Insomnia Music with C.R. Gillespie

Music

Ambient music has been known to aid in the ease and treatment of anxiety, there is a systematic pattern which exists between long swooning pads and the very essence of relaxation in itself. Much in the same way as the sound of soft rainfall can put us at ease, so too can musical textures and soundscapes.

C.R. Gillespie is about to release a 75 minute piece of long form music, recorded at home in the Vancouver islands. It's a beautiful showcase of dense textural processing and was "inspired by the kind of technological deep-listening pioneered by artists like Pauline Oliveros, Laurie Spiegel, and Steve Roach". The album was originally recorded as a therapy aid and features sine tones, field recordings, abstract instrumentation and beyond. A dreamy, ethereal trip through a dimension lesser travelled, far away from the noise in our heads.

We invited him to pick apart some of the influences which have helped formulate his musical leanings. The nature of insomnia and the night time has helped guide and shape some of what has followed…

"Although Insomnia isn't a too-regular hassle for me, I could attribute this to my nightly ritual of using records to gradually sedate myself into the nocturnal sweet spot. A few of these selections I even refuse to play during daylight hours; so attuned to the night-vibe that I can't stand the thought of hearing them with daylight trapped in my corneas. Usually a couple of these bad boys is all it takes to knock me out, replay and shuffle as necessary. Goodnight!"

Buy Concentration Patterns by C.R Gillespie HERE.

LISTEN

Maitreya Kali - "Sam Pan Boat"

From the stunningly beautiful psych-folk artifact Apache/Inca, “Sam Pan Boat” is a cosmic journey into Maitreya Kali (Craig Smith)’s acid-soaked mind, and with its opening AUM, it prepares you for the essence of all reality; the sounds of the universe (which comprise the rest of my list).

Maitreya Kali - "Sam Pan Boat"

From the stunningly beautiful psych-folk artifact Apache/Inca, “Sam Pan Boat” is a cosmic journey into Maitreya Kali (Craig Smith)’s acid-soaked mind, and with its opening AUM, it prepares you for the essence of all reality; the sounds of the universe (which comprise the rest of my list).
Planetary Peace - "I Am That I Am"

Vaguely spooky, private-press “folk music” utilizing a mail-order, home-built synthesizer. Very soothing new-age mantra that reads more “earnest polycule” than cult.
Robert Bleeker - "Glowing Trombones"

From the Midday Moon compilation of underground ambient music in Australia and New Zealand, “Glowing Trombones” has that perfect Blade Runner Blues atmosphere, turning the nighttime glow of downtown Toronto from my window into dusty, cyber-film noir.
The Smubbs - "The Running Water"

Terminally chill Dead/Relatively Clean Rivers-style jam. Always puts me at ease and in tune with whatever late-night meal I am preparing while waiting for the edibles to kick in.
The Entourage Music & Theatre Ensemble - "Euphoric Bells (Alt Take)"

Theatre nerds with a Wicker Man obsession; Entourage make organic occult music with an astral ear. Perfect accompaniment to a good book, over-steeped tea and an excavated roach.
Pärson Sound - "Tio Minuter"

OK, this is to be treated a little differently than the rest: loud drone music for scorched-earth psychedelic desire, mindlessly pummelling your nocturnal brain into exhaustion. When the molasses-slow tempo shift happens in the back half, you’re already too deep in the gnosis to turn back.
Arica - "Music In The Nine Rings"

Usually the album that has me finally falling asleep on my couch with all the lights still on and my book on the ground, page lost. Minimal piano, synth and tape echo that carries you into the next celestial plane.