Psybient music is a genre of mainly electronic aimed at soothing the soul. With soft beats using cultural vibes and a touch of dub, psybience is a mix of psychedelic and ambient, but without the 165bpm pace of psychedelic trance. Many international bands have now started incorporating psybience into their dynamic, even if they are metal or pop bands, like a small section of soft, surreal synth that proves a gripping interlude to the middle of a djent or rap song.
Often qualified as ‘drone’ music, ambient pioneer Brian Eno quotes it as “ambient music must be able to accommodate many levels of listening attention without enforcing one in particular; it must be as ignorable as it is interesting.”
This is the essence of sound that most modern artists are going for. With the inclusion of tribal rhythms and melodies into an extremely psychedelic but not-too-fast-paced beat, the listener can either zone out, or get sucked into the same sound. Brian Eno’s revolutionary ‘78 album, ‘Music for Airports’ is an interesting insight into the birth of this genre. With the intent of making some catchy music for people stuck at airports, the record basically plays with the idea of looping, with some simple melodies to back it up. Careful timing with the looping sees the dynamic and sound that ambient music is today.
In the last half a decade alone, with dramatic advancements in audio technology, there has been an exponential rise in the number of ambient artists. Now that anyone with a computer can download a music program and compose, there is also a larger local understanding of the merits of this particular genre. CarbonBased Lifeforms, Aphex Twin and FSOL(Future Sound Of London) are heavy propagators of this sound and tour regularly across Europe to promote a deeper connection to ambience. Bands like Entheogenic and Bluetech are better examples of the electronic ambience used in a psychedelic vibe. With aspects of randomness, weird samples, and deep bass beats, these bands give you a sense of unease and a touch of the surreal, as psybient music should. There have also been a spread of louder live musicians who have incorporated this ambience into their own styles, such as progressive metal, a combo with which ambience is totally complementary. Acts like Porcupine Tree, Opeth, Cult of Luna and Tangerine Dream have brilliant examples of such mixes.
Personally, the band that takes the cake as the epitome of psybience today would have to be Shulman. The Israeli DJ duo of YanivShulman(cofounder of aleph zero records) and OmriHapaz have conceptualised sound to another level entirely. With four purely electronic albums out, the tracks on these songs vary through an intense range of emotions and styles, but with the basic element of psybient sound intact.
Many of their songs range around electronic samples of native or indigenous music and rhythm. Keeping these tones as the fulcrum, layers are added around it seamlessly to form a cognitive whole, complete with bass lines, multi track percussion and some crazy synths. Shulman also has quite a distinctive sound from similar counterparts like Entheogenic or Bluetech as there is a lot of glitch, and a lot of backing IDM-style beats. Some of their songs are extremely easy to dance to and also can be listened to in a completely meditative state too. What really got to me was Shulman’s latest album, Alive, which contained remakes of a few select songs from previous albums. The remakes are novel in a sense of term as the electronic drums, bass and keys have been taken out and replaced by musicians playing live bass, acoustic drums, electric guitar and keyboards. Into this delicate mix, the samples and electronica gently flow through, rather than tossing the live sound aside. It is this acoustic dynamic to psybient music that I find really cool.
Locally, ambient and psybient music is making a coming back. With India having the cultural heritage that it does, international acts have long stolen sounds and ancient hymns to use as samples and clips in their electronic tracks. Now, local bands such as Teddy Boy Kill, DualistInquiryMidivalPunditz and Karsh Kale, who’s been doing this for ages, all have heavy essences of ambience in their normal dynamic.
More closer to home, one-man project Avilente recently released a full length album through the immensely popular MicrocosmosRecords that hits the psybient hammer right on the nail. With heavy essences of Shulman to some more deranged types of psychedelic trance, From Clear Spaces Within is a brilliant stepping stone and a foundation for other local bands to build upon within the dynamics of psybient music.
