My Top 10 Favorite Psybient Artists and Songs

Tuesday, March 16th, 2010

I wanted to share with you my top 10 Psybient artists and songs instead of declaring it in stone as “the best”.

Some call it Psybient. Some say Psydub. Maybe Psychill? Or perhaps Downtempo. Whatever you choose to call it, this is my list of the top 10 Psybient artists and songs.

These are some of the artists and their songs that have rocked my world. Psybient fits so well when we are in a relaxed mood, it feels as if everything is going to be all right.

Let’s do this…

Ott

Ott had always been flying low on my radar, his first album Blumenkraft appealed to me but it wasn’t until Skylon that I can say he really shined.

Skylon is, perhaps, on of the most chill albums I’ve ever listened to. During an interview, Ott (that is his real name btw) talked about how he created his music – with home made drums and shakers made from coffee cans and such ha!

Ott goes high on my top 10 Psybient list.

Ott – Queen of Everything

Shpongle

When I first listened to Shpongle it was on a rainy afternoon. I had already been a huge fan of Simon Posford from Hallucinogen and Raja Ram from 1200 Mics but I was never expecting this.

Shpongle has since become my favorite Psybient artist, I recommend them to everyone I talk to. Their unique style of music is some of the most beautiful and trippy you’ll ever listen to.

It’s funny because I could talk for hours about Shpongle but instead, let’s let the music do justice:

Shpongle – …But Nothing is Lost

Shulman

Shulman has such a different sound than most of the other Psybient artists on this list. Shulman’s glitchy style makes for some for the trippiest dub – it feels like you’re stuck in some computer game, Tron style.

Shulman is a great break from the earthy sounds you commonly find on many Psybient tracks.

Shulman – Invention

Bluetech

Bluetech has been producing many amazing albums for quite some time. I stumbled across him one rainy afternoon and it hit the spot. The glitchy sounds of Bluetech gives it a very unique sound.

Bluetech’s latest album “The Divine Invasion” has my favorite track of his:

Bluetech – Probability Tree

H.U.V.A. Network

The first live mix I heard by H.U.V.A. Network had me hooked. I really like their style of music.

My bud Dez got to see them live recently at an Alex Grey exhibit – lucky bastard.

H.U.V.A. Network – Indigo Room

Androcell

Androcell certain holds its own amongst the other Psybient artists.

I like Androcell because many of their songs are a little more poppy at times, not always very deep dub, it’s a bit more suited to listen when you’re actually doing things as apposed as just drifting off to space land.

Androcell – Dub Crystals

Vibrasphere

If there is one group that has always produced memorable music, it’s Vibrasphere. I had the chance to watch them live during Eclipse 2008 – the ground vibrated with chill tunes as I drift off into la la land.

Each release of Vibrasphere continues to be better and better, I can’t wait for the next.

Vibrasphere – Forest Fuel

Entheogenic

Entheogenic was another of the first Psybient artists that I discovered as I delved into the genre. The earthy, chanting sound of Entheogenic’s music really drew me in.

I bought a pair of bongo’s because of their album Golden Cap haha.

Entheogenic – Twilight Eyes

Younger Brother

Soon after discovering Shpongle, I also happened upon Simon’s other project: Younger Brother. After giving them a listen and finding out X from Prometheus was on board, I bought their albums.

Younger Brother really takes Psybient to a new level – it’s like a whole new sound. Their live performances are next to none, it’s amazing to see an electronic utilize traditional instruments to play in front of an audience.

Younger Brother – Ribbon On A Branch

Carbon Based Lifeforms

Carbon Based Lifeforms has always been flying low on my radar but I have noticed they’ve been around when I wanted to listen to Psybient the most. Appearing on a ton of mix Cd’s I have, I never really recognized the genius of Carbon Based Lifeforms until…

Carbon Based Lifeforms – MOS 6581

I hope you like my list of Psybient artists and hopefully it brought you some really relaxing moments.

What Psybient artists do you like?

Tags: Psybient, Top 10
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My Top 10 Dark Psytrance Tracks

Monday, March 15th, 2010

Dark Psytrance is brutal, combining the psychedelic sounds of Psytrance along with aggressive basslines and samples.

Dark Psytrance is a bit of a harsher taste but once you find a few artists you love, you won’t be going back.

