains Passing By (City Center Offices) 2001 1. Secede - Leraine - Tryshasla (Sending Orbs) 2005 Best of the Noughties - Downbeat Tracklist 10. Rena Jones - Driftwood - Driftwood (Native State Records) 2006 9. Shpongle - Once Upon The Sea Of Blissful Awareness - Tales Of The Inexpressible (Twisted Records) 2001 8. Abakus - Opaque - That Much Closer To The Sun (LSD - Liquid Sound Design) 2004 7. Carbon Based Lifeforms - Mos6581 - Hydroponic Garden (Ultimae Records) 2003 6. OTT - Angelic Particles (Buckminster Fullerine Mix) - Hallucinogen In Dub (Twisted Records) 2002 5. Gus Till - Monkey In The Black Sky - Dub Shadows (Cyan Music) 2004 4. Prometheus - Sweet Tooth - Butterfly Dawn (Liquid Sound Design) 2003 3. Jikkenteki - An Angel Takes Flight - The Long Walk Home (PAR-2 Productions) 2006 2. Shulman - Invention - Endless Rhythms Of The Beatless Heart (Aleph Zero Records) 2007 1. Solar Fields - Air Song - Leaving Home (Ultimae Records) 2005 Best of the Noughties - Ambient Tracklist 10. Hallucinogen - e - Twelve (TIP.World) 2001 9. Nunc Stans - The Palm at the End of the Mind - The Palm At The End Of The Mind (DataObscura) 2008 8. Krill.Minima - Submarine Poetry - Nautica (Native State Records) 2007 7. Elemental Journey - Air - Absolute Ambient.com Volume 2 (Absolute Ambient.com) 2004 6. The Circular Ruins - Immer Du - Falling Into The Sky (Blue Oasis) 2007 5. Ghostfriend - Moist - Oxycanta (Ultimae Records) 2006 4. Mutagene - A Borrowed Skin - Collection 1: Opening (Databloem) 2002 3. Cymphonic - Tau - Strataradialis (Databloem) 2007 2. Solar Fields - Detection (Far and Extended) - Extended (Ultimae Records) 2005 1. Ishq - Fluid Earth - Orchid (Dakini Records) 2001 It has been a fantastic decade for music as I look back on it now. More so I think in the more chilled genres than upbeat but that might just be down to the fact that I am getting old I think the Artists of the Decade have to be Solar Fields, Gus Till, Matt Hillier, Anthony Paul Kerby, Principles of Flight and Jikkenteki. I give my heartiest thanks to all these artists for keeping me with music I love through the last 10 years :wub:

