Bliss

Bliss may refer to:

People

This Bliss

This Bliss is the second album by the German minimal techno artist Pantha du Prince. It was released on January 29, 2007. Two of the tracks, Urlichten and Walden 2, had been released prior to the album on the Lichten/Walden 12" single. It was named the 55th best album of the decade by Resident Advisor. The New York Times critic Jon Caramanica described This Bliss as Pantha du Prince's "high-water mark", "a pensive, slender and tough album".

Track listing

References

Sophie Barker

Sophie Barker (born November 5, 1971) is a British singer and songwriter from London, best known for her work with the British downtempo group Zero 7.

Biography

Barker left University College London after two years to become a full-time singer, signing with Sony Records in 1996 with fellow singer under the name "Sirenes". They released three singles, "Blind", "Deep End", and "Sun Don't Shine", before splitting up at the end of 1997. Barker co-wrote Zero 7's biggest hit, "Destiny", and sings the song alongside fellow vocalist Sia Furler and Tina Dico. Barker also co-wrote and sang Zero 7 songs such as "In The Waiting Line" on the album Simple Things, and also the song "Spinning". She also contributed to the follow-up Zero 7 album When It Falls, co-writing the songs "Passing By" and "In Time".

Barker collaborated with musician KK in 2004 to release Lullaby, an album of night-time songs for children. That same year, she appeared as a backing vocalist on Sia Furler's album Colour the Small One, appearing on the track "Natale's Song". She followed this with a solo album entitled Earthbound, released in 2005. Barker has also worked with The Egg, electronica artists Grooverider and Groove Armada and the acid-jazz duo Muki. Barker was featured in a 2006 British Airways UK television campaign, singing a cover version of John Denver's "Leaving on a Jet Plane". Barker also featured as a guest singer in Quiet Letters by Bliss.

Drum machine

A drum machine is an electronic musical instrument designed to imitate the sound of drums, cymbals, other percussion instruments, and often basslines. Drum machines are most commonly associated with electronic music genres such as house music, but are also used in many other genres. They are also used when session drummers are not available or if the production cannot afford the cost of a professional drummer.

In the 2010s, most modern drum machines are sequencers with a sample playback (rompler) or synthesizer component that specializes in the reproduction of drum timbres. Though features vary from model to model, many modern drum machines can also produce unique sounds, and allow the user to compose unique drum beats and patterns.

History

Early drum machines

In 1930–32, the spectacularly innovative and hard to use Rhythmicon was realized by D-Rail at the request of Henry Cowell, who wanted an instrument which could play compositions with multiple rhythmic patterns, based on the overtone series, were far too hard to perform on existing keyboard instruments. The invention could produce sixteen different rhythms, each associated with a particular pitch, either individually or in any combination, including en masse, if desired. Received with considerable interest when it was publicly introduced in 1932, the Rhythmicon was soon set aside by Cowell and was virtually forgotten for decades. The next generation of rhythm machines played only pre-programmed rhythms such as mambo, tango, or bossa nova.

Psychedelic trance

Psychedelic trance, psytrance or just psy (derived from the Ancient Greek word ψυχή "psyche", mind; soul; breath; spirit) is a genre of electronic dance music characterized by arrangements of synthetic rhythms and layered melodies created by high tempo riffs. By 1998 psytrance had become a mainstream form of music.

Psytrance lies at the hardcore, underground end of the diverse trance spectrum. The genre offers variety in terms of mood, tempo, and style. Some examples include full on, darkpsy, Hi-Tech, progressive, suomi, psy-chill, psycore, psybient, psybreaks, or "adapted" tracks from other music genres. Goatrance preceded psytrance, when digital media became more commonly used psytrance evolved. Goa continues to develop alongside the other genres.

History

Origins

The first hippies who arrived in Goa, India in the mid-1960s were drawn there for many reasons, including the beaches, the low cost of living, the friendly locals, the Indian religious and spiritual practices and the readily available Indian cannabis, which until the mid-1970s was legal. During the 1970s the first Goa DJs were generally playing psychedelic rock bands such as the Grateful Dead, Pink Floyd and The Doors. In 1979 the beginnings of electronic dance music could occasionally be heard in Goa in the form of tracks by artists such as Kraftwerk but it was not until 1983 that DJs Laurent and Fred Disko, closely followed by Goa Gil, began switching the Goa style over to electro-industrial/EBM which was now flooding out of Europe from Frontline Assembly, Front 242, Nitzer Ebb as well as Eurobeat.