Just as the sun rises, so too does Oregon Eclipse near. With 7 stages each boasting a lineup worthy of an entire festival, we’ve decided it wise to feature our top picks by stage. Some we love. Some we just discovered. All essential.
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35 Days

The Earth stage, just as its namesake might suggest, features a melting pot of World, Electronica, Dub, Psychedelia, Instrumental, Classical, and Ambient all tied up with a grounded essence. This is the stage to come back down to.

Phaelah

Phaelah‘s breakbeat-cum-balearic minimalist machinations have a place all their own. His sets flow through a multitude of garage, electronica, and house soundscapes while maintaining a spatial beauty that provides a fine soundtrack for a cinematic journey into Self.

SaQi

SaQi produces reggae, jazz, and hip-hop infused World/Dub; his live trumpeting adds an extra element of sexy smooth. As is customary with many of the artists on Jumpsuit Records, he’s got plenty of vocal features on his work so expect this to be quite a show.

Living Light

By name, Eartha Harris, is an almost synchronism for this stage. As Living Light, she uses symphonic psychedelia to create uptempo ambient soundscapes. Her use of hopeful melodies and ambient soundscapes also lends to spiritual swaying.

PLANTRAE

Oregon’s Plantrae is known for a unique atmosphere driven by bass and beautified by viola. The grace of the spaces he creates has a distinct serenity fueled by the intensity of emotion via his live acoustics. Suffice to say, it is a sound and experience to behold.

Mirror System

As Mirror System, the duo behind the also Sun Stage-present System 7 (Steve Hillage and Miquette Giraudy) get more in touch with their techy-downtempo sides. The result is an ambiance that is akin to soul-gazing. We suggest you lay down and stare at clouds or maintaining a deep eye-locked connection during their set.

Sun:Monx

Sun:Monx is formed by the powerhouse duo of Opiuo and Austero. They each bring their taste and skill in glitch, bass, and dub to the table to create some of the most funky festival dance instrumentalism. Don’t miss out on either of their own appearances either!

Hideyo Blackmoon

The sacred spaces of Japan’s Hideyo Blackmoon are designed to induce a sort of healing meditative state with native tongue over depth of sound. She’s also performed at 6 Total Eclipses throughout her career, so she’s right at home in this element.

Having chased many a sunrise with Dive and Awake as our soundtrack, our surprise when the Sunrise Ambient King Scott Hansen suddenly released Epoch was more than evident. As the title suggest, his fifth album continues the saga of what we’ve come to know from Tycho while adding clear influences from his life. While his previous releases leaned toward electro-pop and shoegaze, Epoch draws on heavier sounds and rougher edges. The drums hit harder, the beats drive longer, the pacing is faster; it all eludes more to a moon-rise sense.

The title track and ‘Receiver’ evoke much of what we’d expect to hear from a sunrise in Blackrock City; there’s no doubt his multiple sunrise sets there have influenced their production. Tracks like ‘Source’ and ‘Rings’ draw heavily on the hard hitting and rapid drumming of liquid D’n’B while still maintaining his well-known loftiness. Still, there’s no deny the classic ambient etherealism is still present; openers ‘Glider’ and ‘Horizon’ pay homage to that.

Tycho – Epoch (right click-> open new)

Symbiosis Gathering | Lineup | Tickets

Having missed his LIB 2014 appearance for Beats Antique, we’re wont to see Max Cooper this year at Symbiosis. Human was one of our favourite experimental albums of 2014; Cooper’s pioneering of 4D Sound and his striking Emergence live shows further attract us to the wondrous crossroads of music, art, and technology. While we’re unsure whether any of his large installations will make it to Oakdale, we’re certain he’ll play us off into quite the trip.

Max Cooper – Adrift ft. Kathrin DeBoer

Max Cooper – Anatomic

Max Cooper – Walls

Symbiosis Spotlight brings attention to artists that will be featured at

☼ Symbiosis Gathering ☼
Some we love. Some we just discovered. All essential.
Click here for more from this series.
36 Days

Symbiosis Gathering | Lineup | Tickets

Together, Steve Nalepa, Adam Freeland, and RY X are The Acid. They produce ambient and sulky electronica with wistful vocalizations. The result is music that gets deep into the brain in the best way possible. As a four-piece live experience, their sounds fly between soft and wispy to loud and gritty; like a cross between a dim warehouse rave and a moody indie show.

The Acid – Basic Instinct

The Acid – Tumbling Lights

The Acid – Ra

Symbiosis Spotlight brings attention to artists that will be featured at

☼ Symbiosis Gathering ☼
Some we love. Some we just discovered. All essential.
Click here for more from this series.
41 Days

Unmistakably influenced by Japanese instruments, Katuchat’s Lonely Cloud EP emits a sense of weightlessness. His collaboration with Andrea, Rusty Hook, and Fresing only adds to the wonder. Out now via Moose Records.

Katuchat – Lonely Cloud EP

Lucian Blomkamp | Soundcloud | Buy Post Nature

Australia’s LUCIANBLOMKAMP got our attention last year with his self-titled EP. It was eerie & ambient looping that gave us a good preview of his methods. His full-length, Post Nature, came out recently and has most certainly kicked our expectations to the curb. The way the album pulls together seems to be a ‘digital criticism’ of music’s conflicted progression towards an electronic era. This anomaly drives the album and can easily be gathered from the hard electronic pulse, haunting and inquisitive thoughts, random pairings of acoustic blues, and overall ambient expressions. It drags you exploratively inward and then piques the senses just when you think you’ve figured it out.

By ‘Shook’ the album has touched so many bases that there’s no point left in trying. And you shouldn’t. In the end, it is clear that the will of Post-Nature is to make you flirt with all-and-other-worldly examinations through an existential kaleidoscope. LUCIANBLOMKAMP’s debut adds a much needed layer of flow for your stream-of-consciousness.

Lucian Blomkamp – Post-Nature (Album)

The Acid | Soundcloud

The Acid are no strangers to cerebral sounds. This trio is Angeleno Steve Nalepa channeling his skill with atmospheric flow and organic elements, Brit Adam Freeland planning chemical rhythms and cosmic grittiness, and Australian RY X binding it all together with his Thom-ish groaning and Iver melancholy. With all their worldly influences teamed together, they’re synthesizing obscure yet crisp, moody, and heady music for cranial adventures.

Their full length, Liminal comes out July 15. in the meantime keep your senses satiated, or be anticipated, with their 4-track EP.

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