Asura – 10 Essential Psychedelic Downtempo Tracks
Asura – 10 Essential Psychedelic Downtempo Tracks
In 2000, Infinium Records (soon to be Ultimae Records) released their debut album: “Code Eternity” by Asura, which arguably marked the birth of the modern psybient sound.
“Simply Blue” is prime example of the early Asura sound. Beginning with a slow descent into moody darkness, the track builds relentlessly into a a deep trance rhythm. If the police dispatch recording heard throughout the song presents life as mundane and banal, the melody suggests the opposite. Every life, and every story, is rich in emotion.
With slow hypnotic beats, throbbing melodies, and a large dose of goa trance sensibilities, Asura established a sound that is one of the most recognizable and unique sounds in psychedelic downtempo today.
In 2001, Vincent Villuis left Asura to establish his own project Aes Dana. Alex Ackerman joined Asura and played guitar and bass, as well as vocals on Asura’s second album Lost Eden in 2003. The interweaving vocals on the title track “Lost Eden” make this song a lasting psychill classic. The interweaving vocals on the title track “Lost Eden” make this song a lasting psychill classic. The sample is from a classical Turkish song “Donulmez Aksamin Ufkundayiz”, composed by Munir Nurettin Selcuk with lyrics by Yahya Kemal Beyatli. The verse we hear in the song means “we are at the horizon of unreturnable night, time is too late”.
Asura became the solo project of Charles Farewell in 2005, and his landmark Life² album was released in 2007, and marked the further maturation of the signature Asura sound. From the biblical grandeur of Golgotha, to the vibrant goa-chill beats of Life², his third album offers a mature, polished sound. The last track “La Chanson de Carla” is perhaps the best psychill “lullaby” track we’ve ever heard.
Since Life², Asura has released three more albums: 360, Oxygene, and Radio Universe, each further establishing the project as a giant in space ambient music. With slow hypnotic beats, throbbing melodies, and a large dose of goa trance sensibilities, Asura established a sound that is one of the most recognizable and unique sounds in psychedelic downtempo today.
Chill Space has prepared for you a list of ten essential Asura tracks.