it's all good... » dreamy

Photek – T-Raenon

Pinky — Wed, 07 Apr 2010 22:42:40 +0000

I have included both the drum and bass and the “Techno Mix” here, I didn’t feel the need to choose between them. Both versions have such a timeless quality; I know I’ll be drifting off to either version ten or twenty years from now. It’s already been covered on the blogosphere by someone who can write more eloquently than me (the blog itself is well worth the time to read) and seems to be one of the most highly acclaimed tracks by Photek (aka Rupert Parkes). I believe I’ve always been aware of this record through various friends or mixtapes but the need to get a copy for myself was stirred up after Estimulo played it on his show back in Dec’08. Hats off to Esti – if you like your music to have a reflective quality, either of these versions will amply fit the bill.

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Steve Miller Band – Wild Mountain Honey

Pinky — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 09:26:13 +0000

Massive selling album in the seventies but apart from the hit singles taken from it, you have this dreamy piece of post-psychedelia progressive rock. Sounds like something that Steve Hackett would have composed at the beginning of his solo career but without the overt mystical references to wizards, princesses etc. Instead it reflects the mellow vibe of the West Coast rather than the Old World of the UK.

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LTJ Bukem – Feel What You Feel

Pinky — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 10:50:06 +0000

Despite my gushing praise of a mix that I bought back in ’92 and owning quite a few of the drum’n'bass releases by him and others on the Good Looking band of labels (sadly mostly lost to water damage in an incident); I paid no attention to any of his releases after I went to live abroad at the end of the nineties or even after I returned. It wasn’t until Jenifa Mayanja played this track on one of her early shows on MotionFM.com that I was enjoying via the archives they keep and KERRR-POW!!! I was knocked over by the polished ethereal-ness for which Bukem is reknowned. Listen, close your eyes and dream dreams of sunrises over utopian dancefloors in woodlands of elation… which sounds quite wanky but we all deserve a moment of blissful rapture though some can articulate it better than others.

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The Youngbloods – Get Together

Pinky — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 11:54:21 +0000

The definitive version of this track which has been recorded numerous times, although I also have the version by We Five on seven. Love, peace and flowers drip out of the grooves in this universal paean to just getting along maaan, provoking big smiles and the involuntary rocking of the head from side to side to any listeners. Indelibly connected in my mind to the movie adaptation of Hunter S. Thompson’s Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas, as it was used in the soundtrack that introduced me to some outstanding ‘new’ music. Dialogue from the movie is used to bridge some of the songs on it and Johnny Depp utters the monologue below (adjusted only slightly from the novel) just before the Youngbloods track fades in:

San Francisco in middle of the sixties was a very special time and place to be a part of but no explanation, no mix of words or music or memories can touch that sense of knowing that you were there and alive, in that corner of time in the world, whatever it meant. There was madness in any direction, at any hour, you could strike sparks anywhere. There was a fantastic universal sense that whatever we were doing was right, that we were winning and that I think was the handle.

That sense of inevitable victory over the forces of old and evil, not in any mean or military sense, we didn’t need that; our energy would simply prevail. We had all the momentum, we were riding the crest of a high and beautiful wave. So now, less than five years later, you can go up on a steep hill in Las Vegas and look west and with the right kind of eyes, you can almost see the high water mark; that place where the wave finally broke and rolled back.

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Brawther – Asteroids And Star Dust

Pinky — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 09:22:00 +0000

Been getting immersed in this twelve since I bought it, Sammy Gouyette certainly has his finger on a deep pulse. It’s been out for almost a month, appears to be a vinyl-only release and, as such, probably only available in a limited quantity. Have chosen the long B side to blog but the other two tracks were easily worthy of inclusion, (listen to the samples on juno here and here) plus with it being executively produced by Anthony Pearson, you know you’re in safe hands. Then again, if you’ve got Sammy’s other production under his Izmo alias such a recommendation would be unnecessary. A rolling bassline, smooth perpetual chords and a little bit of piano whisk you off to the nearest asteroid belt – this is dreamy space music.

