Sacred Black

Collection Contents

#		Title	Length
1		Dawn 1958	3:12	Play
2		Morning of the Earth	10:00	Play
3		Sea of Rains	8:26	Play
4		The Shores of the Cosmic Ocean	8:05	Play
5		Argo Navis	5:08	Play
6		5am Melbourne 1996	7:48	Play
7		The Demon Haunted World	3:44	Play
8		Returning Home	4:40	Play

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Description

Amongst Myselves' inroads to electronic/atmospheric music began when he first heard the works of the early electronic groups like Tangerine Dream eg. "Atem" and "Alpha Centauri". During this period he was also exposed to Schulze, Synergy, Gandalf, Peak and the more commercial groups including Kraftwerk, New Order, Vangelis. National radio programs like "Dream Time" and "Scratching the Surface" were two of the few outlets where he could hear such work. This line-up of influences started Amongst Myselves twiddling knobs on his own synthesisers. So with the help of a couple of old cassette decks, a couple of synthesisers and lots of enthusiasm Amongst Myselves started composing.

Amongst Myselves starting writing under the guise of Southern Garden not to mention also performing to friends with his New Years' Shows being a great hit. He also released six cassettes worth of material, his most praised being the post-apocalyptic "The Last Day".

In the late 80's and during the early 90's he diversified into playing keyboards and guitars in many local bands of which the guitar based post-punk "Spaghetti Machete" and "The Lost Tribe of Ubobo" were successful with regular appearances at some of Adelaide's old haunts like the Royal Admiral Hotel, Royal Oak, Exeter, Austral and the Tivoli. The styles of music were very eclectic ranging from a late punk sound through to world music. Four cassettes of music were produced and sold for both groups.

During the 90's he became more aware of neu-Ambient like Future Sound of London, Steve Roach, Robert Rich and Aphex Twin not to mention a new interest in the Eno's. So with the help of advances is computer based synths he took a great interest in the ambient/new age/drone arena.

Amongst Myselves released "The Sun In The Bottle" in 1999 which was a retrospective of pieces written during the previous four years. The style of this album was definitely new age in its basis with a hint of electro-acoustics as heard on tracks "Before Now" and "The Last Woman on Lysithea". "The Sun in the Bottle" had extensive airplay in Europe and the USA.

During 1999 and 2000 he started work on "Still Life" feeling at ease with the ambient/space/drone direction his work is taking. There are still reflections of new age coming through but as reviewer Hans Stoeve of PowerSpot FM mentions in his review of "Still Life" - "....he has resisted the urge to compose dramatic music".

Meanwhile, at the end of 2000 AquaFM released the first of many compilations titled "ambient@hyperreal.com 01" on which appearred an unreleased piece by Amongst Myselves titled "5am Melbourne 1996". This piece was planned to be part of his 3rd release "Sacred Black". He has also submitted a couple of tracks from "Still Life" for the next compilation.

The success of "Still Life" led Australian radio program "Ultima Thule" to contract Amongst Myselves to create their new opening theme based on the "Still Life" track "Ship of Dreams". During 2002 the 2 cd compilation "ambient@hyperreal.com 02" was released containing the title track from "Still Life", "Ra's Playground".

Amongst Myelves' last release was in June 2001 with the CD "Still Life". "Still Life" was a great success for Amongst Myselves. The styles of music explored in the CD gave him a direction to follow for upcoming releases. This CD was well supported in the US especially by Chuck Van Zyl's "Stars End" program. This is when Amongst Myselves took the whole music thing seriously and spent much time and money in producing a high quality product.

Chuck Van Zyl said "When compared to a gallery walk, this album becomes a collection of sonic vignettes ranging from the serene to the brash, the muddled to the crystalline, from calm to stormy and ultimately more interesting with each visit." and David J Opdyke explains "he paints still life's offworld audioimagery with bold strokes from his wide studio palette, decorating here and there with subtler sweeps."

After the success of "Still Life" Amongst Myselves realised that he was headed in the right direction. A direction which is a constant challenge trying to breakaway from the normal. So with this in mind he set out to start work on what later was titled "Sacred Black" a journey influenced by fifteenth century religious persecution, astrophysics, the desolation of a sleeping city at 5am and the classic Martin Denny piece 'Quiet Village'. The South Australian Government through ArtsSA were so impressed they helped to fund "Sacred Black".

Radio station "Ultima Thule" is to release a 2 disc compilation late 2003 / early 2004 containing a new track by Amongst Myselves alongside other great Australian ambient composers and world greats such as Robert Rich and Steve Roach.

Released in June 2003 "Sacred Black" is a continuation of a journey starting with "Still Life"; a story expressing diverse emotions - meditation, tension, subtlety, torment and persecution, imagination and celebration.