enuui.org - ambient & dub excursions into the upper plateau

"following hot on the heels of “…& so it goes” (released in november 2008), "desert phase" is the latest voyage into global electronica inspired by windswept journeys through the sonoran desert, the thar desert and the northern sahara. for this album seb taylor and natasha chamberlain draw upon their personal experiences of time spent in these 3 deserts to convey the spirit of their mysterious landscapes and their inhabitants.

the album includes many of the recordings captured by seb and natasha in arizona, rajasthan and morocco, from the desert dwelling musicians of jaisalmer to moroccan bazaars and atmospheric desert winds recorded amongst the sand dunes in north america."

Sounding good! I've heard this will be out at the end of March.

I came across this earlier on Soundcloud. Some familiar names to me in the tracklist but quite a few I don't know of, and it's quite mindblowing stuff. Really laidback vibes, with meaty basslines and ambient skanks. It's got loads of Indian instrumentation, which coupled with rootsy dub, spacial quirks, and blissful pads makes this mix a perfect journey for any time of day. So a big thanks to Indra for mixing this fine selection.. and here's some words & tracklist taken from her myspace.

::TRACKLIST::

INTRO:

I. Ross Daly – Hatif (played by Linsey Pollak) In Arabic, the word hatif refers to the spirits of dead poets who inhabit the desert and entice travellers with their song, causing them to lose their way. This piece was composed by Ross Daly and the haunting wind instrument heard in the beginning of the piece is none other than a small plastic watering pot converted into a musical instrument and played by Linsey Pollak.

II. Leon Danezos (Alcalica) on santoor

A very old instrument, the santoor is possibly the ancient Psalterion or Epigonio. Its name is possibly from the Persian santour or santir. Its shape is trapezoid, with a sound box of 4-5cm in length and measures 50-65cm in width or 100cm in length. On the top of the sound box, the strings are located in 2, 3 or 4th, tuned in tafto phonia. The bass strings are single. There are also two kavalli that divide the instrument into two parts. On the first part, the strings are tuned according to the diatonic scale; while on the other, the strings are tuned according to the chromatic scale.It has 100-140 strings and produces 30-32 notes. The high strings are made of bronze or steel, and the bass strings are made of copper. It has 7 contrabass strings with a range of 3 octaves. It starts from f-contrabass and ends in b. It is played by using two mallets that have thread or cotton at the end so they can produce a soft sound. It is an instrument of accompaniment. It is made of pine or walnut wood. In Greece, Tasos Diakogiorgis is a famous teacher and the best player of the santouri.

1. Manasseh presents Spectre - The Missing Dub
2. Secret Archives of Vatican - Caleb Dub (Uncle Riotous remix)
3. Secret Vibes - Don't Sleep (Dub)
4. Lunagroove - Salvation Dub
5. Vlastur – Cycladic Dub (unreleased)
6. Digital Smoke – Doudouk Dub (unreleased)
7. Guitoud - Get Up Fight (unreleased)
8. Naturelement - Duble Trouble (unreleased)
9. Deadbeat - Rock Of Ages (+ vocals: Butchaa MessenJah)
10. Sardinia Bass Legalize – Leaves
11. Digitalic Park - Ali La Pointe
12. Illumination – Brain Ball Noise (unreleased)
13. Pitch Black - Transient Transmission
14. Adham Shaikh - Micro Dreams
15. Gaudi - Night Watch
16. Pete Namlook & Gaudi - The Sun Won't Set

OUTRO:

I. Kristi Stassinopoulou – Waves

II. Leon Danezos (Alcalica) on santoor

This is a resident mix for Fluid Radio (www.fluid-radio.co.uk) dedicated to the mystic island Samothraki, Greece.

Special thanks for support and taking part to Nitty Dubby, Leon Danezos (alcalica.org), Butchaa MessenJah, Naturelement, Aiora, Vlastur, Sotokkan, Dj Looney...and to my friends Sotiris, Vassilis, Dimitrio, Froso, Kyriakos, Panos, Angeliki, Andrea, Katerina, Oso, Babina, Adonis, Panos, Athena Etana, Ihor, Mani, Nikos, Monia, Andrea... for divine moments on Samothraki.

Download either from here (Right click and save as) or Indra's soundcloud.

Picture from here. Click to go big.

I came across this interview with Don Peyote this week. If you've been checking out my mixes then you'll have heard his stuff. So it's about time we all knew more about the mysterious Aussie...

When did you start to take an interest in making music and who were your biggest influences?

