Mix of the Week 1/5 – Ant Nebula and Amar Dhall at Treepsyde Festival
Based in Central Queensland, the Treepsyde Festival aims to combine a love for the environment with a love for music. With tree plantings in the day, the regeneration of Australia’s natural bushland was supplemented at night by soothing music. Ant Nebula and Amar Dhall of Altar Records provided this soothing music. Playing in the rejuvenating rain, their set is an eclectic mix of laid back electronic music, incorporating elements of psytrance, dub and house. The two state that this mix is “best served chilled in a high-fidelity listening environment.”
The two distinct features of this mix are its consistent tone and diverse sounds. There is a very relaxed and atmospheric tone throughout this mix, with soft beats and distant effects creating an ambient soundscape. It is very new-age hippie, which probably stems from the environmentalist festival that birthed the mix. However, that isn’t to say there isn’t any energy or excitement in the mix. The tone is consistently calm, but the mix explores various genres and digital techniques. The tracks can vary from typical psytrance songs, with fast rising electronic melodies layered over long low bass drones. Other songs introduce some heavy and frantic elements of dubstep, giving the mix more rhythmic sections. There are even some tracks that introduce elements of world music, such as the mandolin in Mindex & Drrtywulvz’s ‘Fractal Of Zorro’ and the Reggaeton track ‘Sunglider’ by MantisMash. The constant shift between genres is handled well, with Ant Nebula and Amar Dhall grounding everything in their distinct ambient and trance inducing atmosphere.
Due to the complimentary nature of its consistent tone and diverse sound, the mix is more versatile than a typical festival DJ set. It can provide a sociable mood at a party or serve as a soothing listen for personal listening.