Artist: Cell Title: Hanging Masses Label: Ultimae Records Released: 10th Dec 2009 Style: Ambient, Downtempo Tracklist 1 Calling 8:52 2 Switch Off 8:30 3 Second Shape Part I 9:02 4 Risky Nap Under Blue Tree 6:35 5 Hanging Masses 10:48 6 Vapor 8:32 7 Second Shape Part II 8:59 8 Universal Sunrise Cell has always been an artist that has impressed me on compilations and was long overdue to release another album. Phonic Peace was great, a fine example of how ethnic music can be good and not cliché ridden monstrosities. His tracks on Ultimae compilations though were in a different league & I could see it was in this style that he really excelled. So when word came that he was releasing a full length album on Ultimae I was delighted. I was not disappointed; Cell has outdone himself on this album. It is chocked full of cold atmospheres, cool relaxed beats, melancholic melodies and it has an overall feeling of reflective wistfulness. The use of vocal samples is perfect; they are soft, subtle and add to the atmosphere of trippiness rather than dominating the music or just not quite fitting in. The sample in the opening track Calling is a good example of what I like in sample use. It is of a man saying something in some context I don’t know which gives it an aura of mystery and intrigue which fits the music like a glove. The melodies in this album are fantastic. Melancholic beauty at its best, you can tell that a lot of time, effort and feeling has gone into the crafting of this album and it is most evident in the melodies. They are so subtle yet so intense, they run around my head twisting with complexities yet on the surface they sound simple and uncluttered. Listening to Switch Off featuring Aes Dana I get a sense, no matter where I am, that I am lying on my back with a cool breeze washing over me without a care in the world. The melody snakes through my mind and lets all my troubles float away. In this music no one thing dominates, the beats, the melodies, the atmospheric drones and the assortment of other sounds don’t ever take centre stage. All the elements work beautifully together and create something bigger than the some of its parts. Second Shape Part 1 for example has more focus on the bass but still it is not in anyway distracting from the atmosphere it creates or the subtle melodic lines. Second Shape Part 2 later in the album is much softer but follows the same beautiful blending and fits very nicely as the second part to this track. This album is a work of art, everything about it pure class. From the visual art contained in the booklet, which is the best art from Ultimae yet to the all important music and even the track titles. Risk Nap Under Blue Tree perfectly fits the track as it gives me a feeling of forbidden relaxation; catching 40 winks at work, dozing in church or smoking a joint in your bedroom with your parents downstairs unaware. The title track Hanging Masses is a perfect representation of the album as a whole. It is soft, subtle, complex under the surface yet simple on it. It has cold wistful melodies, a smattering of beats that tap on one side of your head while the rest of the music massages the other side. It is the almost 11 minutes and could have been longer, the progression works really well and it explores a lot of space inside my mind filling it up and preparing it for when the beats kick in proper in the second half. A great thing about this album is that it is never in a hurry to do anything. The tracks build up slowly and the melodies, beats and atmospheres seem to just come out of nowhere. Vapor starts off slow and relaxed and stays that way for a good 4 minutes never feeling the need to rush in with the beats or pushing a melody in your face screaming look at me. It all sounds so natural, unforced like this album was grown rather than made. All tracks are lightly mixed so there is no gaps between the music and this works well like on a lot of Ultimae albums adding a smooth feeling to the relaxed vibes. It really creates a nice journey and you never need be jolted out of your reverie when listening. This journey is one of peace, relaxation and cold melancholic joy. The journey is punctuated by the last track Universal Sunrise which is very ambient, very relaxing and has a kind of finality to it. It is like watching the sunrise after staying up all night, it is magical and an event unto itself. It never rushes, but naturally progresses through the sky. The vocal sample “wake up” is placed very nicely setting the scene more in my head. An excellent album, Cell – Hanging Masses is for me the best Ultimae release of the year beating Aes Dana, H.U.V.A. Network, Imaginary Friends and even Solar Fields – Movements for the number one spot in my heart. My favourite release this year in any genre and it is subtle and beautiful enough that I am confident that it won’t get old quickly. I have been listening to a lot as being released in December it ran the getting into my top ten list of 2009 and then me getting bored when I had fully explored it. So I spent hours exploring it and it passed the test with flying colours. Wonderful album!

Best of the Noughties - Downbeat Tracklist 10. Rena Jones - Driftwood 9. Shpongle - Once Upon The Sea Of Blissful Awareness 8. Abakus - Opaque 7. Carbon Based Lifeforms - Mos6581 6. OTT - Angelic Particles (Buckminster Fullerine Mix) 5. Gus Till - Monkey In The Black Sky 4. Prometheus - Sweet Tooth 3. Jikkenteki - An Angel Takes Flight 2. Shulman - Invention 1. Solar Fields - Air Song Best of the Noughties - Ambient Tracklist 10. Hallucinogen - e 9. Nunc Stans - The Palm at the End of the Mind 8. Krill.Minima - Submarine Poetry 7. Elemental Journey - Air 6. The Circular Ruins - Immer Du 5. Ghostfriend - Moist 4. Mutagene - A Borrowed Skin 3. Cymphonic - Tau 2. Solar Fields - Detection (Far and Extended) 1. Ishq - Fluid Earth