I started making music in the late seventies, played guitar in funk/avant-garde band in Sydney, Australia. I was also involved in the production side of the studio recordings.....in those days big analog desks and great hardware Fx.... my biggest influence at the time :Bill Laswell, Brian Eno, Steve Roach, King Tubby, Pink Floyd & Miles Davis...... "My Life In The Bush Of Ghosts" album by David Byrne & Brian Eno had a profound effect on me, it was the first time i heard ethnic sampling mixed with funky beats. Still a favourite!

Which approach do you prefer when composing a track. Organic? Synthetic? Or a fusion of the two?

It often starts with a simple synthetic kind of back drop, drums & bass lines and then add live elements. I play guitar, bass and live percussion on my recordings and often enlist the help of maestro multi instrumentalist friend of mine Dan Richardson who plays all sorts of flutes (metal & bamboo) and also sax and trumpet. This gives the music a 'live' feel, a good blend of natural and synthetic mix and the unquantized human factor....

Do you find your music more popular in Australia or world-wide?

I would say world wide. I have sold a good amount of cd's overseas because the market for down tempo/ethno beats lovers is bigger abroad than here. Chill space at festivals is a relatively new thing at festivals here. So for a chilled music producer the opportunities to get exposure are a bit limited here....The aussies liked their music quite wild and banging...

You have worked in film and television soundtracks do you find this allows you to explore your tastes fully or is it more restrictive than making your own albums?

In producing your own album ,you are the decision maker ,you call the shots .you can be as indulgent as you like and explore to satisfy your heart content. With films and documentary your are dealing with the "director’, the film industry producers and directors can sometimes be very pedendic,difficult and cryptic individuals. A few years ago this 'nature/documentary' director hired me to do a soundtrack; the 'brief' was nature sounds and acoustic instruments, I plugged away for days and was happy with the result, sent a dat tape away.....A phone call later. The director was not too impressed with the result of my 3 days recording sessions and kept saying i want the music 'big and spacious' but was not able describe his vision further.... this process went on for weeks me sending him stuff and him still not happy and feeling just lukewarm about my musical offerings....An awkward situation.. So i said, can you play me some music, what you have in mind. He then managed to play me an extract from “river dance' the Irish musical over the phone....So i hired a fiddle player and a guitar picker and anything i sent to him from then on was approved with a big yes...So working for films & doco's is trial and error, a bit restrictive at times and can be an exercise in dealing with quite eccentric characters.... but it's all good. I feel blessed spending my time following my musical passion and getting hired & paid for it!

Which venues/festivals would you recommend to others?

In australia I'd recommend the 'Rainbow serpent" in rugged country Victoria and 'Exodus' in the lush sub-tropical settings of northern New South Wales. I did a small tour of Canada this year and 'Diversity' on texada island and 'Lasqueti escape' on lasqueti island were very friendly and much fun!!

Where can people hear and purchase your music?

My latest cd 'Peyote dreaming' is available to purchase on my web sites and my space: donpeyote.com & myspace.com/peyotesoundsystem

Interview from SunIsShining blogspot

I've added a low quality mp3 snippit of Don Peyote's 'In Habana' off the compilation 'Arcana' on Interchill Records. Check out the compilation because along with this Don Peyote track there's stuff from Eat Static, Zen Lemonade, Tripswitch, Kaya Project, & more.

This week I picked up another Liquid Sound compilation. Which on the whole are amazing, this ones no exception. Plus I'd not realised until checking the credits that theres more Abakus on there under the guise of Nada, with Humphrey Bacchus, the man who compiled many of these compilations, and was helping running Liquid Sound for a good number of years.

01. Nada - Earth Garden
02. Mantra Man - Shivai
03. Nada - Raja Mati
04. Loop Guru - Climax (Youth & Humph's Remix)
05. Tripswitch - Exiled
06. Nada - Manakhana
07. J. Viewz - In The Mood
08. Adham Shaikh - Somptin Hapnin
09. Prometheus - Sweet Tooth
10. Tripswitch - Silver

Check the Liquid Sound homepage for more info, or Discogs. Also Discogs Marketplace is a decent place to find these compilations.

Here's a quote I pulled off Discogs,

Liquid Sound Design (LSD) releases is for me always interesting. Compiled by Humph, he has again selected another list of impressive chilled journeys. I also like the little drawings on the cover art done by Youth. Another great chill out compilation here. A nice choice for your chill out in the sun, in the park or wherever you want to relax. Most tracks have an ethnic touch, without becoming "too much".

Sums this up nicely!