Much excitement has been building up over the long-awaited upcoming 2017 eclipse. There are also other significant developments in the music world happening this month. On August 14th, one week before the solar eclipse will be visible across a wide band of the United States, Desert Trax releases Antumbral Shadow, a gorgeous 25-track compilation of some of the best international artists spanning psychedelic chill-out, glitch, bass, and ambient tunes.
Keyframe-Entertainment is honored to offer a glimpse of the album with one exclusive track for the Evolver EDM audience, and some of our thoughts of the music. We also asked Desert Trax a couple of questions about the work to share with their fans.
But first, some eclipse context in order to frame the trifecta of events (the eclipse, Antumbral Shadow album release, and the Oregon Eclipse Gathering):
THE ECLIPSE:
According to NASA.gov, “the first total solar eclipse in the continental United States in nearly 40 years takes place on Aug. 21, 2017. Steve Clarke, director of the Heliophysics Division at NASA Headquarters in Washington, D.C. states that, ‘This will be one of the best-observed eclipses to date, and we plan to take advantage of this unique opportunity to learn as much as we can about the sun and its effects on Earth.’” According to the NASA page dedicated to the eclipse, “Anyone within the path of totality can see one of nature’s most awe inspiring sights – a total solar eclipse. This path, where the moon will completely cover the sun and the sun’s tenuous atmosphere – the corona – can be seen, will stretch from Salem, Oregon to Charleston, South Carolina. Observers outside this path will still see a partial solar eclipse where the moon covers part of the sun’s disk.”
In a KQED Science article, Ben Burress, staff astronomer at the Chabot Space & Science Center, says the Bay Area will be treated to a partial eclipse, with about 75 percent of the sun covered up, making for notable darkening of the Bay Area sky.
Image source: NASA
THE ALBUM RELEASE:
Desert Trax was founded by the Desert Dwellers (Amani Friend & Treavor Moontribe) in 2005 with the ethos of “Music BeyondBorders.” The Desert Trax catalog spans over 70 releases with artists such as Desert Dwellers, Drumspyder, Deya Dova, Living Light, Kaminanda, Liquid Bloom, HÄANA, Shaman’s Dream, Temple Step Project, Variant Field, Wolf Tech, Martins Garden, Luke Mandala, Mose Robert & others.
IMAGE: Kaminanda
Through Antumbral Shadow, dive into numerous unreleased tracks from artists like Kaminanda, Mystral, Zen Baboon, Somatoast, I Awake, Luke Mandala, Liquid Bloom + Numatik, PheuZen, Moon Frog, and many others, as well as newly minted originals from international chill out legends like Entheogenic, Carbon Based Lifeforms, and Origin. Embrace brand new interpretations of Desert Dwellers tunes from artists like CloZee, LuSiD, and Treavor Moontribe, and a brand new unreleased remix of Poranguí by AtYyA. The album also features artists Salis, Taotempo, GUMI, Tripswitch, Nanda, Key-G, Malakai, Master Margherita, and Shawni + 23rd Dimension.
These mysterious and deep soundscapes were gathered by Desert Dwellers with this celestial celebration in mind, to help you navigate your optimal Eclipse journey.
As the sun is engulfed and time stand stills, so too will you transcend into the spaces between shadows.
GET THE ANTUMBRAL SHADOW ALBUM: https://desertdwellersmusic.bandcamp.com/album/antumbral-shadow-compiled-by-desert-dwellers
THE INTERVIEW:
KEYFRAME: We love your labels music and have been re-sharing your work for a long time now. Can you briefly tell us the different of this album vs other albums, and also share with us the inspiration for this album.
TREAVOR MOONTRIBE: “The difference with this release is, first off, it’s our most massive compilation yet at 25 songs, and it features a lot of up-and-coming producers we’ve met over the past couple years, as well as some very established names like CloZee and Origin, for instance. This compilation is also timed for the epic Eclipse that’s coming up with the title Antumbral Shadow, which really was the main inspiration for this release. We ended up getting so many amazing submissions and just couldn’t turn them down so we ended up with a massive collection of epic tunes!”