6 months on, I forgot I had written a review for this and wrote another one Artist: Aes Dana Title: Leylines Label: Ultimae Records Released: 3rd Jun 2009 Style: Ketamine Trance, Downtempo, Ambient Tracklist 1 Alignments 7:57 2 Bam (Album Edit) 7:58 3 Oxyd 8:37 4 Heights 6:59 5 Adonaï 9:01 6 Leylines 9:11 7 Lysistrata (Album Edit) 9:23 8 Signs 6:44 9 Inter 6:04 10 Blossom 6:06 At first the new album by Aes Dana was a disappointment which in itself was kind of a relief. My favourite ambient and downbeat albums of all time have all initially failed to make an impact on me. Solar Fields – Leaving Home and Extended, Secede – Tryshasla, The Infinity Project – Mystical Experiences are all albums I can listen to a hundred times a year and not get tired of. Albums that at first really impressed me just don’t seem to have the staying power, so initial disappointment is a good thing. It then takes quite an effort however to make yourself listen to that disappointing album again but being from Ultimae and Aes Dana I knew that there was a good chance this could be a grower. The album starts quite ambient with Alignments which is quite nice but very soft and Aes Dana fans might not feel like it is the way to get into the album. I like it but it is not one that really grabs your attention. The next track however is where the album starts in earnest. Bam has an enticing melody and nice vocals that sound like transdimensional aliens screaming from the other side of reality. Oxyd is another track with a really nice melody. It starts off very empty feeling but the elements pile up over the course of the first few minutes and the resulting track with nice soft beats, relaxed atmosphere and the lush melody makes this a great track. Heights is a little heavier but still chilled with a very nice atmosphere that reminds me of cold winter evenings by a countryside road. Adonaï is where the album starts to get into the ketamine trance mode. The beats get progressively stronger throughout the track and it is a perfect lead into the upbeat part of the album. I especially like the synths in this track and the vocal sample is sublimely trippy. The title track Leylines is great. After my initial disappointment this was one of the first tracks to open itself up to me. The atmosphere created is immense. It feels so big and wide open like staring at the sky with an evening hue and seeing the first stars come out. Not cold but with a chill in the air, the beats are strong and steady driving this into a nice danceable but still chilled track. The best track on the album for me is definitely Lysistrata which also appeared on the Suntrip compilation Opus Iridium and was my favourite on that too. After a year and a half and having played this track in numerous mixes (it mixes so well with its lush ambient intro and ending) I still get blown away. It is beautifully sad with a lot of emotion crammed into its 9 minutes and 11 seconds. The vocal/synth thing going on is fantastic reminding me of lost souls crying out their despair from the netherworlds. This is my favourite Aes Dana track to date. The last three tracks take us down to the more relaxing depths of ambient. Signs is a nice beatless number with a lot of atmosphere and great ethereal vocal synths. Inter has soft breakbeats and an nice bass feel underlying the main melody, there is not as much atmosphere as in the previous tracks but it does feel warmer and more like a summer chill track. We the end the album then with Blossom which has more breakbeats, a little more upbeat here, a beautiful melody and the same warm summer chill feel. These last three tracks feel like they are in the wrong order. I would have preferred ending the album on Signs but that is a small gripe. As the album progresses the tracks become more beat orientated and go from ambient to soft beat chillout to thumping ketamine trance then relaxing more again towards the end. This progression reminds of an extended version of an Aes Dana track, which often has an ambient intro then a period of thumping beats then back to a nice relaxed finish. The more relaxed tracks are quite subtle and can take some time to get into but it is this subtlety that allows them to be more lasting. The melodies don’t stick in my head and each listen to the album is like a new experience. So all in all I think I would say that this is a great Aes Dana album. It might take some time to grow on you but then again all Aes Dana albums have taken a long time to sink in for me. I still have not managed to get into Aftermath probably because I don’t own the physical release (damn limited edition) and I struggle to connect to downloads.

Nice point! In earlier years we could go back and edit our votes as long as we edited our original voting post. In this new system can we go back and change our mind? I think if we can't people will strick with their cagey bets around January 5th and come March 2nd everyone will have changec their minds without being able to express themselves.

Well, it is my most gut wrenching for the most gut wrenching photo. My dream woul dbe irony but I think I can just go for realistic

Yeah, I was happy with that one. It might go in my book along with a poem Why we weep. The Firefly has lost its light. All burned up in the fires of yesterday. Its head aches like bad mornings. Morning comes and remembers, all the things that should be lost. When you see the bright fires of the past, Can you help but resent the cold touch of the here and now? Before you became a lion you were a cub. When was the time you dreamed of being a worm skin rug? Nothing is how it seemed it would be. Never dreamt of this life I don’t need. How is it that it has lost its light? How will I see myself returned to glory? Can I beg for empires lost? Can I forge ahead into a brave new world? What does it all mean when I stare at infinity? What is the ouroboros that scars my soul? Is it blight on my never ending life? Is it what is necessary to endure the passing of it all? When will the questions stop? Not until I am long cold. I dreamt of being a tiger. If only for an hour I would take it. Destined to live 10 lifetimes as a worm, I am like all others who stop to think of life. I work, I play, I interact, I stay alone, I sleep, I bathe, work and think. When will it end? The end is not for you my friend. Some people check out early, some check out late. They say it is as guaranteed as taxes. Am I the only one on this sphere of pestilence that has no gift? The angels were jealous of man’s gift. Man did not want it and tried to give it away. But when it’s gone he cannot bear and he now knows why the angels weep.

I think we should be able to see what everyone is voting for. 1. It's good to see what other people have liked as it can help others look for more good music (there could be another thread but I don't think as many people would vote in it). 2. It would stop people just pissing about and voting for any old crap as they could if it was anonymous. I know most people wouldn't do this but we have our fair share of gits out there. 3. It's more fun! If someone is embarrased by what they are voting for then that's too bad for them. Even if I want to vote for Infected Oforian Skazi Project then I will, it's the internet for god's sake, how anonymous do you need