I made a short video to show off each in case you want to just skim through:

And here’s the list:

Cujorious One – The Art Of Mindfucking

Electrypnose – Life Is A Sinus

Dark Soho – Save Me God (RMX)

Penta – Eater of Worlds

The Delta – Thing

Xenomorph – Abominations

Baphomet Engine VS. Datakult – Psytrance Is Dead

Claw vs. Paranoize – Juracid

Far East Ghost – Emperor

Ghreg On Earth – The Elder Sign

There you have it, my top 10 Dark Psytrance tracks.

Black out all the lights, sit in the woods, put on a horror movie and let the chills run up your spine.

What are your favorite dark psytrance tracks?

Tags: Dark Psytrance, Top 10
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New On BeginnerDJ: BDJ Shop, Facebook, Friends and More

Friday, March 5th, 2010

Hey BDJ readers,

I just wanted to give everyone a little heads up on what’s going on at BeginnerDJ.

I figure it I owe it to everyone to keep them in the loop.

First off, thank you so much for reading BDJ. It’s great to see so many people visiting the site and commenting on the posts. I really appreciate it, it keeps me going

So, I’m sure you’ve noticed a few things that have popped up on BDJ but if not, I figure they’re worth mentioning.

The BeginnerDJ Shop

After getting asked a bunch of times for recommendations for gear, books, music and more, I figure it would be great to include a shop for BeginnerDJ.

This store is a simple Amazon store built into the site.

It does mean that anything you buy will earn me some affiliate cash, I don’t want to keep you in the dark about that.

The additional money that comes in through Amazon will ultimately come back to you in the form of gear reviews, being able to attend parties and write about them and so much more.

Be sure to check out the BDJ shop here.

The BeginnerDJ Archives

I recently found a great plugin called PS Auto Sitemap which allows me to place a single line of code to generate a sitemap on the site.

Up until now I’ve been using Google XML sitemaps for the search engines but I wanted you to be able to read back through the archives without having to click from page to page.

This creates a really nice list of the posts.

Check out the Beginner DJ archives here.

BeginnerDJ Facebook Page

I created a Facebook page for BeginnerDJ a while back but never got around to placing it on the site.

As you can see, it is up on the site currently.

I did this because RSS and Email subscriptions just don’t really cut it anymore. A lot of people may have no idea how to use RSS or don’t want to read posts through their Email. I figure a Facebook page would be great because everyone already has an account.

Check out the BeginnerDJ Facebook page here.

Google Ads on BDJ Wut?

I’ve been a bit hesitant about placing more Google Adsense ads on the blog because I don’t want them to distract you from the content.

In the end, I wanted to have a nice block on the sidebar and toward the bottom of the post.

Again, much like the BDJ Shop, this is mostly just to pay the bills and so I can pick up new gear to review for you guys.

Also, if it gets to the point where it pulls in any additional money, I’d love to hold contests for everyone. I’d love to eventually hold a contest where someone can win a full set of decks!

I want everyone to voice their opinion about the ads, if you don’t like them, speak up and I’ll remove them. Remember, the blog is for your benefit, not some advertiser.

BDJ Input and Suggestion

Over the last few months I’ve been able to talk to a lot of great people.

Some of these people have been DJs, avid readers and people really interested in the music – big ups for them!

If you ever have any post suggestion, guest post, things you want to share or comments, please fire away – I’m always open to new ideas and helping others get promoted.

Thanks again

Just wanted to thank everyone again for a great reception of this blog. I’ll continue to do my best to provide some really great content.

Keep checking it out in the future for more posts, reviews, interviews and more. As it builds up, I hope to be able to give more back to everyone so keep up the support!

Thanks,

Muxx

Tags: BeginnerDJ
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How To Dance To Dubstep

Wednesday, February 24th, 2010

If there’s one thing that I can’t get enough of are the comments on Dubstep tunes on YouTube. These comments generally try to 1 up each other in terms of filth, it’s utterly hilarious.

No surprise that there has been quite a few funny “How to dance to dubstep” videos popping up. Sure we could watch people that could actually dance but who cares, right? That’s why you wanna take the most ironic video and add in a filthy tune – pure comedy gold.

Check out these videos for skanky delightfulness

Tags: Dubstep, How To Dance To Dubstep
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