Music is obviously very subjective, but what feelings or intention do you want to share with your fans about the music?
TREAVOR MOONTRIBE: “For us we are extremely diverse musically as individuals ourselves, so we want to project that diversity into our label. We release many styles including uptempo techno/house, as well as the different downbeat styles we are more known for. As Desert Dwellers being just one act, we can only express so much through that project, so the label gives us an opportunity to really express so much more of our musical diversity, and we think that really sets us apart from many other artists and labels.”
Antumbral Shadow ALBUM REVIEW:
Keyframe enjoyed diving into the multidimensional Antumbral Shadow album. Liquid Bloom + Numatik’s “Drifting at Sea” offers oceanic sounds of mystery; an organic awakening! It’s followed by Entheogenic’s “Anima Mundi”, a soulful cinematic track that travels through geography, time and distant memories. With mellow chants climbing through the track in patient succession, it’s a journey that spans through joyful and nostalgic harmonies.
We really dug Somatoast’s “Call of the Void”; with each beat and intricate sound telling a story that drips glitchy liquid funk! Desert Dwellers’ “Saraswati’s Twerkaba” (CloZee & LuSiD Remix) surfaces through energy fields of Bass and intention; a quite gentle track that still brings grit and urban flavors to the mix. In “Inspiration” (feat. Neil Kramer), Luke Mandala comes through with a clean and steady flow. It’s plain to see why this track is named “Inspiration”; the music is vast and offers internal vistas while inviting the listener to dance out loud.
We’ve been tracking the Zen Baboon project for a while now, and must say that the “Chido Clara” (Hacienda Mix) track is perfect music for the Playa. It has a deep, techy edge, smooth sounds, and subtle glitchiness; one of our favorites. What we love about this compilation is the wide range in music styles, but also how tracks melt into one another. I Awake‘s “Dust” is a perfect accompaniment to the Zen Baboon track.
Porangui’s “Suenos de la Selva” (AtYyA Remix) resonates with us in many ways; triggering memories of the birth of Transformational festivals and the many gatherings that are spreading out globally, Reinhabiting the Village, being stewards of nature and taking care of all living beings on this earth. Taotempo’s “The Path” is expansive, mysterious, and offers layers of Psychedelic Bass; excellent track! “Orient Dance” by GUMI offers psychedelic resonance; a hypnotic track that opens up visionary portals, and evokes multicultural dimensions. “Orient Dance” is the track we’ve decided to share with you in this preview, as a treat to Reality Sandwich readers. We would love to hear this on a sound system at Oregon Eclipse!
Key-G’s “Coco Bread” rocks a chill tropical Dub vibe, with instruments flowing in and out to create an Eastern tapestry of sound, while Moon Frog’s “I Can See” is beautifully rendered, imbuing serenity and the blissful connection to nature.
We are big fans of Master Margherita and enjoyed meeting him while he visited San Francisco. Our mutual friend Itay from MikelaBella Records is a sonic wizard as well. Master Margherita’s “Fields” (Cree Stone Mix) is a timeless piece that diffuses a calming essence with subdued but powerful drums; a genre-redefining track.
Image: Ingrid Land Photography
THE GATHERING:
Given the unique phenomenon, the Oregon Eclipse Gathering encompasses fourteen worldwide gatherings coming together to create an epic community experience. As stated on the event website: “In honor of this momentous occasion, we have opened our doors to an epic international collaboration the likes of which have never been seen before. These crews from around the world are fiercely independent and devoted to producing out of the box experiences each in their own expression. The goal is not to collect names for a poster, but to create a new collaborative environment transcending nation, language, and creed. In a fragmented world, creating opportunities for the gathering of community is the most noble task we can think of, and we do so with the intention to create new relationships and partnerships, visions and ideas that we could not have come up with our own.”
Desert Dwellers will also be playing at Oregon Eclipse’s Eclipse Stage and Earth Stage.
GET THE ANTUMBRAL SHADOW ALBUM: https://desertdwellersmusic.bandcamp.com/album/antumbral-shadow-compiled-by-desert-dwellers