Artist info:

Vinyl may be available from:

clone
juno

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Missing Soul – Luna Eternelle

Pinky — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 21:15:31 +0000

This track has been played by more than one presenter on the EstimuloShow which is testament to it’s strength and it deserves a post in it’s own right. Released at the tail end of 2008, it’s a sleeper that gets better with repeated listens and it still widely available now. Like drinking that ‘extra’ glass of wine, it brings intoxication to the ears, a tapestry of swirling sounds that sweeps you up on a magic carpet ride into that perfect world that few tracks conjure up. Nor should the lushness of this track overshadow the other two tracks by Ron Trent and Trinidadian Deep, which in themselves still make this release worth buying. Seek and buy on sight!

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Morenas – Somnambulism

Pinky — Sun, 01 Feb 2009 16:52:52 +0000

Dream house, ambient house – descriptions that were thrown about at the beginning of the nineties but correctly applied to this track that came nestled amongst others of similar ilk on the seminal compilation by DFC, which also had these sleeve notes:

Emotional, meditational, hypnotic are the words used to describe this new lymph of music that is conquering the dance scene. Here you can listen to a revolutionary new form of dance music that mixes atmospheric sounds of new age and ambient music with pulsating house beats. It’s simply called ambient house.

This is a really innovative way to make music, a new method of dance with the mood to create your own mental pictures. Mixing sound effects of new age, house beats and dreamy synthesiser melodies can create a music with a cantering repetitive groove to explore a completely new territory on the dance floor. Now you can dance with your body while you are dreaming with your mind. If house music has been quite an earthquake, ambient house, starting with Sueño Latino by Sueño Latino, is a warm, entangling and sweet shock.

This album is the first ambient house collection and DFC Team compiled it to explore some of the possibilities of this new trend. The tracks in this album are not made to be all commercial hits, but using Aqua Regia’s words we can say “in your hearts, not the charts”.

The ‘new trend’ seemed to peter out rather soon however which was unfortunate, there doesn’t appear to be any other compilations, not even a K-Tel one, of ambient house. Be advised that the pressing on the compilation isn’t great and some of the tracks have been edited in order to fit them all on one piece of vinyl – if you’re able to indulge yourself, hunt down and procure the tracks in their original form.

Discogs listing

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Solar Quest – The Belle Of Atlantis

Pinky — Sun, 11 Jan 2009 11:48:21 +0000

Sunday – a day of rest, contemplation and reflection from the travails of the week just passed and planning for the week ahead. The Belle Of Atlantis, weighing in at over ten minutes long, affords you some opportunity to do that; perhaps even take a micro nap for the more mature listener. Brought to my attention by one of the mixes that Bruce Bickerton put up on his website and have since also heard him play on his wonderfully eclectic radio show that I’ve unfortunately fallen out of the habit of listening to of late. This is an astoundingly beautiful track that fully deserves it’s extended playing time and is but one track from a double album of ambient material that is worth time and effort to acquire. Put your feet up, close your eyes and let your mind’s eye journey to the legendary city, summoned by her call.

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The Gentle People – Journey

Pinky — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 12:26:16 +0000

Ease into Monday with the Aphex Twin Care Mix of Journey by The Gentle People. Hopefully the below mantra doesn’t describe your day in the office, as you stare listlessly into space with a Thousand-yard Stare working for The Man but instead offers a time-out inside your head. I’m a sucker for strings and it has them aplenty, a hallucinogenic tide that by the end carries you along on a swell of sound.

This trip is an endless story
We’re taking you on a journey

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G.T.O. – Pure (Beautiful Mix)

Pinky — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 15:44:53 +0000

A short mix but still enough time to induce feelings of peacefulness and tranquillity, more familiar to some for the techno rave Pure Energy mix on the A side which now sounds a little dated. Plan to incorporate this into an ambient mix in the near future.

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