Making a Top psychill albums list is never an easy thing. You are locked in a battle of what you think the listening public likes versus what you know , in your heart , to be the most amazing releases of the year. We all have our own opinions and ideas and the psychedelic ambient genre , despite it's somewhat specific nomenclature , encompasses a variety musical styles. This can lead to a lot of heated debate as to what actually should be included in a list - "Is it really psychill ??".
There are some stand out albums I heard that did not make the list such as "Tokyo" by "Marconi Union" , "Here for Now" by "Seventh Swami" and "Undercurrent" by "Kilowatts". These are top albums that I enjoyed very much but I felt they did not sit comfortably with my definition of what makes up psychedelic ambient music. So all I can do is present a list of albums that in terms of the "style" of psychedelic ambient music that I like, left the biggest impressions on me for 2009.
Some potential top 25 entries were released very late in the the year and as such I may not have had an opportunity to listen to them yet. A prime example is "Hanging Masses" by "Cell". One final filtering point I used was the exclusion of some albums that comprised half psychill tunes and half uptempo trance like tunes. To be fair this is an ambient site and I did ponder over whether to include such releases for quite some time. In the end I felt that to be true to the nature of all things this site is about I couldn't include such albums in the list.
2009 has been a great year for top psychill music. We saw many releases from new artists and a few from established heavy weights. Some like the Ultimae crew 's Aes Dana, Solar Fields and H.U.V.A Network sent us on emotional journeys across the outer reaches of the galaxy. Others such as Shpongle , Kliment and Yggdrasil journeyed inside out minds , tweaking frequencies with psychedelia , groove and humor. Then there were artists like Don Peyote with his meditative masterpiece that reminds us all to look around and take some time out now and then.
| Rank | Artist | Album |
| 01 | Shpongle | Ineffable Mysteries From Shpongleland |
| 02 | Don Peyote | Eternal Now |
| 03 | Capsula | Sense Of A Drop |
| 04 | Chronos & C.J. Catalizer | Quid Est Veritas |
| 05 | Yggdrasil | Prose Edda |
| 06 | Kliment | The Perpetual Ritual |
| 07 | Aes Dana | Leylines |
| 08 | Solar Fields | Movements |
| 09 | Third Ear Audio | Third Ear Audio |
| 10 | Zero Cult | Dreams In Stereo |
| 11 | Val(Liam) | Daydreamer |
| 12 | Koan | When Silence is Speaking |
| 13 | Bluetech | The Divine Invasion |
| 14 | Master Margherita | Hippies With Gadgets |
| 15 | H.U.V.A. Network | Ephemeris |
| 16 | Various | Hope ( Fluid Audio ) |
| 17 | Various | Natural Born Chillers 2 ( Aleph Zero ) |
| 18 | Vlastur | Interaxion Dub |
| 19 | James Murray | Where Edges Meet |
| 20 | Kuba | Bringing it all back home |
| 21 | Mystical Sun | Energy Mind Consciousness |
| 22 | Various | Imaginary Friends ( Ultimae ) |
| 23 | Various | Fire ( Altar ) |
| 24 | Various | Peace Therapy Volume 3 ( Kagdila ) |
| 25 | Various | Vampire Sunrise ( Celestial Dragon ) |
So there we have it , after much contemplation , my final top psychill 25 albums of 2009. Let me know what your favorites of 2009 are sometime. I'd love to hear your own ideas.
As for PsyAmb , 2009 ha s been a fascinating year full of love , dreams and growth. I thank each and every one of your for your support and wish you all the best over this festive season.
Today I have a special mix comprising of tracks from every one of my top 25 psychill list. This is the longest mix I've done to date. Sorry for the file size , if you have the time and patience to download it all then I hope you enjoy it. There are some awesome tunes in this one !
Artist / Track
- 01. Don Peyote - Temple of Dreams
- 02. Chronos & C.J. Catalizer - Voice Of Infinity
- 03. Aes Dana - Signs
- 04. Kliment - Travels to the infinite
- 05. Capsula - Illusion Hill
- 06. (Val)Liam - Somewhere Not Here
- 07. Koan - The Island of Deceased Ships
- 08. James Murray - Where Edges Meet
- 09. Bluetech - Rite of the Dragonfly
- 10. Zymosis - Summer Twilight
- 11. Master Margherita - Binghi Dub
- 12. Third Ear Audio - Ethereality
- 13. Zero Cult - Inside The Urban Ocean
- 14. Kuba - Maria from Huddersfield
- 15. Vlastur - Neverland
- 16. H.U.V.A. Network - Dissolving Time
- 17. Interlaced - Insologic
- 18. Mystical Sun - Incense
- 19. Shpongle - Invisible Man
- 20. Yggdrasil - Everyone Is Looking
- 21. Dagas - Chibchas
- 22. Rena Jones - Photosynthesis (Nalepa Remix)
- 23. Distant System - Lost Sequence
- 24. Field Rotation - Regenzeit
- 25. Solar Fields - Breeze
Play Now :
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